Tag: Year-Round

Thai-Style Chicken and Rice

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This recipe is by no means authentic, and I’ve turned it into a sort of easy red curry-meets-larb situation but the results are delicious and healthy. All you need is 20 minutes and a skillet and you’re set.

Ingredients:
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
  • 2 cups cooked jasmine rice
  • 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons avocado oil
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 serrano chile, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 cup mint leaves
  • Lettuce leaves and lime wedges, for serving
  1. Place red onion and ginger in a medium bowl of ice water and let soak while you prepare the chicken and rice.
  2. Using your hands, toss rice and half of curry paste in a medium bowl to roughly coat. Set aside.
  3. Stir lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved.
  4. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add chicken and spread into a thin, even layer; season with salt. Cook, undisturbed, until golden brown underneath, about 5 minutes. Add remaining curry paste and cook, stirring and breaking up into bite-size pieces, until chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl with dressing.
  5. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the same skillet. Add reserved rice mixture and cook, undisturbed, until slightly golden underneath, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and add to bowl with dressing and chicken.
  6. Drain red onion and ginger; add to bowl with chicken and rice, along with chile, peanuts, cilantro, and mint. Mix to combine.
  7. Transfer rice mixture to a platter. Serve with lettuce for wrapping and lime wedges for squeezing over.

Butter Chicken

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Butter chicken is ubiquitous on every Indian restaurant menu, but there’s no reason you can’t make it at home. This warming dish is easily made a day ahead and can reheated to be served with rice. I like to serve it with tahdig, sabzi khordan, and torshi on the side for an Indian-Iranian mashup. Trust me, it works.

Ingredients:
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, quartered
  • 3 tablespoons avocado oil or ghee
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons peeled and grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice, plus more to taste
  1. In a large bowl, stir together the garam masala, cumin, turmeric, cardamom, paprika, cinnamon, and oregano. Add the chicken and turn to coat all the pieces. Set aside for 10 minutes.
  2. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute, stirring.
  3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, then add the chicken and any leftover spices and sprinkle with the salt. Cook for 5 minutes, turning the chicken halfway through when it releases easily from the pan, then add the crushed tomatoes, butter, coconut milk, bay leaf, and lemon juice. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 30 minutes. Season with additional salt and lemon juice, if desired. Serve warm.

Mochi Waffles with Brown Butter Bananas

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I’m a sucker for anything made with mochiko flour. Hawaiian butter mochi, mochi ice cream, yaki mochi — I love it. This mochi waffle recipe, adapted from Bon Appetit, is a little chewy, a little sweet, and the perfect vehicle to soak up the delicious syrup from the brown butter bananas.

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/4 cups mochiko flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 2 bananas, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  1. Whisk mochiko, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk egg yolks, milk, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat, then gradually add to egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly; reserve skillet. Add dry ingredients to bowl and whisk until smooth. Lightly whisk egg whites in a small bowl until foamy, then whisk into batter.
  2. Heat a waffle iron on high; lightly coat with nonstick spray. Pour 1/2 cup batter (or enough to cover surface) onto iron and cook until waffles are golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter, coating iron with more nonstick spray as needed.
  3. Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in reserved skillet over medium-high heat. Cook bananas, cut side down, undisturbed, until bananas are browned and butter is amber, about 3 minutes. Stir in maple syrup and remove from heat.
  4. Serve waffles topped with bananas and sauce.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

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Okra is my favorite vegetable so naturally, I love gumbo. That silky, sumptuous texture that good gumbo has? It’s all okra, so unfairly maligned. Served over rice, I could eat this hearty stew all winter.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil
  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 4 slices turkey bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 3/4 to 1 cup flour, depending on how thick you want the gumbo to be
  • 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 6 canned whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 10 ounces okra, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch slices
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • Cooked white rice, for serving
  • Hot sauce and file powder, for serving
  1. Heat 1/4 cup oil in an 8-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, season chicken with salt and pepper, and add chicken to pot. Cook, turning once, until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add sausage and turkey bacon and cook, stirring, until bacon is browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate with chicken.
  2. Add remaining oil and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until this mixture is the color of dark, reddish caramel and forms a roux, about 8 minutes. Add celery, onion, and bell pepper and cook until soft, about 6 minutes. Add thyme, cayenne, tomatoes, garlic, and bay leaf and cook for 3 minutes. Return chicken, sausage, and bacon to pot along with the okra and stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, okra is tender, and gumbo is thickened, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove and shred meat, then stir back into gumbo. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice, hot sauce, and file powder.

Garlic-Butter Grilled Shrimp

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There’s something about the roasted garlic, bottled Italian dressing (please don’t judge) and lime juice that turns this grilled shrimp into a sublime dish. Call it alchemy. Call it anything you want, just know that it’s absolutely delicious.

Hawaiian style garlic butter shrimp
Ingredients:

For the roasted garlic butter:

  • 1/2 cup avocado oil
  • 1/4 cup peeled garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup salted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the shrimp:

  • 1/2 cup bottled Italian dressing
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 pounds peeled tail-on large raw shrimp
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  1. Make the roasted garlic butter: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place oil and garlic in a small baking pan, cover with aluminum foil. Roast garlic in oven until soft and light golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool 45 minutes. Remove garlic from oil; place garlic in small bowl. (Reserve garlic oil for another use.) Add butter to bowl with garlic and smash with a fork until smooth. Stir in salt. Let butter mixture stand until ready to use.
  2. Make the shrimp: While garlic cools, stir together Italian dressing, mayonnaise, lime juice, and salt. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high. Remove shrimp from marinade and discard marinade. Grill shrimp until cooked through, 2 minutes per side. Transfer shrimp to a large bowl and add roasted garlic butter, tossing until butter is melted and shrimp are coated. Sprinkle with green onions, parsley, and paprika; toss to combine. Transfer to a serving plate.