less complicated -- still Thai

Yesterday I posted about a fairly complicated Thai dish.  Today I am posting one that any home cook can carry off.  The sauce includes fish sauce.  Don't be afraid of that condiment.  It does not have a "fishy" taste in the final dish, and is really there to lend salt and "umami" flavor to the dish.  "Umami" is just a certain uncutuousness -- a rich flavor often identified as the fifth taste, after sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.

As with all Far East cooking, dishes come together very quickly, so it is best to prep all of your ingredients in advance.  In this case, that means mincing a couple of cloves of garlic -- easy with a garlic press-- slicing some onion and bell pepper, mincing some hot pepper, and stirring together some sauce.  On a separate cutting board, it takes just a minute to cube up some boneless, skinless chicken breast.  Basil is the star of this dish, and it is abundant right now.  The leaves should be plucked from the stems, but they don't need to be sliced.

mise en place for a simple Thai basil chicken

The sauce for the dish is easy.  A tablespoon of fish sauce, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of water, a teaspoon of sugar, and a tablespoon of cornstarch, all stirred up together and set aside.  The cubed chicken gets cooked in hot oil for about 8 minutes -- just until it is done.  

the chicken is quickly sauteed, then comes out of the pan

Once the chicken is out of the pan, in go the veggies.  They cook for a couple of minutes, until they begin to soften, then the garlic goes in.  You will smell it's fragrance in about two minutes.  Add in the sauce mixture and the chicken, and toss to combine.  Add in the basil, and cook just until that has wilted a bit.

veggies, just wilted

The whole dish comes together in just a few minutes, and it tastes divine.

an easy and exotic Thai supper

unraveling a Thai dish

Jim and I rarely go out to eat, since I love to cook, but when we do, we usually opt for Thai food.  I don't cook a lot of Thai, because it can be complicated, and we have an excellent Thai restaurant close by.  But I will admit, it is one of my favorite cuisines.  The other night I tried a new dish at the restaurant.  It was so good, I couldn't resist trying to replicate it.  The fun part was the research.  In the course of trying to find out about the bones of the dish, I discovered that Thai cuisine sometimes uses five spice powder, which explains the subtle spice I tasted on the chicken, including a faint hint of clove, which had thrown me off a bit when first tasting the dish.  I had never tasted clove in a Thai dish before.  Speaking of five spice, I have mentioned before the astounding recipe from China Moon that is actually a ten-spice concoction.  Well worth making.  I finally ordered Szechwan peppercorns from Penzeys, so I could make it properly.  

So, this dish -- it was a chicken dish with small pieces of chicken, fried, with an ethereally light crust and a hint of warm spice.  The veggies were lightly steamed, and it all sat in a pool of a sweet/sour/spicy sauce.  My first search was for the sauce.  I finally settled on a recipe I found on the net that included fresh red chiles, which I happened to have on hand.  It's a simple sauce, including garlic, chiles, sugar, vinegar, water, and salt.  It is thickened in the end with a bit of cornstarch.

the sauce has a gorgeous color and a nice consistency

The next step was the veggies.  I happened to have beautiful little zucchinis in the garden, an onion, a leek, carrots, and bell peppers on hand.  I had to go to the store for chicken, so I grabbed a little broccoli and snow peas as well.

lovely little zucs and a handful of cilantro from the garden,

which is going berserk 

Then, I marinated the thin strips of chicken in a little oyster sauce, some fish sauce, a clove of garlic, a little five spice powder, and the chopped cilantro.  I only marinated it for about an hour.  During that time, I sliced the veggies thin on a mandoline, steamed them to crisp/tender, and shocked them in an ice bath.

so beautiful

the shock, after the brief steam

Now, for the chicken.  I mixed about 3/4 cup of corn starch, 1 cup of rice flour, and a tablespoon of five spice powder together, and dredged the marinated chicken in that.  In about 1/2 inch very hot oil, I fried the strips in batches until they were crisp and golden brown.  The corn starch and rice flour mixture resulted in a very thin and beautifully crunchy crust with a wonderfully spiced flavor.

the chicken was crispy, without a hint of greasiness

Now, all to do was combine everything.  I reheated the veggies in a cup or so of the sauce, tossed in the chicken, and served everything over rice.  It was divine.  Crisp veggies, spiced chicken, and spicy/sweet/hot sauce.  It wasn't an exact duplicate of the dish I had at the Thai restuarant, but it was close, and absolutely delicious.  Well worth the effort.

a very delicious dinner

thank heaven for grilling season

shrimp.  What could be easier?  And on the grill besides, so clean-up is a snap.  I like to marinate my shrimp for a flavor boost.  Last night, I went with garlic, Fresno peppers, lime, cilantro, and a bit of peanut oil.

as usual, I added the lime zest as well as the juice

Shrimp need only a few minutes to marinate, so I chucked all the stuff in the bowl, lit the grill, and started the rice.  I have blogged before about the convenience of boiling rice the same way you boil pasta.  It really is fool-proof (and I can be a fool).  While the basmati rice boiled, I heated about a quarter cup of coconut milk over medium-high heat, and sauteed some shallots and another fresno chile in the warm coconut milk, which is really primarily oil.  When they were soft, I added a cup or so of peas, salt and pepper.  Then I stirred in the cooked rice, and headed out to the grill with the shrimp.

flavorful rice basics

a grill basket makes grilling shrimp a lazy person's chore

The shrimp take just about 4 minutes per side.  On top of the coconut rice, they made a satisfying meal, with minimal clean-up.

pretty much a one-pot wonder

tortilla soup

I've posted on here before about making your own corn tortillas, and it isn't hard to do, especially if you have a tortilla press.  My tortilla concoction is not traditional, as I add both canned hominy and frozen corn to boost the corn flavor in the masa flour.  But after those additions, it is as simple as adding enough masa flour to make a soft dough.

the addition of corn and hominy boost the corn flavor in the tortillas

a stack of corn tortillas cooks up in just a few minutes

However, if you don't want to make your own tortillas, just buy them.  Slice up three or four into 1/4-inch strips, toss them in a little oil and salt, and bake them for about 15 minutes at 375.  

the essential crispy garnish for tortilla soup

I wanted the flavor of fresh tomatoes in the soup, so I bought a couple of clamshells of Campari tomatoes, and tossed them in the food processor along with a couple of cloves of garlic, and two red fresno chiles, and pureed them all together.

Camparis are one of the few supermarket tomatoes that have flavor--  

the skin and seeds don't bother me in a soup, so I don't bother to peel

That puree simply goes right in a pot, along with a couple of  chicken breasts and a cup or so of chicken or vegetable broth.  The breast meat will be cooked in about 20 minutes at a low simmer.  Remove the skin first, to reduce the fat content in the soup.  

Remove the chicken and allow it to cool enough to be able to shred it.  Then in goes an assortment of veggies.  No need to be a slave to a recipe here.  Just use what you have.  I had some red and orange bell peppers, celery, and green onion.  Zucchini would work as well, as would a variety of peppers, and toss in some greens while you're at it.  I'm mad at myself for not thinking to gather a bit of those collard greens going wild in my garden.

a variety of veggies make for a nicely textured soup

The soup need only cook for 10 or 15 minutes, until the veggies are crisp/tender.  Add a little oregano, a bit of salt and pepper, and the shredded chicken.   Dish it up, and garnish with a sprinkling of cheese, if desired, a bit of cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.  And of course, a nice handful of those crispy tortillas.

a soup so thick with veggies it makes a delicious and hardy meal-- 

more like a stew than a soup

variation on a theme

We have collard greens in the garden.  Oh, my, but do we have collard greens.  Jim is dousing everything in the garden (and all the flowers) with Miracle Grow, and everything is responding with out-size growth.  So, last night, I decided to do a spaetzle and mushroom dish we love, but this time with the addition of collards.

we grilled a bone-in pork roast on the rotisserie

The nice thing about combining pasta (or its cousin, spaetzle) with veggies is that you cook a bit of starch and a variety of veggies all in the same pan.  Speaking of pans, I am every day more in love with my new French iron pans.  They really are super non-stick, gorgeous to look at and easy to clean.  Now, I promise to stop mentioning them. 

I started with a simple saute of sliced mushrooms and shallots in a bit of butter

After the shallots and mushrooms had wilted and begun to color, I added a bit of concentrated veal stock, which I find to be richer, and actually more convenient, than beef broth, along with a couple of cups of the water and the dried spaetzle.  I use dried spaetzle in this case because of the way it soaks up the flavors of the sauce.  Fresh spaetzle could not take on so much flavor because the dough would become too soft in the rich broth.  Once the spaetzle had nearly cooked through (just taste it, it takes about 15 minutes) I began adding in the collards, along with a bit of grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Nutmeg is a natural partner with greens.  Its warm flavor plays off nicely against the bitterness in the greens.

the collards need to cook only until they are tender

The dish was a happy marriage with the grilled pork, easy to prepare in one pan, and interesting to eat -- warm, slightly bitter, and rich with contrasting vegetal flavors.