Buttermilk Roast Chicken

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Chatty Kathy

Once again the Smitten Kitchen website and cookbooks really knock it out of the park. This was the best roast chicken ever! I did marinate overnight as recommended and the chicken was so moist and flavourful, with the crispiest crunchiest skin,

Crispy crunchy skin with bits of sea salt – best ever!

2 cups buttermilk
5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika, plus some for sprinkling
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 -3 pounds chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
Drizzle of olive oil
Flaked or coarse sea salt, to finish

Mix buttermilk and seasonings in ziplock bag, and drop the chicken in, giving it a good massage. Set in fridge for a minimum of 3 hours, and up to 48 hours – no more or the chicken might get a bit mushy.

Take the chicken out of the marinade, put it into a baking dish, and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkling salt crystals over top. I’m sure you can see the foil …. not something I would normally do, but it sure made for easy clean up!

Roast at 425 for 30-45 minutes, depending on on the size of the chicken pieces. Use a thermometer to be sure you have the right temperature, …. 165 degrees for cooked chicken. The best part is the crunchy bits of skin!

Thai Grilled Chicken

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Chatty Kathy

Thai grilled chicken should be moist, flavourful, and make you want more …. this is it.

This chicken. So moist and delicious. The dipping sauce takes it over the top!

2 lb / 1 kg chicken thigh fillets (skinless, boneless)

Use whatever chicken you have, or prefer, this amount of marinade worked with 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into pieces and pounded equal thickness. I reserved some of the marinade and kept it to serve as a dipping sauce, it was incredible.

Marinade

1 large lemongrass stalk , white part only very finely chopped (about 2 tbsp) If you live in an area like we do, fresh lemongrass is not always easy to come by, and in that case, I use 1 tbsp lemongrass powder)
1 tbsp garlic , minced
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp chili flakes
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 tbsp brown sugar or palm sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk

Mix all marinade ingredients together, reserve 1/2 of it, and and add chicken to the rest. Marinade overnight, or for at least an hour …. (I had an hour and it turned out really well!)

Serve the chicken with the reserved marinade.

put all the marinade ingredients into the bowl of a food processor, and give it a good whiz ….

Grill chicken until just cooked through, and serve with dipping sauce.

Indian Spiced Chicken Korma

Posted on August 18, 2018 by Chatty Kathy

This rich Indian sauce is packed with enough spices and layers of flavour, you will want extra rice or naan bread to mop up every bit of sauce left on your plate.

2 white onions, peeled and cut into quarters
6 cloves garlic, peeled
4 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 large tomatoes, diced small
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger root
1/2 cup ground raw almonds
1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 a small red chili, de-seeded and minced (dried or fresh)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (packed)
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces

(or – see below for other options to replace chicken thighs)

Key to making a dish like this is to have all your ingredients ready at hand. Here I’ve blended all the dry spice together so it is ready to be stirred in at the moment I need it.

Chefs call this “mis en place”, which simply means having everything ready to go, BEFORE you start cooking at all. It sure does make things smoother!

Instructions

Place the onions, garlic, and 1 cup of water in the bowl of a blender. Puree until smooth.
Measure out the spices (curry powder through nutmeg) into a small bowl.
In a large saucepan heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the pureed onion mixture and cook for a 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until it begins to darken in color.

Korma 6

Add the tomatoes, ginger, ground almonds, coconut milk, yogurt, red chili, pre-measured spices, and brown sugar. Stir well.

Turn the heat down to low and simmer 30 minutes. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan; simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

I had roasted a whole chicken the day before and felt like this Korma would be the perfect way to eat it all up the next day. Use a rotisserie chicken for a quick dinner if you don’t have leftover chicken on hand. Honestly, when we eat out, we usually order lamb korma, so you could just as easily use any protein of your choice – or go vegetarian and stir a bunch of fresh vegetables in.

Served today with homemade naan and the best crispiest crunchiest vegetable pakora!

Spicy Sweet & Sticky Asian Pork Chops

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Chatty Kathy

Grill just until cooked through, these juicy pork chops hit all those notes of spicy, sweet and sticky – get out the napkins!

8 thin cut pork chops, pounded lightly until uniform thickness
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger grated
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp Thai red curry paste
1 chilli finely chopped (seeds removed if needed)
juice of 1 lime

To make the pork chops, combine the soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, curry paste chilli & lime juice in a bowl and mix well. Taste, and adjust if necessary – especially for heat. If you like it hotter, add more!
Place the pork chops in a ziploc bag and pour over the sauce. Close the bag and allow to marinade for 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Grill over high heat until just cooked through.

Noodles 2

We served these with a crunchy Thai noodle salad.

Summer Mexican Cobb Salad

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Chatty Kathy

Chipotle Chicken and Cilantro Vinaigrette give this one dish dinner a real taste of Mexico.

Combine the taste of cilantro dressing with fresh and lively salad crunch, and top it with grilled spicy chipotle chicken – you’ll have the best summer salad … this one will be on repeat.

CHIPOTLE CHICKEN MARINADE

3-4 chicken breasts, or 8 boneless, skinless thighs
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, minced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp fresh lime juice

Blend all ingredients until smooth, and pour over chicken. Marinate for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.

Grill until cooked through, and set aside. Do not slice until chicken has rested at least 15 minutes.

CILANTRO VINAIGRETTE

1 huge bunch cilantro – chopped up
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 loved garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dijon mustard

Put all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.

This vinaigrette is delicious! Use it on a salad, or as a topping for your steak ….. dip your prawns into it …. the list is endless.

SALAD

include any number of ingredients to create texture, bright, crispy crunchy fresh vegetables as well as creamy avocado, tasty fruit and toasted nuts

salad greens
spinach
cucumber
sweet peppers
snap peas
corn, grilled and sliced off the cobb
avocado
sliced strawberries
cooked bacon
toasted nuts

Toss salad ingredients together, and drizzle with cilantro vinaigrette.

Top with sliced chicken and drizzle a little more vinaigrette over the chicken.

Korean Bibimbap

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Chatty Kathy

Quick disclaimer here …. this is unapologetically inauthentic! At Fat Boy Moves in Mexico City we ate Bibimbap a couple of times and this is my version of trying to replicate that in my own kitchen, minus of course the stone bowl to serve it in….

What’s missing you say? Any authentic Bibimbap will have a soft egg on top!

In terms of recipes, this is more of a guideline. I’m sure you can find lots of real, true Korean Bibimbap recipes out there, but for my own preferences, in my kitchen, this was pretty delicious. I think it is key to have either a cast iron frying pan or a stainless steel pan to get the rice nice and crusty.

First, make a sauce:

1/4 cup soya sauce
2 tbsp roasted sesame oil
1 tbsp chile garlic sauce
1 tbsp gojuchang

Taste the sauce, I can’t say that enough, make sure it is delicious …. each of those components will be slightly different by brand so hit a balance you like.

Second, make pickled cucumbers:

cut about a 4 inch piece of cucumber in half, lengthwise
scoops out seeds and slice very thinly

Put cucumbers in a bowl, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp each of salt and sugar. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp rice vinegar and mix well. Set aside.

To assemble you will need:

cooked rice
protein (if you like, easy to just make it vegetarian also)
stir fried veg
pickled cucumbers
sesame seeds
cilantro
slivered chives

Thinly sliver nori sheet and toast until crispy

If you are using a protein, cover your steak, chicken or prawns with a light bit of gojuchang and allow to marinade for an hour. Grill, and once rested, slice into bite size pieces.

Prepare the vegetables you are going to use, today I used coloured sweet peppers, onions, snow peas, bok choy and cabbage.

Heat fry pan until very hot, add neutral oil and sauce some ginger and garlic. Add in vegetables and stir fry just until tender. Set aside.

Reheat the pan, barely cover the bottom with sesame oil and then cover the bottom with the rice. Allow to sit undisturbed until the rice is heated through and the bottom develops a nice golden brown crust.

Centre your cooked vegetables on the rice, scatter the protein around the edge and garnish with the pickled cucumber, toasted nori and sesame seeds. Drizzle over the prepared sauce and enjoy!

Almost Shake Shack sauce!

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Chatty Kathy

Almost famous all right …. Make your own Shake Shack sauce.

This creamy sauce will take your home made burger right to the level of that famous burger at Shake Shack.

In order to replicate the burger all the way – make sure you use good beef, 1/4 pound of it per burger, and cook it on a flat surface … without greasing the pan! That creates the crisp exterior.

Use soft potato buns, lightly butter and grill or toast.

Lettuce, tomato, pickles and this amazing sauce will complete the deal. And you may never buy another burger!

Sauce Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
4 slices kosher dill pickle
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper

Maybe not the best presentation photo, but this creamy, slighty tangy sauce takes your burger to lip smacking, napkin required level.

Tart and Tangy Thai Pork Noodles

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Chatty Kathy

This makes for a quick and easy dinner, using one skillet (or wok), and just involves a bit of chopping. As always, please please, taste your marinade before adding cornstarch. If you don’t smack your lips and say yum yum, try adjusting. Maybe you like it spicier? – add chile flakes. Maybe you like it more tart? – add lime. Any dish that has Thai in the title should be well balanced, with salty, sweet, spicy & sour in perfect harmony. Once you get that perfect balance add the corn starch.

Pork noodles

INGREDIENTS

1 lb boneless pork loin, cut into strips
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons soya sauce (reduced sodium)
4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 ¹⁄₂teaspoons cornstarch
1 ¹⁄₂teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 ounces rice noodles
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided use
broccoli florets
carrot, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
bamboo shoots (optional)
water chestnuts (optional)

Realistically – – – all the vegetables are optional, use whatever you like, just make sure you have a good assortment of color and crunch.

DIRECTIONS

Combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, cornstarch, sesame oil and red pepper flakes. Remove enough just to cover pork and place in bowl.
Add pork, marinate while preparing pasta and vegetables or up to overnight.
Cook (or soak) rice noodles according to package directions, drain.
Heat 1 tsp oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute garlic & ginger for 1-2 minutes.
Add vegetables and saute until crisp-tender (about 5 minutes).
Remove vegetables from skillet and keep warm.
Add remaining oil and pork mixture to skillet. Cook until pork is nicely browned.
Remove pork, keep warm and stir in remaining marinade to skillet. Cook until bubbly so the cornstarch is cooked through and thickens.
Return pork & vegetables to skillet, add rice noodles, heat through and serve.

Garnishes: sliced green onions, toasted and chopped peanuts and roughly chopped cilantro.

This dish works equally well if you want to make it a vegetarian dish, or decide to change up the protein, try:

sliced chicken thighs
prawns
seafood

We like rice noodles, but you could easily use any type of pasta you have on hand like chinese egg noodles or spaghetti noodles.

Hawaiian Pork Bowl

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Chatty Kathy

All the fresh vegetables in the garden inspired me to create this Hawaiian Pork bowl with a combination of raw and grilled vegetables. The recipe originated from a Food and Wine magazine but I couldn’t resist tweaking it a bit, and definitely adding more vegetables.

Pork Bowl 4

1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup sugar
2 English breakfast tea bags
One 1-pound pork tenderloin, butterflied and flattened
4 slices cooked bacon
Three 1/2-inch-thick  slices of fresh pineapple—peeled, quartered and cored
1 red onion, cut through the core into 1/4-inch wedges
1 red pepper, quartered
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
Kosher salt
Pepper
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 a jalapeno, seeds removed, minced
2 tablespoons soya sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon raw sugar
2 tablespoons minced cilantro, plus sprigs for serving

(I can’t say this enough, TASTE your jalapeno for spiciness, and add as much as you enjoy.)

Steamed rice, crisp bacon, diced avocado  and thinly sliced  jalapeño, for serving

In a large bowl, combine the boiling water, sugar and tea bags and let stand for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags and stir the tea to dissolve the sugar. Let cool completely, then add the pork and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Pork bowl

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Drain the pork and pat  dry with paper towels. Brush the pork, pineapple, zucchini and red onion with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill  the pork over high heat, turning once, until lightly charred and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the pork registers 135°, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a carving board and let  rest for 5 minutes, then slice the pork against the grain. Meanwhile, grill the pineapple and vegetables, turning until charred, about 4 -8 minutes.

Pork bowl 2

In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice with the minced cilantro, sugar, garlic, soya sauce, minced jalapeno, sesame oil and the 1/3 cup of olive oil. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

Serve the pork, and vegetables over steamed  rice with crisp bacon, diced avocado, thinly sliced jalapeño  .Drizzle with dressing and enjoy!

Pork Bowl 3

Mexico City, revisited!

Posted on November 26, 2016 by Chatty Kathy

Mexico itself is a country full of contrasts, and truly evident in the city. Grandiose architecture and magnificent art galleries alongside signs of poverty. In that I am sure every major city in the world is similar. What is very different are the smells – walking down any given street you have the contrast of delicious meat grilling, fresh cucumber being sliced or …….sewage.

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The contrasts between old church spires, modern buildings and electrical mayhem are everywhere!

If you haven’t been to Museo Soumaya yet, then please try to get there. Built by Mexico’s wealthy Carlos Slim in honour of his wife the entire structure is amazing itself, but once you get in and have the opportunity to view the largest collection of art work you simply won’t believe it. His son in law designed the place and it is as elaborate inside as out. The different floors wind up along inside the building so you are either slanting in or out, depending on which floor you are on. The displays change somewhat too, the last time we were here an entire floor was devoted to Sophia Loren. Better still, it is free admission!

Sculptures by Rodin, paintings by Van Gogh, Renoir & Matisse to name a few, you can wander here for hours.

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The “Gates of Hell” was a particularly masterful piece, and just huge.

We were pretty fortunate to be in the city for longer than we have before so thoroughly enjoyed both eating out and touring art galleries and museums. It is literally impossible to not eat well in Mexico City. From spending mere pesos for a street taco to dining in one of the more elegant restaurants it is always less than we would spend at home and the food is fantastic.

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Try a roadside tostada, in this case shrimp ceviche.

Or – if you are fortunate enough to have a cozy place like we did, just pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner. This Columbian chicken dinner was 110 pesos, and fed us for 2 nights. Not only that, it was incredibly delicious. Under the skin they had rubbed an amazing herb blend and that skin was something Auntie Brigitte would have fought for ….

If you can’t find what you need at a mercado, then you either don’t need it, or you aren’t in the right mercado. Smiling vendors are raring to sell you whatever you need, at a very reasonable price and guaranteed to make you smile too.

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In case you haven’t tried it ….. these large sheets below are pork fat. Yep, pure pork fat fried up in all its goodness. Mexicans eat it by the sheet, and as tasty as it is, we find a few crumbles on guacamole or in a soup are enough to hit the spot.

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Palacio de Bellas Artes – or the Fine Arts building. Inside it is even more impressive with murals and incredible art galleries. We have yet to make it to one of the traditional folk ballets they feature here, but one day ….

Viewed from what was at one time the tallest building in the Americas, the Latin America building:

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Take the elevator to the top of the Latin America building and you just won’t believe how far you can see – particularly on a clear enough day when the smog isn’t too troublesome.

Is there anything better than travel with family? We think not! Our youngest granddaughter Liv is already loving Mexico City as much as we do…

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Take some time at Chapultepec Park and Castle, well worth it to wander around, enjoy both the park and the walk up to the castle.

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These little guys are everywhere, hoping to catch the popcorn or peanut you drop.

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At the top of Chapultepec Park is the Castle, as you can see not an especially brilliant day – smog combined with cool cloudy weather.

Not sure if I was meant to live in a more elegant time or not, but I sure could have become accustomed to my bedroom and bathroom looking like this ….. Who am I kidding though, I would have been one of the servants!! ha ha

Imagine playing hopscotch or soccer inside these hallways … the stained glass is just incredible.

Museum of Anthropology …… take a day. In just over 3 hours we managed to view one side of the 3 you see here…. it is a touch overwhelming, but absolutely amazing and a must see.

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The reproductions of actual structures of ancient cities are so well done it is easy to imagine civilization as it was. Just love the colours – and can picture how vivid the homes were.

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Amazing murals everywhere telling the stories of each civilization.

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And …. once you are worn out from walking your feet off (on this particular day we walked 13.3 kms….) it is entirely justified to stop and have a pastry … our favourite is La Boheme, situated next to Mercado Roma and serving up the most amazing pastries along with a perfectly Vivian size mug of hot chocolate.

la-boheme

In Mexican culture, the mid day meal is very important … they linger over it, usually taking hours, and they certainly enjoy their alcoholic beverages along with it. In fact, in a busy lunch spot like this, I think we were the only table without!

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Hungry for a light lunch or just a snack? This tuna tostada is light, refreshing, and absolutely delicious. Contramar is one of the seafood restaurants in Mexico City that you must try to get in to. Like many great places, they are only open for the main meal of the day, from noonish until 6ish. Yes, that is how long lunch can be ….

tuna-tostada

Oyster Bar in Mexico City? Definitely!! La Docena Oyster Bar has an impressive array of seafood choices and these oysters were so fresh and sweet we had 2 plates. Incredibly delightful and this plate of raw oysters probably cost about the same as a small plate of chicken wings at home. The crunchy oysters on top of the salad were a perfect crouton, and the sandwich a treat.

oyster-bar

Reforma is one of the busiest streets, and yet every Sunday morning they close it to vehicle traffic and it is full of Mexican families out exercising, bike riding, roller blading or doing dance classes. Such a great idea, and I just wish we thought to do that in some of our major cities as well.

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Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are much loved in all of Mexico, and the museums dedicated to their lives and art are plentiful. This particular one is in San Angel, which is a beautiful neighbourhood in the city, very artsy and upscale. Saturday market holds some of the most tempting pieces you will find anywhere.

necklaces made of ribbon and corn or beans

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Every neighbourhood has a spot like this to sit and enjoy peace and quiet.

The Frida and Diego museum is actually one of their former homes- in this case they each had their own home, created by an architect friend. See the walkway above to join the two? Small bedrooms but huge art studios! (Frida’s house was the blue one, no surprise there, given the Blue House Museum in Coyoacan)

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Diego’s art studio sits as he left it ….. fullsizeoutput_476a

Time for another snack in the park ….

Well, it’s taken me some time to get this blog on Mexico City completed, but it is time to move on to the beach at Puerto Escondido. We always seem to find a lot to do in DF, so I’m sure we will be back.

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