Sach Moan Char Swai

Why make the same old boring stir-fry when you can have chicken stir fry with mango?!

This dish is simply succulent! The crisp beans, lush mango, sticky sweet sauce, it's got it all. And, simple, too! With all the chopping, dredging, mixing, etc., the prep work takes longer than it cooks! But, the effort is absolutely worth it. (By the way, the site where I found this recipe has loads more, so see what else sounds good!)

This dinner is not a heavy lift, by any means. And, it's easy on the wallet. I only used two chicken breasts, instead of wings (hence, the name change) and had plenty of leftovers. Give it a try! You won't be sorry.

Here's how I made it:

1 cup warm water
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" chunks
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 onion, sliced
2 jalapenos, minced
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed
1 mango, peeled and sliced
Canola oil

Mix together the water, cornstarch, sugar, and soy and oyster sauces and set aside. In a separate bowl, dredge the chicken with the flours, garlic, salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add some oil and brown the chicken till golden brown on all sides, in batches if needed. Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm. In the same pan, saute the onion, jalapenos and green beans for a couple minutes till they begin to soften. Add the chicken back to the pan and pour in the sauce. Just before you're ready to serve, gently stir in the mango and allow to heat through.

Serve over your favorite rice, and enjoy!

Week #24: Cambodia

Angkor Wat

We're headed to the Kingdom of Cambodia in southeast Asia this week!

Now, fair warning: I seem to have an excess of chicken in the freezer, so I'm going to be using that in the recipes I prepare. Most likely, I'll find recipes that use other proteins which I can easily replace with chicken, but one I've already found doesn't lend itself to that swap.

Amok, which is purportedly the country's national dish, preferably is made with catfish. Given the other flavorings in the dish, I don't think chicken would work. So, I've linked to it here so perhaps you can try it yourself!

I hope to squeeze in three dinners this week, as is always my goal, but I've got a packed schedule yet again. (Will this crazy busy summer ever slow down?!)

So, fingers crossed... I'll do my best!

BBQ Spareribs

Happy Independence Day, everybody!

Be safe as you celebrate America's 236th birthday and, as George Washington said, "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."

It's also National Barbecued Spareribs Day, so I fired up the grill and cooked some, low and slow. I'm not sure I achieved all the milestones described throughout that site - like the "highly prized smoke ring" - but they were finger-licking good!

I removed the membrane from the back side of the ribs. You don't have to, since it won't interfere too much with eating them, but it's easy enough to do and worth the few seconds it takes. Then, I coated the ribs with some chipotle oil and a liberal shake of BBQ spice rub.

Since I have a gas grill, I put a foil pouch with damp (not soaked) hickory chips on the bottom below the flames, set a disposable foil lasagna pan filled about two-thirds full with water on top of the grates, and perched the ribs on a cooling rack above the water. Then, I carefully monitored the heat for the first half hour to make sure it stayed around 225F.

Over the next three hours, I only eyed the thermometer to make sure the temp was steady, not once opening that grill. At that point, I turned up the heat and slathered on some of my favorite sauce to get the ribs good and sticky. In the end, I was rewarded with tender, juicy, perfectly cooked ribs.

Unfortunately, that's all the cooking I can do this week. We've got a bunch of leftovers to get through, and we're heading out for a family wedding celebration over the weekend, so I don't want to cook food we won't be able to eat.

If you feel like taking over from here, Thursday is National Apple Turnover Day, Friday is National Fried Chicken Day and Saturday is National Strawberry Sundae Day.

Cheers!

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

It's National Eat Beans Day, folks! For me, that meant one thing on a gorgeous summer day: homemade black bean burgers.

There are several recipes out there, so I reviewed a bunch and then came up with my own. Yes, that's right, this recipe is a Ticket to Bite original. I gave them some smoke and spice and they turned out awesome, if I say so myself! It's quite hot, so I cooked them indoors on a grill pan, which worked perfectly - got those nice grill marks and everything! We loaded on our favorite toppings and condiments, toasted some buns and chowed down. (If you're curious, my wife had roasted red pepper, provolone, ketchup and yellow mustard on hers, while I opted for spicy pickle relish, grilled onions, provolone and honey mustard on mine.)

Trust me, these burgers couldn't be simpler and they are delish! Hearty, low fat, packed with protein, this is a quick, meatless weeknight dinner you won't want to skip.

Here's how I made them:

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 shallot, minced
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chipotle
1/4 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp smoked salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Mash the beans in a bowl to the desired consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and form into 4 patties about 3/4" thick. Saute in a grill pan with a little oil (or throw them on the grill) till heated through.

Sweet Spiced Chicken w/ Anisette

It took some hunting, but I'm happy to report I found an entree that uses anisette liqueur! The lion's share of recipes that use anisette are baked goods, and many meals use star anise - the actual spice it's made with - but not the liqueur. Thankfully, Food & Wine magazine published a chicken dish seven years ago that fit the bill and is still online!

It's a very tasty recipe, folks. The anisette and spices, which I typically associate with baking and the holidays, are delicious on chicken. I paired it with mixed veggies and couscous and ended up with a delicious dinner!

I turned the heat under the chicken down to medium/medium-low after browning the first side, and the sauce caramelized a bit which made it even more yummy. The measurements for the spices seem very slight, but don't fret - there's plenty of flavor in this dish and no need to boost those amounts.

Don't worry about heating up the kitchen either, since the chicken cooks quickly. Here's how I made it:

Olive oil
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 water
1 Tbsp anisette liqueur
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch each of ground cloves and ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Saute the chicken for 3-4 minutes till golden brown, seasoning the top side with the salt and pepper. Meantime, mix the wine, water and anisette in one small bowl and th cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in another.

When the chicken is ready, flip it over, lower the heat a little, add the garlic and begin to brown the other side. After the garlic cooks a little, add the anisette mixture into the pan, cover and simmer till the chicken is cooked through and the sauce reduces and thickens. Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!

Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day

It's too darn hot to cook and we're not very hungry, so we decided to have a light snack for supper. Ice cream!

After a quick ride, we turned in to Bumpy's Polar Freeze in Schenectady. Why there? They have 101 flavors of soft-serve ice cream, people!

You won't find chocolate-covered bacon or sushi-flavored goodies here, but there's still lots of choices you won't typically find. I ended up with Key Lime Pie soft-serve in a waffle cone, and it cost less than $3. Also tempting? Coconut, Rum Raisin, Red Velvet and Elvis (that'd be peanut butter and banana, thank-yuh-very-muuuch).

Oh, and if you feel like you've overindulged, just take their bumper boats for a spin. You'll feel much better.

Week #23: National Food Holidays

Greetings, gals and pals! In honor of our nation's birthday, I decided to focus on this week's American food holidays.

Now, the first week of July is National Canned Luncheon Meat Week but, alas, I won't be preparing any meals made with Spam.

Today, July 1st, is both National Gingersnap Day (my faves!) and Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day. Recently, I had some AMAZING ginger ice cream at Lewis Brothers Homemade Ice Cream in Provincetown, MA. It was unbelivably creamy, studded with lots of crystalized ginger, and incredibly delicious, so if you visit that wonderful city "like nowhere else" anytime soon and it's on the specials board, you absolutely must give it a try!

July 2nd is National Anisette Day, so I'll have to see what I can come up with there... Anisette liqueur is easy to incorporate into baking, coffee or a dessert, but I'll try to find a delectable dinner entree that uses it.

Stay tuned!

Zeljanica

I had a hard time choosing my third Bosnian recipe, mainly because they ones I found take a lot of time to make, which I'm kind of short on these days. Eventually, I settled on a spinach and cheese zeljanica burek that reminds me very much of Greek spanakopita.

I found a slightly different version of this pie that used feta cheese, so my version is actually a blend of the two. It does take a while to make - I think that's a given with any recipe that uses filo - but it's definitely worth the effort. I'll spare you the mechanics of dealing with filo and leave that fun for you to discover if you aren't already familiar with it. Once you've got the knack for it, you end up with a creamy and tangy and truly satisfying meal.

Here's how I made it:

olive oil
1/2 package filo pastry
2 bags washed fresh spinach, blanched
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream, divided
1/2 lb ricotta cheese
7 oz feta cheese
1/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, blend the eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, ricotta and feta till smooth. Add in the spinach (squeeze out any excess water).

Layer about 5-6 sheets of filo in the bottom of a 13x9 pan and brush them with olive oil. Spread some of the spinach mixture over the filo. Repeat until the mixture is gone and end with filo on top.

Bake for 30 minutes. mix together the remaining 1/4 cup of sour cream with the milk, pour it over the top of the pie and bake for another 10 minutes.

The Secret Garden

If you're in the Utica area and want to sample some of the local Bosnian cuisine, stop by The Secret Garden restaurant on Culver Ave. It's highly recommended by one of the Bosnian nurses to whom this week's cooking is dedicated!

Coincidentally, she dined there just the other day and ordered cevapi, my first Bosnian creation! Glad to know my traditional selection was legit!

You'll enjoy recipes from Italy, Germany and other eastern European countries at Secret Garden, so next time you're not in the mood to cook, head there instead!

Cevapi with Ajvar, Yogurt & Shopska Salata

Drawing upon Middle Eastern influences in Bosnian cuisine, tonight's dinner features grilled meat kabobs with some traditional garnishes and sides.

Cevapi are a mixture of beef, pork and lamb mixed with simple seasonings that don't overpower the flavors of the meats. Ajvar is a puree of roasted eggplant and red bell peppers, with garlic, lemon, parsley and other spices. The chopped shopska salad is made with 4 fresh Roma tomatoes and 2 green bell peppers. And, I drained some plain Chobani yogurt, just to remove any excess water and make it extra thick. We enjoyed all that goodness with some naan bread.

It took me a while to get my act together and cook, and still I was eating by 6:30 - not bad! Even if you're only slightly adept at multi-tasking in the kitchen, you too can pull this dinner together quickly and easily.

Here's how I made it:

Ajvar:
1 large purple eggplant
3 red bell peppers
1 small onion
1 head of garlic (but only use 3 cloves for this recipe)
1 lemon, juiced
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Cevapi:
3 lbs ground meat (I used lamb, beef and pork)
2 slices bacon, rolled together, frozen and grated
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
2 cloves roasted garlic, minced
1/2 cup seltzer
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
3 tsp dried parsley
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

For the ajvar, grill the eggplant, peppers, onion (rubbed with a little olive oil) and garlic (put the skinned cloves in a foil pouch with a little olive oil) over high flame till the skin is blackened and they're very soft. Cook's Note: The garlic won't take nearly as long to roast as the veggies, so put the pouch over indirect heat to prevent burning. When done, put the veggies in a bowl and cover with cling wrap till they cool enough to handle. Then, remove the charred skin and seeds and place the cooked flesh into a food processer. Add the remaining ingredients and blend till smooth.

Meanwhile, combine all the cevapi ingredients in a large bowl and mix well by hand. Shape the mixture into oblong patties about an inch in diameter. Grill over medium flame till nicely browned on all sides and cooked through.