Thai Food Birthday Extravaganza

Today we had a family gathering to celebrate the kids birthdays. Ashley and Zach will be 21 on Oct. 20 and Crystal will be 23 on Nov. 3. Everyone, of course, requested Thai food. I thought I'd share another Thai recipe and a few pics...

Made homemade Thai Eggrolls, Toy's Chicken PotPic, boneless as requested by Zach

and Fried Beef as requested by Ashley and Crystal.

The rice on the left is sticky or glutinious rice and goes with the fried beef. On the right is jasmine rice for the pot pic.
My Birthday Babies ~ Zach, Crystal and Ashley


Grandma Toy's Pot Pic

2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces 1 Tbs fresh grated ginger
8 – 10 cloves garlic, peeled 10 -15 Thai peppers
1 tsp. chicken/onion/garlic spice mix* 2 Tbs. oil
1 can bamboo shoots 1 Tbs. fish sauce
1 Tbs. Sugar


Add ginger, garlic, peppers, ginger and spice mix to a food processor and combine until smooth, adding a little water to make a paste. Add mix to medium size cooker and cook on medium high till water is evaporated. Add 2 Tbs. oil and cook a minute. Add chicken and stir to coat. Cook on medium till chicken is no longer pink. Add bamboo shoots, fish sauce and sugar. Serve with hot jasmine rice.

* The chicken/onion/garlic spice mix is available at Asian markets. All the words on the package are in Thai so I call it chicken/onion garlic spice mix. Could substitute by using equal parts chicken buillion, onion powder and granulated garlic.

PS. I almost forgot to say thanks to Jenny and Jonathan for always talking about the deliciousness that is pan sludge. Today, the best part of my whole meal was the pan goo from the Fried Beef. omg.

Recipe: the Southern Orleans

The recipe for this cocktail came from a man named Charles Portera, but you'd better not call him that--he's The Diva, baby.  He tends bar at the Court of Two Sisters, right between Bourbon and Royal Street; we met him during an excellent Cocktail Tour, and went back to visit several times during our stay.  You'll definitely know when you've met The Diva; he's prone to exclamations like, "Woo, you see that waiter over there? Honey, if I wasn't married, I'd be all over him like gravy on rice."

This cocktail took the top prize at Tales of the Cocktail, the annual gathering of cocktail nerds in NOLA. (It's going on right now, in fact, and reading the blog posts from down there hurts me.) This feat is even more impressive when you consider that The Diva has never actually tasted the drink--in fact, he hasn't had a drink in fifteen years.

I'm not big on pre-made sour mix, so I replaced it with a mix of about 1/3 fresh lemon juice and 2/3 bar syrup (that is, equal parts sugar and water heated up until it dissolves).  Seemed about right.  Ordinarily you don't put fizzy ingredients in the cocktail shaker, but since the fizz isn't really a factor here, it works.

Southern Orleans

1 oz Southern Comfort
2/3 oz lemon sour mix
2/3 oz Champagne (The Diva specifies Korbel)
1/4 oz Grenadine
1 sugar cube
1 lime wheel

Place the sugar cube in a cocktail (martini) glass.  Put the SoCo, bubbly, and lemon sour mix in your shaker with clean ice, and shake.  (Remember: horizontal, over the shoulder, fifty hard shakes.)

Strain into the glass with the sugar cube.  Pour the grenadine straight down through the middle of the drink.  Do not stir.  Garnish with the lime wedge.  Raise to The Diva.

Recipe: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

The dish I made on the show is Cajun, or brown, jambalaya, as opposed to red Creole jambalaya.  It gets its color and a lot of flavor from deeply browning the proteins and onions and deglazing the pans with bits of water, so you really don't want to skimp on those steps.

You also really have to use homemade stock for this.

I'll try to post this exactly as I did it on the show, since it came out really damn good.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Inspired by Donald Link's Real Cajun

5 chicken leg quarters
2 pounds andouille or other Cajun-style sausage (mine were Louisiana Hot Links from Whole Foods), 1/2" slice
3 large Vidalia onions, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups rice
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning (can't say how much)

The night before, thoroughly dry chicken leg quarters and dust generously with Tony's.  Roast in the oven for an hour or so until they're good and done. (Don't worry about overcooking it. This is dark meat.) Let these cool and shred the meat from the bones; also chop the skin into small pieces.

In a non-nonstick skillet over medium heat, add half of the sausage.  Pour off most of the fat as it renders out.  Brown the sausage thoroughly, and when brown bits form in the pan deglaze it with a little bit of water.  Pour the water into the plate that will eventually hold the sausage.  Remove the sausage to the plate, deglaze one more time, and repeat with the other pound of sausage.

Meanwhile, heat up some peanut oil in a large Dutch oven (cast iron, ideally) over medium-high heat and add the onions.  Cook, stirring, for 45 minutes or so.  Deglaze the pan via the same process as above, but just stir the brown liquid into the onions.

Add the peppers and celery and saute for about five minutes.  Add garlic and saute for about one more minute.  Add the sausage (and brown juice), the chicken, and the stock.  Season generously with Tony's.  Bring to a boil.

Add rice, give it a stir, and let it boil uncovered for a few minutes.  Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stopping to "turn" the jambalaya periodically--fold the jambalaya up from the bottom gently.  (You don't want to break up the rice.)  Turn off the heat and let it sit covered for another ten minutes or so.

Serve with Tabasco, crusty bread, and lots of cold beer.

Recipe: Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup

As prepared on tonight's show!

Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup
Adapted from Live To Cook by Michael Symon.  Hat tip to The Amateur Gourmet for bringing it my way.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt
6 small garlic cloves, sliced
1 28-oz can Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes, with their juice
1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock
3/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sriracha sauce (or to taste)
3/4 cup blue cheese (give or take)
Salt, pepper

Sweat the onion in olive oil with a pinch of salt over low heat for 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or so, then add the chicken stock, tomatoes, Sriacha, more salt and pepper, and the cream.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or so without vigorously boiling.

Add the blue cheese and blend it up in a blender or with a stick blender until uniform.  Adjust the seasonings.  Pour it through a strainer if you like, but I never have.

Serve with warm, crusty bread.  This is essential.

Recipe: Roast Chicken with Garlic Confit

ROAST CHICKEN WITH GARLIC CONFIT

As prepared on the show. You could easily halve the recipe, and you could use any chicken parts you like.

This was based on a recipe from the dearly departed Gourmet:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Chicken-with-Garlic-Confit-109107

FOR THE CONFIT:
24 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
2 cups olive oil
Few sprigs thyme (whole)

In a saucepan, heat the oil over very low heat. Add a garlic clove and the thyme sprigs. If the garlic bubbles for 5 minutes or so but doesn't turn brown, add the rest of the cloves. Cook for about 30 minutes. DO NOT LET IT BROWN!

Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and add to a bowl along with 2 tbsp of the oil. Mash with a fork until it is a paste. Set aside until the chicken is ready.

FOR THE CHICKEN
8 chicken thighs (1 family pack)
6 chicken legs (1 regular pack)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Melt the butter and olive oil together. Put the chicken on a roasting rack, brush with butter-oil mixture, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

Take the chicken out and slather some garlic confit on each piece, getting under the skin if you can. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes. Eat.