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One Day Café

~ good eats from a small kitchen

One Day Café

Tag Archives: chicken

Recipe: Spicy Thai Noodles with Plums & Bok Choy

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Anonymous in entrees, recipes

≈ Comments Off on Recipe: Spicy Thai Noodles with Plums & Bok Choy

Tags

bok choy, chicken, dinner, food, healthy, nectarines, noodles, pasta, plums, recipe, salad, spicy, stone fruit, Thai

Thai Noodles with Plums & Bok Choy

Mmm, such a tasty summer entree. This recipe has survived dinner parties from Chicago to Buenos Aires, and every time I make it, it’s a bit different based on what’s in-season and what ingredients I have access to. In Buenos Aires, the wide variety of ethnic food products we’re accustomed to in the United States was immensely narrowed down, but with a little creativity (and a heavy hand with the not-spicy spices) I made it work.

The flavors and textures in this dish are unexpected and fresh. It’s a combination of juicy stone fruit, slightly bitter bok choy and slurp-worthy noodles tossed in a peppery-sweet sauce with a spicy kick. If spicy’s not your thing, omit the cayenne pepper and go easy on the crushed red pepper. I tend to use whole grain angel hair or soba noodles, but ramen or rice noodles would work well, too. And I grab whatever stone fruit looks most appealing. Nectarines work really well, but these plums were too pretty to pass up.

This is another oldie but a goodie adapted from Better Homes & Gardens.

Thai Noodles Closeup

SPICY THAI NOODLES WITH PLUMS & BOK CHOY

1 lb. chicken tenderloins

4 ounces of noodles

1/4 cup chicken stock

3 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 Tablespoons hoison sauce

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 nectarines and/or plums, sliced

one bunch of bok choy

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Cook the tenderloins in a small amount of boiling water in a large skillet, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain and cool slightly, then slice against the grain. Cook noodles according to package directions. While the pasta’s cooking, whisk together the chicken stock, soy sauce, hoison sauce, sugar, olive oil, sesame oil, ginger, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper and black pepper in a small bowl. Drain the cooked pasta, rinse in cool water and toss it with about 3/4 of the dressing. Divide the pasta up on your serving plates, and top with chicken, fruit, bok choy and green onions. Drizzle with the remaining dressing.

Recipe: Paella Mixta

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by Anonymous in entrees, recipes

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

chicken, chorizo, Madrid, paella, seafood, Spanish food, tapas, Valencia

For the longest time, to me, Spanish food meant tapas and tapas only. Baked goat cheese in tomato sauce, calamari a la plancha, sautéed mushrooms, pinxtos…what’s not to love? I’d always been so firmly focused on the small plates, I never bothered exploring the array of more filling options. And after staring down the beady-eyed shrimp topping my first paella during a trip to Madrid, I wasn’t quite sure that I was up for the challenge.

But once I got past my fear of picking apart the little creatures, I was on a mission to learn to make paella at home. It just seemed a little overwhelming, what with hunting down the special pan, special rice, special who the hell knew what else. So being the thoughtful man he is, upon our return to Chicago Gaspar made us reservations at Café Ba-Ba-Reeba’s paella cooking demo. Of course, I suspect he was thinking about how he could benefit from me learning to make paella, as much as he was thinking about making me a happy lady. For anyone living in the area, I wholeheartedly recommend signing up for the class. It’s reasonably priced, includes lunch and vino, and they sell super convenient paella kits. For the rest of you, check out La Tienda for kits or individual ingredients.

Once you gather the key items, you will get plenty of use out of them. Trust me. The first must is a paella pan. The pans are shallow and have sloping sides, which helps the rice cook evenly and develop a more intense flavor. In addition to the proper pan, it’s important to use high-quality paella rice. Calasparra or Bomba rice is the best. These are classic short grain varieties grown in Spain that are super absorbent, expand in width when cooked, and maintain their separate shape without becoming creamy or sticky. Then there’s the saffron, which gives the paella its rich yellow color and an additional depth of flavor. I also consider the sweet smoky Spanish paprika a must.

Beyond these key ingredients, I tend to mix it up, and you should too. Chicken, monkfish, rabbit, chorizo, shrimp, mussels, peas, red peppers…whatever strikes your fancy.

Real, Valencian paella is almost always cooked over an open fire, which helps it develop the delicious socarrat, a caramelized crust of rice. I’m not really in the proper situation to be cooking over open flames, so my methods are modified accordingly and sadly, that means no socarrat. But if you have the time, patience and equipment for it, you can cook the paella either over an open flame or completely on the stovetop, rotating it often. Whichever way you choose, tranqui, it’ll still be delicious.

This version is adapted from the recipe for Arroz el Principe in Paella Cookbook from Café Ba-Ba-Reeba.

PAELLA MIXTA

4 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 pound (approx. 1/4 kilo) dark meat chicken, diced

Seafood of choice (I recommend 15 raw shrimp or 1/2 pound shelled mussels)

1/4 pound hard Spanish-style chorizo sausage, diced

2 tsp. garlic, minced

1 tsp. sweet pimentón (paprika)

3 ounces tomato puree

1 can peas

1 1/4 cup Calasparra or Bomba rice

3 threads saffron

4 cups chicken stock

salt, to taste

Before you start, I recommend prepping all the ingredients. The cooking process goes pretty quickly, so it’s best to have everything on hand.

Heat the olive oil in your paella pan over medium heat, and sauté the chicken until golden brown. Add the garlic, sweet pimentón, tomato puree, peas and chorizo. Then add the rice, stirring so that the grains are thoroughly coated with the oil mixture. Finally, add the saffron and chicken stock. Turn heat to low. Continue to cook until 1/4 of the liquid is reduced. Add the seafood, without stirring the rice (I just sort of tuck/dunk the seafood into the mixture, so as not to disturb the rice too much). Season with salt and bring to a boil. Place in the oven at 350° Fahrenheit for 15 – 20 minutes. Before serving, let it rest for a few minutes, covered with brown paper or foil, so that the rice absorbs the liquid completely and the outside edges crisp.

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