In my quest to prepare cuisines from all over the world, I bring you a dish that’s origins are disputed. Today’s dish will be Chicken tikka masala. This dish is said to hail from India or, surprisingly, the U.K. When I ask culinary friends they are divided on its origin, so I’ll do some research myself.  Read the rest of this entry →

My idea for this dish came from a shopping trip where I had seen these cool black plates. I wasn’t going to purchase them because for most of the meals I post I would rather have a white plate (to show more detail on the food itself) but my girlfriend gave me an idea. These plates were screaming for a good Asian dish! She specifically requested sesame cold noodles. I had never made that before — or even tasted it! But I must say this dish was absolutely delicious.  I chose Japanese Soba noodles instead of Chinese egg noodles. We found the Soba to be heartier and more satisfying, and the combination of the sesame oil, peanut butter and other spices cooked into the sauce was just plain amazing. Because we wanted a little protein with dinner, I cooked up some Asian-style chicken wings (since I always have wings in the freezer). I have soft spot for any style of chicken wings, and these had just the punch I was looking for. You should marinate these wings overnight, but at least no less than 4 hours for the best flavor. Now lets De-Construct some Asian cuisine

For the Noodles you will need:

• 1/2 lb Japanese Soba noodles
• 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon red chili paste,
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons hot water
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
• Cucumber slices, for garnish
• Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

For the Wings:

• 2 pounds chicken wings (exclude wing tips)
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped finely
• 3 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• Canola oil, for deep-frying
• 2/3 cup regular rice flour or cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce, homemade or purchased
• 1 tablespoon chopped scallion, green part only chopped cilantro and/or mint for garnish

Ok lets get those noodles done first:

Cook the noodles in large pot of boiling unsalted water over medium heat until barely tender and still firm. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain the noodles really well and transfer to a wide bowl; toss with the sesame oil so they don’t stick together.

In a small saucepan, heat the peanut oil over medium-low flame. Add the green onions, ginger, garlic, and chili paste. Cook and stir for a minute until soft and fragrant. Mix in the brown sugar, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, and hot water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the peanut butter has smoothed out. Toss the noodles with the peanut sauce until well coated. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with the sesame seeds, cucumber slices, and cilantro.

Now on to those wings!

First cut your wings into drumettes

In a small bowl, combine the garlic and water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Position a mesh strainer over a bowl, and pour the garlic water through to strain. Press on the solids to extract as much garlic water as possible.

Add the fish sauce, light brown sugar, sugar and pepper. Stir to dissolve. Transfer to a plastic bag, add the chicken wings, and refrigerate for4 hours, or overnight.

Remove the chicken wings from the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before frying to remove some of the chill. Drain the chicken wings from the marinade and blot dry with paper towel. Reserve the marinade! Have the rice flour ready in a small bowl.

Pour the oil to a depth of 1 1/2 inches into a saucepan, wok, or deep skillet. Heat to about 360°F.
lightly dredge each wing in rice flour, patting off the excess. Put the reserved marinade and chile garlic sauce in a large skillet and set it on the stove.

Fry the wings in batches until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towel. 6. Heat the reserved marinade until bubbly and slightly syrupy. Add the freshly fried wings and stir, turn, and coat in the syrup, which will turn sticky as it reduces and clings to the wings. Add a splash of water  to dilute the glazy bits in the skillet and get them to coat the wings. There should be no liquid left when you’re done coating.

Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with the scallions. Bon appetit!

lemon-chicken-fettuccine

Lemon Chicken Fettuccine

I was looking for a very tasty yet simple meal to make for dinner one night, something that would take few ingredients and even less time . This simple pasta dish is bright with lemon, the chicken fried crispy and the whole dish made my taste buds Pop. It was satisfying, and very damn good. Time to De-Construct this dish!

1 lb skinless Chicken breast
3 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium to large-sized garlic clove, peeled and minced or crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
9 – 10 ½ oz  fresh fettuccine
A few tablespoons flour seasoned with salt and pepper for dusting the chicken
1/4 cup Olive oil for browning meat
3 medium shallots, chopped
2  medium cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
Juice of 1 lemon, maybe 3 – 4 Tbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley

Begin this dish early in the day if preparing for dinner or the night before if preparing for lunch. Clean, rinse and pat dry the chicken and cut into very large chunks, place all the chicken in a bowl just big enough to hold them all. Pour the 3 tablespoons lemon juice, the 1 tablespoon olive oil and the minced garlic over the chicken. Salt and pepper , stir so all the chicken is coated in the liquid, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to marinate all day, overnight or at least for several hours. The chicken marinated like this will not only be infused with lemon flavor but once cooked it will be tender and moist.

Once the chicken has marinated, take the bowl out of the fridge and remove the chicken pieces from the marinade. Start a pot with water for the pasta. Salt the water once it comes to a boil.

Heat up about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Toss the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour to coat then shake off the excess flour. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken (you may need to do this in batches as you do no want to crowd them) and allow to cook until the pan side is golden brown and crispy. Turn the pieces over to brown on the other side. Add more olive oil to the pan as needed. As the chicken pieces turn golden brown all over, remove them to a plate.

Cook your pasta in the salted boiling water as you prepare the chicken and sauce. Keep watch over it and drain it when it is done. Place it in a large serving bowl.

Once all of the chicken is browned, quickly wipe out the skillet with paper towels then add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil to the hot skillet. Add the chopped shallots and garlic and, stirring cook them until they are wilted, tender and caramelizing around the edges, about 2 or 3 minutes. Pour the chicken stock and juice of one lemon over the cooked shallots and garlic. Salt and pepper. Add the peas and lower the heat to allow the broth to simmer for a few minutes until the peas are cooked and tender and the broth and juice are reduced to about half. Carefully add the chicken pieces to the broth just to heat through.

Pour the sauce with the peas and chicken over the cooked pasta and toss gently so the pasta is sauced and the chicken and peas are evenly distributed. Sprinkle the chopped fresh cilantro or parsley over the top to toss as you serve.