Chicken Teriyaki

On cold wet days, I crave chicken teriyaki and while it's not as cold as it has been, it is a damp/wet cold so I decided to use a Cooks Illustrated's recipe. It was easy and delicious. I served it with rice and some snow peas sauteed with a little oil and soy sauce - Greg added the Sapporo.



Stovetop Chicken Teriyaki
Mirin, a sweet Japanese rice wine, is a key component of teriyaki; it can be found in the international section of most major supermarkets and in most Asian markets. If you cannot find it, use 2 tablespoons white wine and an extra teaspoon of sugar. If desired, low-sodium soy sauce can be used in place of regular soy sauce.

Ingredients
8bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 5 ounces each), trimmed, boned, and skin slashed (see illustrations below)

Table salt and ground black pepper

1/2cup soy sauce

1/2cup sugar

1/2teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1clove garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)

2tablespoons mirin

1/2teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

1. Pat chicken dry chicken with paper towels, then season with pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just beginning to smoke. Place chicken skin side down in skillet; set heavy pot filled with three or four 28-ounce cans on top of chicken. Cook until skin is deep brown and very crisp, 16 to 20 minutes, checking browning after 10 minutes and adjusting heat as needed. Meanwhile, whisk soy sauce, sugar, mirin, ginger, garlic, and cornstarch together in small bowl.

2. Remove cans from skillet; using tongs, flip chicken thighs. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, without weight, until second sides are brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of thigh (not touching bone) registers about 175 degrees, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to serving platter.

3. Pour off fat from skillet. Whisk soy mixture to recombine, then add to skillet; bring to simmer over medium heat. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet; turn to coat chicken with sauce. Turn chicken skin side up and simmer until sauce is thick and glossy, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to serving platter; transfer sauce to small bowl and serve, passing sauce separately.

Indian Comfort Food

Still snowed in, I decided to try out the Tandoori Chicken recipe in this month's Cooks Illustrated and paired it with Indian Baked Rice. It was fine and tasted very Indian but not particularly like Tandoori to me - I like my Epicurious Tandoori Chicken better. Greg liked the rice, but I think there must be a better recipe out there.

This is a lot of brown food and next time I need to find something to add a bit of color. Adding some naan bread and mango chutney would turn this into a dinner party worthy meal.

When the weather gets tough

the tough get cooking. Another attempt to stave off the cabin fever was these date cookies - I am not a huge fan of dates but you can't really taste them, they just add some sweetness and moisture. They are Greg's mom's recipe so I am not going to post it here, but it is available upon request. These are much better than they look or similar type cookies I've had other places and 36 hours later, they were gone!

When I bite into a Huey Peppermint Patty...

I get the sensation of being in stuck in a house for three days when it is 25 degrees out! This is a recipe that has been in my 'to try' binder for awhile and with all this unexpected extra time on my hands, I tackled them. They turned out pretty good, but I am not sure that buying them in the store isn't an easier route.

Peppermint Patties Gourmet December 2007

Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez and Lillian Chou The bracing blend of peppermint enrobed in bittersweet chocolate is one of the best—and most refreshing—candy combinations going, and homemade versions of these popular patties are leagues better than anything you'll find in a foil wrapper. Here, we've tempered the chocolate to give it a beautiful sheen and to prevent the coating from developing a bloom at room temperature. Yield: Makes about 4 dozen candies Active Time: 1 1/2 hr Total Time: 2 1/2 hr (includes setting time) 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (less than 1 pound), divided 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1 1/2 tablespoons water 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (preferably trans-fat-free) 10 ounces 70%-cacao bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped Equipment: a 1-inch round cookie cutter; a digital instant-read thermometer Make filling: Beat 2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar with corn syrup, water, peppermint extract, shortening, and a pinch of salt using an electric mixer (with paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) at medium speed until just combined. Knead on a work surface dusted with remaining 1/4 cup confectioners (I had to add almost another cup of powdered sugar to get it dry enough to be able roll it out) sugar until smooth. Roll out between sheets of parchment paper on a large baking sheet into a 7- to 8-inch round (less than 1/4 inch thick). Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Remove top sheet of paper and sprinkle round with confectioners sugar. Replace top sheet, then flip round over and repeat sprinkling on other side.

Penne alla Vodka

As round two of snow approached I rushed to the store and stood in lines 20 people deep to get some makings for a penne alla vodka to warm up a cold night. I ususally make this without the pancetta, and I forgot to buy basil at the store, but it was still pretty good and was a perfect compliment to a night of Love Actually and playing in the snow.

So that the sauce and pasta finish cooking at the same time, drop the pasta into boiling water just after adding the vodka to the sauce. If possible, use premium vodka; inexpensive brands will taste harsh in this sauce. Pepper vodka imparts a pleasant flavor and can be substituted for plain.

Ingredients

1	(28 ounce) can whole tomatoes , drained, liquid reserved
1	tablespoon olive oil
3	ounces pancetta , thinly sliced, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
1/2	small onion , minced (about 1/4 cup)
1	tablespoon tomato paste
2	medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1/4-1/2	teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (I used 1/2 t and it was pretty spicy, will do 1/3t next time)
	Table salt
1/3	cup vodka
1/2	cup heavy cream
1	pound penne pasta
2	tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
	Grated Parmesan cheese , for serving

Instructions

1. 1. Puree half of tomatoes in food processor until smooth. Dice remaining tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces, discarding cores. Combine pureed and diced tomatoes in liquid measuring cup (you should have about 1 2/3 cups). Add reserved liquid to equal 2 cups.

2. 2. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering, add pancetta and cook until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to small bowl and set aside. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from the pan. Add onion and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are light golden around edges, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and pepper flakes; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. 3. Stir in tomatoes and pinch of salt. Remove pan from heat and add vodka. Return pan to medium-high heat and simmer briskly until alcohol flavor is cooked off, 8 to 10 minutes; stir frequently and lower heat to medium if simmering becomes too vigorous. Stir in cream and cook until hot, about 1 minute.

4. 4. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta. Cook until just shy of al dente, then drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water, and transfer pasta back to Dutch oven. Add sauce to pasta and toss over medium heat until pasta absorbs some of sauce, 1 to 2 minutes, adding reserved cooking water if sauce is too thick. Stir in basil and reserved pancetta and adjust seasoning with salt. Divide among pasta bowls and serve immediately, passing Parmesan separately

Cooks Illustraded Serves 4. Published November 1, 2006

Favorite Seattle Restaurants

I caveat this post with the fact we've only being back for 6 weeks, so I am sure there are some hot new spots out there and some old favorites may have gone down hill, but this is the list as it stands for now.

TOP TEN
- Crow
- Tavolata
- Matt's In the Market
- Monsoon
- Via Tribunali
- Wild Ginger (duck and beans at the bar is a great way to refuel from a day of shopping)
- Nishino
- Lark
- Canlis
- 35th St. Bistro

Favorite Chinese - Lee's Chinese (West Seattle)
Favorite Sushi - Nishino when we are feeling rich and Kitsaku (Tangletown)
Favorite Mexican - Carta Oxaca
Favorite Wine Bar - Portalis
Favorite Thai - Orapin

Christmas Party 2008

We hosted this year's Christmas Party with the wine group. I was a bit worried that after 18 months of next to no entertaining I would have lost my groove, but it all worked out pretty well.

The menu:

- Blood Orange French 75 (good, but probably won't make again as it wasn't all that interesting)
- Gourgeres (My French friend Julliette's recipe which are always a hit)
- Sausage rolls (Barfoot Contessa's recipe)
- Meatballs (Sous Chef Greg's recipe from GQ Magazine)
- Veggie tray with hummus (Nicole's recipe)
- Cheese tray
- Ginger spicy pecans (A Martha recipe that is another favorite)


For dessert we had Amy's famous cookies and adult style root beer floats - basically a root beer granita with reduced rootbeer as a syrup and ice cream. The recipe was out of Bon Appetit and was good, might make it again in the summer time. It was easy and is good from a make ahead perspective.