Barbecued Thai Chicken

They're Firing Up the Grill with Jamie Oliver over at I Heart Cooking Clubs!

So I while I was looking for recipes I found more than a few that I couldn't resist. For starters, Caprese Salad with Grilled Peppers, Jamie's very nice twist on the classic. Simple enough with a nice grilled flavor from the peppers. Loved it! And Barbecued Thai Chicken. Fresh lemongrass is not the easiest to find here, sometimes I manage, and when I do find it, I freeze a few stalks so I'll have it. And this recipe seemed like the perfect one to go with to use up those last few precious stalks from the freezer. Now the hunt begins again for more.

Barbecued Thai Chicken
Source: original recipe can be found at JamieOliver.com
Adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

8 chicken legs (I removed the skin. You can use other parts as well)
a bunch of fresh cilantro (save some on the side for garnish)
2 sticks of lemon grass
zest and juice of 2 limes
1 jalapeno
2 tablespoons olive oil
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, peeled

Add the lemongrass stalks to a food processor all of the ingredients and whizz to make a paste.

Rub the paste all over the chicken pieces. Place in a ziploc bag or a bowl to marinate for about an hour. Pre-cook the chicken in a baking dish on 350°F for about an hour, then remove from oven to finish on the grill.

Grill until cooked through, crispy and brown on the outside. Sprinkle the reserved cilantro leaves over and serve.

Caprese Salad with Grilled Peppers
Source:  Original recipe at JamieOliver.com
Adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

2 red peppers
2 balls of good-quality mozzarella cheese, size of a small fist
400g ripe cherry tomatoes, halved (about 14 ounces)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
a bunch of fresh basil leaves

Place the peppers directly onto the gas flame of your stove or under a very hot grill and let them blacken and blister. Turn now and then with kitchen tongs. When blackened all over, pop them into a bowl and cover with cling film. Or in a brown paper bag and fold the top so the steam doesn't escape.

Leave the peppers to steam for about 10 minutes, then remove the cling film (or from the bag and leave them to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, rub off the blackened skin and brush away the seeds from the inside.

Tear the mozzarella balls into chunks and divide between four plates. Then tear the peppers into strips and divide over the plates of mozzarella. Scatter the tomato halves over the top.

Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Tear the basil leaves up and sprinkle them over the salad before serving.

Joining

  The Little Red House for Mosaic Monday with some fresh basil from my garden!

and joining

 I Heart Cooking Clubs to Fire Up the Grill with Jamie Oliver!

and

the fun of Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share!

 

and

Souper Sundays (and salads and sandwiches) @ Kahakai Kitchen

with the

 Souper Sunday weekly round-up of recipes

 

 

and

be sure to check out Margot at Joyfully Retired for the July edition of "Whip Up Something New!"

 

 

and Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter 

 

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Wordless Wednesday: Another Herb!

More Wordless Wednesday can be found here!

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Fresh with Jamie Oliver

It's strawberry season! And over at I Heart Cooking Clubs they are getting fresh with Jamie Oliver this week. Not just berries, anything that is summer fresh! Except my berries weren't exactly fresh but they were perfect for joining in. It was buy one get one at the grocery store, and these were sitting in the frig a little too long. I looked for something I could use with the berries and found Jamie Oliver's Creamiest Rice Pudding with the Quickest Strawberry Jam. That was be perfect. I had everything the recipe need. Almost. I guess that's why it's called adapted!

Yeah, well, the recipe said meringue cookies. Since I wasn't running to the store on a Saturday morning with the other hundreds of people who forget one thing, I made do with amaretti cookies leftover from the Tortoni's!  It was actually a great sub, and to keep it going with the almond flavor, I used almond extract instead of the vanilla sugar and topped it with slivered almonds.

To hull the berries I used a very cute, very cool gadget!  And even better, it really works. The claw scoops out the leaf and the hull of the berry with just a twist and a pull. Reminds me of a B movie. THE CLAW! And to think I was skeptical. Love this gadget. Says it will core tomatoes, too! I'll let ya know.

Creamy Rice Pudding with Quick Strawberry Jam
Source: original recipe from “Jamie at Home” by Jamie Oliver and the Food Network
Adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

For the jam:
2 pounds strawberries, hulled, washed and drained
1/2 cup sugar

For the rice pudding:
5 cups whole milk (I used 4 cups 1% and 1 cup heavy cream)
7 ounces medium-grain rice (I used carnaroli rice)
3 tablespoons sugar, more or less depends on your taste
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 ounces amaretti cookies, crumbled
a few wild strawberries and some slivered almonds, to garnish (optional)

Place the strawberries in a wide, stainless steel pan and sprinkle the sugar over the top. Scrunch the strawberries up with your hands or a masher. You want all the sugar to dissolve in the strawberry juice before you put the pan on the heat and bring it to the boil. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes on a medium heat, and every 5 minutes or so come back to your jam to skim off the foam. It should be thickened, but don't worry if it's still a bit liquid. Remove the pan from the heat and put aside.

Meanwhile, place the milk, rice, sugar and almond extract in a deep saucepan. Bring to a medium simmer and put on the lid. Cook for half an hour, stirring occasionally, until the rice pudding is thick and creamy. If it ends up being a bit too thick, you can thin it down by adding a little more milk.

To serve, divide the rice pudding between your bowls. Spoon over a big dollop of the strawberry jam, then slowly swirl it in so it ripples through the rice pudding. Sprinkle over the amaretti pieces and scatter with a few strawberries and some almonds, if you like.

Joining

 I Heart Cooking Clubs to celebrate Getting Fresh with Jamie Oliver!

and

  The Little Red House for Mosaic Monday! 

and I am usually off season, but finally I have something seasonal, so I am joining The Tablescaper with Seasonal Sundays!

and
  Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter

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Hot and Sour Soba Noodles

I was over at Joy's Book Blog, to leave a comment on her Weekend Cooking post, and she had a great review on a cookbook by Martha Rose Shulman. On occasion I read the Recipes for Health by Martha Rose Shulman at the NY Times site, so when I noticed that Joy mentioned Hot and Sour Soba Noodles on her list to try,  I knew I had to look that one up! And I am so glad I did. It's very easy and uses a different technique to cook the soba noodles from the other recipe for cold soba noodles that I normally use. Soba is pretty easy to overcook when you don't pay attention to things. That's me, there was that time I served a bowl of mush noodles :)

Miss Picky got a little taste while I was making it and then proceeded to eat the dressing by the spoonful. Raved about it. OK, where is my Miss Picky and what did you do with her? She is never that excited by food. I made a few adjustments to the original recipe, more peanut butter, and more soy sauce. And I added some shredded red cabbage and some chopped scallions. And when I made the dressing I completely forgot about the vinegar but it was too late. Next time. I do well with recipes that can tolerate my lack of concentration. This was a great recipe. Next time I might even use fresh zucchini instead of the cucumbers. A bit different from the original noodle recipe that we love, that I posted about here.

Thanks, Joy, for a great review, I'll be adding that book to my collection very soon!

Hot and Sour Soba Noodles
Source: recipe by Martha Rose Shulman, NY Times Recipes for Health and the book, The Very Best of Recipes for Health
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons peanut butter (to taste, I used 3 of the Trader Joe's Creamy Peanut Butter, and nuked it for 20 seconds so it would soften enough to stir in the sauce)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 to 2 teaspoons hot red pepper oil (to taste)
pinch of cayenne
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 pound Japanese buckwheat noodles
1 cup diced or julienned cucumber
1/4 cup shredded red cabbage
2 scallions, white part, sliced very thin rings
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional, I think peanuts would be nice, too!)
Lettuce, baby spinach, radicchio or arugula for serving (optional)

Heat the peanut butter for about 10 to 20 seconds in a microwave to make it easier to mix. Combine with the soy sauce, vinegar, hot red pepper oil, cayenne, garlic, ginger and salt and pepper. Whisk together. Whisk in the sesame oil, canola oil and broth. Set aside.

To cook the noodles, bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add salt, if desired, and the noodles. When the water comes back to a boil and bubbles up, add a cup of cold water to the pot. Allow the water to come back to a boil, and add another cup of cold water. Allow the water to come to a boil one more time, and add a third cup of water. When the water comes to a boil again, the noodles should be cooked through. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain and toss immediately with the dressing (whisk the dressing again first). Add the remaining ingredients, and toss together. Taste, adjust seasonings, and serve. I chilled it in the refrigerator before serving.

You can serve this on a bed of lettuce, spinach, arugula, whatever you like and even add shrimp, chicken or tofu to make it a meal. We had it as a side dish. And loved it.

Joining

Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

Souper Sundays (and salads and sandwiches) @ Kahakai Kitchen

 
Souper Sunday weekly round-up of recipes

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Wordless Wednesday: Tabasco

Sometimes you want a little, sometimes you want a lot.

More Wordless Wednesday can be found here!

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Flank Steak Marinade

My friend, San mentioned this Pioneer Woman recipe to me, knowing I would love it. and I knew immediately we would. And we did.

When I first saw the recipe I read apple cider vinegar. I had a big bottle of that, I was good to go. Too bad it really said apple cider. No vinegar. I had no apple cider in the house. No apple juice. I had the vinegar and that actually sounded promising to me. But then I noticed little snack packs of apple sauce. Not the added corn syrup too sweet kind, the natural one, no sugar added. Just apples. This would do. It did fine. Better than fine. It lent a nice sweetness to the marinade, along with the honey. And I added a little cumin and more chile powder. Next time I would add a little heat, too. Just to keep Grandma on her toes!

It was really good on grilled chicken, too!

Flank Steak Marinade
Source: original recipe @ The Pioneer Woman
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider (I used apple sauce because I didn't have cider or juice)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I used a bit more, medium hot chile powder, and threw in some extra ancho chile powder and a bit of cumin)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place flank steak in a large plastic bag, the kind that zips closed. Combine marinade ingredients and pour over flank steak. Marinate in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

Grill until desired doneness, to internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F. Allow meat to rest for a few minutes, then slice thinly against the grain.

Pat from Milli Fiori Favoriti is having a great $100 HomeGoods giveaway on her review blog, stop by and check it out! HomeGoods is opening lots of new stores, check on Pat's blog if there is one opening near you!

For Pat's HomeGoods Giveaway, CLICK HERE!

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Mosaic Monday: Grilling!

Happy Father's Day!

Our Griller will be grilling his favorites for us today. A little something for everyone. And always a hot dog.

Stop by The Little Red House for Mosaic Monday! 

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Corn Chowder

I admit it, I love convenience foods. Junk food, fast food, takeout, airplane food, school cafeteria food, and yes, even hospital food. Could be because I grew up with a mom who had zero interest in cooking. Zilch. But she knew where to go for the best restaurants and she loves fast food. She had four staples in her home cooking repertoire, broiled rib steaks, frozen cream spinach, baked potatoes and cream of corn soup. The kind of soup where you buy two cans of creamed corn and just add milk. Heat and stir. We loved it. My kids love it, she still makes it for them. And especially my Dad loved it. So in his honor and because Pops is Tops at I Heart Cooking Clubs, I made a corn soup that I know he would have loved. It's from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. It even uses low-fat milk, and just a bit of butter.

We loved it!

What's not to love? It's got corn, potatoes, butter and milk! 

Chives and thyme, fresh from the garden.

When I served it, I sprinkled a little bit of crumbled bacon on top!

Corn Chowder
Source: Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 celery stalk
1 medium onion
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 cups 1% milk
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cut into little cubes (I shredded the potatoes, instead of cubes)
2 cups frozen corn (or fresh, scraping the cob to get all the corn flavor in the chowder!)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives and/or parsley (optional)
2-3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (optional)
Pull the leaves from the celery stalks and set them aside. Chop your celery and onion.

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the celery (not the leaves), onion, and thyme. Stir until the vegetables start to brown.

Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir for a few more minutes. Pour in the milk, add the potato and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time so the soup doesn’t stick to the pot. Cook until the potatoes are tender, but not mushy; about 10 minutes or so.

Chop the celery leaves, trim the ends off the scallions and slice them thinly. When the potatoes are tender, stir in the corn and celery leaves. Bring the soup back to the boil, then serve. Sprinkle with chives, and you can garnish with crumbled bacon, too, if you like.

Joining

 I Heart Cooking Clubs to celebrate Pops is Tops with Jamie Oliver!

Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

Souper Sundays (and salads and sandwiches) @ Kahakai Kitchen

 

Souper Sunday weekly round-up of recipes

 

 Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter

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