recipe: Thai sweet & spicy chicken

i took out chicken drumsticks for last night's dinner but had no good recipe in mind. we ended up doing a throw-together Thai chicken that actually came out REALLY good. savory, tangy, sweet, lil spicy, lil cilantroy (because i'm not sure there's an adjective for that)... it really had a lot goin on.

i didn't make the sauce until right before we made the chicken, but if i let it marinate a few hours before cooking i think the flavors would be even deeper. i might opt to blend the sauce ingredients first before marinating to get the chili pepper just all up in the sauce. yumz.

ingredients list:

- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

- 1/4 cup fish sauce

- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

- 2 tsp garlic oil

- 1 tbsp hoisen sauce

- 1 (heaping) tbsp brown sugar

- 2 tbsp sweet & sour sauce (i used leftover takeout packets... this was a true throw together dinner)

- 1 tsp onion powder

- 1/2 tsp cumin

- 1/2 tsp white pepper

- a few dashes of salt

- 1 red hot chili pepper, finely diced

- 4 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 tbsp and 3 tbsp (roughly) cilantro, divided

- 6 chicken drumsticks (or whatever kind of chicken you want to use)

PDX burgers: Tilt

yesterday afternoon we met up with friends for drinks and a lil nosh. i didn't know where we were going, but was pleasantly surprised to realize when we got there it was a place that was known for it's burgers, Tilt. major bonus. everything on the menu is "handcrafted", and everything on it sounds ridiculously good. crazy comfort food.

K & i split 2 burgers, one being the the Woody Royale: a fresh ground patty, beer batter onion rings, housemade bbq jalepeno slaw, hand-carved prime rib, honey smoked bacon, and cheddar on a house baked bun. YOWZA. this burger was the biggest mofo mouth party ever. the meat was cooked a really nice medium rare, had amazing flavor, but somehow you could completely and distinctly taste the well seasoned prime rib. all that salty meat just blended so well w/ the sweet bacon / slaw / bbq... holy cow. nothing was overpowering but everything had a ton of flavor. i love a good "fun topping" burger but usually it's either purist burger flavor OR fun toppings... when both are executed well together it's a delicious unicorn of events. 

PDX burgers: Grüner

this is officially the last burger post of my Portland backlog (so little time, so much burgering left to do). last night we were doing a little celebrating, and what better way to do it than to try my #1 PDX burger pick. i'd read about Grüner as a top Serious Eats Portland burger, as well as countless top 10 lists from the area. i can't believe i've been in town over a month and have held off trying it this long. 

this bad boy is made of grilled Cascade beef on a fresh baked poppy seed potato bun with house-cured bacon, fontina, aoili, and arugula. it also comes with b&b pickles and pickled red onions, but i left those off since i'm not a huge fan of "pickled things". this burger was EVERYTHING i wanted it to be. the beef had so much flavor to it, and was seared with perfect seasonings on the outside- just enough salt. it was so juicy it made a puddle of deliciousness on my plate... and since the fat was so good i was true glutton and just re-dipped my burger in the fatty meat juice on my plate. yes, that happened. the cheese & bacon melded well with all of it, and the squishy lil bun was a true warrior when it came to holding itself up against the meat juice typhoon oozing out of my burger. Grüner is considered a finer dining establishment, but if you burger there make sure you go with a crowd that you'll be comfortable getting elbow-deep in burger grease, with many teeny tiny poppy seeds stuck along the way. if they're not into burger sexy chic, leave them at home. 

PDX burgers: Lumberyard Rotisserie & Grill

so while this spot is technically not in Portland, it's within driving range so i'm throwing it under the PDX burger category. we decided to drive out to the Pacific coast one day to check out the area, and needed to try the best burger around (for strength, of course). we were in Cannon Beach (which is gorgeous and site of some film scenes from The Goonies if you're ever in the area), and The Lumberyard Rotisserie & Grill came up as the #1 contender.  

we ordered the EPIC Lumberyard Burger, which consists of a "decadent 7 oz. hand-pattied, double ground, seasoned beef patty", on a toasted fresh baked bun pepper bacon, fried egg, and grilled onion in addition to the standard lettuce & tomato fixins. this burger was TALL - i.e. the type where you need to take a bite of the bottom half, then a bite of the top half unless you can somehow unhinge your jaw. the flavors were all really good - good beef, great toppings, but it was slightly off in the execution unfortunately. while we requested medium rare, it was overcooked a tad to a solid medium (boo hoo, i know... but that makes a big difference), and the egg was cooked all the way through vs. being a nice runny drippy fried egg. the burger still was juicy even though it wasn't the idealized temp. you could tell it was all great ingredients, and if they were cooked just right this burger would jump from good to great. we could have used a bit more substantial bottom bun as it was almost nonexistent mid way through the burger.

PDX burgers: Little Big Burger

so. since touching down in Portland for the first time, i've been to Little Big Burger not once, not twice, but three times. i saw LBB flagged by Serious Eats as one of their favorite burgers for $5 and under across the U.S., and seeing as this chain is dotted all over my new hometown i could not be anymore excited to try them. 

Little Big Burger's premise is simple. they offer a menu with about 6 items - burger, cheese burger, fries, soda... you get the drift. simple stuff, but the important stuff. each of those items is then made from the best ingredients they can get their little big hands on, and priced at an amazingly reasonable price considering what they deliver (spoiler alert: they deliver delicious). it truly is like getting a gourmet fancy pants burger in a fast food setting. 

recipes: marinara sauce & italian meatballs I

while the hubs was out of down recently i decided to be a good wifey and made a huge batch of meatballs, sauce, and soup. some good home cooking for our new fridge. although i've made both a few times, i was surprised i didn't have any stock recipes for marinara or meatballs on my blog. and didn't have a go-to recipe saved either. so i quested out for the best of the net for new recipes to try. i went with Best Marinara Sauce Yet and Chef John's Italian Meatballs, both from allrecipes.com which is pretty trusty for good/solid classic recipes based on the reviews. i adapted both recipes slightly, but both came out really good - especially with some delish bakery bread and crispy cab sav on the side. mmmmm!

ingredients list: marinara sauce: (makes enough for 3-4 dinners for 2 people)
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
- 2 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- 4-5 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup finely diced onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup red wine (i used a cab)

recipe: slow cooker honey garlic chicken

so i haven't been on here in forever... moved to a new coast, with endless amounts new restaurants and new burgers (and a city full of food carts... aaah!) in all the chaos not a lot of cooking as happened, except for the last few weeks as i finally start to settle in here. 

i tried the Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken recipe from justataste.com, found after i was searching for a delish but easy Asian slow cooker recipe. i adapted it slightly, but found that the original amount of hoisin sauce in the recipe was a bit too much (1/4 cup)... if i make it again i'll decrease that amount to help the honey and garlic flavors balance out a bit more (the recipe below reflects a decreased amount). it doesn't taste like standard Chinese take out, but it is really good especially considering how quick it is.

ingredients list: 
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup blackberry jam
- 1/8 cup hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Asian 5-spice powder
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (omit if you don't want spicey)
- 1 tsp chili oil (also omit if you don't want spicy)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- sliced scallions
- toasted sesame seeds