recipe: chicken satay & spicy peanut sauce

last night i was still motivated to keep cooking - knowing i'd have 0 time on a week day to prep, i had prepped the marinade and sauce for this the night before.  the intention was to use skinless chicken thighs and use them for traditional chicken satay, however this plan went a bit south when i realized they were bone-in thighs - turning it into essentially a un-kababed version. grilled bone-in chicken is so damn good it kind of worked out for the best -- this marinade make the chicken super juicy and had an awesome flavor -- i want to re-make it again using chicken wings served in the spicy peanut sauce. i love kabob satay, but i kind of like wings even more and think it would be a fab fusion. 

both of these recipes were taken from Serious Eats - they have a nice kick to them, so if you like spicy they will be on par. 

ingredients list: chicken (adequate for 4 pieces of chicken)

- 1 stalk lemon grass, roughly chopped (or prepared minced lemongrass if you can't find fresh)

- 2 tbsp vegetable oil

- 2 tbsp fish sauce

- 2 tbsp brown sugar

- 1 tbsp lime juice (preferably fresh)

- 1 tbsp soy sauce

- 2 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)

- 1 tsp ground turmeric

- 1 tsp ground coriander (i did not have any so used a dash of cilantro)

- 1 tsp Sriracha

to make: place lemongrass, oil, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, turmeric, garlic, coriander and Sriracha in a blender, and blend on high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.

place chicken in a large resealable bag and pour in marinade - leave in fridge and marinade 1-2 hours (i left mine for 24).

when ready to cook:

- if doing skewers, slice into long 1-inch strips and thread onto soaked wooden skewers

- or - just keep it whole. 

grill until juices run clear -- fairly quickly (5 min) for skewers, about 20 minutes over medium high heat if using bone-in chicken.

ingredients list: spicy peanut sauce:

- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

- 1/4 cup hot water

- 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste

- 2 tbsp brown sugar

- 2 tbsp Sriracha

- 1 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tbsp rice vinegar

- 1 tbsp lime juice (preferably fresh)

- 1 tsp minced garlic

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 2 scallions, thinly sliced

- kosher salt to taste

to make: in a medium bowl, whisk together peanut butter and hot water. stir in all remaining ingredients. it can be used immediately, or stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. 

recipe: mongolian beef

this has been on my must-cook list for some time. all day long yesterday i was in the mood to grill since it was an amazing day out (enough to actually get me out of the house), but somehow ended up saying NOOO! MONGOLIAN BEEF! when it was time to hit the store for dinner foodages. case closed. can't deny a screaming asian urge (haha - 55) when you get it. 

i went with the recipe from Just A Taste, which used 30 minute PF-changs inspired version of it. i haven't been cooking a lot lately -or at least not cooking anything *new*- so this wasn't delish because it was a finally fresh home-cooked meal, it was delish because this dish is GD amazing. no lie that it tastes like restaurant chinese food (if not better). i added the chili oil, cayenne, and red chilis in because i love heat, but this can be scaled no-spice or spicier to taste. 

ingredients list: 
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (about 4 giant cloves)
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce 
- 1/2 cup water 
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 lb flank steak
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3 scallions (green parts only), diced
- 1/2 tsp chili oil
- dashes cayenne pepper
- dried red chilis (optional)

to make: 
heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in small sauce pan over medium-low heat. add ginger and garlic, and saute until golden, about 1 minute. stir in the soy sauce, water, and brown sugar, chili oil, and increase the heat to medium. bring the sauce to a boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside. 

slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch pieces, then toss it with the cornstarch. place the coated steak pieces into a sieve or sifter, and shake off excess coating. allow the steak to sit for 10 minutes. 

place a large saute pan or wok over medium-high heat and add 1/4 cup vegetable oil. once oil is hot (but not smoking), add the meat to the pan and saute for about 2 minutes - it should be seared on all sides, but barely cooked in the center. remove steak from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel-lined plat. pour excess oil out of wok.

return wok to stove over medium heat, adding the prepared sauce and letting it come to a boil, cayenne, and dried peppers. add the steak back to the pan into the boiling sauce, and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. add the scallions and stir to combine. 

transfer with a slotted spoon and serve, preferably over rice. 

taiwan noodle

last week we finally made it over to Taiwan Noodle, dim sum & noodle shop we heard about via the Times Union. anyone in Albany knows there is a major shortage of dim sum joints (with exception to CCK Chinese, which i'd place as the top contender in Cap City), so any new find is like Christmas. i don't know when Taiwan Noodle opened, but i'm very happy we now found it. it's super casual, and seeing that their customer base was 75% Asian was definitely a nod to their good cookin. 

we ordered the Pork & Leek Dumpling and Shrimp Shu Mai off the dim sum menu and I had the Garlic Chicken Wing Lo Mein as my meal. Not only was everything super-cheap (each DS was between $3-$4, the Lo Mein $7), it was excellent. crispy juicy chicken wings & oodles of noodles. our only regret is that we didn't order any of the noodle soup which is kiiinda their specialty, so we will have to head back soon for more.

update 6/8: went back and hit up the beef noodle bowl. it delivered. SO gigantic i had to take half of it home. will be back. 

recipe: Easter M&M Peep cookies

Easter. no prep time - needed a quick recipe, but wanted one that was still fairly cute and in theme w/ the holiday. since kids were going to be around, i went with a classic simple chocolate-chip inspired cookie. the recipe was snagged from Love Veggies and Yoga by Avery Cooks - it's a nice base recipe and i'm glad i found it b/c her trick of adding cornstarch to keep the cookies soft & chewy is smart -- and worked! i followed the recipe verbatim, with exception to adding in a few chopped up Peeps -- nothing says Easter like some dismembered marshmallow friends.  the cookies themselves are fairly light tasting, so the marshmallows added a nice extra hit of sweetness. 

ingredients list: 

- 3/4 cup (1 & 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar

- 1 egg

- 2 tsp vanilla extract 

- 2 cups flour

- 2 tsp cornstarch

- 1 tsp baking soda

- pinch salt

- 1 & 1/2 cups M&Ms 

- 4-5 Peeps, chopped into small chunks

to make: in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and beat on medium speed until creamy, light, and fluffy. add in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and mix until combined (note: it will seem like there is not enough liquid to ever absorb this flour... my mixture seemed like a pile of sand. it does eventually soak it all up and becomes "normal"). stir in the M&Ms & Peeps by hand.  

place dough onto prepared cookie sheet (cooking spray or parchment paper)in 2-inch balls. flatten dough balls slightly with your palm, then refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours before baking (this will prevent the dough from spreading if it is too warm). 

when ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. bake cookies 8-10 minutes. allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to rack to finish cooling.