Sunday, December 19, 2010

Sunday Supper: Chile Garlic Chicken


With the Christmas holiday only a week away and all of us busy preparing, this weeks Sunday supper is a dish that tastes like it's been simmering for hours but will only take you a cool 45 minutes to prepare. This would also make a great weeknight meal to last a couple days. Make a big pot of this chicken and you'll have delicious leftovers for the next day. I found this dish in my inbox a couple weeks ago a la my ever trusty Martha Stewart daily recipe newsletter. Simmering the chicken in the sauce makes it so moist and flavorful and I found that it was even better heated up the next day. The chicken soaked up the flavor even more. Just throw some rice in your rice cooker and dinner is done!

Chile Garlic Chicken

1 tbsp vegetable oil
4-6 chicken legs, thighs and/or drumsticks
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup sugar

Heat oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Turn over and cook about 2 minutes more. Transfer chicken to plate.

Discard all but 1 tbsp fat from pan. Add garlic and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Stir in vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Return chicken to pan, skin side up, and submerge in liquid to cover as much as possible. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low until liquid is gently simmering. Cook 15 minutes. Uncover, raise heat to medium and cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Serve chicken over rice.

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Monday, December 6, 2010

Holiday Cocktail: Warm Apple Cider for Grown Ups


My license says I'm an adult, but I'm not so sure my friends would agree. I'm just a big kid at heart and like kids, I love the holiday season! Yesterday the hubs and I spent a lovely Sunday celebrating the holidays. We went and got our tree and some holiday decorations to dress up the farmhouse. It was a very chilly Sunday so by the time we got home we couldn't think of anything better to warm us up while decorating our tree than a hot toddy in the form of warm apple cider, grown up style.

I made up this recipe a few weeks ago when my mom was visiting and it turned out pretty yummy. The first time I made it though I didn't add any sweetness other than the natural sweetness of the apple cider and it was good, but the lemon was a bit strong. This time around, I added some honey which cut the acid just enough and made it even yummier. I suggest grabbing your biggest pot and making a triple or even quadruple batch of this cider for any holiday celebration, even if its just you and your hunny. Keep it warm on the stove and it'll keep you warmed up all night!

Grown Up Warm Apple Cider

1 cup whiskey
3 cups apple cider
1 tbsp honey
lemon, 2 slices about 1/2 inch thick
8-10 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks

Mix whiskey and apple cider in a small pot or dutch oven. Add honey. Make 4-5 small slits in outer edge of lemon and insert one clove in each slit. Add lemons and cinnamon sticks to pot. Heat mixture over med-high heat and bring to a boil. Let boil 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand about a minute so still hot but no longer boiling and serve.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Sunday Supper: Turkey Meatloaf with Mushroom and Herbs


It's getting cold here in central New Jersey and I'm craving warm comfort food. My mom introduced me to turkey meatloaf a year or two ago when she came out to San Francisco on one of her many visits. She made a delicious BBQ turkey meatloaf which one day, I shall share with you. From then on, I've tended to gravitate towards recipes using ground turkey rather than the classic ground beef, which is against the wishes of the hubs. He loves the classic version- straight off the french onion soup box. But then again, who doesn't!?

I found this recipe from epicurious.com and since we love mushrooms in this house I thought I'd give it a shot. I think it'd make a perfect Sunday supper on a cold day. What sounds better than a warm fire, some comfy clothes, slippers, and a steaming plate of comfort food after spending the day tree trimming and decorating for the holidays? I sure as heck can't think of anything!

Turkey Meatloaf with Mushrooms and Herbs

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups day old crustless bread, cut into 1/3 inch cubes
1 cup chicken broth
8 ounces sliced mushrooms (crimini or white button are great)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley (or 1 tbsp dry)
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 tbsp dry)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1lb ground turkey (about 15% fat)
1lb ground turkey breast

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a loaf pan with olive oil.

Toss bread with broth in a large bowl. Let stand about 10 minutes, until bread absorbs liquid and softens. Mix in mushrooms, eggs, shallots, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add turkey, mix just until blended. Transfer to loaf pan.

Bake about 1 hour 25 minutes, until thermometer inserted into center reads 170 degrees. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

recipe adapted from epicurious