Cooking in Pajamas

I wish I could take the credit for creating this beautifully balanced Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken dish, but that title goes to Kristina Kuzmic-Crocco, of the Oprah Channel.

This meal has every delicious flavor you could want all in one bite.....sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy and tangy.  The sauce for this dish cooks down to a rich and smooth consistency, it is hard to believe there is no added cream.

I am sure you will find this version is so much better than any take-out you will order.  It tastes better, costs less and is much lower in calories, fat and sodium than the restaurant preparation of this dish.  It is definitely a dish that you will want to serve at your family dinner table or serve to dinner guests.

Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken

recipe courtesy of Kristina Kuzmic-Crocco

This is a lovely dish to serve your family on a busy weeknight or to serve guests at a dinner party.  It requires 10 minutes to make the compound butter, which can be done a week ahead of time, or right before serving, and the salmon requires 10 minutes to cook.  So if you have make the compound butter ahead of time, you can literally have dinner on the table in 10 minutes.

I am always asking food experts what kind of salmon they buy when cooking for their family at home.  Farm raised versus wild, Sockeye versus Atlantic.....  There are so many choices.  Here are the tips for buying salmon that I have come away with after questioning chefs, caterers, bloggers and a fisherman:

1 - Whenever possible, buy wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest.  It is known as the best salmon in the world.  Your next best choice is any other wild salmon.  If there is no wild salmon available, the buy the farm raised.

2 - If you see the label "organic" on the salmon, ignore it.  It is a meaningless label.  It could simply mean the salmon were fed organic grain (fish should not be eating grain anyway).

3 - BUT....if you find organic farm raised salmon from a European farm, you can be assured it has been raised in strict adherence with the very high standards set forth by several organic-certifying agencies in Europe.  I feel very comfortable buying European organic farm raised salmon.

4 - The salmon flesh should be firm and together, no feathering of the skin.  It should smell sweet, with a little saltiness.  If it smells fishy, then pass on it.

5 - The universal opinion on taste is that salmon caught in the wild is superior to any farm raised salmon.

6 - Wild salmon has more Omega-3 fats than farm raised.

7 - Farm raised salmon can be susceptible to disease and viral infection while in captivity.  Therefore, they are heavily treated with medication and chemicals to keep the fish "healthy".

8 -  This is an updated link that you can check for the latest salmon buying information: Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch: Salmon

I hope I have provided you with enough information to make an informed decision when purchasing salmon.

Broiled Salmon with Cilantro-Lime Compound Butter

1 1/4 # center cut salmon fillet

EVOO

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

For the compound butter:

8T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.

2 oz. (1/4 c.) cream cheese, room temp.

1 T. grated fresh ginger

1 T. fresh lime juice

4 T. fresh cilantro, chopped

2 T. fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 tsp. kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:

To make compound butter:  Place the butter, cream cheese, ginger, lime juice, cilantro and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse just until ingredients are combined, about 30 seconds.  Transfer butter mixture to a sheet of parchment or wax paper.  Roll into a 1 1/2 inch wide log.  Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

To make salmon:

Preheat oven on high broil.  Place salmon in a baking dish.  Drizzle with EVOO and rub the oil all around the salmon.  Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper.  Place the baking dish on a center rack in the oven and broil for 10 minutes.

When salmon comes out of oven, immediately place several tablespoons of the compound butter over the hot salmon (1 T. per serving).  Serve with extra compound butter on the side.

I always seem to have a stray piece of ginger floating around in my vegetable bin.  I use fresh ginger in cooking a lot, but only recently have I discovered the medicinal uses of fresh ginger.

I woke up this morning feeling horrible.  My throat was raw, red and painful. My stomach was upset. I was tired and had a headache. Fun start to our Spring Break, right?

My throat was the worst symptom, so I wanted to get that under control. I can't take any over-the-counter pain medications on an empty stomach, so I went searching in the fridge for something light to eat. I spotted my orphan piece of ginger and got the idea to make Ginger Tea.  I don't love hot tea, but Ginger Tea with honey is delicious, and when you are sick, it is like a magic potion.

So I whipped up a small saucepan of Ginger Tea, brought it a steaming mug of it to my favorite chair, and began to sip it.

I am not exaggerating....within 15 minutes, I felt like a new person!  My throat pain almost disappeared and my stomach felt completely better. My headache greatly improved and I perked up a little bit.  Amazing!  Magic potion!

Ginger has been used medicinally for centuries. It is thought to treat everything from motion sickness to inflammation to the common cold.  I am all for trying a natural remedy before bringing out the big guns.  In my experience, many of them don't work or have a psychosomatic effect.  This one really, really works.  Plus it is simple to make and costs less than a dollar to make and entire pot.

Take a one inch piece of ginger. Peel it and slice it into thin slices.  Place the slices in a saucepan with about four cups of water.  Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Strain the tea into a mug and stir in your favorite honey while it is hot. Throw in a lemon slice if you like.

If you are ever wondering what to make when you want a one pot meal that is filling, comforting and loaded with spicy Asian flavorings, look no further.  This is for those days when a typical bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup just won't do.  Spicy Asian Chicken Soup is like a cross between a soup and a noodle bowl, which makes it much more filling than a traditional bowl of brothy soup.  Not to mention, if you are feeling under the weather, the combination of the ginger, chicken and vegetables in the broth work like magic to cure what is ailing you.

Feel free to improvise.  Use what ever vegetables you happen to have lying around.  If I hadn't been so lazy, I could have easily added carrots, broccoli, parsley, celery, water chestnuts or garlic to the soup, but I didn't feel like prepping anymore ingredients.  In addition, I ended up picking the chicken out of my soup and feeding it to my dogs.  I really wanted a vegetarian soup, but I thought the rest of the family would want the soup to be more substantial, so I added in the chicken.  Believe me, it was just as delicious and filling without the chicken.  I could have used tofu,beef, pork or shrimp in this dish, and it would be just fine, or just I could have just left it out.

Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

adapted from epicurious.com

Ingredients:

• 1 box (48 oz.) nonfat chicken broth

• 1/4 c. soy sauce

• 1 T. brown sugar

• 1/4 tsp. Asian chili sauce or crushed red pepper

• 2 T. fresh lime juice

• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin

• 3/4 # boneless chicken breasts, cut into 3-inch long strips

• 3 T. cornstarch

• 1 c. sliced portobello or shiitake mushrooms

• 1 c. sugar snap peas

• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and julienned

• 3 scallions, chopped

• 1 pkg. Asian noodles

• zest from 1 lime

• one bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. In a large pot combine broth, soy sauce, sugar, chili sauce, lime juice and ginger. Boil for 5 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, toss chicken and cornstarch until chicken is completely coated.

3. Add chicken, mushrooms, peas and red pepper to broth and simmer for 15

minutes.

4. Add in noodles and cook until noodles are done (about 3 minutes).

5. Add in scallions, zest and cilantro. Let cook for 2 - 3 more minutes before

serving.

A few years ago, I wouldn't eat duck if you paid me to.  I hated that chefs "strongly suggested" it be served rare, and I always thought it tasted "gamey".  One Sunday morning, I was reading Amanda Hesser's column in the New York Times Sunday magazine.  She was describing a dinner that was prepared by her (at the time) future mother-in-law, Elizabeth.  The main course was Ginger Duck.  She described the meat as "succulent, with a heady infusion of soy, sherry, ginger and onions.", and the skin as, "deeply caramelized and crisp".  The duck was so tender, it nearly fell apart while being carved.  It was served with a glistening rice that had been cooked in the broth that had been made while braising the duck.  "The long, plump grains had soaked up the fragrant broth and were glazed with duck fat," is how Amanda rice was described.  Let's put aside the fact that I wish I could describe food like Amanda Hesser....my mouth began to water imagining this dish!  I ripped out the page containing the menu for the entire meal (the duck, the rice, shredded carrots and parsnips and an almond cake for dessert), along with every recipe, and started making my shopping list.  It was then that I realized the duck is a two day process, so I would have to be patient.  We wouldn't be having Ginger Duck that night.

I made Elizabeth's dinner a few nights later.  To say that I was proud of myself would be an understatement.  That was when I realized I can cook anything I wanted to.  All you need is a recipe, and the desire to experiment.  Had I thought about it long enough, I probably would have talked myself out of preparing this meal, ("too much work; it's too hard; too much cleanup; what if I ruin it; wait, don't I hate duck?").   I had never cooked a duck before, never baked an almond cake before (I will post that recipe at a later date), never even used the shredding disk on my food processor before, and never tasted a parsnip.  But the meal sounded so good, I had to try it, and I wanted to make it for my family, and have them try it.  No one else was going to do it for me.  It turns out that Phil loved the duck so much, he ate the entire duck in one sitting (really..he did...it's a legend in our family!).    The duck was amazing.   My kids were little at the time, and I had fed them early so Phil and I could have a quiet, adult dinner, so if they had tasted it at the time, they don't remember.  When I made it last week, Jamie turned her nose up at it, claiming it was gross, and that she does NOT eat duck!  That was fine...more duck for Phil, Joey and me (BTW...Joey thought the duck was awesome!).

If you are having more than 4 people to dinner, I suggest making 2 ducks.  The recipe doubles very easily.

To make the rice, melt 4 T. butter in a medium saucepan.  Add in 1 large minced onion and 1 minced clove of garlic.  Saute a few minutes.  Pour in 1 cup of rice.  Stir until rice turns golden (add more butter if you need to).  Add 2 c. defatted ginger duck broth (recipe above) and cover.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 16 to 20 minutes.  Remove lid, allow rice to dry, and season with salt and pepper.  This will serve 4.  I also suggest doubling the rice recipe.  Everyone loves the rice, and it will go fast!

One quick note of business, before I get to todays yummy recipe.  My subscription feature is now fixed.  It was 'out-of-order' for a while, but it is now up and running.  If you want a subscrition to Cooking In Pajamas, click on the icon to the right of the page, that say 'Start Following This Page'.  It is as simple as that!

Thank you to Grandpa Max in Texas for sending me this recipe to try.  There were a few ingredients that required a trip to Whole Foods, but who doesn't love a trip to Whole Food every once in a while?  Especially, now that they have a gelato counter (well..the one in Sandy Springs does!).

Ginger Beef Salad with Miso Dressing - click here

These were some of the ingredients I had to pick up at Whole Foods.  The Miso Paste is in the produce section, with the other soy products.  The Ginger paste is also in the produce section, by the fresh herbs.  The Chili Paste and the Soba noodles were in the Asian ingredients aisle.

This was the flank steak before going in the broiler.  Phil likes his meat medium rare.  This is what it looked like after being broiled 2 minutes per side.  If you like your meat medium rare, you will probably need to cook the steak for less time than the recipe states.  I had my broiler on high, and the rack was close to the coil, so the meat cooked fast.  Keep all of this is mind when determining how long to cook your meat for.

I found the dressing a little bland, so I added 2-3 tsp. of soy sauce to bring out the flavors. It made a huge difference, and the dressing was much more flavorful.  A little kosher salt would work as well.

When serving this dish, I put the lettuce mixture on the plate, topped it with a few slices of meat, then put some of the cooked Soba noodles on the side.  I finished the plate by drizzling the dressing over the top of the entire plate.