Chicken Satay

OK. Perhaps we think of this as well, a throwback to another time. Maybe so, but I did have it when I was out to dinner recently and it caught me off guard. It was good. The chef had added turmeric, which gave the chicken a lovely golden color. I set out to make my own version with the easy addition of chili garlic sauce (look for it in ethnic isle at your regular grocery store) then I grilled the chicken. Serve this with the traditional peanut sauce for your next gathering. It goes surprisingly well with many of the “Small Plate dishes” that we have all been serving of late.

20-30 wooden skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes prior to use
About 1 pound of boneless, skinless, chicken breasts- (thin cut for scaloppini) cut into
20-30 bite size pieces (try to cut them about 1 ½ - 2” in length and around 1” wide, or as best you can.
¼ cup canola oil
3-4 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1” knob of the inner, softer, part of Lemongrass, minced
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon minced cilantro, (a small handful before mincing)
¼ teaspoon each, ground pepper and kosher salt
Oil or nonstick spray for your grill

Place the chicken into a mixing bowl with the oil, garlic, chili garlic sauce, turmeric, lemongrass, lime zest, and cilantro and let marinate for about 1 hour. Push the skewers through the chicken. Spray or oil the grill. Turn the heat to high (I am using a grill pan so you might want to adjust if using a outdoor grill). Place chicken on the grill and cook for about 2–3 minutes per side or just until chicken is cooked through on each side.

Peanut Dipping Sauce

A nice sauce/dip to have with chicken or beef Satay

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
Juice from 1 lime
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
2 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

In a medium bowl combine the peanut butter and the limejuice. In a small saucepan add the oil, chili sauce and garlic. Cook on medium high heat for a few minutes, just until the garlic becomes fragrant. Whisk the hot oil mixture into the peanut butter. Re-season with a pinch of salt and additional chili sauce if you prefer a spicier sauce.

* Chili garlic sauce is by Lee Kum Kee and I get it at my regular grocer.

How to boil Eggs

This seems to be an easy enough task, unfortunately I have seen plenty greenish/grayish eggs-enough of them to think that I should share my method.

Boil a pot of water in a Kettle
Place eggs into a pot. Fill the pot slowly with the boiled water, enough to cover eggs by about 1”. Turn heat to high until a soft boil returns. Reduce heat slightly (enough so that the eggs are not bouncing around the pan). Simmer for 11 minutes. Prepare an ice bath- a bowl filled with ice and water. After eggs have finished cooking remove them from the hot water and slide them into the ice bath to cool slightly. This will help prevent horrid looking green eggs; instead the center will be golden.

*There are many other methods for boiling an egg. I like this one because its simple and it works- that’s not to say that other methods won’t work as well.

Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus

1 Bunch of asparagus, trimmed
2 packages of Prosciutto (or Serrano ham) 4 oz each
Olive oil
Salt, freshly ground pepper


Preheat to 400

Divide each slice of Prosciutto in thirds lengthwise; roll each piece of asparagus in Prosciutto. Once wrapped, place all of the pieces on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place in oven for about 10 minutes.

Spit Roasted leg of lamb

The origins of this dish are mainly Greek. I purchased a leg of lamb, boned it, saved the bones for stock and cooked the meat on the spit. All this trouble is unnecessary though. I went through the trouble since I am planning to use the bones for lamb stock. If you want to skip this step, simply visit your butcher and ask for your leg of lamb boned and tied for spit roasting.

Marinade-
4-5 cloves garlic, skin removed
1 cup olive oil
Place the lamb into a large plastic baggie along with the oil and garlic-

Marinate in fridge 1-2 days

When ready to cook-
2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon freshly ground pepper
1-2 Tablespoons dried oregano or Marjoram
Juice from ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon paprika (Spanish)

Remove lamb from marinade, lay it flat on a countertop and season it on both sides with salt pepper and Marjoram. (If pre tied just do your best to stuff some seasonings inside log of meat. Add the Marinade liquid (oil) and rub it into the meat and scatter the garlic cloves over the meat (or stuff then into the log). Pour the juice from half a lemon all over the lamb. Roll, and then tie up the meat with about 2-3 feet of butchers twine, so that it will not come loose on the spit. Insert metal rod and rotisserie prongs to hold the meat in place. Season the outer areas of the lamb with paprika then place in your oven to cook for 2- 2 ½ hours. I prefer a longer cooking time so that the outer parts of the lamb get almost crunchy, though this obviously will cause the inner areas to be pink but not medium rare, as many American are used to eating their lamb.

Optional garnishes-
Lamb sauce – I like to take the lamb juices, skimmed of fat and strained, and add them to a saucepan. Add in about 1 tablespoon demi-glaze, 1 cup water, a dash of heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Cook this down to desired consistency and serve over lamb.
Lemon confit- if you made lemon confit (see recipe) then you will remove 1 lemon from salty brine, rinse it, cut off pulp and white pith and mince up yellow zest. This adds a nice salty note to the lamb and pretty color as well
Chive oil- if you have some around it add a lovely green color
Tapinade- (see recipe) chunks of tapinade all over the lamb are fantastic

Ham and Mahon cheese Croquettes

This style croquettes are often served as part of Spanish Tapas. As part of Tapas they are quite elegant. The big bonus here, is that children seem to love them as well.

1 oz of Mahon cheese, grated
4 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk, warm
Large pinch of salt
1 ham steak (7oz) rind removed and minced (I am using Smithfield)

1-2 eggs scrambled
½-1 cup wondra flour
Vegetable oil for frying

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan (I am using non-stick). Over medium to low heat whisk in the flour or stir it in with a wooden spoon. Slowly, stir in the milk. Stir to make sure there are no lumps. Raise heat to high and keep stirring. Mixture will thicken like pudding and pull away from sides of the pan. Whisk or stir in cheese, salt and ham. Chill mixture in refrigerator 2-3 hours.

You can use a large melon baler to scoop, or about ½ of a heaping tablespoon of batter. Take the batter and roll into a ball. Repeat with remaining batter. Dip the batter into the scrambled egg then roll in the wondra flour.

Fry in 350-degree oil for about 3-5 minutes or until a little golden in color.

Hello, Cupcake!

Hello, Cupcake! -a book by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson

I first walked by the beautiful cupcakes at Sur La Table. They looked so nice, and perfect, I thought no way will I ever attempt that kind of cake decorating. That, is for people who decorate wedding cakes, not me. When I got home I looked the book up online and it turns out that most of the cupcake tricks and decorations are made from stuff that anyone can get in a grocery store or gas station! The book even uses canned frosting, boxed mixes, goldfish, Oreo’s, and wait for it…, yes, Twinkies!

I returned to Sur La Table and picked up a copy.

My kids spent hours looking through the book, trying to decide which cupcakes they want for their next birthday party. This morning we set up bowls of goodies and frosting then they went to work (for hours and hours I tell you) creating their own “faces” on the cupcakes. Granted, our cupcakes don’t look quite as pretty as the ones in the book yet, but having read the book I now feel like I too can create Martha like goodies for the next bake sale. At $15.95 the book was better and more fun that any babysitter, gave us great and very creative ideas and was a huge hit.