Cooking at Home

[ChiFlyer]

Roasted Italian Sausage and Peppers

The Mrs and I both like this dish. I make it about twice a year.

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/275499/sheet-pan-sausage-peppers/

The flavor of the dish is pretty much dependent on the quality of both the Italian Sausage and also the Parm. I buy both of these from Jet Italian in Bangkok. This is a little more expensive way to go in part because of the delivery charge from Bangkok. Still the quality is worth it to me.

https://jetitaliandeli.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgZaD7b-77gIVxX8rCh39CA1bEAAYASAAEgKcv_D_BwE

Some thoughts:

• One will have little or no success finding a fennel bulb in Bang Lamung. I added 1/4 tsp of oregano to the veg mix. I need to buy some fennel seeds. 
• I make only about 60% of what the recipe calls for (2 Bells instead of 3, only 3 sausages cut in half). Otherwise it would be too much food for 2 people. Leaves me with 2 Italian Sausages to grill during the coming week. ☺️

This is an easy to the table recipe that can be done in under one hour.

 

[ChiFlyer]

Chilli

There are a lot of Chilli recipes out there. This one is my favorite. It is an ATK recipe, so no link, just a pdf file.

Ground Beef Chilli.pdf

Partially out of necessity, I made a few changes to the recipe.

• I am out of stock with regard to "Ancho Peppers". I can not find them anywhere in Thailand. Given shipping costs, I will wait until my next US trip to bring some back. I do have a bag of "New Mexico Peppers", so I went with those instead. These have a milder flavor, but are still pretty decent.
• The Mrs has adverse reactions to the smell and taste of Cumin. I cut the measurement back from 2 TBSP to 2 tsp.
• I cut the ground beef back to 0.55 kgs. There would have been way too much food at 2 lbs. We still have plenty of leftovers, which is not a bad thing in this case. I froze some, as it keeps well. I also will have a couple of follow up dishes during the coming week. I will report on those separately.
• I used Sherry Vinegar to finish instead of the Cider Vinegar that the recipe calls for. I am a big fan of Sherry Vinegar. Hard to find in Bang Lamung, but one can get it from Lazada.
• I added 1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper to up the heat a little.

This Chilli recipe has probably the most robust flavor of any that I have ever tasted. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago where Chilli places were legendary. My buddies and I would hit Lindy's not that far from what was called Comiskey Park at the time. This Chilli recipe is better than Lindy's.

A few pics.

Ready to serve

 

Ready to eat. This is shown with my favorite condiments. As the recipe states there is a wide option of others (limes, red onions, jalapenos, ... pretty much whatever floats your boat).

 

 

Oh - this is not low carb, low sodium, fiber intensive, health food. ☺️ I only make it twice a year and usually experience a small bump upwards in my daily weight reading during the week that follows.

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[fforest]

On 9/10/2023 at 11:09 PM, ChiFlyer said:

Chilli

There are a lot of Chilli recipes out there. This one is my favorite. It is an ATK recipe, so no link, just a pdf file.

Ground Beef Chilli.pdf 1.47 MB · 0 downloads

Partially out of necessity, I made a few changes to the recipe.

• I am out of stock with regard to "Ancho Peppers". I can not find them anywhere in Thailand. Given shipping costs, I will wait until my next US trip to bring some back. I do have a bag of "New Mexico Peppers", so I went with those instead. These have a milder flavor, but are still pretty decent.
• The Mrs has adverse reactions to the smell and taste of Cumin. I cut the measurement back from 2 TBSP to 2 tsp.
• I cut the ground beef back to 0.55 kgs. There would have been way too much food at 2 lbs. We still have plenty of leftovers, which is not a bad thing in this case. I froze some, as it keeps well. I also will have a couple of follow up dishes during the coming week. I will report on those separately.
• I used Sherry Vinegar to finish instead of the Cider Vinegar that the recipe calls for. I am a big fan of Sherry Vinegar. Hard to find in Bang Lamung, but one can get it from Lazada.
• I added 1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper to up the heat a little.

This Chilli recipe has probably the most robust flavor of any that I have ever tasted. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago where Chilli places were legendary. My buddies and I would hit Lindy's not that far from what was called Comiskey Park at the time. This Chilli recipe is better than Lindy's.

A few pics.

Ready to serve

 

Ready to eat. This is shown with my favorite condiments. As the recipe states there is a wide option of others (limes, red onions, jalapenos, ... pretty much whatever floats your boat).

 

 

Oh - this is not low carb, low sodium, fiber intensive, health food. ☺️ I only make it twice a year and usually experience a small bump upwards in my daily weight reading during the week that follows.

 

This looks great........Thanks

[ChiFlyer]

16 hours ago, fforest said:

This looks great........Thanks

Thanks. The Mrs. really liked it as well. I made nachos with the leftovers tonight. They were really good as well. Sorry forgot to take a pic. In case anyone is interested.

• Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
• Cover a baking sheet with either aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• Lightly spray the aluminum foil with Olive Oil
• Place a layer of tortilla chips on the aluminum foil. Be generous.
• Add Chilli over the chips. Do not drown them.
• Add cooked bacon (6 strips) lardons over the chilli. I cook my bacon in the oven according to the recipe provided below. A description of lardons also provided below
• Add mildly hot pepper strips over the chilli. (Jalapeno would be perfect, but the store was out, so I went with 2 Red Goat Peppers).
• Cover (don't go nuts) with shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese.
• 8 to 10 minutes in the oven.
• Serve with condiments (guacamole, sour cream, salsa, limes).

The bacon in the oven directions. There is a lot less grease produced using this method. I put the bacon on a cooling rack which is placed on top of a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil. Rotate the tray around half way through the cooking time. Otherwise, the bacon in the back of the oven will not cook evenly compared to the front. The back of an oven is always hotter. For thin meats such as bacon slices it is advisable to turn the tray around half way through the cooking time. The cooking time will vary based upon the thickness of your bacon. I tend to use center cut Oscar Meyer and 18 minutes overall works well for that.

https://www.popsugar.com/food/how-bake-bacon-7525584

A description of bacon lardons.

https://www.ciafoodies.com/bacon-lardons/

Alton Brown has a decent nacho recipe as well. I used to follow his, but morphed over time into mine.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ultimate-nachos-recipe2-1917520

Oh, the tortilla chips are important. Whatever you do, do NOT buy flavored tortilla chips. They take away from the corn maze flavor that is important in dishes such as this one. I buy the "El Charro" brand at Villa Market. You want the original flavor ones in the yellow bag.

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Linguine with Clams

This is a Giada de Laurentiis recipe that I have been making for years.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/spicy-linguine-with-clams-and-mussels-recipe-1922146

It tastes great and one can be serving in under an hour.

Some minor modifications and comments.

• The way the recipe is written is too much food for 2 people. I cut the linguine back to 8 oz. I also did not use the mussels. Again too much food.
• Getting good clams (hoi) that work well with this recipe can be a challenge in Pattaya. In the US I would make this dish with "Little Necks" as the recipe states. I have not found the equivalent in Thailand, although there are some very good substitutions available, but these tend to be catch as catch can. <- (pun not intended this time)
• We recently got lucky in that the Mrs found what appears to be an excellent fish monger at one of the markets near our house. He delivers them to our house. The ones he brought over today were a little undersized from what I wanted, but they were very fresh and tasty. He explained that the rains over the last few days have impacted the availability of some clam options. No problem. These were very good.
• Use a good White Wine. I bought a 900 THB "Sauvignon Blanc". Not to worry as the recipe calls for only 1 cup of the wine. You get to drink the rest. Giada recommends a "Pinot Grigio" which is the Italian version of "Sauvignon Blanc" IMO.
• Giada's recipe calls for 1 cup of Vegetable Broth to steam the clams open. I only keep homemade Chicken Broth on hand. IMO if anything Chicken Broth deepens the flavor.
• A suggestion -> if one is making this dish for more than a few people, I would suggest making some crusty garlic bread as a side. Dipped in the clam sauce it should be great.

Again, this dish has an excellent taste. The Mrs loved it and wants me to make it again for when some Thai friends come over.

Ready to serve.

Plated

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[Glasseye]

On 9/10/2023 at 11:09 PM, ChiFlyer said:

Chilli

There are a lot of Chilli recipes out there. This one is my favorite. It is an ATK recipe, so no link, just a pdf file.

Ground Beef Chilli.pdf 1.47 MB · 1 download

Partially out of necessity, I made a few changes to the recipe.

• I am out of stock with regard to "Ancho Peppers". I can not find them anywhere in Thailand. Given shipping costs, I will wait until my next US trip to bring some back. I do have a bag of "New Mexico Peppers", so I went with those instead. These have a milder flavor, but are still pretty decent.
• The Mrs has adverse reactions to the smell and taste of Cumin. I cut the measurement back from 2 TBSP to 2 tsp.
• I cut the ground beef back to 0.55 kgs. There would have been way too much food at 2 lbs. We still have plenty of leftovers, which is not a bad thing in this case. I froze some, as it keeps well. I also will have a couple of follow up dishes during the coming week. I will report on those separately.
• I used Sherry Vinegar to finish instead of the Cider Vinegar that the recipe calls for. I am a big fan of Sherry Vinegar. Hard to find in Bang Lamung, but one can get it from Lazada.
• I added 1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper to up the heat a little.

This Chilli recipe has probably the most robust flavor of any that I have ever tasted. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago where Chilli places were legendary. My buddies and I would hit Lindy's not that far from what was called Comiskey Park at the time. This Chilli recipe is better than Lindy's.

A few pics.

Ready to serve

 

Ready to eat. This is shown with my favorite condiments. As the recipe states there is a wide option of others (limes, red onions, jalapenos, ... pretty much whatever floats your boat).

 

 

Oh - this is not low carb, low sodium, fiber intensive, health food. ☺️ I only make it twice a year and usually experience a small bump upwards in my daily weight reading during the week that follows.

 

 

I make great chili. Just more difficult to find the right cans of the stuff I like to use, and the cost for cans over here is at least triple. I may give another batch a go here soon though.

My chili is something I could literally eat every day and not get tierd of it.

Thanks for the post.

 

[ChiFlyer]

20 hours ago, Glasseye said:

 

I make great chili. Just more difficult to find the right cans of the stuff I like to use, and the cost for cans over here is at least triple. I may give another batch a go here soon though.

My chili is something I could literally eat every day and not get tierd of it.

Thanks for the post.

 

I agree that the cost of American canned goods is high, but I do not buy a lot of these.

When there is something I need (such as Pinto Beans), (for those that live in the Pattaya area) I can usually find what I want at the Villa Market. I go to the one in Little Walk. Alternatively, if Villa Market does not carry an item, Lazada at times does.

I have found that the best Lazada method is to search for the item on Google (rather than Lazada) and see what pops for Lazada. Occasionally, the Google search will reveal that something is available on Shopee, but not Lazada. Don't get me wrong I think Lazada is great. I also think that direct Lazada searches can be problematic, especially when one is looking for something like American canned goods.

[ChiFlyer]

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I have always been a fan of this dish, so I decided to give it a try. I used the following recipe.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/golden-chicken-cordon-bleu/

This was my first ever attempt at this recipe. I am giving myself a B+ for flavor and a D- for presentation. I served it with some zucchini.

The problem with the presentation was I did not do a very good job of rolling the chicken breast up around the filings. I need some practice on that. Still the Mrs really liked it and I will say that despite the messiness it tasted pretty good.

Anyway a pic.

[ChiFlyer]

I am looking to make Beef Bourguignon in a few weeks. I like using frozen pearl onions as part of this dish. I can not find them anywhere in the overall Bang Lamung area, including the food shipping services from Bangkok. If anyone has seen them, please let me know. I see plenty of offerings for pickled pearl onions, but these totally suck in a Beef Bourguignon recipe.

The recipe is still pretty good without the pearl onions.

Thanks - CF

 

[ChiFlyer]

Nduja Pasta

https://thisitaliankitchen.com/nduja-pasta/

Gian's restaurant in Jomtien has an excellent version of this dish on their menu. I noticed this recipe on the net and decided to give it a try. My version is not as good as the one served at Gian's, but for a first attempt both the Mrs and myself thought it was pretty decent.

This is an easy to do recipe (outside of the shopping). One can have it on the table in less than an hour.

The key ingredient here is Nduja Sausage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Nduja

As the wiki says this is a spicy spreadable sausage. I doubt one can find it in any store in the Bang Lamung area, but it is available through Jet Italian in Bangkok. They will deliver.

https://jetitaliandeli.com/products/ndjua-calabrese-200g?_pos=1&_sid=96b81f0d7&_ss=r

Like I said, we liked the dish and I will be serving it again, probably in a few weeks as I have enough sausage left over to make another dinner.

A few notes:

• I cut back the ingredients by about 30%, so as not to have too much food. I still ended up with two servings of leftovers to microwave during the week.
• Be careful with the Nduja. It has a strong taste and too much might not be a good idea. Also, the sausage makes the sauce a little spicy.
• The recipe calls for crushed tomatoes. Villa market does not carry these. I buy diced tomatoes and process those in a small food processor for about 1 minute. IMO - a small food processor is a great addition to your kitchen tools. They cost a little more than 1000 THB, as I recall. One does not have to drag out a big food processor and clean that beast up afterwards. I have one of those as well and use it for more serious work.
• The recipe calls for Rigatoni pasta. That is one of the 8 pasta varieties that I keep on hand and it is also the least used of my pasta varieties. If one has Pene on hand that would work as well. The sauce does require a more formidable tube pasta. 
• The recipe calls for a dusting of Parm. I used Pecorino Romana instead, as it IMO has a more robust flavor to go with the other stronger tastes in this recipe.
• The basil shown in the pics is garden fresh. Makes a difference.

Nuff bs - a few pics

Ready to serve

 

Plated

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Chicken Nduja

https://www.mob.co.uk/recipes/nduja-chicken-traybake

The recipe at the link is not well written IMO. I will give some reasons why when I talk about the preparation and changes that I made.

I had some Nduja Sausage left over from the previous post. I did not want to repeat the pasta recipe, so I scoured the net looking for Nduja recipes. I found maybe 100 of them, but they fell mostly into 2 categories.

• Pastas
• Shellfish, usually with pasta

I did find the recipe in the link as well. The Mrs and I both felt that the end product was eff'n fantastic and I will be making it as part of my regular lineup. Some comments:

• Sourdough bread is not easy to find in Bang Lamung. Lazada carries a few options. I went with one of those and it was not bad at all. The one I bought worked very well with this recipe.
• The recipe calls for 3 chicken hindquarters. I went with 6 bone-in chicken thighs instead. I like thigh meat better.
• The recipe says brown the chicken over medium heat. The written recipe does not say to heat oil in the pan before browning, although the video does show adding oil. Medium heat does not get the oil hot enough for decent browning. Next time I will heat the oil over high heat until it is close to smoking and then dial the heat back a bit after adding the chicken.
• Also the recipe does not say to pat dry your chicken with paper towels prior to browning. This should be done to get a good browning (Maillard) reaction.
• The first pass of the oven roast step ended up being a little dry. I will be more liberal with the EVOO next time and perhaps add some of the drippings from the browning step as well.
• I am not a fan of the fresh tomatoes that are sold in Bang Lamung. If I was in North America or Europe and had some garden fresh tomatoes to use, I would probably cut them up and use them as the recipe calls for. Instead I bought a can of diced tomatoes and drained those. The taste was very good.
• Again be careful with the amount of Nduja Sausage that one is using. It has a strong taste and overdoing it might be a mistake. A proper amount is really good.

A pic

 

I still have enough Nduja Sausage for another dish, so I guess I will re-scour the internet this week. I really like Nduja Sausage, albeit in small doses. 🙂

Edited October 6, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Beef Bourguignon Revisited

I made this dish tonight. The following items merit being called out IMO.

I continue to use Ina Garten's version as a base. 

https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/beef-bourguignon-ina-garten-39-on-gourmets-list-of-women-game-changers/

I have incorporated some suggestions from a PA guy into my prep. These include:

• Soak the beef for 2 hours in the wine before browning. IMO the 2 hours might be too long. I will likely reduce this to 1 hour next time, as the beef ended up being not as tender as I would like.
• Dry the beef with paper towels after the soak.
• Lightly dredge the beef in flour before browning.
• Cut the mirepox veg a little larger than usual. This is a French country stew.
• I gave up on the pearl onions, as I could not find anywhere in Banglamung or on the net.
• After the above I pretty much followed the Ina Garten recipe.

When one is doing the Cognac flambe, I first remove the veg. Be careful with the flambe. 1/2 cup of Cognac on top of the remaining oil will burn quite strongly. Get the pot to an open area and get your hands/head out of the way quickly.

 

The dish turned out pretty well.

Ready to serve

 

I made Tagliatelle to serve with the stew. Not really necessary, but I like it that way.

 

Plated

 

[ChiFlyer]

Small Clams in an XO and Nduja Sauce

I had one more portion of Nduja Sausage remaining that I wanted to use before it could go bad. I had recently posted two other recipes with Nduja Sausage. The Mrs and I both really liked this one as well. The next time I buy some Nduja I will likely make all 3 of these recipes again.

Those looking at the link, especially people from NZ, will notice that I am not using Pipis. I do not believe that Pipis are available in Thailand. I bought a kg of a small clam that I had previously used from our fishmonger at the market.

The base recipe

https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/pipis-xo-nduja/7jqpb48o

There are some unusual ingredients for the recipe.

• Garlic shoots -> available at the Little Walk VM
• Green shallot shoots -> I used minced shallots
• XO Sauce - -> I bought from Lazada
• Castor Sugar -> I used refined sugar
• Sunflower Oil -> I used Canola. I will likely go with EVOO next time

This dish gets to the table in under 30 minutes and is very tasty. It is a little spicy due to the Nduja.

A few pics

Ready to serve

 

I toasted pieces of a baguette in the oven for 7 minutes at 175 C with a little EVOO on them. I bought the baguette from Lazada and it was tasty and very fresh. I am becoming a fan of the breads etc. that I am able to get through Lazada. I was glad I did this, as the baguette slices were perfect for soaking up some of the sauce.

 

Plated

 

I used about half of the clams. The Mrs freshened up the remaining sauce with some red wine and basil and cooked the rest. Got to say that I liked her version even better than mine.

Edited October 15, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Kung Pao Chicken

I have been making this dish for years and it is a favorite of both the Mrs and myself. This is a Ree Drummond recipe. Seems like I should be referencing a more exotic version of the recipe, but my slightly altered version of hers tastes really good and hits the table in under an hour. As has often been said -> "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/kung-pao-chicken-3691491

Some changes that I make compared to the link:

• For the sauce - I decrease the soy sauce by 1 TBSP and add 1 TBSP of Fish Sauce. Deepens the flavor IMO.
• I also add to the sauce 1 TBSP of Sambal Oelek (Indonesian Red Chile Garlic Sauce - good stuff, easy to find on Lazada).
• For the first cooking step where the dried chilies are fried in peanut oil, use medium rather than high heat. Otherwise you may well be gagging on chili fumes.
• When adding the chicken bring the heat up to medium-high.
• Otherwise proceed as the link says.

Ready to serve

 

Plated

 

The Mrs gives me a 1+ rating on this one. If your Farang butt is peat aversive you might want to skip this one. I would put it at a medium peat (Farang) level. The Mrs categorizes it as nitnoi peat.

 

[Glasseye]

On 10/14/2023 at 10:43 PM, ChiFlyer said:

Beef Bourguignon Revisited

I made this dish tonight. The following items merit being called out IMO.

I continue to use Ina Garten's version as a base. 

https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/beef-bourguignon-ina-garten-39-on-gourmets-list-of-women-game-changers/

I have incorporated some suggestions from a PA guy into my prep. These include:

• Soak the beef for 2 hours in the wine before browning. IMO the 2 hours might be too long. I will likely reduce this to 1 hour next time, as the beef ended up being not as tender as I would like.
• Dry the beef with paper towels after the soak.
• Lightly dredge the beef in flour before browning.
• Cut the mirepox veg a little larger than usual. This is a French country stew.
• I gave up on the pearl onions, as I could not find anywhere in Banglamung or on the net.
• After the above I pretty much followed the Ina Garten recipe.

When one is doing the Cognac flambe, I first remove the veg. Be careful with the flambe. 1/2 cup of Cognac on top of the remaining oil will burn quite strongly. Get the pot to an open area and get your hands/head out of the way quickly.

 

The dish turned out pretty well.

Ready to serve

 

I made Tagliatelle to serve with the stew. Not really necessary, but I like it that way.

 

Plated

 

 

This looks incredibly mouth watering !

[ChiFlyer]

10 hours ago, Glasseye said:

 

This looks incredibly mouth watering !

I should state a correction to one of my Beef Bourguinon comments.

I hypothesized that the 2 hour wine soak for the beef might be too long, as the beef was not as tender as I would have liked. I consulted a bit with my PA guru for this dish (he used to be a professional chef) and he said if anything soak it longer. He tends to be correct. He said that increasing the cooking time might be a better idea. This is a slow braise recipe, so that makes sense.

 

[Glasseye]

6 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

I should state a correction to one of my Beef Bourguinon comments.

I hypothesized that the 2 hour wine soak for the beef might be too long, as the beef was not as tender as I would have liked. I consulted a bit with my PA guru for this dish (he used to be a professional chef) and he said if anything soak it longer. He tends to be correct. He said that increasing the cooking time might be a better idea. This is a slow braise recipe, so that makes sense.

 

Good point. I like to long cook my chile and pasta sauces when I make a batch. Seems to blend the flavours, soften the oninons, etc.

I may try to do a batch of chile next week.

[ChiFlyer]

Shrimp Po Boys

https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/kelsey-nixon/cajun-shrimp-po-boys-1961112?desktop-device=true&desktop-device=true&

I like some of Kelsey Nixon's recipes. This is one of them.

In case anyone does not know, this was a lunch meal for the nowhere near do well in New Orleans a long time back. It has become a well regarded dish throughout the US.

I apologize for the pic. I was multi-tasking when I took it.

There is a great open market for seafood and other things a little South of 7 on Sukhumvit near our house. I do mean the Southern 7 entrance ramp. It's a larger market on the East side of the street. Hard to miss. We got over there at 7 AM for some fresh Shrimp (Kung). The shrimp was fantastic. The market was packed, possibly because today was a Thai Buddha Day.

A few suggestions:

• The cooking time for the shrimp is a little too long. I would keep it to 2 minutes tops.
• I use Emeril's Bayou Blast (I make it myself) for the Cajun seasoning. Do not make too much of it as it cakes rather quickly due to the Onion Powder in it. Link follows below.
• I leave out the shredded cabbage as neither the Mrs nor myself care for it.
• I use Sambal Oelek in place of the Cocktail sauce. Easier to find in Thailand and it brings a little more heat.
• I use Japanese Panko breadcrumbs. These grain a little too large, so I put 2 cups in a gallon ziploc and beat on them with a meat hammer for a few minutes. Rolling pin or any other flat surface object will work just as well.

Emeril's Bayou Blast

https://www.emerils.com/121705/emerils-essence-creole-seasoning-also-referred-bayou-blastox

The Mrs really likes this dish and I am fond of it as well.

A pic (again sorry for the poor quality of the pic).

Edited October 29, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[lazarus]

last night's dinner...

broiled chicken thighs, sautéed Napa cabbage, rice, kimchee

Edited October 31, 2023 by lazarus

[ChiFlyer]

Jerk Chicken

I have been a fan of Jerk Chicken for a long time. I recently began making my own. I found the recipe at the link, which is poorly written, but just do what makes sense.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jerk-chicken-recipe0-1908640?desktop-device=true&desktop-device=true&#communityReviews

Changes I made to the link recipe:

• Scotch Bonnet peppers are not available in Thailand nor are the obvious substitute of habaneros. I need to ask the Mrs for advice on what would be good Thai substitutes. I am sure that there are plenty. The ones I picked out were not peat sufficient.
• I used 1/4 cup of refined sugar as opposed to 1/2 cup of raw sugar in the recipe. I find that many recipes go too heavy on the sugar.
• I replaced 2 TBSP of soy sauce with 2 TBSP of fish sauce
• I finished the chicken on a pan grill as opposed to firing up the Weber for a short blast.

All in all the end product was tasty and the Mrs liked it. However, I need to do some research to come up with a better recipe and better peppers.

A pic

 

I should have pulled the chicken a little quicker from the pan grill. The black stuff was more crunch than burnt. The sugar makes the dark color form quickly.

Edited November 3, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Gochujang Noodles with a Korean Cucumber Salad

I picked up on Korean Gochujang Sauce through a TV cooking show (ATK I think). It has an interesting flavor with some heat, so I have experimented with a few recipes that call for it. I tried a new one tonight.

https://moonandspoonandyum.com/gochujang-noodles/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=page&utm_campaign=msn#recipe

It turned out very good. The Mrs really liked it. First time through so I pretty much followed the recipe. A few comments:

• The coconut amino oil is probably cooking healthy overkill. Soy sauce would work just as good.
• I used Vietnamese Rice Noodles. The Mrs was giving me grief, as she thought these were more appropriate as Pad Thai Noodles. I disagree.

All in all the noodles turned out very well and I will make them again.

I served a side with the noodles of a Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad. 

https://moonandspoonandyum.com/korean-cucumber-salad/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=page&utm_campaign=msn#recipe

I pretty much followed the recipe on this one as well, but sliced up the cucumbers to be more bite sized. My preference. Mrs like this one as well.

A few pics:

The Noodles

 

The Cucumber Salad

 

Plated

 

I would categorize the dish as a level 2 heat factor on the Farang scale, which is what I enjoy when it comes to heat. The Mrs categorizes it as nitnoi phet on the Isan scale. I serve the dish with American/Italian Red Pepper Flakes as a topping condiment to be used at the diner's discretion. I did not use, as I thought the heat was already where it should be. The Mrs. hit her dish with about 1/2 tsp and said these are very good. 🙂

Oh, as a side note Gochujang sauce does not keep that well. It tends to dry out after being opened. If one wants to experiment with it, only buy a small tub would be my suggestion.

Also as a side note, this meal was on the table in well under an hour. Convenient.

Edited November 12, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[Glasseye]

I think I am going to have to give this a go at some point in early Dec. I've always loved Salisbury Steak, been years since I've had any.

 

 

 

[Glasseye]

Want to get my ass in gear and start making some of this stuff.... lovely.

 

Made by an American "good ol boy".

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

Pene Pesto Salad

From time to time I browse recipes on the web. If I find a new one that sounds interesting, I file it away and reserve a slot for it on the upcoming recipes lineup. I tried Pene Pesto Salad for the first time tonight.

https://www.keepingthepeas.com/pesto-veggie-pasta/#🥣-ingredients-and-notes

There is a lot to be said in favor of this recipe and I have added it to my ongoing rotation.

• Easy to make. It's on the table in under an hour.
• Very flavorful. I really liked it and the Mrs thought it was good, even though she is not that big of a fan of pasta dishes.
• I was going to say relatively healthy, but given all the carbs from the pasta, lets go with not insanely unhealthy.
• The author of the recipe makes a bunch of suggestions on how to make the meal healthier. I prefer tastier.

Some thoughts on the preparation:

• The pesto sauce is the key to the meal. I used a blender and it took some work. I had substituted Rocket Lettuce  for the Arugula. I also substituted Walnuts for the Cashews. Just a matter of what I had on hand and I used to use Walnuts and/or Pine Nuts when I made my own homemade Pesto back in the US. I doubled the garlic. I added 1/3 cup of pasta water to smooth out the pesto. The pesto turned out great. All in all I recommend making your own pesto as opposed to buying a bottle at the store. The freshness of the ingredients in the homemade version makes a world of difference. 
• Since I used a blender for the pesto preparation, I should have done a finer chop on the walnuts and garlic. 
• I have never seen Yellow Squash at the store here in Bang Lamung, so I went with two zucchinis.

All in all the meal was very tasty.

A couple of pics.

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

Xmas Dinner

We had another couple over for Xmas Dinner. I did the cooking. I did pretty well, if I do say so myself. Compliments were given and there were zero leftovers.

The main entree was Roast Duck.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pan-roasted-duck-breast-recipe0-2013578?desktop-device=true&desktop-device=true&

The link describes several side recipes. I did not make these, only the duck.

 

One side was Garlic Roasted Potatoes

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/garlic-roasted-potatoes-recipe-1913067

 

A second side was Honey Butter Roasted Carrots. I should have made more of these.

https://cafedelites.com/honey-garlic-butter-roasted-carrots/

 

All in all it was a nice table setting using the fancy dishes that are brought out maybe twice a year.

 

Not shown is the Belgium Chocolate Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream, which was also well received. Also not shown was a tart cherry sauce, which was an accompanying condiment for the duck.