Tag Archives: chicken

Spicy Chicken with Basil (Gai Pad Krapow)

I love Thai food. I love America’s Test Kitchen. I also love eating fabulous food with the people I love. So when my sister Erica came through town for a brief visit the other week, I chained her to the kitchen and cried “cook for your loved ones!” (Me being the loved one in this equation)

Yöst kiddink.

The real story goes like this: I went shopping on the Magnificent Mile with Erica during the day and bought two cute tops, a pair of shorts and a cardigan. Obviously, then I felt too guilty to spend even more money doing the Thai take-out we had planned for that evening, so instead I burst open the doors to my kitchen and shouted “We shall cook off our guilt!”

Of course, the guilt was all mine since Erica didn’t buy anything, and my kitchen doesn’t have doors–but that was the emotional reality of what happened.

I was expecting this dish to burn a hole in my tongue since it calls for no less than 10 chilies, but since we removed the seeds from all of them, the final dish had very little spice–a mere tickle on the palate. Next time I would definitely leave the seeds from one or two chilies in the mix. The flavors are classic Thai, and it’s really very simple to make, so give it a go! Just plug your nose when the fish sauce first hits the pan, and you’ll be fine.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

10 jalapeño peppers
10 cloves garlic
6 shallots
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth
3 TBS sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 lbs ground chicken
3 TBS vegetable oil
3 cups packed Thai or regular fresh basil leaves
3 TBS lime juice

First we’re going to remove the seeds from some or all of the jalapeño peppers.

For this to happen, you need to identify the location of a younger sibling. Hey! Get off the phone and de-seed those chilies!

I love it when bossing my sister actually works.

She used to follow my direction with unquestioning trust when she was a wee thing. Then she hit grade school and . . . well, that was the end of that.

As I mentioned above, removing the seeds from all of them will produce a pretty non-spicy dish, so if you want some spice, leave some seeds in. Toss the chilies in a food processor or blender as you go. Also, either wear gloves during this part or wash your hands very carefully, because my sister had multiple chilied-up-finger-in-eye ‘situations’ that caused her much pain throughout the evening.

De-skin the garlic . . .

. . . and add it to the blender with the chilies.

Take the skins off the shallots and toss those in, too.

Process the chilies, garlic, and shallots until they form a coarse paste.

And now for the quick sauce: whisk together the fish sauce and chicken broth . . .

. . . sugar . . .

. . . and cornstarch.

Set aside.

Watch out, because things are about to get a little freako. Okay, maybe a lot freako for some of you. Put the ground chicken in a small bowl . . .

. . . grab a fork and schmush it about until all the ‘strands’ are gone and it has become a uniform paste.

Grossiola now–but deliciousiola later. Don’t become a vegetarian yet! It will all look better soon.

Almost done with the prep! Get your sister to squeeze a lime or two into a small bowl.

Yes, it’s very important that a younger sibling do this part. If not, the recipe won’t come out quite right, you see.

And finally–get the basil leaves ready.

Unfortunately, my basil had gotten quite ugly. And dark. And slimy.

It was only 2 days old, people! Me and Mr. Dominicks will have to have a “chat.”

Thankfully my sister brought a basil plant with her, and graciously share its abundance with  me.

Thanks, babes. I repent of all my bossing.

Now it’s time to cook! Heat the oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. When shimmering, add the chili/garlic/shallot mixture . . .

. . . and cook for about 5 minutes or until the moisture evaporates, stirring so that it doesn’t burn (especially near the end).

Turn the heat down to medium and add the chicken:

Cook for about 7 minutes, breaking it up with a spatula and mixing it with the paste, until it’s no longer pink. Still a little pink in there . . .

Once the chicken ain’t s’dang pink, we’re almost done. Sprinkle the basil leaves over the chicken.

Briefly whisk the fish sauce mixture to recombine the ingredients and pour it into the pan, over the basil leaves and chicken.

Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce has thickened.

Pour the fresh lime juice over the chicken . . .

. . . give it a quick taste for seasoning (adding salt and pepper if needed), and serve it over rice.

Deliciousiola, just as I hoped! And just as satisfying (or more) than take-out would have been.

Come back, Erica! You make cooking an all-around funner* experience.

*Dear Grammarian Conscience of Mine: I know that ‘funner’ isn’t a word. Aunt Paula taught me that the summer that I was 11 years old. But sometimes, I must follow my heart and rebel.

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Diane's Girls' Night Pasta

This summer our church is having a Bible study for women every Tuesday night. We’re going through a fantastic series by Beth Moore called ‘Breaking Free,’ and (with the extra perk of dinner involved) it’s a lovely way to spend the evening. If you’re a female Christian, chances are you may have encountered Beth Moore–she’s a very blond and very Southern preach-it type of gal who does video devotional series with an accompanying booklet. For us more reserved Chicagoans, her intense style can feel a little . . . abrasive. “Lemme tell you, girlfriend!” she shouts, her eyes the size of dinner plates, her hair sprayed into a veritable tower of blondness. “I don’t know ’bout you, but I need me some freedom!”

It took about 2 sessions for me to get used to her. And now–I’m loving it! She is sincere, she is gospel-preachin,’ and she doesn’t mince her words. She’s direct and honest and I am enjoying this study to the max, poofy hair included.

But anyway, we’re getting distracted from the food part of this post. The first night we met for this summer study, Diane (one of the leaders) made this great pasta dish. “How do you make this??” I cried. And as soon as dinner was over, she had printed the recipe for me. Thank you, Diane. It’s simple, it’s wonderful, it’s girly.

Word of caution: the chicken and the pesto are center-stage flavors here, so get a gooood chicken and get some gooood pesto. Diane explained that the Costco roasted chicken is the most succulent store-bought chicken she’s come across, and it makes a big difference in the final dish. And lo and behold, Diane’s pasta was waaay better than mine, so if you have access to a Costco by all means take her advice.

Ingredients

1 roasted chicken, picked
16 oz rotini pasta
2 oz pine nuts, toasted
1 cup diced sundried tomatoes (8.5 oz)
3/4-1 cup pesto (6.25 oz)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

There’s the assembly–minus the pine nuts. Pretend there’s a little jar of pine nuts.

Start off by boiling some pasta water (salted!).

Now it’s time to get your hands dirty and pick that chicken. I have no pictures to present because I had picked it the night before. You can go the storebought route, or you could easily roast up a chicken of your own in a little over half an hour using this method.

I chopped up the chicken with a handy pair of kitchen scissors:

Now grab yon sundried tomatoes . . .

. . . and give them a good dice.

This didn’t take me long since I bought the julienned kind.

Now it’s time to lightly toast the pine nuts in a skillet. They burn easily, so move them about and give them your undivided attention.

*visualize a skillet of pine nuts gently toasting over a low flame*

Why didn’t I take a picture, you ask? Well . . . um . . . see . . . every now and then this side of me pops out that I like to call ‘The Cheapskate Jenna’ (or is it ‘cheapscape’? I never did figure that out).

See, I couldn’t bring myself to spend $6 on what seemed to be the world’s tiniest jar of pine nuts. But as long as the $6 doesn’t phase you all, they truly are delicious in this dish. Like, the dish really isn’t the same without them. Yep, this is one of those ‘don’t do what I do–do what I say’ situations. Unless you have a Cheapskate alter-ego that will also emerge and take the reigns of your being right before you get in line to check out, consuming you with guilt until you put that dang jar of pine nuts back on the shelf.

Grate the Parmesan nice and fine:

When the pasta is almost al dente, set aside 1 cup of pasta water (just dip a glass cup measure straight into the pot) . . .

. . . and drain the pasta. Immediately return the pasta to the pot and stir in the tomatoes and chicken . . .

. . . and the pesto and pine nuts.

Cook it all over low heat for a couple minutes, stirring until it’s evenly mixed and the pasta is al dente.

Stir in extra pasta water as needed–if it’s looking/tasting dry, add splashes of water until the consistency is to your taste. I forgot to reserve the pasta water and my end result was a little dry. Wow–no pine nuts, no pasta water . . . I was really slacking off when I made this.

Oh well! It’s all part of my Recovering Perfectionist Therapy Regime, so I hereby forgive myself.

Serve with plenty of Parmesan sprinkled on top!

It’s tasty and easy and an overall great weeknight meal.

Plus, even though ‘girls’ night’ is in the title of it, my husband said that it hit the spot in his man-stomach.

Thanks again Diane for sharing your great recipe!

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