Bon Appetit Recipe Test: Thai Chicken Soup

I'm kicking the tires on another recipe for you today.  I found this one in a Bon Appetit magazine Tweet--27 ways to make boneless chicken not boring.  This recipe is a hit!

My husband doesn't do ethnic food.  He has the stomach of a child sometimes--after a trip to an Indian restaurant, he ate something spicy and laid on the sofa for hours moaning and rubbing his tummy.  When I'm craving Vietnamese or Thai food, I call up girlfriends and have a girls' night out.  I didn't tell him this was Thai-inspired until afterwards.  He ate it up, proclaimed how fantastic the broth was, and didn't have a stomachache at all.  Then I told him it was Thai and he looked surprised.

By the way, I fully believe in "Jewish Penicillin"--chicken noodle soup--when you're feeling unwell.  This soup might replace the simple chicken noodle or matzo ball soup though.  It's that good.

I followed the original recipe closely, but not exactly.  The original recipe can be found here:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/thai-chicken-soup

My changes were mostly out of convenience and to cut down on miscellaneous leftover produce in my fridge.  For example, instead of measuring out the mushrooms or sugar snap peas, I tossed in a whole package.  The more veggies, the merrier, right?

Here's my rendition:

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 chive pieces (five bulbs, each with about four stalks of green onion on it)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
4 in. piece of fresh ginger (consider using more if you like more zing)
handful of baby carrots
1 jalapeno (consider using two if you like heat)
1 package of sliced white mushrooms (about 8 oz.)
1 package of organic, boneless chicken tenderloins (there were no 1 lb. packages so I used 1.3 lbs.)
1 can coconut milk (this can was 13.5 oz.)
1 quart organic chicken broth
1 package of sugar snap peas (I think it was about 8 oz.)
Fish sauce to taste (I used about 2-3 tablespoons)
2-3 oz. lime juice
2 handfuls of cilantro

Outside of all the washing and chopping, this is very easy to make and has minimal clean up.

Wash all produce.

Put large soup pot on stove on medium heat.  Add the oil and the garlic.  As garlic becomes golden, chop up the scallions and carrots, add to pot.  I used one handful of baby carrots, next time, I'll consider using two since I really like carrots.

Use carrot peeler to scrape the skin off the ginger, then grate into the pot.  I couldn't find out grater, so I was using a serrated knife.  My patience wore off at four inches of the ginger.  I wish I'd used more, so if you like zing, keep grating away.  The original Bon Appetit recipe calls for 1 inch.

Next, I added the a tablespoon of fish sauce, chicken broth, and coconut milk, then all the chicken tenderloins.  Just toss the chicken pieces into the soup pot whole.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer, and set timer for 20 minutes.

While the chicken is simmering, slice the jalapeno thinly.  I de-seeded it to keep the spicy level lower for my husband, but next time, I'll use two jalapenos.  Chop the sugar snap peas into small pieces--they'll look like over-sized rings of green onion.  I always chop mine across or slightly diagonally to make sure I cut across where strings could be.  I tend to find strings, even if the bag says the peas are string-less.

At the 20 minute mark, remove the chicken tenderloins and place on large plate.  Add the pea and jalapeno to the soup pot.  Using a fork and knife (it's hot!), pull the chicken into pieces that will fit on a spoon.  The chicken was really tender and came apart very easily.  Return the pulled chicken to the pot.  Add 2-3oz. of lime juice (I used half of a little green plastic reconstituted lime juice container).  Stir and taste.  At this point, I wanted more salt.  Instead of adding salt, I added another tablespoon or two of fish sauce to get that salty/umami taste I needed.

Taste it to check for the right balance.  Need saltiness or umami?  Add fish sauce.  Need zing?  Add lime juice and or grated ginger.

Remove the cilantro leaves from the stems.  Now you're ready to serve.

For best presentation, use a slotted spoon to scoop up the right balance of chicken and veggies.  Then ladle the broth around the chicken and veggies so you can see them peaking through the surface.  Top with fresh cilantro and serve immediately.

The delicious finished product--Tom Kha Gai inspired Thai Chicken Soup.

Don't add the rest of the fresh cilantro to the leftovers.  It will wilt when sitting in the liquid then during reheating.  Top each reheated bowl with fresh cilantro.

Food and Wine Magazine Recipe Test: Swordfish with Charmoula

Recently, my husband gifted me a subscription to Food and Wine magazine.  This was my first recipe from the magazine, so I thought I'd share the process of kicking the tires for you.

You can find the full recipe here: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/arctic-char-with-charmoula

The original recipe is Arctic Char with Charmoula.  Marsh did not have Arctic Char, but the swordfish filets looked lovely and I hadn't prepped anything swordfish in a long time.

The charmoula was easy to make in a blender.  It did not have the pretty, slightly grainy texture of the sauce in Food and Wine magazine, but it was still salty, bursting with garlic, and abounding with freshness.  The cooking times held true for the swordfish filets.  I think swordfish may actually be a better accompaniment to the charmoula sauce.  Charmoula tastes like chimichurri, which I often associated with robust flavors of steak or grilled chicken.  The swordfish is meatier than char, so it stands up to the bold flavors.

Here's the end result, served with a Starbucks brown rice and veggie bowl salad I had leftover from a work lunch.  I'm a fan of the recipe, but as suggested above, would swap out a meatier fish like swordfish for the char or any delicate white fish.

Easy Chicken Fresca

At my house, anything that tastes even remotely similar to a chimichurri is a huge hit.  This chicken recipe has the fresh flavors reminiscent of chimichurri, but on a weeknight schedule (no food processor or blender clean up!). The sauce isn't really a sauce or salsa, it's more of a fresh relish, so I'm calling it "fresca topping."  You can get this from ingredients to finished product in about 30 minutes, depending on the plumpness of your chicken.

You'll need:
Olive oil
Minced garlic
Lime juice
A vine ripe or Roma tomato
Parsley
Cilantro
2-4 Boneless chicken breasts
Cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

Dice the tomato and sprinkle with salt.  The salt will express some of the moisture from the tomato while you finish the other fresca components.

Diced tomatoes sprinkled with salt.

Begin with 1-2-3.  Mix one tablespoon minced garlic, two tablespoons lime juice, and three tablespoons olive oil in a medium bowl.

The moisture for the topping is this 1-2-3 mixture.

Remove one to one and a half cups of cilantro leaves from the stem.  Other than cooking the chicken to a food safe temperature, this is the most important part of the recipe.  The stems are too coarse and get little hairs on them when the leaves are removed haphazardly.  These mistakes create a poor mouth-feel.  Take the time to remove the leaves cleanly.  Wash.  Then use scissors to chop up the leaves.  Pat dry and add to the 1-2-3 mixture.

Pluck each leaf of cilantro from the stem individually.

If you go to hastily, you'll end up with pieces on the leaves that feel like hair in your mouth.

Use scissors to quickly make the cilantro into small bits.

Repeat with the parsley, about half to three-quarters cup.  Wash, chop, and add to bowl.

Drain the moisture from the plate of tomatoes, add to bowl.  Add fresh black pepper and a few dashes of cayenne.  Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Finished topping.  Sit on counter at room temp to allow the flavors to marry.

Let the bowl sit at room temp while you prep the chicken.

Preheat oven to 400 and put skillet on stove on medium-high.  Add a splash of olive oil.  While skillet heats, splash chicken with lime, then sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and cayenne.  When skillet is hot--a drip of water from a spoon sizzles--add the chicken.  Cook about three minutes (so meat is golden) then flip.  Cook another three minutes then transfer the whole skillet to oven.  These free-range breasts from Fresh Market were extra plump and required an additional 10 minutes in the oven, then 10 on broil.  If you have any doubts, check temp with a meat thermometer in thickest part of chicken to ensure you've reached 165.  These breasts can also be prepared on the grill.

Chicken ready to be covered to rest.  Resting lets the chicken soak up the juices and rise a few more degrees internally.

Let chicken rest a few minutes, then slice thinly.  Use the tines of a fork to guide you if you're not used to cutting thin slices.  If you're struggling, you also might need a sharper knife.

Arrange across plate and top with your fresca topping.  You can either place the fresca topping directly on the chicken, or beside it if you're not so sure how much you'll like it.  If there's any juice in the bottom of the bowl where your topping was melding together, drizzle it over the chicken to add a burst of lime freshness and moisture.

Presentation option 1: crown the chicken with the topping.

Presentation option 2: place the topping alongside the chicken.  Good for if you're not sure these flavors will be a hit.

A simple salad, brown rice, or quinoa are nice accompaniments.  Or, if you're looking for a light meal, enjoy alone so you have room for fresh fruit or sorbet for dessert.

PB&J Donut Throwdown: Square Donuts versus General American Donut Co.

When Square Donuts opened in downtown Indy last year, I was instantly enamored.  Not by the donuts in a different shape, but by their PB&J donut.  I’d never had a PB&J donut and I live for all things peanut butter.  I was instantly smitten.  Not to mention the man behind the counter at Square Donuts on weekends is a charmer.  He asked me if the Miss America pageant was in town the last Saturday I dropped in.

Fast forward to July 10, 2014.  There’s a new donut shop in town...the General American Donut Co. on East Street near Fountain Square.  Yeasty, sweet smells were wafting down East Street today.  I tried to grab donuts there this morning, but after waiting in line for 25 minutes (and getting a parking ticket!), only three people had left with donuts and the line hadn’t moved but a few feet.  I walked to the front of the line, caught a glimpse at the donuts, and left for work.  The case contained just a few donuts, priced between $2.25 and $3.00 each.  They were mostly a bourbon flavored donut, evidently the slow seller of the morning.  The donuts were being pulled from racks closer to the kitchen and boxed.

The line at the General American Donut Co. at 7:30 a.m. today.

At lunchtime, my kind husband brought a sampling of what he purchased after waiting in the line (and remnants of what he'd already snacked on) to my office, including the General American Donut Co. version of the PB&J donut.  Instantly, I knew it…it was time for a PB&J donut throwdown!  And General American Donut Co. had a formidable foe.  My dad, while visiting from Kentucky, once said that the chocolate donut with vanilla filling from Square Donuts was the best donut he’d ever tasted.

Recently I purchased a box of Square Donuts to take to the Pride Parade.  I made sure to grab the PB&J donut after I arrived since it’s my favorite.  Square Donuts has the expected flavors…glazed, chocolate, maple, strawberry, sprinkles.  Everything is lined up in the case.  They have coffee servers, but I’m never sure whether there’s coffee ready in them on Saturdays.  I’ve never seen someone pour a cup.

My recent assortment of Square Donuts.  The PB&J donut is in the second row, third from left.

The assortment Greg brought to my office today included a bite of the General American Donut Co. cronut, half a sour cream donut, a PB&J donut, and a donut dipped in oat and nut topping.  The crunchy donut was like a wolf in sheep’s clothing…it looked healthy but deep down you knew it was still frosting and pastry in a  granola costume.  I’m totally okay with donuts not being healthy.  The sour cream donut was huge and hearty, and the sour cream scent was distinctive.  Sometimes it’s hard to detect the sour cream flavor.

The assortment of General American Donut Co. donuts.  The PB&J donut is the whole donut in the center.

So…comparison time.  The Square PB&J donut has a sleek frosted exterior that tastes sweet.  Inside is light and airy, with a small pocket of jelly.  The General American Donut Co. donut is heavier.  Unquestionably, it has more mass than the Square Donut Co. donut.  The peanut butter topping, not really frosting, isn’t sweet and has a grainier texture, likely a nod to General American Donut Co.’s commitment to natural ingredients.  Inside, the donut is bread-like, not airy.  It has about triple the amount of jelly compared to the Square donut.

Overall, the winner of this throwdown is the PB&J donut from Square Donuts.  It is airy and light, like a yeast donut should be.  The General American Donut Co. PB&J donut is more than twice the price of the Square donut and too dense to win.  General American Donut gets props for having lots of jelly and not having artificial ingredients, but I’ll take the risk that the peanut butter icing at Square contains something artificial.  This comparison is like eating a spoonful of Jiff, then a spoonful of all natural peanut butter.  The natural one tastes fine and you know it’s not as bad for you…but you go back for a second spoonful of Jiff in all its sweetened glory. 

Looks like Square Donuts still isn’t cutting corners on their PB&J donut.  I’ll be back soon for more of those.  And welcome to the neighborhood, General American Donut Co.  I might be back if the line is moving faster after you get the kinks worked out.  While you get bonus points for having espresso drinks on the menu, this isn’t the cronut line in New York City.  I don’t get up early enough to wait an hour for donuts.

P.S.—Insider Tip—Residential permit parking on the street in front of General American Donut Co.  Abide, or your $3.00 donut just became a $28.00 donut.

Wok on over to Side Wok Cafe in Broad Ripple

After last week's disappointing Chinese experience at JS Garden, I wasn't expecting to eat Chinese for awhile.  But today, my administrative assistant wanted take out and convinced the rest of us to join in a carry out order.  Her pick for Chinese in our part of town is Side Wok Cafe in Broad Ripple between the Monon Trail and Broad Ripple High School on Broad Ripple Ave.  When you search Google for the restaurant, a website for Side Wok is one of the first results, but that website is for a restaurant on Heathrow Way in west Indianapolis.  Which, speaking of that website, the photos of fresh food are quite tempting.  I might have to head that way to check it out.

Broad Ripple's Side Wok Cafe doesn't have a website and online menu, but you can search and find photos of the menu online.  We were able to find a photo of the lunch menu on Urban Spoon and made selections.  Side Wok Cafe has 23 lunch specials ranging from $4.35 to $4.85.  All lunch specials include white or fried rice; and choice of soup, egg roll, or drink.  I decided to try a Szechuan do-over from the bland Szechuan beef from JS Garden.  I chose lunch special 17, shrimp with Szechuan, with wonton soup.

Front side of the expansive Side Wok Cafe menu.  Click the photo for a larger view.

Back side of the expansive Side Wok Cafe menu.  Click the photo for a larger view.

Close up on the lunch specials on the Side Wok Cafe menu.

Our assistant phoned in the carry out order and picked it up.  All of our lunches were packed in styrofoam clam shell boxes about 9x6 inches, and about 1.5 inches deep, that were stapled shut.  The packaging at JS Garden is better for keeping half of lunch for the next day.  Other than the packaging, Side Wok easily beat out JS Garden.  The shrimp with Szechuan was spicy.  Every so often, I took a break to let my mouth cool off.  The dried chilis had been minced and dotted the packaging, a much better way to add heat than the two huge dried chilis left whole, and left in my food, from JS Garden.  Bamboo, carrots, green pepper, a few scant pieces of red pepper, a few pieces of baby corn, and lots of chopped onion accompanied the 11 medium shrimp in the lunch portion.  All of the veggies were crisp tender and the shrimp were a pleasant texture--not overcooked.  Side Wok was very heavy handed with the onion slices, but supposedly onions have a natural antibiotic effect.  Since it's cold season, I hope that's true.

The portion was very generous.  When I started eating the shrimp and vegetables, I noticed that the rice was spread underneath so a substantial amount of the container was rice.  Nevertheless, it was an excellent value for $4.85.  I ate so much shrimp and rice that I did not have room for the wonton soup.  I kept it for lunch the next day. 

All of this for $4.85 plus tax!  Shrimp with Szechuan, wonton soup, and white rice from Side Wok Cafe.

The container is really heavy because of all this rice.  The rice is under the shrimp and vegetables, making it look like there is more shrimp and veggies than the box actually contains.  Regardless, it is still a very good value.  If all of that had been shrimp and vegetables, I don't know how they'd turn a profit!

Overall, I spent less than half as much for lunch than at JS Garden and received tastier food.  I wish Side Wok Cafe had a website or online ordering since explaining an order to the staff over the phone is a little difficult, but overall, this could be my new go-to Chinese carry out spot.  Flavorful, spicy food that is well-prepared and a fantastic value.  One lunch special is ample for two day's worth of lunches.  I'm definitely giving Side Wok Cafe a thumbs up on Urban Spoon.

Just So-So at JS Garden

I love it when somewhere new opens.  I'm always game to try something different, so when my office received a postcard of coupons for the grand opening of JS Garden at 5425 N. Keystone Ave. in Indianapolis, I squirreled the coupons away for my next crab rangoon craving.  The same coupons are available online here.

Sure enough, on February 13, 2014 I was in the mood for some lunchtime Chinese.  My usual spot is Bamboo House, a generic Chinese takeout joint at 52nd and Keystone in a shabby strip mall.  The service at Bamboo House is nothing special, but the food is tasty, fast, and remarkably inexpensive.  I struggle to spend $6.00 when I stop in for lunch.

JS Garden is also in a strip mall, behind Rally's and next to a clothing store, but it is newer strip mall than Bamboo House.  Inside, JS Garden has trendy colored pendant lights and dark wood.  It looks immaculately clean, and newer and nicer than Bamboo House.  The advertised steam table with numerous wells runs down the center of the restaurant.  No food was out on the steam table when I arrived just before noon.  I was instantly disappointed that I wouldn't be able to use my $1.00 off steam table lunch coupon.

The kind female employee pulled a chair out for me and encouraged me to sit while I looked at the menu.  It is smaller than the Bamboo House menu, but with most of the usual suspects on Chinese menus.  I had to spend $10.00 to use my $2.00 off coupon, so I ordered the large Szechuan beef ($8.49) and an order of crab rangoon (six for $2.95).  The smaller size beef would have come to just shy of $10.00.

Front side of the JS Garden menu.  Click the photo to make it larger and easier to read.

Back side of the JS Garden menu.  Click the photo to make it larger and easier to read.

Service was prompt and the female employee made pleasant small talk as I waited.  She offered some sweet chili sauce to accompany the crab rangoon.  The subtotal was $11.44.  Minus the $2.00 coupon, plus tax but before tip, the total was $10.29.  The restaurant has Pepsi products, but I passed on a soft drink.

Back at the office, I opened all the take out.  The crab rangoons were large, folded like envelopes instead of triangle-shaped samosa packets or flower-like wontons.  The outside was crisp, and had the telltale bubbles of freshly fried dough.  Inside was disappointing.  A lump of filling the size of an almond sat in a large empty cavern.  Usually crab rangoon filling is smooth, sweet, and melty.  This was a chunky ball of filling.  I craved more creaminess and sweetness.  I hoped the next crab rangoon would be better, but it was more of the same.

Large, square crab rangoon folded like envelopes from JS Garden.

A small lump of filling inside the cavernous crab rangoon at JS Garden.

I moved on to the Szechuan beef.  I asked for medium spiciness.  It was slightly spicy.  I picked two large dried chili peppers out of the mix as I ate.  I prefer when restaurants remove these peppers  before serving since they are inedible dried if they are not in tiny pieces.  Fresh red bell peppers and green bell peppers abounded, with some celery, carrots, and water chestnuts also in the mix.  The vegetables were sliced lengthwise in long, slender pieces.  It wasn't a bad attempt at Szechuan beef, but it was unremarkable.  I'd have preferred a clingy sauce with more garlic, one of the main ingredients in Szechuan food.  The most positive aspect of this dish was that JS Garden did not skimp on the vegetables.  Sometimes Chinese dishes are all meat with vegetables as a garnish.  I love fresh vegetables, and they were generous in this dish.

Szechuan beef from JS Garden.

One of two giant dried chili peppers that had to be picked out.  These are like bay leaves...better removed before serving.

I ate half the Szechuan beef and half the rice, and saved the other half for lunch the next day.  The serving was ample for two meals.  I was pleased that the Szechuan beef came in a resealable plastic container instead of a paper Chinese food box so that I could put it in the work refrigerator.  The plastic container was about seven inches in diameter and slightly less than two inches deep.  This is about the size of the foil lunch container at Bamboo House for under $5.00, perhaps slightly larger.

Bottom line: The pleasant service and fresh interior isn't enough to overcome the sad crab rangoon and bland Szechuan beef.  I'll stick to Bamboo House unless I'm on that side of Keystone and just want soup.  It's hard to turn across Keystone, so I'd stop back in at JS Garden if I was on that side of the street and traffic is bad.

Insider tip: if you try JS Garden, ask for some sweet chili sauce.  They do not put a container of sweet and sour in the bag to dip the crab rangoon.

Easy Bacon Shortcut

I'm all for making my life more simple.  Last weekend, I had a lot to do and no time to stand over a skillet of bacon.  Actually two skillets.  My skillet doesn't fit all the bacon I usually want to cook, so I end up making two batches.  Sometimes that works in my favor since my fiance prefers his really crispy.  I like mine more chewy.  Nevertheless, I made bacon the easy way.  Here's an easy bacon shortcut for the days you don't have time to stand in front of the stove, or you don't want to clean up the grease that inevitably splatters all over your stove and neighboring counter.

Begin with thick cut bacon.  In the midst of all the wintery weather, I didn't have thick cut bacon from the butcher.  I made due with some thick cut grocery store bacon.  It isn't as good, but bacon is never bad!  Looking for great butcher bacon in Indianapolis?  Stop in to Goose the Market.  They have all kinds of bacon, even non-pork bacon, and a "bacon of the month" club you can join.  You can also stop into Fresh Market.  They usually have four to six bacon varieties.

Lightly coat an old baking sheet with non-stick spray.  Use an old baking sheet so that if a thin part of the bacon burns and leaves dark marks on the baking sheet, you aren't sad.  Then arrange the bacon on the baking sheet. 

Bacon ready to bake in the oven.  This time-saving shortcut allows you to cook something else, get ready in the morning, or cut down on grease splatter clean up.

Insider tip: scrunch the bacon a little bit so that it looks like it was pan-fried.  If you lay it perfectly flat, it won't bubble up as much and will look different than pan-fried bacon.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes for extra crispy bacon.  For a chewy bacon, bake at 350 and check at 20 minutes, monitor the bacon closely every two to three minutes thereafter until desired doneness is achieved. 

Twenty-five minutes later: crispy bacon from the oven.  The pan will be greasy--this is why you may want to have an old pan dedicated to messy cooking.

Remove the bacon from the baking sheet to drain immediately or it will continue to cook.  Drain, pat with paper towels, and serve immediately.  If you aren't serving it immediately, you can warm it back up by wrapping the bacon in a paper towel and microwaving briefly.

Just remember to cook some extra since you'll probably eat a few slices before you serve the rest of the bacon!