thai basil chicken (gai pad krapo)

as someone who grew up

deathly - not an exaggeration -

allergic to eggs, it is kind of

weird for me to realize that two

posts in a row, not only involve

eggs, but feature them front and center.

but lest you worry about my

need for benadryl or a hospital

(i was lucky enough

to lose the allergy by college),

my cholesterol (we actually ate these

dinners over a week and a half apart)

or this blog becoming an

egg-obsessed one,

don't.

this recipe is all about the tender,

fragrant, basil-laced chicken.

and chicken?

that's not something i speak

so much about. seriously,

the last time i wrote about chicken,

it was july. so, be assured - if i'm

telling you about this recipe, i'm committed.

the egg?

just a coincidence.

--

i often have restaurant guilt -

not necessarily because it's so bad

to treat yourself to a night out,

but because i often find myself thinking,

isn't a perk of being able to cook

that you don't have to go out to dinner?

yes, there are dishes i'll never have the

desire to try at home, like...

ok, i'll admit that i just had to consult larry.

it just took us five minutes to come up with

something i'd never ever attempt to make.

we landed on shrimp tempura

(i am not a deep fryer, but probably

my arm could be twisted in the

right situation),

a wedding cake (see: name of blog)

and haggis (which i'd also never eat).

ok, i know that even though,

a night out is about much more than

even the food,

like getting out of the house,

socializing,

not worrying about timing

five different elements of one meal,

my point is this:

i like to try to make new things.

and this:

often it's a much cheaper,

more satisfying experience.

so when i came across this

year-old thai recipe on serious eats,

i was instantly in.

it had everything i need for

a weeknight dinner:

speed,

serious flavor,

a better-than-the-restaurant possibility

and a bonus: meat for larry.

and even though

neither of us had ever ordered

gai pad krapo

in a restaurant, i felt

assured that it is something

we could have ordered.

the good news:

this dish was incredibly

restaurant-worthy and

absolutely satisfying.

after some basic prep work:

slicing shallots,

chopping garlic,

mincing two serranos,

trimming and shortening

green beans,

i was ready to go.

as the first three ingredients

sizzled in the skillet,

i got the chicken ready,

pulled out the sugar and

flipped the cap off the fish sauce.

that was kind of it.

this dish came together simply

and as expected, with one exception.

as the chicken browned -

a very curious thing happened.

the whole mixture turned

a very dark brown,

most closely resembling

ground beef. i fished the

package out of the garbage

to make sure i hadn't made

an accidental purchase, but

no, it said chicken.

when larry walked in a

few minutes later,

he told me that everything

smelled good and then he

looked down at the skillet

and asked, is that beef?

that felt like victory to me.

somewhere in the prep,

i had also gently fried two eggs,

kept an eye on a simmering

saucepot of brown rice and

made a fish sauce-based

dipping sauce, which i'll give

you the recipe to,

but i understand if at this

point you think i've

gone overboard with

fish sauce sauces.

maybe because of

this or this.

to serve,

my eye traveled back

and forth from plate to bowl.

but, when we sat down to eat,

i was glad for piling the

rice, egg and chicken

on top of each other, rather than assembling

everything onto a plate.

it wasn't so pretty,

but, it tasted like comfort food

and like so many other cozy dishes,

it belonged in an unpretentious bowl.

i turned to larry, curious

what he would think of this

take on takeout.

after his first bite,

he turned to me and said,

this is good. this is really good.

i would order this in a restaurant.

and just like that:

a restaurant dinner at home.

thai basil chicken (gai pad krapo)

adapted from serious eats

i doubled the recipe so that we'd have leftovers - but it was one of those running around in a grocery store trying to do math and sometimes failing situations. i upped the shallots from one to three (purposely), only went with two serranos instead of four to six (purposely), upped the sugar by one and half times the original (gladly) and only bought one bunch of basil (accidentally). next time, i will probably add another serrano or two and i will absolutely use more basil. but it's up to you to decide how much you love basil and how much spice you can handle.

instead of placing it all on a plate, i opted to smoosh it all together in one bowl. i started with brown long grain rice, topped it with an over-easy egg and then, the chicken. to me, it made sense to eat them all together, but if you like your food separate, plate it up. also, about that egg, i'm not quite sure why i flipped it...it was good, but sunny-side up would have been, too.

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3-4 serrano peppers, halved, seeded and finely chopped (you could also use less of red thai chilies if you can find them)

3 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

6 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" lengths

1 pound ground chicken

1/4 cup fish sauce, plus more if desired

1 tablespoon sugar, plus more if desired

2 bunches basil, leaves only

in wok or large skillet over high heat, heat oil until shimmering. add serranos, shallots and garlic and cook 1 minute, or until nearly golden, stirring constantly. add green beans and cook 3 minutes, or until softened, but still crunchy.

add grown chicken; using wood spoon or spatula, break up the meat into small pieces. cook 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, stirring often.

add fish sauce and sugar to pan; stir to combine. add more fish sauce or sugar, if desired.

add basil leaves; reduce heat to medium-low. cook 1 minute, or until leaves are completely wilted.

you could serve this on its own, but brown rice (or white) and an egg with a runny yolk will make it a complete meal. once it was on the table, we drizzled with the fish sauce mixture, below.

nam pla prik (chili fish sauce)

it almost seems silly to give you yet another fish sauce dipping sauce, but they're all a little different and you never know when you'll stumble upon one that's perfect for you. i left out the chilies, that were supposed to be in this one (but i'm keeping in the recipe), and also added garlic. and this one, really wasn't even a recipe as much as a guideline - which can sometimes be fun. if your finished sauce is too intense, add water.

3 to 4 parts fish sauce

1 to 2 parts lime juice

1 chili, finely chopped (or more)

1 shallot, thinly sliced (or more)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or more)

whisk together all ingredients; taste and adjust seasoning.

i'll take any excuse

two wednesdays ago,

i fell victim to

a common problem

i like to call:

forgot to watch the weather

channel.

a sin amidst the global

warming crisis,

which demands - in addition

to caring more about our 

environment - constantly

staying closely acquainted

with the local meteorologist.

i was wearing a zip-up

hoodie, which the day

before would have been fine,

but that day, so warm that

even sitting inside was 

unbearable, made

me want to 

unzip and remove

the hot and oppressive

shirt (at work) and

spend the rest of the 

day in a tank top.

it was horrible. 

but as i drove home -

the offending straitjacket

thankfully strewn on the 

passenger seat beside me -

i thought,

spring is here.

but i was wrong.

as much as we want to 

fight it and get excited

when we wake up to birds

chirping, as they occasionally

have been, or see gorgeous

yellow daffodils in the store,

or slip on our 

faithful flip-flops,

we can't. 

because there are still days

like today, when it is cold,

raining and so foggy,

we can barely see the building

across the street.

and while i'm unbelievably

anxious to stop wearing my

coat, i'm thankful for one

thing that this prolonged

winter gives us: soup.

i love big pots of

soups,

stews,

chilis,

anything that comes

together to be warm and

comforting and is even 

better when made a day

ahead - perfect in my book.

african peanut soup

is one of my favorites,

one of the few recipes that

i've repeated year after year,

shared container-fulls 

with my mom,

and frozen into perfect

one-person servings

for easy lunches.

straight-forward

and very familiar,

onion and red pepper

provide the base for 

this tomato soup.

it is fortified with

a large handful

of brown rice,

which adds some

needed heft.

and just when you

start to think,

this is thinner

than i would prefer,

you stir in 

the secret weapon,

chunky peanut butter.

the peanut butter

helps thicken

the soup.

but it also

gives the tomatoes 

an underlying

nuttiness,

that while may

sound odd,

is entirely welcome.

i'm sure

you could use smooth peanut 

butter

to just as good

results,

but i like the crunch

and texture that the

bits of nuts 

add to the mixture.

together the tomatoes and 

peanut butter

fuse into an unexpectedly

successful meal - 

a real meal, not just

an appetizer or first

course - that i often

taste and day-dream

about in the days before

simmering up a new batch.  

and that, i believe is the hallmark

of a good recipe, and why i return

to this faithful standby

time and time again.

sure, you can hold onto

the recipe until

next year.

wait until it is truly

winter,

not spring hiding

behind the cold.

but i really believe

that a few spoonfuls of this

soup

will make you feel

better about the 

fact that, in this house 

at least, we're all 

still wearing

heavy socks.

and 

winter coats.

on top of our

zipped-up hoodies.

african peanut soup

over the years, i've tinkered with this recipe, originally found here. that's the great thing about soups, you can easily adapt them to whatever you have in your kitchen or to better suit your tastes. i've made batches without the red peppers, added sweet potatoes and once, pureed the whole thing before adding the rice and peanut butter. also like most soups, the flavor thrives when prepared a day or two ahead of when you plan to enjoy it.

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 can (28 ounce) crushed tomatoes, with liquid

8 cups chicken stock

15 grinds fresh black pepper

3/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 cup brown rice

2/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

in large saucepot over medium heat, warm olive oil. add onion and red pepper and cook 15 minutes, or until slightly caramelized, stirring often. add garlic and cook 2 minutes. season with kosher salt. add tomato paste; increase heat to high. cook 1 minute, or until tomato paste has deepened to rust color, the vegetables are coated and you can smell the paste. add crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, pepper, chili powder and cayenne pepper. over high heat, bring mixture to a boil. reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered 30 minutes.  

stir in brown rice; cover and simmer 30-45 minutes, or until rice is tender. whisk in peanut butter until completely blended (it may take some vigorous whisking). season with salt and pepper. when ready to serve, divide soup among bowls and top with dry roasted peanuts.

snapshot: avocado and sweet potato brown rice bowl

heavily based on this recipe,

rice bowls have become one of 

my favorite feel-good dinners.

hearty, but not fatty or overly

filling, they're just as comforting on

a cold night as 

a warm spring evening.

and while, yes, i think it's

daring to give another tofu

recipe so soon, i think you can handle

it - or swap it out for chicken, beef or shrimp.

to make: 

fill bowls with freshly cooked and hot

brown rice that 

has been tossed with 

shredded toasted nori.

top with one large sweet potato,

diced, sprinkled with

lime juice, cayenne and kosher salt,

and roasted,

one large caramelized sweet onion,

a cubed ripe avocado

and sliced firm tofu that has been dried

well and browned in a saute pan.

my favorite part: sprinkle with

shredded toasted nori, sesame seeds

and this stuff, which i am absolutely

addicted to.

serve with wedges of lime.*

*none of this is actually shown in the photos, which is a shame, and a long story. but trust me and use them - they bring the whole thing together.