Friday night Thai

I've been getting a lot of must try recipes from friends lately, which is fabulous! keep em coming guys! Anyway, most recently my friend shared this Thai Chicken with Peanut sauce with me which she got from her new Trish Magwood cookbook. (for those of you wondering Trish Magwood is a Canadian chef who had.....perhaps still has, an awesome show on the food network called Dish.)

This recipe makes me want to buy this book!  I haven't yet, but once I do there will be a flurry of post updates let me assure you.....recipes like this make me want to cook.  The recipe is simple (just chopping and stirring) no crazy techniques or anything.  All ingredients can be obtained at a regular grocery store.....which is a nice perk when you are exploring different ethnic flavours and styles of cooking...... who wants to be running around all over town trying to find some obscure ingredient which you only need a teaspoon of anyway!

Ingredients:
1 14oz can of Coconut milk
zest and juice of 1 lime
4tsp fish sauce
2tbsp crushed peanuts ( I used chunky peanut butter)
2tsp brown sugar
1 tsp red curry paste
4tsp chopped fresh cilantro or basil (I used basil)
1 green onion thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
approximately 2lbs of skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into strips

 Fish Sauce

 Chunky Peanut Butter

 Red Curry Paste

 Mmmmm Garlic

 All minced up!

Fresh Basil from my Patio

 Peanut Sauce is ready and waiting!

slicing the chicken breasts into strips

Here's what you do:

1.  Mix together the Coconut milk, the lime zest and juice, the fish sauce the ground peanuts (I used peanut butter you can also leave the nuts out all together if you want), the brown sugar, the curry paste, the fresh basil, the sliced onion, the minced garlic as well as season with salt and pepper to taste.  place bowl in the fridge until ready to use.  

2.  Slice your skinless boneless chicken breasts into thick strips. 

3.  Once the chicken is sliced thread it onto skewers (if using bamboo or other wood skewers it's a good idea to soak them overnight otherwise they'll just go up in flames on the BBQ)

4.  Grill the chicken skewers for 5-7 minutes per side until chicken is no longer pink in centre

5.  Plate for serving.   

All prepped and ready for the BBQ

Mmmm, can't you just smell the charcoal?

I wasn't really sure how to plate this, in the end I layered the skewers over a bed of rice and drizzled the peanut sauce over top......but aesthetically, it was a miss.  don't get me wrong the taste was great!  So I ended up re plating it on to one big family style platter rice on bottom, chicken removed from skewers layed over top and the peanut sauce poured on top of that.  still not an aesthetic home run but decent enough for just T and I.

 If you give it a try let me know what you think!

Hope you enjoyed the post!

Turkey Shepard's Pie

A couple of days ago I took a giant turkey breast out of the freezer and I had big plans for it, but as so often is the case....... life happens.  Well that turkey breast sat there for two or three days.  At the end of another busy day after opening the fridge I realized that I would have to do something with that pretty lil piece of meat or it was going to have to be tossed.  Food waste is not something we take lightly in this house and so despite the fact that cooking was the last thing I wanted to be doing at that moment I pulled out my slow cooker.  To  prep the Turkey I rubbed it down with onion powder and garlic powder and a small amount of the soup bullion mix (making sure to also rub it under the skin). I placed the large breast in the slow cooker and added just enough water to cover the bottom of dish. I removed the turkey after about 6 hours and hit up allrecipes.  I found a turkey Shepard's pie recipe that looked good and decided I'd give it a whirl. 

This is a definite comfort food! and so Delicious!

Here's what you need:

• 2 cups cubed cooked turkey
• 3/4 cup turkey gravy * I make my own from the juice released from cooking the turkey and whisk it with a tiny bit of cornstarch to thicken it*
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 2 cups prepared stuffing *you can use home made(see recipe below) or store bought* 
• 2 cups whole kernel corn
• 2 cups warm mashed potatoes *see recipe below*
• 
• Here's what you do:
• 1. In a greased 2-qt. baking dish, layer the turkey, gravy, mushrooms, onions, stuffing and corn. Top with potatoes. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until edges of potatoes are browned.

  
  

  It is actually that simple!

  
  

  Mashed Potatoes

  

  You'll need 6 medium-large potatoes peeled and chopped.

  Throw them into a pot of salted boiling water and leave them be for about 20 minutes or until tender.

  Remove from heat and drain.

  Add 2 tbsp of butter and a 1/4-1/2 cup of milk, season with salt and cracked pepper and then mash away!

  once you have reached the consistency you like add 1 cup grated mozzarella, 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, 3 cloves of garlic minced, and 1/4 cup of finely diced shallots stir to incorporate

  DONE!

  
  

  Stuffing

  

  
  

  • 1 loaf sliced bread
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • * you can also add chopped dried cranberries if you like to give it a bit of sweetness
  • 
  • What you need to do:

  1. Let bread slices air dry for 1 to 2 hours, then cut into cubes.
  2. In a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion and celery until soft. Season with poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir in bread cubes until evenly coated. Moisten with chicken broth; mix well.
  3. bake in a buttered casserole dish at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes.