Bacon Wrapped Lemon Pepper Chicken

Easy to the eye, satisfying on the tummy, and fairly simple to prepare, here's how...

Slice your mushrooms lengthwise.  Then slice your scallions the same length as the mushrooms.  Marinate your chicken breast slices along with the vegetables in some extra virgin olive oil and Lawry's Lemon Pepper Seasoning.

I find the flavor a bit subtle, so I actually added some freshly squeezed oranges. 

Then, in a red chopping board (use this color for raw meat), place a slice of bacon.  Then top with the chicken breast and assemble the mushrooms and the scallions one of top of the other.  

Roll the bacon until it securely wraps everything and then place a toothpick to ensure everything remains in place.

Roast in a pre-heated 180 C oven for 20 minutes or until cooked to the core.  Like so...

Once it's fully cooked, remove the toothpicks.  You can serve this as is or along with summer mushroom salad  (click here for recipe).

Bell Pepper Pasta Salad

I had some leftover sausages in the fridge and thought of adding this into a cold pasta salad.  Grill some yellow and green bell peppers (for the recipe, click here).  Toss this into some cooked pasta with sliced cherry tomatoes and cooked sausage.  Add some grated pecorino cheese and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Then garnish with chopped herbs.

Summer Mushroom Salad

It's supposed to be cool in Bangkok during November, but it feels quite humid and dry.  I found several kinds of mushrooms in the fridge and thought of combining them into a cold salad.  Simply slice and saute the mushrooms in some olive oil and add lots of chopped garlic.  Add some ponzu sauce and season to taste.  Chill before serving.

Chicken with Chorizo

We love chorizo at home.  The Young Tongue and I can finish a whole piece, thinly sliced, as a snack.  When I want the flavor of chorizo to linger in my mouth, I usually incorporate it into a dish.  And so, I decided to put sliced carrots and onions into a baking dish.  I drizzled it with some extra virgin olive oil, seasoned it with salt, and then topped it with sliced chicken fingers.  I took the skin out because the chorizo is fatty enough and I wanted to include some butter.  

The carrots and onions can act as your trivet.  This will ensure the chicken pieces from not sticking into the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the chicken with some rosemary before tossing it into a pre-heated oven, 180 degrees celcius.  Then add the chorizo during the last 5 minutes of the baking process so it doesn't toughen up and get too burned.

Bacon and Tomato Pasta

Saute chopped bacon in a hot pan and allow it to render fat.  Add chopped onions and crushed garlic and continue to cook until translucent.  Then add a tin of plum tomatoes allowing it to boil then simmer.  Add a piece of bay leaf and allow the flavors to infuse for twenty minutes.  Remove the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and toss in your cooked pasta of choice.  Add freshly grated Parmegiano-Reggiano.  Eat while hot!

Pecorino and Parmesan Alphabet Pasta

Effortless and easy to prepare, this alphabet pasta guarantees endless eating fun with your child.  The Young Tongue and I surely did as she blurts out letters about to enter her mouth!

Just cook the alphabets as per package instructions, drizzle with extra olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add freshly grated Pecorino Romano and Parmegiano- Reggiano.  

Tortilla de Patata - Potato Omelette

My brother sent me a photo of our first trip to Europe together a few days ago.  The photograph was taken on a train from Lisbon to Barcelona in 1999 and I must admit, I looked quite youthful!  I suppose it was the idea of the world being my oyster as I had just finished college and the thought of eating our way through Las Ramblas on our first evening in Spain.  That trip lasted shy of 2 months and it was then that I realized I really had to study in Europe and no place else.  In fact, that very evening (after our food fest in Las Ramblas), I phoned my Dad and asked if I could return to Europe the very next year.  

It was also good to have traveled with a brother who knew so much about design (an architect) - he literally told me everything there was to know about the buildings and object d'arts we came across with.  Over sips of Sangria and tapas in Barcelona, we had agreed to fulfill our expectations for the weeks to come -- see museums, eat really good food, visit the not-so-touristy bits, and to buy only things that we can not buy back home.

The photo inspired me to make potato omelette.  It's quite simple really and you'll only need a few ingredients -- Eggs, potatoes, onions, and extra virgin olive oil.  I sometimes add a morsel of chorizo just to give the dish a slightly bolder taste.  It also makes the eggs look more yellow (I guess from the paprika).

So here's how:

In a hot pan with extra virgin olive oil, saute some chopped potatoes, onions, and for flavor, I add a tiny morsel of chorizo.  Once the potato is soft to the bite, add eggs.

Once the top part of the egg mixture is about to get firm, put a plate (larger than the pan) on top of the pan and flip.  Then toss it back into the pan, with the top part facing down.  Then after a minute or two, place the omelette on a plate.  Slice and serve.

Usually, as an appetizer, I use half a potato and an egg per person.  But as a dish or a hearty merienda, I use 1 whole potato and 2 pieces of egg.  And remember the tiny piece of chorizo?  I ended up making a game out of it.  I told The Young Tongue whoever gets the piece gets to have a wish.  Of course, I made her win.  Her wish?  A piece of chocolate.  Now that was easy!

Fantastic Eggplants and Mushrooms

I'm a firm believer that if you start your dish with very good ingredients, the dish will turn out well, without having any special culinary skills.  This is a classic example of that premise.  

In a hot cast iron pan, saute some eggplants and onions until soft.   

Quickly drizzle with some balsam glaze from Modena, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and garnish with chopped parsley.  

Last but not the least, try not to forget to drizzle it with some white truffle oil.   Something glaring in the market these days are the several "truffle oil" products.  Read and check the label first as you will find the prices range from $12.00 to $100.00 a pop.  

See that bit of solid in the middle?  That's because I keep my truffle oil in the fridge.

Want to be a food snob?  Buy a bottle that comes with a morsel of white truffle, and don't settle for those that say truffle "essence" or "aroma" on the label.  If you end up with the real deal, store it in the fridge if you live in the tropics.  That ought to give your bottle the proper "shelf life" and help you avoid early stage rancidity.  

Don't be fooled.  The white bit is actually the truffle. 

And the truth is, I'm not a food snob.  I eat anywhere and everywhere, even the most dubious looking joints attract me, as long as the food is good!  

Potato Gnocchi with Broccoli and Bacon

The Young Tongue's current fixation is broccoli.  One day whilst in the supermarket with her nanny, she blurted that she wanted broccoli, grabbed one from the organic section (I kid you not), and insisted it was paid for.  And she insisted that we immediately cook it, steamed and seasoned only with sea salt.  Yes, I must admit, it does sound a bit food snobbish but I have not controlled her musings be it sea salt or maple peanut butter.  Sometimes it scares me!  

Potato gnocchi so happens to be one of her favorite textures as of late so I decided to put both ingredients together.  In a hot pan with just a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, toss in chopped onions, sliced bacon, and garlic.  Allow everything to sweat and let the bacon render it's fat.

Once you see brown sediments in the pan, place the potato gnocchi in boiling water seasoned with salt.

I time everything so knowing that the bacon has left brown sediments in the pan, I have enough time to pour chicken stock, add cream, season with salt and pepper, bring to a rolling boil then simmer -- the dish will all come together as I strain the gnocchi.  You know the gnocchi is cooked when it floats.  

Toss the gnocchi with the rest of the ingredients in the pan.  Then plate.  Last but not the least, accentuate your dish with some shaved or grated Parmegiano-Reggiano.

Mini Garlic Bread

Here's a photo of our pre-dinner snack last night.  We had this tiny (and store-bought) piece of baguette which I lathered with some butter, rubbed with a peeled garlic clove (a trick I learned from a chef named Didier), and seasoned with some dried ground oregano, ground basil, and a dash of salt.  I placed it for about 3 minutes in a pre-heated 180 degree Celcius oven.  Plain goodness for a simple evening.  What more can I ask for?

Parmesan Crisps with Coolibah Wild Roquette Greens

I'm finally finding some time to get to know my food stores here in Bangkok.  The first month was really all about The Young Tongue getting adjusted and quite frankly, it was an easy transition because it's such a child-friendly city.  Several days ago, I had to look for rare ingredients for work.  And you know when you're looking for something and you find something else?  Well, that was the case when I came across this Coolibah Wild Roquette Greens from Australia.

It had a distinct peppery taste and I thought that by making Parmesan crisps, it's salty flavor would offset it perfectly.  Add into the equation the sweetness of my tricolore grapes and the sweet-sour note of some Balsamic cream and what do you have?  A salad with both umami and kokumi!

Here's the low down on the crisps:

My secret weapon of choice for shaving some Parmegiano-Reggiano is a good cheese grater.  I've had this Alessi one for several years now and it still remains to be my favorite.  It's elongated shape and slim handle on the top makes for perfect swooping strokes with the cheese.  

Next, in a really hot pan with no olive oil, just place your shaved cheese and allow it to melt, ooze, and get golden in color.  Then flip it like so...

Remove from the pan and allow to cool.  This will firm up into crispy goodness.  Mmmm...

Thai Iced Tea - Cha Yen

I really miss Mother Teresa.  That's my code name for one of my best friends.  We used to do everything together, every single day.  She's not only the god mother of The Young Tongue, she was and still is my confidante.  We've laughed and cried together, bought pets, started a business, traveled places, and she is my "go-to-Mom" whenever I have those "you-don't-want-to-ask-your-pedia-because-you'll-sound-stupid-and-you-should-know-this-by-now" kind of questions.  And in so many levels, our background and outlook in life are similar.  I don't even have to explain anything, she just gets me.  How often can you find that?!

One of her favorite drinks is Cha-Yen, or simply put, Thai Iced Tea.  When I lived in Manila, we would trek Dusit Hotel to get this as authentic as possible.  The quality after all, was trustworthy.  Over sips of this drink and several dishes, we would sit there in Dusit Thani, sharing our life stories.  We would also exchange parenting tips.  I really admire her for her devotion to her growing family.  She is a super mom! 

So here's how to prepare her favorite drink:

You'll have to start with a Thai Tea Mix.  They widely use the NUMBER ONE BRAND here.  It comes in this packaging, with a "thumbs up" sign.  I searched high and low for this in Bangkok and just when I was about to give up, I befriended a Thai Iced Tea hawker guy in front of our office, and asked if I could just buy a few packs from his inventory.  And he so kindly obliged.  He also told me that this brand is readily available in local stores.  Apparently, I was looking at the wrong places.  I guess when he said "local," he meant as local as you can get - not the big names like Tesco's or Big C (previously Carrefour) and definitely not Villa Supermarket.

Steep 2-3 teaspoons of this tea mix per cup of boiling water for a few minutes.  Here you can see me use my ever-dependable, Bodum tea infuser (how I got this in Sweden is another story all together which I'll probably share someday when I cook something Scandinavian).  Right, back to the tea...  Strain and combine with 3 teaspoons (or more if you want it sweeter) of condensed milk.  Pour into a glass with lots of ice.  And for that indulgent (or shall I say naughty) flavor, drizzle with evaporated milk.  Most people question the addition of this last ingredient since they feel the condensed milk gives it the right sweetness already.  In my opinion, the evaporated milk gives a more creamy flavor and well-balanced note, so this last step is ever-so important.  Do not compromise and don't just settle without.

Refreshing and uniquely Thai! Do you know that saying "once on the lips, forever on the hips?"  Drink in moderation I guess.  But quite frankly, I drink a tall glass every lunch time.  And that's because it's "aroi maak maak!"

So cheers to you Mother Teresa!  I miss you heaps.  And I can't wait to see you here in the City of Angels.  

Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)

I consider Butter Chicken comfort food because it reminds me of my days in London.  I always had this with Basmati rice or a very good piece of naan bread.  Complex and bold but quite easy to prepare.  It's one of those dishes that require you to just plop everything in a bowl or in a pan.  So here's how...

Always start with a very good spice paste.  I always allow my spices to sweat in a pan before I add it into the yogurt for my marinade.  You basically just have to combine your own combination of ginger, garam masala, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli, cloves, and fenugreek.  Marinate your bite-sized chicken pieces in an air-tight glass bowl.  

Then, in a hot pan with butter (do not add oil), saute a large piece of onion.  

Add about the same amount of tomato paste and marinade and cook this for a minute or two.  Add cream (or yogurt for a healthier option) and some water.  Place the marinated chicken pieces, bring to a boil, and simmer gently until the pieces are tender.  Season with salt, pepper, and just a little bit of sugar (a little goes a long way).

Here's my spice paste mixed with yogurt.

Add a dollop of cream or yogurt right before serving.

Honey Mustard Chicken Wings

Since I've started to join the corporate world again, I now have to embrace the idea of having less time in the kitchen.  But that goes without saying, I am not ready to compromise on flavor and quality for my young tongue.

All you have to do is marinate the chicken wings overnight in equal proportions of Dijon mustard (I used the grainy kind) and honey.  Then toss it in a baking dish, drizzle it with a tablespoon of olive oil and some lemon juice, toss in a knob of butter, and sprinkle it with sea salt and black pepper.  Roast at a pre-heated oven, 180 C, for 15 minutes or until golden.

I served this with corn sprinkled with paprika, mashed sweet potatoes, and a side of greens.  

Chicken with Basil Leaves - Gai Pad Bai Graphao

Marinate your chicken pieces in fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and basil leaves for an hour.  In a hot wok with oil, add some garlic until fragrant.  Add the chicken mix and stir-fry until done.  Add a few more basil leaves and Thai chillies.  Serve hot!

This ends our Thai cookery course from Chiangmai.

Tom Yum

Two widely used versions of Tom Yum are present in Thailand.  One is cooked with coconut milk and the other one, a lighter version, uses water.  Depending on what you'd like to use, the procedure is quiet the same.

In a hot wok, bring some coconut milk or water to a boil then simmer with galangal and lemon grass.  Stir every so often so that the flavors infuse well.  Add prawns, straw mushrooms, thick coconut cream, tom yum paste, and lime leaves.  If you want this to be extra hot and spicy, add Thai chillies.  Continue to simmer until the straw mushrooms are tender.

Add fish sauce and lime juice to taste.  Garnish with coriander leaves.

Cat Fish Salad - Yam Pla Duk Foo

Who doesn't love Crispy Catfish Salad?!  The interplay of flavors -- tart, sweet, salty, sour, umami, and kokumi is what makes this salad so interestingly and uniquely Thai!

You'll need:

1 Catfish, grilled, skin-on

Cooking oil, for deep-frying

1 Thai Green Mango

6 Shallots, sliced ever so thinly

1 Tomato, sliced

Lettuce leaves, washed

Peanuts

Sauce:

Lime juice

Fish Sauce

Coconut Sugar

Garlic, chopped

1-2 Thai Chillies

1.  Shred the grilled cat fish flesh into small pieces, removing the skin and bones.

2.  In a hot wok with cooking oil, deep-fry the catfish until you can form the shape of the fish back, by folding it.

3.  Remove the catfish and drain off the excess oil.

4.  In a separate bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce, to taste.

5.  Garnish your plate with the lettuce leaves, tomatoes, and top with the catfish, mango, shallots, and peanuts.  Drizzle with the sauce.