Posts Tagged ‘spicy’

Sriracha is one of those running jokes amongst people in the food & beverage industry. You can walk into any kind of restaurant kitchen – Italian, French, Latin American, etc, – and more than likely, a bottle of the green-lidded fiery red sauce will be found somewhere. For some, it’s a substitute for everything from ketchup to mayonnaise, and will be poured on any and everything they eat. I always think of the episode of Top Chef when Casey put it into her Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. I’m not that hardcore, but it is delicious. It’s simply a paste of chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt. Spicy, sweet, and commonly seen with Thai or Vietnamese food, it’s well-loved (and rightly so).

So when I saw a recipe for buttermilk sriracha salad dressing a few months ago I kept it in the back of my mind, waiting to use it until the right idea struck. And finally, it did.

I’m a big fan of indulging in spicy chicken wings dipped in ridiculously rich and cooling sauces, so the idea of chicken drumsticks dipped in this srirarcha buttermilk ‘ranch’ seemed perfect. Making a Vietnamese-themed marinade (I know I know srirarcha is Thai but it’s right there on the table at any Vietnamese restaurant, too!) and grilling the chicken makes this a fresh and fun summer dish and great to serve at parties. You can go with wings and legs (or even breasts), just use whatever chicken you like best. It’s all good.

Yesterday at work I was chatting with one of our photographers on the merits of soup as a meal. He argued soup can never be filling, but I disagree. Seinfeld jokes aside, I love having soup for dinner, especially chilled soups during the summer. Cold borscht, gazpacho, vichyssoise – they may not be hearty, but when it’s 90° and humid, the last thing I want to do is sit down to a huge piece of roasted meat and potatoes. Especially when I have air conditioning in only one room of my apartment.

I got excited when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Bon Appetit because it has all my favorite things. Thai curry paste, squash, cilantro… to me, those are incredibly refreshing flavors and ideal for a chilled summer soup. This recipe makes a nice big batch and is actually quite satisfying by stirring in some thick and creamy Greek yogurt plus an extra little sprinkle of cilantro. If you wanted to bulk it up you could easily keep some of the squash from being pureed and stir it in once you chill it, but I think the puree itself is just perfect.

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This past weekend was a whirlwind of activity, much of which required favors being received and thank yous being doled out in spades. Buying a couch, borrowing a friend’s truck, asking a neighbor to help move said couch, etc, all warranted more than just a verbal acknowledgment, so I of course baked some delicious treats as an extra thank-you.

Snickerdoodles (which by the way, is the most fun cookie name ever) are one of those easy, but special things to make and eat. You don’t see them often enough at bakeries or coffee shops, despite the fact they’re delicious, simple, and can last for days if properly stored. I had been craving them the past few weeks and then suddenly they popped up in my Martha Stewart Cookie-a-Day newsletter. C’est parfait!

These are insanely good eaten warm so I recommend either eating them fresh from the oven (which believe me, I did… in great quantities) or microwaving the cookies for 15 seconds before devouring. Don’t worry, the amount of fat in the dough prevents them from drying out. It’s a good thing.

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Remember that episode of the Simpsons when Bart and Lisa go to Kamp Krusty and end up sewing wallets for the black market and eating gruel? The best moment being when Bart clutches his Krusty doll to his chest, mumbling over and over “Krusty is coming Krusty is coming Krusty is coming…”

That’s how I’ve felt this week, only replace “Krusty” with “Christmas.” I just seem to be under a cloud of bad luck in the past week or so. I won’t waste time by divulging sad details, but the thought of Christmas being less than 8 weeks away has been a definite comfort, since it really is the most wonderful time of the year to me. Endless baking, being with my family, Bing Crosby on repeat… it’s just a happy time. And although I should be focused on Thanksgiving and that menu in the near future, I can’t get Christmas off my mind, or the classic flavor of gingerbread, which is so quintessentially Christmas to me.  So I looked through my “To Cook” list I have posted on my fridge (it’s long, trust me) and saw these way down near the bottom.

I love gingersnaps but most of the time end up playing with recipes to make them, well, less snappy. I’ve always been a fan of those “extra soft” versions of store-bought chocolate chip cookies (it’s practically like eating raw cookie dough, mm) so the idea of a soft ginger cookie piqued my interest quite a bit. Also because they have two very unconventional ingredients in them: molasses and Dijon mustard. I know, I know, most people are going to scrunch up their face and say “WHY?” but trust me when I tell you – it adds this smoky, mysterious flavor layer to the cookies that gives it an extra zing without tasting at all like actual mustard. I know you won’t believe me until you taste them yourselves, so go! Try them now, and maybe sing an early-timed Christmas carol or two when you do.

Time to take a little break from fall/squash/cinnamon flavors and do something a little different. This post is a miniature tribute to two things: one of my best friends Rachel and Gourmet magazine.  I didn’t intend for this to happen but it was just one of those realizations as you begin to work with something. Rach teaches in Bahrain but is from Minnesota, so we’re both Midwestern fall-loving girls at heart. Since she doesn’t really get to experience autumn, this was a way for me to give her something fun and easy to cook, and give me a break from typical autumnal flavor profiles.

As for Gourmet, this is a web-exclusive recipe of theirs, which is my sad little homage to a fantastic magazine that will be missed. Word is the website will be gone come the new year, and after looking at my bookmarked recipes and seeing row after row of entries with little black and white “G”s marking them, I was disheartened. I get inspired by food photography and food print almost more than anything, so the idea that Gourmet, one of the best (if not the best) will no longer be there to give me ideas is heartbreaking. So I salute you, Rach in Bahrain with no fall leaves, and Gourmet magazine for inspiring me all these years.

Now for the recipe – this is a super quick and yummy noodle dish, perfect for substitutions and open to putting your own spin on it. I’m a huge fan of spicy eggplant dishes from Asian take-out, so I threw that in, with some more spices and soy to layer the flavors. The flavor is rich and spicy, but also refreshing from the cilantro and basil. And like any good wok dish, it’s all about super high heat with short cooking time, which makes this a perfect fast weeknight dinner.