Biff's Chicken in Peanut Sauce
I made this up... for the most part. It's good stuff, or at least, Berkeley seemed to think so. Olivia thought it was "grossy!"

1 lb chicken, cubed
½ cup peanut butter
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
½ tsp crushed garlic
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
white wine
½ cup chunky peanut butter
¼ cup warm coconut milk (or water)
2 tbs lime juice
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs coarsely chopped cilantro
red curry paste (to taste)

Make the peanut sauce by combining the peanut butter, warmed coconut milk (or water), lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, cilantro, and curry paste. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. Melt butter. When the butter has just stopped to foam, add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook for 15-30 seconds to flavor the oil. Add chicken all at once and sauté until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Remove chicken; drain and discard oil. Add a bit of white wine to the skillet over high heat. Scrape up the coagulated chicken with a wooden spoon (or whisk) while rapidly boiling down the liquid until it has been reduced to almost that of a syrup. Return the chicken pieces back to the skillet and add the sauce. Cook for just 1 more minute while tossing continuously to thoroughly coat the chicken in the peanut sauce. Serve with white rice.

Roast Turkey
The turkey I made today was, according to Matt... "the best turkey I've ever had in my life." I'd better document what I did then, so I can reproduce the results. Here is what I started with:

1 turkey, completely defrosted and at room temperature
onions
celery
baby carrots
apple
lemon
fresh herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary)
dried herbs (tarragon, thyme)
bay leaf
butter
ice
white wine
flour
stainless steel skewers
small stainless steel "herb" basket

Preheat the oven to 250°F.

Rinse the turkey inside and out. Take the neck, heart, liver, any fatty tissue and any other parts you find and put them in a large stockpot (at least 4 quarts). Add to the pot one onion cut in quarters, a few stalks of coarsely chopped celery, a handful of carrots, some of the dry herbs, and the bay leaf. Put a generous amount of herbs in the basket and place in the pot. Fill with water and let it simmer (uncovered) all day. This will be the stock used for the gravy and making the (Stove Top) stuffing.

Pat the turkey dry and fill two 1-gallon Ziploc bags with ice. Place each bag on a turkey breast and let the breasts chill for 20 minutes. What this does is lower the temperature of the breasts sufficiently so that over the course of the roasting, the breast and thighs will be done at the same time.

Meanwhile... soften a cube and a half of butter and chop a bunch of fresh herbs. Mix the butter and the herbs together to form a nice paste. Then cut one onion, one apple, and one lemon into quarters. Coarsely chop a few stalks of the celery. Into a large mixing bowl, add the onion, apple, lemon, celery, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Melt 4-6 tbs (or more) of butter paste, add to the bowl, and toss to combine.

Remove the ice bags from the turkey breasts and then stuff the onion/apple/lemon/celery/herb mixture into the turkey cavity. Rub the butter paste all over the outside of the turkey... if you run out of butter paste, then make some more. Use stainless steel skewer to pin the cavity closed (if necessary) and to pin the wings tight to the bird. Place on a roast rack elevated about a ½-inch above a roasting pan. Pour half of the bottle of the white wine into the turkey cavity. (Reserve the rest for the gravy.)

Roast turkey until internal breast temperature reaches 160°F, about 5-6 hours (or more!) depending on the size of the bird. Add additional wine (as required) to keep the turkey drippings from scorching, but it shouldn't be a big problem at the relatively low oven temperature. Tent the turkey with aluminum foil (if required) to prevent the skin from burning (it wasn't necessary today). After the turkey has reached 160°, remove it from the oven and let stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes (the turkey will continue to cook). Tilt the turkey up to allow all of the liquid inside the turkey cavity to drain into the roasting pan.

Strain the stock from the stockpot while reserving the turkey neck and liver (discard everything else). Measure the turkey stock (you should have about 2 quarts or more) and return it to the stockpot. Pick the meat off the neck and finely chop the neck meat and the liver, then add the meat to the stockpot. In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of the stock with about, oh, ½ cup of flour (or about 1 tbs per cup of stock) to create a paste. Set the stock and the flour paste aside.

Dump the liquid contents of the roasting pan into a tall container (I use a juice container). Using a ladle, carefully remove the liquid fat floating on top and leave just the dark pan juices. Put the roasting pan on a burner and add 1 stick of butter. Melt the butter on high heat, whisking continuously. The melted butter should dislodge any of the solidified drippings from the bottom of the pan. Add ¾ cup of flour and keep whisking until a nice roux is formed. Keep whisking to remove all lumps of flour. Add the other half of the bottle of wine to the roasting pan and keep whisking to prevent it from scorching. Increase heat and reduce mixture by one half, whisking continuously. Add the reserved pan juices and stir to combine. It should be pretty thick. Ladle in the reserved stock into the gravy and whisk combine. Continue to add stock until desired consistency is reached or add all of the stock. If the gravy is too thin, add some of the reserved stock/flour paste to thicken it up. Finish the gravy off by adding salt and pepper to taste.

Whew!

General Tso's Chicken
Not as good as the stuff at Mandarin Garden, but it is a reasonable facsimile.

1 lb chicken
½ onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 tbs vegetable oil
¼ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp minced garlic
½ tsp minced ginger
½ tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs rice wine (I use mirin)
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs soy sauce
¼ cup chicken broth
2 tsp cornstarch

In a medium-size bowl, combine the rice vinegar, rice wine, sugar, soy sauce, and chicken broth. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously to combine. Set aside.

Prepare the fry batter for the chicken:

¼ cup flour
¼ cup corn starch
½ tsp baking soda
5-6 tbs water

Heat up a wok or pot of cooking oil. Mix the fry batter and dip the chicken into the batter. Fry chicken pieces until they no longer bubble (much) and are deep golden brown and crispy. Drain excess oil from pieces and set aside.

In a wok, heat vegetable oil and sesame oil over high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Stir-fry quickly for about 30 seconds. Add the onions and fry until tender. Add sauce and stir until it thickens, about 1 minute. Add chicken and steamed broccoli. Toss to combine. Serve hot over white rice.

Orange Chicken
The kids love this stuff. I made it today and there weren't any leftovers.

First make the orange sauce:

6 tbs orange juice (not from concentrate)
¼ cup chicken broth
1½ tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice wine
1½ tsp rice vinegar
2 tbs brown sugar
¼ tsp white pepper powder
2 tsp corn starch
½ tsp sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Assemble the following ingredients:

½ lb chicken breast (cut into 1-3" long strips)
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 cup scallions (cut into 1" long pieces)
1 tbs oil
½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Finally, prepare the fry batter for the chicken:

4 tbs flour
4 tbs corn starch
½ tsp baking soda
5-6 tbs water

Heat up a wok or pot of cooking oil. Mix the fry batter and dip the chicken into the batter. Fry chicken pieces until they no longer bubble (much) and are deep golden brown and crispy. Drain excess oil from pieces and set aside.

In a wok, heat cooking oil over high heat. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry quickly, maybe 25-30 seconds. Add orange zest and red pepper flakes. Give a few quick turns (another 30 seconds) and then add the sauce. Stir-fry until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Add chicken and give a few quick turns. Serve hot over white rice.

(Update Tue May 5 09:24:46 PDT 2009 // ⅛ -> ⅛)
(Update Mon May 18 15:12:34 PDT 2009 // changed the batter ingredients)

Chicken Noodle Soup
This stuff is really good. Worth the extra effort.

First prepare the stock:

1 tbs olive oil
1 lb ground chicken
1 cup onions, coarsely chopped
½ cup carrots, coarsely chopped
½ cup celery, coarsely chopped
1 quart water
2 quarts chicken broth (I buy the low-sodium stuff at Costco)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt (optional)

Heat oil in a 6-quart covered stockpot. Add ground chicken, onion, carrot, and celery. Cook over medium-high heat until ground chicken is no longer pink, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and add water, broth, bay leaves, and salt. Adjust heat to maintain a gentle boil. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Strain stock through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing on the the meat and vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible. Return stock to stockpot and allow liquid to cool slightly (about 5 minutes is all) and then skim off gelatinous fat.

For the soup:

½ whole roasted chicken (e.g. from Costco)
3 tbs cornstarch
¼ cup water
1 tbs parsley
1 cup onion, chopped into cubes
1 cup carrots, cut crosswise into ½-inch thick pieces
½ cup celery, cut crosswise into ¼-inch thick pieces
1½ cup potatoes, cubed
1 cup egg noodles
5-6 Swiss chard leaves (ribs removed), torn into 1-inch pieces
salt
pepper

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water to form a smooth slurry. Stir into stock and adjust heat to maintain a gentle boil. Add parsley, onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes and cook until potato pieces are almost tender, about 10-15 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook until noodles and vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes longer.

Remove skin and bones from roasted chicken. Shred meat with fingers or cut into cubes. Add chicken and Swiss chard to soup and cook until heated through, about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

Samina's Mango Chicken
Our neighbors Sal and Samina invited us over to their place for a belated holiday dinner party tonight. It was delayed from last December because of snow and bad weather. There were probably 40 people there and enough food to feed 80 people. All of the food was excellent. Kristy especially liked Samina's mango chicken. Here is the recipe:

{ content pending }

Biff's Easy Turkey Dinner
We made an early Thanksgiving Turkey dinner tonight. It was the easiest Turkey dinner I have ever made (excluding when I bought our Thanksgiving Turkey dinner from QFC last year). Here is what you need:

1 turkey breast (from Costco)
4 extra large potatoes
¼ cup butter
½ cup sour cream
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 Stove top stuffing mix
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans
½ cup wild rice
1 cup sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300°. Remove packaging from turkey breast (including the net). Rinse breast and pat dry. Rub salt and pepper on breast and place (skin up) on top of a wire rack placed inside a roasting pan. The wire rack should elevate the meat above the bottom of the roasting pan by at least ½ inch. Fill bottom of roasting pan with water until the water level reaches the bottom of the wire rack. Roast breast in oven until internal temperature reaches 165°.

Fill large sauce pan half full with water. Add some salt and a bit of olive oil. Bring water to a boil. Peel potatoes and cut in 1" cubes. Add cubes to boiling water and cook until tender (the edges of the cubes will become translucent). When tender, place a colander in the sink, and drain the water from the potatoes. Return potatoes to pan, add butter, sour cream, and cheese. Use potato masher to smash cubes and mix ingredients together. Add some additional sour cream (or whipping cream) to thin potatoes (if desired); I think mine thick and lumpy. Place in second oven at 175° to keep warm.

Spread coarsely chopped pecans on a small cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Toast pecans in oven on high heat (broil setting) for about 4-5 minutes. Be careful not to scorch the pecans. Set aside. Follow directions to prepare wild rice. Set aside. In about 1 tablespoon of butter (or olive oil) sauté mushrooms. Set aside. Prepare stuffing. Add pecans, rice, and mushrooms. Mix to combine. Place in second oven at 175° to keep warm.

After turkey has reached temperature, combine broth and drippings (if any) with about 1-2 tablespoons of sifted flour in a saucepan. Bring to boil and add salt and pepper to taste.

That's it! Finish it all off with pumpkin pie (bought from Costco). Enjoy!

Massaman Curry with Chicken
This is an very tasty recipe for my favorite kind of curry. Props to my friend, Norm Jones, for recommending the excellent Mae Ploy brand of the massaman curry paste (which I found at my local Asian market, Uwajimaya).

½ package (25 g) Mae Ploy Brand Massaman Curry Paste
1 can coconut milk
2 chicken thighs
2 small Yukon Gold potatoes
1 medium sweet onion
6-8 baby carrots
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
1 kaffir lime leaf
½ fresh pineapple (or 1 can pineapple chunks)
¼ cup roasted peanuts or cashews
about 1 tsp cornstarch, to thicken

Over medium heat combine coconut milk and curry paste in a 4-quart saucepan; simmer for 5 minutes. While the curry and coconut milk simmer, peel potatoes and cut into ¼-in thick slices, then cut each slice in half. Chop chicken, pineapple, onion, and carrots into chunks.

Add chicken, potatoes, onion, carrots, fish sauce, brown sugar, and lime leaf to coconut curry sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes and chicken are tender. Add pineapple and peanuts. Simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes. If desired, whisk cornstarch into 1 tbs water or chicken stock and add to curry to thicken.

Serve hot over rice.

Note: Whole Foods carries kaffir lime leaves.