The Spiciest Chicken (You are Welcome!)

I've had a small obsession with Sriracha sauce for going on 10 years now.  This bottle of atomic fire is my condiment soul-mate.  I can't think of anything I'd rather put on both fried eggs and popcorn and caramels and in cocktails and and and.  It's pure magic packed into a bottle.  I used to get my fix at Pearl River Mart (RIP?) in New York and drown everything in it.  It's got heat, but it's so garlicky and flavorful and good that even the most spice-adverse people can usually handle a couple drops.  Most hot sauces just bring on heat and discomfort, but this is multi-dimensional in what it brings to the table- so much flavor and by the way, some pretty good heat.  

It is almost impossible to find the good stuff here in London.  In Paris, we were in the middle of a worldwide shortage due to a plant in California expelling too much chili fumes into the air ("Deal with it", I say while stomping my feet and pouting).  Now there's no excuse but the market is flooded with cheap imitations of inferior hot sauces with birds such as geese and eagles on the label.  I've tried them and they are terrible- too sweet, not enough heat, loads of preservatives and fake sugars.  I have a nice racket going when friends from the states come for a visit:  I give you a bed, you give me suitcase full of rooster sauce.  It's called "paying rent".  

I have a couple precious Huy Fong bottles saved up that I use much more sparingly than I should.  If anyone London-area knows where I can get the real deal, let me know.  Every place in Chinatown has the wannabe sauces.  Someone told me a place in Croydon might have it, but that's basically going to the ends of the earth for it.  

Here's a recipe that I've adapted from the Huy Fong site.  It's craveable and good and comforting and I make more chicken than it calls for just so I can put it on bread and make a little ban mi sandwich the next day.  The quinoa means it's healthy!  but you could use rice if you aren't a fan.  I haven't tried it yet, but it would work well with fish and take about half the time to cook.  

Recipe: Sriracha Chicken
Serves 4

180 grams (1 cup) quinoa
60 ml (1/4 cup) coconut oil
1 kg (2 lbs) chicken breast, cut into bite sized cubes
1 onion, diced
4oz (1/2 c) Sriracha sauce
4oz (1/2c) honey
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper 
bunch of scallions, chopped
1/2 t sesame seeds, toasted
handful of coriander (cilantro)

Rinse the quinoa a couple times in cold water.  Add the quinoa to a small pot along with 16oz (2 cups) of water with a pinch of salt.  Bring to a boil, than reduce to simmer and cook until all the liquid is absorbed (this happens quickly, so keep an eye on it).

Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until it has softened.  Add chicken and cook until it starts to brown (or, if you have a crowded pan and it won't brown, until it's no longer pink and raw chickeny).  Season with salt and pepper.  

Whisk together the sriracha, honey and lemon juice.  Add the sauce to the pan and let the chicken finish cooking in this spicy mess for another 8 minutes or so, until it is cooked through and the sauce is quite thick.  Stir occasionally.  

Fluff the quinoa with a fork and spread a bed of it on each plate.  Top with the chicken.  Garnish with coriander, sesame seeds and scallion.   

Mushroom Stroganoff

When you go to a pub in England, they always have a few vegetarians on hand to feed the crowd.  Oh, whoops, did I say vegetarians?  I meant vegetarian dishes.  There are usually but a couple options, tried and tired and true:  the ever-changing seasonal risotto and a Mushroom stroganoff.  If you go to a fancy pub where they actually have a creative chef, then you might get a few more oldie but goodies thrown in, but those are the two that I see on almost every menu I encounter.  

I'm sick of the risotto, but with a few good ingredients and a hunt for mushrooms that aren't plain white buttons and you've got yourself a really nice dinner that I'm happy to make at home.  Use fresh pasta - if you don't make it yourself, I'm finding most groceries now carry a selection of fresh egg-pasta over with the fancy overpriced ravioli section, and sometimes they even have whole wheat pasta.  It's worlds better than the dehydrated stuff, which always seems to hang around in my cupboard forever in half-box portions.  

I loved beef stroganoff when I was a kid and when I became vegetarian, my mom would put cubes of tofu in my portion to replace the beef.  She told me later that, sigh, she still used beef stock, because what else are you going to use for a base?  I'm glad I got over my "tofu in everything" obsession.  It has its place as I'll eat it in stir fries all day long but as a meat substitute I find it horrid now.   Apparently, we didn't know about how delicious and good mushrooms were in this classic dish instead.  

This recipe is healthy yet comforting and makes for a nice post-hike dinner with its earthy tang and super fast effortless time from fridge to plate.  The longest part is waiting for the dehydrated mushrooms to come around.  I use both fresh and dried mushrooms in whatever varietals I can find.  Usually the dried mushrooms are fancy varieties but cheaper than fresh, but a dry springtime means we don't have the variety of fresh I normally count on.  Don't discard the soaking water- add all but the grit that collects at the bottom in the stock to make a rich, earthy meatless base.  Feel free to go a bit wild here:  shiitakes and morels and pied du mouton.  Mushrooms are the stars!

Recipe:  Mushroom Stroganoff

Serves 4

olive oil for frying

1 onion, sliced

2 or 3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

200g (2 cups) mix of fresh mushrooms, wiped off with a towel and sliced

100g (1 cup) dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water for at least 20 minutes

1 leek, white and light green part only, diced

100ml (1/2 cup) stock- the mushroom soaking liquid and additional vege stock if needed

1 tsp paprika, hot or sweet, your choice

1 tsp tomato paste (or tomato puree as they call it in the UK) 

1 tsp mustard

200g (2 cups) fresh pasta

4 tablespoons sour cream or creme fraiche, full-fat

1 lemon

a couple Tablespoons wine

handful of fresh dill, chopped

handful of fresh parsley, chopped

salt & pepper

Set a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil for the pasta.  Heat oil in a large fry pan.  When hot, add the onion and leek and cook until soft and starting to color, about 10 minutes.  Add the fresh mushrooms, the drained formerly dried mushrooms, and the garlic.  Turn the heat up and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the paprika and tomato paste, cook for an additional minute.  Add the vegetable and/or mushroom stock and a glug of wine and let it cook down to half.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta:  fresh stuff only takes 3-5 minutes.  Once al dente, drain and toss with a little oil to keep it from getting sticky.  

Once the mushroom stock has reduced, add the sour cream and turn the heat down to simmer for just a couple more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Plate the pasta, top with the mushrooms and sprinkle with a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh herbs.  

Kale Curry

I don't know what exactly triggered my vegetarianism.  Honestly, I think it was me trying to be a willful teenager and cause a scene at the dinner table without resorting to doing anything really bad, like drugs of attending back-woods keg parties that end in teen pregnancy.  Refusing animal flesh seemed to be a reasobale and polite alternative to piercings and back-alley stick-and-poke tattos of an angry unicorn or the logo of a terrible band that I liked for five minutes.  It was enough of a disturbance to cuase parental units strife at dinner time, and that was vicotry enough for me.

Once I committed to tofu dogs and soysage, I stuck with it for a good ten years.  At which point, I started to travel and decided that I'd be missing out on life if I didn't indulge in local specialties- Parma ham in Italy, Brauts in Germany, Schnitzel in Austria, Coq a Vin at a farmhouse in France.  Plus, I was getting tired of not being invited out to dinner parties at non-vegetarian's houses.  Bringing your own leftovers to microwave while everyone else eats a beef tenderloin gets old fast, and I got tired of rolling my eyes at every snide carnivorous comment being sent my way.    

I do eat meat on occasion, but I really still prefer vegetables and usually go weeks on a vege diet without even really thinking about it.  I always feel much better on a vege diet- healthier and lighter and more energetic.  It just works for me.

I do get a little help- I get a weekly vege box delivered from a farm in Devon.  It's packed with whatever is seasonal and organic that grows locally.  I love getting this and it motivates me to cook and use up every last onion and purple sprouting broccoli in there in time for the next delivery.  True, in winter time, this means cabbage and spuds and leeks and little else, but if you are going to preach about saving local agriculture and small farms, you better learn to put these veggies to good use.   

A couple weeks ago, my box contained a huge mound of sweet potatoes, bunches of kale and onions.  Sweet potato and kale is one of my favorite combinations.  I got to work and soon had a dashingly good curry on my plate.  True, the final dish won't win any beauty contest, but it's packed with so much vegetable goodness that you feel virtuous and saintly at the end of dinner time.  It's that good for you.  

Thank goodness I got over lousy rubbery meat substitutes in a hurry.  Although, I do love a good homemade veggie burger.  I'll share one with you soon.

The beauty of this health-giving and tasty dish is that it makes a lot, and that lot can be slopped into tuppys at the end of dinner and stacked in the freezer for when you are too busy or lazy to throw something together.  

Recipe: Kale Curry

Serves 4 with leftovers

Adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, with some bright ideas from the Cookie and Kate blog.

1½ cups brown rice, rinsed

3 T olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped, 
32oz (2lbs) sweet potato, peeled and cubed
5 garlic cloves (or more if you you are bold!), minced
2 t fresh ginger, grated
1 t curry power (I went the Indian route, Thai would work as well)
32 oz (2 lbs) kale, stemmed and chopped
8oz (1 c) vegetable broth or stock 
14 oz coconut milk
Lime, for squeezing and garnish
30 g (1/3c) pepitas or other raw seeds
salt and black pepper
red pepper flakes

Cook the rice as whatever the instructions say to on the bag. This usually takes about a  half hour, so you can easily multitask your way into everything being done at the same time.

Heat 2 T of olive oil in a large pot wit a fitted lid over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently until it is soft and translucent.  Add the sweet potato, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Return the pot to the stove.

Heat another T of oil in the pot.  Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder.  Stir constantly for less than a minute, until your nose tells you it's good, and then add half the kale.  Stir, and when the kale wilts down, add the rest of the greens.  Add the broth and coconut milk.  Season with salt and pepper.  Reduce the heat and cover.  Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the kale is wilted and tender.  Add the sweet potatoes, throw the lid on, and continue to cook for another 10-20 minutes (this kind of depends on the size of your sweet potato cubes, but you want them tender).    

While you are waiting for the sweet potatoes to soften, heat a fry pan over medium low-heat and add the pepitas and seeds.  Keep them moving constantly until they toast up, emit a nutty odor and, in the case of the pepitas anyway, begin to puff up and pop.  This should only take a few minutes.  Set aside.    

Once the sweet potatoes are cooked through, remove the lid and turn the heat up until the sauce is a consistency to your liking, about 2-5 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep the bottom from burning.   

By now, your rice should be done.  Spoon rice into bowls, top with the sweet potato and kale.  Squeeze a bit of lime on top and sprinkle some chili flakes on top, then top the whole mess with the pepitas.  Serve, enjoy, and feel like the virtuous god(dess) you are.