thai chicken noodle soup

Remember when I used to post recipes?
Like, all the time?

Lately, it is not for lack of recipes that I don't post them. I am constantly scribbling notes and amounts of ingredients on scraps of paper in my kitchen, only to crumple them up and throw them away later. I just never seem to have time to take pictures (huge pet-peeve: recipes with no pictures).

The few moments before a meal are always the craziest at our house. I am scrambling to plate everyone's meals, find a sippy cup, lovingly call to yell at Lane to come to the table, cut up one of the meals into bite-size pieces, keep from tripping over James, and calm the baby who always seems to be ready to eat right when we are. Needless to say, not the best time for a photo shoot.
Friday night, however, I made this soup.

It was so good that it had to be documented and shared with you. (Also, the kids overlapped their naps for about forty minutes, and instead of scrubbing toilets and folding laundry like I should have been doing, I photographed lemongrass stalks. And made granola, so that's productive, right?) This soup is the perfect alternative to plain old chicken noodle, and it will clear your sinuses if you use enough curry paste. It almost makes me excited to still have soup weather. Almost.

Recipe Note: Do yourself a favor and order some Mae Ploy curry paste from Thailand. It won't disappoint.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
1 or 2 chicken breasts
2 tsp sesame oil
2 stalks lemongrass
2 large cloves garlic
32 oz chicken broth
4 cups water
1/2 cup coconut milk (go full-fat)
large handful of lime leaves
2 tsp green curry paste (I would use more, but we have an eater who doesn't "yike ficy"- like spicy)
1 very large bundle of bok choy, chopped
4 to 8 oz (depending on how much you like noodles) thin udon noodles
lime wedges (for serving)
torn basil leaves (for topping)

Heat a large stock pot to medium heat. add chicken breast and drizzle sesame oil over it.
Remove husk from lemongrass stalks. Cut the inner, bottom part (about the bottom third of the stalk) into fourths lengthwise and throw into the pot with the chicken. Cut garlic lengthwise and crush with flat side of your knife. Throw into the pot as well.
When chicken, lemongrass pieces, and garlic are all beginning to brown, add broth, water, coconut milk and lime leaves. Whisk in curry paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is done all the way through (165 degrees). Shred chicken.
Return to a boil. Add bok choy and noodles. Cook about 6 minutes, or until noodles are done and bok choy is tender, but not mushy. Discard lemon grass pieces and as many lime leaves as you can.
Top with basil and serve with lime wedges. Enjoy.

Coming up: kid yoga, "fashion" questions, and more house tour (hopefully)

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Vietnamese Baguettes

I'm going to make this quick because, well, I haven't slept more than four hours straight in about a week (the child), and I've been busy writing restaurant reviews (which cost more to "research" than I get for writing them), and it's late... and I want to go to bed.

I guess I've been under the Asian influence lately, but I haven't been able to get Vietnamese baguettes out of my head. I've had them a few times from various places and have some valuable advise for you from these experiences: 1. if unidentifiable meat grosses you out, go for the vegetarian option and 2. the weird mayonnaise sauce is always sitting out on the counter and then is spread in a thick, warm layer onto your sandwich. So, you might want to go sauce-less and meat-less. Or, just make them at home.

Vietnamese baguettes
makes about 4 baguettes
1 long baguette, cut into 4 sandwich-size slices
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (rice vinegar would work also)
2 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1/4 jalepeno, thinly sliced
1/2 of a small pickling cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup soy sauce*
1 tbsp garlic chili sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp honey
1 or 2 cups shredded pre-grilled chicken or pork, or fried or grilled tofu
1 cup cilantro
Combine lime juice and vinegar in a bowl or pyrex. Add veggies (radishes through bell pepper). Let sit for at least an hour (I did four hours). Drain before assembling sandwiches.
For the sauce, combine the soy sauce through honey, stirring well to mix.
To assemble baguette: pour about 1 tbsp of the sauce onto the bread, then layer meat or tofu, pickled veggies, and cilantro. Enjoy.
*a note on 10/21/13- I must have used low sodium soy sauce for the sauce, because I made it again, and holy moley was it salty! Perhaps reduce the soy sauce or use a low sodium version

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Thai Chicken Pizza

Let me just state for the record: I love my son. I do, I really do. But today he woke up from that holy and sacred period of the day (commonly referred to as "nap time") on the wrong side of the crib.
From the moment he woke up he seemed to need more sleep. However, he didn't think that he required nap number two, despite all my effort to convince him that indeed, he did.
At one point, as I was attempting to cook dinner, he was throwing such a tantrum that I decided to put him in his high chair and offer him some food to bribe him into silence. Instead of what I put on his tray, he concluded that he had to have a piece of lime that was on the counter nearby, and he stated this loud and clear. Fed up, I gave it to him.

This is how the entire afternoon went. It took me at least three hours to make this pizza, which is actually so fast that Rachel Ray could probably make it on 30 Minute Meals (how she isn't sweating like a pig by the end of the show, I don't understand; she is basically sprinting for a half hour).

If the pizza had turned out even a little less scrumptious, I wouldn't have posted tonight. But, it was so good that I had to share. I love Thai food, and I love pizza (cheese on bread, what could be better?) and this is the perfect mix of the two. Lane and I have ordered a Thai chicken pizza from a place near us a couple times which not only seems over priced ($20 for a medium not including tip? give me a break), but is also lacking in the number of fresh veggies, which I can pile on when I make it at home.

Not to toot my horn, but I think this pizza was way better than the one from the pizzeria anyway.

Thai Chicken Pizza
for the pizza dough:
adapted from Bread Machine Magic
makes 1 lb of dough
3/4 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal (optional)
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar (or honey; use honey if making with all whole wheat flour)
2 tsp Red Star active dry yeast for bread machines
Place all ingredients in bread pan of bread machine, select dough setting, press start.
If you don't have a bread machine: buy the dough, or make this dough.

for the peanut sauce:
1/2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup ground peanuts (a.k.a. natural peanut butter)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp water*
1/4 to 1 tsp chili garlic sauce**
Put all ingredients in a mini-food processor, mix until well combined. The sauce should be like a thick paste. If you store it in the refrigerator until you use it, make sure to bring it to room temp before spreading over the pizza dough.
*the peanut butter I used was dry, so this was needed; if the peanut butter you use is oily, this may not be needed
**We like our Thai food spicy-hot, so we did 1 tsp, maybe even a bit more; add 1/4 tsp at a time to make sure you don't over-spice for your taste buds

toppings:
1/2 cup sugar snap peas (or snow peas), trimmed
1 carrot, cut into short matchsticks
1/2 bell pepper, cut into thin slices (red would be pretty, but green were cheaper)
about 1/4 of a red onion, chopped
1 cup shredded pre-cooked chicken
2 cups mozzarella, grated
cilantro and/or bean sprouts

To make the pizza: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll dough out onto a greased pan to desired thickness. Spread peanut sauce and then the first five toppings (through chicken) evenly over dough. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove and sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake 15 to 20 more minutes, or until dough in the middle is done all the way through. One way to do this: After baking about 15 minutes total, take pizza off pan and bake directly on rack- but watch it closely, or it will burn. (We all know this can be difficult for me.)
Garnish with cilantro and/or bean sprouts. Enjoy.

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Chicken Spring Rolls with Lime-Chili Dipping Sauce

I know what you are thinking. (By "you" I mean all four of you who "follow" my blog.) You are thinking: "Two posts in one night? She's obsessed! Doesn't she have a husband and a child to take care of? Is she spending all her time blogging?"

The answer, undoubtedly, is yes. I am obsessed. I eat, dream, and think in blog. But, I am really enjoying it. I hope you are as well, whoever "you" are. 

My ultimate goal is to 1.) get at least one comment from anyone and  2.) have a "follower" that I don't know or is not directly related to me (because yes, I don't think I actually know everyone directly related to me, I have a large, complicated family). Until then, here was dinner tonight. It was beautiful and delicious, so I posted it. Keep "following"... many more dinners are yet to come.

Chicken Spring Rolls with Lime-Chili Dipping Sauce
Yield: 6 rolls
Rolls
1 1/2 cups precooked, shredded chicken breast
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/2 cup black Chinese rice
6 spring roll skins (I used Banh Trang brand)
1/2 cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
1 small carrot, cut into thirds, then sliced into matchsticks
6 tbsp each: crushed peanuts, chopped cilantro, and chopped mint
Coat chicken with hoisin sauce, set aside. Rinse rice and combine in a pot with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to boil, then let it simmer until water is absorbed, set aside. Fill a pie plate (or something large and shallow) with water. Collect all your fillings and the spring roll skins:

Then, submerge one skin in the water. Let it soak for ten seconds, then flip it and let it soak another ten on the other side. Repeat this three times on each side, 60 seconds all together. Place the skin on a plate and arrange in the middle: 1/4 cup chicken, a scoop of the rice (I never really measure anything, to be honest), some cucumber, some carrot, and 1 tbsp each of the peanuts, cilantro, and mint. Then fold the sides up and roll it together, burrito style. Repeat with the next six skins. 

For the sauce:
juice of 2 limes (actually, more like 1 1/2, as one of the limes I used was rock hard)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce (such as Soy Vay's veri veri teriyaki)
Whisk together all the ingredients. Serve in a small dish with the rolls. Enjoy.

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