Ulterior Motives

Company for dinner is often little more than a cover, here at Itadakimasu. I know, we look sweet and innocent, but you have no idea what's lurking once you're ensconced in a chair and well fed.... Because once you're wined and dined and unsuspecting, we pull out the big red box of Scattergories and dig in properly.

Matt introduced me to the game shortly after we got together, and I'm an unashamed convert.

That said, tonight's dinner was a pretty tasty cover for a few rounds of Scattergories with some excellent company.

We prefaced the game with what I've termed "Cheater's Chicken Mole" - a dish with the flavour of its far more complex ancestor, and an appealingly short list of ingredients, for those of us on a student budgets and jam-packed schedules. The recipe is one I tasted first at a dinner party at another friend's house, and then found in the Epicurious archives. My (current) version goes something as follows.

Cheater's Chicken Mole

adapted from Bon Appetit

2 chicken legs/thighs and 1 breast, all skinless and boneless (what I had on hand - thigh meat is best, as the original calls for)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
olive oil
1 1/2 yellow onions, one thinly sliced, the last half coarsely chopped (reserve for serving)
28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced chipotle chiles
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (I had chipotles in adobo, which worked perfectly)
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
salt to taste
large handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
steamed rice (for serving)

Cut the chicken into large pieces (about six per piece, depending on the size, really - perhaps three-bite-sized?) and sprinkle generously with cumin.

In a large pan over medium-high heat, heat olive oil until it shimmers and then add the chicken, browning on all sides. Add (only!) the sliced onion and saute until just softened. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, chipotle, adobo sauce and chocolate and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer until the chicken is done.The original recipe calls for 20 minutes. I probably let mine go for closer to 45 - until we were too hungry to wait any longer. I also took the chicken pieces out to shred with a fork about halfway through. This isn't necessary, but it's how I like the dish.

Spoon the chicken and sauce over steamed rice and top with chopped onion and cilantro. Serve with warm corn tortillas, if you are a tortilla person.



We followed it up with a batch of these cookies from Orangette. They are, in a word, killer. Mine are not nearly so pretty as the originals, but I daresay they taste almost as good.



Oh, and do yourself a favour and pull out the box of Scattergories afterwards. You won't be disappointed.

My victorious return

Sorry about the hiatus there - between school, work, and random viruses, I've been a little preoccupied. But I've returned, and I come bearing recipes.



Back in Albuquerque, Matt and I used to visit a little Thai cafe fairly regularly. It's called Tina's, and for all of you who are in/near Albuquerque, it's in the back of the Baptist student union building, on University and MLK, and it's fantastic. It's almost impossible to find if someone doesn't guide you there - the only indication of its existence is a paper sign stating hours on an otherwise ordinary brown metal door. But open that door, and for five dollars you get a huge, steaming plate of some of the best Thai food in Albuquerque. Incidentally, if you open the wrong door, you end up in the kitchen - not a bad place to be.

A couple of nights ago, my mom emailed me a recipe that my dad had created. It's the closest thing I've had to my favourite dish at Tina's since Matt and I moved to Portland. I can't for the life of me either remember or pronounce its actual name, usually just requesting the "number nine," but it goes something like this.

Dad's (a lot like Tina's) Green Beans with Ground Chicken

¾ pound green beans, cut to 3/8 inch length
½ pound chicken breast, ground in the food processor
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks Thai basil, chopped (about 24 leaves)
¼ cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Thai chili paste (negotiable - add more if you like it spicy, like we do here, or less if you're a little shy of hot things; I actually used a Laotian chili paste that I got from our local market back in Albuquerque - it's got a good bite to it)
2 eggs
Steamed Rice

To make the sauce, mix chicken broth, fish sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, vinegar and set aside.

Heat 2 T of canola oil in a wok, fry chicken until almost turns white, make a clearing in the base of the wok, add garlic and chili paste (if you mix the garlic with a little oil prior to frying it, it won’t stick). Mix into chicken, add green beans and mix. After 1-2 minutes, add sauce, and then Thai basil.



In separate pan, fry eggs in oil over high heat until edges are crispy, but the yolk is still runny.

To serve, put rice in a shallow bowl, cover generously with green beans and chicken, and top with fried egg.

If you're like me, and you don't like egg yolk unless you can't tell it's there, cut it out and give it to your significant other. Otherwise, using a fork and spoon to tear the egg into tiny pieces, mix everything together and eat!