The Global Kitchen

My very generous parents bought me a Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas. She's stainless and her name is Tabitha. I plan on baking more whole grain breads and I'm definitely buying the meat grinder and grain mill attachments.

I wanted to break her in but we had so many leftovers I really didn't want to add to the food stock until we had gotten rid of them. But my boyfriends favorite cookie is peanut butter. I was perusing recipes and realized we had all the ingredients on hand. And since they're his favorite, more of them will probably go to his waistline instead of mine. Heh-heh.

I used THIS recipe from Bon Appetit's January 1998 issue because the reviewers mentioned how easy and chewy they are. They were definitely chewy to me but Jim said they we very good but could be chewier. I told him to just eat the dough. I definitely recommend the recipe.

The only change I made is using my silpat instead of parchment paper.

Supposedly this is one of the BEST fried chicken recipes EVER! I found it in The Atlantic's April 2009 issue and knew I had to try it as a lover of Thai food and fried chicken. The article is pretty good too.
I'm no fried chicken connoisseur. I've never even been to KFC. My experience is limited to my mom's old school recipe which involved dredging in flour, salt and pepper and a big chunk of Crisco. I loved that chicken but as soon as Oprah and her chef Rosie popularized baking chicken with a cornflake coating it became an endangered species in my world. I don't think mom used the cornfalkes but she did start baking the chicken. It was good but not the same.

My biggest beef with frying is the mess. And the fact I never fail to splatter myself even with my splatter screen. But I wanted the chicken so I bought myself a deep fryer. When I brought it home I think my boyfriend was more excited. He declared we had to "break it in" and ran to the store for a bag of potatoes and some oil and made fries. By the way, Emeril's Perfect French Fries are pretty darn good. He's planning on frying more things. He says he wants fried food once a week. I think once a month, if that often, is a better idea.

I have to admit the chicken is pretty awesome! The leftovers are calling my name. But I don't know if I'd compare it to southern fried as it's a totally different taste.

I found coriander with the roots at the Asian grocery store. I think it's a shame that US grocery stores cut them off as they're full of flavor. If you can't find them it's OK to use all stems. But get the roots if you can.

If you don't have a mortar and pestle you can use a food processor but use a mortar and pestle if you can. I bought mine at the Asian grocery store. Much cheaper than Sur La Table. It weighs a ton but I love it and pounding things to a paste is great therapy.



Note it is recommended that the chicken marinate overnight!

Sukhamvit Soi Five Fried Chicken Recipe HERE.

I served my chicken with jasmine rice and steamed vegetables, along with some Sriracha for dipping.

It's a chilly rainy day and the Julie and Julia DVD is going to be released on Tuesday. A perfect day to make Boeuf Bourguignon.

I am thisclose to being moved to my new hut and will start cooking more consistently in January. At least that's the plan.

I've never been a big beef stew fan but I do like this. It makes the house smell great and it's easy. This dish is even better the next day!

I used THIS version from the September 1999 issue of Bon Appetit. I didn't use shiitake mushrooms. I used cremini. And I thought I had sage left over from Thanksgiving but apparently I used it all so that was left out as well. Nobody commented that it could have used sage or should have had shiitake's.

I served it over mashed potatoes and with sauteed brussels sprouts.

I do suggest making the recipe over 2 days if you can. This recipe uses a lot of pots and pans. More when you make sides. I hate washing pots and pans.