Go nuts - Asian chicken skewers with satay sauce (glutenfree)

These Asian chicken skewers and nutty satay sauce are so addictive - go on, go nuts!

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I spent the first half of the summer travelling so much that I still haven't finished all of those stories. But a little break from the travel posts might do us both good, non? And in case you thought I'd completely stopped eating, let me correct you straight away. No, I haven't. Quite the opposite, in fact. 

Cooking and shooting for my book has taken most of my time of late, so I've missed out on the glorious BBQ weather that still show no signs of being over. So, better make the most of these days while I still can! Same goes for you - go on, fire up that BBQ because have I got treats for you!

This peanut sauce is one of my long-standing favourites that I usually make a bigger batch of: I seem to have a horrible tendency to lick the bowl dry before the BBQ is even ready. Obviously it's all in the name of quality control - it's not like I'm greedy or anything. Oh, no. 

It's also versatile as heck - try it as a dip for crudites, as a salad dressing (for instance to replace the miso and sesame dressing in this glutenfree mung bean vermicellisalad!), for beef or pork... or with your index finger. It is that good. 

I prefer sugar-free peanutbutter as that allows me to keep pretending I'm all about clean living, but use what ever you like. And in case you haven't gone crazy at the ethnic shops and are issing some of the ingredients for the sauce, worry not. You can replace fish sauce by adding more soy sauce and as for rice vinegar, just add more lime juice. And perhaps some regular white vinegar and a dash of sugar. 

10 skewers/ serves 4

Asian marinated chicken skewers and satay sauce:

450 g chicken

marinade:

1 dl soy sauce

1/2 dl honey

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 red chilli

finely grated zest and juice of a lime (1,5 tbsp juice)

Combine the ingredients. Pat the chicken dry and cut into 1 cm strips. Place in the marinade and leave to marinate at least for half an hour (or several hours, depending on how much time you've got)

Satay-kastike:

1,5 dl (150 g) unsweetened peanut butter

1/4 dl rice vinegar

the finely grated zest and juice of a lime (1,5 tbsp juice)

1,5 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla) 

1 dl coconuut milk

1/2 -1 tsp Sriracha

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander

Measure the ingredients into a food processor and blizz until smooth (or whisk them together by hand). Check the taste and adust to your liking by adding me lime juice and/or soy sauce.

Drain the chicken from the marinade. Thread onto 10 skewers (in case using wooden ones, make sure to soak them in water for half an hour to avoid setting them on fire) and grill (either on a BBQ, griddle pan or under a broiler in the oven) for 3-4 minutes per side.

Serve with satay sauce. Enjoy.

Want to hear a secret? I finished them all by myself. In one sitting. I suppose there's no way to pass that one off as quality control...?

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Fakeout Chinese: sesame chicken and broccoli

While I love my neighbourhood, it has its flaws. Like the total lack of decent ethnic restaurants. Especially Chinese (oh, the shock and horror - a food blogger who has to make her own food!!!).

Luckily this fakeout Chinese dish is ready in less time it takes to go through the menu, finally reach the decision, pick up the phone, dial the restaurant, place the order and wait for yet another delivery guy to get lost in the maze that is the courtyard if my building (seriously, the whole point of ordering in is the overwhelming reluctance to leave my bed - having to leave my bed and venture out onto the streets in search of the lost lamb sort of defeats the whole purpose...)

If you can get your hands on broccolini, use that. It had sold out in all the shops I tried... so I had to make do with regular broccoli (oh, the misery that is my life!)

Serves 4:

Chinese sesame chicken and broccoli:

450 g chicken,in 1-inch-cubes

marinade:

1,25 dl (low sodium) soy sauce
0,75 dl honey
1,25 tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tso corn starch mixed with 1,5 tsp cold water

1 broccoli, cut into similar sized florets
4 spring onions

To serve: a couple of tbsp sesame seeds

Combine the ingredients for the marinade and pour over chicken cubes. Leave to marinate while you prep the rest of the ingredients. 

Drain the chicken (reserve the marinade!) and pour the marinade into a small pot. Bring to boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Then add corn starch mixture, whisk until smooth and bring to boil again. Add a couple of tbsp of water if needed.

Steam broccoli florets for a couple of minutes. Heat at a couple of tbsp of oil in a pan/ wok and cook the chicken until browned all over and just about cooked through. Then add the white part of spring onion (leave the green part for serving) and broccoli. Heat until everything is piping hot and pour over the sauce.

Sprinkle the spring onion and sesame seeds on top and serve with rice. 

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Maqluba, Palestinian national dish - upside down chicken and rice bake

If my Hebrew is a bit, well, rudimentary to say the least, my Arabic is practically non-existent. Though, that never seemed to matter either - as I was working in West Bank the locals would politely listen to my clumsy attempts at communicating with them only to ask how old I was and if I were already married.

The most meaningful dialogue of the entire time I lived in Tunisia I had with a taxi driver on my way home from work. A car that had been driven off the road and rolled over had enticed probably every single taxi driver in the capital to speculate what had happened. Sayaara, the taxi driver said, pointing at the car. Sayaara maqluba. Now, there was a word even I understood and so we kept nodding vigorously in agreement. Sayaara maqluba - upside down car.

That's exactly what maqluba means: upside down, though it is also the name of one of their most beloved dishes that has been adopted in other countries in the region as well. It gets its name from the way it's flipped over onto the serving platter after cooking.

As all the traditional dishes in the world, each family has their own recipe for this. As I was trying to enquire this from the Palestinian family that adopted me in Hebron, the following conversation ensued:

- So, what goes into it?
- Rice, chicken, onion, peppers and eggplant.
- Yes, yes, but how much?
- Exactly as much as you like! was the puzzled answer.

So, feel free to follow that advice... or the slightly more exact instructions based on the one another one of my Palestinian mamas makes. There are countless variations: for veggies you can use just about anything and chicken can be substituted with lamb or skipped altogether. 

Serves 4-6

Maqluba - Palestinian chicken and rice bake:

3 dl rice

oil for frying

1 tsp bokharat spice blend
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tl ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 iso sipuli, ohuelti siivutettuna
1 cauliflower, cut into florets
6 chicken thighs
8 dl chicken stock

salt, pepper

To serve: 3/4 dl toasted pine nuts

Soak rice for half an hour and rise. In the meanwhile prep the rest of the ingredients: peel and slice the onion and chop the cauliflower. Pat the chicken dry.

Heat a couple of tbsp oil in a casserole dish. Sauté cauliflower until it's softened and got a bit of colour on it. Season with salt and pepper and transfer out of the pan.

Add more oil and do the same with onion. Transfer aside.

Add some more oil and this time add the spices. Toss them around for a a while and then add the chicken. Brown on both sides. Season. Add stock and continue to cook, covered,  over medium heat until chicken is done - 30-40 minutes. 

Drain the chicken (reserve the liquid). Place the onions onto the bottom of the dish, followed by chicken and then  cauliflower. Top with layer of rice and slowly pour the chicken stock evenly over that. Cover and continue cooking over gentle heat until all the liquid's been absorbed and the rice is done (another 3--40 minutes). Every now and then check to make sure there's still enough liquid and add more if needed. 

When maqluba is done, transfer it from the stove and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Then flip it carefully onto the serving platter and serve with Turkish yoghurt.

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Middle Eastern stuffed aubergines with soy crumbles (vegan)

In the first soy recipe of my meatless October I sought inspiration from Far East, now it's time for my beloved Middle East. Soy-based meat substitutes have a neutral taste, so they love spices and marinades - especially Asian flavours.

This time I had a go with dark soy crumbles which substitutes ground meat so well I challenge you to tell the difference!

Middle Eastern stuffed aubergines with soy crumbles:

Serves 4

2 smallish aubergines (á 300 g)

1 onion, finely chopped

4 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

pinch of cinnamon

2 dl dark soy crumbles

2 dl vegetable stock

3/4 dl raisins

1/2 dl pine nuts

bunch of parsley, leaves finely chopped

salt, black pepper (to taste)

To serve:

Greek yogurt, the seeds of about 1/2 pomegranate

Cut the aubergines lengthwise in half, score the flesh (careful not to slice all the way through), season with pepper and wrap in foil. Bake at 200° until the flesh is done - depending on the size 30-40 minutes. In the meanwhile prepare the stuffing.

Sauté onion and spices in oil. When onion is translucent, add soy crumbles. Toast it for a couple of minutes in oil and let it absorb the spices. Then add vegetable stock, raisins and pine nuts. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Once the aubergines are done, scoop out the flesh leaving about 1 cm edge intact. Mash using a fork and combine with the soy mixture. Fold in parsley, check the taste and season.

Spoon the stuffing into eggplants and roast at 225° for 10 minutes. 

Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt and scatter pomegranate seeds on top.

PS. You could also grate some cheese on top of the stuffed aubergines before baking them. 

And should you really want to spoil someone and serve wine with these, you know which way to go, don't you? Yes, a (New World) Pinot Noir. Try this New Zealand favourite of mine or this recent find (which, by the way, is vegan, too!)

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Mediterranean rice pilaf

You know us food bloggers, right? Always spot on. Night and day always scouring the net for the next Big Thing; continuously dining at the latest restaurants sniffing our for the up and coming trends? And even at home, we never eat the same thing twice. Oh no. Instead we spend our days confiting duck legs and extracting tomato water for that elusive Peruvian tomato risotto that only takes 2 days to make? 

Yeah, that's us. Let's take the week gone by. Yes, I've survived the nastiest break-up yet (better than I ever expected, I must say!) and rediscovered my appetite again. And yes, I've been going back to the same dish over and over again. Here it is. I've been having it with the Greek meatballs and sofrito, that Corfiot specialty that will be featured on the blog next. And on its own. And yes, there might have been days when it was the thing that saved me the day after a very heavy night before... (in case you're a Mormon, that means wine. A whole lot of it.) And it never fails to comfort.

Depending on your mood, the spices of pilaf will instantly transport you to East. Whether it's Middle of Far, is up to you. Therein lies the genius of this dish. Feel free to go crazy trying different variations and throwing in what ever left over veggies or herbs you might have lurking at the back of your fridge. Grate in a carrot, squeeze out he moisture and throw in the pan with the onion (coriander or mint really, really love carrot!)  That's the beauty of cooking:take a recipe and make it your own!

Personally I prefer the texture of basmati rice, but any long grained rice will work. Just make sure you follow the instructions on the packet as the liquid needed varies from one variety to another. 

As far as herbs go, use either parsley, coriander or mint. Or all of them. Let's face it: fresh herbs are like... well, sequns. Or re-runs of How I met Your Mother. Of bigasshairheavyrockstadionballades. We just can't get enough of them right?

Serves 4-6

Mediterranean rice pilaf:

1/3 dl oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

2,5 dl Basmati rice

5 dlchicen (or vegetable) stock

1,25 dl raisins

salt (to taste)

to serve:

100 g pine nuts

a large handful of parsley leaves, chopped (or coriander. Or mint. Or my fave: A large handful of chopped parsley leaves and half the amount of that finely chopped mint leaves)

Sauté chopped onions in the oil in a pot. Then add the spices and let them come to alive for a couple of moments. Add rice and, stirring every now and then, let it toast until the kernels start getting a bit of colour and start releasing that nutty aroma (that will take about 5-7 minutes). Add raisins and then the stock.

Bring the heat down and leave the rice to cook (covered) until the liquid's been absorbed (12-15 minutes).

Remove the pot from the heat, fluff with a fork, add the pine nuts and the herbs, cover with a tea towel and then top it of all with a lid. Leave to sit for another 10 minutes.

Check the taste,season as needed and serve.

Makes an excellent side dish for Greek meatballs, stifado, lamb chops Al-Andaluz or Marka hloua, that Tunisian classic. Or hey, for sofrito! Recipe for that one coming up next so stay tuned!

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Korean coleslaw

Korean kitchen just goes above my understanding. How can fermentation on one hand produce something as noble as wine, yet also result in something as incomprehensible as kimchi? I just don't get it. This, however, is logic in a way even I can follow. Summer + BBQ season + new harvest carrots and cabbage... doesn't take Einstein to figure out that can only mean one thing: coleslaw. Much like  last year's take on this summer classic, this year's version takes its inspiration from Asia and from the Korean miracle condiment that has found home even in my fridge: gochujang paste.

These days that earthy chilli-based paste (result of fermentation, this too) can be found in regular supermarkets, so shop away! In case you have issues with gluten, steer clear though. If you want a lighter version, substitute half of the mayo with Greek yogurt.

As a side this is enough for 3, in burgers or hot dogs for 6

Korean coleslaw:

1 small new harvest cabbage (about 500 g head)

3 carrots

2 tsp rice vinegar (can be substituted with white vinegar)

2 tsp sugar

3 spring onions
bunch coriander

1/2 dl sesame seeds

Gochujang- mayo dressing:

2 dl mayo

1-2 tbsp Gochujang paste (to taste)

1/2 lime, juiced

1/4 tl sesame oil

1/4 tsp granulated garlic
salt, pepper (to taste)

Cut the cabbage in half, remove the hard core and outer leaves and shred finely. Peel and shred the carrots. Combine rice vinegar with sugar and add to the veggies. Let them soften a bit while you prepare the dressing.

Combine the ingredients for the dressing, check the taste and season with salt and pepper (add a touch of sugar if needed!). Stir into the salad and finally fold in chopped spring onion, coriander and sesame seeds. 

Serve. For instance with this Filippino pork belly...?

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Sesame-encrusted tuna salad So Cal with Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc

Southern California - or So Cal as it's also known - is not a region I'm personally familiar with, but based on documentaries such as Real Housewives of Orange County it seems like a charmingly genuine place where people have their values in check and feet firmly on the ground (...)

Now, obviously I was being sarcastic. The grotesquely drag queen-like, bewilderingly immature characters in the series are so frighteningly devoid of any personality it's downright perverse there isn't a Martini-swigging committee gearing up to launch a charity event for them alone. Oh, perhaps they've had them surgically removed to make more room for silicone and Botox and collagen? 

Food wise though So Cal sounds aaaahmazing. Fresh fish and seafood? Veggies? With Asian twist and influences from south of the border, too? Avocados, lime and coriander galore? Count me in!

This salad was born out of those very ingredients as I stumbled upon a gorgeous piece of fresh tuna at my fish monger, which soon found itself swimming in an Asian-inspired marinade. The price of fresh tuna might seem extortionate at times, but a owing to its meatiness a little goes a long way, especially in salads and especially when sliced this thinly. Use any veggies you want - it's wasabi mayo that is the crowning glory. That could also be substituted with this miso sesame dressing. 

Serves 3, as a starter 4-5

So Cal salad with Asian marinated sesame encrusted tuna:

350 g piece fresh tuna

marinade:

0,75 dl soy sauce

3 tbsp honey

1,5 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 largish clove garlic

the juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 tsp sesame oil

sesame crust:

1 egg white, lightly beaten

black sesame seeds (about 1/2 dl)

oil for frying

Combine the ingredients for the marinade and pour over the tuna. Leave to marinate while you prep the salad.

Salad:

1 sheet nori seaweed
7 radishes

2 spring onions, chopped

bunch of coriander, leaves chopped

1 large carrot (or 2 smaller ones)

125 g cherry tomatos

2 small avocados

1 small green pepper (or 1/2 of a larger one)

To serve: wasabi mayo or miso-sesame dressing

Toast the seaweed at 200° until crisp but not burnt. Cut to strips. 

Cut the cherry tomatos in half, slice radishes finely and cut the carrot to thin strips. The easiest way to do this is to first slice them with mandolin or a vegetable peeler and then stack the slices and cut them into match stick like strips. Cut pepper into small cubes and do the same with avocado. Combine the ingredients, fold in seaweed, spring onion and coriander, place on the serving dish and drizzle with dressing.

Remove tuna from marinade and pat dry. Toss it in the egg white and then in sesame seeds. Heat some oil in a hot pan and sear the tuna for about 30 secs on each side. 

Let cool a bit and then (using a sharp knife) slice thinly and place on top of the salad. Serve.

Instead of California the wine pairing comes from New Zealand. I've never been best of friends with their Sauvignon Blacs as too often the currant-ey notes are too dominating. There is some of that in this, too, but in a very ripe form. Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc is a delightfully mouthwatering Sauvignon Bland and as such makes a perfect aperitif.

The wine (organic, too!) is dry and aromatic and would go well with variety of seafood and fish dishes, especially with smoked fish. It does, however, have such fruitiness, that it also worked surprisingly well with the Asian influences of this dish - it truly blossomed with this salad. A great wine for summer! And hey, it's available in a demi bottle, too (0,375 l) which makes it a convenient for picnics or those evenings à deux, when a whole bottle would be too much. 

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Chinese lemon chicken

We feasted on this chicken a couple of weeks ago as a part of our Chinese New Year celebrations. No, we don't have an ounce of Chinese blood in our veins, but hey, any excuse to celebrate is good in our books! And anyway - that won't stop the whole world going Irish next week for St. Patrick's, does it...?

Sure, in case you follow all the steps with marinating the chicken first and then breading it and then frying it, it will take some time. So, if you must, skip the marinating part, but do give this recipe a go. I've never tried heroin, but in case it's anywhere as addictive as this lemon sauce, it's probably best I steer clear of it in the future, too. 

For maximum crunchiness, use panko bread crumbs. For a gluten-free feast, use rice flour instead of all-purpose flour and substitute panko with gluten-free beard crumbs. In case you're calorie-conscious, use artificial sweeteners instead of sugar.

Serves four

Chinese lemon chicken

4 chicken breasts

Marinade for the chicken:

o,5 dl soy sauce

5 cm piece of ginger, minced

1 tsp ground white pepper 

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Combine the ingredients for the marinade. Pat the chicken fillets dry and slice (if you want). Pour over the marinade and let marinate in the fridge overnight or at least 4 hours.

For breading:

about 3 dl rice flour or all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 pckg panko breadcrumbs/ regular (or glutenfree) breadcrumbs 

For frying: about 1/2 l oil and a heavy-based pot

Lightly whisk the eggs. Spread the flour on one shallow dish and panko on another.

Drain the marinated chicken and pat dry. Toss in flour, then in eggs and then coat with bread crumbs.

Fry in hot oil for a couple of minutes until golden brown. Drain on kitchen towels and serve with rice, lemon sauce and stir-fry veggies.

Lemon sauce:

0,5 l (low-sodium) chicken stock

1,5 dl lemon juice

the zest of 1-2 lemons (depending on how lemony you like yours)

1-1,25 dl sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
pinch of turmeric (or a couple of drops of lemon food colourant)

4 tbsp corn starch

4 tbsp cold water

Mix corn starch with cold water. Bring chicken stock to boil and add rest of the ingredients (apart from the corn starch-mixture). Check the taste and adjust the lemoniness/ sweetness to your liking. Then add corn starch whisking as you do and continue cooking for a couple of minutes until the sauce has thickened. Serve hot over the chicken or as a cold dipping sauce (in which case keep it covered to stop the skin from forming).

Stir-fry veggies:

2 large cloves of garlic

1 small red chilli

2 cm piece ginger

for frying: a couple of tbsp oil

1 large carrot

300 g head of broccoli

1 red pepper

1 red onion

200 g mini corn
soy sauce

to serve: 

handful of toasted cashew nuts

handful of coriander leaves, chopped

handful of spring onion stalks chopped

Cut the veggies into matchsticks and cut the broccoli into florets (cutting the larger ones into 2 or 3).

Mince chilli, garlic and ginger. Heat oil in a large wok (if using a regular frying pan, fry the veggies in 2 batches to keep them crunchy). Add the veggies into the wok. First carrot, a minute later broccoli, then red pepper and finally red onion and mini corn. Cook over high heat until everything's piping hot.

Season with soy sauce, fold in coriander leaves, spring onion and cashew nuts and serve.

And since we went Asian, we also went all Alsatian and turned to our old favourite, Wolfberger for a wine pairing. And weren't disappointed this time either. 

This wine pairs two of the most typical Alsatian grape varieties: Riesling and Pinot Gris in a way that really brings together best of the both worlds. It combines the ripe fruitiness of Riesling with the mineral acidity of Pinot Gris and produces a wine that's perfect for a variety of Asian dishes using chicken, fish or shellfish. 

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Go bananas! Banana and walnut cake with peanut butter frosting

Getting into the details of how this cake was born might get too confusing even for the most seasoned of the readers so suffice to say it involves a Sunday lunch, drag queen bingo, someone getting fired and a couple of bottles of wine. Oh, and a Leprechaun. 

The idea for the frosting on the other hand was inspired by Klaus K American Grill's Christmas lunch. 

Yummeee!

Banana and walnut cake:

3 really ripe bananas

the juice of 1/2 lemon

5 dl all purpose flour

1,5 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1,5 tso ground cardamom

125 g butter, at room temperature

2 dl sugar (or 1 dl of brown sugar + 1 dl regular)

3 eggs

1,5 tsp vanilla essence (or vanilla sugar)

2 dl buttermilk (or 1 dl Greek yogurt + 1 dl milk)

100 g walnuts, roughly chopped

Peanut butter frosting:

200 g cream cheese

3 tbsp peanut butter (non-sweetened kind)

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp icing sugar

For decorating: dried banana or walnuts (optional)

Mash the bananas, combine with lemon juice and set aside. Combine the dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar and then add eggs. Beat in mashed bananas and then, altering, buttermilk and flour mixture. Finally fold in walnuts.

Pour into a loaf tin either buttered and sprinkled with breadcrumbs OR lined with parchment. Bake at 180-190 (depends on the oven!)  for about an hour. Halfway through cover the cake with tin foil to stop it from getting too brown. 

Let cool in the tin (until the next day if you have the will power as much like carrot cake, this only gets better!) remove and cover with frosting.

For the frosting whisk all the ingredients together.

PS. We made this for National Peanut Butter Day. But the recipe will come in equally handy on National Banana Bread Day on February 23rd, too! Or August 27th, which marks the national Banana Lover's Day. Oh, the things they come up with in America...!

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