Mod Meals on Mendenhall

Look how fun this is!

Please pay close attention to Michael in this photo.

Some of my best friends live all around the country. I miss my friends Michael and Tommy in Chicago dearly – they can make any moment fun and carefree. Thanks to the smart people at Google, I get to see their cute faces more often using Gmail Video Chat. While catching up one day, we thought it would be great fun to cook dinner together over our webcams. Michael only knows how to make about five things and Tommy was excited for him to learn something new. So, I picked my easy fajita recipe, emailed the grocery list and directions for marinating and scheduled a 7:30 eastern standard time webcam cooking class. The class was not only a success but a whole lot of fun! The only challenge was talking loud enough over the sizzling skillet! I highly recommend this recipe and the webcam cooking class experience! 

Webcam Fajitas 

Ingredients: 

2 limes, juiced  
1 splash canola oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb chicken breast, sliced 
1 or 2  bell peppers, sliced
1 sweet yellow onion, sliced
sour cream
salsa
sharp cheese
flour tortillas 

Assembly: The next before, marinate the chicken in the first seven ingredients. The next day, heat a large skillet with a splash of oil. Add the chicken and marinade into the pan and cook the chicken until done. The marinade will reduce as you cook. Meanwhile, slice the onions and peppers. Once the chicken is done, set it aside. Add the onions and pepper and cook until caramelized. Once cooked to your preference (my Dad and I like our onions extra caramelized) add the chicken back in to the skillet. Serve with warmed tortillas, cheese, sour cream, and salsa.

I’m the type of person tries to only order out food I know I can’t make at home. That is why you typically can’t  find me at a steakhouse, ordering a hamburger or a bowl of spaghetti (although I am lazy from time to time). Before I started this blog, I don’t think I would have had an itch to try to make something at home after I ate it out at a restaurant, but here I am attempting what is probably the impossible. I don’t expect to ever master the art of Vietnamese, Indian or Thai food at home but it is fun to try.

This year my friend Andrew turned me on to the Ground Chicken with Basil at Rearn Thai on West Market Street. We have convinced ourselves that is it healthy although I’m sure it has more sodium than we would like to imagine. Over Christmas I stole my neighbor’s Food and Wine magazine while I was feeding their cats and ran into a recipe for Thai Ground Pork Salad that looked very much like the Ground Chicken with Basil. I thought this would be a great start to experimenting with this recipe at home.

I made the Food and Wine recipe using ground chicken instead of pork and served rice and spicy sesame snow peas on the side. Like I predicted, the meat needed more salt and didn’t taste exactly like I hoped. The next day for lunch, I combined the left over rice, snow peas and ground chicken, added a little soy and a lot of sriracha and loved the second go-round! Like all cooking experiments - or any experiment for that matter - we live and we learn (look at me trying to be philosophical about the scientific method). Below are the components.  I recommend combining them and serving with soy and lots of sriracha!

Ground Chicken with Fresh Herbs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 -2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1 lime, juiced (plus some for serving)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sriracha
• veggie oil
• 1 small handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 small handful fresh mint, chopped
• 1 small handful fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts, chopped (optional)

Assembly: In a bowl, combine the chicken, garlic, shallots and jalapeño. In a separate bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and sriracha. In a skillet, heat the oil and add the meat mixture. Cook over medium high heat and break apart. Turn off the heat and add the other mixture and herbs. Taste for salt and pepper.

Spicy Sesame Sugar Snap Peas

Ingredients:

• sugar snap peas
• sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
• hot chili oil, 1 teaspoon
• soy or tamari sauce, a splash
• sesame seeds (optional)

Assembly: In a skillet, heat the two oils. Throw in the peas and cook for one minute. Then add a splash of soy or tamari and allow to steam until bright green!