Growing Up Savvy Posts

I’ve begun to grow tired of familiar flavor profiles and decided to look around for some inspiration. Fascinated by southeast asian and indian cuisines for a long time now, I find their spicy and flavor-forward profiles incredibly inviting. Lemongrass, to me, is an incredible edible the aroma of which is so fragrant that it instantly perks up anything you add it to. It just so happens that lemongrass goes great with ginger, garlic and chiles (which I did not use this time around). These aromatics lend themselves naturally to infusing their flavor into coconut milk and make the perfect sauce.

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 stalks of lemongrass (~6 inches each) battered and minced

2 inch knob of ginger, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1.5 lbs ground chicken

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 egg

15 oz coconut milk

1 tbsp fish oil

juice of 1 lime

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions:

Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, lemongrass, ginger and garlic to a large, 12 inch, stainless steel skillet and sauté on medium heat until the aromatics are translucent and tender or about 10 minutes. Meanwhile combine the ground chicken, salt, bread crumbs and egg in a bowl mixing lightly. Add half of the aromatics to the meat mixture and reserve the remaining half in a dish. Add the remaining 2 tbsp oil to the skillet. Form 12-15 meatballs and place in the heated oil in the skillet searing them until golden brown on all sides ~10 minutes. You may have to sear the meatballs in two batches to avoid crowding. Once all the meatballs are browned, add the remainder of the aromatics back into the pan followed by coconut milk. The milk will help deglaze the pan. Make sure to use a wooden spatula to scrape up all the bits of browned chicken off. Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice to the pan. Return the meatballs to the pan, cover and cook for 6-8 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with vermicelli rice noodles and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Halloween has yet to come and I am ready for something other than pumpkin in my culinary repertoire. And I haven’t had a single pumpkin spice latte or pumpkin anything this season yet. Just looking at all the pumpkins, everywhere and all the time has sated my appetite for pumpkins. And so I am officially moving past pumpkins onto other fall flavors such as cranberries. Tart and rich in flavor not to mention nutrients these little berries are often a one-appearance a year sort of a food at our Thanksgiving table. Furthermore, more often than not, the single appearance is out of a can and resembling something gooey and unappealing. I am on a mission to reinvigorate our love of all things cranberry with non other than cranberry pecan muffins. The pecans are rich and buttery and the cranberries offer a perfect counterpoint of tartness.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Streusel Topping:

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

Batter:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1.25 cups pecans
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 2 tsp. powdered sugar

Instructions:

Pulse all but the last ingredients of the streusel topping in your food processor. Add the butter making sure to separate the pieces of butter around the bowl. Pulse a few more times until the topping resembles wet sand. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 425*F.

Without washing out the food processor, pulse the pecans and sugar for the batter. Whisk the butter, eggs and milk together and add the pecan/sugar mix. Whisk thoroughly, add salt and baking powder. Add flour and mix just enough to ensure that the flour is absorbed. Without washing out the food processor, pulse the powdered sugar and cranberries until the cranberries are roughly chopped (5-6 times). Add the mixture to the batter and mix carefully. Allow the batter to stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a muffin baking dish. After ten minutes, scoop the batter into the individual tins ensuring that it is divided evenly. Spoon 1.5 tbsp. of the streusel topping on each muffin gently pressing. Bake for 17 minutes if using convection or 18-19 otherwise. Enjoy!