Sunday, September 18, 2016

Sticky Coffee Chicken

This sticky coffee chicken has a lot going on, from the fresh brewed coffee and the balsamic vinegar to the thick honey and the ripe tomatoes. You don’t really taste a definite coffee flavor but it does add a wonderful smokiness that enriches the sauce.

Food Lust People Love: This sticky coffee chicken has a lot going on, from the fresh brewed coffee and the balsamic vinegar to the thick honey and the ripe tomatoes. You don’t really taste a definite coffee flavor but it does add a wonderful smokiness that enriches the sauce.

If you’ve been reading along here for a while, you know that I am a coffee drinker/lover from way back. One of my earliest memories is waking up at my grandmother’s house in New Iberia, Louisiana to the smell of her dark roast. Gram never was a very good sleeper so she was often up when it was still dark, puttering around in the kitchen. Her house smelled delightfully of wood polish and mothballs and rose soap. But in the morning, it smelled of coffee. She would heat milk in a small pot and add some coffee and sugar for a hot drink we called coffee milk. CafĂ© au lait.

When my girls were young, I knew that caffeine was not the best thing to give children but how could I deprive them of something so wonderful? We were living in France at the time so I found a decaffeinated instant coffee with chicory (yes, like New Orleans blend) that I mixed in their warm milk in the morning. Cajun children will have coffee milk!

I also love to cook and bake with coffee. You might have seen my rump steak with coffee-wine-balsamic glaze or the salted caramel macchiato muffins that made me write poetry or perhaps even my Liquid Cocaine muffins. Those guys are addictive, no kidding.

Love Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk? You’ll love these muffins that come with a pictorial tour of Vietnam as well. I like cold coffee too! How about some creamy coffee ice cream or coffee concentrate, perfect for making iced coffee quick and easy.

The list goes on but I’ll stop here to tell you that this week my Sunday Supper family is celebrating coffee as an ingredient because International Coffee Day is nigh. If you love coffee like we love coffee, you’ll want to scroll down and check out the list of wonderful recipes we are sharing. But first, make some sticky coffee chicken.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs or 900g chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup or 240ml brewed coffee
1/2 cup or 120ml water, plus more as needed
1/4 cup or 60ml balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup or 60ml honey
1 large ripe tomato
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
10-12 baby plum tomatoes, whole (Mine weighed 8.8 oz or 250g.)

To serve:
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Freshly grated lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
Whatever fresh herbs you’ve got – basil, parsley, thyme, etc. All work well to give this dish a lovely fresh lift.

Method
Lightly season your chicken thighs with salt and pepper.

In a large oven-proof skillet, pan fry chicken in olive oil, skin side down, for about five minutes, or until lightly golden.

Turn the chicken thighs over and turn the fire off, leaving the chicken in the pan for now.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Chop your one large tomato and measure out your other ingredients.

Remove the chicken to a plate and spoon out most of the oil in the skillet, leaving behind a tablespoon or two.



Add in the chopped tomato, coffee, water, honey, balsamic vinegar and tomato paste to the skillet, along with your crushed red pepper flakes.



Bring to the boil and cook at a low boil for about 5-7 minutes or until the tomato disintegrates and the sauce has reduced and thickened.



Remove from the heat and add the chicken back into the pot, skin side up. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and tuck the baby plum tomatoes in and around the thighs.

Food Lust People Love: This sticky coffee chicken has a lot going on, from the fresh brewed coffee and the balsamic vinegar to the thick honey and the ripe tomatoes. You don’t really taste a definite coffee flavor but it does add a wonderful smokiness that enriches the sauce.


Pop the skillet into the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Check it at 15-minute intervals and add a little more water if it’s going dry. I added 1/2 cup or 120ml about 15 minutes in and then a splash more at half an hour.

When the chicken thighs are cooked through, remove the skillet from the oven. Sprinkle them with the lemon juice, lemon zest and some chopped fresh herbs before serving.

Food Lust People Love: This sticky coffee chicken has a lot going on, from the fresh brewed coffee and the balsamic vinegar to the thick honey and the ripe tomatoes. You don’t really taste a definite coffee flavor but it does add a wonderful smokiness that enriches the sauce.


Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: This sticky coffee chicken has a lot going on, from the fresh brewed coffee and the balsamic vinegar to the thick honey and the ripe tomatoes. You don’t really taste a definite coffee flavor but it does add a wonderful smokiness that enriches the sauce.


Many thanks to our event manager, Shelby of Grumpy's Honeybunch and our host today, Wendy of Wholistic Woman for all their behind the scenes work. Check out all the fabulous coffee recipes our Sunday Supper tastemakers are sharing today.

Beverages
Breakfast
Sides
Main dishes
Dessert

 Pin this Sticky Coffee Chicken!


Food Lust People Love: This sticky coffee chicken has a lot going on, from the fresh brewed coffee and the balsamic vinegar to the thick honey and the ripe tomatoes. You don’t really taste a definite coffee flavor but it does add a wonderful smokiness that enriches the sauce.
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Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Cinnamon Pumpkin Quick Bread #BreadBakers

Cinnamon Pumpkin Quick Bread is made with the muffin-method. Bowl of wet ingredients mixed quickly with the bowl of dry. The texture is light yet moist with just the right amount of sweetness. 



This month my Bread Baker group is doing one of two things. Jumping the gun, if you aren’t ready for pumpkin recipes yet. Or fulfilling your what-the-heck-took-so-long needs for pumpkin bread, if you’ve been waiting.

If you are in the former group, hey, pin them for later. If you are in the latter, you are most welcome. Either way, you are going to love this creative group of recipes. Many thanks to our host this month, Kylee of Kylee Cooks. Kylee is a fellow expat in reverse. She was born and raised in New Zealand but lives in the US now. I can completely relate to her regrets that her boys don't get to spend as much time with their grandmother as she did with hers. There are pluses and minuses to this expat life and missing family is a big downside.

You know what helps ease the pain though? Sweet pumpkin bread with cinnamon. This recipe has been adapted from one on the King Arthur website. I have no idea why they complicated their lives by using beaters for quick bread but my way is much easier and completely delicious.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour
1/2 cup or 100g granulated sugar
1/2 cup, firmly packed, or 100g dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup or 200g canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup or 120ml vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/3 cup or 80ml water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate:
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your loaf pan by rubbing the inside with a little oil or by lining it with baking parchment.

Use a large bowl to mix together your flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. My brown sugar tends to get lumpy. If you have the same problem, use the tines of a fork or even your hands to get rid of the lumps.

In another smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the canned pumpkin, oil, eggs, water and vanilla extract.


Pour your wet ingredients into your dry.

Fold until they are just mixed. There may still be a little flour showing.



Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle on the pumpkin seeds, then top them with the cinnamon sugar.



Bake in your preheated oven for about 60-70 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. For the last 20 minutes or so, cover the top loosely with foil.



Allow to cool completely in the pan before slicing.



Enjoy!

Check out all the lovely pumpkin or pumpkin spice breads we have for you today.

BreadBakers
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin it!


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Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Spring Onion Pancakes #FoodieExtravaganza

Flakey, light and tasty, these reduced oil spring onion pancakes are a crispy delight, dipped in a spicy, salty sauce.


Pancakes. Growing up this meant one thing. An ever-so-slightly sweet batter cooked to golden perfection on a buttered griddle pan, then slathered with more butter and syrup. Then I learned that if you are in the UK and order pancakes, you’ll get what I would call crepes. These are made with a much thinner batter and are properly eaten with a sprinkling of sugar and a good squeeze of lemon. In our family, my husband is the crepe master and our girls like to eat his special crepes with lemon, sugar AND some chocolate syrup.

I was just about grown up when I met my first Chinese pancake, which really isn’t related, except by shape, to either of the other two. Spring onion pancakes start out as a dough. There are no leavening agents, just some oil between the layers that makes them puff up and gives them their flakey texture.

Typically, spring onion pancakes can be a bit oily. After all, they are supposed to be shallow fried, plus the dough’s been oiled to make it separate into flaky layers. It may not be traditional, but at our house, we like my way better, which is to use a non-stick skillet, and just a little bit of oil to still get the necessary crunch.

Ingredients
For the pancakes:
2 1/3 cups or 290g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup or 156ml lukewarm water
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light vegetable oil
1/2 cup or 25g spring onions, minced

For the spicy dipping sauce:
1/3 cup or 80ml light soy sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon kecap manis or sweet dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onions or chives
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 small red chili pepper, sliced

Method
Sift your flour into a large bowl, along with the salt. Make a well in the center and add in your lukewarm water.



Start on the inside of the well and gradually mix the flour into the water until it is all absorbed.


It looks quite dry but turn it out onto a clean work surface and knead it all together until you have a smooth stretchy dough.



Put the dough ball back into the bowl and pour over the 1/4 cup or 60ml of oil. Turn the ball to coat and cover the bowl with cling film. Leave to rest for one hour.



While the dough rests, make the dipping sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

When the hour is up, remove the dough ball from the oil and set the bowl aside. We are going to use that oil to cook the pancakes, so don’t toss it out.

Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, cutting them with a sharp knife, then using your hands to rub the oil around each piece.

Use a rolling pin to roll each piece out into a circle of 6 in or 15cm. Sprinkle on the chopped green onions.



Roll the circle into a tube.

Starting at one end, roll the tube up into a spiral, tucking the end of the tube under. Press down on the spiral with the palm of your hand to secure the end.



Now use the rolling pin to roll the spiral into a circle of 6 in or 15cm. Set each aside on a lined baking sheet. Repeat till all of the pancakes are rolled out.


To cook the pancakes, heat a non-stick skillet or griddle over a medium heat and use your spatula to drip just a little of the oil from the dough resting bowl into the pan.
Cook each pancake for a couple of minutes on one side, watching carefully as it puffs up and gets golden spots on the underside.



Flip the pancakes and cook on the other side for another minute or two, until they puff again and have brown spots on that side. Keep the pancakes warm as you repeat the process until all of them are cooked.


Purists say you have to tear the pancakes and dip small bites into the sauce because cutting them flattens the flakiness. I’ve been served them whole or cut in many Chinese restaurants though, so do what makes you happy.

Do serve the spring onion pancakes warm, with the dipping sauce.



Enjoy!

Are you a lover of pancakes? Then this month’s Foodie Extravaganza event is going to be your favorite! We’ve got all sorts of pancakes, both sweet and savory for you. Many thanks to Caroline of Caroline’s Cooking for hosting this month!

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes with the same ingredient or theme every month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out here.

Pin Spring Onion Pancakes!


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