Light n' Breezy

I'm sure there's a name for this cocktail, but I like the name I came up with and I don't feel much like Googling the name of the drink. Long story short, I wanted to make a dark and stormy, but for some reason I couldn't find any ginger beer, so I went with ginger ale instead. It has less of bite, but the result was still blogworthy.

Pairs well with fish tacos! Especially these fish tacos!

Light n' Breezy

• 1/4 cup crushed Ice
• 1 shot Dark Spiced Rum (I use Kraken) 
• 1 Small Lime worth Juice
• Ginger Ale

1. Add the ice to a tumbler. 
2. Pour the rum over the ice.
3. Add the lime juice
4. Fill the rest of the cup with ginger ale. Stir. Garnish with a lime slice.
5. Enjoy!

These great photos by Katy Weaver

Thai Chicken and Waffle Sandwich

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Thai Chicken and Waffles

One of the greatest pieces of advice I've ever heard was from

Alton Brown

who said, "Never take advice." I am open to criticism and feedback though, because without them you can't get better. But advice is more one sided than a HP Laserjet P3005ch printer (it doesn't have duplex printing). When it comes down to it, you're the only one who knows what you really want and what you have to do to make it happen, so start being selfish and start working towards something awesome. 

For some reason in today's culture, selfishness is portrayed as a negative trait, although people forget is that this is what made this country great in the first place (that's right I'm making this a cultural thing). We broke away from the British Empire because we wanted to do things OUR way. We didn't get involved with WWII until we were attacked and it affected us. 

Knowing that your crazy idea is a great one, and actually having the guts to go out there and make it happen doesn't make you insane or eccentric; it makes you successful and a goddamn American. Frankly I'm tired of having artificial roadblocks being put up, especially for people of my generation.  Just get out there and create something, whatever it may be. 

chicken and waffle sandwich

What do those old-man style ramblings have to do with Thai chicken and waffles? Almost nothing. But let's be honest, "Thai chicken and waffles" sounds like a weird, crazy idea, until you actually make it happen and try it. Remember an idea is only as good as its end product, so ignore that advice and prove those nay-sayers wrong.

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produce

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Before I get into the recipes, I want to make a couple shout outs! First, thanks to

Flavour Gallery

for sending me

an awesome apron

(I was wearing it the entire time I was cooking all this). They also have a bunch of cool food t-shirts you should check out. The second shout out is to

Kraken rum

because I love the stuff and would love a free bottle or two. The great thing about Kraken rum is that you get to yell, "RELEASE THE KRAKEN!" Everytime you open the bottle.

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dirty colada

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Dirty Coladas

I know it's not a direct translation, but dark rum produces a "dirtier" look than white rum

• 1 part Kraken Dark Rum
• 1 part Coconut Cream
• 2 parts Pineapple Juice
• 2 parts Ice

1. Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until the ice forms a smooth texture. 
2. Pour into a glass and garnish with a lime slice.

carrots

cabbage

coleslaw

Rice Vinegar Slaw 

• 1 Carrot grated
• 1 Zucchini grated
• 1/2 Red Cabbage chopped
• 1/2 Red Onion chopped
• 1 clove Garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
• Juice from 1 Lime
• 1 pinch Salt
• 2 tablespoons Sugar

1. Add the cut up vegetables to a large mixing bowl toss with the vinegars, lime juice, sugar, and salt. The best way to mix everything up is to use your hands.
2. Once your salad is tossed, let the slaw sit in the fridge for about 15 min before serving. 

rice flour waffles

Ginger-Lime-Coconut Waffles

• 1 1/4 cups Rice Flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 can Coconut Milk
• 1 heaping tablespoon shredded Coconut
• 1 Egg
• 3 Tablespoons soft butter
• 1 teaspoon ground Ginger
• 1 pinch of Five-Spice
• 1 Lime juiced and zested

1. Sift together all dry ingredients. 
2. Add the lime zest and shredded Coconut to the dry mixture.
3. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients. Once the batter is mixed together add to your waffle iron. [These are really good by themselves too, don't think you need to make a Thai chicken and waffle sandwich when you make these.]

chicken

sweet and spicy chicken

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

• 1 lbs. Chicken Breasts cut into thick strips
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 teaspoons Fish Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• a dash of Garlic Salt

1. Heat the oil over high in a wok or large skillet. 
2. Add the pepper flakes to the oil and let their flavors seep into the oil.
3. Toss the chicken into the cooking vessel. Move the chicken around a bit so it doesn't clump together in the pan. 
4. Add the fish sauce, garlic salt, and brown sugar to the pan. Keep stirring to avoid burning the sugar. The chicken should finish cooking within a couple minutes, depending on what type of stove you have. 
5. Serve with the sauce that is created when cooking the chicken. 

Assemble your sandwich by placing a waffle on a plate, add the chicken and some of the sauce then the slaw and a bit of cilantro and top with another waffle.

Once again my partner in crime, 

Katy Weaver

, is responsible for these mind-blowing photos. She's right in the middle of her busy season and still finds time to help me out with this little project, she's sort of the best you guys.

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chicken and waffles

Carne Asada Tacos & Sangria

Sometimes in life you have to strip down, whether it's going skinny dipping, refinishing hardwood furniture or simplifying a dish. Instead of doing an infusion or adding some interesting ingredient I decided simplicity would be the best route to take.

Even if it's slightly cold and cloudy, eat this meal outside the comfort of your dining room that's cooled with centralized air and set up the picnic table. Oh you live in an apartment? Open a window while you eat, it's summer, enjoy the nice weather while it's here.

Sangria

Yields almost enough to forget your troubles

• 1 bottle Red Wine opened (I went with the cheapest merlot I could find)
• 2 liters of Ginger Ale
• 1 Orange sliced
• 1 Lemon sliced
• 2 Limes sliced
• 1 Apple sliced
• 1 Peach sliced
• 1 shot Triple Sec 
• 2 shots of White whiskey

1. Cut up the fruit and add everything to whatever samovar you have laying around.
2. Quick note: I used white whiskey, because it was laying around. Bourbon works just as well.
3. Stir it up a bit and serve.

Homemade Chips & Salsa

Chips

• 6 Corn Tortillas
• Olive Oil
• Salt

Salsa

• 4 Tomatoes diced
• 3/4 medium sized Onion diced
• 2 tablespoons of minced Garlic
• 2 Jalapeños diced  
• 1 Lime juiced
• 2 small sprigs of Fresh Parsley finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon Caribbean Jerk Seasoning

1. Pour enough olive oil into a skillet to make a shallow pool, heat over medium. Cook the pieces of tortilla until golden brown on each side. Flip as necessary. This is a very fast process, so keep an eye on them. To drain, place the chips on a cooling rack over paper towels. 
2. Make the salsa by adding all the cut-up vegetables in a medium-sized bowl along with the spices, stir until well mixed.

Carne Asada Taco

Serves two very hungry people

• 1 lbs. Skirt Steak
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• a pinch of Salt
• 2 Jalapeños
• 4 Green Onions
• 6 Corn Tortilla
• Hot sauce

1. Rev up your grill. 
2. To get the most out of your meat, pound it. Pounding your meat will make it flatter and therefor it will have more surface area, which will allow it cook faster, resulting in a more tender piece of steak. Lay some plastic wrap on the kitchen counter, enough to span the length of the steak strips. Lay another layer of wrap over top. You can use anything heavy to pound the meat, even a triple sec bottle.
3. Once the steak is flattened, but not pulverized, throw it in a mixing bowl and drizzle the olive oil over top and add the salt. Massage the oil and salt into the steak with your hands. Yes your hands, it won't kill you, unless your allergic to beef. And if you are allergic to beef, why the hell are you making these tacos?
4. Add the steak, onions and jalapeños to the grill. Flip the onions and the peppers as needed to make sure they don't burn. Only cook the steak a few minutes on each side, keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.
5. Once the vegetables are grilled and the steak is done (and yes that means it's still a little pink on the inside), let the steak sit for 10 minutes. Cut into strips and place on warm corn tortillas with the salsa and hot sauce. Serve with chips & salsa, sour cream and sangria.

Summer is all about simplicity isn't it? It's the season of taking some time off and spending time in the wilderness away from everything that's complex and stressful. Food should be simple too, especially summer fare. Be sure to read next week's post, I'm making something crazy and elaborate.

All these wonderfully colorful photos by Katy Weaver

Cactus Stir Fry and White Whiskey Margaritas

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about fresh Summer dishes? That’s right, Thai-Mexican fusion and white whiskey margaritas. Before you dismiss these soon-to-be summer classics, you should remind yourself that the blog you're reading once made carrot pie for a post. 

Sure we could have made separate posts for both the cocktail and the meal, but they played so nicely with each other we couldn't keep them apart. The stir fry and noodles are heavy enough to be filling, but still light enough for a summer dinner that doesn't strike an evening stroll around the neighborhood from the agenda. Meanwhile the margarita is so refreshing it could be drank like water, but as a medical novice I would advise you not to drink it like water, unless you want to reach a Snookie level of drunk.

White Whiskey Margarita

Yields 1 drink

• 1 1/2 limes juiced
• 1/2 shot Triple Sec
• 1 shot White Whiskey
• 1 cup Ice

For the rim:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• zest of 1 lime

1. Pour the lime juice, triple sec, whiskey into a pint glass. Add the ice to the glass. If you don’t have a shaker I recommend using a red Solo cup as a lid, and not just because it’s classy. This technique works so well I’m expecting my future offsprings to pass this down for many generations to come. Shake, don't stir.
2. Use the squeezed lime to rim the glass with the juice. On a small plate mix the zest and the sugar together with your fingers to infuse the grains of cane with the sent of lime. Dip the wet edged glass into the sugar mixture. 
3. Pour the contents of the drink into the sugar rimmed cup.
4. Drink and be surprised how refreshing this drink is on a sticky summer evening.

Cactus Stir Fry w/ Curry Rice Noodles

Yields 3 servings (4 if you’re not that hungry)

• 2 Cactus paddles julienned
• 2 large Chicken Breasts cut into strips
• 1 Green Bell Pepper julienned
• 1 Jalapeño sliced
• 1/2 Red Onion julienned
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic minced
• Bean Sprouts
• Olive Oil
• Black Sesame seeds (optional)

Chicken Marinade

• Splash of triple sec
• 1 Lime juiced and zested
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Garlic minced

1. Find a medium sized mixing bowl, a tupperware bowl or even an empty Cool-Whip container and add the chicken and the marinade. Make sure everything is well mixed in the container. Allow the chicken to absorb the flavors of the infused concoction while the rest of the meal is prepared.
2. Get your medium sized skillet to sauté the cactus. If you need a tutorial on cutting cactus, Pati's Mexican Table has a fine how-to. Pour 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil in the skillet and cook over medium heat. Do that thing with the skillet to flip them and add a pinch of salt. Cook until the gel oozing from the strips stops. Set aside and take off heat.
3. Saute the chicken and 1/4 of the onions over medium heat in a skillet until the chicken looks done, about 7 minutes or so. Take off heat. Find a saucier, put it over medium heat, add 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and all of your vegetables, except for the bean sprouts. Cook for 3 minutes then add the chicken and cactus. Stir and mix all the contents well. Drain any excess liquid and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. 

Curry Rice Noodles

• 1 can Coconut Milk opened
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Red Curry Paste
• 1/4 teaspoon Fish Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 4 oz. Thin Rice Noodles
• 1/4 cup Water

1. Add all the ingredients above except for the noodles in a sauce pan and heat over medium high until it reaches a boil. Add the noodels as best you can and cook in the sauce until they become soft and have all the characteristics of cooked noodles.
2. To plate the dish place the noodles in the bottom of a bowl or you can even use a plate with a nice bevel to it. Then top with the stir fried chicken, cactus and vegetables. If you're feeling fancy you can even add bean sprouts and black sesame seeds on top of the dish.

What are you waiting for? Go out to your local farmer's market and pick up anything that catches your eye, and make a stir fry out of it. Summer is for fun and adventurous, venture out into the world and see what it has to offer besides the status quo. Enjoy!

Once again Katy Weaver has outdone herself with these stunning photos.