Between my last post and this, we moved from Midland, Michigan, to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a new role in the same company. It has been a flurry of activities packing up in Midland, shipping first one of our two cars then boxing up our household belongings. In the transition week after we cleared out of our Midland home, we chose to accept the generosity of friends and bunked in with a couple of them instead of staying in hotels. Other than a couple of nights at my aunt's place, and a few nights at our friends Susan and Trevor's in Melbourne many years ago, we haven't really been house guests. It was fun, and a truly meaningful way to close off our Midland chapter.
We moved into our town home in Minneapolis two weeks ago, and started work from the office about a week and a half ago. While it was advantageous to move during the quieter holiday season, the challenge is that we won't really get into a routine until January rolls around. We've extended the limbo in-between period...but we really do need the time to unpack and plan our new living arrangements.
Our new home is in a trendy part of Minneapolis - just 10 minutes from the office, and 10 minutes from downtown. There are all the amenities one would need within walking distance, even on cold winter days. Even with the restaurants around us - I'm told there are 46 independent eating places in this area - I do miss cooking and have been making at least one meal a day.
Today, it was a modified Vietnamese grilled chicken recipe I found on Pinterest.
Ingredients - serves 2-3
6 pieces of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
1/2 cup of coriander leaves
1/4 cup of sliced green onions
Marinade
3 tbsps raw sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsps canola oil
Shaved rind of 2 limes
2 lemongrass - white parts, smashed and sliced
4 cloves of garlic - smashed and chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lime - not to add to marinade; see instructions below
Sauce
Leftover marinade - see instructions below
1 tsp corn starch
1 cup water
Directions
1. Clean, dry and remove all visible fats from chicken thighs.
2. In a large zip lock bag or bowl, add in all marinade ingredients except for the lime juice. Using lime juice in the marinade will change the texture of the chicken and we want to avoid that.
3. Mix it all up and let it marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours. If you're using a zip lock bag, get all the air out, make sure the bag is sealed, then start massaging the marinade into the chicken.
4. When you're ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 425F and prepare the coriander leaves and green onions.
5. Before you remove the chicken from the bag/bowl, squeeze in the juice of half a lime and mix well.
6. Remove the pieces of chicken from the bag/bowl and lay on a non-stick baking tray or grilled. Pop into the over and set the timer to 25 minutes.
7. While the chicken is being cooked in the oven, heat up a pan and empty the leftover marinade into it.
8. Give it a good stir and let it bubble a little. By this time, it should be save to taste it a little. It should be tangy and sweetish.
9. Mix the corn starch with water and add to the pan. The marinade should now thicken into a sauce. Add more water if you like it more runny but it should be a thick gravy like consistency.
10. When the chicken is done, you can serve with white rice or a plain fried bee hoon like what I've done above. Either way, the rice and bee hoon can be cooked while the chicken's in the over. Total cooking time should take you no more than 35mins or so.
We moved into our town home in Minneapolis two weeks ago, and started work from the office about a week and a half ago. While it was advantageous to move during the quieter holiday season, the challenge is that we won't really get into a routine until January rolls around. We've extended the limbo in-between period...but we really do need the time to unpack and plan our new living arrangements.
Our new home is in a trendy part of Minneapolis - just 10 minutes from the office, and 10 minutes from downtown. There are all the amenities one would need within walking distance, even on cold winter days. Even with the restaurants around us - I'm told there are 46 independent eating places in this area - I do miss cooking and have been making at least one meal a day.
Today, it was a modified Vietnamese grilled chicken recipe I found on Pinterest.
Ingredients - serves 2-3
6 pieces of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
1/2 cup of coriander leaves
1/4 cup of sliced green onions
Marinade
3 tbsps raw sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsps canola oil
Shaved rind of 2 limes
2 lemongrass - white parts, smashed and sliced
4 cloves of garlic - smashed and chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lime - not to add to marinade; see instructions below
Sauce
Leftover marinade - see instructions below
1 tsp corn starch
1 cup water
Directions
1. Clean, dry and remove all visible fats from chicken thighs.
2. In a large zip lock bag or bowl, add in all marinade ingredients except for the lime juice. Using lime juice in the marinade will change the texture of the chicken and we want to avoid that.
3. Mix it all up and let it marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours. If you're using a zip lock bag, get all the air out, make sure the bag is sealed, then start massaging the marinade into the chicken.
4. When you're ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 425F and prepare the coriander leaves and green onions.
5. Before you remove the chicken from the bag/bowl, squeeze in the juice of half a lime and mix well.
6. Remove the pieces of chicken from the bag/bowl and lay on a non-stick baking tray or grilled. Pop into the over and set the timer to 25 minutes.
7. While the chicken is being cooked in the oven, heat up a pan and empty the leftover marinade into it.
8. Give it a good stir and let it bubble a little. By this time, it should be save to taste it a little. It should be tangy and sweetish.
9. Mix the corn starch with water and add to the pan. The marinade should now thicken into a sauce. Add more water if you like it more runny but it should be a thick gravy like consistency.
10. When the chicken is done, you can serve with white rice or a plain fried bee hoon like what I've done above. Either way, the rice and bee hoon can be cooked while the chicken's in the over. Total cooking time should take you no more than 35mins or so.
Comments
Post a Comment