Hot Sweet Shrimp with Coconut Rice

Even food bloggers get stuck in a rut. For all the recipe development, blog reading and pinning I do, you would think we'd always be eating something different. Truth is, just like you, I find myself reverting back to the same things over and over. Sometimes its a celebration of things you love and sometimes you just need to break free.

Read the rest of this post with Queen's "I Want to Break Free" playing. Sidenote -- Never realized how drag fabulous this music video is. Amazing. 

Yes, it is the season of tomatoes, corn and BBQ, but there are so many other refreshing dishes to consider. "I want to break free." The clean herb flavors and bright citrus notes of many Asian dishes always attract me when it's warm, so I decided to put together this rice dish, punctuated with sweet, creamy coconut. "God knows I want to break free."

Paired with fresh-grilled hot and spicy shrimp and perfectly charred red pepper and pineapple; this rice is sure to break you out of your summer salad rut. "I've fallen in love. I've fallen in love for this first time."

With so many ingredients available at groceries stores and bevy of cultures to inspire us, why would we ever eat the same thing over and over? "I've GOT to break free."

  

Hot Sweet Shrimp with Coconut Rice
2 cups brown basmati rice, thoroughly rinsed
3 cups water
1 cup coconut cream (or coconut milk if you'd like to go lighter)
3 inches ginger, peeled; slice 2 quarter-inch pieces and mince the rest
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup basil, chopped
2 shallots, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup toasted almonds, toasted
4 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons sriracha
1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1/2 pineapple, cut into 2-inch chunks
2 red peppers, cut into 2-inch chunks
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Combine rice, water, coconut cream and ginger slices in a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until all liquids absorb, about 35-45 minutes. Remove ginger slices. Allow to cool slightly.

While rice is cooking, heat grill over medium heat. Skewer shrimp, pineapple and red pepper; keeping each separate of one another. Combine honey, sriracha and 2 tablespoons soy sauce in a small bowl; set aside. Wipe down grill with vegetable oil. Grill shrimp for 2 minutes per side. Pineapple and red peppers will take about 4 minutes per side. When each skewer is just about finished, brush with sriracha sauce on each side. Allow shrimp to rest for 5 minutes before removing from skewer.

Toss rice with minced ginger, cilantro, basil, shallots, green onions, almonds, remaining soy sauce and lime juice. Serve shrimp, pineapple and red peppers over coconut rice. Top with sesame seeds and enjoy!

Sriracha Soy Chicken Wings

Perhaps you partook in a black tie New Year's Eve filled with Gatsby-esque glamour, elbow-length silk gloves and flowing fountains of sparkling Champagne. I can see the dripping diamonds now. But back to reality, the rest of us usually aren't usually so glamorous. This year we enjoyed a house party with friends and notably a lot of young male guests. So what did I bring? 

First rule of marketing... know your audience. Upon seeing the guest list, I knew Chicken Salad Skewers or Earl Grey Panna Cotta probably wouldn't go over so well. So what to make for a group of rowdy 20-something dudes? Chicken wings...natch! Buffalo chicken wings though, soooo junior year of college. We've matured alright... we've discovered new forms of hot sauce splendor. Sriracha was the perfect way to ring in 2013.

So I know a lot of restaurants now offer "boneless chicken wings," but those are NOT chicken wings. They're chicken fingers with buffalo sauce. Some grocery store brands even go so far as to call them "wingz."  There's a reason they can't call it what it is... walk away. Reject incorrectly spelled foods. 

Man up alright, pull the meet from the bone in a bold act of mastication!!

There is a bit of break-down required when you buy raw chicken wings. A sharp knife will help you easily dissect the two wing pieces and tip. Just cut along the joint and you'll be done in no time.

 
Sriracha, soy, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic and lime give this killer Asian flavor. That said, it's still familiar enough to be wing-y and acceptable to the discerning palette of a Bro.

You'll just prepare one sauce mixture, using the most for a marinade and reserving a bit to sauce the wings. 

Ummm... you might also get a little tipsy on gin and Champagne at a party and forget to get more than one photo angle on your prepared wings, not to mention fail to notice a party popper wrapper on the plate. It was 2:00 am by this time, okay? Whoopsypoodle... hope you guys will still love me.

Sriracha Soy Chicken Wings
5 lbs chicken wings
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
5 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 4 limes
1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons sriracha
3 tablespoons honey

If not purchased prepared, break down chicken wings by separating the two sections and wing tip, using a sharp knife to slice at the joint. Discard the wing tips.

In a large bowl, combine ginger, garlic, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha and honey. Reserve 1/2 cup of sauce. Pour remaining sauce over chicken wings in a large freezer bag, ensuring wings are completely coated. Refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken wings on a foil-lined cookie sheet, in a single layer. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Remove wings from oven and rotate on sheet and brush on remaining sauce. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until sauce thickens on wings.

Serve hot. I suggest avocado crema as a dipping sauce.

Ginger Beer Can Chicken with Chinese 5-Spice

I like to consider myself a woman of class. City sophisticated... I can pull that off right? A pair of heels and a cosmo, whilst throwing my head back in laughter at the city's trendiest hot spot. 

"Oh Charlotte and Miranda... Samantha made a sexy pun... how off-color." 

That was not my night tonight. Instead I hauled ass down three flights of stairs in my flip flops to unceremoniously shove a can of beer up the rear end of a chicken. And it was delicious. 

Now this is no frat house, so I did fancy it up a bit. Ginger beer, Chinese 5-spice, sesame oil and sriracha gave this flavorful flare.

Lovely spices included Chinese 5-spice, garlic, mustard, sesame seeds, coriander and sriracha salt. 

Once you've rinsed and dried the chicken, you'll need to get her good and sticky before the rub down (that sounds rather fratty doesn't it?). This is a combination of grapeseed oil, sesame oil and sriracha.

Spice 'er up with the dry rub. Don't forget her insides. Oooh baby.

Pick your favorite tall boy beer. Get 'er right in there. Instead of just beer, I've put together a mix of beer  and ginger beer. Whatever you choose, just make sure it has flavor. The can allows for 360-degree cooking, while providing moisture and flavor.

Before you know it you'll go from this... to this.

 Spices provide color and crust.

Some may think this is an inelegant preparation, but the gorgeous color, juicy meat and crispy skin are tough to argue with. No sequins or pumps required.

Ginger Beer Can Chicken with Chinese 5-Spice
1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 lbs
1 tall boy beer (drink half first)
1 ginger beer (drink half of that too)

For dry rub
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon Chinese 5-spice powder
1 teaspoon dried garlic
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon sriracha salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For sauce
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sriracha

Rinse chicken with cold water inside and out. Pat down and completely dry chicken. Combine sauce ingredients and brush all over chicken, including insides. Combine dry rub ingredients and season outside and inside of chicken. 

Combine ginger beer and beer in can, but be sure it is only 3/4 full. Hold chicken upright and place the cavity over beer can. If you prepare this regularly, it's helpful to buy a can holding contraption (ours was a gift), but the can will work just fine. Transfer the chicken to the grill, being careful to keep the can upright. 

Grill over indirect medium heat until the juices run clear, about 90 minutes. Use great care removing chicken from grill, since the can will be full of VERY hot liquid. Large tongs are particularly helpful, but it's much easier with two people. 

Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before lifting it from the can. Discard the beer and carve chicken. 

Sriracha Soy Salmon

The red rooster called me. The world is solved with sriracha. 

It's the end of the week and I'm running low on fresh foods in the fridge. Praise for freezers full of wholesome, quick goodness.

Threw the salmon in a quick teriyaki marinade while I walked the dog. Stir fry veg and brown rice called me from the freezer.

When it comes to frozen foods, I prefer to keep things simple, steering clear of things with prepared sauces. Straight up frozen veg...nothing else. 


I said to self, "I want this to taste like yummy asian stuff," so these are my go-tos for sauce. Flavor packed sesame oil, a touch of soy and rice wine vinegar. 

Stir fry in a bit of neutral oil and make a it saucy at the end. We all like it saucy, right? 

Killer secret ingredient...sriracha salt. Combine sea salt with a few tablespoons of the red rooster and let it dry out for a day or two. I made it as Christmas gift  for my sriracha-addicted brother and kept some for myself. Subtle and spicy. Can't even talk about how good it is on edamame...can't even articulate it.

Salmon came out of the broiler with looking crusty and delectable. Teriyaki caramelized bliss.

 Big surprise, I finished with the good stuff. Where would I be without you red rooster?