Eye for a Recipe

This is another great recipe from Ruth Reichl’s My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life. Marinate shrimp in a mixture of lime juice and Sriracha, sauté aromatics, add asparagus and when it is tender add the shrimp and marinade and quickly stir fry. A quick and tasty weeknight supper!

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Look for shrimp with no additives and use fresh lime juice. I use Simply Natural Organic Sriracha, which is all-natural.

Marinate shrimp in lime juice and Sriracha

Sauté aromatics and then add asparagus

Add shrimp and marinade and quickly stir fry

Sriracha Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 lb (454 g) shrimp, shelled and deveined

3-4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) lime juice – squeeze 1 lime

3-4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) Sriracha

4 tablespoons (60 ml) olive oil

1 (small) onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon (15 ml) ginger, chopped

1 lb (454 g) asparagus, peel stems and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces, discarding thick, hard ends of the stalks

Cooked rice

Preparation:

Marinate shrimp in the lime juice and the Sriracha for 15-30 minutes.

Heat oil in large frying pan. Sauté onion, garlic, ginger until soft and beginning to brown – about 5 minutes. Add asparagus. Cook for about 5 minutes until it begins to brown. Cover pan and turn off heat until asparagus softens. This step might not be necessary if the asparagus is very thin. When you are ready to eat, turn up heat and add shrimp with the marinade. Cook until shrimp is barely done, about 3-4 minutes. It is crucial to almost undercook the shrimp, so that the shrimp doesn’t get tough.

Divide rice into bowls or plates. Spoon shrimp and asparagus mixture over the rice. Serve with extra Sriracha and lime wedges. Serves 5.

From My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life

This is a great recipe from Ruth Reichl’s terrific book My Kitchen Year. You can quarter a whole chicken or use chicken pieces. This takes some preparation – for a same-day dinner, make the oil early in the day and marinate the chicken in the early afternoon. Or, even better, do it all the day before.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Make sure the paprika does not contain colour or anti-caking ingredients.

Make the chili oil

Place strained chili oil and lemon slices in bag with chicken and marinate for at least four hours

Remove chicken from marinade, pat dry and sprinkle with pepper before browning and baking

Chicken Diavolo

Ingredients:

1 chicken, quartered

2 large jalapeno chiles

2 serrano chiles

2 lemons

¾ cup (180 ml) plus 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil

2 tbsp (30 ml) hot paprika

Salt

Pepper

Preparation:

Make chile oil by chopping the jalapeno and serrano chiles, and putting them in a small saucepan with ¾ cup (180 ml) of olive oil.  Add the hot paprika.  Grind a fair amount of black pepper into the pot and steep over medium heat for about 15 minutes.  Let it sit overnight (or all day).  If you prefer not to make the oil, you can simply buy a bottle of chile oil.

Put a strainer over a large bowl and strain the chile oil. Slice a couple of lemons and add them to the bowl. Season with salt.

Place chicken in resealable bag and pour in the oil and lemon mixture. Move chicken around to make sure all pieces are coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (and up to a day).

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F (260 C). When the oven is ready, heat a cast iron skillet until it’s quite hot and smoking.  Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the chile oil and pat it dry.  Sprinkle it with salt and shower it with freshly ground pepper; you need a lot. Slick the bottom of the pan with olive oil and put the chicken, skin side down, in the hot skillet. Cook until the skin is crisp and golden, which should take 5-10 minutes.  Turn the chicken over so it’s skin-side up.

Put the skillet in the preheated oven and roast about 30 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 170 degrees F (76 C) in the thickest part of the thigh.

Sprinkle with lemon juice, grind more pepper over the chicken and allow to rest 10 minutes before serving. Serves 4.

From My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl

My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life is Ruth Reichl’s memoir about the year after her beloved Gourmet magazine abruptly ceased publication. Set mostly in her country house, Reichl mourns her loss, ponders her future — and cooks. In the book, Reichl makes these Americanized Thai noodles during the winter, but they are delicious at any time of year.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Look for a brand of fish sauce without MSG and shrimp without preservatives added. I used Tabasco sauce instead of sriracha.

Cook shrimp until they change colour

Stir fry scallions with ground pork

Add soaked rice noodles

Scramble egg

Add sauce and combine

Thai American Noodles

Ingredients:

½ pound (250 g) very thin rice noodles, preferably Thai rice sticks

¼ cup (60 ml) sugar

¼ cup (60 ml) fish sauce

¼ cup (60 ml) white vinegar (or unseasoned rice vinegar)

2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut oil

½ pound (250 g) medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ pound (250 g) ground pork

4 scallions, white and tender green parts, sliced into ½ -inch (1.27 cm) lengths

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon (5 ml) crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

2 limes (juice only)

½ cup (125 ml) salted peanuts, finely chopped

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges, for garnish

Sriracha Chili sauce

Preparation:

In a large bowl, soak the noodles in hot water to cover for about 20 minutes or until soft, then drain and set aside.

Combine the sugar, fish sauce and vinegar. Set aside.

In a wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it is very hot. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, just until they change color, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

Add the garlic to the wok, and as soon as it starts to color and get fragrant, about 30 seconds, add the pork and half of the scallions. Cook just until the pork loses its redness, 2 to 3 minutes, then add drained noodles and mix quickly. Add the fish sauce mixture, reduce the heat to medium and cook 5 to 8 minutes or until the noodles have absorbed all the liquid.

Clear an area of the wok and crack 1 egg into it, breaking the yolk. Tilt the wok to get as thin a sheet of egg as possible and scramble just until set, about 1 minute. Then mix the egg into the noodles. Repeat with the remaining egg. Add the shrimp, remaining scallions and red pepper flakes and mix thoroughly. Add the lime juice and cook, stirring for 1 minute.

Transfer the noodles to a platter and top with a sprinkling of peanuts. Serve with lime wedges, the remaining peanuts and lots of Sriracha. Serves 3.

From My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl