Memorial Day weekend. It was a dreary morning, it rained most of the afternoon. In the evening it was really steady to the point where there were some really big areas of standing water in the fields by morning. We had invited a friend over for dinner and after consulting the weather forecast, decided early that this was not going to be a grilling out weekend. Curt had found a new cookbook at the library, "Gather and Graze" by Stephanie Izard and was keen to try a few recipes from it. Stephanie Izard opened the restaurant The Girl and the Goat in Chicago in 2010. She has since opened another restaurant in Los Angeles. It has been considered a destination restaurant but it won't break your bank. She also owns a Chinese-American restaurant in Chicago called Duck Duck Goat which also looks like a fun place to eat.
So, what did Curt choose to cook from the book? There were a lot of interesting recipes but he settled on Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Thighs. Chicken thighs are his favorite part of the chicken and over the years I have come to agree with him. I almost exclusively ate chicken breasts but now I only use them when making chicken salad. Curt will turn boned breast into a chicken paillard, which I love. But, by themselves, they can be dry. Thighs stay pretty moist and take less time to cook. The recipe Curt chose was really quite easy but you have to prepare ahead because the thighs need to be marinated. The second recipe we went with was Goat-O Goat-O Salad. The name is a play on Malaysian gado gado, which literally means mix,mix. This is super easy because it is just a big platter of veggies. You can choose whatever you like but include peaches or some other soft fruit, maybe mango. The dressing is the key. It is Chef Izard's take on the Malaysian vinaigrette. The following are the two recipes with a few photos. We got so excited to dig in that I neglected to take pictures of the plating or the thighs in the serving plate. The thighs pictured here are the leftovers. Please note we did not have all of the ingredients from the original recipes so substitutions were made. Those are in blue.
YOGURT-MARINATED CHICKEN THIGHS w/Cilantro
serves 2 ( we had enough chicken for 4 and this was plenty of marinade)
Ingredients
2 packed cups of roughly chopped fresh cilantro (about 1 bunch)
(not sure if a parsley substitute will work but try it if you are not a fan of cilantro)
1 1/2 C of plain Greek yogurt (we used 2 cups)
1/3 C finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 C fish sauce
1 shallot-sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbls sambal oelek ( We did not have this so our substitute was 1 tsp of Frank's Hot Sauce and 1 tsp of ground chili paste w/ garlic )
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 lbs of skin-on boneless chicken thighs (ours were boneless and skinless)
2 Tbls canola oil
Directions
In a blender, puree the cilantro, yogurt, Parmesan, olive oil, fish sauce, shallot, garlic, sambal oleck, and lemon zest till smooth.Pour into a large bowl, add the chicken thighs and toss to coat. Let marinate overnight.
Next day when you are ready to cook, Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Heat the canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Without removing any of the marinade from the thighs, brown them for 2-3 minutes per side. Do this in batches to avoid crowding in the pan.
When all the chicken has been browned, transfer to a large baking dish and bake until cooked through, about 8 minutes. (Test for doneness with a thermometer, he baked ours for 15 minutes)
Serve the thighs whole or sliced.
GOAT-O GOAT-O SALAD
The Dressing
Ingredients
1/2 C roasted and salted peanuts
1 garlic clove
1 Thai chile (he used 1/4 of a Serrano, seeded)
1/4 C fish sauce
1/4 C tamarind paste (he used Worcestershire sauce and only 1 Tbls because he cut this recipe in half, otherwise this is the full recipe)
1/4 C malt vinegar
2 Tbls fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp dark brown sugar
1/2 C canola oil
Kosher salt
Directions
Combine all the dressing ingredients except the oil and salt in a blender and blend until almost smooth. Slowly drizzle in the oil while still blending. Season to taste with a pinch of salt.
Make the Salad
Use carrots, spring onions, cucumber, peaches, radishes, all sliced thin. Add cherry tomatoes (red or yellow), pea pods, depending on the time of the year, zucchini (thinly slice) or green beans, sugar snap peas (blanched). Be creative. Here is our choices.
Arrange all of these on a bed of lettuce, Sprinkle the whole salad with torn basil and mint leaves ( about 1/4 cup each). Add roughly chopped peanuts. Drizzle with dressing and bring to table. We also brought the extra dressing to table for those who wanted more.
Serve with the chicken thighs and some good crusty bread. I made some biscuits but they were an epic fail. More like hockey pucks.
I have to say that the chicken recipe is a definite keeper. They were great and our guest asked for the recipe. Also after the fact, we found out that it was our guest's birthday so we were thrilled that dinner was a success.
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