Thai Basil Chicken

So, our cute little basil plant was producing more and more basil leaves and I had to cook up a recipe with it so the little guy's hard labor does not go to waste.  Basil in a chicken dish is something I have not done before but I thought why not.  I love chicken, Thai food, basil-y flavor, and spice.  This dish has a lot of spicy kick to it and it even made my nose runny from all the spicy-ness.  So, a little Kleenex at hand wouldn't hurt while enjoying this dish.  This was so friggin delicious.  The basil-y after taste of the chicken was such a subtle delight.  I would not add more basil than recommended as you don't want it to overpower the chicken.

This is a quick and easy dish that can be cooked up in thirty minutes or less.  :)  Yay for quick recipes!

The Recipe:
Thai Basil Chicken by Immaculate Bites

Changes I Made:

• I did not have crushed red pepper so I used chili powder instead which worked fine. 
• Before cooking the chicken I marinated it with a teaspoon of minced garlic and a few pinches of salt.  I marinated it in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.
• I added a little bit of green bell pepper because I just had some left over and it was a great addition  to the recipe.  I cooked it in with the onions. 
• I didn't have the traditional fish sauce so I used the Korean anchovy sauce, which was fishy enough.  It was awesome. 
• I used white sugar instead of brown.
• I used 2 extra Tbsp of soy sauce and sriracha sauce.  (1 tsp was absolutely not enough!)

Recommendation:

Definitely eat it with rice.  It's Thai! 

Fire Chicken with Cheese

Korean chili peppers,  Oh yeah~

The sauce!

Skinned chicken leg. (Gross!)

Hi, I'm marinating!

On my way to becoming yummy

Mozzarella-ed

Yes! 

Green onions for garnish

The final step: gobble!

Now that I have the stress of long-winded theological essays and exams behind me, let me re-start blogging at one of my favorite places of all time - spicy.  This recipe was born out of the love of chicken and sinus-clearing spicy-ness.  It's also the place where the ramen from the famous Korean Spicy Ramen Challenge came about.  (FYI:  Korean name for this recipe = Buldak; Korean name for the ramen = Buldak Ramen)  It is probably one of my favorite chicken recipes and it is way too easy to make considering how amazingly yummy it is. I made edits to the recipe based on other Korean food blogs. 

The Recipe:
Fire Chicken with Cheese by Maangchi

Changes I Made:

1. Instead of vegetable oil, I used sesame oil.  I will do this every time because sesame oil adds an extra flavor to the recipe which I absolutely want in this dish.
2. I also added about 2Tbsp of mirim (Japanese cooking wine).  From what I understand, this step helps to eliminate the unpleasant odor that can come from chicken.  In other words, it enhances the flavor of the chicken.  I believe you can add just regular cooking wine from the store if you don't have access to a Korean store.  Mirim is used a lot in Korean cooking, when cooking wine is required.
3. I also added about 2Tbsp of sriracha sauce.  One of the Korean food boggers said to add spicy sauce but did not specify which one so I thought...of course, sriracha!  Do this if you can handle the spice though.
4. Another awesome addition was green chilies (also suggested by other Korean cooking blogs).  I chopped them up (you can see it in the pix) and added them into the chicken mix before marinating it in the fridge.  I used the Korean chilies cuz I had access to them, but I think jalapenos would work fine.  Again, do this at your own risk.  This adds another layer of ear-popping spicyness.
5. I used regular white sugar instead of corn syrup. 
6. I used green onions for garnish.
7. I did not pan fry the rice cakes but I think this would be a great step!
8. I also marinated the chicken mix in the fridge after mixing in all the ingredients (except for the green onions and the mozzarella cheese) for at least 4-5 hours.  Seriously.  No one ever regretted marinating their meat before cooking.  You can even marinate overnight. 
9. I used pre-grated mozzarella cheese instead of mozzarella cubes.
10. Adding about a table spoon of sesame seeds to the mix will add more pizzazz to the recipe. 

Other Suggestions:

• You are so welcome to add onions and bell peppers to the mix.  I've also seen many Korean food bloggers add sesame leaves - which I think is just friggin awesome! 
• When I first made this, I bought bone-in chicken legs and labored for a good long time to cut out the meat.  I did like the flavor of the meat very much but just your good ol' boneless chicken breast will also work fine. 
• I ate it with rice (of course!) and coleslaw.  'Twas perfect! 

And...you're welcome for the recipe.  :P 

One-Pot Paprika Chicken Thighs

Here's a delish chicken recipe from the Reluctant Entertainer.  Definitely a recipe I'll go back to.  It's easy, full of veggies, and uses boneless & skinless chicken thighs.  I love easy deliciousness.  Minimalist effort with maximum success.  Everybody's happy.  

Ingredient Variants:

• Since I was not cooking for eight people like the recipe was, I used 1.8lb of chicken instead of 3lb.  So I had to do some loose math to get the right ratio for the other ingredients.
• I used a little less than 1/4 of white wine and a little over 3/4 of chicken broth.
• If you want a bit more sauce (which I do) I would put a little more broth than what the recipe calls for.  I ate this with rice and didn't feel like I had enough sauce for the rice.
• For the seasoning, as well as paprika (didn't use smoked), I added a bit of cumin and chili powder..probably about a teaspoon each.  I will definitely do this again for this recipe.    
• I used white button mushrooms.  They were perfect!  
• I did not want to spend $3 on fresh thyme leaves so I used dried thyme leaves and they were still fabulous.  

Process:

• This may be common sense but have the olive oil handy when cooking the vegetables. 
• I've never 'whisked' flour in wine before but now that I have, my advice is to whisk it right before dumping it in the pan to avoid clumping of the flour.  I prepped the flour and wine before I needed it and the flour sinks to the bottom.
• I think over-cooking it might dry out the chicken so I'd watch the clock.