Garlic Green Bean Chicken and Kaytee's Cilantro Rice Pilaf

picture from salad-in-a-jar.com

I always forget to take my own pictures! This one isn't really what mine looked like, but it gives you an idea. Now on to the goods! I LOVE the Garlic Green Bean Chicken dish at Marco Polo Global Restaurant. I've only been there twice and I've had this both times. It is SO good. I've been wanting to try and recreate it and I think this is pretty darn close. Since I've only made it once, this recipe is not quite an exact science. Times are estimates of how I think things went. So, here goes:

Ingredients
3 TBS less-sodium soy sauce
3 TBS honey
2 TBS unsalted butter
4 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion
1 large carrot, cut into 3 inch pieces and thinly sliced
1 ½ lbs green beans, trimmed
salt
4-5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken, thinly sliced, cooked (keep warm)
toasted sliced almonds

How to make it

Combine soy sauce, honey and 3 TBS water in a small dish and set near the stove. In a large pan, heat the butter with the olive oil over med-high heat. When the butter is melted, add carrots, onion and ½ tsp salt and toss with tongs to coat well. Cook about 3 or 4 minutes. Add green beans and toss to coat. Cook, turning the beans occasionally, until tender crisp (maybe 5 – 7 minutes). (The butter in the pan will have turned dark brown.) Reduce heat to low, add the garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 – 2 minutes . Add cooked chicken and the soy mixture (you’ll need to scrape the honey in the pan). Cook, stirring until the liquid reduces to a glazy consistency that coats the beans. Immediately transfer to a serving dish, scraping the pan with a spatula to get all the garlicky sauce. Top with toasted almonds. Let sit for a few minutes and serve warm over rice. (Don’t forget to spoon extra sauce on your plate!)

Kaytee's Cilantro Rice Pilaf (SO GOOD!!)

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 or 4 TBS onion, chopped
1 TBS grated ginger
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 TBS chopped cilantro

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. (Don’t peek.) Add cilantro, fluff with a fork, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Serves 5

Coconut-Ginger Chicken with Honey-Scallion Dipping Sauce

Long time no post, huh? I've been a little busy (and sleep deprived) to say the least. But I recently made these coconut ginger chicken skewers that were so good that I had to share. Enjoy!

I saw this recipe one day when I was watching The Chew on ABC. Aaron McCargo Jr. was on the show and did a little cooking demo and made these. They looked delicious so I decided to try them at home. SO GOOD! I'm not sure that I've ever really deep fried anything before but it was so worth it. These were delicious, crispy and the dipping sauce was a fantastic compliment to the flavors of the chicken. I left the canola oil I fried them in cool, poured it back in the bottle and can use it again another day when I make these again ... because I will make them again, they were that good. I also think this recipe would be delicious if you used shrimp instead of chicken as well.

Ingredients:
Chicken Skewers:
4 8-ounce boneless and skinless chicken breasts cut lengthwise into 4 strips
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 tbsp fresh ginger shredded
2 large eggs
3 quarts canola oil

Dipping Sauce:

1 cup sour cream drained
¼ cup honey
¼ cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make Honey-Scallion Dipping Sauce:
In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, honey, scallions, and cayenne. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to chill, or for up to 1 week. Stir before using.

To make Coconut-Ginger Chicken Skewers:

1. In a shallow bowl, soak 16 wooden skewers in cold water for about 20 minutes. Drain.

2. In a heavy, deep pot, heat the oil to 350 degrees over medium-high heat.

3. In a wide, shallow bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and pepper. In another bowl, mix together the panko, coconut, and ginger. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs.

4. Thread each skewer with a chicken breast, weaving the skewer in and out of the meat. Leave a “handle” at one end of the skewers.

5. Dip the chicken strips first in the flour mixture and then into the eggs, and then the bread crumb mixture. Grasping the handle ends of the skewers, carefully submerge the chicken in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 1½ to 3 minutes per side, frying only a few strips at a time.

6. Transfer to a large plate or baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain.

7. Continue frying the strips, letting the oil return to 350 between batches. Serve with the dipping sauce or ketchup, barbecue sauce and honey.

Yield: 4 servings