Serves two to three as a main.

2 large chicken breasts;

2 or 3 limes, sliced;

3 tablespoons vodka;

1 heaped tablespoon sugar;

Salt and pepper to taste;

1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped;

1 medium red onion, diced;

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

Trim the chicken breasts and cut each diagonally into four roughly even pieces. Score each two or three times. Mix in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper, parsley, and onion, and set aside to marinate.

Mix vodka and sugar in a bowl and add the slices of lime. Try to ensure the sugar is mixed through the slices and set aside to marinate for an hour or so.

After marinating the chicken and the limes, preheat the oven to 160°C. Heat a griddle pan over a medium-high heat and add a little oil. Remove the lime slices from the vodka and sugar mixture, reserving the latter. Cook the lime slices, turning part-way through so that they caramelise on both sides. Set aside.

Cook the pieces of chicken in the hot griddle pan for about 60 seconds each side, then place in an oven dish. Arrange the slices of lime on top of the chicken, then mix together the remaining marinade with the vodka and sugar mixture, and pour over the chicken and lime. Place the whole lot in the oven and bake for around twenty minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Works well served with rice.

Because we all need sugar-infused release sometimes… :

photo from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
yields 1 cocktail

10 fresh mint leaves
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges
2 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste
1 cup ice cubes
1 1/2 fluid ounces white rum
1/2 cup club soda

Prep
Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge into a sturdy glass. Use a muddler to crush the mint and lime to release the mint oils and lime juice. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and muddle again to release the lime juice. Do not strain the mixture. Fill the glass almost to the top with ice. Pour the rum over the ice, and fill the glass with carbonated water. Stir, taste, and add more sugar if desired. Garnish with the remaining lime wedge.

I really didn’t know what inspired this recipe. It could have been the crappy weather. It could have been the massive text message my mom sent me a few weeks ago fawning over my aunt’s chili recipe. It could have been my recent obsession with chilies and spices. Either way, I got such an intense craving for it that I almost made it when I got home from work a week and a half ago. I know it would’ve meant that I would’ve been eating at midnight but I didn’t care. I was dying for it. But I waited. And I’m so happy I did.

This chili is special. It’s hearty and comforting and filling and warm and sweet and spicy! Boy was it spicy- but not too much- just enough to clear up your sinuses and give it a little kick. I’m happy I made this last night because I got to enjoy cooking it. Dicing the onions, peppers and chilies, crushing the tomatoes with my hands, and layering the spices was a fun way to experience this dish. And even though it doesn’t take too long to cook, it would’ve been a lot to handle when I come home as a raving, starving lunatic after on one of my hectic work days.

This recipe is a star- don’t underestimate it. If you’ve been looking for a great chili recipe you might be able to stop your search here.

Turkey Chili- 3 servings

(adapted from Ina Garten’s Chicken Chili recipe)

3/4 lb ground turkey
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 yellow and 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 canned chili, roughly diced
1 can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
1 tbsp, chopped cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced
Salt and Pepper- to taste
1 tspn, cayenne pepper
1/2 tspn, red pepper flakes
1 tspn, chili powder
1-2 dashes, hot sauce
1/2 can red beans

1. In a small or medium pot heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onions and peppers and cook until softened, about 10 mins, stirring occasionally. After the onions and peppers have softened add the chopped chilies, beans, and minced garlic and cook for another minute.

2. At this point you can add your spices. All of my measurements are approximations because I went a little crazy. I also added a dash or two of hot sauce. I wanted my chili spicy!! If you want more spice, hot sauce might be a good option for you.

3. Add the crushed tomato’s and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and allow to cook uncovered for 30 minutes. At this point, if you’d like, you can add the chopped cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice. I suggest it strongly.

4. While the sauce is simmering start browning the ground turkey, making sure to break down the pieces so they are small. This chili is super versatile- you can add ground chicken, beef, roasted chicken or turkey (thanksgiving left-over chili??). Use whatever you have lying around and go crazy.

5. Add the browned chicken to the sauce and stir well. Allow to cook uncovered for another 20 minutes. This would be a good time to put the homemade tortilla strips in the oven.

6. When the chili is ready to be served, top with tortilla strips, a generous helping of shredded cheese, and a dallop of sour cream.

Why do CRMs so often fail to meet expectations? I’ve known many companies to launch CRMs with such excitement and hope, only to be bitterly disappointed within months of the launch. Recognizing the difficulty companies have with change management and with CRM implementation and ongoing use, salesforce.com tries to help its clients with this process by providing tools and a designated “Customer Success Manager.” Ultimately, though, a company can greatly increase the success and effectiveness of its CRM by following some basic guidelines and rules.

1) Clearly state the reasons why you want a CRM. Articulate what it is you hope to achieve with a CRM, and make this visible to the company, including the leadership team. One company I know clearly chose to implement one primarily as part of its window dressing in order to facilitate the company’s sale. Needless to say, this was not a recipe for success.

2) Have a firm understanding of the monetary investment. Per user cost may seem fairly inexpensive, but what are the implementation costs? Does the software require investment in training for an administrator? Is there additional development required down the road? Make sure you can pinpoint the upfront and long term dollars.

3) Create a road map for your launch. Decide how you want to roll it out – user training, who will own the solution moving forward (i.e., who manages it), how will you establish user adoption, how much time you’ll need to roll it out, etc.

4) Executive buy-in does not end with approval to purchase or implement the CRM. A company’s senior leadership must have visibility into the CRM AND they must support the sales manager’s ongoing attempts to embed this within the culture of the company. Dashboards offer an effective and efficient way for company leaders to view CRM activity. However, it must be more than this – employees must know and see the importance of the CRM to the leadership team.

5) Find the right person to be the CRM administrator. Ideally, the administrator has been trained on the technical aspects of the CRM, is detailed oriented, and also has a background in sales and marketing. Remember, CRMs should be living, breathing, and dynamic. The launch and initial data dump are only the beginning.

6) Don’t think the CRM takes the place of sales or managing your customers. Your CRM is another tool for your company and sales team to leverage; be careful not to over-rely on it.

7) Finally, ultimately someone within your company must “own” the CRM. Whether or not it’s you, somebody must think of it as his or her “baby.” They must care deeply about it – nurture it, help it evolve, put it in a position to be successful, and pay close attention to it – in an ongoing manner.

Statistically speaking, CRMs have about only a 15% success rate (according to the 2004 Global CRM Study from IBM Business Consulting Services). However, if you follow the above guidelines, your chances for success will increase dramatically.

I admit it. I love cocktails. I do. I like them limey and sweet. Tart and refreshing. Icey and strong. Please hold.

Sorry, I had to go make me one. I’ve tried a few different things in trying to recreate this drink. The first time I had it, I was on a business trip. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I was or the name of the restaurant where I had it. I do know it was a walking city, because I walked back to my hotel… not always in a straight line, but I tried.

It’s a delicious cocktail, it was a hit at one my recent girl’s in out evenings. It packs a heavy ginger punch, but if you enjoy ginger, you’ll love this one. You do need some prep time to make some ginger simple syrup ahead of time. I make a big batch of the syrup and keep it in the fridge.

For the ginger simple syrup: In a medium saucepan combine 3 cps sugar, 2 cps water, 2/3 cp peeled ginger, chopped. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until ginger is soft when pierced with a knife. Allow it to cool, then put it in the blender to puree the ginger. That’s it, put it in a resealable container.

Cocktail hour
Juice from 3 limes
2 oz ginger syrup
3 oz vodka
Diet ginger ale
Ice

Mix lime juice, syrup and vodka. Strain it into 2 tumblers with ice, pouring the cocktail up to 3/4 of the way. Top off with ginger ale, stir and enjoy!

This is a keeper, trust me!

Christmas is coming and one thing I love above all others at this time of year is Lemon Curd pies.

Until a couple of years ago I had relied shop bought (but good) lemon curd, but my sister and her other half had made some mincemeat. As I was board one Saturday and not wanting to be outdone  I turned to google and found a recipe on the BBC Food site. I have made it each year since and tried it with Limes too.

If you do try this the smell of lemon, lime or both will drift though you kitchen and home – it’s fantastic.

This is for four to six jam jars full.

Ingredients

• 4 lemons or 6 limes, rind and juice
• 4 eggs
• 110g/4oz butter
• 450g/1lb sugar

Method

1. Beat the eggs
2. Grate rind of lemons or limes and squeeze out juice.
3. Put sugar, rind and juice, butter and beaten eggs into a large basin on top of a pan of simmering water.
4. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick and curd coats the back of the spoon.
5. Pour into warm sterile jars, cover, seal and label.
6. Refrigerate.

This should keep for a couple of months, but in reality it wont last that long.

Once you have it you have several options -

• A cheese cake (similar to a Key Lime pie)
• A Lemon meringue pie
• Make a simple sweet short pastry, place some curd in and bake (my favourite)
• Spread on bread, toast, scones

Much as yesterday. Dug some more of the limed patch, planted out the remaining black currants. A double egg again today & also an egg of the type the Smallholder describes as pimpled. Tom R. says he saw a rat come out of our garden yesterday.

9 eggs.

This is just a delicious snack or you can eat it with pasta. It’s a twist on typical garlic bread involving a bit of lime zest and juice.

I’m a little obsessed with Panera’s sourdough bread. I need to have a loaf in my kitchen at all times. Most times I’ll just eat a slice with some butter, but when I want a change I make this. It takes a little time but it’s totally worth it.

Take one clove of garlic and mince it. For this piece I chopped it in slices, but I think I prefer this bread when I mince it. To really get all of the juices out of the garlic, sprinkle about half a teaspoon of salt on top of the minced garlic and using the side of your knife to turn it into a paste. Press down with the side of your knife and drag it across the garlic.

Zest a piece of lime if you have a zester. If not, you can use a knife to scrape off the green outer part of the lime and then chop the pieces of zest finely. If you opt for this method, try only to get the outer green layer and not the white. The white part is bitter; the green holds the oils that will give you the lime flavor.

Take some butter and fold the garlic paste and the zest. Add some pepper and a little salt (if you’re using unsalted butter or if you didn’t use salt as an abrasive to paste the garlic). Spread it on a slice of sourdough bread about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick.

Pop the bread into a toaster oven (if you don’t have one, use a broiler) and toast as you would a normal slice of bread. A vertical toaster will let all of the butter, garlic and lime zest fall off the bread and it’ll burn in the bottom of the toaster.

When it comes out of the toaster, give it a squirt of lime to add some of the acidity and enjoy!

Currently Cooking To:

Katie Todd – The Polite
Katie Todd – Face Down

This girl is impossible to find on the internet. There are very few blog posts about her so I’ve had a lot of trouble tracking down her songs. I save up my iTunes credits to buy her songs because I just cannot find them anywhere else. Anyway, Katie Todd is just fantastic. I found her via Pandora on my Rilo Kiley radio station. She’s on par with Ingrid Michaelson, Jenny Lewis, and Mirah. A little rock, a little indie, a little piano-playing singer/songwrite. I’m hoping that you enjoy these songs as much as I do and that this makes finding her music online a little bit easier. Enjoy!!

Got a surprise today, a gift from the project engineer, who had availed himself of a few free minutes before work to snag a fine rainbow trout.  He not only landed it, he gutted and chilled it as well.

I like a man who takes care of business.

Anyway, I’m not really this guy’s tight buddy, so the fact that he offered me his morning catch suggested that everybody else had already said “no.”

I said yes.  Hey, WTF, fresh trout??  I think I can live with it!!

And besides. I’d been eating in a much too pedestrian mode in recent days, and needed to class up my culinary act.  A little trout in the mix seemed unlikely to cheapen my neighborhood.

So I assembled a saute: trout, tomato, red onion and cilantro

…done up in olive oil and lime juice, with virtually no other spices, as I can’t find the pepper grinder here and haven’t the heart to take my own from home:

It came out really guuud!

Anyway, it’s been a while since I shared my dinner, which my Christian up-bringing taught me was right, so I’m atoning right here and now.

Bon appetite!

I found some really great leeks from Super 88 this weekend and they were really cheap. First thing you’ll want to do when you decide to cook them is wash them. Leeks grow in the sand, and the grains have a tendency to get caught inside the leeks. Wash them thoroughly and chop off the tops and bottoms of the leeks much as you would celery. Then slice them in half going down the length of the leeks.

Coat the leeks with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put your leeks on a grill or on a grill pan over medium heat. When they’ve developed grill marks on one side, flip them over and let them cook on the other side.

That’s about it. Throw those leeks on a plate with a cooked piece of salmon fillet over top of it. Squeeze some lemon over the whole thing and enjoy!

The other thing I did with the salmon was just a fruit plate. It was yummy, but there wasn’t really anything to tie the salmon to the fruit. The lime especially didn’t really add anything, but I definitely ate it when I was done with everything else. But it looked so pretty, didn’t it?

Currently Cooking To

Thurston Harris – Little Bitty Pretty One

It’s fun to dance around to. Sometimes I like to pretend I’m in that scene in Matilda when she makes pancakes. This song is especially fun when you cook with your roommates (especially if your roommates are musical theater people and like to harmonize!).

Enjoy!!

Fine, still, reasonably warm. Planted 6 lupins (paid 9d), said to be mixed colours. NB. that T[itley]. says that with lupins one should spread their roots out & not insert them too deep. Limed & began digging the final strip. This will need more doing than the rest as the ground is very sour & full of weeds. Cut down the remaining phloxes, tied up some of the chrysanthemums which had been blown over. Difficult to do much these afternoons now it is winter-time. The chrysanths now in full flowers, mostly dark reddy-brown, & a few ugly purple & white ones which I shan’t keep. Roses still attempting to flower, otherwise no flowers in the garden now. Michaelmas daisies are over & I have cut some of them down. The second lot of Brussels sprouts (planted as little plants 19.8.39) sprouting[1] up, also some of the savoys planted at the same time beginning to hearten up a little. All that lot are small kinds. None of my broccoli yet heading to any extent, though the plants have grown well. T. says oak leaves make the best mould, & then beech.

8 eggs. Sold 8 @ 2d each (a mistake – price miscalculated).

[1] Orwell wrote ‘sproutening’. Peter Davison

Rating:

Location:  204 Van Dyke St., Pier 41, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY

http://stevesauthentic.com/wpnew/

Cost: $15 for entire pie.  $5 for chocolate covered key lime pie on stick.

On a recently episode of Dexter, he is on a search for the best key lime pie for Camilla while she is on her death bed.  He asks his sister Deb where one can get the best key lime pie….her reply is ““You can’t.  They all taste like sour dog sh*t.”  While that maybe the case for Deb and many other people, me and some friends found a spot worth treking out to for a good piece of key lime pie in Brooklyn’ Red Hook.

Although you can get a slice of this stuff at a few restaurants in the city, the journey to Red Hook is part of the experience that makes the pie pretty tasty.  Considering the actual bakery is located in Red Hook you know that you’re getting some fresh stuff.  You can get a whole pie or get a key lime pie on a stick dipped in Chocolate.  I personally preferred the stick version since it offset the sourness of the pie a bit…and who doesn’t love anything chocolate dipped.  Overall, the crust is great and has a great consistency in the lime filling part.  I hear that the slices work great with whipped cream which I didn’t do.  I suggest anyone  planning a trip down to Brooklyn Ikea to stop by this joint.  Who knows maybe this pie will go well with the Swedish meatballs?

.:cL

Vi har alle ventet på mer mat, og endelig er vi tilbake med nettopp mer mat!

Denne gangen er ikke en hvilken som helst gang, vi kjører på med en spesialepisode med gjestegud. Som kjent er kvinnens plass på kjøkkenet, derfor passer det godt med et kvinnelig innslag, nemlig min bedre tre-fjerdedel. Velkommen til Mat med Gudrun!

Dagens måltid er en thailandsk kyllingsuppe, og vi starter med å kutte opp litt vårløk, hvitløk, ingefær og chili. Enkelt og greit.

Alt dette freses raskt. Like greit å gjøre det i kjelen du skal koke suppa i, så blir det mindre oppvask.

Kutt kyllingfiletene i terninger. Bruk gjerne sprittusj og marker øyne på hver side for syns skyld. (Dette gjøres ikke på bildet da vi ikke liker å ødelegge maten)

Press safta fra en halv lime over kyllingen og riv av skallet på nevnte limehalvdel. Dette gjøres ved å bruke et rivjern. Du vet den firkanta metalldingsen du bruker til å rive ost med. Nå får du endelig brukt en av de andre sidene også. Whoopi (No Goldberg)!

Anskaff deg ca 7 dl. vann og la det gå oppi kjelen hvor du allerede har de freste grønnsakene. Supplér det hele med en terning hønsebuljong.

Tilsett en boks kokosmjølk.

Og en “skje” soyasaus. Nå snakker vi eksotisk!

Kok opp og la det småkoke i 5 minutter. Tid til en powerfap kanskje?

Sleng oppi kyllingbitene og en pakke kyllingnudler med tilhørende krydderier.

Dryss på litt kroriander og la det koke til kyllingen er gjennomkokt.

Og simsalabim så er maten klar.

Fotografens vurdering: En fantastisk smaksopplevelse. Denne suppen vil rett og slett ikke slutte og ha sex med smaksløkene. Terningkast 6,2. Noe annet ville uansprett resultert i en hjemløs Gud.

Memory #146: Someone has made art involving conkers. They have collected one conker short of a million and each one is encased in a small glass cabinet and is named: It makes me feel like it is impossible to ever collect enough conkers.

Memory #147: There is also a display of old pictures of the clouds from down below. They look so innocent. Remembering looking up at them and also travelling through them makes me feel very …

Memory #148:

Memory #149:

Memory #150:

Memory #151: Vixen McGogh is only one artist still working at this end of the spaceship and she looks after the galleries too. Her medium is smells.

Memory #152: I think my brain may still be tangled from my journey but McGogh’s smell pieces are truly amazing. She shows me seemingly endless rooms, each of which features one of her works. She blends different smells together which combine to create a picture in your head. It is truly remarkable. The smells seem to hang in the air indefinitely.

Memory #153: My favourite piece of smell art is one which somehow manages to conjour up an image of a young farmer boy staring up into a vibrant blue sky and watching his red balloon drift off as though it is the only thing he has in the world. Do not ask me how it works for I do not know, I will just tell you that I think it is beautiful.

Memory #154: I go back to the crash site and sit with Rusty. It really is a remarkable collection of crashed buses. It seems like practically everything here is art. Three days after I arrive another bus comes hurtling down and mangles itself into the landscape.

Memory #155: I am glad I brought food with me as there seems to be nothing to eat here. Engine parts have never been my favourite.

Memory #156: It is a long walk back. Even though I know that there will be no traffic for three days I still prefer to walk on the pavement. There seems little point in having pavement on this road but then it also has hedges and street lamps.

Memory #157: The long walk has eroded the soles of my shoes away so that there are big gaping holes in them. They used to have a map of the world on them but that too has gone. It was always easy to see a picture of home with them around.

Memory #158: Now they are a constant reminder that home has gone.

Memory #159: I put them in the bin and consign them to an eternity floating around the space ocean. I will have to go barefoot from now on. This place could really do with a shoeshop.

Memory #160: Instead of a shoeshop a new restaurant has opened whilst I was away. It is called Cashew’s. I am not sure who owns it but it certainly has a lot of cashews.

Memory #161: The Edward Woodward clan are gathered around a table eating thirty-one different varieties of cashew nuts from thirty-one bowls in the middle of the table.

Memory #162: From the four hundred-strong menu the clan have chosen the following types of cashew nuts: garlic, honey, rosbif, capuccino, toothpaste, earth, beer, orange, richter scale, lime, pepper, fruit pastilles, cajun, seaweed, cajun seaweed, conker, paper, cumin, thyme, peanut, pineapple, hip-hop, ink, dew, tomato, cobweb, revenge, dystopia, onion, dandelion and chocolate.

Memory #163: Thirty one? Yes, there had been a new addition to the clan – Ebjarb Joobjarb, the bouncing baby son of Ebwarb Woobwarb, father, and Ejwarj Woojwarj, mother. I congratulated them and contemplated the stitched-together name.

Memory #164: I envisage generations and generations of oddly named children until the name Edward Woodward is completely lost, the years carrying it further and further away until it is all but burnt in a huge wicker effigy.

Memory #165: Back in the here and now they all seem to be enjoying their cashew nuts so I glance quickly at the menu which also includes: mango chutney, pesto, plastic, story, vanilla essence, sweat, asparagus, old rope and absinthe but, deciding I am not in the mood for cashew nuts I leave it for another day.

Memory #166: The opening of Cashew’s has affected the trade of the the space-ship-shop-shippitity-shop-ship-shop-open-non-stop (to give it its full name) and so I go there to show my support and buy some whisky and another toblerone. Chocolate, like cheese, just seems better in triangles.

Memory #167: It is nice to see out of the window into space again. The fish peer in at me as if we had a casual relationship like perhaps we meet at bus stops and since they had not seen me for a while they had wondered where I was. They had no idea where to start enquiring about me. Of course we do not know each other but we exist on the fringes of our respective memories.

Memory #168: I curl up on my rounded plastic seat and enjoy falling asleep in it. Soon though I slide off the seat again. I think it has been polished whilst I was away.

Memory #169: Now seems like as good a time as any to try out Cashew’s. My stomach seems to be revolting at just being fed endless toblerones.

Memory #170: The food at Cashew’s is quite expensive and so I must go to a cash machine on the way. I take my bank cassette out of its plastic case and insert it into the hole. The machine fluuurrps it in. The cassette is a modern space invention which stores information on miles of magnetic tape. This space age invention is not without its problems – the tape often becomes tangled and can completely confuse your important finance details.

Memory #171: Today it is happy to give me money and so I take some out and at Cashew’s I order the autumn leaves flavoured cashews for my stomach and a portion of chewing gum flavoured cashews for me.

Memory #172: I like to think whilst I eat. I think about floating in space. Have I always been floating in space? I can’t remember. I can’t remember not floating in space and I can’t remember getting on the spaceship. But then, I have a memory of a home. Once. A long long woolly way away. Away from where I am floating in space. I must have always been floating in space.

In a meeting last week one of the people I spoke with used the term “blocking and tackling” to describe the basic yet essential tasks and duties a sales person or sales manager does. At the same company the CEO spoke about the importance of being detail-oriented and understanding the business in depth. Whether you’re a salesperson or sales manager, do you and/or your team “block and tackle” well and know your territory inside and out?

Sometimes we get so caught up in the noise and busyness of our jobs, we lose sight of some basics. We run around, chasing our tails. As sales managers we put out fires, always dealing with the crisis du jour.  Soon we’re not planning properly, we’re not coaching, or we’re isolating ourselves from the sales team. Similarly, sales people can get pulled in too many directions, doing too much for certain customers (that may not deserve the extra attention), or neglecting other customers. For sales people and sales managers, it takes focus, discipline, and wisdom to manage your territory and not have your territory manage you, as the saying goes.

A good salesperson or sales manager is like an alert driver. The driver is moving his or her eyes regularly – checking for blind spots, looking ahead, glancing at the rear view mirror, adjusting the speed (accelerating or slowing down), repositioning the car, i.e., switching lanes, and stopping appropriately. Of course the driver sees where they’ve been and where they’re going. Likewise, a sales professional must balance the immediate needs of his or her sales responsibilities with the longer term requirements of the role. In other words, the salesperson has to keep the pipeline full constantly.

Salespeople know this, yet why do so many fail to maintain this balance? I think it goes back to “blocking and tackling.” The term “Don’t sweat the small stuff” grew quite popular in past years. However, the small stuff – blocking and tackling – enables a sales manager or sales person to reinforce positive behaviors. We develop good habits through the little things we do daily. Assuming we’re doing the right little things, the little stuff adds up to a daily program of successful actions. When we can handle the daily requirements of the job, we’re much better able to be strategic and deliberate because we’ve built a solid foundation.

Take a step back and determine whether you are working your plan effectively.  Get back to the basics. Find a way to accomplish the immediate requirements of your job while never losing sight of the importance and necessity of building for the future. Block and tackle well, and you’ll find success short term and in the long run.

The weather in St. Louis has been rainy and gloomy lately, and the only thing I want more then soup on these types of days is a nice big cup of hot tea.  So, I ventured out into the pouring rain and found myself at Mai Lee (8440 Delmar Blvd), the dodgiest Vietnamese restaurant around.  I was by myself, so I sat in the corner of the restaurant and listened to everyone’s conversations.  I ordered the spring rolls with no pork (shrimp only) and a #25 soup.  The soup had tofu, noodles, and lots of vegetables inside.  The spring rolls came out incredibly fast, and the dipping sauce on the side is a peanut sauce, with a thick consistency that is absolutely to die for.  The peanut sauce has small shavings of peanuts inside, and the spring rolls are loaded with rice noodles, shrimp, and lettuce.  The pairing of the rolls and the peanut sauce is a great appetizer to get your senses going…especially when you are in the mood for some Vietnamese. My #25 soup came out shortly after I had gobbled up my spring rolls, and it came in a large bowl with a side of lettuce, limes, jalapenos, and crunchy vegetables.  I loaded my soup with the crunch, the lettuce, a few squeezes of lime juice and I dove right in. The soup is fantastic! Lots of vegetables (carrots, mushrooms, baby corn and etc…), great flavor, and best of all- it was hot.  My rainy afternoon was made into a healthy and delicious one after my short trip to Mai Lee.  I love this place.

Ingredients

For the citrus chicken

• 4 chicken breast fillets
• 1 lemon, juice and zest only
• 1 lime, juice and zest only
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small bunch coriander, chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chilli new potatoes

• 1kg new potatoes
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp chilli paste, or 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 1 bag mixed green salad leaves, to serve

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Method

1. For the citrus chicken: lay the chicken fillets between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and use a rolling pin or meat mallet to flatten them out to about 5mm thick.

2. In a large, shallow dish, mix together the lemon and lime juice and zest, olive oil, coriander and salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Add the chicken fillets and coat thoroughly in the marinade then cover and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.

4. For the chilli new potatoes: parboil the potatoes in a large pan of boiling, salted water for 7-10 minutes. Drain well then cover with a clean, dry tea-towel to absorb any excess moisture. Set aside to cool slightly then cut into diagonal slices.

5. Melt the butter and oil together in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chilli and the potato slices and fry for 10 minutes, turning halfway, until crisp and golden-brown.

6. To cook the chicken, preheat a griddle pan over a high heat (you could also cook the chicken over the hot coals of a barbecue).

7. Place the chicken fillets on the griddle pan and cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until charred on the outside and cooked through.

8. Serve the citrus chicken with the chilli new potatoes and green salad alongside.

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Nice S13 from Slide factory check out the blog here.http://slide-factory.com/ . This is my favorite S13 right now.

I even like the interior. The front bumper looks nice too.

Sunday, November 8, 2009
Citrus Martini

My apologies, dear readers – somehow I literally forgot to post this one.  (Hmm, gee, Cathy, you don’t think that memory problems could be an issue with, oh, say, drinking two+ martinis a night?).  Well, I guess there are worse problems to have.  I mixed this up last Sunday evening, it was pretty tasty.  8 parts lemon-flavored vodka, 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier, 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice, lemon twist for garnish. 

A Mighty Fine Lemon Twist

I liked this one.  It sounds stupid but probably the reason I forgot to post it was because it wasn’t jarring, weird, distasteful, or otherwise.  It was just a nice cocktail for a Sunday evening to have after the kids went to bed.  4 stars.  Not a five star drink only because I wasn’t crazy about it, but a good one.  I think I tend to prefer citrus or lemon vodka in things that are either outright lemon-flavored (such as a Lemon Drop) or that have added sweetness (such as a Cosmo) vs. other citrus flavors. 

I do need to work on my lemon twist garnishes.  I tend to just cut a lemon slice in half and toss it in, I would never make it as a bartender in terms of garnishes unless  I can stick to whole things like olives, cocktail onions, and cherries. 

‘Til the next Happy Hour,
Cathy

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To continue with yesterday’s post…. I need to talk about the elusive Peach Cobbler. My obsession started earlier this year when I went down to FL with the BF for a family thing…. on a cruise…. where you can get two of anything!

Every night we had a prix fixe style dinner. That first night I had peach cobbler… I had two. I thought that they’d have it again later during the week. Alas! Noooo! They did not.

I came back to NYC with a craving for Peach Cobbler. I don’t need to tell you twice.. I haven’t eaten a peach cobbler since that cruise. #1: because I can’t find it. #2: it needs to be awesome and preferably a large enough portion for satisfaction to set in.

Right now, I have some ideas. And so the search goes on….. Here is a listing of some restaurants serving Peach Cobbler.

1. Walter Foods, 253 Grand Ave (Williamsburg) – (site) Just look at that picture…. oh, goodness.

2. The General Greene, 229 Dekalb Ave. (Williamsburg) – (website) A review of the peach cobbler can be found on Serious Eats NY.

3. The Pink Tea Cup, 42 Grove St. (btwn Bleeker & Bedford, 1 train to Christopher St.) – Serving Southern food. Reviewed at Cheap Ass Foods. Cheap? I think that’s exactly what I need if I’m gonna be eating it every week. Peach Cobbler is $3.25!

4. Mara’s Homemade, 432 E. 6th St. – Peach Cobbler is $7. All desserts btwn $6 – $10. Their whole dessert menu looks good…. Red Velvet cake! Key Lime Pie! Chocolate Souffle! Pecan Pie! I’m gonna have to check this out. They serve Southern and Creole.

5. The Shark Bar Restaurant, 307 Amsterdam Ave. (UWS) – Reviews look lackluster for the restaurant. I haven’t read anything about the desserts, though. Peach Cobbler $5.50.

6. Virgil’s Barbecue, 155 W. 44th St. (Midtown) – Another restaurant with holding a stellar looking dessert menu. Banana Pudding, Key Lime Pie, Peanut Butter Pie, Warm Chocolate Chess Pie, Rice Pudding, and of course, Peach Cobbler. I think the cobbler changes to whichever fruits are in season. All desserts are $6.95 and a dessert sampler is available for  $14.95.