Mango-Sriracha Margarita [The Veggie-Lover's Sriracha Cookbook]

I really wanted to try one of the two alcoholic Sriracha drinks in this cookbook, but both rely on fruit that is really hard to find out of season in my part of Canada (the other recipe is a watermelon and sriracha sangria). The good news is I had already scored some mango for the last recipe, so mango margaritas it is!

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 284g (10oz) frozen mango chunks (this is a standard size package, but the mango I had cut up and frozen also turned out to be pretty much exactly that weight)
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (it took about two medium oranges for me)
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 1/4 cup orange liqueur (Cointreau, Grand Marnier, and triple sec are all allowed by the cookbook)
• 1/4 cup sugar or 3 tbsp raw agave nectar
• 1/2 tbsp Sriracha
• juice of three limes
• ice cubes or cold water
• Kosher or margarita salt for rimming (I had to make a necessary substitution here, I realized I only had sea salt and it was late - so I ground it to margarita salt consistency in a mortar)
• fresh mint leaves for garnish

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Combine the mango, orange juice, tequila, orange liqueur, sugar, Sriracha, and juice from two of the limes in a blender until smooth.

I know it's twee but I heart my silly ice cube trays.

2. Add ice cubes or cold water (for thicker or thinner consistency) until the volume is 4 cups. It really helps if your blender has volume marked on it. Blend until smooth.

3. Put the juice of the remaining lime and the salt in seperate shallow dishes. Wet the lip of your glasses in the lime juice then rim it in the salt. Pour the drink into the glasses and garnish with mint.

The Outcome:

The first few sips seemed a bit off - I guess I was expecting it to be sweeter, but the Sriracha gives it a slightly earthy taste. A few sips in the flavour started to grow on me - it's lightly spicy, just enough for a mild tingle, and the flavours of citrus, mango, Sriracha, and tequila all come together really nicely. It's a very summery and fun drink, so it feels odd to be drinking it in the middle of winter - I should put a picture of a beach as my desktop while I drink this.

Sriracha-Mango Guacamole [The Veggie-Lover's Sriracha Cookbook]

The major downside of produce-heavy recipes like the ones in the Veggie-Lover's Sriracha cookbook is the simple fact that getting fresh produce sucks in Canada. It's going to be out of stock, half-ripe, cost more than an entire meal at Tim Horton's, or look like it was kicked all the way from California to Canada. However, I love mangoes, and even if they're a bit out of season in Canada, when I saw this recipe I really needed to try it. It's guac, it's spicy, and it has mango in it - though there is the weakness that there's just no way to find big soft juicy mangoes in this part of the world right now.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 large, ripe, Hass avocados (the varietal with the darker skin - the good news is that's the only kind we get here)
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 large mango, diced (I feel a bit let down by this mango - I went to three grocery stores before I even found any mangoes, and this was the "ripest" - it's dry as a bone but it is technically a mango)
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro plus more as garnish
• 1/4 cup Sriracha
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt and fresh ground pepper

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Halve and pit the avocados, scooping the flesh into a bowl. Top with lime juice and mash the avocados with a fork until "relatively smooth". The lime juice should also keep it from browning, however, as we see later, this concern is rendered moot.

Dry as a bone.

2. Add most of the mango, leaving a few pieces for garnish, plus the onion, cilantro, Sriracha, garlic, and cumin. Mix it well and season. You'll now see why browning isn't a big concern, as the red Sriracha turns the green avocados into a colour I can only describe as "cat barf".

3. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the surface of the guacamole, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Garnish with reserved mango and cilantro.

Outcome:

I'm sorry I put the image of cat barf into your minds. It's actually very tasty. The guac, not cat barf.

I really wish I had waited to try this recipe when mangoes were in season. Colour aside, it's really tasty - it's a good solid guac with a nice spicy kick. The mango taste is very subtle and gets a bit overwhelmed by the spice, but I think this is more due to my shitty dry mango than the recipe. But once you get over the colour, it's really tasty and pretty easy to make.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad [Quick From Scratch Chicken, Turkey & Cornish Hens]

What caught my eye with Quick From Scratch's Vietnamese Chicken Salad was the combination of fresh cilantro and mint, plus the inclusion of some reasonably authentic flavours. This is still a westernized recipe (I mean, it's from the 90s), but I think it turned out pretty well.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 - I got a value pack and stashed the extras in the freezer)
• 1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
• 4 scallions, including green tops, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 lbs green cabbage, shredded (I got lucky at the grocery store, there was only one half-head of cabbage and it weighed that amount exactly)
• 3 carrots, grated
• 6 tbsp chopped fresh mint and/or cilantro (the cookbook says you can use one or the other if necessary, but they work great together)
• 1/4 cup lime juice (2 limes worth)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or fish sauce (I went with soy sauce since it was on hand)
• 4 tsp sugar (that's a lot of sugar)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (that's not a lot of pepper flakes)
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Cut each breast into five diagonal pieces. In a saucepan, bring the broth, 1/4 of the scallions, and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer, add chicken, stir and cover. The recipe says to cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, but I found a medium heat was needed to make sure the chicken cooked. Turn the heat off and let the chicken steam for 5 minutes. I think this step is also to let it cool down for shredding, but it's still scalding hot when it comes out of the pan. Remove the chicken and shred it.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, rest of the scallions, chicken, and 4 tbsp of the mint and cilantro.

3. In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, pepper flakes, and 1/4 tsp salt. Toss dressing in with salad. Top with the remaining herbs and the peanuts.

The Outcome:

This is pretty good! The flavours come together pretty well, though I think the lime juice comes through a bit sharp, though I have a feeling it will probably gel better after sitting in the fridge for a bit. While it's not a truly authentic Vietnamese recipe, it does have a lot of Vietnamese flavours, especially with the lime, soy sauce, cilantro, and peanuts. The mint adds some interesting depth, and it's generally a pretty healthy salad too. I could see myself making this again, especially for a potluck.

Of course, as always, it could use more chili.

1/4 tsp for the entire salad. Really.

Cornish Hens with Scallion Butter and Lime [Quick From Scratch Chicken, Turkey & Cornish Hens]

The question about this recipe is: did I fuck up or did the cookbook fuck up? The answer is kinda both, but while this second kitchen-tested recipe from the Quick From Scratch Chicken, Turkey & Cornish Hens cookbook wasn't a smashing success, it wasn't a complete disaster either.

The first problem I had was just getting cornish hens - I made the mistake of looking for them the day after (Canadian) Thanksgiving. Three grocery stores were plum out and the local butcher was closed. I managed to wrangle a pair of birds today, and reasonably successfully defrosted them with cold water. The combination of cumin, oregano, and lime really spoke to me in this recipe - they call it a "typical Mexican combination" in the cookbook, though I don't know if this is strictly a Mexican recipe.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp butter, room temperature (that's a lot of butter.)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Fresh-ground black pepper
• 2 cornish hens, 1 1/4 lbs approx each, halved
• 1 scallion (green onion) including green top, chopped
• lime wedges

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Heat the oven to 450 F. Combine 2 tbsp of the butter with the oregano, cumin, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. As in the Russian-Style Chicken Cutlets recipe, I would have preferred softened butter - maybe what counts as "room temperature" for a Canadian who keeps her house cold is a lot colder than this American cookbook thinks.

2. Rub the mixture on the skin of the hens and arrange them skin side up on a baking sheet. This is where two problems became apparent. The first was that the room temperature butter was so thick it sat like lumps on top of the hens and was impossible to rub over them. The second was my own problem - I just moved into a new place and it seems the baking sheets are too big for my new oven. I switched to a pyrex dish, which meant the hens had to sit more like they were whole and upright instead of spread out.

This is after the attempts at rubbing in.

3. The cookbook says to roast them in the upper third of the oven for 20 minutes, but even if they were spread out, that seems way too short. With them folded back together it took more like 45 minutes. I'd go for using a meat thermometer to test for doneness above what the cookbook says.

Even more butter

4. Combine 2 tbsp butter with the scallion, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper. Top the roasted hens with the butter and serve with lime.

The Outcome:

I don't know, I had to edit and substitute enough on this recipe that it's hard to nail it down. The combination of the cumin, lime, scallion, and oregano is really tasty - but you do need to baste the hens after the butter has melted or else you'll end up with dobs of concentrated spice. It's the second butter-heavy recipe from this cookbook, and while that much butter is delicious, I'm just two recipes in and already feeling greasy. I think the final verdict is that it was tasty, but it didn't justify the effort and hassle that went into it.