Chicken in Plum Sauce and Pad Thai Noodles

Cook some Thai food tonight! It’s easy, versatile, quick, and so dang tasty. You can throw in whatever veggies you have on hand—that’s exactly what I did and tweak the flavors to suit your style. I love cooking Asian food. Makes you feel like you're having take-out at home.

Chicken in Plum Sauce -

Normally, we cook this on the grill but since Mother Nature didn't cooperate, we cooked it in the oven and tasted incredible.

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 small onion coarsely chopped and 5 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped and cook until wilted. Add 1 tablespoons of coarsely chopped ginger, 1 Thai chile pepper coarsely chopped, 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice Powder and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 8 ounce jar of plum sauce, 1/4 cup of honey, 1/4 cup of soy sauce and juice from one lime. Cook until mixture has thickened. Place entire contents of sauce pan into a food processor and mix until smooth. Let cool.

Grill - Preheat grill Season 5 chicken thighs and 5 dumsticks, bone in, skin on with salt and pepper to taste. Grill, on 1 side for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn the chicken over, brush with the sauce and continue grilling for 3 to 4 minutes, turn over and brush with sauce. Continue grilling and brushing with the sauce until the chicken is cooked through.

Oven - Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season same quantity of chicken as in grilling method with salt and pepper. Place chicken in a 9 x 13 oven safe dish and cook for 30 minutes. Brush with plum sauce and cook for 15 minutes longer. Continue baking and brushing with sauce until chicken is cooked through.


Pad Thai Noodles -

Soak 8 ounces of the dried wide rice noodles in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain the noodles thoroughly in a colander and set aside.

Heat a wok or large high sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the skillet and scramble 2 eggs. Remove eggs from skillet and set aside. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of Hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons of tamari sauce or regular soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of water and set aside. Add 1 more tablespoon of vegetable oil to the skill and add one package of frozen stir fry vegetables. Cook vegetables for about 3 minutes, then add the softened rice noodles. Stir fry for about 4 minutes and a a drizzle (About 1 teaspoon) of sesame oil. Stir to combine. Add Hoisin sauce mixture and keep stirring to thoroughly combine. Add scrambled egg and 2 shallots, roughly chopped, give it a quick stir, squeeze a lime over the top and serve.

One more thing - have a great weekend!