If you’ve ever enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner, chances are you’re fond of the idea of sitting around a table with a big bird and your family. Food marketers capitalize on this idea constantly with images of families sitting in the comfort of a franchise booth, happily chatting and eating their sauce-slathered chicken with no fewer than two starchy sides and a soda. Swiss Chalet now has a commercial on the TV where the family is thankful that their picnic got rained out so they could eat there instead. I think it’s safe to say that we’re fond of chicken dinners if we prefer them to having a picnic with our family! So I guess the real question is, why should you learn to cook a chicken dinner when you can just go to Swiss Chalet?

What’s the Deal with Those Rotisserie Chickens?…

• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3 cups rolled oats (do NOT use instant oats)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, toast the coconut until it is fragrant and lightly browned. Keep on eye on this and stir frequently because it will quickly go from brown to burnt. Put the coconut in a large mixing bowl and toast the oats until warmed. Combine the coconut, oats, brown sugar, honey, oil, cinnamon and salt and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake the granola until your house smells like a comforting bed and breakfast, about 20-25 minutes. Allow granola to cool, then break apart into chunks and store in an air tight container. Add additional ingredients if desired, such as toasted nuts or seeds or dried fruits, after the baking process to prevent burning.

As with many food lovers, I’m sure, my first experience with food was baking with my grandma. Baba and I would make bread and buns, where I would furiously pound down the dough with my little fists, cookies and, on occasion, we would even make doughnuts. I remember that we even made playdough on the stove top, which always kind of sucked, but was fun anyway. After all that childhood experience, you’d think I’d be endowed with superior baking skills.

As it turns out though, I’m not much of a baker. The recipients of some of my baked good may beg to differ, but baking and I don’t particularly get along. As much as I love the idea of the science involved in it, that there may in fact be a perfect harmony of ingredients and temperature that will yield the best baked good, that even altitude plays a role; I simply don’t have the patience for it. I can’t be bothered to measure things exactly. I don’t have a food scale. Actually, that’s a lie, we just only use it to weigh Harrison. I have difficulty following a recipe step by step. I don’t like that you can’t lick a finger of raw batter to determine whether the result is going to turn out right. Well, most of the time, anyway. Which is why I often delegate these types of duties to Shannon, who will meticulously follow a recipe to its every detail and yield predictable results every time, where I would be batting .500 (which is great for baseball but horrible for food).

This is why I love baking muffins.

Muffins…

1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk
1 cup corn kernels
4 scallions, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ounces mild cheese, grated
salt

1. Combine flour, baking powder, paprika, oregano, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and milk and gradually incorporate into the dry ingredients, making sure the batter is free of lumps.
3. Fold corn, scallions and red pepper flakes into the batter and refrigerate for a couple of minutes.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil and drop about 2 tablespoons of the batter into the pan. Repeat 3 or 4 more times, leaving space between each fritter.
5. When the underside begins to brown and the top has set, flip the fritter and continue to fry the other side. Transfer to a warmed plate and top with cheese when finished cooking.
6. Repeat with additional batter and cheese, adding more oil as necessary.

Makes 4 servings

1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon red curry paste
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 pound pork tenderloin, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
8 rice paper wrappers
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded
water

1. Combine garlic, curry paste, water, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until
2. gar dissolves, then set aside to cool. Marinate pork overnight in the prepared sauce once cooled.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pork until cooked through.
4. Soak rice paper wrappers until soft. Roll up with a portion of the pork and shredded carrots. Serve with your favorite
5. pping sauce.

Makes 4 servings

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon ginger puree
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon sugar
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
8 ounces rice stick noodles
1 cup Napa cabbage or bok choy, shredded
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

1. Whisk together vinegar, tahini, soy sauce, oils, ginger, garlic, cayenne, sugar, scallion and red chili flakes and set
2. ide.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water to prevent
4. rther cooking.
5. Combine noodles, cabbage and carrots and toss with prepared dressing. Refrigerate before serving.

Makes 6 servings

1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced
5 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chilies, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoons fish sauce

8 ounces vermicelli noodles
1/2 cup iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 small carrots, peeled and julienned
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds

1. Combine garlic, soy sauce, sugar, oil and water and marinade flank steak.
2. Bring vinegar, water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the garlic, chilies and fish sauce. Set aside.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the noodles, cooking until tender. Drain and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet or wok and add the marinated beef. Fry until no longer pink.
5. Serve noodles topped with iceberg lettuce, carrots and beef with a dash of cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve with prepared sauce.

Makes 4 servings

1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger puree

12 ounces Chinese egg noodles
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium carrot, julienned
1/4 small red cabbage, sliced
1 medium red pepper, sliced
1 cup broccoli flowerets, steamed
1 shallot, sliced
water

1. Combine cornstarch and water in a small saucepan, then add soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger and cook over medium heat until thickened.
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the egg noodles.
3. In a fry pan or wok over medium-high heat, add the oil, then fry the carrot, cabbage and red pepper until pepper starts to blister, then add in the broccoli and shallot and fry until shallot is golden.
4. Drain the noodles and toss into the wok along with the prepared sauce. Toss to coat and serve.

Makes 4 servings

1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger puree
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 tablespoon ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced

1. Place onion, ginger, garlic, almonds and poppy seeds in a blender. Add yogurt to make a smooth sauce.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the cinnamon and cardamom, cooking until fragrant.
3. Brown the chicken, then stir in the yogurt sauce, coriander and nutmeg.
4. Add the mushrooms and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook covered until chicken is cooked through to center and tender.

Makes 2 servings

8 ounces rice noodles
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger puree
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 ounces cooked crab meat
water

1. Soak noodles in boiling water under tender.
2. Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, chicken broth, garlic and ginger. Set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil, lightly fry the crab for a minute, breaking apart. Stir in the sauce, then drain noodles and toss with crab. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings