My Productive Day in the Kitchen

Today I started bright and early making scones with Sonny. To be honest, I was nervous about this activity. We’d been talking about making scones since he had his first one last week. Every morning he’d wake up asking if it was the day to make scones. He was so patient all week and I was worried we’d end up with rock-hard-dry-ass lumps. Fortunately, they turned out great. I used this recipe and followed it exactly (except for the dry fruit part; Sonny wanted chocolate chips so I let him put some on a couple of them). The taste reminded me a little of shortbread, but they weren’t overly sweet and they were buttery without feeling greasy.





After lunch I made a batch of Vietnamese lemongrass chili sauce, the recipe for which I got at Wandering Chopsticks. Holy shit is it good! Even while it was cooking, I could tell it was going to kick ass because the aroma was divine. And it was far easier than I expected. I didn’t bother with canning it. Instead I just poured it into a sterilized jar and put a layer of oil over. I think it should keep for a couple of months in the fridge.



For dinner we had oven-roasted lemongrass chicken with nuoc cham (I add shredded carrot or sometimes jicama to mine) and the lemongrass chili sauce I made. Luckily, I got a quick shot of the chicken because there was none left over to “stage”. I can’t wait until the weather is nice enough to grill. This chicken is good in the oven but it will be downright orgasmic on the grill.



There are a ton of recipes out there for lemongrass chicken, but I just kept it simple. You could certainly add ginger and I’ve even seen recipes that call for sesame oil. It’s your call with the embellishments.

Simple Lemongrass Chicken

• 4 stalks lemongrass, cut into 1-inch segments
• 1 large shallot, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ¼ cup thin or mushroom soy sauce (but regular old Kikkoman is fine too)
• ¼ cup Thai oyster sauce (Chinese will work too)
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 1 4-lb chicken, cut into pieces (or 6 to 8 hindquarters)

The easiest way to make the marinade is to throw the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until you get a uniform mixture. Sometimes, just for the hell of it, I will pound the herbs in a mortar then mix the paste with the wet ingredients in a bowl. I leave this up to you.

Marinate the chicken overnight. An hour before roasting or grilling, let the chicken sit at room temperature to take the chill off. Transfer the chicken to a rimmed baking sheet and roast in a 375˚ pre-heated oven until done. Keep in mind that the different pieces will cook at different rates. If you decide to grill, do it over indirect heat until done. Serve with nouc cham, steamed rice and sliced cucumber and tomatoes.