Lemongrass tea-poached chicken

Simple and flavorful poached chicken has many uses. Nestle it between bread for a sandwich, on top of a mixed green salad, or use it to make a chicken salad for a picnic.?

By Patricia Tanumihardja,?The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook / June 25, 2013

What to do with lemongrass tops? Try adding them to the water when you poach chicken.

The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

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Several recipes I learned while writing "The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook" are still in my everyday cooking repertoire. Mochiko Fried Chicken, Japanese-Style Hamburgers, and Deep-Fried Tofu Simmered with Tomatoes, just to name a few.

Skip to next paragraph Patricia Tanumihardja

Born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore, Patricia Tanumihardja writes about food, travel, and lifestyle through a multicultural lens and has been published in numerous national and regional publications. Pat is also the creator of the ?Asian Ingredients 101? iPhone and Android app, a glossary on-the-go that?s the perfect companion on a trip to the Asian market. Her first book,?The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens,?will be available in paperback in September 2012.

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And an all-time favorite ? Caramelized Chicken with Lemongrass and Chilies.

Seemingly simple at first, this is one recipe that takes practice to perfect. Over the years, I?ve managed to improve the final outcome bit by bit.

I confidently caramelized the sugar to the point where it turns a rich mahogany and hovers on the bittersweet, and doesn?t burn. I know that the quality of the chicken is very very important to this dish.?The chicken has to be fresh and definitely not plumped up with water. The extra liquid released during cooking turns the chicken pieces into mush, far from the nicely bronzed outcome you want. Now, I can make this dish with my eyes closed (well, almost!) and it turns out delicious every time.

But I am always left with one conundrum: what to do with the?lemongrass?tops? ?I?ve tossed the tops into a pot with tea. I?ve made?lemongrass vinegar. And then it came to me: Why not poached chicken? It would make an excellent addition to a mixed green salad, my?Harvest Rice Salad, or for a summery chicken salad for your next picnic.

The chicken turned out soft and tender, and was imbued with a delightful lemony scent and flavor. The remaining stock was so fragrant I was almost tempted to stick my head over the pot and breathe in the aromatherapy ?fumes!? ?I decided to save it for another dish instead.

Lemongrass tea-poached chicken
I used boneless chicken thighs for this method (I wouldn?t even call it a recipe!) because that?s what I always eat but you can use breasts, too, if you prefer. You can put the?tea leaves?into a cheesecloth sachet but I find that the tea leaves can be easily scraped off.

If you only have tea bags, use one tea bag and remove it once the water comes to a boil, unless you want a stronger tea flavor.?Try adding other complementary herbs to the mix like?Thai basil, ginger, or green onions.

Time: 20 minutes

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon good quality loose-leaf black or green tea

Tops from 3 to 4 stalks of lemongrass

3 smallish boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 3/4 pound)

1. Fill a heavy (2-quart) pot about halfway full with water, just enough to cover the chicken pieces. Add the salt, tea, and lemongrass tops, and bring to a boil.

2. Add the chicken and bring it back to a simmer. Turn off the heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid,?and remove the pot from the stove (important if you have an electric stove). Let sit for about 15 minutes (thicker pieces may take longer) or until the chicken is no longer pink inside (cut into a piece to check). If it is, put the lid back on and wait another 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Let the chicken cool a little then put it in the fridge overnight to cool completely. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred with two forks or cut into slices.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/_UZED7sbCjU/Lemongrass-tea-poached-chicken

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Pioneer's New Soundbar Is Beautifully Simple and Wonderfully Cheap

Pioneer's new SB-PS23W is a soundbar the way most people want it: A simple, relatively inexpensive way to make a television sound louder. In that way, it's cut from the same cloth as the fantastic AirPlay speakers the company made last year (actually, they've got the some LA-based designer). It wasn't the first AirPlay speaker, but its design made it a winner.

From what we just heard this $400 soundbar has a lot of the same potential for the basic soundbar market. The six-speaker array sits in a a handsome wooden enclosure that's larger than most. While that might not necessarily mesh with the "invisible" aesthetic most soundbars are going for, it gives the music some space to resonate. (The included wireless sub helps fill out the bottom-end nicely as well.) The sound of sweet guitars resonating in wood?just the way it should be.

How do movies sound? Well, see now, that's the thing?Pioneer wasn't demoing movies because the system is designed for stereo. That means you're not getting any fancy surround sound emulation. Pioneer reps said we're "three years away" from being able to do surround sound well from a soundbar. That's definitely not true, but at a $300 price point?surrrrre.

But the trade of of is simplicity and price. This new sound bar only takes two inputs?optical digital and RCA. So you'll need a separate hub?a TV will do!?to handle all your HDMI inputs.

Usual first impression disclaimer applies: I listened to this thing for a few minutes only, so we'll have to wait and see how it holds up against the cheap soundbars we reviewed last year.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/pioneers-new-soundbar-is-beautifully-simple-and-wonder-585654401

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Malian army takes Anefis, 1st territorial gain

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? The Malian military attacked Tuareg rebels early Wednesday and succeeded in taking the village of Anefis, marking the army's first victory and territorial gain without the help of French forces since they were routed from the country's north last year by the separatist fighters, officials on both sides said.

Reached by telephone, the mayor of Anefis said that the confrontation began at 6:30 a.m. just west of the town. Anefis is 113 kilometers (70 miles) south of Kidal, and the last locality before the provincial capital that serves as the base of the rebel National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, or NMLA. For weeks, the army has been inching up toward Kidal, while the rebels have dug in and brought reinforcements, vowing to go to war if the military attempts to attack the strategic city.

NMLA leader Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh confirmed that on Wednesday, their fighters were forced to retreat from Anefis, and that they lost the town to the country's armed forces. He said two of his fighters were killed in the early morning clashes, and one of their vehicles was destroyed.

In a statement later posted on the group's website, the NMLA announced that the attack by the Malian military has prompted them to end the ceasefire they had declared earlier.

"Given that the ceasefire was violated by Malian troops today in Anefis," the statement said. "The NMLA ... reserves the right to defend itself against a genocidal army."

In Mali's capital of Bamako, army spokesman Lt. Col. Souleymane Maiga, who heads the army's public relations office, also confirmed the taking of the town, but said that the death toll is likely going to rise.

One year ago in March, the NMLA forced the military to withdraw from more than half of the country's territory in a humiliating blow that left the armed forces in tatters. Led by Tuaregs who have long claimed that the central government has marginalized and ignored their traditionally nomadic people, the NMLA briefly declared independence before being chased out of the territory they had acquired by a trio of al-Qaida-linked groups. The jihadists ruled Mali's north for nearly 10 months until January, when France launched a military intervention to liberate the occupied area, spanning the land mass of Afghanistan.

"Since 6:30 a.m. they are exchanging fire with heavy weapons," said Anefis Mayor Izga Ag Sidi. "We are hearing the sound of artillery explosions."

The NMLA said the Malian military had opened fire on them. "A convoy of at least 300 (Malian) army vehicles with armored personnel carriers arrived last night. We ordered our men to leave Anefis in order to make sure that the battle would take place outside of the town in order to spare the lives of the population of Anefis," said Assaleh.

The NMLA invaded northern Mali in March 2012 and briefly declared the birth of a new Tuareg nation before being chased out by fighters who were largely under the command of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. When the extremists were flushed out in January and February by French forces, the Malian military was able to return to two of the three largest cities in the north ? Timbuktu and Gao. They have not as yet been able to return to Kidal, which quickly fell back into the NMLA's hands.

In a move that has created a growing divide between Mali and France, French forces were able to liberate the city of Kidal, but they stood by and did not intervene when a battalion of NMLA fighters returned to their former stronghold, quickly setting up a shadow administration, including their own governor. Kidal and its surrounding region is now a de facto Tuareg state.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius denied any collusion with NMLA.

"Contrary to what has been said ... there is no collusion between the NMLA and France or the French army. We hope simply that the national and international decisions are applied, that is to say that elections be held everywhere at the end of July, notably in Kidal, that there is a dialogue and that the dialogue will happen once the new president is elected," he said in an interview with French TV.

Fabius stressed the importance of the elections.

"The people in the north, notably the Tuaregs, are asking for ? which is legitimate ? a discussion with the authorities. But there can only be a deep discussion with the authorities after we have new authorities. That comes from elections," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal and Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-05-Mali-Tuareg%20Rebels/id-6d914c3e748f4407b43692eb6bcb1788

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