Quick Red Thai Curry

I just realized I had never posted how to make thai curry before and that is one of the simplest dishes I know! As a result I sadly do not have any pictures at the moment, but I will definitely add some soon.

Lien, you could easily recreate this and it wouldn't be a problem to season it exactly to your taste. You also don't have to worry about it being spicy if you don't add too much curry paste. Sound good?

All you need are as follows:

2 chicken breasts
1/2-1 onion sliced thinly
1 bell pepper
1 small head of broccoli or cauliflower cut into bit size pieces
1 can of coconut milk
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons thai kitchen red curry paste
2 teaspoons thai kitchen roasted red chile sauce
1 package of tofu (optional)

1. Slice your chicken into bite size pieces and cook over medium heat until no more pink shows.

2. Add the can of coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, curry paste and chile sauce. Mix until the curry paste is mixed in.  Season with the sugar/curry paste/fish sauce till it suits your tastes. I usually always add more fish sauce and curry paste than required but depends on the person. Bring to a boil.

3. Add your veggies and cook until the broccoli is cooked through, about 10 minutes over low heat. Add tofu at this point with your veggies if desired.

4. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Salmon Fish Tacos

So Chris NEVER asks me to cook anything, he always just says whatever I want to cook is good enough for him since I get bored too easily. I planned last week to make salmon of some sort, probably salmon teriyaki, and maybe make fish tacos since I had ingredients for it. When I told Chris though he got really excited about fish tacos, and at that point I had to make them. I went to the freezer though to find only one piece of catfish left, meaning I'd need more first. Thus, salmon fist tacos. They turned out super good and are really fast to make. It's really just making your crema and grilling (stove top for me) your fish.

Serves: Two

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet (whatever size really)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa

2 limes

1 small bunch of cilantro chopped (to the base of the stems)

1/4 onion chopped

1 jalapeno chopped

1/2-1 bag of cabbage or a head of it sliced (depends on how many people you want to serve/how many veggies you like on your tacos)

6-8 corn tortillas

salt and pepper to taste

1. Take your salmon fillet and generously salt and pepper it on both sides. You can also add some cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, whatever you want to season it. Then heat a skillet to medium heat and add the salmon once hot. It should cook about 2-3 minutes per side.

2. While the salmon is cooking chop your veggies and combine with the sour cream and salsa. Take one lime and add the juice of half first, then taste and add more if desired. Season to taste with salt or more sour cream/salsa.

3. Also take your tortillas and put them between two paper towels or two plates and warm them in the microwave for like 30 seconds (or a minute if frozen).

4. Once your salmon has cooked for about 5-6 minutes chop it up with a spatula and turn off the burner. Let the salmon finish cooking and prep an assembly line for people to make tacos. I usually like to add some crema then salmon then crema and cabbage to top it off.

5. Serve with limes and enjoy!

Red Lentil Vegetable Soup

While reading through food blogs I found a soup that sounded good. I altered the recipe and here's my version. The soup is light with plenty of veggies. The spices make it taste kind of like chili.

Red Lentil Vegetable Soup (makes about 4 quarts/8 servings)

Ingredients:

3 strips bacon

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon whole fennel seed

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon thyme

2 bay leaves

2 dried chili pepper (optional)

1 cup wine (red is better, but I used white)

2 potatoes

2 stalks celery

2 carrots

3 parsnips

3 leaves kale

1/2 cup red lentils

1 quart water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon salt (or substitute with powdered broth)

2 teaspoons MSG or hydrolyzed vegetable protein (optional)

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1. Prep the veggies. Cut the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and celery into uniformly sized pieces. I cut everything into about 1/2 pieces. To cut the celery, first halve lengthwise. Take each leaf of kale, cut out the stem, and slice into small pieces. Place all of these veggies (not including the leaf of kale) into one basket. Cut the kale leaves into thirds, then slice into 1/4 inch strips. Place those in a separate container. Finely chop onion and garlic.

2. Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces. Place the bacon and cook over low heat for about 5-8 minutes. Stir occasionally. When the bacon looks crispy, take the meat out.

3. Put the chopped onions into the bacon fat. Cook on medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. When the onions are getting close to finished, add the garlic.

4. Increase the heat to medium-high. Toast the spices in the pot: cumin, fennel, paprika and thyme.  After one minute, the spices should be fragrant. Add the wine and use a spoon to scrape any browned bits. Let the wine cook until the volume is halved. Add the bay leaf and dried chili pepper.

5.  Add all of the veggies except for the kale leaves. Pour enough water until the water line is about an inch above the veggies. Add tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Cover the pot and heat on high until it boils. Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes until the veggies start to soften. You should be able to pierce the veggies with a fork but the veggies are not mushy. While the soup is simmering, rinse the dried lentils with water.  Place the lentils and enough water to submerge the lentils in a large bowl.  While the soup is cooking, the lentils with absorb the water.

BTW I made a double batch, that's why it's about to overflow

6. Take out the bay leaves, and the chili peppers if you want to. Add the soaked lentils, kale leaves, and bacon. Cook for another 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and when the soup is warm it's ready to serve!

 

Goat Cheese Pasta

Originally I set out at the beginning of the week to make this lovely looking Orecchiette with Greens, Mozzarella and Chickpeas from the latest Food and Wine. However, by the end of the week when I didn't feel like drying and then frying my chickpeas, I turned the food and wine recipe into my own little Goat Cheese Pasta invention. It turned out pretty darn good, though next time I would add a little less goat cheese or mozzarella, as much as I love my cheese.

Ingredients:
1 package of your favorite uncooked sausage
1 pablano chile
1 onion
1 lb of grape/cherry tomatoes
1 head of kale or bok choy (or your favorite leafy green)
~ 1 lb of your favorite type of pasta
3 oz goat cheese
2 oz mozzarella
1/4 c. of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Get a pot of water started for your pasta on the back burner.

2. Take the sausage and begin cooking it. While it cooks slice your onion in thin strips, as well as your pablano chile (I just sliced it thinly cross-wise, so I had circles of it). If you don't like spice also take out the seeds of your chile. Slice your tomatoes into quarters lengthwise.

3. Add all of your veggies (except the Kale/Bok Choy) and let them start cooking with the sausage.

4. Once your water boils add your pasta.

5.  Slice your leafy green into strips. When the pasta is about 2-3 minutes from being done then add the leafy greens to the sausage mixture. Once wilted turn off the burner.

6. Drain your pasta and add it to a serving dish again or the pot. Then add the sausage mixture and the goat and mozzarella cheeses. Serve with the parmesan cheese and enjoy!

I think I adjusted here for putting in less cheese since I thought it was too much originally and I am a rather cheesey person :)

Easy Pork Dumplings (That look like Wontons)

So my awesome friend Steph suggested Friday night as we were melting at a Cards game that we make dumplings on Sunday. Despite the heat that sounded amazing right then and there, plus I would finally get to learn how to make her awesome dumplings. The only minor alteration here is that I accidentally (and yet intentionally) got square wonton wrappers instead of circular dumpling wrappers, but hey now I am pretty pro at wrapping wontons  To make these delicious dumplings here's how to do it, replete with a video....^_^ I know, video?!

Ingredients:
200 Wonton or dumpling wrappers
2 lbs of ground pork
1 big napa cabbage
We'll say 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
Healthy quantity of Salt and Pepper to taste

1 big pot of boiling water

Dark Soy Sauce and Distilled Red Vinegar to dip

We also had Asian Egg Noodles on the side too.

1. Take your napa cabbage and THINLY slice it. Steph promptly told me after I sliced half of it that I needed to do it finer. So slice it thinly and then go back over and chop it some more. You don't want big chunks in your dumplings.

2. Mix your ground pork with the cabbage, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Really the amount of sesame oil and seasoning Steph eyeballed but we could strongly smell the sesame oil. Yum!

3. Get your wrappers and spoons for everyone making them and start filling them. Make sure you have a bowl of warm water in the middle too and a pan to set your finished dumplings on. To do this:

         a. Take one wrapper and put about a teaspoon worth of meat mixture in it.

         b. Take your finger and sparsely wet it and then run it along the edges of your wrapper. This is to make sure it sticks together and forms a seal.

         c. Fold your wonton wrapper in half, point to point, or diagonally and press to seal ensuring there isn't much air inside and no meat leaking out.

         d.  Wet your finger again and get the two corners on the bottom (that are along the flat side or the hypotenuse of your triangle) and wet them and then cross them over each other on the point.

         e. Repeat with all dumplings. As you can see Steph was pro, while Elaine and I had to develop our grace.

And now they video of Steph making a dumpling, with my narration since she was silent when she was supposed to narrate!! ("With narration!" -nothing for a minute- Elaine and I "What?!")

4. Then get a pot of boiling water ready and put some dumplings in, just enough to have them in a single layer. Bring the water back to a boil and then pour warm water over it. Bring the dumplings to a boil again and pour more water over them. Bring them back to a boil the last time and then take them out and put them in a bowl to serve. You should put some oil over them or put them in a single layer if you dont want them to stick.

5. Once you have made all the dumplings serve and enjoy!

p.s. This isn't how you actually fold dumplings Lien, just wontons...I learn and perfect dumplings later. :)

Cassava Cake (Banh Khoai Mi)

Here is my mom's recipe for cassava cake. It is gooey, coconut-y and good. Cassava is also known as yucca.

Cassava Cake:

3   16-ounce bags of frozen, grated cassava. You could also buy fresh cassava and grate it yourself
3 eggs
1   12-ounce can evaporated milk (not condensed!!)
1   14-ounce can coconut milk (also advertised as coconut cream)
2 cups sugar (1 1/2 if you want it less sweet)
5 tablespoons cornstarch
3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Just mix everything together in a big bowl. Pour into a 13"x9" pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven uncovered for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The bake time depends on what pan you use. If the batter pours out very shallow, it may finish baking in one hour. The top should start caramelizing and may be burnt a little bit, that's okay.   Let it cool in the pan. Dig in and enjoy.

Variations: put strips of fresh coconut in the batter, pour caramel or dulce de leche on top.

Chicken Parmesan

While I was traveling in NY, I helped make dinner for me, my sisters, my friend Linh, and her friends. We made chicken parmesan with mozzarella sticks, green beans, and browned-butter pasta. We cooked for a big group of 8 and some left overs too.

Chicken Parmesan:

tomato sauce (you could use pre-made, canned sauce):

60 ounces tomato puree or sauce (doesn't have to be exactly 60 ounces)

1 1/2 onion (any type of onion, small sized)

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

6 teaspoons dried, crushed oregano

2 teaspoons dried, crushed basil (optional)

2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

6 chicken breasts, skinned, boneless

1 can Italian seasoned breadcrumbs 

If you can't find any pre-seasoned breadcrumbs like us, use

12 ounces panko breadcrumbs or regular breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons black pepper

5 tablespoons oregano

1 1/4 cup grated parmesan (leave some for topping the food)

5 cups all purpose flour

8 eggs

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, whole block or shredded

1. Chop the onions and cook them in some olive oil in a large pot.

 2. When the onions have browned, add the cans of tomato sauce or puree. Use some water to wash out the cans and put that in the pot too.  Add extra water if using tomato puree.  Cover and cook on high heat until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the salt, pepper, sugar, oregano, and basil. You could add other herbs like parsley and marjoram. Let it simmer covered for 30 minutes, taste and adjust as needed, and allow to continue simmering till you use it later.

 3. Meanwhile, prep the chickens. For convenience, buy skinless, boneless chicken breasts. If you buy them with bones, you'll have to trim that. Trim off excess fat too. Cut each chicken breast in half. Place in a ziploc bag and thin them out to 1/3"-1/2".  Use whatever you have to pound out the meat.

4. Set up your dipping stations. Place three shallow bowls in a line. The first bowl will have flour. The next will have beat eggs. The last bowl contains the breadcrumbs.  If you didn't find a can of seasoned breadcrumbs, just mix plain breadcrumbs with the seasonings in my list.  Fill the bowls about halfway. Don't fill the bowls too much or you will make a mess. You will probably have to refill the bowls later on.

5. Heat a pan with some olive oil. To make things go along faster, you can set up multiple frying pans. Or you can put a griddle over two burners, like we did. Dip your chicken in the flour, shake off the excess flour, dip into the egg, and then dip into the breadcrumbs. Cook the chicken breasts on the stove until both sides are nice and browned. It'll take about 3-5 minutes per side. Don't worry about the chicken being cooked all the way through. When each piece of chicken finishes browning on both sides, place the pieces in a oven safe dish. Try not to overlap the chicken. When you are close to finishing, preheat the oven to 400F.

 6. When the chicken is all browned, ladle the tomato sauce over the chicken. In my pictures, I have less sauce than what I wanted. The sauce will come up to the level of the chicken pieces. The mozzarella can be sliced as shown below or shredded. Bake the chicken uncovered for 25 minutes. Then, set the oven to broil and cook for 1-2 minutes. Be careful when broiling because the cheese can easily burn.

Bonus:
Hmm, we seem to have extra mozzarella. We bought two 8 ounce blocks. Why don't we cut the mozzarella into big chunks. Dip in flour-egg-breadcrumb-egg-breadcrumb. Fry on the stove on all four sides and finish them in the oven or toaster oven. Experimental mozzarella sticks!

 Happy eatings.