Originally posted by NatsiaYep, steamed asparagus would be great!
PBE6: That sounds so good!
What would you recommend serving as an accompaniment to that?
I'd think steamed asparagus?
I like having approximately equal portions of protein, starch and veggies on my plate, so I think 1 chicken leg with 4-5 asparagus spears and 1 cup of rice (or mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, couscous, pasta, polenta, etc...) would make a nice meal.
This is easily one of the best things ever (IMO). It's little labor intensive (not too bad), but it's also fun to make, exotic, impressive and well worth the effort. I had this in a restaurant once and always wanted to know how to make it. I took a class on Thai cooking a couple years ago and learned how. I made a few improvements on the version we made in class.
It's sort of like crispy noodles with shrimp and pork in a light tangy sweet and spicy sauce.
Mee Krob
**1 piece (2 inch) tamarind pulp (see alternate shortcut below)
**¾ cup boiling water (see alternate shortcut below)
vegetable oil (for deep frying and stir frying)
6 oz of dried thin rice stick noodles (sen mee)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 shallots (chopped)
1/3 lb ground pork
¼ lb chopped shrimp
3 ½ tbs tomato paste
4 tbs sugar
2 tbs fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tps dried red chili flakes
1 lime, juiced (about 3 tbs)
2 eggs (whisked)
Garnishes:
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
fresh cilantro leaves
3 green onions cut into 1 ½ inch lengths
The tamarind:
Put the tamarind into a small bowl and pour ¾ cup of boiling water over
it. Break up pulp with a fork. Let stand 20 min. Pour mixture through a
sieve over a bowl and scrape off the mash from the underside of the
sieve into the bowl. Set aside. **ALTERNATIVELY: buy pre-minced tamarind
and mix about a tablespoon with ¾ cup of water (quicker and easier).
Frying the noodles:
Heat vegetable oil (2-4 in deep) to 375 deg in a wok or frying pan. Set
up a tray lined with paper towels (for draining). Make sure oil temp is
right by dropping in 1 or 2 pieces of dry noodles. They should
immediately puff up like cheese doodles. Drop noodles in the oil (in
batches) and place on paper towels to drain. After draining, dump into
brown paper shopping bag. You should have a good amount of crispy, puffy
noodles. (They shrink down when you add the sauce.)
In hot oil slowly pour in 2 wisked eggs. This will cook quickly. Take
out and drain on paper towels.
In the same hot wok or frying pan, dump out almost all of the oil
(except a couple tbs), scrape out any remaining noodles, turn up heat to
med high and dump in garlic and shallots. Stir fry for 1 min. Add pork,
and 30 sec later, add chopped shrimp. Stir fry until meats are firm to
the touch (1-2) min) Remove from heat and place in a bowl.
Increase to high heat and add tomato paste and sugar. Stir constantly
until mixture becomes a sticky, shiny red sauce that pulls away from the
sides of the wok (approx 3 min). Add tamarind water and fish sauce…stir.
Then add meat mixture, chili flakes and lime juice. Mix thoroughly.
Remove from heat.
In a large empty pot, take small batches of the crispy noodles and
lightly toss with meat/sauce mixture. Do not add too much sauce,
otherwise noodles get too soggy. Try to maintain some of the crispiness.
Garnish with fresh green onions, bean sprouts, cilantro and small bits of the fried egg. Serve and
eat immediately.
These are also awesome:
Spicy Pineapple Fritters
Ingredients:
1 habanero, minced (use with or without seeds up to what you can handle or any chili)
1 tablespoon diced fresh chives
1 scallion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 sage leaves, minced
1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper
2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
oil, for frying
Directions:
1. Blend first 9 ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth and well mixed.
2. Place in a bowl and add pineapple chunks. Stir to coat.
3. In a heavy pan heat a couple inches of oil. Oil will be ready when you drop a bit of batter in and it drops to bottom sizzles and rises to surface. At this point drop by spoonfuls and fry till browned taking a couple minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.
4. Season with salt and garnish chives.
5. Good served hot, great room temperature and even better cold.
Originally posted by PBE6Great advice there, thank you.
Yep, steamed asparagus would be great!
I like having approximately equal portions of protein, starch and veggies on my plate, so I think 1 chicken leg with 4-5 asparagus spears and 1 cup of rice (or mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, couscous, pasta, polenta, etc...) would make a nice meal.
You mention couscous, any good recipes?
Cheat Chicken Pie:
I made this for Andrew last night and he said it was excellent, although he's going to be eating chicken pie for the rest of the weekend and the week ahead.
The original recipe calls for two chickens, slow boiled for one and a half hours until soft and falling off the bone.
I don't have that kind of patients in the evening so:
6 Large de-boned chicken breasts.
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons chicken stock powder
2 cups dry white wine
2 onions peeled, and cut into rough chunks
Optional: 1/2 pallet mushrooms, sliced.
sour cream flaky pastry (500g puff pastry will do)
1 egg white, beaten with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Sauce:
125g but6ter
60g flour
1 cup chicken stock
3 cups milk
200g cooked ham, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (dry is fine, add an extra table spoon)
1/3 cup fresh full cream
Cooking the chicken:
Cut the chicken into half centimeter wide strips.
Use about 5 table spoons of low fat olive oil spread (low fat butter will work too, but the olive spread offers a much better flavor and isn't as rich) and allow that to melt down in a large deep skillet pan.
Once the spread/butter is melted, add your onions and mushrooms and allow to cook.
Add your chicken strips and cook until golden brown with added spices (salt pepper, and some garlic if you like).
Add white wine and cook on medium heat until the wine is reduced.
For the Sauce:
In a sauce pot, add your butter, milk, chicken stock, mustard powder and cream and heat until all the butter has melted.
Add your flour slowly and stir constantly using an "8" motion until the sauce has a custardy consistency.
Add your cubes of ham and parsley and mix through.
For the Pie Crust:
Spray a round 2 and a half inch deep baking dish with a little low fat baking spray / use a little butter to coat the dish.
Line your pastry into the dish making sure that about 1cm of pastry overlaps the top of the dish.
Place in the oven while you are preparing the other ingredients so that your bottom pastry is lightly cooked @ 180 degrees Celsius.
Once its slightly cooked, remove from oven and using a brush coat the edges where the top of the pie will meet.
Once your sauce is ready and your chicken breasts are cooked, combine the two mixing thoroughly until all the chicken is coated with the sauce.
Pour into the prepared dish and cover with pastry.
Use a fork to press the edges of pastry into each other or the filling will boil out of the sides.
Using a brush again, coat the pie crust in the egg mixture and use a fork to prick a few holes in the crust to allow air to escape.
Put back into the oven and bake for 30 mins on 180 degrees Celsius.
Serve with pumpkin, peas,rice or mixed roasted veg.
Originally posted by rbmorrisI think I'll have to try and do this one... Sounds very, very delicious.
This is easily one of the best things ever (IMO). It's little labor intensive (not too bad), but it's also fun to make, exotic, impressive and well worth the effort. I had this in a restaurant once and always wanted to know how to make it. I took a class on Thai cooking a couple years ago and learned how. I made a few improvements on the version we made in n onions, bean sprouts, cilantro and small bits of the fried egg. Serve and
eat immediately.
Edit: tamarind is my favourite fruit. I used to it even when it was green (I like acid flavours) but here on Portugal all we get are imported ones and at the time they get to my mouth they are so dry that it's not even the worth the trouble anymore.
Originally posted by NatsiaNope. Usually just fry up some onions and garlic with some spices (cinnamon, cumin, tumeric, pepper, salt), add some toasted nuts and dried fruit (dates, cranberries, raisins) and sometimes other bite sized cooked veggies (carrots, corn, peas) to the fluffed couscous, and garnish with a little olive oil and fresh parsley. It's simple but tasty, almost like a sweet-spiced pasta salad.
Great advice there, thank you.
You mention couscous, any good recipes?
I've seen much more elaborate and probably tastier Moroccan couscous recipes on TV, usually cooked in a tajin.
My girlfriend just bought me a cookbook - Gordon Ramsay's "Fast Food"!! So far, I've only made the sandwich, but the recipes look good! Can't wait to try more.
Originally posted by PBE6Coucous is great with Moroccan Tajines which are pretty simple to make even if you don't have the authentic ceramic cookware.
Nope. Usually just fry up some onions and garlic with some spices (cinnamon, cumin, tumeric, pepper, salt), add some toasted nuts and dried fruit (dates, cranberries, raisins) and sometimes other bite sized cooked veggies (carrots, corn, peas) to the fluffed couscous, and garnish with a little olive oil and fresh parsley. It's simple but tasty, almost like a So far, I've only made the sandwich, but the recipes look good! Can't wait to try more.
I am not a big fan of couscous at all and the only time I really enjoy eating it is when it's done in the Moroccan style.
Fresh Strawberry Pie
6 cups fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon red food coloring [optional, but makes it look a lot better]
1 baked pastry shell
1 cup heavy cream
Crush 2 cups of the berries in a saucepan with the sugar.
Mix together the lemon juice, salt and cornstarch and add to the crushed berries.
Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture becomes thick and transparent.
Add butter and food coloring, mix and cool slightly.
Halve the remaining berries (or may leave whole if desired) [I generally cut them into quarters if they’re large] Fold berries into the thickened sauce. Pour into pastry shell and chill. Cover with plastic wrap.
Serve with whipped cream.
Especially for Natsia:
Rhubarb pudding
Ingredients:
Rhubarb
Water
Sago
Sugar
Directions:
Wash the rhubarb and peel it if necessary (I only do if it's somewhat coarse). Cut it into pieces. Put the pieces into a bowl or jug and fill up with water to approximately the same height as the rhubarb. Put the rhubarb and water into a pot and bring it to the boil. Stir in the sago just when it starts to boil, stirring well. It probably says on the package how much sago you need, although I always just put in sago until it looks like it should be right. Always have some water at hand in case you realise you have put in too much sago. Let it simmer until most of the sago has turned entirely transparent. You can post in the forum while it's simmering, but don't forget to go and stir the rhubarb from time to time. When it's done, take the pot off the heat. Stir in sugar to taste once it has cooled down a little (you'll need an amazing amount of sugar). Eat while still warm or cold with vanilla sauce, cream or vanilla ice cream. Hot rhubarb pudding with vanilla ice cream is heavenly!
Edit: It's almost done! I can't wait!
Originally posted by NordlysExcellent! Thanks Nords 😀
Especially for Natsia:
Rhubarb pudding
Ingredients:
Rhubarb
Water
Sago
Sugar
Directions:
Wash the rhubarb and peel it if necessary (I only do if it's somewhat coarse). Cut it into pieces. Put the pieces into a bowl or jug and fill up with water to approximately the same height as the rhubarb. Put the rhubarb and water into a pot and bring it to ...[text shortened]... barb pudding with vanilla ice cream is heavenly!
Edit: It's almost done! I can't wait!
• Broccoli Rabe with Sausage
I'm a broccoli rabe freak. I love it cooked almost anyway. The success of this dish is dependent on the proper toasting of the anchovies and the garlic. Sauté them well but not to the point of bitterness. The sausage is not absolutely necessary; but it makes a dish with more depth than your average sautéed broccoli rabe. Serve alone or over rigatoni or Polenta
Serves 4:
Wine: 1995 Castel Monsanto, Chianti Classico Riserva, "Il Poggio", Tuscany
Ingredients:
1 bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed and well washed
3 sweet Italian sausages (about 12 ounces) (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 anchovy fillets, finely minced
4 shallots, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
3 to 4 tablespoons water
Shaved or grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Instructions:
• Place the broccoli rabe in a large skillet with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and cook until the broccoli rabe is soft and wilted, about 7 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Wipe the skillet clean and place it over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the sausages. Cook until the sausages are browned and thoroughly cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain the sausages on paper towels. Discard the fat and wipe the pan clean. When the sausages are cool enough to handle, cut into medium dice.
• Reheat the skillet and add the oil. Add the anchovies, shallots, and garlic, stirring well after each addition, and cook until they are golden and lightly toasted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the reserved sausage and broccoli rabe, the salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, if desired, and water and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with Parmesan cheese