One evening not long ago the four of us sat at the kitchen table playing the card-board game Sequence. Just for the record, Ken and Madeleine managed to beat Gregory and me 2 games to 1. To what shall we attribute this victory? Luck? Good strategy? Cheating? (No!)
We shall attribute their win to the fact that Madeleine had eaten BRAIN-FOOD: salmon.
This version of Moo Shu pork was a wonderful surprise that everyone at the table ate and enjoyed. I must add that this was better than any MSG laden, Chinese carry out Moo Shu I’ve ever eaten.
Plus, the mandarin pancakes were simple and tasted good as a vehicle for the veg or as a stand alone carb (per MELG).
When we lived in South Bend there was a tiny, delightful, store front Thai restaurant downtown that had the most amazing tofu stir fry (for lack of a better title or term), Thai spring rolls, and a sweet and sour sauce for the spring rolls that was simply amazing. It was a perfect blend of sweet and savory/sour with a hint of heat. I have drooled for that sauce time and time again. Tonight, I think I found it!
After reading Neil Peart’s book entitled Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa where he soaks in the nuances of African life and along the way coins the phrase “rice with junk,” I don’t seem to be able to eat any time of rice topped with seafood or veg (or both) without calling it “rice with junk”. Maybe Rice With Junk should be a new category?
Nevertheless, rice with junk is always delicious, quick and easy.
For our main meal today, my husband, Ken prepared this full flavored Thai dish from the BBC GoodFood website; this recipe was first published in Sept. 2007 in BBC GoodFood magazine. It’s easy to make and filled with satisfying taste, texture and aroma.
The original recipe calls for green beans, but we opted for asparagus since it looked very good at the grocery and the addition of red pepper likewise was due to good looking produce. This merely goes to show the versatility of red curry.
Continue reading "Thai Red Curry with Salmon (with photos)" »
The bok choy at the grocery looked splendid – bright white stalk and deep green leaves. It beckoned as I passed, calling to be stir fried or sauted; it proceeded to jump into my cart. Okay, not quite that dramatically, but it sure looked good and thus made it into this week’s menu.
Continue reading "Bok Choy and Shrimp with Teriyaki Sauce (with photos)" »
This evening’s supper became bloggable from the first bite. “Blog this before you forget the recipe,” Ken said.
Delicious!
Perusing the fresh vegetable aisle I often see Bok Choy, but rarely put it in my grocery basket. With a recent intention to eat more vegetables and at the same time trying some new Japanese and Pan Asian recipes I impulsively put a bunch in the cart. It seems that bok choy may become a staple vegetable. We're finding it to be delicious.
Continue reading "Bok Choy with Mushrooms and Green Onion" »
My son's palate is very particular, aka he's a "picky eater".
Not long ago while we were at a hibachi restaurant he tried and liked fried rice. I had not ever made fried rice, but now that we're on our Japanese foods experimentation route and have leftover short grain rice, plus trying to find dishes that appeal to his particular taste buds, I decided to give it a try.
I don't know why I waited so long to make this easy to prepare tasty rice!
Tonight's dinner included more of the fabulous Japanese rice made in the rice cooker.
I'm sold on the rice cooker.
Yesterday Madeleine and I made Japanese rice for the first time. I've been making rice for a long, long time -- I remember learning how when we had our exchange student from Iran (remember the diaper/towel), and I remember making rice in the microwave (remember the mess!). I've also found the magic touch for outstanding rice made stove top in the 2qt. Calphalon pan. However, that's always been long grain rice. Japanese rice on the other hand is short grain.
After looking at both HEB stores and not finding short grain rice we decided to head to the Asian market on 10th street. What a cool store. We found miso past and dashi flakes too, and made MISO SOUP!! It was delicious. Madeleine didn't want tofu in it, however next time I'll put a little in for me.
Since many articles I had read about making short grain rice suggested a rice cooker I decided to use the one that Mom had left for us long ago. The long and the short of it... it worked GREAT. So well in fact, including the sticky factor, we made Onigiri with it -- rice balls. They were terrific and Madeleine even took them to camp with her today (how Japanese). In retrospect I wish that I had taken pictures, but my fingers were sticky with rice.
Yes, Madeleine, you miss your kitchen, but you're already cooking in the "real" one! Our newest Madison House Chef is emerging and will soon be up for sushi.
