4/2/10
Recipe request
I'm in the mood to cook! Does anyone have any good, springtime recipes to share? Old favorites or something new – please pass them along. Walter-friendly food is a plus, though he'll try pretty much anything if he's hungry. He even tried asparagus tonight. He spit it out, but at least he tried it. I consider that a victory.
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4 comments:
We just tried the Cooking Light March issue Penne with chickpeas,feta and tomatoes. I put kidney beans instead of the chickpeas and added a few kalamata olives but I think it has lots of possibilities and looks so pretty. I even think you could add farmer cheese for Nathan and Walter on the top and it would be good.
Sharon
Not sure if Walter will like it, but we have been going bonkers over Penzey's Bangkok dipping sauce for poultry. Just tried it on pork chops this week too, with stir fried vegies with oyster sauce. Here goes.
Season chicken or pork, Bangkok seasoning from Penzeys' is excellent here, but anything will do, and roast or saute in a pan until done. Mix 1 tsp. powdered ginger, and 1 tsp. granulated garlic with 1 TBS. water. Let sit a minute. Make sure you have only 2-3 TBS. drippings in your pan after removing the meat and keeping that warm. Add 1 3/4 cups lemon lime soda to the pan and deglaze. Then add wetted spices, 2 cups sweet chili sauce, (found in the asian section of your grocery story, might be labeled spring roll sauce), and a dash or two of soy sauce. Heat until warmed through. I quite often thicken it a bit with cornstarch. Stir in or garnish with some chopped cilantro and spoon over your chicken, pork, and even fish. Enjoy, we love it.
By the way, the carrot cake in the latest issue of Cooking Light is phenomenal! We loved it, and it wasn't greasy like some cakes seem to be. Happy spring.
OK. Here's another one for spring rolls. Not sure Walter will like either, but we sure do. Took them to a party last night and everyone loved them, light and fresh and actually healthy. here goes. You need spring roll wrappers from the Asian grocery store. The square ones work best for me. You just soak them in a little water for 30 seconds or so until they are soft enough to roll but not so soft that they tear. I filled last nights with some cooked rice noodles mixed with chopped up cooked shrimp, chopped up raw vegetables including pea pods, zuchinni, cucumber, green onion, and shredded carrot. I mixed a TBS. or so of lime juice and a tsp. or so of granulated garlic and powdered ginger. Roll them up like egg rolls and serve cold with the following sauce. 2 or 3 minced jalapeno or serrano peppers, 2 TBS. soy sauce, 2 TBS. lime juice, 1 TBS. fish sauce, and 1 TBS. raw, palm or brown sugar. If you feel like it, you could always add some garlic to the sauce, but lst night we didn't want it too garlicky, so we opted for a better breath version. We cut the little rolls in half and then pour some of the sauce down into the roll, but anything works. This way, most of the peppers are in the first bite and then you can cool your palate with the rest of the spring roll. You'll either love them or hate them, but they are really fresh tasting and make you long for spring and fresh garden vegies. Happy April showers.
I forgot to mention putting chopped cilantro in the shrimp mixture. And I added chopped mushrooms to last night's batch too. I have made another version with shredded lettuce instead of the rice noodles, and have had some hoisin sauce in there to help hold everything together. If you go this route, use less sugar in the sauce because the hoisin is already a little sweet. Your ultimate goal is to have things be sweet, salty, hot, and sour, all at the same time. Have fun and good eating. And hopefully no one will discuss how the spring roll wrappers look like condoms which went on far too long at the party last night! But then everyone started eating them and loved them. A parting from the typical cheese and fruit tray. By the way, the party was a wine tasting and the best wine with these is a sweeter white, like riesling or gerwurztraminer, or even a kabinett. Those german wines pair well with Thai flavors. Hasta la vista.
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