Archive for February, 2009

Winter Vegetable Thai Curry

February 12, 2009

The year we lived in London, we ate in some really fantastic restaurants. We also explored cuisines that are not all that available to us here in Seattle. I always knew that I liked Indian food but fell head over heels in love with it while living there. Middle Eastern food too. I can’t tell you how much I miss the multitude of places where I could eat dips, felafel, fantastic breads, and vegetable dishes to my heart’s content. The one thing we missed while living there was Thai food. I tried it a few different places in London, some of them very fancy, and it never was very good.

We are fortunate to have a plethra of great Thai places in Seattle. In an approximate one mile radius of our house, there are no fewer than 8 Thai restaurants, some pretty good and some really good. It is our go-to meal for Friday night take-out and I crave it on an even more regular basis. Because my Asian food-hating clients (who are the same as my mushroom-hating clients) are out of town again tonight, I thought I would make it for the others.

For this dinner, I turned to the sweetest little cookbook. Real Vegetarian Thai was written by a woman who spent two years in Thailand in the Peace Corps. She includes copious notes with each recipe telling you how the Thais would serve it and substitutions that can be made. She also tells you what can be done in advance which always wins extra points with me. All of this is done in a un-pretentious friendly voice that is a joy to read. The recipes I have made (and there have been many of them) have turned out great. Tonight’s menu included Tome Yum Soup with Mushrooms and Tofu, Red Curry with Winter Vegetables and Cashews, Coconut Rice, and Cucumber Salad.

For the curry recipe, you actually make your own curry paste. In a pinch you can, of course, substitute store-bought, but if you are a vegetarian, read the label carefully. Many of them contain dried shrimp. Making the paste really doesn’t take all that much time and it makes a healthy amount. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. Perfect for the next time you want red curry! I followed the paste recipe quite closely but with the finished dish, I made a lot of changes.

Red Curry with Winter Vegetables and Cashews
Adapted from
Real Vegetarian Thai
Serves 4 generously

1 can unsweetened coconut milk (DN: I used reduced fat)
2 or 3 tbsp. red curry paste (recipe follows)

Vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

Kosher salt

8 oz. extra firm tofu, drained, patted dry, and cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup vegetable stock

1
1/2 pounds assorted winter vegetables such as squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and/or
parsnips, everything cut into 1-2 inch pieces

1 tbsp. light brown sugar

1 tsp. soy sauce

3/4
cup salted, dry-roasted cashews
1/4
cup chopped cilantro

Shake the coconut milk can well. Spoon out 1/3 cup into a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to release its fragrance. Add the curry paste and cook for about 3 more minutes, mashing the paste into the coconut milk.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add enough vegetable oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 8 minutes.

Add the chopped winter vegetables and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the curry mixture, the rest of the coconut milk, the stock, soy sauce, and sugar and bring to a boil. Give it a good stir, then reduce the heat to simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.

Just before serving, add the cashews and cilantro. Serve over rice.

Red Curry Paste
Adapted from
Real Vegetarian Thai
Makes about 1 cup

McDermott suggests using chilies de arbol here which are finger-length and quite spicy. I didn’t have any on hand so I used Guajillo chiles which are much less spicy.

20 dried chilies de arbol
1 tbsp. whole coriander seeds

1 tsp. whole cumin seeds

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3 stalks lemongrass

1/4
cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4
cup coarsely chopped shallots
2 tbsp. coarsely chopped garlic

1 tbsp. coarsely chopped peeled fresh ginger

>Zest of 1 small lime
1 tsp. salt

Stem the chilies and shake out and discard the seeds. Break into large pieces. Place the chilies in a small bowl, add warm water to cover, and set aside to soften for about 20 minutes.

In a small skillet over medium heat, dry-fry the coriander and cumin seeds until they are fragrant, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool, then grind in a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle.

To prepare the lemongrass, trim away and discard any root section below the bulb base, and cut away the top portion, leaving a stalk about 6 inches long, including the base. Remove the outer layer of “skin”, then finely chop the stalks.

Drain the chilies and combine them with the lemongrass, ground spices, and the remaining ingredients in a mini food processor or a blender. Pour in 2 tbsp. of water and combine to a fairly smooth puree. You may need to add more water to keep the blades moving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to one month.



Sometimes You Don’t Want to Know

February 11, 2009


There are certain places where it is good be a vegetarian. Large cosmopolitan cities or college towns, for example. But even in those places, it can be tricky to eat out. Even in our fair city, where Patagonia outnumbers Prada by 20:1 and farmers markets abound, it can be difficult to stick to plant based food in restaurants.

Once in a while, I find myself starving and faced with only a soup or Caesar salad as an option. The soup looks vegetarian, sounds vegetarian but I just bet it has chicken stock. The Caesar almost certainly has anchovies but even if it doesn’t, it most likely has Worcestershire sauce which contains anchovies and therefore, isn’t veg. But sometimes you are starving and there is no other option. So you just don’t ask the questions you know will harm you and you don’t think about what you might be eating.

I love Caesar salad. For me, Caesar is an excuse to eat croutons and Parmesan cheese along with some lettuce and what is usually a gloppy dressing. The non-veg and gloppy factors are why I really just prefer to make it myself at home. I can’t remember where I first got the recipe for this dressing – it is in a notebook of mine in my handwriting and I have tweaked even that over the years. It is different than what you might be used to, but the flavor is spot on. The consistency is more like a vinaigrette but you can certainly add more mayo if you like it thicker. You can find vegetarian Worcestershire sauce in places like Whole Foods. I also use it in a Baked Artichoke Dip recipe and for Bloody Marys.

Do yourself a favor. When you are making the croutons, make more than you will need for the salad. They are an awesome garnish for soup (hot or cold), and not too shabby as a snack. One final note. Traditionally, salad dressings are made with a 3:1 ratio of oil to acid. I find those proportions way too oily for my taste so I do more of a 2:1 ratio. You should feel free to add more olive oil to this if that suits your taste. The most important thing when making dressing is to taste as you go and adjust the flavors until they taste right to you.

Vegetarian Caesar Salad
Dana Treat Original
Serves 6

For the Dressing:
2 tbsp. cider vinegar

2 tbsp. mayonnaise (low fat is fine here)

1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

In a medium bowl, whisk together the first six ingredients until smooth. Add black pepper to taste. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly, until emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

For the Croutons:
1 small loaf dense country bread

Olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

(I don’t like too much olive oil on my croutons so I use a light hand with the olive oil, but feel free to use more. I like mine crunchy on the outside and still chewy on the inside so I watch them pretty carefully and take them out when they are just starting to brown. If you want them really crunchy, leave them in until they are brown. You can always taste to make sure!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in the middle of the oven. Cut the each end off the bread and the carefully slice the crust off. Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes and put onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with oil and sprinkle with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them. Remove from oven and let cool.

To finish the salad:
3 hearts of romaine

Croutons

Dressing
Parmesan cheese (either grated or shaved)

Lemon

Cut the hearts of romaine into bite size pieces. Toss lettuce and dressing together in a large bowl. Right before serving, toss in the croutons. Garnish each plate with Parmesan cheese and a slice of lemon.



Dessert Lovers

February 10, 2009

I am continually amazed by how much people like dessert. We tease kids for being so sugar focused, but the truth is that adults can be just as obsessed. Ten years ago, cupcakes were thought of as something you serve at a kids birthday party. These days, you had better have enough for all the kids and the moms and dads.

How about birthday cake? My older son turned four just after Thanksgiving and because we hosted and I cooked my brains out, I decided to order a cake instead of making one. I have never been a fan of that type of cake – you know, decorated well, but frosted way too thickly with something shortening based. Give me a plain piece of pound cake any day. But what do you know, the adults inhaled the cake almost as fast as the kids. People just love cake.

For my baby’s birthday party, I decided to make the ice cream cake found in the Sky High book. I love that she specifically says it’s great for a kid’s birthday party, but I would not hesitate to make this for anyone’s birthday party! It was really special and can be made in advance. The cake has two thin layers of chocolate cake sandwiching a full half gallon of ice cream (I used cookies and cream mixed in with homemade chocolate sauce). The whole thing is covered with a chocolate ganache and returned to the freezer to set up.

Putting the finishing touches on the cake.

Ta-da!

I love how he is looking at me like, “Is this for me?”

Turns out he liked it.

So did his big brother.



The Real Stuff

February 9, 2009


Do you know what is lurking under there? Yes, it looks like an incredibly delicious crunchy topping and yes, that is what it is. But underneath…you can just barely see it…. Mac and cheese.

This is relatively new territory for me. I have been making Annie’s mac and cheese for my kids since they started eating solid food, and of course I ate Kraft mac and cheese as a child myself. But last January I catered a party for 60 people and they wanted to do a Southern theme. Literally the first thing that popped into my head was mac and cheese even though I had never made the “real” stuff before. The client was more excited about it than any other thing I mentioned, so I got to work on what would be the best recipe.

I ended up trying debating between two Martha Stewart recipes and was totally stumped as to which one make people swoon. We had a New Year’s Day party last year and, seeing as we were expecting about 20 people, I made both and asked people to vote for their favorite. One had a crumb topping with cheddar and Gruyere cheeses, the other had scallions mixed in along with goat cheese. The former won hands down and that is the one I made for the party to rave reviews. I even made it for the party I catered this past December, so sure I was of it’s deliciousness.

So when we decided to host a little party for my baby’s second birthday, I knew what to make. It’s winter, a lot of people with healthy appetites were coming – how else to feed them? I decided to revisit Martha but to make a slightly different recipe and I think it’s the best of them all. This one adds some tomatoes to the mix and I think that little burst of acidity and freshness adds so much. Macaroni and cheese is an incredibly rich dish. People love it but it is hard to eat too much without feeling a little sick. Although this does not skimp on the richness, the tomatoes mix it up a little bit and give your mouth a break. Another thing I like about it is that the recipe incorporates fresh thyme which also adds a nice flavor dimension.

This is not a quick dish. There are several steps and a lot of stirring over a hot stove. Nothing is difficult, just time consuming. But if you have never made “real” mac and cheese, your efforts will be well rewarded. It is one of the best comfort foods around.


Gratineed Macaroni and Cheese with Tomatoes
Adapted from
The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook
Serves 6-8

For this particular recipe, Stewart recommends sharp white Cheddar cheese only. I think Gruyere adds a nice nuttiness, so I did half and half. I was feeding about 14 adults so I doubled the below recipe. If you do so, make sure you have a very large bowl to mix it all together!

7 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
1 1/4 cup homemade bread crumbs
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound elbow macaroni or other short, tubular pasta

1 quart whole milk

5 tbsp. flour

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

4 cups grated cheese, about 1 pound (see my note above)
1 pound red and yellow tomatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish or a 3 quart casserole dish; set aside. Melt 2 tbsp. butter and pour over the bread in a medium bowl; toss. Add 1 tsp. thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 pepper; toss.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add a small handful of salt. Cook the pasta until just beginning to soften, 2-3 minutes (it will not be fully cooked). Drain and rinse.

3. Warm the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat the remaining 5 tbsp. butter in a high sided skillet (or a pot) over medium until foaming. Add the flour; whisk 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the warm milk. Cook, whisking, until bubbling and thickened, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. Add 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, the remaining 2 tsp. thyme, the nutmeg, and the cheese to pan; stir until the cheese is melted.

5. Stir the pasta and tomatoes into the cheese sauce. Pour into the buttered dish; sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Bake until bubbling and golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.



Pre-Op Cupcakes

February 7, 2009

We had a weird day yesterday. My older son was recently diagnosed with a hernia and his surgery was scheduled for yesterday. He has also had a herniated belly button for two years now and the surgeon figured it would be best to fix it at the same time since it would need fixing eventually anyway.

Before they took him back to the OR, the doctor examined him one more time and was having trouble feeling the hernia. He decided that since he was going to be operating on the belly button anyway, they would send a scope in through the navel to take a look and see if there was, in fact, a hernia. When all was said and done, the surgeon said he was 99% sure there was no hernia and just fixed the belly button.

I feel relieved and also somewhat puzzled. My son has been complaining of pain and I and all the medical people involved thought a hernia made sense. Now that that is not what it is, I wonder and worry about what it is that is causing him pain. But on the bright side, the surgery is over and he was a total trooper. He is a little weepy and sleepy today but seems just fine. Watching him walk back to the OR with the anesthesiologist made me burst into tears – after he had rounded the corner of course.

Cupcakes? Oh yes, the cupcakes. Well, if you or anyone you know has had surgery, you know that you are not allowed to eat or drink after a certain time. You also don’t really feel much like eating after the surgery, even if you are allowed to. I knew his last good meal for a while was going to be dinner the night before the operation and I also know that my son LOVES cupcakes. So I made him chocolate chip cupcakes with a chocolate glaze. These little beauties come from a simple little cookbook called Cupcakes! which I kind of scoffed at at first. But I have made quite a few recipes from the book and they all have been delicious. My husband said he liked these best of all. My son was too busy eating to give his opinion.

The cake part of these cupcakes has the flavor of a chocolate chip cookie but the texture of a brownie – nice and dense. I actually made these a few weeks ago, allowed them to cool completely, wrapped them well in foil, and froze them. They didn’t suffer one bit from their time in the cold. When I thawed them, I made sure to lay them out so that they didn’t stick together. The glaze is quite thin so I just put a little dollop on top and allowed it to harden at room temperature for an hour or so. If you follow the recipe as written, you will have more glaze than you need for the cupcakes, but you can refrigerate any extra for 2 weeks in a covered container and just reheat portions of it as needed.


Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Adapted from
Cupcakes!
Makes 18 regular cupcakes

I didn’t have cupcake liners on hand so I just sprayed my muffin tins really well. They came out of the pan just fine. I think if you plan to freeze them, I would skip the liners anyway. If you plan to freeze them, do not glaze them – do it after they have thawed.

2 cups flour
2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup whole milk

2 cups (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 18 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, mix the flour, brown sugar, and baking soda to blend them. Add the butter and mix until the butter pieces are the size of peas, about 2 minutes. You will still seem some loose flour. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bow as needed during mixing. Mix in the egg and vanilla. The batter will still look dry. Mix in the sour cream and milk until the batter looks evenly moistened; you may still seem some lumps of butter. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Fill each paper liner with a generous 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/3 inch from the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks.

Carefully turn out the cupcakes on to the wire racks and turn right side up to cool completely. Add the chocolate glaze either by drizzling with a fork or by spooning a bit on top of each cupcake. Allow to sit until glaze is firm. The cupcakes can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Chocolate Glaze
Makes 2 cups

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces

3 tbsp. light corn syrup

9 oz. (1
1/2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2
tsp. vanilla

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, butter, and corn syrup over low heat until the cream is hot and the butter has melted. The mixture should form tiny bubbles – do not let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate chips, cover, and let them sit for about 30 seconds to soften. Add the vanilla and whisk the sauce until it is smooth and the chocolate has melted. Allow to cool slightly.



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