A Thai-ish Supper

I always have at least one jar of Maesri Thai chilli paste with sweet basil in the pantry. If you enjoy drunken noodles, you'll like this condiment.

---------------------------------------------------------

Ordinarily, I plan our weekend dinners a few days in advance, but other times I just wing it. We normally have enough raw ingredients in the house to produce something interesting without having to make a run to the store. On this particular weekend, I decided to use some of the Trader Joe's cod we had in the freezer. Cod's not my favorite--I'm not into its weird, almost-buttery, flavor-- but it's relatively inexpensive and cooks quickly. I thought I could do something like my old standby Sriracha Bouillabaisse, which is relatively easy. (I was feeling lazy.) Then I noticed a jar of Thai chilli paste with sweet basil in the cupboard, next to a can of coconut milk, and dinner suddenly veered off in a slightly different direction.

Both recipes start with sautéing aromatics, then adding tomatoes, stock, and something spicy. In this case, the spicy element is provided one of my favorite condiments. I discovered chilli paste with sweet basil leaves at H Mart many years ago. There are a couple of variations and brands available, with holy basil, or labeled as "pad kapao" sauce. All of them contain some variety of Thai basil, chile peppers, soy bean oil, garlic, and salt. The flavors are spicy and aromatic, bright and fragrant, great with everything (I think). If you appreciate the licorice-like flavors of Thai basil and are into hot stuff, I think you'll like it.

I mostly had peppers on hand--an orange bell pepper and a bag of shishitos that I haven't gotten around to using. I chopped up a handful of those; while not really spicy, shishitos still have the flavor profile of a hot green pepper, which I vastly prefer over a green bell pepper. Green beans would work nicely in this dish, too, so if you have some, toss them in. Hell, any veg would be good, and shrimp or tofu would work just as well as the fish.

I simmer the veg and wet ingredients until they look more like a sauce than a soup, adding lots of fish sauce, lime juice, and a pinch or two of sweetener (sugar, agave nectar, honey) to get a balanced flavor. Restaurant Thai food, at least in this area, tends to be sweet. It's nice to be able to cut back on the sweetness when preparing food with Thai flavors at home, but I still think many dishes need at least a touch of sweetness to balance the more intense flavors of chiles and fish sauce.

The protein is added at the last minute and heated only until cooked through. Overcooked fish is a bad thing, so don't do it. I don't think you can overcook tofu, but probably best not to let that go too long, either. I served the dish with plain jasmine rice, your favorite grain would probably be fine. If you reduce the sauce even more before seasoning, you could probably eat this over pasta, should you be so inclined.

Thai Basil Coconut Fish

2 tablespoons neutral oil
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thinly
1-3 green chiles of your choice (jalapenos or whatever you have on hand), sliced thinly
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro stems
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt
1 Knorr fish bouillon cube plus 1 cup water, or 1 8-oz bottle of clam juice
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can coconut milk
2 heaping tablespoons Maesri chilli paste with sweet basil leaves (or to taste)
Fish sauce
Lime juice
Sugar to taste
1 pound boneless, skinless cod filets, or similar white-fleshed fish
Rice for serving
Cilantro and sliced green onion for garnish

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or large pan with lid. Add the onion, peppers, cilantro stems, and a big pinch of salt.. Stir occasionally, cooking until veg have softened a bit and starting to brown, 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute or so. Add the bouillon or clam juice, tomatoes, and coconut milk and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes to evaporate some of the liquid and concentrate the flavors.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the chilli paste and taste for seasoning. If you are serving this with rice, you'll need the sauce to be somewhat aggressively seasoned. Add fish sauce for salt--I used a couple of tablespoons. You can add some kosher salt, too. Add a few squeezes of lime juice and a bit of sugar. Once you have the sauce flavored to your liking (it should have a nice spicy/tangy/sweet balance, but do what works for your palate), slip in the pieces of fish. Cover the pan and cook until the fish is cooked through and easily flakes apart, about 5 minutes.

Serve in bowls, with rice on the bottom or on the side. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 4.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Stuffing My Face in New York - Day Two

I did and didn't eat as much on Day Two as I did on Day One. I ate fewer meals, but the sandwich I had for lunch was honestly enough food for the entire day. Read on.

My regular NY breakfast habit is a stroll down to Dominique Ansel Workshop in Flatiron. I've never been to the original bakery on Spring Street so have never eaten a Cronut. But I have eaten gingerbread croissants, pear tarts, canele, and kouign amann at his Workshop. This time I tried a coffee creme brulee pull-apart bun, made with the same laminated dough as most of his pastries, filled with a blob of coffee cream and topped with a wee creme brulee. Sweet, crispy, creamy deliciousness. I love that they serve La Colombe coffee, a brand out of Philly, and had one with some oat milk, which I sipped as I sat at an outdoor table and watched a crew of people unload what looked like pieces of a set from an enormous truck.

Daisy and I had both recently read about All'antico Vinaio, a Florentine import that opened last November on 8th Ave near Times Square. Though I had wanted to eat mostly Asian cuisines on this visit, after I looked at their menu, I was game for an Italian sandwich. La Paradiso, in particular, caught my eye--mortadella, pistachios, a pesto-like pistachio cream, and stracchiatella (fresh mozzarella soaked in cream) layered between slices of schiacciata, a bread that seemed the love child of focaccia and ciabatta. I thought we could share a sandwich, since these babies appeared to be around 8 inches square and 2 inches thick, but Daisy seemed shocked at the suggestion. We each ordered a sandwich and had them cut in half so we could share. Her choice was La Schiacciata Boss, with Tuscan ham, Pecorino, and truffle cream. Both sandwiches were stellar, with great bread, just crusty enough on the outside, and tasty fillings.  

top: Boss, bottom: Paradise

After that massive lunch, I just wanted a nap; instead we hopped on a bus for a trip to sniff fragrances downtown. We spent quite a bit of time at Mizensir, a narrow boutique filled with the creations of master perfumer Alberto Morillas. He is the creator of familiar fragrances like CK One, Acqua di Gio, and Marc Jacobs Daisy, as well as Must de Cartier, Penhaligon's Iris Prima, and Thierry Mugler Cologne. My rather vast collection of scents includes those last three, and may well include a Mizensir fragrance in the future.

At some point, Daisy suggested we stop for tacos, and I looked at her like she had three heads. I was still working off that colossal bologna sandwich! I did find enough room for a tiny bit of gelato from Gentile. I noticed that they had sorbetto flavored with chinotto, a variety of bitter citrus popular in Italy. Recently I sampled fragrances from Abaton, which specializes in scents made with the fruit, and was curious to taste it. To balance the icy sorbet, I also got some plain fior de latte gelato.

Later that evening, we stopped into the new Manhattan outpost of Nan Xiang, a Flushing, Queens favorite for xiao long bao, aka soup dumplings. Daisy chose the popular pork version of the dumplings, and I went for the Lucky Six combination platter that included pork, chicken, scallop and pork, pork and crab, pork and truffle, and gourd/shrimp/pork. While the oversized dumplings were tasty, the wrappers were somewhat uneven and doughy in places. Still, I enjoyed them, though I really didn't need any more food at that point.

It's amazing I got any sleep at all on this trip, with all the food I ate so late in the day. Perhaps my body was simply exhausted from all the digesting it had to do? Or maybe the 44,000 steps I walked in three days had something to do with it.

If you missed Day One, you can find it here.

Read about my sole meal on Day Three here.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Stuffing My Face in New York - Day One

My eating adventures in New York have been a regular feature on Minxeats for years. Check out the posts found here, here, here, here, here, here, and so on. Neal and I always ate well when we visited NYC, but since I met my friend Daisy in 2017, food consumption has gone up quite a bit. When Daisy and I get together, we may have 2-3 full meals, a couple of snacks, and a stop for drinks in an 8-hour period. Now, it's not constant eating; we do pop into various shops and boutiques that seem interesting, and always make time to sniff perfumes. But still--it's a lot of food consumed in a relatively short amount of time.

On my most recent trip, I met up with Daisy at Golden Diner. It's located in Chinatown, and the location reflects on the otherwise typical diner-style dishes. I ordered the chicken katsu club, featuring tender chicken cutlets, red cabbage slaw, blt, and bulldog sauce on the typical myriad slices of toast. Daisy had the Chinatown egg & cheese sando, the NY standby, but with exceptionally fluffy eggs on a sesame scallion milk bun. Now that I peruse the menu again, I kinda wish I had ordered the Thai Cobb, partly because of the clever name but also because it sounds delicious. 

Let me backtrack a minute. The Golden Diner meal was at about 3:30pm on a Sunday. I had arrived in NY noon-ish, and after tucking my bags safely away with the hotel porter, I headed to a Thai restaurant near Penn Station called Random Access. I'd wanted to eat there for a while and had even made a reservation the last time I was in town, but plans changed.  This time, I was able to satisfy my curiosity about the place with an order of sriracha lime dumplings and an egg pancake. The former comprised steamed chicken dumplings with a spicy mayo, plus cilantro, red pepper, shallots, and coconut. The latter was a roti flatbread merged with an omelet, topped with squid, mussels, bean sprouts, kale, coconut, and a sweet sriracha sauce. Both dishes hit all the right spots, and were a flavorful contrast to the rather wan Thai food I had back home in Baltimore earlier in the week.

Now back to the Daisy-led Food-O-Rama.

We wandered around a bit before visiting Michaeli Bakery. We were there for donuts, but it was too late in the day and they didn't have much of a selection. Instead, we split a rugelach. The rugelach I'm familiar with are made with a sturdy cream cheese pastry and filled with nuts, jam, chocolate, or all of the above. This one was a tiny croissant-like pastry with a chocolate filling rolled into it. It was very good, if very different.

Our next stop was King Dumplings. It used to be a "dollar dumpling" joint when it opened a couple years ago, but now the price has gone up a few bucks. Ten really good pork dumplings for less than $5 is pretty amazing though. 

If you're counting calories, we're probably at 3500 so far.

Our next stop was Kopitiam, specializing in Nonya (Chinese Malay) cuisine. I wanted to try everything on the menu, but we settled on three dishes + dessert. We tried the Nyonya Bak Zhang, a dumpling of blue and white sticky rice with minced pork, mushrooms, winter melon, and salted egg, all wrapped in a mile of some sort of leaf (banana, I'm guessing). I was expecting something yummy like one of my favorite dim sum dishes, sticky rice in lotus. Sadly, the dumpling was cold and overcooked, the salted egg yolk was dried out, and the whole of it pretty flavorless. The tok tok mee made up for it, reminding me of chow fun with its wide noodles in a dark sauce studded with pork, shrimp, and other goodies. 

The pandan chicken was also tasty. The three triangular chicken meatballs were wrapped in pandan leaves and served with a sweet chili sauce.

Asian desserts are not French pastries, so I shouldn't have been surprised when one of the items we ordered was on the gelatinous side. The kuih talam was described as salted coconut milk over a pandan cake base. Yes, those were the flavors, but the "cake" was not the western-style flour-based cake that I expected. The kuih lapis was a "1000-layer" cinnamon butter cake, rather like a crepe cake or maybe a Smith Island cake, only without any frosting. Both desserts, I think, would make a great afternoon snack with some tea.

I opposed the idea of eating a burger next, so we parked ourselves at an outdoor cafe and enjoyed an adult beverage instead. There was plenty more to eat the next day.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Spice and Dice

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on August 9, 2011.

-----------------------------------------

We Minxes love Thai food and ever since the demise of our regular haunt, Bangkok Place, we're always on the lookout for a new favorite. While we really enjoyed a meal at Bangkok Garden, being in Columbia makes it a bit of a haul and not exactly good for any spur-of-the-moment meal decisions. Recently, Mr Minx received a coupon for a place called Spice & Dice, located in a nondescript office park on Joppa Road about halfway between Goucher and Loch Raven Boulevards. That's not far from us, so we made a point to have dinner there one recent Tuesday evening. 

Spice & Dice has a bright and happy interior that, sans tables, would work well as a daycare center. Ignore, however, the many colors and patterns on the walls and concentrate instead on the menu which has a large selection of appetizers, plus curries, stir-fries, and noodle dishes. On our first trip, we sampled the fish cakes and the chicken laab from the appetizer section, plus the gingery chicken ped king and the vibrantly-spiced duck with basil sauce, all washed down with generously-sized glasses of sweet and milky Thai iced tea. After that successful experience, we vowed to visit again soon, this time with camera in tow.

A few weeks later, we met my father and brother for dinner at Spice & Dice. After taking some time perusing the many interesting menu options, Dad opted for the jasmine rice soup followed by pad thai with pork. The soup was outstanding, its light broth tangy with lemongrass and full of tender chicken. The pad thai was a fine rendition of the ubiquitous noodle dish, served with an extra helping of crushed peanuts on the side.

Jasmine Rice Soup

Pad Thai with Pork

We also sampled two appetizers, the chicken teriyaki dumplings and fried calamari. The dumplings were drizzled with an unfortunately goopy sweet sauce that did nothing for them and were otherwise forgettable. The calamari was slightly chewy, as it often is when served in the diamond-scored-rectangular chunks that tend to be typical of Asian restaurants, but was otherwise tasty, particularly when dipped in the lightly spicy pink mayo-based sauce.

Chicken Teriyaki Dumplings - pretty but meh.

Happy Calamari

As fans of Thai basil, my brother and I both ordered dishes that featured that ingredient. Or so we thought. His chicken with basil dish displayed no evidence of that herb's presence, but otherwise had a lively garlic flavor.

Chicken in Basil Sauce

My dish, shrimp with eggplant, contained a decent amount of basil leaves in a sweet-ish sauce that had partly been absorbed by the chunks of bright purple Asian eggplant. It was a bit inconvenient to eat the tail-on shrimp, but otherwise I happily hoovered up this dish, lusciously-sauced romaine leaves and all.

Eggplant and Shrimp with Basil

Mr Minx opted for the jungle curry, a preparation that contains none of the coconut milk present in other Thai curries. It had a very distinctive and unusual herbal flavor, predominately galangal and ginger, and was quite unlike any other Thai dish we've tried.

Jungle Curry with Pork

Some of the dishes at Spice & Dice are a bit on the sweet side - probably a nod to American palates - and the teriyaki dumplings were nothing special, but everything else was quite delicious.

While the decor was busy, the restaurant was not. I hope more people find this cute spot and stop by for a meal so it'll stay around long enough for us to become regulars.

Spice and Dice Thai Restaurant
1220 E Joppa Rd #108
Towson, MD 21286
(410) 494-8777

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on May 2, 2014.

-----------------------------------------

We have a ton of stuff on our freezer. Other than ice cream, I mean. There are several quarts of gumbo from Cajun Kate's, leftover pork shoulder from that 8-lb behemoth I cooked last month, half a roast duck from the Great Wall grocery store in Catonsville, a leg of lamb, pasta sauce, various types of sausages (chorizo, andouille, lap cheong, hot dogs), ground beef, a skirt steak, bags of nuts, yeast, coffee, and bread, and more. And this is one of those standard above-the-fridge freezer jobbies, not a big ol' chest freezer. (So don't believe me when I say we have nothing in the house to eat. What I really mean is that there's nothing that I feel like defrosting and cooking.)

There was a pound of ground chicken in there too. I can't remember why we bought it exactly, maybe to make some laab, but there it was, looking slightly freezer-burned, buried under a pile of other foodstuffs. I determined that if it was not indeed funky with freezer burn, I'd make chicken burgers with it. And not just chicken burgers, but Thai red curry chicken burgers. We had two open jars of Thai Kitchen red curry paste in the fridge, and I've been looking for a way to use the stuff up. We also had a partial jar of  Maesri "chilli paste with basil leaves" and a jar of sliced Kaffir lime leaves. I love that chilli paste stuff and have used it in a number of things over the years. As for the lime leaves--have you noticed how difficult they are to find in the supermarket? And when you do find them, you have to use them right away or they'll go bad? Then I found sliced ones in a jar at H-Mart. They're not quite as powerfully-flavored as fresh, but they'll do in a pinch. And I think their flavor is an essential match to red curry paste.

So...back to the burgers. Ground chicken can often be unpalatably dry, so I always add some chia seeds soaked in water to add moisture. The omega-3 boost doesn't hurt, either. The curry paste also helps to make the meat moist. In fact, the raw mixture will be very moist, so don't be anal about trying to get perfectly round patties. Refrigerate them for a while before cooking so the flavors meld and the patties firm up a bit.

These were a big hit. The burgers were not only moist, but also super flavorful. We ate them both on bread and as-is with a salad, using the special sauce as dressing.

Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers

2 teaspoons chia seeds soaked in 1 tablespoon water
1 lb ground chicken
1 tablespoon coconut milk powder
4 teaspoons Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste
2 teaspoons finely minced Kaffir lime leaves
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well to incorporate the chia and curry paste. Form into patties, between 4-8, depending on the size of your rolls, number of guests, or appetite. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors will meld.

Heat canola oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. When hot, add the chicken patties. Cook for 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook an additional 3 minutes.

Serve with Special Sauce.

Special Sauce

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Maesri Thai chilli sauce with basil
1/2 roasted red bell pepper, diced
2 scallions, white and green part, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Serve with Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Thai-style Crab Cakes

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 6, 2012.
----------------------------------

Sometimes I have a hankering for crab, and on those days, even mediocre crab will do. I have found that in the world of mediocre crab (the canned stuff that Phillips puts out, for instance), claw meat tends to have the most flavor. It's also more reasonably priced than lump. I bought a can of crab claw meat for the okonomiyaki I made a couple of weeks back, but didn't use all of it. The rest became crab cakes.

Our Thai basil was growing like gangbusters, so I thought I'd make a cake with Thai flavors: lemongrass; red curry paste; basil. I realized I should probably use a bit of breading, since claw meat tends to be on the moist side. I didn't want to use up the bit of bread earmarked for Mr Minx's lunch the next day, so grabbed the next carby thing I found - a box of corn Chex.

It worked quite well. After a long rest in the fridge, the cakes stayed together in the pan, and they formed a nice crispy crust, too.

My favorite thing about using Chex as a crust: getting out my frustrations by beating on them with a meat tenderizer.

Thai-Spiced Crab Cakes

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Thai Kitchen red curry paste
1 teaspoon lemongrass paste
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha
12 ounces crab claw meat
1/2 cup Thai basil, cut into a fine chiffonade
1/2 cup crushed Corn Chex cereal
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a large bowl, mix together mayo, red curry paste, lemongrass, and Sriracha. Fold in crab, basil, and cereal. Add salt and pepper to taste. Form into 6-8 patties. Refrigerate for several hours; overnight is best.

Heat oil in a large saute pan. Add crab cakes. Cook for 10-12 minutes, turning over once, until heated through and browned on both sides.

Serve with peanut sauce.

Peanut Sauce

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon lemongrass paste
1 tablespoon milk
lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped scallions

Warm peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl or ramekin until runny. Stir in Sriracha, lemongrass, and milk. Add enough lime juice to create a drizzle-able texture (3 tablespoons or so). Stir in scallions.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Shrimp Salad with Thai Flavors

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on June 8, 2012.

When the weather gets truly hot - up in the 90s - with high humidity, we don't really want to cook. Or eat, for that matter. Sometimes a nice cold salad is the best way to beat the heat. That, and cranking the air conditioning. 

I had a pound of shrimp in the fridge that was destined for either salad or cocktail, but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do. When Mr Minx said he'd be happy eating PB&J, I was inspired to create a somewhat Thai-ish shrimp salad with peanut butter in the dressing.

Shrimp Salad with Thai Flavors

4 teaspoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Sriracha
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1 teaspoon lemongrass paste
1 lb shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined, cut into approximately 1/2" pieces
5 Peppadew peppers, diced, or 3 tablespoons chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon Thai basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
peanuts and Thai basil for garnish

Combine first ten ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in shrimp, peppers, and basil. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if needed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Serve on lettuce-lined plates or on a sandwich.

Serves 2-4
----------------------------------

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Christmas Dinner 2009

Christmas is almost here!

--Kathy

This post was originally published on December 29, 2009.
------------------
Christmas Dinner 2009

Some people make turkey for Christmas, but not me. If I never see turkey again, I'd be very happy! This holiday, my bird of choice was duck.

Meet Donald. I roasted him for 4 hours at 300°F and an additional hour at 350°F, after slashing through the skin all over. Most of the fat rendered out (and was greedily saved by me for cooking potatoes in the future) which resulted in crisp skin.


Donald was yummy.

While he was a-roasting, I prepared an appetizer of chicken-fried sweetbreads with lemon mayo.

Man, sweetbreads are a pain-in-the-tuckus to make. First they have to be soaked for a couple hours, then poached. Membrane-removal is next, followed by several hours of pressing. After all of that, I cut them into small pieces, dipped each one in seasoned flour, then beaten egg, then seasoned breadcrumbs, and shallow-fried them in canola oil. The lemon mayo was a simple concoction of 2 T mayo, the juice and grated rind of one half lemon, and a pinch of salt.

Overall, it was pretty good, although I feel I could have poached the sweetbreads just a tad longer. The texture I achieved wasn't quite as firm as the sweetbreads we ate at Volt.

The duck was a much easier preparation. I wanted to make a riff on Thai Luong's Basil Duck, so I mixed up a chunky sauce of sautéed onion, fresh basil, garlic, and a couple of tablespoons of Thai chile basil sauce.

The sides were a leek and mushroom fondue (leeks, fresh shiitake, dried chanterelle, and white mushrooms cooked in butter and olive oil until the leeks "melt" and the mushrooms are tender), and Jasmine rice.

Everything turned out deliciously, and I impressed even myself.

For dessert, I put to use some of the many cookies we had on hand and made ice cream sandwiches. This was accompanied by hot chocolate.

A shame Mr Minx and I had only one guest for Christmas dinner. It meant more food for us...which is not necessarily a good thing. [urp]

Posted on Minxeats.com.

#givingtuesday at Wit & Wisdom

Executive Chef Zack Mills of Wit & Wisdom is partnering with Chef Tim Dyson of Dooby’s and Chef Cyrus Keefer of 13.5%Wine Bar to host an “evening in Thailand” complete with a Thai-influenced menu and drinks on #GivingTuesday in support of nonprofit Urban Light.

The chefs will prepare an intimate, private four-course menu to be served alongside wine pairings from Wit & Wisdom’s lead sommelier, Julie Dalton.

Founded by Baltimorean Alezandra Russell, Urban Light is dedicated to shedding light on the overlooked and ignored homeless population of boys in Thailand, specifically Chiang Mai, who are vulnerable and at risk of exploitation and trafficking.

“I’m thrilled to collaborate with some of the most creative chefs in Charm City on this dinner— Thai is a style of cuisine I trained for in the early stages of my career,” said Chef Mills. “#GivingTuesday is a powerful movement that I’m honored to harness in support of Urban Light’s cause to uplift and empower boys in Thailand.”

Wit & Wisdom, A Tavern by Michael Mina
Private Dining Room
Four Seasons Hotel
200 International Drive
Baltimore, MD 21202

Tuesday, December 1, 7pm

$100 per person ++ (plus tax and gratuity plus Eventbrite fee), all proceeds benefit Urban Light. $100 of the cost is tax-deductible.

Reserve your ticket now - there are only 36 seats, and they will go fast!
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/wit-wisdom-x-urban-light-x-givingtuesday-four-course-thai-dinner-prepared-by-chef-zack-mills-tim-tickets-19362749505



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Thai Chili

I hate football season, I really do. While I enjoy the game, both the skill and brutality, I don't enjoy the tension. It's hard having a favorite team, because the enjoyment of an entire weekend hinges upon the outcome of the game. And the Ravens have been sucking big time this season. BIG time. But I put on my Joe Flacco jersey or at least something else purple and sit in front of the boob tube every week, drinking and biting my cuticles, hoping and praying that they'll not make total asses of themselves.

I am a glutton for punishment.

I especially hate 1pm games. We like to eat dinner early, so when the game ends at 4 or 4:30, I have precious little time to walk the dog and prepare a meal before the hungry beast that is Mr Minx comes upstairs for something to take his mind off the most recent pigskin debacle. That would be dinner. What I normally end up doing is making chili or a similar long-cooked dish that bubbles away on the stove while we stamp our feet and grit our teeth in our basement TV room. I can't count the number of chili variations I've made over the years; it's gotten a little tired. Last week, I made something that was mostly different from chili, yet not. It was a fairly lazy preparation, a little sauteing and then some simmering, but it was good. And it made a ton, so we were able to get away with not thinking about one dinner later in the week.

Thai Green Curry with Pork and Green Veg

1 medium onion, diced
5 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled, and diced
2 lbs ground pork
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar Thai Kitchen green chili paste
2 cans coconut milk
1 bunch cilantro
2 cups frozen spinach
2 cups frozen peas
Lime juice
Fish sauce
Jasmine rice
Chopped scallions, for garnish

Saute the onion and peppers in a tiny bit of veg oil and a pinch of salt until onions are wilted. Add the pork and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until no longer pink and starting to brown in parts. Stir in the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the chili paste and stir well to coat all of the meat. Pour in the coconut milk, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.

Finely chop the cilantro, including tender stems. Add half of it to the simmering pot. Cook for one hour, or until pork is very tender. Add the remaining cilantro, the spinach, and the peas. Cook until veg are heated through. Season with lime and fish sauce to taste.

Serve over hot Jasmine rice with a sprinkling of scallions.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Cyrus Keefer's Pique Pop-Up at Sotto Sopra

Chef Cyrus Keefer, formerly of Fork & Wrench and Birroteca, will be opening his own restaurant in Hampden. The 25-seat Piqué will feature seasonal cuisine with French and Asian influences. We attended the Piqué pop-up at Sotto Sopra last week and were treated to a selection of the chef's dishes.

We started out with passed apps, including fried chicken liver tacos (which should become a Thing), steak tartare, and Keefer's now-famous escargot buns. Then we sat down to six courses, all of which were flavorful, imaginative, and elegantly presented. Not to mention beautiful. See photographic evidence, below.

Pork belly dumpling, whiskey vinegar, dashi crema

Insalada Bianca - cippolini onion, pickled mushroom, cauliflower, tart apple, mascarpone

I loved the subtle touches in the meal, the crisp soy nuts in the salad, the roasty sunchokes in the duck dish, the silky little shrimp on the chawanmushi (egg custard) dish.

Tender octopus - tomatillos, green curry, coconut poached potato

Egg custard, marinated tomato and olive, smoked olive oil

Duck pot au feu, roast turnips, black garlic, ginger, Thai basil

Spice cake, caramel, meringues

If you'd like to support Chef Keefer's endeavors, he has a Kickstarter to raise funds to open the restaurant. A high-end French/Asian place will be a new concept for 36th Street, don't you think? And a welcome one, indeed.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Thai Red Curry BBQ Sauce

I imagine that many people in non-barbecue-famous states believe that bbq sauce is one of those magical substances that exist only in bottles on supermarket shelves. Most of these people have the fixins for a classic sweet tomato-based sauce in their own fridge and pantry. A lot of ketchup, some brown sugar, onions, garlic, and various savory seasonings are all one needs to make a perfect topping for grilled chicken, ribs, and pulled pork. And there's no limitations to the kind of savory seasonings that can be used. For the sauce here (pictured on pulled pork), I cleaned out the last 2 tablespoons from a jar of red curry paste and finished up a big bottle of fish sauce. If Alabama can make white barbecue sauce with mayonnaise, and North Carolina with loads of vinegar, then why can't I make a sauce with flavors borrowed from Thai food?

I can. I will. And I did. And it was pretty tasty.

I had that supermarket red curry to use up, and that stuff is pretty mild. If you want some real kick to your 'que, then use the Maesri brand paste they sell in Asian markets, or, if you have the wherewithal, make your own.

Thai Red Curry BBQ Sauce

1/2 onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch salt
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Thai Kitchen red curry paste
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup
1 tablespoon light soy
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

In a medium saucepan, cook the onion in the olive oil and pinch of salt over medium heat until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute or two. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning; if you think it should be saltier, add more fish sauce. More tangy, add more lime. Thai Kitchen red curry paste is mild/not hot, so if you want heat, add a pinch or two of cayenne pepper.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Thai Bolognese

In a three day period, Mr Minx and I dined at Bobby Flay's new restaurant, Gato, had a 7-course lunch at Le Bernardin, another multi-course lunch at Ma Peche, and dinner at Harold Dieterle's Kin Shop. With all of that good food behind us, it was hard to come home to a fridge full of nothing. Right away we went to the grocery store to stock up on fresh veggies and dinner fixins. I figured a spicy Asian-style meal would be a good segue from fancy NY food to home cooking, and the first night home whipped up a pasta sauce that was part laab, part Bolognese.

I wanted to use ground pork, but the store we visited had none. Instead, I used ground turkey and made sure to season it well to get rid of, well, the turkey flavor. There's always an assortment of Asian condiments in the fridge (miso, gochujang, hoisin, chili bean paste) so I combined my favorite Thai chilli with basil paste and red curry paste, plus lots of fish sauce, lime juice, and coconut milk powder to make a richly flavored yet light sauce. You could use liquid coconut milk, but I find it doesn't keep well if you don't use the whole can right away. Instead, I always have packets of dried coconut milk so I can use a little or a lot and then store the rest in a zip-top bag in the cupboard.

While the dish wasn't Kin Shop-worthy, it was still pretty darn delicious.

Thai "Bolognese" Sauce

1/2 large onion, chopped
Vegetable oil
The innermost leaves of 1 stalk of lemongrass, bashed with the side of a knife and minced
1 lb ground turkey or pork
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon Thai chilli basil paste (Maesri brand)
1 tablespoon red curry paste (Thai Kitchen)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons coconut powder
1/4 cup water
Juice of half a lime
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
Chopped cilantro
Thai basil
Chopped scallions
Fresh mint

Cook onion in vegetable oil over medium high heat until translucent. Add lemongrass and ground meat, breaking up meat with wooden spoon. Cook, stirring constantly, until meat is mostly cooked through and beginning to brown. Stir in garlic, chilli basil and red curry pastes, and 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce.

Combine the coconut powder, water, and lime juice in a bowl. Pour over meat mixture in pan and stir well. Add sugar and remaining fish sauce. Turn heat to low. Cook mixture until ground meat doesn't taste strongly of turkey or pork but has taken on the flavors of the pastes and fish sauce, 5-10 minutes.

Serve over pasta or rice, garnished with plenty of fresh herbs and scallions. Alternately, you can chill the mixture and eat it like laab (Thai ground meat salad), rolled in fresh lettuce leaves.

Serves 4-6.



Posted on Minxeats.com.