Oomame Chile Crisp Ice Cream

Moroccan Oomame on Oatmeal with feta

One of my favorite products discovered at the 2021 Fancy Food Show was Oomame's line of globally-influenced chile crisps. Originally from China, chile crisp has become a popular condiment among chile-heads and others who enjoy a flavorful bit of spice plus crunchy texture. It's great on dumplings, but also pizza, pasta, and just about everything else. What I like about Oomame's product is that it comes in four varieties - a classic Sichuan style, plus others borrowing flavor profiles from Mexico, Morocco, and India. While I still like to use the Sichuan version on typically savory dishes, I have found that the dried fruits in the other varieties (fig in Moroccan, papaya in Indian, mango in Mexican) add a subtle sweetness that makes them also work well with foods that are traditionally sweeter. Try a drizzle of Moroccan Oomame with a sprinkle of feta cheese on your next bowl of oatmeal--rather than the usual brown sugar or maple syrup and fruit--for something totally unexpected and totally delicious. But let's push that proverbial envelope a bit, shall we?

Some ice cream shops in Sichuan province have taken to drizzling chile oil on vanilla soft serve. And while a chile crisp sundae seems like a fine idea, I took it even further by putting chile crisp in ice cream. Yes, I did! The Mexican-inspired version of Oomame Global Chile Crisp, in particular, seemed ripe for taking a savory condiment fully into dessert territory. But rather than using vanilla in my frozen confection, I borrowed some elements from the chile crisp itself to flavor the creamy base. I started with Jeni's ice cream recipe, which uses corn starch and cream cheese in place of eggs as a thickener, and infused it with mango and orange peel, adding peanuts as a substitute for the pepitas in the Mexican Oomame. (While they're great for crunch, I didn't think they'd add all that much flavor.) 

The result exceeded my wildest expectations. Mr Minx wasn't all that thrilled with the flavor of dried onion in his ice cream but it didn't bother me. Nor did the occasional hit of cumin. The predominant flavor was orange peel, even more so than chile, which I thought was enough to keep my creation well within the realm of dessert. If you're an adventurous eater, give it a try. 

I have no regrets.

Oomame Chile Crisp Ice Cream

1 clementine or half a small orange

2 cups milk

1 1⁄4 cups heavy cream

1 ounce dried mango strips

Small handful of roasted unsalted peanuts

4 t cornstarch

2⁄3 cup sugar

2 T light corn syrup

1⁄4 t kosher salt

3 T cream cheese, softened

2 T Oomame Mexican Chile Crisp

Additional roasted unsalted peanuts

Chocolate chips (optional - I used a Seattle Chocolates Mexican Chocolate bar, cut into slivers)

Peel the clementine or orange in large strips, saving the fruit segments for another use. Carefully scrape the white pith from the inside of the peel with a small knife. 

Reserve 1/4 cup of milk and put the remaining 1 3/4 cups plus the cream into a 4-quart saucepan. Add the mango, peanuts, and clementine or orange peel. Over medium-high heat, bring the milk to almost a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and allow the flavorings to steep for about 20 minutes. 

Stir the cornstarch into the reserved 1/4 cup of milk and set aside. 

Strain the steeped milk into another 4-quart saucepan, reserving the fruit and nuts. Add the sugar, corn syrup, and salt to the pan and bring the milk to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 4 minutes, then stir in the slurry. Bring back to a boil and cook until thickened, 2 minutes.

Put the cream cheese in a large bowl and pour in 1/4 of the hot milk, whisking until smooth. Carefully whisk in the rest of the hot milk. Stir in the chile crisp. Pour the milk into a storage container. Add a layer of ice cubes to the bottom of a baking pan large enough to fit the storage container and put the container on top of the ice in order to cool the milk mixture down quickly. After about 15 minutes, put the container in the fridge to chill completely, 4 hours or overnight.

Cut the steeped mango and orange peel into small pieces and reserve along with the peanuts.

Put the chilled ice cream base into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions. After the ice cream has started to thicken and is almost done, add the mango, orange, peanuts, and chocolate, if using. Scoop ice cream into a freezer-safe storage container (I just used the same one I used for the hot milk) and smooth with the back of a spoon. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Serve with additional chile crisp, or over your favorite brownies. Or eat straight out of the container.

* 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!

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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
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Flashback Friday - Sugar Snap Pea Salad

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on August 23, 2013.
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I love sugar snap peas, especially raw. I've been known to buy a bag of them to snack on during the long train ride to New York - they take care of both the urges for crunchy things and sweet things, and are full of folate, Vitamin C, and fiber. Win-win!

I tossed a bag of sugar snap peas into the grocery cart one week with no plans for them. Eventually, I opened it up and started snacking. Before I got too far, however, I thought I should share their goodness with my loving husband.

After checking the Internet, I found a number of snap pea salad recipes that involved radishes. That made sense to me, because both vegetables have that horseradish-y bite (it's very subtle in the peas, but it's there). I didn't like any of the dressing ideas, and most of them had cheese of some sort, which did not photograph well at all. Then I found one that was Asian-y, with soy and sesame oil. It used fruit preserves too, which I thought was overkill. The peas are sweet already! Instead, I put in the tiniest bit of peanut butter, which helped emulsify the dressing.

The end result was delicious, and we polished off all of it in one sitting.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad

1/2 teaspoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons superfine sugar
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
3 cups fresh raw sugar snap peas
1 cup radishes, trimmed
1/4 cup chopped roasted unsalted peanuts

Put the peanut butter in a small bowl with the soy sauce. Beat with a fork until incorporated. Add the vinegar, ginger, sugar, sriracha, and oils and beat until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper. The dressing should be boldly flavored, as the vegetables will water it down.

Julienne the sugar snaps and slice the radishes. Place in a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Just before serving, stir in the peanuts. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if necessary.

Serves 2-4



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Kung Pao Cauliflower

Kung Pao chicken is Mr Minx's favorite Chinese dish. He also uses it to measure the worthiness of a Chinese restaurant--if their kung pao is to his liking, we'll most likely eat there again. So when I saw this recipe for kung pao cauliflower in Bon Appetit, I bookmarked it for future use. Mr Minx isn't the biggest fan of cauliflower, but I thought the kung pao-ness of it would sway him.

Cauliflower is becoming the new Brussels sprout. Not all that long ago, the lowly miniature cabbage was relegated to horror stories about hated childhood foods of the 60s and 70s, now they're on trendy restaurant menus everywhere. Or at least they were. Nowadays, cauliflower is popping up instead, usually in some sort of preparation with East Asian origins. Though East Asian cuisines celebrate most members of the brassica family, cauliflower isn't especially popular. However, cauliflower is sturdy and meaty and has a fairly neutral flavor, as far as cruciferous vegetables go, and can be adapted to many types of cooking methods and flavorings. Why not kung pao?

We had a somewhat large cauliflower in the fridge, so I decided it was time to try the Bon Appetit recipe I had bookmarked last year. I changed the method and the ingredients a tad. I felt there was not enough sauce, nor was it going to be sweet enough for our tastes, so I added a bit more sugar and hoisin. The recipe called for sherry vinegar, but we always have a bottle of Chinese black vinegar in the cupbard, so I used that instead. More authentic, as if authenticity matters here. The original recipe also calls for a serrano chile in the stir fry, but rather than buy additional types of chiles (we had the dried japones chiles on hand), I simply added some sambal to the sauce.

If you like the idea of kung pao but are not into the heat of it, you can omit the dried chiles. They aren't just for show--cooking them in the hot oil imparts heat to the oil. Leave out the sambal too, if you're wimpy like that. Not everyone has the same tolerance to chiles and you shouldn't be judged on it.

The dish was a huge success. The kung pao sauce is so good, I think I'll use it on a protein next time, perhaps chicken thighs or tofu. It would probably be work on other vegetables such as broccoli, or hey, even brussels sprouts.

Kung Pao Cauliflower (adapted from Bon Appetit)

For marinade:
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce

For sauce:
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (sherry vinegar may be substituted)
4 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons sambal oelek
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce

For cauliflower:
1 medium head of cauliflower (about 1¾ pounds)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
6 dried japones chiles, chiles de árbol, or other red chiles
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns or ½ teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
3 scallions, dark-green and white parts separated, thinly sliced
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup unsalted, roasted peanuts

Steamed white rice

To make marinade: Stir wine, cornstarch, and soy sauce in a large bowl and set aside.

To make sauce: Stir vinegar, hoisin sauce, sugar, sambal, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

To make cauliflower: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Remove leaves and cut cauliflower into medium florets. Toss with 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil and arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, turning once, until cauliflower is browning in spots. Stir the marinade with a fork to reincorporate the corn starch and add the cauliflower to the bowl. Toss to combine and set aside.

In a large saute pan, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the dried chiles and peppercorns, stirring regularly, until fragrant. Remove the chiles and peppercorns to a plate and set aside. Add the marinated cauliflower to the oil in the pan, discarding excess marinade. Cook the cauliflower for a few minutes to rewarm. Add the white part of the scallions, the ginger, garlic, and peanuts and toss. Pour in the sauce and toss again. Cook until the sauce is fragrant and the cauliflower is coated.

Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the scallion greens.



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Cookies and Pudding

When I get food products to sample and review, I don't really like to talk about the product straight up because I feel like it reads too much like a commercial. And unless the Super Bowl is on, most people don't like commercials. What I prefer to do is concoct some sort of recipe with the product in question and then post that. I feel like I have accomplished something by developing a new recipe, and I can talk about the product, too. But sometimes the products do speak for themselves, especially when they're cookies. Good cookies, that is.

I had this grandiose idea of inventing some sort of new banana pudding, only not using bananas, and with a different flavor of pudding. The La Mere Poulard cookies I was sampling would be the base of the not-banana-pudding, the vanilla wafer replacement. Only they were so tasty, I didn't want to cover them up with other flavors. All three types of cookie I received--sables, shortbread, and caramel biscuits--are buttery and crispy and smell simply wonderful, particularly the caramel ones. Two or three with a cup of tea is a perfect midday pick-me-up.

The cookies come from France--Mont Saint-Michel, to be precise. The story is that Annette Poulard, the local baker's wife, opened an inn on Mont Saint-Michel in 1888. Tourists flocked there for Poulard's cooking and especially her butter biscuits, which she baked for more than 50 years. Today, they're available in the US at stores like Whole Foods (and on the Internet).

Although I no longer wanted to use the cookies in a recipe, I still wanted to make something to go with them. Since I had pudding stuck in my head, I went with it. This recipe is based on the classic Hershey's chocolate pudding recipe, and is so fast and easy I don't know why anyone would ever buy instant pudding. I added peanut butter and rum, just to be different. The result was rich and chocolaty, with a distinct peanut flavor. Eating it with a couple of crispy cookies (the ones in the top photo are the sables) adds a bit of extra texture. You could, if you'd like, crumble some cookies on top of the pudding and pretend you've invented a new dish. Or just skip the pudding and have some of the cookies with a cup of tea.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/4 cup 2% milk
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Splash dark rum
Handful dry roasted unsalted peanuts
Sea salt
La Mere Poulard cookies

Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and kosher salt in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk, first making a paste of the milk + dry ingredients, then adding the rest of the milk. Cook over medium high heat until it comes to a boil, stirring regularly. Boil for 1 minute, until thickened.

Turn off the heat and stir in the peanut butter and butter until combined. Add the vanilla and a healthy splash of dark rum (a few tablespoons worth) and stir until combined. If the mixture seems too thick while it's still warm, thin out with a few tablespoons of milk. Stir in the peanuts, leaving a few for garnish.

Store in the fridge in a covered container until ready to eat. If you're not a fan of pudding skin, then press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the pudding.

Spoon into bowls and garnish with peanuts and a sprinkle of sea salt. Serve with cookies.

4-6 servings.

* 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!



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Tofu for Tofu-Haters

Fried tofu bao, plus one bao with fried eggplant, just because.

I know there are those out there who say they will eat tofu no how no way. "It's yucky," or "it doesn't have any flavor" are common complaints. For one thing, it's not at all yucky, and for another, the lack of inherent flavor is one of the things that makes tofu so versatile. You might have heard that it absorbs the flavors around it, but that's not necessarily true unless you simmer it in a very flavorful sauce for a long time. However, a neutral protein like tofu can really make other ingredients shine because they will stand out in contrast to the soy's bland smoothness. One of my favorite tofu recipes is very simple and very delicious. In it, bold garlic, soy sauce, and chile flavors are emphasized by the milky tofu, which also provides a silky and soothing foil to the palate.

Another thing one can do with tofu is to fry it until it's crispy crunchy, like potato chips or fried chicken. It becomes all about terrific texture and works really well in something like Taiwanese-style steamed buns, or bao. You can buy frozen bao in Chinese supermarkets, or you can make them at home, or, you can totally cheat by using refrigerated biscuit dough (find that recipe here). Pillowy buns, crispy tofu, a bit of creamy Sriracha mayo or sweet hoisin sauce, sliced cucumber, cilantro, and an optional topping of crushed peanuts and sugar (to which I added black sesame seeds), makes a mighty tasty snack.

If you don't want to go to all that trouble, just mix up a dipping sauce of mayo, sriracha, a bit of sugar, some minced green onion, and a pinch of salt. Dip in crispy tofu squares and enjoy.

Super Crispy Fried Tofu

1 14- to-16-pounce package extra firm tofu (the refrigerated kind)
Corn starch
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt

Remove the tofu from the packaging and discard the liquid. Wrap the tofu in a layer of paper towels and place on a plate. Put another plate upside-down over the tofu and weight plate with a jar or can. Refrigerate for at least four hours, changing the towels at least once during that time.

When you're ready to cook the tofu, remove the soggy towels and discard. Cut the block of tofu in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 5 or 6 slices.

Put a half cup or so of corn starch in a bowl. Dredge each slice of tofu in the cornstarch, patting it into each piece and shaking off excess. Put dredged tofu pieces on a plate until you finish coating the rest of them.

Add a couple tablespoons of oil to a large non-stick skillet and heat over high heat. Add the tofu pieces in one layer and cover the pan. Cook until crisp and brown on the bottom, 4-5 minutes. Check the browning process occasionally (it will seem to brown slowly at first) by picking up a piece with kitchen tongs. (Be careful when lifting the lid off the pan! Condensation will have accumulated and will drip off the pan into the oil, causing spattering. It's best to lift the lid straight up, not on an angle, and move it away to the side quickly.)

Once tofu is browned on the bottom, turn pieces and cook an additional 4-5 minutes until the other side is brown. If you feel the tofu is browning too quickly, turn the heat down a bit. (If it browns too fast, not only can it burn, but it won't be as crisp because there will still be moisture inside.)

Remove tofu pieces from the heat and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Season tofu with a pinch of salt while still hot.

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Gluten-Free Millet Salad with Asian Flavors

Necessity is the mother of invention. So are leftovers.

A thorough inventory of our seemingly-full fridge revealed lots of bits and pieces of vegetables. A box of cremini mushrooms, a dozen or so brussels sprouts starting to go brown, and a handful of cherry tomatoes were among the items needing to be used quickly, and I couldn't really think of a dish that would use all of them successfully. Maybe something with pasta, but that seemed too easy.

Up for a challenge, I decided to also use up some of the ancient grains I had recently purchased for experimental purposes. There were full or partial bags of amaranth, multicolored quinoa, and millet in the cupboard, and since I was feeling in an Asian food mood, I went with the millet. While one normally associates Asia with rice, millet is also an important food crop on that continent.

I threw together a peanut sauce with ingredients we usually have on hand, cooked the sprouts and shrooms, and tossed them with some cooked millet. It made a nice accompaniment to some oven-baked chicken, and lots of leftovers for lunches.

Millet Salad with Asian Flavors

1 cup millet
2 heaping tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons agave syrup
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon Chinese broad bean paste (doubanjiang)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1" piece of fresh ginger, grated
Veg of your choice (I used 8 ounces of sauteed sliced mushrooms, a handful of halved cherry tomatoes, and 12 brussels sprouts, trimmed, cut into quarters, and sauteed until soft, but you can use anything you wish, from sugar snap peas to jarred red bell pepper pieces)
3 scallions, chopped
Handful cilantro, chopped
Roasted peanuts for garnish

Place millet and 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot and let simmer 10-15 minutes, until all water is absorbed. Fluff millet with a fork and pour into a bowl to cool.

Combine next eight sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to blend. Add a few tablespoons of water to loosen to a mayonnaise-like consistency.

Once millet is cool, stir in sauce, tossing to coat every grain of millet. Stir in your veggies of choice. Garnish with chopped scallions, cilantro, and peanuts.

Serves 8.



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Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts

When I was a kid, I felt like a bit of a weirdo because I didn't know anyone outside my family that liked Brussels sprouts as much as I did. (Truth be told, that's not the only reason I was weird.) I even liked them boiled and stinky; I suppose that came from living in a Polish household where cabbage was a regular part of mealtime. Nowadays, it seems like everyone likes Brussels Sprouts, or at least restaurants seem to think so. More than any other vegetable, the mini cabbages are served in interesting ways. One never sees green beans or peas or broccoli done up "Buffalo style," or deep fried and served with pancetta, or in a Dijon cream sauce, but that's the norm for Brussels sprouts. And I like it!

I was fortunate enough to marry someone who shares my affection for the little guys, so we eat them fairly often at home. We've even grown them (with mixed success) in our backyard garden. Ordinarily, we make them one of three ways: halved, tossed with oil, and roasted; leaves separated and steamed; grated raw in a salad. It's nice to mix things up sometimes though, so when I spotted a recipe for Brussels sprouts prepared in a kung pao-style sauce, and realized we had a bag of them in the crisper, it seemed like kismet.

The original version of the recipe calls for double the amount of ingredients listed here. It also requires much more sambal AND a handful of dried chiles. While we do enjoy spicy foods, we find sambal oelek (at least the Huy Fong brand we normally buy) to be incendiary and cut back on the amount used. Your mileage may vary, of course. We cut back on the amount of sugar quite a bit as well; the sprouts were still delicious.

Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts (adapted from Bon Appetit)

1 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
2 teaspoons sambal oelek
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoons unseasoned rice vinegar
Handful unsalted, roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss Brussels sprouts and 1 tablespoon of the oil, season with salt and pepper. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast, turning once, until softened and browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Put remaining oil in a saute pan and turn heat to medium-high. Add garlic and ginger and cook for a couple minutes, stirring regularly. Stir in sambal, then add soy, sugar, vinegar, and 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch with enough water (2 teaspoons or so) to make a runny paste. Stir into the sambal mixture and bring to a boil. Simmer until the mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon.

Add cooked Brussels sprouts and toss to coat.

Serve topped with peanuts.


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Sugar Snap Pea Salad

I love sugar snap peas, especially raw. I've been known to buy a bag of them to snack on during the long train ride to New York - they take care of both the urges for crunchy things and sweet things, and are full of folate, Vitamin C, and fiber. Win-win!

I tossed a bag of sugar snap peas into the grocery cart one week with no plans for them. Eventually, I opened it up and started snacking. Before I got too far, however, I thought I should share their goodness with my loving husband.

After checking the Internet, I found a number of snap pea salad recipes that involved radishes. That made sense to me, because both vegetables have that horseradish-y bite (it's very subtle in the peas, but it's there). I didn't like any of the dressing ideas, and most of them had cheese of some sort, which did not photograph well at all. Then I found one that was Asian-y, with soy and sesame oil. It used fruit preserves too, which I thought was overkill. The peas are sweet already! Instead, I put in the tiniest bit of peanut butter, which helped emulsify the dressing.

The end result was delicious, and we polished off all of it in one sitting.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad

1/2 teaspoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons superfine sugar
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
3 cups fresh raw sugar snap peas
1 cup radishes, trimmed
1/4 cup chopped roasted unsalted peanuts

Put the peanut butter in a small bowl with the soy sauce. Beat with a fork until incorporated. Add the vinegar, ginger, sugar, sriracha, and oils and beat until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper. The dressing should be boldly flavored, as the vegetables will water it down.

Julienne the sugar snaps and slice the radishes. Place in a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Just before serving, stir in the peanuts. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if necessary.

Serves 2-4



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Shrimp Salad with Thai Flavors

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

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Pork with Cambodian Flavors

A good while back, I tasted a Cambodian dish prepared by fellow food blogger John, of the very excellent Baltimore Snacker. It was called "Nataing" and contained ground pork, fish sauce, sugar, coconut milk, and tons of garlic - a simple but delicious combination. I was happy to find that the recipe was available in an online version of the Elephant Walk Cookbook and bookmarked it. It took a good year before I got around to adapting it for my personal use, although it was always somewhere on the back of my mind.

Because the Ravens/Steelers NFL Playoff debacle game was on during dinnertime, I whipped up some nachos to choke nosh on while we tore out our hair and screamed at the television watched the game. I had tucked about a pound and a half of pork shoulder left over from the Christmas taco party into the freezer and used a bit of it, along with some chorizo, for the nachos. That left me with more than a pound of defrosted pork shoulder to play with for Sunday's (much calmer) dinner.

While the textures in my version are very different from that of the original, it shares the same rich and savory flavor profile and was delightful over leftover basmati rice.

Cambodian Pork

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 lb cooked pork, chopped roughly (shoulder, tenderloin, roast, etc.)
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
rice

Cook onion in oil until just softened. Stir in pork, garlic, peanut butter and mix until well-combined. Stir in coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer until much of the liquid has evaporated, about an hour. Taste for seasoning; add more fish sauce if necessary. Serve over rice, garnished with cilantro, scallions, and peanuts. Serves 4.

Tempting, Tasty Tofu

Last night I tried something different and made a vegetarian meal for supper - Thai Red Curry Risotto, Asian Broccoli Slaw, and Peanut-encrusted Tofu "Faux Gras." I knew I wanted to make a leg of lamb today, and our protein options were otherwise limited. We had steamed crabs yet again on Friday (yummy!) so I didn't want to make seafood. Then I remembered the box of tofu that was hanging around in the fridge for a while. The sell-by date said September 30th, so I knew it was still safe. But what to do with it?

In the meantime, I got this risotto idea. I wanted to make something Asian-influenced for my starch-needing husband, and went hunting through my collection of foodstuffs. I found half a box of arborio rice in the pantry, a jar of red curry paste in the fridge, and an ample stash of Kaffir lime leaves in the freezer. Since I had landed in Thailand, I decided that the thing to do with the tofu would be to marinate it and then give it a roll in crushed peanuts. The slaw, bagged broccoli slaw simply dressed with rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and sugar, would make a refreshing and crunchy side dish.

Peanut-Encrusted Tofu "Faux Gras"

Marinade
1 tablespoon peanut butter (I used Jif)
2 tablespoons lite soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Coating
1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, crushed
2 tablespoons unflavored dry bread crumbs

1 box extra firm fresh tofu (not the aseptically packaged stuff)
oil for frying

Slice tofu into approximately 3/4" pieces; fit in one layer in shallow pan. Mix marinade ingredients (you may need to put in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the peanut butter and make the honey liquidy) and pour over tofu. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours; more is better.

When ready to cook, mix crushed peanuts and bread crumbs on a plate. Remove tofu slices from marinade and gently coat each with crumb mixture.

Heat a large skillet and add approximately 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. When the oil is very hot, add the tofu in one layer and put a lid on the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until browned, then gently flip and brown the other side. Don't worry if the peanuts get black - it doesn't taste burnt.

I squeezed a bit of Hoisin sauce over the tofu once it was plated, but that wasn't even necessary. The tofu was very flavorful and had a tender, curdy, texture very much like properly cooked foie gras.

The risotto recipe was a bit complicated. I'll post it if I make it again.