Thai Beef Salad

It's not even Summer yet and we've already had some sizzling weather on the East Coast. When the weather is warm and I don't want to spend a lot of time fussing with dinner, I resort to gazpacho and salads so I can stay out of a hot kitchen. When I got word of the Keystone Beef recipe contest in honor of National Beef Month, I knew a quick salad was the way to go. It helped that the rules require the dish be made in 30 minutes or less, but that was going to happen anyway because the main ingredient was pre-cooked meat. Yeah yeah, I see you wrinkling your nose at the thought of canned, pre-cooked, beef. I felt the same way, but then I tasted Mr Minx's Emergency Chili made with the same product, and realized that canned beef isn't all that different from canned tuna. It's convenient and tasty and cuts down on cooking time in a big way.

This dish cooks for about 12 minutes, and chopping takes maybe another 10, but the flavor payoff makes it seem like it took much longer. I served the salad over a pile of baby spinach and arugula, but you can scoop it into cups of lettuce, if you'd like, or even eat it over rice or pasta.

Thai Beef Salad

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sambal oelek
1 can Keystone beef, drained
Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved, quartered if large
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 scallions, chopped
Salt to taste
Handful of torn mint leaves
Handful of cilantro
French fried onions
Fresh greens of your choice

Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and sambal in a bowl. Place the beef in a sauce pan and warm over medium heat. Stir in the sauce. Cook for ten minutes. Add the tomatoes, carrot, and scallions and stir. Cook an additional minute or two. Taste for seasoning and add salt, if necessary. Stir in most of the mint and cilantro, leaving a few pieces for garnish.

Serve the beef warm or at room temperature over a pile of greens. Garnish with leftover mint and cilantro and some of the french fried onions.

Serves 3-4 as an appetizer or two as a main dish.

* 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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Thai Red Curry BBQ Sauce

It's football time again, and the Ravens have a ton of 1 pm games. I hate that. It really cuts into my ability to make interesting weekend food. You see, I only cook on the weekends (Mr Minx has weeknight kitchen duty) and I like to spread my prep and cooking out over a long period of time. If I spend a big chunk of the afternoon with my eyes glued to a football game, that gives me much less time for prep. So I tend to resort to either long-cooking recipes like chili or fast things like nachos, both of which are rather boring. To me, anyway.

I also like to make things like pulled pork. A pork butt has to cook for hours, so I pop it in the oven before gametime and by the time it's all over, the meat is ready for shredding. But I can't use bottled bbq sauce. I haven't really found one that I like. Most are too sweet, or too smoky. And I figure if I can't make an entirely inventive meal on Sundays, I can at least make one component from scratch. Like bbq sauce.

I like making sauces, and bbq sauce is easy if you have the basics: ketchup; onion; brown sugar; an acid. Mr Minx picked up a bottle of McCormick Red Curry seasoning recently, so I used it to make a Thai-ish bbq sauce. We already had fish sauce and lime juice on hand, so it was pretty easy to throw together and refrigerate before the game. Afterward, I shredded the boneless mini pork butt that was cooking in the oven and made a salad with a bag of broccoli slaw and leftover peanut sauce.

Easy, time efficient, and somewhat interesting. Oh, and tasty, which of course is the most important part.

Thai Red Curry BBQ Sauce
This sauce would also be a great glaze for chicken wings.

Olive oil
1/2 ripe bell pepper (I used yellow), roughly chopped
1 cup roughly chopped onion
Kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2-3 teaspoons McCormick Thai Red Curry seasoning, or more to taste
Small handful torn cilantro
1/2 cup ketchup
6 ounces (1/2 12-oz jar) apricot preserves
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
Juice of 1 lime
Fish sauce
Brown sugar

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a sauce pan and add the pepper, onion, and a pinch of salt. Cover pot and cook until vegetables are wilted, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and stir well to combine. Cook an additional minute until garlic is fragrant. Add a teaspoon of McCormick Red Curry seasoning to the pan and stir well. Add the cilantro, ketchup, preserves, stock or water, and lime juice and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat until reduced and thickened to ketchup consistency. Season with additional 1 or 2 teaspoons of curry seasoning, and a few tablespoons of fish sauce. The sauce should be fairly tangy, but if you prefer a sweeter bbq sauce, add a tablespoon or so of brown sugar.

Remove from heat and blend to a fairly smooth puree with a stick blender. Alternatively, use a regular blender, but be very careful with blending hot liquids, as the heat buildup in the blender jar can cause the lid to pop off. Either let the sauce cool a bit, or take the center plastic cap off the blender lid and hold a kitchen towel over the lid while blending.

Store in a covered container in the fridge for up to one week. Makes about a pint.



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Thai Lettuce Wraps

If you're a regular reader of Minxeats, you've probably noticed that I tend to cook with and promote various specialty food products in the warmer months. That's because I've recently been to the Summer Fancy Food show and either picked up some samples to play with at the show, or were sent products to try. One of my favorite products from the show this year was Runamok Maple Syrup, which comes in 10 varieties (including smoked, rum-barrel-aged, cardamom-infused, etc.) and is really quite delicious stuff. I'm not a big pancake/waffle eater, so I've been trying out recipes that use the syrups in a more creative way.

The Makrut Lime Leaf-infused syrup really speaks to my creative nature. If you're familiar with Thai food, you're probably familiar with makrut lime leaf (also called "kaffir" lime); its aromatic citrussy flavor is a staple in that cuisine. My thoughts naturally turned to using this syrup in Asian-inspired dishes, like this one for pork lettuce wraps. It's kinda Thai, inspired by the spicy meat salads known as larb. It comes together quickly, and apart from the maple syrup and Thai basil, uses ingredients found in most grocery stores.

Of course, you can still make the dish without either the syrup or the basil. Just substitute regular maple syrup for the Runamok and add the finely grated rind of 1 lime. There's no substitute for Thai basil, IMHO, so just don't worry about that part.

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
6 scallions, chopped (divided use)
1 lb ground pork
1/2 bell pepper, diced
Handful of green beans, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons Runamok Maple Makrut Lime Leaf Maple Syrup
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon lemongrass paste (I like Gourmet Garden, found in produce sections of most major supermarkets)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped Thai basil
2 teaspoons sriracha, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Salt
1 head Boston or butter lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried thoroughly
Lime wedges for garnish

Heat the oil in a large saute pan and add 4 of the scallions. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the ground pork, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula and stirring regularly. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the pork is starting to brown and is mostly broken into small pieces. Add the bell pepper and green beans and cook for about 4-5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup, fish sauce, lemongrass paste, garlic, herbs, cilantro, and ginger. Pour over the pork and vegetables in the pan and mix well. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cover the pan. Cook for 10-12 minutes, until the pork absorbs most of the sauce.

Taste for seasoning. Add salt, if needed (you could also add more fish sauce).

Put the lettuce leaves in a bowl. Put the cooked pork in another bowl. To eat, put spoonfuls of pork mixture into lettuce. Squeeze over a bit of lime, and more sriracha, if desired.

* 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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#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



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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.



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Dining In New York, May 2015, Part 1

It had been a year since I'd sniffed and eaten my way around New York, and high time I did it again. So I made arrangements to go up one Friday morning to check out as many restaurants and perfume counters I could squeeze into a quick 30 hours.

I planned to begin my scented tour in upper midtown, so I wanted to eat lunch in that neighborhood. Quality Meats is on 58th Street, just down the street from Bergdorf's. Despite being primarily a steakhouse, they had a number of interesting chopped salads on their luncheon menu. The salad varieties included classic, green goddess, roasted beet, Mediterranean, and Eastern (pan-Asian), all of which could be topped with one's choice from a list of proteins. I went with the roasted beet salad (baby beets, radicchio, frisee, arugula, and toasted walnut vinaigrette) with seared yellowfin tuna.

Arrestingly plated, the large portion of bitter greens and beets was topped with perfectly cooked tuna. While the salad itself could have used both more dressing and more seasoning (thankfully there was a tiny salt cellar on the table), I thought the tuna was nicely seasoned and appreciated the subtle hint of cumin.

I also tried a side of the restaurant's signature corn creme brulee. I had originally also planned to order ice cream for dessert, but the brulee was sweet enough to stand in for that course. Extremely rich and creamy, the generously-portioned custard was more cream than egg, and the burnt sugar topping added a pleasant bitterness.

Much later that evening, I found myself wandering through the West Village. Not having made a dinner reservation left my choices wide open...or as wide open as they can be at 7pm on a bustling Friday night. I remembered enjoying Harold Dieterle's Kin Shop on my last trip to NY; at that time Mr Minx and I sampled several outstanding items. A quick check of my OpenTable app revealed that the next available reservation wasn't until 10:30pm. Undeterred, I walked up 6th Avenue anyway to try my luck. I scored a seat at the bar where I enjoyed a fragrant Siamese Smash (Heaven Hill bourbon, calamansi, yuzu, lemon bitters, & thai basil) while perusing the menu.

I ended up ordering two appetizers. The first was a steamed peekytoe crab & spicy pork crepe in a coconut broth with chili oil and fresh herbs. The light rice flour crepe was wrapped around a sausage-like cylinder of pork and crab and set atop a gorgeous broth redolent of coconut and fish sauce. A side order of sticky rice was employed to soak up all of the delicious juices.

A special of crispy lamb ribs with a crab dipping sauce served as my entree. The four ribs were small but meaty, lightly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. They were lightly seasoned, but when eaten with a bit of everything else on the plate--sauce, herbs, pickled onions--the flavor shone.

I find that eating alone at a bar can often be amusing. First I got a laugh from a guy showing off his brand new Apple watch...which refused to work in the restaurant. Money well spent. When he left, he was replaced by a Latino man with a very heavy accent. He seemed to think that Kin Shop was a garden variety Thai restaurant and that he could get pad Thai with chicken. If he couldn't get pad Thai with chicken, could he get something else with chicken? If he had examined the menu at all, rather than playing with his phone, he would have seen there was not a single chicken dish on the menu. Equally amusing was that the bartender, who doubled as our waiter, insisted that not only could he not get pad Thai with chicken, he could not get pad Thai. But pad Thai (with shrimp) was clearly available. (Perhaps not so clearly, as it was spelled "phat" Thai on the menu.)

After dinner, I walked in search of gelato. There are actually many places to get gelato in the neighborhood, but all of them had a line out to there. I stepped into Cones, on Bleecker Street, and opted for Argentine-style ice cream--helado--instead. Similar to gelato in that it has a lower fat and calorie count than American ice cream, helado is still decadently creamy. I enjoyed two flavors, sweet potato studded with bits of brie cheese, and corn, both richly sweet.

For sure, my sniffing adventures weren't nearly as satisfying as my eating adventures on this particular day.









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Turkey Laab Burgers

I had purchased a pound of ground turkey with which to make some laab, a tasty Thai dish of seasoned ground meat. Then I remembered the two ciabatta rolls that were left in the freezer and offered Mr Minx the option of turkey burgers, instead. With laab seasoning, of course. I don't really like turkey all that much, finding it unpleasantly gamy, yet bland at the same time, so a goodly dose of chile sauce and lemongrass can only improve the stuff, don't you think?

Turkey also turns out some pretty dry burgers, so if you can swing it, add some chia seeds and water to keep the mixture moist. (I buy my chia seeds at Nuts.com.)

Turkey Laab Burgers

1 teaspoon chia seeds
2 tablespoons water
1 pound ground turkey (if you prefer chicken or pork, go for it)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2-3 teaspoons chile sauce (I used Sambal Oelek; Sriracha works too.)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons lemongrass paste (Gourmet Garden)
2 tablespoons chopped mint
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 scallions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the chia seeds and water in a small bowl. Allow seeds to absorb water, about 15 minutes. If you're using ground pork, you can omit this step.

Mix all ingredients well, including the soaked chia seeds. Put a tiny bit on a microwave-safe plate and cook for 20-30 seconds. Taste for seasoning. If the mixture needs more of anything - ginger, chile sauce, lime juice, etc. - add it now, and make sure there's plenty of salt and pepper. Turkey has a very strong flavor (I think) and it takes a bit to mask it.

Form meat mixture into 4-8 patties. Cook in a bit of olive or other oil over medium-high heat until cooked through and browned on both sides.

Serve on buns with fresh arugula, mayonnaise with a bit of Thai basil or cilantro mixed in, sliced tomato, and cheese if you want.

Serves 4.



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