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.

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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!

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Flashback Friday - Dinner: An Improvisation

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 1, 2011.

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It's fairly unusual that I don't cook something from scratch on the weekend, but every once in a rare while, I take a break. One recent Saturday, Mr Minx whipped up some spaghetti and meatballs, and on the following day I heated up some leftovers. And when I say "heated up some leftovers," I really mean "created a whole new dish with some pre-cooked items." I like to play with my food, and rather than eating leftover baby back ribs as is, I thought I'd gussy them up a bit.

What I really wanted to make was a banh mi sandwich, but I was too lazy and it was too hot to take a stroll to the grocery store for a baguette. Once I had that stuck in my head though, it was hard to shake. In addition to the pork, I had a bulb of fennel in the fridge, which I thought might make an adequate stand-in for the pickled daikon or radishes I would ordinarily put in a banh mi. Particularly if I used some of the plethora of licorice-y tasting Thai basil that was currently growing on our back porch as garnish. It was starting to sound like a plan.

There was just that bread issue to tackle.

In lieu of bread, I decided to make rice flour crepes. I should have just gone with the flour tortillas we had and called the dish "tacos," because the crepes were a disaster. It took about half the batter before a small crepe was successfully produced, and by that time, I was thoroughly discouraged.

Our dinner was supposed to look like this:

Instead, it looked like this:

I ended up slicing all of the crepes into ribbons and stir frying them with the pork, adding fish sauce, sugar, garlic, lemongrass, Sriracha, and ginger to the pan. The "noodles" were then topped with a handful of pickled fennel, some pickled carrots, plus cilantro, mint, and Thai basil. It was good, but not what I wanted.

If you want to try making rice crepes - or rice crepe noodles, here's a recipe:

1 cup rice flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Scoop out 1/4 cup at a time onto a hot, greased non-stick skillet over high heat, swirling the pan so the batter forms about a 6" circle. Cook about 30 seconds, then loosen the crepe with the edge of a spatula, flip, and cook the other side for 30 seconds longer. That's easier than it sounds! Warning: make sure not to slip the spatula under the crepe more than half an inch or so, because when you remove the spatula, the crepe will tear. Just ease it around the outermost edge until the crepe is loosened, then work the spatula under the whole thing and flip it.

Stack crepes on a plate as you make them. Cursing optional. Roll around fillings, or if broken, use like noodles. Serves 4.

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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 - Dinner: An Improvisation

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 1, 2011.

It's fairly unusual that I don't cook something from scratch on the weekend, but every once in a rare while, I take a break. One recent Saturday, Mr Minx whipped up some spaghetti and meatballs, and on the following day I heated up some leftovers. And when I say "heated up some leftovers," I really mean "created a whole new dish with some pre-cooked items." I like to play with my food, and rather than eating leftover baby back ribs as is, I thought I'd gussy them up a bit.

What I really wanted to make was a banh mi sandwich, but I was too lazy and it was too hot to take a stroll to the grocery store for a baguette. Once I had that stuck in my head though, it was hard to shake. In addition to the pork, I had a bulb of fennel in the fridge, which I thought might make an adequate stand-in for the pickled daikon or radishes I would ordinarily put in a banh mi. Particularly if I used some of the plethora of licorice-y tasting Thai basil that was currently growing on our back porch as garnish. It was starting to sound like a plan.

There was just that bread issue to tackle.

In lieu of bread, I decided to make rice flour crepes. I should have just gone with the flour tortillas we had and called the dish "tacos," because the crepes were a disaster. It took about half the batter before a small crepe was successfully produced, and by that time, I was thoroughly discouraged.

Our dinner was supposed to look like this:

Instead, it looked like this:

I ended up slicing all of the crepes into ribbons and stir frying them with the pork, adding fish sauce, sugar, garlic, lemongrass, Sriracha, and ginger to the pan. The "noodles" were then topped with a handful of pickled fennel, some pickled carrots, plus cilantro, mint, and Thai basil. It was good, but not what I wanted.

If you want to try making rice crepes - or rice crepe noodles, here's a recipe:

1 cup rice flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Scoop out 1/4 cup at a time onto a hot, greased non-stick skillet over high heat, swirling the pan so the batter forms about a 6" circle. Cook about 30 seconds, then loosen the crepe with the edge of a spatula, flip, and cook the other side for 30 seconds longer. That's easier than it sounds! Warning: make sure not to slip the spatula under the crepe more than half an inch or so, because when you remove the spatula, the crepe will tear. Just ease it around the outermost edge until the crepe is loosened, then work the spatula under the whole thing and flip it.

Stack crepes on a plate as you make them. Cursing optional. Roll around fillings, or if broken, use like noodles. Serves 4.



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Flashback Friday - Avocado Soup and Crab Salad

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on June 21, 2013.

I do most of the cooking on the weekends, except when we go out to eat (of course). If I'm thinking ahead, I plan my meals by Tuesday, our usual grocery shopping day. Most of the time though, I don't give it a thought until Thursday or Friday and then I have to decide whether I should just use what we have in the house, or schlep down to the grocery store to pick up special ingredients.

One recent weekend, we had steamed crabs on Saturday and ended up with a nice container of leftover meat. Rather than default to making crab cakes, I decided to make a crab salad and serve it with a soup made from the two ripe avocados we had picked up earlier in the week. The soup was thick and lusciously creamy, and the citrussy salad added the perfect touch of acid.

I used black garlic to season the soup because I had it. You can use one clove of regular garlic, but chop it and add it to the scallion while it's cooking to cut some of the strong garlic taste. Of course, if you like the flavor of raw garlic, don't let me get in your way!

Avocado Soup

4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
olive oil
2 ripe Haas avocados
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
3 cloves black garlic
couple shakes of hot sauce (I used green Tabasco)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook scallions in a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt until wilted. Add them, along with the rest of the ingredients, to the bowl of a food processor or blender and purée. If the mixture is too thick for your taste, add a bit more stock or yogurt. Season to taste, adding more lime juice, if desired. Serve chilled, topped with a handful of crab salad.

Makes 4 appetizer or 2 main dish servings.

Crab Salad

2 tablespoons orange or grapefruit juice or a combination of the two
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup
1 lb blue crab meat (body and claw), picked over for shell
1 tomato, seeded and finely chopped
fresh basil and mint leaves

Combine the first six ingredients in a small bowl, beating well with a fork until the dressing emulsifies. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the crab and tomato in a medium bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss lightly to coat. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Cut basil and mint into a chiffonade and stir in before serving.

Makes more than you'll need for the soup, so grab a fork and dig in.



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Pizza Pimento Cheese

Pimento cheese has been a staple food down south for generations, and now it's becoming ubiquitous in other parts of the country. At least that's the way it seems to me, a Marylander. My state is technically south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but up here in Baltimore we are definitely not the South. Still, I see pimento cheese popping up on menus everywhere around town, put to use as a burger topping and even as an accompaniment for the unusual (but tasty) combination of fried oysters and waffles. And why not? It's delicious, and if you have the right ingredients on hand, simple to make.

While there is both cheese and pimentos (or roasted red peppers) in pimento cheese, mayonnaise is possibly the most important ingredient. Without it, it's difficult to get the cheese to spread. Duke's is the mayo to use, if you can find it, otherwise, use your favorite. Other than that, pimento cheese requires seasonings, which can be as simple as salt and pepper and a dash of hot sauce, or a bit more complicated with the addition of garlic and onion powders, maybe a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Chef Richard Blais' recipe strays from the South to the Southwest, with the addition of cilantro and poblano peppers. I bastardized the concept quite a bit when I added feta and harissa paste to make a Mediterranean-style pimento cheese, and now I'm going to do it again with my latest cheesy invention: Pizza Pimento Cheese.

Seemed like a no-brainer: add sundried tomatoes and pizza herbs, swap out the cheddar for mozzarella. Add pepperoni, too, because why not? and garnish with fresh basil and thyme. Toasts topped with this concoction made a perfect alternative to a hot grilled cheese sandwich when eaten with a bowl of chilled gazpacho on a hot summer day. And it tasted like pizza. What's not to like?

Pizza Pimento Cheese

8 sundried tomato halves
3 tablespoons softened cream cheese
1/4 cup Duke's mayonnaise
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped roasted red pepper or pimento
1/2 cup finely diced pepperoni
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Rehydrate the tomatoes by soaking them in boiling water until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain well and chop finely. Set aside.

Combine the cream cheese and mayo in a large bowl. Add the cheeses, pimento, pepperoni, and seasonings and stir well to combine. Alternately, you can pulse it a few times with a food processor. Stir in the chopped sundried tomato. Taste for seasonings and add more oregano or garlic if you feel it needs it.

Spread on lightly toasted bread. Top with fresh basil and thyme. You could also add more pepperoni, if you want.

Makes 3+ cups.

Tastes even better after a day or two in the fridge.



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Vietnamese Noodles and Pork

I mentioned the blog The Woks of Life a few weeks ago. I am so in love with their food photography - it makes everything look absolutely mouth-watering. So of course I want to try every recipe. The latest one I tried was for a Vietnamese noodle salad with pork, bún thịt nướng. I've eaten this dish in Vietnamese restaurants, and what was most striking to me about it was that the pork had a lovely caramelized sweetness to it. The Woks' recipe didn't include sugar in the pork marinade, so I added some. It really makes a difference.

Nuoc cham doesn't always involve garlic, and the three cloves indicated in the original recipe seemed excessive, so I put it in the meat marinade instead. Which actually makes more sense. And it gets cooked eventually, so that makes for less garlic-breath.

Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Pork (adapted from The Woks of Life)

For the nuoc cham:
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
¼ cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Sriracha
½ cup cold water

For the pork chops:
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ tablespoon cornstarch
4 boneless pork chops
Vegetable oil

To serve:
6 oz. dried rice vermicelli noodles, prepared according to package directions
1 small cucumber, julienned
1 medium carrot, julienned
A large handful of snow peas, blanched and cut into lengthwise strips
½ cup cilantro, mint, and thai basil leaves, roughly torn

To make nuoc cham: Combine all the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

To make pork chops: In a zip top bag, make the pork chop marinade by adding the soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, sesame oil, cornstarch, and wine. Marinate the pork chops for at least 20 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Sear the pork chops on both sides until cooked through. Set the pork chops aside to rest.

To serve: Add the noodles, cucumber, carrot, and snow peas to a bowl. Top with the pork chops and herbs, and serve with the nuoc cham.



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Three Cheese Ravioli with Raw Tomato Sauce

It's high tomato season at our house, and in addition to the plethora of green tomatoes in our little garden, we have some ripe ones as well. And our basil is finally looking healthy. What better way to enjoy the fruits of our labor than to devour them raw? And while I love me some Caprese salad, and especially a tomato-mayo-white bread sandwich, garden-fresh tomatoes are fabulous in pasta sauce. Raw pasta sauce.

A raw tomato sauce is not unlike a salsa. This one, redolent of basil and garlic, would be smashing on bruschetta. (Allow me a Giada moment here: that's pronounced broo-sKetta, not broo-sHetta.)

As for the ravioli--they are cheese-tastic. And as we had a bit of pesto left over from other endeavors, that went into the filling as well. Won ton wrappers make a fine substitute for fresh pasta. We just don't have enough counter space for pasta-making, and certainly not enough patience to make both the pasta and assemble the ravioli. I don't know how those Italian nonnas did it.

The combination of room-temperature sauce and warm pasta was quite summery and nice. And while the dish was light, the flavors were big and bold. Don't skip the garlic!

Three Cheese Ravioli with Raw Tomato Sauce

To make ravioli:
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon pesto
2 packages won ton wrappers

To make sauce:
4-5 ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sugar
Salt and pepper

To make ravioli: Combine filling ingredients in a bowl. Lay out several wrappers on a flat surface. Top each with a teaspoon of filling.

Using your finger or a pastry brush, dampen the edges of the wrapper with water. (You can use an egg wash, if you prefer, but I find that water works fine.) Top with a second wrapper and press down to seal, making sure to eliminate any air bubbles. Place filled ravioli on a cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheet until you've completed all of them. You may only use half of the second package of wrappers.

Cook 4-5 at a time in a large pot of boiling, salted, water, for 2 minutes. Do not overcook, otherwise they'll fall apart. Remove with a slotted spoon to an olive oil-coated baking sheet. Try not to overlap; these buggers will stick together.

To make sauce: Quarter and deseed tomatoes before dicing them. Make little stacks of the basil leaves, roll them and slice into ribbons.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste. Allow to sit out on the counter for at least an hour so the flavors can meld.

To serve: Place several ravioli on a plate and top with sauce. Garnish with basil.

Serves many.

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Gluten-Free Green Tomato Caprese

Once again our garden is inundated with tomatoes. Green tomatoes. The few that have started to turn red have been attacked by a plague of squirrels. Those furry little bastards take one bite of the reddest, ripest tomato and then leave the rest of it on the vine. If they're going to eat it, I'd rather them take the whole damn thing and save me the disappointment of finding tiny toothmarks in the side of one of my beautiful Black Krims.

(Our next door neighbor told us a funny story about squirrels in our tomatoes. He said he watched one of the critters climb down into the garden, take a tomato, and fling himself skyward onto a branch. He then proceeded to smack directly into a tree trunk and fall flat on his back. With the tomato still in his jaws. He eventually picked himself up and ran off. With the tomato.)

I can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen, so I picked a bunch of green ones. The most obvious thing to do with green tomatoes is to fry them, but I hate the whole messy plate of flour-bowl of egg-plate of breadcrumbs routine and then having to clean up all of the flour and breadcrumbs that inevitably drop onto the floor between the counter and the garbage can. So I thought I could batter the tomatoes, instead of crumb them. I did some googling and found a couple recipes, all of which involved frying in at least half an inch of oil. F that. If pancakes can cook in a haze of PAM, then batter-dipped fried green tomatoes can, too.

Ok, so I didn't use PAM. I used vegetable oil. But only about a tablespoon-full in my big 12" skillet. And see from the photos how purty and brown they turned out?

I thought I'd make a cornmeal batter, but the bag I thought contained cornmeal actually had oat flour in it. Next to it in the pantry was a bag of rice flour, and seeing the two of them together made me flash back to the truly awful gluten-free donuts I made some months ago. I almost sat down and cried again right on the spot; instead I put on my big-girl panties (yes, right there in the kitchen) and took a deep breath. I didn't really want to reach up to get the big heavy barrel of flour off the top of the cabinet, so I used the oat flour and rice flour, bad memories and all, since they were in my hands. Yes, I am lazy, but that makes this recipe gluten-free. And honestly, I couldn't tell that I didn't use wheat flour. (You can use wheat flour, if you're not as lazy as I am.) I kinda didn't want to use milk for the batter, but using beer would have defeated the whole gluten-free thing, and the closest thing to club soda I had on hand would have been some diet raspberry fizzy water. Milk it is, then.

I bought some Buitoni pesto because our basil is really kind of lame this year. Originally I was going to use straight pesto, but I like a mayo-based sauce with my fried green tomatoes. Then I thought mayo and cheese together? Maybe that will be too rich. As if there's any such thing as too rich. So I made a vinaigrette, too, with pesto in it, and a pinch of sugar for balance. (I didn't use oil because pesto already has oil in it.)

What I liked best about this dish was that the hot tomatoes made the cheese melt. It had all the right things going on - crusty, creamy, gooey, tangy, herbaceous, and fried. Mmm.

Gluten-Free Fried Green Tomato Caprese

For the tomatoes:
3/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough milk to make a thick batter
2-4 green tomatoes, cut into 1/4" thick slices
Vegetable oil, for frying

For the pesto mayo:
2 tablespoons pesto
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

For the pesto vinaigrette:
2 teaspoons pesto
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch of sugar
Salt

To assemble:
Fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into thin slices
Basil, for garnish

To make the tomatoes: Combine batter ingredients in a large bowl.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Swirl the pan so the bottom is coated.

Put several tomato slices into the bowl of batter, turning them with a fork to make sure they are well coated. Using the fork, lift slices and allow some of the batter to drain back into the bowl before putting them into the hot pan. Don't crowd the pan - just put 5-6 slices in per batch.

Cook tomatoes until bottoms are nicely browned. Flip slices and cook an additional few minutes until the other side is brown. Remove to paper towel-lined plates to drain and give them a dusting of salt. Cook remaining tomatoes the same way, adding more oil to the pan for each batch.

To make the pesto mayo: Combine the ingredients in a small bowl.

To make the pesto vinaigrette: Combine the ingredients in a small bowl.

To assemble dish: Place a small blob of the mayo in the center of a plate. Top with a slice of tomato, then a slice of cheese and another blob of mayo. Repeat once more, then finish with a third tomato slice and a blob of mayo. Garnish with fresh basil. Drizzle the vinaigrette around the stack.










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Goddess-y Dressing

So, more snow. I really can't take much more of this. And I like winter--I just don't like the seemingly endless cycle of shoveling and salting, shoveling and salting. Walking the dog on slippery sidewalks (because nobody else in the neighborhood seems to understand that they should salt their sidewalks so pedestrians won't slip and break anything) is annoying and scary and I just want this crap to melt and never come back.

While it seems most appropriate to make a comforting stew or other such cold-weather food, I felt like I needed a reminder that Spring was somewhere around the corner. We had a bunch of cilantro and basil in the fridge, so I whipped up a green dressing with them. The lovely color and zingy flavor was a nice harbinger of things to come. If they come.

A typical green goddess dressing has tarragon and anchovy, but I think any combination of flavorful green herbs (except rosemary) works fine. In place of the anchovy, I added a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.

Goddess-y Dressing

1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and stems
1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves
3 scallions, white and green parts chopped
extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
lime or lemon juice to taste
few drops of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Place the cilantro, basil, and scallions in a food processor and pulse to a puree with the help of some of the olive oil. Just use enough to get the herbs going. Add the yogurt and mayo and puree. Season to taste with the citrus juice, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper.

Makes about half a cup.

We had some leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge, so I made a chicken salad using some of the herb dressing. Chopped apple adds additional green flavor and a nice texture.

Goddess-y Chicken Salad

2 cups cooked chicken, torn into medium-large chunks
1 small apple, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons or so of Goddess-y dressing
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Serve on greens or in sandwiches. Serves 2.



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Pasta Caprese

It was one of those weekends when dinner plans were up in the air. Were we going out, or were we staying in? Turns out, we stayed in, but the larder was bare. (That's a lie. It just didn't contain anything we wanted to eat.) We were at Belvedere Market doing a book signing at Greg's Bagels (Yes, we wrote a book! Go buy it!) so we picked up some stuff from Ceriello. A blob of mozzarella, a jar of pesto, and a bag of fresh orecchiette pasta later, we were well on our way to dinner.

I'm trying to eat less meat; Mr Minx doesn't restrict himself that way, so I poached a couple of chicken thighs in chicken stock for him. Then I raided the container garden for fresh basil - because a dish can't have too much basil.

The dish, despite being pasta and cheese, was light and summery, and redolent of my favorite fresh herb. Don't let the dish sit too long before serving, as the hot pasta will melt the cheese too much. Melty blobs are fine, but you don't want the cheese to get stringy.

Quick Pasta Caprese

1 cup diced tomato
drizzle balsamic vinegar
1 lb orecchiette pasta (or pasta shape of your choice)
about 1/2 cup basil pesto
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
diced cooked chicken, optional
1 cup diced mozzarella cheese
fresh basil
chopped pine nuts or walnuts, optional

Drizzle some balsamic vinegar over the diced tomato and set aside.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and leave in the pot. Gently stir in the pesto, adding a bit of olive oil if it seems dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken, if you're using it.

Just before serving, toss in the tomato (and juices) and mozzarella. Garnish with  plenty of fresh basil, either torn into pieces or cut into a chiffonade, and the nuts, if using.



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Green Machine

Here's a delicious vegetarian sandwich for you: fried green tomatoes, basil and dill pesto, lemon chive mayonnaise, and avocado on a ciabatta roll. Better than a burger (seriously)!

The tomatoes, basil, dill, and chives came from our garden. Alas, we do not have an avocado tree!



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Avocado Soup and Crab Salad

I do most of the cooking on the weekends, except when we go out to eat (of course). If I'm thinking ahead, I plan my meals by Tuesday, our usual grocery shopping day. Most of the time though, I don't give it a thought until Thursday or Friday and then I have to decide whether I should just use what we have in the house, or schlep down to the grocery store to pick up special ingredients.

One recent weekend, we had steamed crabs on Saturday and ended up with a nice container of leftover meat. Rather than default to making crab cakes, I decided to make a crab salad and serve it with a soup made from the two ripe avocados we had picked up earlier in the week. The soup was thick and lusciously creamy, and the citrussy salad added the perfect touch of acid.

I used black garlic to season the soup because I had it. You can use one clove of regular garlic, but chop it and add it to the scallion while it's cooking to cut some of the strong garlic taste. Of course, if you like the flavor of raw garlic, don't let me get in your way!

Avocado Soup

4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
olive oil
2 ripe Haas avocados
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
3 cloves black garlic
couple shakes of hot sauce (I used green Tabasco)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook scallions in a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt until wilted. Add them, along with the rest of the ingredients, to the bowl of a food processor or blender and purée. If the mixture is too thick for your taste, add a bit more stock or yogurt. Season to taste, adding more lime juice, if desired. Serve chilled, topped with a handful of crab salad.

Makes 4 appetizer or 2 main dish servings.

Crab Salad

2 tablespoons orange or grapefruit juice or a combination of the two
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup
1 lb blue crab meat (body and claw), picked over for shell
1 tomato, seeded and finely chopped
fresh basil and mint leaves

Combine the first six ingredients in a small bowl, beating well with a fork until the dressing emulsifies. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the crab and tomato in a medium bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss lightly to coat. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Cut basil and mint into a chiffonade and stir in before serving.

Makes more than you'll need for the soup, so grab a fork and dig in.

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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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Cheesy Meatballs

I got an email a couple weeks ago asking if I'd like to try a new cheese product. "Sure," I said, "I love cheese." And indeed I do. Within a few days, a bag of Piacci cheese had arrived on my doorstep. I had been hoping for some of their Fior-de-Latte, but with the warm weather we'd been having, it was nice that they sent a sturdier cheese along - Parmesan.

We always have some parm in the house, either a small slab or some of the pre-shredded stuff that comes in little tubs in the gourmet cheese department of most supermarkets. Mostly it goes on pasta or salads, but here was a new form to play with - nuggets. Actually, perfect little 1" cubes. My first thought was that they'd be fine for snacking out of the bag, but after sampling one, I realized they were perhaps a bit too intense for that. Better to eat them with a selection of antipasti - olives, salami, roasted peppers. Then I realized that little 1" cubes would be a perfect thing to stuff into a meatball. A turkey meatball, flavored with fresh basil and topped with pesto. Ordinarily, I'd use a softer cheese for that, like mozzarella. That makes for a gooey center, but there's also a good chance that the cheese will find a way to migrate out of the ball and into the pan. And I know there's a dirty joke in there but I'm just too tired to think of it right now. I'm sure you'll help me with that.

I served the stuffed meatballs with a simple steel-cut oat risotto, a side of asparagus, and some marinated tomatoes. And it was all good.

Cheese-Stuffed Turkey Meatballs

1.5 teaspoons ground chia seeds
3 tablespoons water
1.5 lbs ground turkey
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, minced (mince after measuring)
1/4 cup minced onion
plain or Italian-style dry bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 package Piaggi Parmesan Cubes
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup pesto (home made or store bought)

Soak the ground chia seeds in the water for about fifteen minutes until they reach a jelly-like consistency.  Place the bloomed seeds in a bowl with the ground turkey, basil, and onion. Mix well to incorporate seeds and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. If the mixture seems too moist, add some dry bread crumbs, a tablespoonful at a time.

Divide the meat mixture into 10-12 portions. Form each portion into a ball, poke a hole in the center and add a cheese cube, then use the meat to close the hole over the cheese. The cheese should be completely encased in the meat.

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Brown meatballs all over, then add stock. Turn heat down to low and cover pan. Braise meatballs for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally, to make sure they are cooked through. Most of the liquid should evaporate during that time. Stir in pesto and heat through.

Serves 3-4.

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Pasta with Corn Pesto

I happened upon a recipe for fresh corn pesto a couple of weeks back and fixated on it until I had an opportunity to make it for myself. Fresh corn isn't happening in Baltimore in January, so I relied instead on the trusty bag of frozen kernels that is usually in our freezer. We did, however, have fresh basil growing on the windowsill - I bought a plant at the supermarket at Christmas and have managed to keep it alive all this time, without replanting it!

As is my wont, I tinkered with the recipe a bit. While the resulting yellow goo was pretty tasty, I'm betting it would be better with fresh corn.

Fettuccine with Corn Pesto

1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained well
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup roasted and unsalted almonds, pine nuts, or walnuts or a combination
1 small clove of garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb fettuccine, cooked according to package directions
basil and Parmesan for garnish

Place first seven ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it forms a slightly chunky paste. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine with cooked fettuccine. Serve garnished with basil and Parmesan.

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Fennelicious

With a hurricane threatening and a full bag of Trader Joe's langoustine tails in the freezer, I knew I'd have to whip up a pre-storm dinner with them or essentially flush an Alexander Hamilton down the toilet. We also had three Cubanelle peppers from the garden and a bulb of fennel from the grocery store. I was pondering the combination when Mr Minx suggested that I think Thailand. Genius! Our container garden was overflowing with the licorice-y Thai basil, which would be a great reinforcement for the similarly-flavored fennel. Additionally, we always have a jar of Thai chilli paste with sweet basil in the fridge, so I didn't have to try particularly hard to get Thai flavors in the dish.

Rather than cook the whole fennel bulb, I reserved some of it in order to make a raw salad, to add yet another licorice-y dimension. It was a delicious combo, one which made me realize just how much I love the flavor of fennel, particularly when it's cooked. (Oddly enough, I don't like licorice candy at all, and am not all that hot on Italian cookies, either.)

Fennelicious Thai Basil Shellfish

4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1 bulb fennel, cored and sliced (divided use)
canola oil
3 Cubanelle or Italian frying peppers, cored, deseeded, and sliced (if you don't have the Cubanelles, you could add a small amount of ripe bell pepper; too much, however, might drown out the much more-delicate fennel flavor)
1 carrot, chopped into matchsticks (divided use)
1 heaping tablespoon Thai chilli paste with sweet basil
1/2 cup Thai basil leaves (divided use)
1 tablespoon finely minced cilantro
10 ounces medium shrimp or langoustine tails
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon agave syrup
salt
steamed rice, for serving

In a large sauté pan, heat a bit of oil and add scallions and about 2/3 of the fennel. Cook until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add peppers and 2/3 of the carrots and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until peppers wilt. Stir in chilli paste, half of the basil, and cilantro. If using shrimp, add to skillet and stir fry until shrimp turn pink and opaque - 3-5 minutes. If using langoustine tails, add to skillet and heat through. Before serving, stir in remaining basil.

While vegetables are cooking, toss 1/3 of fennel and carrots with the rice wine vinegar and agave syrup. Season with salt to taste.

Serve stir fry over rice and top with fennel salad. Serves 2-4.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Porky Pasta

I love David Lieberman's recipe for beer-braised pork butt - it produces a large amount of juicy, flavorful pork with very little effort. Not only that, but also about a quart of extremely rich pork stock that is definitely worth skimming and saving.

Leftover pork + stock makes for a decadent pasta sauce. We threw some together with various bits of leftover vegetables to serve with the Pacheri Pasta Filei I purchased at Eataly a few weeks ago. The pasta - about the thickness of a drinking straw and as long as my pinky - was thick and delightfully chewy, as hearty as the sauce that topped it.

Quick Pork Ragu

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
pinch salt
3 cups rich pork stock
1/3 cup flour
2 cups shredded pork shoulder
2 roasted red bell peppers, chopped
1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they soften and start to become translucent. Add stock and bring to a boil.

Make a slurry of the flour and enough of the hot stock to the consistency of heavy cream. Stir the flour mixture into the boiling stock, a couple tablespoons at a time, until a light gravy consistency is reached. Discard remaining slurry.

Add pork, peppers, parsley, and basil to sauce. Turn heat down to medium and simmer sauce for about 10 minutes until everything is warmed through. Season to taste with vinegar and honey, salt and pepper.

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Serve sauce over pasta, top with Parmesan or Asiago cheese, as desired. Serves 4.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Homemade Pizza

Gluten and I do not have a good relationship. I don't have any sensitivity to the stuff :::knocking on wood::: but I do seem to fight with it when I am handling a yeast-raised dough. I have never been a fan of wrestling, professional or otherwise, and would much rather have Mr Gluten surrender to my whims. Oh, he's under control when I bake bread, since I use the fabulous no-knead technique found in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, but he still gives me a fit when I attempt pizza. Most of the time, I'll use a ready-made crust such as Mama Mary's (but never Boboli - yuck) or a flatbread, but once in a rare while, while feeling feisty, I'll buy a blob of pizza dough from Trader Joe's and then the fighting begins anew. An attempt to stretch it into a circle causes it to bounce right back. Sneaking up on the dough after letting it rest a few minutes doesn't work, either - Mr Gluten isn't stupid. The next time I want pizza, I find myself cozying back up with the much more-friendly Mama Mary.

Despite my comfortable relationship with Mama, it's pure stubbornness that makes me want to try again with Mr Gluten. The next time I had the urge to make home-made pizza, I made the dough completely from scratch, using a recipe from my favorite bread book. For some reason, this home-made dough was much more willing to acquiesce to my will and seemed positively happy to be manipulated into a baking-sheet sized rectangle.

Thus tamed, the beast was topped with some leftover Italian cold cuts (bresaola and sopressata) sundried tomatoes that had been rehydrated and roughly chopped, red onion, fresh mozzarella, and several varieties of basil from the garden. After spending around 20 minutes in a 475F oven, the resulting crust was thin and crisp, but not cracker-y, and the cornicione (crust edge), while not obviously bubbled, was hollow in areas, making for extra crunch.

My ideal pizza has a softer bottom crust that is fold-able, yet still crisp (a la New York style), but this one was pretty damn good. And obedient. The only issue with making pizza from a wet dough recipe is that I need to think ahead and make the dough the day before. But since a batch can last in the fridge for well over a week, I already have dough waiting for my next pizza urge.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Dinner: An Improvisation

It's fairly unusual that I don't cook something from scratch on the weekend, but every once in a rare while, I take a break. One recent Saturday, Mr Minx whipped up some spaghetti and meatballs, and on the following day I heated up some leftovers. And when I say "heated up some leftovers," I really mean "created a whole new dish with some pre-cooked items." I like to play with my food, and rather than eating leftover baby back ribs as is, I thought I'd gussy them up a bit.

What I really wanted to make was a banh mi sandwich, but I was too lazy and it was too hot to take a stroll to the grocery store for a baguette. Once I had that stuck in my head though, it was hard to shake. In addition to the pork, I had a bulb of fennel in the fridge, which I thought might make an adequate stand-in for the pickled daikon or radishes I would ordinarily put in a banh mi. Particularly if I used some of the plethora of licorice-y tasting Thai basil that was currently growing on our back porch as garnish. It was starting to sound like a plan.

There was just that bread issue to tackle.

In lieu of bread, I decided to make rice flour crepes. I should have just gone with the flour tortillas we had and called the dish "tacos," because the crepes were a disaster. It took about half the batter before a small crepe was successfully produced, and by that time, I was thoroughly discouraged.

Our dinner was supposed to look like this:

Instead, it looked like this:

I ended up slicing all of the crepes into ribbons and stir frying them with the pork, adding fish sauce, sugar, garlic, lemongrass, Sriracha, and ginger to the pan. The "noodles" were then topped with a handful of pickled fennel, some pickled carrots, plus cilantro, mint, and Thai basil. It was good, but not what I wanted.

If you want to try making rice crepes - or rice crepe noodles, here's a recipe:

1 cup rice flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Scoop out 1/4 cup at a time onto a hot, greased non-stick skillet over high heat, swirling the pan so the batter forms about a 6" circle. Cook about 30 seconds, then loosen the crepe with the edge of a spatula, flip, and cook the other side for 30 seconds longer. That's easier than it sounds! Warning: make sure not to slip the spatula under the crepe more than half an inch or so, because when you remove the spatula, the crepe will tear. Just ease it around the outermost edge until the crepe is loosened, then work the spatula under the whole thing and flip it.

Stack crepes on a plate as you make them. Cursing optional. Roll around fillings, or if broken, use like noodles. Serves 4.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.