Emily's Awesome Peanut Noodles

 

 

These noodles are not in any way authentic. It's my version of a Thai peanut noodle dish... except I've borrowed elements of Vietnamese and Japanese food to make it. So... fusion peanut noodles.

 

Noodles (mix all this together):
1/2 box (1/2 lb) angel hair or thin spaghetti, cooked al dente, drained
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup watered down vinegar-- about 1 part vinegar, 3 parts water
about 3 Tbs sugar
4 cloves minced garlic
soy sauce maybe 3 Tbs

Sorry, I never measure anything :( Just taste it and add more of whatever flavor you're missing. If it's too sour, add more PB and sugar. Too bland, add more garlic or vinegar or soy. Too salty? Don't worry because you're going to be adding a bunch of stuff to the noodles.

 

Toppings:

• Eggs: Beat three eggs with rice vinegar, sugar and salt to taste. About 1 Tbs vinegar, 1 Tbs sugar, dash salt. Cook this mixture like an omelet, then slice into strips. Or just scramble the eggs.
• Fresh pickles: Thinly slice 1 cucumber and marinate for an hour in vinegar, sugar and water.
• Shredded Cabbage: Just shred maybe 1/2 cup or more depending on how much you like cabbage.
• Chicken: Bake three small chicken breast halves, seasoned with salt and pepper. Let cool and shred.
• Green onion: Chop finely.

Makes 4 big bowls.

 

Eat warm, room temp or cold! Tastes good the next day too :)

Momocho

Even the name of the restaurant sounds like something a babbling baby would say to express hunger. Mo-Mooooooo- Choooos, Mommm-mommm-nomm! So, when my sister-in-law, Cris, was describing some of the food at Momocho [smoked trout guacamole, please!], I was finding new space in my stomach despite the previous day's Thanksgiving gluttony.

 The Ohio City restaurant, featuring "Mod Mex" cuisine, is nestled in a cozy neightborhood with quaint homes and narrow alleys. Once inside, The restaurant was very dark, very crowded, and somewhat intimidating because of its lucha libre and Dia de los Muertes themed decor, and its hip, slightly snobby wait staff. But that only made me feel more giddy... Date night! No kids! Restaurant featured on Food Network!

While our husbands ordered the first off beat beverages they found (cervezas especial michelada style with ice, lime, salt, worcestershire and hot sauce), Cris and I pored over the paper menu, squinting in the dark at the extensive guacamole list and scribbling tick marks in the margins of the main dish and appetizer sections.

We finally settled on:



Guacamole with smoked trout, bacon and chile poblano. I was thinking about it later, and the reason this works so well is because it's a little bit like a revved up California roll, minus seaweed, crabstick, rice and tobiko. OK, it's nothing like sushi, but the avocado and uncooked fish textures and flavors work so well in Japanese cuisine, that I'm not surprised that they dance together in this rich dip.

Just in case you're interested in the other varieties that we didn't try, I brought home the menu from the night. As avocados are on sale this week at Kroger, I think I will have to try to make some of these at home:

• goat cheese, tomato, chile pblano
• jicama, pineapple, chile habanero and mint
• garlic confit, blue cheese, chile verde
• honey crisp apple, mango, chile serrano and thai basil
• pickled corn, crab, chile chipotle

Seared Sea Scallops with cauliflower and hominy frita, jalapeno creamed corn. This was my favorite dish, aside from the trout guacamole. The flavors were light, creamy and sweet, so they didn't overpower the delicate flavor of the scallops, which were just slightly undercooked in the center, but still pretty good :-) The ball in the middle is kind of like a cauliflower hush puppy. It would have been better if there was more cauliflower than hominy.

Butternut squash and goat cheese empanadas with oaxacan red chile and chocolate mole.
This was Jack's favorite dish of the night. I also liked it, but it was almost a dessert with all the sweetness and richness. As far as I'm concerned, anything with goat cheese is good.

Smoked gouda tamale dumplings. Cris found these to be a little bit dry, but I thought they were pretty well balanced when forked with a bittersweet heap of the crisp onion and corn saute with which it was served.

 Our server recommended the sofrito green beans, adding that they were very popular. But these were actually my least favorite dish of the night. If you've been reading me for any length of time, you probably know I generally prefer vegetables to the other food groups. In my not so humble opinion, a good green bean should be flash fried just enough to be bright green, but still crisp enough to bite through the strings, OR they should be slow cooked down to a buttery-melt-in-my-mouth slurp of a legume, preferrably laced with pork fat. I would have expected the crunchy end of the cooking spectrum for this dish, which was heavily seasoned with the sofrito. (I'm guessing the mix included chili, cilantro, onion, garlic and maybe tamarind or something to give it bite.) Instead, the beans were in that no-go doneness zone in the middle. They were too cooked to maintain their crispness, and not done enough to eliminate the stringy toughness. In addition, I felt that the flavor was too sour and too bitter, when I was craving savory, zesty and sweet. OK. That's enough philosphizing about green beans! On to the wild boar....

No joke, we orderd chancho, adobo braised wild boar taquitos with pickled jalapeno and mustard crema. After all, the guys needed something to go with their worcestershire beers, and this was one of the more awe-inspiring meats on the menu.

(As a side note, please excuse the horrible quality of my photos from the night. The room was exceedingly dim and I didn't want to draw attention to myself by flashing the food every 60 seconds.)

I'm not a fan of tough meat, or even red meat in general. And this was overtly both very red and tough meat. However, a little dollop of boar shreds on a mini corn tortilla with copious amounts of the pickled jalapeno and mustard crema was pretty good. And if I wasn't so stuffed that I felt every bite was bound to come out my ears, I might have liked it more.

Ironically, neither Jack nor Joe really liked this dish, despite Cris and my chidings that they didn't add enough of the salsa and crema. If I were to get a do-over on ordering, I would have thought less about what others might like and ordered what I knew I'd like: the picadillo, ground lamb shoulder with mint, walnuts, red chile and chocolate mole, which sounds like a pretty amazing little taco. Or, the camarones, achiote shrimp al postor style with pineapple and jicama salsa... or pato, slow cooked duck confit with chile anco and pomegranate barbacoa. Or...

 

There's always next time.

Potluck Thanksgiving

I've mentioned before that Thanksgiving meals when I was growing up were usually this weird combination of traditional and Chinese and sometimes fried chicken or lasagna. Since I've been married, we usually head to Joe's parents for the big meal. This year, my mother-in-law decided that everyone could just bring what they wanted. So there were Chinese dumplings (made by my Italian Auntie), Nicaraguan floutas-- akin to taquitos but way better-- made by my Canadian sister-in-law and garlicky salad made by me. There was also plenty of traditional food like baked sweet potatoes, green beans, ham, a free-range turkey and stuffing.

I really like the ratio of greenery to other things on my plate.

And afterwards, I felt good enough to go on a nippy walk around the West Side neighborhood where the Parrinos live with Cris and Amy.

That made us hungry for dessert. Amy concocted one with Trader Joe's puff pastry, fig butter, pistachios, almonds, dark chocolate and Brie. I was a little concerned that there might be too many things going on in these pain au chocolats, but the flavors melded wonderfully!

Fujiyama in Clarksville

Hidden in a quiet commercial strip off Wilma Rudolph about 5 minutes past the heavily trafficked shopping area, this Clarksville, Tenn., sushi bar is a tiny treat. Both times I've visited, I've had my two boys with me. But even though my attention has been divided between stuffing my own and their two tiny gullets, I found the presentation to be pretty, the selection broad and the sushi plump and fresh.

Pictured above, special bento boxes with California rolls, teriyaki salmon and teriyaki tofu, xiao mai, crab rangoon and rice.The tofu was silken, but fried to a crispy, chewy crust on the outside, making it my most shared item off my box.

I can't remember the name of the sushi roll that looks more like a still-wet oil painting than food... but it was really good. Sorry. I'm writing this post about four months after the fact. Again, little gullets getting in the way of my goals as foodie and blogger...

A salmon-bone to pick with IKEA

The trip between Hopkinsville, Ky., and Cleveland, Ohio, with two little ones in tow, is ardorous. The one bright spot had always come in the form of a cobalt blue building looming on the horizon of the interstate not far past the "Florence, Ya'll" water tower. IKEA. The land of modern but affordable DIY furniture, random houseware bargains and, a decade ago, an exciting Scandanavian cafe. The West Chester IKEA, outside of Cincinatti, is our half-way point and stopping point of choice because of the kid-friendly bathrooms, eating area and play areas. It has ceased to be an exciting stop for me, though, because I can only taste my memories of favorite dishes like Pittya-pana and Three Salmon plate.

They've still got the multi-colored carrots, Swedish meatballs, elderberry flavored drinkboxes, and maybe one overcooked fish dish on their menu, but IKEA's top-floor cafe has slowly slumped in my opinion from a destination ethnic eatery to a hum-drum cafeteria.

The rest of the store's offerings include chicken fingers and fries, mashed potatoes, soggy steamed vegetables, mac n cheese, dried out wrap sandwiches, a hockey-puck sized conglomeration of spinach and eggs and limp salad bar fixings.

It really depresses me!

Sushi Ya

I know I've written about Sushi Ya in Schaumburg, Ill., before, but I tried some new makis that I had to share :-). On my recent trip home, I ate here three times! The bento box was really yummy, but I didn't have my camera on me that first trip. We ordered sushi take out our next two trips.

My new favorite, "Green Turtle Maki," is shown in the lower half of the box. It has eel, cucumber and crunchy stuff at the center, with avocado, shrimp and green tobiko and some kind of light special sauce on the outside of the roll. Above is just the standard Spider Roll, with a tempura soft-shell crab at the center, along with cucumber and avocado.

It was so good that my mom and I returned a second time during my recent trip to get another Green Turtle and to grab Sushi-Ya's "Schaumburg Roll." It's fun to eat local-named makis. (Just realized I had tried this before back in 2009, though it seems like it had carrots then and not now. I didn't miss them!) We at our rolls by the duck pond in the town square before taking Stephen to the nearby splash fountain.

The Schaumburg Maki is also crammed full of my favorite sushi components: Soft-shell crab inside, with a generous crust of eel and avocado outside. I feel a little sad to be writing this post since I'm hundreds of miles from Schaumburg and its namesake maki.

Asheville, Charlotte, Oak Island

What on earth is wrong with me? I never wrote about what we ate on our summer roadtrip vacation to North Carolina.

It's a little foggy now, but I've got some photos to help me.

We ate ice cream and other goodies from Kilwin's a couple of times while we were in Asheville, N.C., home of the Biltmore Estates and near the home of Billy Graham.

Asheville prides itself as the foodie paradise of the South. To be sure, the small town is packed with a variety of eateries.

Stephen enjoyed his chocolate covered pretzel, while Joe and I split pistacchio ice cream.

We got a lot of use out of our new-old jogging double stroller. Plenty of pavement to accomodate our wide load.

A close up of the pistacchio ice cream. Joe's and my favorite flavor... though I also really like chocolate peanut butter...

Squash Kebabs

Monday night, we did baby squash and marinated mushrooms on the grill. I was just tickled by the way skewers look threaded with whole squashes.

I used salt, garlic powder and olive oil on the yellow squash and greek salad dressing on the mushrooms.

Tea Eggs

Mine look nothing as pretty as the marbled eggs in Martin Yan's cookbook, but they had that nice smoky, spiced umami flavor and the slightly chewy texture that I expect in a good tea egg.

Something I like about trying foods from other cultures and cuisines is learning a new take on a familiar ingredient. For example, I regularly toss romaine lettuce into ramen because Chinese are fond of cooked leafy greens and a little confused by raw veggie salads. (When we lived in Taiwan, salads were just becoming popular as sort of a system-starter breakfast.) Americans, on the other hand, wouldn't think of cooking the foundation vegetable of a crunchy Caesar salad.

Well, hard-boiled eggs are another ingredient that have a wide range of interpretations in different cultures. Indians and Eithiopians both have dishes that stew them in a thick oniony sauce. The Chinese have some more shocking uses, such as the teeny, fermented, chewy, green-centered "Thousand Year Eggs," which, along with boxes of moon cakes, dried mushrooms and loose leaf tea, are the kinds of goods that are packaged in bright red boxes with golden characters to be given as special gifts. A more humble--and in my opinion, more palatable--version of eggs is the tea egg. As easy to find served up in slow cookers at 7-Eleven as they are in grandma's kitchen, these eggs steep in a tea, soy sauce and spice liquid.

Martin Yan tells us to hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes, then tap the shells all over with the back of a spoon to form a web of hair-line cracks through which the marinade can seep. They then simmer in water enriched with 1/2 cup soy sauce, a couple of black Chinese tea bags, star anise, brown sugar, cinnamon stick, five spice, scallion and ginger. I didn't have all these things, so I substituted with regular white sugar, two "Licorice Spice" herbal teabags, and some onion powder. I actually didn't use any black tea in my marinade... but I think they still qualify as tea eggs because I did use herbal tea. Yan recommends simmering them in their cracked shells for 15 to 60 minutes. I also stored mine in the liquid for a few days in the refrigerator. They will absorb even more flavor if you peel the shells and store them in an air-tight container with some of the liquid, which is what I did after I took the photo above.

Sweet potato strudel

 This recipe, adapted from my Periplus Step-by-Step Healthy Eating cookbook, is somewhat like the spanikopita I'd been making a lot of lately... but instead of triangles, it calls for rolling everything into an 8-sheet phyllo dough and olive oil layered log. My version of the filling includes roasted sweet potato cubes, roasted smashed garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomato feta, fresh basil, pine nuts and vidalia onion. The whole thing gets baked at 350 until golden. My only regret was that I only used half a 10 oz bag of spinach... would have been better with a higher green-to-orange ratio.

Other uses for Aloo Gobi

A few weeks ago, NBC had the finale of a new show "America's Next Great Restaurant." I was kinda hooked... not because I really like over-extended drama or snarky judges' remarks (really- I never knew Bobby Flay could be so mean!), but because I really wanted to know which restaurant would open as the next chain as the prize for winning.

The final three were a soul-food "meat and two sides" joint (which won), a "modern" Indian version of Chipotle and a meatball place, which, by vice of its original name "Saucy Balls," I knew would not be the winner. The soul food joint, "Soul Daddy," justly won the contest as the creator had a strong work ethic, a smoothly running prototype and a heart-warming against-the-odds family story requisite for any reality show cast. However, I can't say meat and three or meat and two really excites me since the vast majority of non-chains in Western Kentucky are this kind of restaurant. On the other hand, Soul Daddy evolved from a chicken and waffle concept to a healthier, more veggie promoting version of soul cuisine, so it might not be so bad. Not that it will ever come to Hopkinsville!

OK. So my point of this whole rambling intro is that the idea of a chain Indian restaurant that caters to the masses while also introducing white-bread America to some classic Indian dishes got me thinking what kinds of things I would put on the menu if I were in charge.

I've frequently posted the very few Indian dishes that I know how to make... Aloo Gobi, Tandoori Chicken and Behl Puri are probably my short list. And my long list. Aloo Gobi, which is just potato and cauliflower fried in garam masala and lots of onion and garlic, is not only my favorite Indian dish, but one of my favorite dishes in general. See my "Top 5" at this old post. So, what would make it American-y enough to appeal to the masses? I thought of two possible ways to serve it: Masala Gobi over a baked potato (sorry, didn't take a picture of that experiment, but it was a tremendous time-saver and was very tasty) and today's leftover creation: Gobi potato salad with crunchy veggies.

Aloo gobi tastes pretty good cold, in my opinion. With some chopped fresh tomato and cucumber, it's like a salad with all the best textures-- rich and smooshy potato, tender cauliflower, juicy tomato and crisp cucs.

I think another possibility, which I'll have to try, is to turn it into a sandwich filling or make a sandwich sized samosa type turnover. Like a spicy potato pasty or something... mmmm.

uh-oh, son one is up from nap and throwing a tasmanian devil style fit. better go.

Sea Salt Chocolate

...my new favorite! Joe got me some Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt for part of my Mother's Day present. I love this stuff... it's like eating a chocolate covered pretzel without the pretzel. The chocolate is smooth and rich and there's little bursts of crispy salt as the confection melts.

 

Garden beginnings

Joe and I took the boys to Lowe's the other night and I sniffed out this delectable peat pot mint plant. It reminds me of two happy memories: All the fancy-smancy desserts I've ever eaten at fancy-smancy venues (They're always topped with a tender little mint sprig) and the townhouse in Schaumburg, Ill., that was my first home and that had a bunch of this growing wild in the front yard.

A few of the leaves were a little chomped on, but it was the bushiest of the bunch. To tell you the truth, I wanted to just eat it up myself at the store. But he made it home intact, and my new little edible friend is sitting on my desk, awaiting transfer to this summer's container garden or... to this summer's fancy-smancy dessert.

Goat Cheese Pizza

Joe spotted a log of chevre with the Kroger "Manager's Special $3.69" label on our last big shopping trip. I used it all on two homemade pizzas yesterday a day before its expiration :-) The first time I had goat cheese on pizza was several years ago when I was a little more dilligent in avoiding cow's milk and all of its yummy derivatives. My parents took us to Bahama Breeze, a chain restaurant with "island" cuisine. I don't exactly remember what else was on the pizza I ordered, but the chevre really put it over the top for my cheese-deprived taste buds. Anyhow, I'm sure there are lots of fancier uses for a log of Silver Goat Chevre, but pizza is what always come to mind when I see one.
To make, I followed the foccacia bread recipe from my 3 and 4 ingredient cookbook (it makes a softer dough than the usual pizza crust, which I need because my TMJ has been acting up lately and I can't chew chewy or crunchy things enjoyably).

To make it, I proofed one T of dry yeast in scant 2 cups warm water with a T of sugar. Then I added a splash of olive oil, 4 cups flour (a mix of bread and unbleached all purpose because I was at the end of my bag of King Arthur's) and a pinch of salt. I let it rise 'til double, punched down, divided it into two balls and rolled them out to roughly match the shape of my jelly roll pans.

One pizza got a topping of sliced tomato, mozzerella, fresh spinach, minced garlic, olive oil, dried parsley and basil and the goat cheese, of course.

The second pizza had pepperoni, tomato, oil, sweet onion, zuchinni, spinach and the herbs along with the goat cheese, except for one corner that I did up with tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and muenster cheese for Stephen.

I recommend drizzling oil on top of all the other ingredients, especially the spinach, which will get all crispy and translucent if you cook it long enough. I like crispy spinach.

And, I made some lemon bars for dessert.

Revisiting Turkey and Farewell Brunch

A big bowl of spanikopita filling.

Kai with cornstarch, at the controls on the yogurt chicken.

Samuel giving me a sweet baby smile.

The lovely southern-style spread at Bill and Kaye's for Kai's farewell brunch.

Plantains

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that Stephen grabbed some plaintains and other goodies at the Indian grocery store in Chattanooga. We actually did buy them, but they didn't ripen until a couple of days ago.

I was worn out from round two of bagel boiling, so Joe decided to make this dessert from a recipe he found on the food network. I don't remember it exactly-- but it involved 2 plantains, butter, sugar and cinnamon. It was delish!

Boiled, not fried

You know how all those cracker and snack labels now make a point of saying the product is "baked, not fried"? If not, just ignore my post title.

I remember once getting into an argument with someone about bagels. I had heard they were boiled before being baked and so I said so. The other person--whom I'm not naming because I truly can't remember who it was--insisted I was crazy for thinking bagels were boiled instead of baked.

Anyhow. They are boiled. And then baked. And I made two batches in the last couple of days!

My dear friend, Kai, is moving to Turkey in a couple of months. For her going-away brunch, I wanted to make something that I'm assuming she won't find in Urgup or whatever little place she and her family of 6 endeavor to go. Also, Kai, is one of those special people for whom it's not unusual to drop in on and find a homemade crusty loaf of French bread sitting plateless on her kitchen table next to a vase of fresh flowers or a blooming dogwood branch. That's Kai.

So, I was inspired to take a turn kneading the dough to honor her... and so I could enjoy some hot chewy-chocolatey goodness myself.

 To make these bagels, I followed a recipe in my beloved Mennonite cookbook that isn't sold anywhere I could find online, and therefore, cannot be linked :(. The recipe calls for:

3 cups flour
1 T yeast
2 T sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Any toppings or mix-ins desired

Proof the yeast in the water with the sugar. Once it's frothy, add the dry ingredients and mix well. Then knead on floured surface for 10 minutes. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes. Then, divide into 8 balls, poke holes with your finger and twirl them on the counter to enlarge the hole. Let the bagels rise for another 20 minutes while getting a big pot of boiling water going and your oven heated to 400 degrees. Boil in batches of 2 or 3 for a "couple of minutes," flipping once. Transfer boiled bagels to a greased cookie sheet and back for 15 minutes until golden.

 The first time I tried this, I pretty much followed the recipe. I added cranberries to four bagels and mini chocolate chips to the other four. They turned out a little lighter and fluffier than most bagels, probably because I made them on a nice warm, dry, draftless day. Yeast; you know how moody those little critters can be. It's like they have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I liked the results, but I found that much of my mix-ins popped off in the water while boiling. So the second time I made the bagels, I made some changes:

First, I skipped the cranberries, and just went for the chocolate, which I mixed in before letting the dough rise the first time. Next, I made 16 bagels instead of 8. Also, the weather wasn't as nice. In fact, the weather was everything it shouldn't be when you do yeast baking: Windy, wet and overcast. I tried to warm up my kitchen by turning on the oven early, but the bagels just didn't rise as much as the previous batch. Another change I made was that I dipped the boiled bagels in cornmeal before putting them on my cookie sheet, because even though the first sheet was generously greased, the bagels were cemented on there! The mini bagels were chewier and had a more marbled chocolate effect because some of the chips melted as I kneaded the dough. They were also quite a bit uglier because they lacked the smooth surface of their predecessors. I think when I make them again for Saturday's brunch, I'll still stick with mini bagels, but I will let them rise longer after the bagels are formed. Also, I think I'll sprinkle the cookie sheet with the corn meal, as it really helped with the sticking.

Singapore noodles

Another clean-out-the-fridge-and-freezer meal: Singapore noodles.

My version of this dish started with some rice vermicelli soaked in hot water for a few minutes. Then, I sauteed sliced onion, garlic, shredded cabbage and some korean fish cake sheets in oil and curry powder. Once that was all soft and fragrant, I transferred it to a bowl and added shrimp and frozen peas to the pan with some more curry and salt. I only cooked those until they were heated through... I don't like my peas to get mealy or my shrimp to get chewy! To prevent either of those things from messing up my dinner, I took them out of the pan and put the noodles in with the original veggies. I think I could have saved myself some trouble by starting with the shrimp and peas, but my brain doesn't always work like that! Anyhow the whole thing gets stir-fried with a little soy sauce until the noodles are transluscent. Add shrimp and peas back in and give it a quick stir, then transfer to a bowl and top with fresh cilantro.

Behl Puri Kit

There was a little Indian grocery next to The Curry Pot. While Stephen ran up and down the aisles snagging cucumbers, plantains and cartons of cumin cookies, I was looking for a tasty snack that Joe and I had a few years ago when we attended a festival with our former Indian neighbor, Ravi.

I LOVE Behl Puri. It's kind of like a vegetarian Indian taco salad made with savory dry cereal instead of tortilla chips and chutneys instead of salsa.

 After purchasing this boxed Bhel Puri kit and inspecting the vacuum-sealed pouches inside, I learned that Bhel Puri is actually made up of Bhel mix-- little Rice Krispie-like lentil crackers, Puri--round and super fried lentil crackers, and Sev- which look like dried noodle bits. I make mine with chopped cooked potato, tomato, cucumber, cilantro and the three chutneys included in the kit: green chili, tamarind and garlic.

The Curry Pot in Chattanooga

The Curry Pot is an Indian Buffet no where near the touristy part of town. The couple that own the buffet must be Christians, as their menu features a logo with a verse from 2 Corinthians on it. The food was much less spicy than the other Indian restaurants I've tried (and than Indian food I've had with Indian friends), but I really liked their Saag Paneer (spinach with fresh cheese cubes) and their Vegetable Korma (creamy veggies with cashews). I also liked their Channa Masala (spiced chickpeas)

Their tandoori chicken, a staple at most Indian buffets, was really charred and overdone. I wasn't a fan, but Stephen really dug it! He wolfed a PB&J and then realized there was more interesting food to be had. "Can I have some Indian food?" he blurted out loud enough for the ladies in the next booth over to swivel their heads and smile.