THAI MANGO SALAD

I am sure this is not entirely authentic but so delicious, nevertheless. I did not put in the usual mung bean sprouts.  Couldn't find them. These flavors are amazing.  To the average American, putting fish sauce in with mangoes is not necessarily appealing.  If you have never tried Thai, it's worth taking that taste risk. Something about the way the lime, cilantro and fish sauce play together that makes it absolutely appealing.  You will find this combination in other Asian dishes as well.

I totally will make this again but add in mung bean sprouts, carrots and maybe even lettuce.

THAI MANGO SALAD

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cashews
2 firm mangoes , sliced thinly
1 sweet red pepper, thinly slice
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons basil, Thai basil if you have it

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons granulated sugar, grated palm sugar, even better
1 teaspoon minced hot pepper
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
Toss the mangoes, red pepper, green onions, mint, basil and cilantro.  In a separate bowl whisk together the  dressing ingredients.  Stir into the mango mixture.  Sprinkle cashews over top. Serve with lime wedges.

One of my very dear friends shared with me 9 big, beautiful cloves of garlic from her garden.  I dutifully planted them in the Fall of last year.  I was rewarded with scapes in the Spring that I blitzed in the food processor with oil and froze.  (By the way, they lose their pungency after they have been frozen, which is a good thing for me because they are very strong) I was also rewarded these 8, huge garlic bulbs.  My biggest and best cloves will go to planting so that I can increase my garlic yield next year!  Yeah.  Garlic is one of the most expensive things at the market.  I have tried planting it before but for the last couple years when I went to look for it in the Fall to plant, I could not find any. They were bought out.  A few years before that I gave garlic a try with organic garlic from the store. I don't know if they were the right variety for our climate but I got very small heads. It was supremely disappointing.  This year though, EUREKA!  Thanks to my good friend, J.

Thai Beef Salad

If you have some steak leftover this dish comes together really fast.  You can totally substitute chicken as well or skip the meat all together.  I have had this salad before and I have to tell you anytime I have leftover steak- which is not too often, I think of this salad straight away.  I have mainly used Hangar Steak before.  

Thai Cabbage and Steak Salad

2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil ( roasted)
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc mam)
1 pinch ground red pepper (cayenne), if  you like a little heat
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 
 
leftover steak, sliced as thin as you can
2 carrots, peeled and cut into strips
10 cups romaine, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup mint, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Thai basil or regular basil, thinly sliced
fresh ground black pepper
3 green onions, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (optional)

 
The most important thing here is to do a nice chop of everything that is in this salad. With a whisk combine the lime juice, vinegar, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, Thai fish sauce and olive oil. Set aside.

Chop and then toss the vegetables and herbs in a large bowl.  Toss in the dressing and then serve with steak and peanuts sprinkled over top.

Thai Jasmine Rice

I want to let you know that I have had some difficulty connecting to Google.  I am not sure what is happening.  Every once in a while I get lucky and get in. Be patient I will do my best to get past this little glitch. 

One of the ladies in my group that meets monthly prepared this amazingly wonderful meal.  I finally remembered to bring my camera.  It was in the afternoon so there was some beautiful light streaming in.  It was all so perfect for these pictures, how could I pass that up?

 

Asian Slaw

Thai Jasmine Rice
Recipe adapted from Menu Magazine; Wegmans

2 Tbsp Wegmans Basting Oil
1 pkg (8 oz)  onions, chopped
1 pkg (8 oz)  Jasmine Rice Blend
2 1/4 cups Thai Culinary Stock
salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg (1 lb) shrimp, uncooked and cleaned
1/2 bunch green onions, sliced thinly on the bias


Add basting oil to braising pan on MEDIUM-HIGH. Add onion; cook, stirring, 3-4 min, until onion begins to soften.

Add rice; cook, stirring, 2-3 min, to toast rice. Add stock; season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer on HIGH; cover. Transfer to oven. Cook 10 min.

Remove from oven. Arrange shrimp on rice; lightly season with salt and pepper. Cover; return to oven 5 min, until internal temp of shrimp reaches 130 degrees.

Remove from oven; let rest 10 min. Sprinkle with green onions; stir to combine.

And just in case you are dreaming of Spring...

Thai Green Mango Salad

We have been out of town due to a death in the family. It was a strange sort of turn of events that we are trying to recover from at the moment.  It is strange the way a death can bring unresolved issues into the forefront.  Suffice to say that I am so glad to be home.  There is no place like home.

If you have never had green mango, I urge you to give it a try.  It has nice flavor, bordering on sour but in a pleasant way.

Green Mango Salad*

2 green mangoes, julienned
3/4 cup mung bean sprouts
1 purple onion or vidalia, sliced
1 carrot, julienned
1/4 cup cilantro
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon palm sugar, grated
1/4 cup peanuts

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Update:

FYI- Green mango is unripened mango.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

 
I had some leftover turkey soup that my kids weren't finishing as fast as I would have liked. My one daughter who usually loves soup just wouldn't eat any of it. However, I know if I made it into this Thai Pumpkin Soup, me and my husband would totally polish it off in no time.

I added my turkey broth complete with carrots and celery and even some spices like sage, cinnamon and a bit of apple from the drippings of the turkey. It did not distract at all from the Thai taste. I had seen a recipe with the pumpkin Thai soup with green beans so I went ahead and added my leftover green beans it into my recipe. I really love this soup. It warms and recharges your batteries!

I hope to make it again when I have some lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

Adapted from this recipe

8 cups any nice flavored broth will work

1 can thick coconut milk (preferably not 'lite')

1 tablespoon oil

3 cups pumpkin or squash, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks

1/2 cup minced red onion

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece galangal or ginger, grated

1-2 tsp. red chili paste

1/2 tsp. turmeric

3/4 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

3 Tbsp. fish sauce

2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice

1 cup green beans

1/2 cup fresh coriander for garnish/toppings

Saute onions in a oil until transluscent.  Add the red onion, garlic, galangal or ginger, and chili paste. add the spices/flavorings, stirring with each addition: turmeric, ground coriander and cumin, fish sauce, and lime juice. Bring to a boil. Add the pumpkin. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15  minutes.  Add the green beans toward the end of the cooking time if they are already cooked.

Stir in the coconut milk. Taste and adjust seasonings.  You can add sugar if you find it too sour.  I thought it was just fine without the sugar. You can serve the soup with rice on the side.

Crappy Pics/Good Food

I have wanted to show you a few recipes but every time I go to post them I say to myself I just cant put this on my blog because the picture is terrible.  Well I decided to post them anyway because they are good.  So here are the ugly's. Do not let their appearance fool you- they were delicious. The first one here is easy-peasy to make and makes a stunning appearance.  That is if you have the time to take a picture before everyone gobbles it up.

Rosemary and Olive Pork Tenderloin
adapted from Flat Belly Diet Book ( I might add, without encouragement that this is a pretty darn good cookbook.  I have had many recipes out of it and they were purely delicious).

12 ounces pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon fresh rosemayr, minced
6 garlic cloves, more if you and your husband fight over them, as we do.
1 cup kalamata olives
2 red onions chopped into bite sized chunks, oh yeah!
1 tablespoon olive oil
s and p

Preheat oven to 375F.  Trim excess fat off tenderloin and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Rub olive oil over tenderloin.  Sprinkle rosemary and salt and pepper over roast, rub into meat.  Place cut up red onion, garlic cloves around tenderloin.  Place in the oven for about 20 minutes.   Take tenderloin out of the oven and place olives on the baking sheet.  Return to oven and cook for about 15 minutes more.  A meat thermometer should read 155F.  After you remove it from the oven, place a sheet of foil over it and let it rest for ten minutes before slicing.

Next up- this Choo Chee Fish and potatoes.  I know some of you are saying yuck, fish cakes, but if you like fish,  and you like Thai, you will love this combination.  We did.  (and might I add for all of you watching for me to keep my promise- this was from a cook book- at least the choo chee part).


Fish Balls
my creation

1 egg
2 pounds of whiting fillets, drained and squeezed of excess water
1/2 to 1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped chives or green onions
2 tablespoons instant mashed potatoes
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
salt and pepper

In a processor quick pulse the fish fillets.  Make sure you squeeze as much water out as possible so that you don't have to use many crumbs to hold it together.  In a bowl combine other ingredients and add fish to that. Mix all together and form into balls. Drop into boiling water for about five minutes.  Set balls aside and continue with the remainder of the recipe below.

Choo Chee Potatoes
adapted from Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott

1 can (14 ounces or about 1 /34 cups) unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 pound new potatoes
¼ cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons palm sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soy sauce
¼ cup basil
2 lime leaves

In a saucepan place 1 cup coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer 6 to 8 minutes.  When coconut oil begins to pool around the sides then it is ready to add the curry paste.  Cook two minutes more.

Add remainder of ingredients except fish balls. Continue cooking until potatoes are tender.  Add in fish balls and cook to heat through.

This is obviously not a recipe per say but I just had to share it with you. The flavor combination was WoW! My Aunt's fiancé, Uncle C, told me about this amazing sandwich he eats. He takes two slices of bread and puts bologna and apple butter on it. He loves it. Well, we had to try it. We didn't say "Wow" over it but we had some roundish crackers, placed some bologna on them and then a little dollop of apple butter. I must say- WoW! We liked them. A quick and silly appetizer.

Tamarind Restaurant in Ithaca

I have never been a big fan of Thai food. Yeah I like Phat Thai- it's good but that is about it. I dont know if my tastes changed but I have reconsidered my earlier decisions. While in Ithaca my husband and I visited a restaurant called Tamarind. Thai? What the heck made me choose Thai? Well, I saw a menu and there was fish balls on there. I use to eat this amazing soup with fish balls in Arizona- a Vietnamese place. So I went there for the balls (eh hem). Never ordered them. I was distracted. Way distracted. There was a ton of duck dishes on the menu. I am not a big fan of duck because any duck I have ever had was swimming in a pool of grease. Poor me- boy, have I been missing out. My husband was debating between two duck dishes ( he is the more couragous eater). One was Chochee Duck and the other Honey Roasted Duck. We asked our very sweet waitress which one he should order. She said the Chochee Duck was THE most popular dish. I had a suspicion there duck was going to be good. Why would they have a ton of it on the menu? Oh yeah. He let me eat a piece. Yup 'A' piece. It was the most succulent, light and tastey piece of meat, yes meat, I have ever had. Of course I had to ask what kind of duck this was. The lovely waitress said, "Our chefs our trained to make this secret recipe for preparing duck, found only in one area of Thailand." (I don't think I will find a recipe for it).

I can not wait to get back to Ithaca to have some of my own Chochee Duck!

But okay on to the recipe at hand. Our first course was soup. This soup and really minus the kaffir lime leaves, it is basically the same exact soup. I am happy to find this recipe because Ithaca is a long way away!

Oh and what did I have? A yellow curry rice dish with pineapple, raisins, shrimp, chicken and Chinese sausage. Yummy. For dessert we shared sticky mango rice. Delicious.

Thai Coconut and Shrimp Soup (Tom Kha)
adapted from Allrecipes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 stalk lemon grass, minced
2 teaspoons red curry paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 (13.5 ounce) can lite coconut milk
1 can regular coconut milk
1/2 pound fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 pound medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the ginger, lemongrass, and curry paste in the heated oil for 1 minute. Slowly pour the chicken broth over the mixture, stirring continually. Stir in the fish sauce and brown sugar; simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and mushrooms; cook and stir until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp; cook until no longer translucent about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice; season with salt; garnish with cilantro.