Sweet Potato Curry Puffs

This little side dish was inspired by one of my favorite restaurants, Suwanna in Saint John.  They are kind of a Thai/Samosa type side.  I served it alongside a Red Thai Curry Beef.  So yummy!  I know these aren't exact measurements, but I was making it up and winging it.  You get the idea.

Here's what I did.  I boiled a few sweet potatoes and then drained and mashed them with a little bit of butter.  In a frying pan, I sauteed some diced shallots, grated ginger, and pressed garlic with a teaspoon or so of curry powder.  I added the sweet potato and mixed up together, allowing the flavors to work together.

I then took some filo dough, brushed a little melted butter over top.  I cut the dough into strips and put a spoonful of potato mix on each at the end.  I then folded up the puffs into triangles (like samosas or spanikopitas).  I brushed a little more melted butter on top of them and baked them at 425* for about 10 minutes.  

They worked out better even better than I hoped and can't wait to make them again.

Red Thai Chicken Curry

I read in a book recently how cliche the love of Thai food in the west is becoming.  That people are discovering fish sauce like some great new secret ingredient.  It's true, we've got a love affair with Thai food and I'm no exception.  I love it.  My husband and I have been trying to re-create a red curry that would be as good as the one at our favorite restaurant back home in the Maritimes.  This is the closest we have come.  It is really, really good!

Two chicken breasts - chopped into large chunks
Half onion - chopped finely
1 shallot - chopped finely
4 cloves garlic - crushed
Small lump of ginger - chopped finely or grated
2 heaping tsp red curry paste - the curry paste you get makes all the difference in the world, our current one of choice is made by Thai kitchen
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of table syrup or brown sugar
Cilantro - a good amount chopped finely
Lime juice 1 small lime
1 tsp butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Half can of coconut milk (I like to use the full can a little at a time, my husband uses just 1/2 a can)





I find it helps to get everything prepped first because this meal comes together so quickly.  My ingredients are listed a little backwards, so you'll have to work with me on this one. 

Fist, heat the oil and melt the butter in a saucepan, or large (deep) frying pan (medium heat so you don't burn the next ingredients).  Add the onions, shallots, garlic and ginger.  Cook to let them become soft, but don't overcook to let them burn.  Add the curry paste, mixing it in to coat the veggies.  Add the chicken and let it cook through.  Pour the coconut milk over everything as the chicken is cooking.  Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for a few minutes.  Serve over rice.
 

Chiang Mai Curry Noodles

This is without a doubt the most beautiful cookbook I've ever read. The authors have spent years traveling throughout Southeast Asia.  As they traveled they learned how to cook like the locals.  This book is part cookbook, part travel/photo essay, and it's gorgeous.  They follow the Mekong River, noticing how the cooking of the regions are similar, yet different as the river flows - sort of like we group Mediterranean cooking together.  There are similarities, yet each region has its own take on its dishes.  I happened upon this book via a new friend.  The first time we had lunch with their family, she has make a chicken noodle dish from us from this book.  The second time, she made an Indian dal dish from another of their books, Mangoes and Curry Leaves.  The cooking was so delicious and so what my husband and I enjoy that we ordered both books from Amazon. 
I decided that the first dish I cooked would be this soup from Northern Thailand.  It was quite simple to put together and very tasty.  It was even better the next day as the flavors really had a chance to melt together.

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp salt, plus a pinch
1 tbsp red curry paste
1 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
3 cups coconut milk, with 1/2 cup of the thickest milk set aside
1/2 pound boneless flavorful beef (sirloin tip or trimmed stewing beef), cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup water
3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
peanut oil for deep frying noodles (optional)
1 pound Chinese egg noodles (bamee)

Toppings and Condiments: Fried noodle nests
1/2 cup coursely chopped shallots
1/2 cup minced scallions
1/2 cup pickled cabbage (Thai style)
1 lime, cut into wedges

Finely mince the garlic, place in a small bowl with the tumeric, a pinch of salt and curry paste and mix well together.
Place a large heavy pot or wok over high heat.  Add the 1 tbsp oil and when it is hot, toss in the curry mixture.  Stir fry 30 seconds, then add the reserved 1/2 cup coconut milk and lower the heat to medium high.  Add the meat and sugar, stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes, until the meat has changed color all over.  Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups coconut milk, the water, fish sauce and the remaining 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook at a strong simmer for about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice.  (this soup can be prepared up to an hour ahead and then reheated just before serving).
Meanwhile make the crispy noodles (optional, but I heartily recommend them).  Place a plate lined with several layers of paper towels by your stove.  Place a large wok or heavy pot over high heat and add about a cup peanut oil, or 1/2 inch oil.  When the oil is hot, drop in a strand of uncooked noodle to test the temp.  It should sizzle slightly as it falls to the bottom and immediately puff and rise to the surface: adjust the heat if necessary.  Toss a handful (about 1 cup) of noodles into the oil and watch as they puff up.  Use a spatula or long tongs to turn them over and expose all of them to the hot oil.. They will crisp up very quickly (less than 1 minute).  Lift the crisped noodles out of the oil and place on paper towel lined plate.  Give the oil a moment to come back to temperature, and then repeat with a second handful of noodles.  (the noodles can be made ahead of time and left standing at room temperature for several hours).
To serve: bring a large pot of water to a vigorous boil over high heat.  Drop in the remaining noodles (or all noodles, if you didn't make the crispy noodles), bring back to a boil and cook until tender but not mushy (about 6 minutes) - drain well.
Divide the drained noodles among 4 large bowls.  Ladle over the broth and meat.  Top with crispy noodles and a pinch each of the shallots and scallions (I just used shallots).  Serve with the remaining condiments set out in small bowls so guest can garnish their soup as they wish.  Provide each guest with chopsticks and a large spoon.

Muffins and a craving

These are Lara's (of Recipe Shoebox) Maple Muffins. She posted hers on Thursday and I knew that's what I was making Saturday morning. MMM, they were really tasty and so commented my toughest critics (aka my 4 and 2 year old). Definately a keeper!
Pictured below is my favorite craving. It is the Thai Hut's Pad Thai. I get serious cravings for this dish. I have tried to copy it, and I've come close but I can never get it as good. Jonathan and I were at a wedding Saturday night. I knew (but forgot) that it was a dessert buffet and didn't have dinner beforehand. Afterwards we were enjoying a kid free evening and reluctant to go home. So we just drove around and talked. And then I realised I was hungry (this is about quarter to 10) and I really wanted Pad Thai. We were on the other side of town and hit every red light between here and there. We walked in at 5 past 10. The owner said that technically they were closed, but if I turned their open sign off and locked the door he would make us some Pad Thai. Oh that is the nicest thing anyone had done for me all day. We took it home and feasted. Mmmm, now I want some more :o)

Thai inspired dinner with a good friend

I've been wanting to visit my favorite Thai restaurant, Suwanna for a while now. It's a nicer place to go and we usually reserve it for special occasions (the last time we were there was my birthday back in November. We were going to go there for Jonathan's birthday a couple of weeks ago but it was closed (they take a couple of week's holiday each year). So while we went elsewhere for dinner that night, my Thai craving didn't go away. While I make a decent Thai stir-fry, there are other dishes that I love eating but have never made myself. Tonight was the night to search and experiment. Can I make more than a stir-fry? Can I brave a carrot salad and succeed? How about Chicken Satay and peanut sauce?
I did some googling and found a few recipes for each. Some I followed as written, others I tweaked.
1st up was the carrot salad. Carrot salad is something I would never have ordered were it not for the encouragement of my friend Erin on her birthday at Suwanna one year. She raved about it. I thought how good could a pile of shredded carrot be? I am not a huge coleslaw fan to begin with, why would I order something resembling coleslaw at a fancy restaurant? I am so glad I did. This carrot salad was so delicious. I found a highly rated version at Group Recipes and gave it a go.

3 cups grated carrots
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 cup chopped peanuts
Finely chopped fresh mint for garnish (I didn't have fresh mint so I left this out)

Directions
In a food processor blend all the vinaigrette ingredients except peanuts and mint. (I used a hand blender to mix)
Wash the carrots with a brush and grate into a large bowl.
Add the dressing and marinate for 20 minutes before serving. (ours marinated for closer to an hour)
Garnish with chopped peanuts and mint.

The result was a lovely salad. All adults at the table loved it. I say adults because my kids took one look at their plate of salad, rice and chicken and kind of shook their head. Elijah ate the rice, tried the chicken and salad before rejecting it. Jeremy didn't even get that far. He immediately grabbed the salad into his hands and said, 'No like this' and started to pile it onto my husband's plate. At that point I figured it would be a lot easier (and quieter) to make them each a snack plate supper of cheese and crackers, yogurt cups and dried fruit. It worked!




Thai stir-fry and basamati rice I could probably make in my sleep by now. I made the stir-fry and curry sauce plain (no shrimp or anything) and added more veg than I would if I were making this with a meat. I halved the sauce from my usual as I had only half a can of coconut milk left over from the satay marinade.

Stir-fry

1 tbsp cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped

Stir-fry all of the above over medium low heat until just soft, add the sauce (below) and allow to cook together to let the flavours blend into each other. Add some fresh chopped cilantro just before serving.

Curry Sauce (1/2)

1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 tsp red curry paste
few dashes of fish sauce

Boil altogether in a small saucepan, whisking well.



Chicken Satay

The chicken satay recipe I found at All Recipes.

1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (did not add)
1 tablespoon chopped unsalted peanuts (did not add)
12 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 15 minutes (we just grilled the chicken without being on skewers)

In a medium bowl, stir together the coconut milk, ground coriander, curry powder, fish sauce, and chili oil. Add the chicken breast strips, and stir to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 hours.
Preheat an indoor or outdoor grill for high heat. Thread the chicken strips onto skewers. Discard marinade.
Grill chicken for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until no longer pink. Time will depend on how thick your strips are. Transfer to a serving plate, and garnish with cilantro and peanuts. Serve with peanut sauce for dipping.

*We didn't skewer it and I didn't add the cilantro and peanuts at the end because I already had a couple of dishes with both. Also, when I started the marinade I was out of ground corriander so I used 1 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp parsley in it instead. I did have to make a grocery run for a couple of things (highly unusual for me, I know) and ended up picking up some ground coriander while I was there and adding it to the marinade when I got home. I think the chicken sat in the marindade for a good 3 hours before we grilled it on the BBQ. I also managed to convince my husband to BBQ in the rain for me for this, which I am very grateful.

This chicken was really tasty. I would definately make it again.



Peanut Sauce

The peanut sauce I had a harder time finding. I read a lot of peanut sauce recipes and never did find one that I thought would be really good. What I ended up doing was basing mine on a recipe I found at All Recipes and then adapting it based on the comments it had received. It made a lot more sauce than I was expecting, and I ended up cooking it in a small saucepan over low-medium heat in order to get the peanut butter to a really smooth consistancy.

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (I used smooth, natural)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar (I used brown sugar instead and increased it to 1 tbsp)
2 drops hot pepper sauce (I increased this quite a bit, probably 4 or 5 good shakes, not drops)
1 clove garlic, minced (I increased this to 2 cloves crushed)
1/2 cup water
*I added a little bit of chili oil and threw in some sesame seeds too

In a small bowl, stir together peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, hot pepper sauce and garlic until well mixed. Gradually stir in water until texture is smooth and creamy.
*These directions didn't work for me. I combined everything into a small saucepan and whisked it together over low-medium heat instead.

The results were quite tasty.

Dinner was followed by mango sorbet and chocolate chip cookies. Very tasty.

So a little while back, Mommy Gourmet challenged us to have a meal with a friend (or friends) and write about it. I really wanted to do this, not for the contest of it, but because I really enjoy spending time with my friends. Because of the chaos that is our lives at present I was starting to think that I wouldn't have the time to share an evening with everyone. We did have dinner with friends over the past month, but it's been dinner out, not dinner in.

This morning after church, my husband was chatting with a very good friend of ours, Debbie. As I joined them I kept getting the nudge to invite her over for dinner, so I did. (Hey, when God speaks, I've learned to listen). As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Jonathan said, "I was just thinking that, yes, you should come over for supper tonight." So she agreed.
It has been too long since we've had Debbie over. We don't live close to our family (life having taken us to the complete opposite side of Canada), but we've been fortunate enough to make some friendships here that truly have become more than friendship. I would count Debbie as someone who is more family to us. She is one of Jeremy's godparents. She is someone that we have travelled with. She is someone who has cared for our children when we've gone away (she looked after Elijah when I was labouring with Jeremy). She's one of the first people to know what's going on with us. She prays for us and with us. She's just a really lovely person. Her daughter, Christy is also very close to us and is the first person we call to take care of the boys when we want a night out. Christy was away tonight for the long weekend, so it was just Debbie, which was neat because we often don't get to see Debbie, just Debbie.
The boys were so excited to see her. She is one of their favorite people. You can always tell with the kids who they like and who they don't by how much they show off, and it was full force show off mode tonight.
Most of the night took place in the kitchen (because let's face it, I'm somewhat of a Maritmer now and that's what Maritimers do) and we just talked. We talked while I finished up supper. We talked while we ate. We talked while I cleaned up. We talked during dessert. And we talked over tea (Darjeeling - me) and coffee (Starbucks blend - Jonathan and Debbie) afterwards. Those are some of the best nights. You don't need to plan any entertainment (and really, a two year old running around in his diaper telling you he's naked is entertainment - and hey, there's always his four year old brother doing his best Elvis impersonation using a hockey stick as a guitar too). It's just friends being friends, catching up and being comfortable with each other. There's no pressure to be anyone in particular, just yourself.
Debbie loved the food. She fully admits to being a functional cook. She makes sure that there is always a nutritious meal set out (she and another friend of ours run a place called Jordan House, which boards women who need a place to stay), but she's not one to experiment with food. She had a good laugh that my kids would turn down this 'gourmet meal' for cheese and crackers. She thought the carrot salad was so tasty (never having had Suwanna's to compare to). She asked how I made the stir-fry (and had seconds, always a compliment to the cook). And just seemed to really enjoy the meal. She also had a giggle over me taking pictures of what we were eating, but was intregued enough to want to see the blog after supper.
I don't think you can ask for much more than that. Good friend, good food, good time.



Debbie with Elijah

Thai Shrimp Stir Fry

This super-easy super-tasty dish has become a regular feature at our house. I'm posting it specifically for a friend of mine who wants to learn to cook as I often bring the leftovers to work with me to share with her.

1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp curry paste
a couple of dashes of fish sauce*
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 red pepper sliced thinly
1 cup shrimp, thawed (I use the pre-cooked and frozen shrimp)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan. Whisk the curry paste and fish sauce into it. Let boil together for a few minutes (so the paste has disolved and mixed in nicely) and remove from heat and set aside.
Heat cooking oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers to cook to your desired crispyness level (just a few minutes, you don't want to burn the onions). Add the shrimp and coconut/curry sauce. Stir everything together. Add the cilantro just at the end. Serve over basimati rice.

*About the fish sauce. When we first started cooking Thai food, I wondered if this was really neccessary. I guess you can get away without it, but the fish sauce gives it an authentic Thai taste. It's not very expensive and it lasts forever. I bought mine at an Asian food store. Just ask for fish sauce and they will know what you mean and that you are cooking Thai.