Doing Thai A Bit Better This Time

It was Friday night. I had cilantro, basil, and lemongrass in the fridge. I needed a slightly more authentic Thai dish than a turkey burger. I was lucky enough to also had an internet pal post a Thai red curry recipe to the community we both post to.

I do love Thai food. I tried it for the first time in my early years of college and I become an immmediate addict. The bad part is that it took another year or two before there were any Thai restaurants locally. Once a Thai recipe opened in this area, I remember making all of my friends come with me to try this wonder known as Thai food. I am smitten with the coconut curry.

I had to modify my friend's recipe. He suggested a half a bottle of red curry paste, but I found my bottle a bit emptier. That's okay. The stuff if way spicy and there is only so much heat Sir Pickypants can tolerate. He also said to use full-fat coconut milk and cook the paste in the cream. My store only sold light, so I had to wing it a bit. He also called for Thai basil. Again, that's as hard to find as kaffir lime leaves (unless you grow it yourself) so I used a mix of regular basil and cilantro. The recipe suggests any mix of vegetables. I used a package of frozen broccoli cuts and a two chopped red pepper. I also added a touch of lemongrass. I served it over brown rice instead of white because SPP and I are both gaining weight and are trying to cut back on the white starches.



The recipe below is my version. It was pretty good.

Thai Red Curry Chicken

2 Cans coconut milk
2 Tbl Thai red curry paste
1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, cut into pieces
2 Tbl fish sauce
2 Tbl brown sugar
2 small red bell peppers, diced
1 package frozen broccoli cuts
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbl chopped fresh lemongrass

Lightly salt the chicken and brown it up in a pan. Set aside.

In a pan, whisk about a quater cup of the coconut milk with the curry paste. Bring to a boil. Keep whisking for about 5 minutes until the liquid really begins to evaporate and the mixture becomes very fragrant. Take it to where you almost think it will burn.

Add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar. Simmer 5 minutes. Add the vegetables and cook till just about done. Add the chicken and simmer till it's cooked through.

Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice and herbs. Serve over rice.

First Meal on the New Stove

Look what I got!


My old stove was really getting me down. It was crusty and hard to clean and the handle was cracking off the oven door. It was time for a change. For a birthday present (back in July) SPP gave me a contribution towards a new one, but I never got around to ordering a new one till last week. It was hard finding the model I wanted from a place that would deliver it to me. I finally found a place right down the street from my office. I'm loving the lack of coils to clean around!

Getting this thing installed was no easy feat. I needed to get my super to install it, but when he came to my apartment to do so, he found that delivery men had actually cut the connecting wires that attached me old stove to the wall instead of unscrewing the panel and actually removing them properly. Super had to go out and purchase some new parts. Even though I was off of work, I wasn't able to get much done because I had to spend so much time sitting around the house waiting.

So anyway, it was Friday night and that means I don't want to put too much effort into cooking. I wanted something simple and tasty and would use up that aging pile of basil I had in the fridge and the can of tomatoes in the cabinet.

I opted for pasta shells stuffed with turkey and topped with the simplest tomato sauce. The turkey was flavored with spinach and basil pesto.

I love my spinach-basil pesto because it's better for me than traditional pestos (pesti?) due to the nutritional boost from the spinach, but it's not overpoweringly spinachy due to the strong flavor of the basil. I sub out some of the oil for lemon juice, which cuts the fat content a bit as well.

Stir it into ground turkey. Top it with sauce. Stuff and bake. Add some shredded mozzarella on top if you're not Sir Pickypants.



I had a hard time photographing this artisticially. I couldn't get the shells neatly on the plate. I swear they tasted better than they look here. They tasted pretty awesome actually. SPP agreed.

Spinach Pesto Turkey Stuffed Shells

1 lb ground turkey meat
1 pound large pasta shells
Shredded mozzarella (optional)

Sauce
2 Tbl olive oil
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine

Pesto (measurements are rough)
1 package baby spinach
1 cup fresh basil leaves
4-6 cloves garlic (depending on size and how much you like garlic)
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbl olive oil
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan

Start by making the sauce. Heat the olive oiil in a pan. Add red pepper flakes and let them infuse. Add the garlic and cook till fragrant. Add the tomatoes and wine. Allow to cook about 30 minutes so flavors can blend.

Make the pesto. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend till you have a gritty paste.

Heat oven to 350.

Mix the ground turkey with the pesto.

Cook the shells in boiling water about 5 minutes. You want them to still be firm. Put a little sauce at the bottom of a baking pan. Fill the shells with turkey pesto mixture and place in pan. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella if you're using. Spoon sauce over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

It's Braising Season! (No, it's duck season. No it's rabbit season...)

Sempre L'Estate Di San Martino

In Europe, they call Indian Summer St. Martin's Summer. November 11 is St. Martin's Day and it's supposed to signify the beginning of winter weather. Summer goes out with a bang because it's always unseasonably warm and spring-like on St. Martin's Day or the days surrounding it. It's supposed to be due to the miracle of St. Martin.*

*I learned a poem about it in Italian class in high school (see above). St. Martin was a knight who kept a beggar warm on a cold day by cutting his cloak in half and giving it to the beggar. He was rewarded by having the sun come out and the flowers bloom, etc.

Earlier this week we definitely experienced St. Martin's Summer. The temps in the high 60s and the sun shone the whole day long. The temps are dropping now and the clouds are moving in, along with a sprinkle of rain here and there. I know that winter is on its way, no matter how much these mild days try to trick me. It's time to think of real winter recipes. For once I'm going to make the kind of food people expect to eat in the winter. I'm not just going to make ice cream until July (where I begin baking regularly...)

For years I shied away from just about any form of braised beef. I avoided beoef bourgonoine and beef stew and pot roast. I hated the stuff. Why? It's because the stews and pot roasts I was raised on weren't terribly good (or I didn't think they were).

The worst part was the potatoes. They were always russet potatoes and as the stew cooked, they would get mushy and infiltrate the stew with their starchy badness. I never liked the taste or texture of russet potatoes (still don't). The only way I will ever eat them is mashed with lots of butter and salt (and other flavors are welcome) or made into french fries. It was only in the past decade or so that I discovered yukon golds and their pleasant taste and texture. Those little red ones aren't so bad either. I always assumed that if I disliked russets, then I disliked all potatoes. I never realized that there were edible ones out there. I never thought to try a stew or braise made with another type of potato until I met a man who doesn't eat beef!

I also disliked the carrots. I love eating carrots raw and as a child they were one of the few vegetables I would eat. I refused to eat them cooked though and I hated the carrot mush that permeated a stew or pot roast. To this day I dislike recipes that feature mushy vegetables. I don't like ratatouille or giambotta. I'll eat my vegetables as long as they're roasted, sauteed with lots of garlic, or possibly blanched or steamed.

I had to approach my braised beef cautiously then. I had never made something like this before and if I was going to to it, I had to do it my way, and do it in a way that was fun and original so I could brag about it on my blog. I decided to try doing it a little sweet.

I started by browning a chuck roast.

Next came some bacon cut into pieces and then in the fat I sauteed carrots, onions, and parsnips. I solved the mush problem by removing them after they were brown and adding them back to the pot in the last half hour of cooking.

Add lots of red wine (I chose Zinfandel. Why Zinfandel? Why not?), beef stock, and the beef. My seasonings were cinnamon, bay and allspice.

I used whole spices. The stick went in by itself and so did the bay leaf. In order to not have to fish out the smaller spices, I put them in a tea ball.

My finished product. I escaped the whole potato mess thing by using yukon golds and mashing them on the side. The flavors here were really excellent. The wine and my choice of spices played off each other well.

My only problem was that I really didn't simmer this as long as I intended to simply because I got a late start in cooking dinner and didn't have time to wait to eat this. Thanks to the long hours Kevin works, we eat late enough as it is. I'm not a night owl and would never stay awake for a 10PM dinner. I think with proper cooking time, it would be perfect and I will definitely make this again for myself when I have more time to spare.

What about Sir Pickypants whose delicate widdle tum-tum can't handle beef? Halibut with dill for him (recipe from Closet Cooking - from one Kevin to another. Dude, I can so relate to the "small kitchen" thing) along with the mashed potatoes. I served him the carrots (but no parsnips for him) as his vegetable. Yes, the carrots have been soaking up beef juice. Deal with it.

These dishes share the distinction of being the last dishes ever cooked on my old stove. My new stove is coming tomorrow. Yay!

Zinfandel-Braised Beef Short(dis)Order Cook Style

1 chuck roast
2 pieces of bacon, cut into small pieces
3 large carrots, cut into chunks
1 large parsnip, cut into chunks
1 large onion, coarsely diced
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups beef stock
2 cups red wine
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 tsp allspice berries
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for sauteeing

Sprinkle your chuck roast with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large pot and brown the roast well on all sides. Get a nice crust on it. Remove from pan.

Add bacon to the pot and cook till it begins to crisp up. Drain off any fat you feel is excessive. Then add onions. When they soften, add your carrots and parsnips. Cook them until they take on some of that nice brown color and remove from pot.

Add the roast back into the pot. Now add your wine, stock and spices. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. You can put your cinnamon stick and bay leaf into the pot whole. You might want to put your allspice into a cheesecloth bag or a tea ball as I did.

Simmer this for 2 hours. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, add your carrots and parsnips back in.

When the meat is fall-apart tender and the vegetables are tender, but not mushy, remove the roast from the pot, slice, and serve with the pan juices over mashed potatoes.

A Little Housekeeping Update

I just wanted to let my readers know that I have just made TERP a little more search-friendly.

When I started TERP, I made my "recipes" very freeform. I started the blog with the idea that, "a recipe is just a story about food". In keeping with that line of thinking, my recipes were written like, "I cut up a chicken, added some spices, browned it in a pan, added some white wine..." My recipes were barely recipes. They were more like food streams of consciousness. Combine that with the fact that I didn't have photos in those days, there was no reason to wonder why I had no readers in the first few months!

I did eventually start putting my recipes in classic recipe format and eventually got a camera so I could photograph them, but I didn't catalog them well. I had posts tagged as "cooking", which might be either freeform recipes or links to other recipes, or else tagged as "recipes", which meant that the recipes were more explicit, or might also be linked to bloggers or websites.

I realized that if I wanted people to try my recipes, they had to find them. People don't want to look at a long list of assorted recipes. Cookbooks divide into chapters by recipe type. My blog should do the same.

I now have new categories that can help cross-reference the posts for easier viewing. I have these new categories:

Ingredient - You can now look for posts tagged as chicken, pasta, fruit, vegetables, etc.
Cakes
Cookies
Misc. Desserts
Pie (includes tarts)
Bars
Ice Cream
Barely Recipes - Anything freeform, written as a story, or "so easy you don't need a recipe"
Blogger Recipes - If I pilfered from your blog, you have your own category
Online Recipes - Posts where I linked to a recipe from a website

This was a big undertaking, but I'm glad I did it because I think it will make searching this site a bit easier. Enjoy.

Italian Restaurant Classic - Easy and Delicious

When I say "Italian Restaurant" here, I'm not talking Babbo. I'm not talking Scarpetta. I'm not even talking Lusardi's or Mulino. I'm talking about your neighborhood "Red Sauce" joint.

I'm talking about the kind of restaurant that makes the kind of Italian-American classics that everyone grew up on as "Italian food". It's Italian food as intepreted by immigrants who had to cook their family recipes with the limitations presented to them by what was available in the U.S. They were also using new things that weren't available to them in Italy, but they liked. This was further refined and interpreted by their descendants.

These restaurants were once scoffed at as inauthentic by true aficionados of real regional Italian food, but they are finally getting their due. Italian-American food is a cuisine in itself and if done well, can still be delicious, whether they eat it in Italy or not.

A good red sauce place will always have certain dishes on its menu. There will be Chicken Cacciatore and Chicken Scarpiello. There will be Pork Chops Contadina and Steak Pizzaiola. There will be breaded chicken and veal cutlets (called "Milanese"). There will be Chicken, Veal, and Eggplant Parmigiana (and a good restaurant will spell it correctly). There will also be Chicken (and likely veal) Francese.

Why is it called Francese? What makes it French and why say French in Italian? ;-) It's a dish that is not just a favorite of your neighborhood Italian restaurant, but it's also a favorite of caterers. I even served it at my wedding. Although Chicken Francese can be interpreted a few different ways, it always contains eggs, butter, and lemon. This night I made it with garlic and white wine.

This recipe is so easy, you don't need a recipe.

Start with boneless, skinless chicken breasts that you have pounded a bit. You can use thighs too. Dredge them in seasoned flour and then dip them in egg.

Cook through in olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and keep warm.

Add some garlic (about 4 cloves) and cook until fragrant.

Deglaze the pan with the juice of two lemons, a half a cup of white wine, and a half a cup of chicken broth. Allow to reduce a bit.

Add about two tablespoons of butter and swirl them in. Pour over warm chicken.

Serve with greens and maybe some roasted potatoes or pasta if you like.

In Thailand They Weep

I'm having one of those weeks where budget is a big concern and I really need to conserve and reuse anything in my kitchen than I can.

In this case I happened to have some cilantro, a couple of hot peppers, and a part of a stalk of lemongrass left over from making my spicy Thai-style sweet potato soup. I decided that due to the leftovers, this week was now Thai Week, or perhaps it was Make a Thai Cry week.

What was my "Thai" recipe of choice?

Turkey burgers!

I blended those spicy seasonings into ground turkey in a way that would even make Rachael Ray cringe. Yes, I could have made them into sauce for chicken, but we had chicken for the past two days and we all know how much Kevin loves turkey burgers.

These were actually very tasty. The store was out of dark meat ground turkey, so I had to use that flavorless ground breast and the burgers were still good. I'd love to try them with beef.

I served it with a very nice salad, also in the Thai theme with mangoes and cucumbers and cilantro and lime.

Check out my veggies. I love that mandoline. I think I actually constructed the salad nicely. This would never have been done without the mandoline. I don't have the patiece or the knife skills (or I should say I don't have the patience that knife skills require).

See how pretty?

"Thai" Turkey Burgers

1 lb ground turkey (or ground meat of our choice)
1" piece of lemongrass, cut into manageable bits
1" piece peeled ginger cut in manageable bits
1 chili pepper (I only had jalapeno, but if you have a Thai chile, please use)cored and seeded
1 clove garlic
2 scallions (white part only)
1 small handful cilantro
2 tsp fish sauce
Juice of 1 lime

Place all ingredients in a food processor or other grinding device (I used the mini food processor that comes with my stick blender) except for turkey. Blend into a paste. Combine with turkey meat.

Divide meat into 4 patties. Cook according to your preferred method of cooking.

Mixed Veggie Salad

1 bell pepper
1 peeled cucumber
2 carrots
1 mango
Butter lettuce leaves
1/4 cup sesame oil
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tbl rice vinegar
2 Tbl honey (NOT chestnut honey)
1 Tbl fish sauce
1 small handful cilantro leaves
Green parts of scallions used above, diced

Cut pepper, carrots, mango, and cucumber into julienne strips.

Mix together the oil, lime juice, vinegar, honey, fish sauce, cilantro, and scallions. Place veggies in the dressing and let sit and soak in for a few minutes.

Serve on top of lettuce leaves.

Recommendation for My Local Peeps

I'm not an Ace of Cakes kind of gal. Showy cakes aren't my thing. My primary concern for any party is a cake that tastes good. In fact, I would prefer my guests are more wowed more by the way my cake tastes than how it looks. Even for my own wedding I sought a cake that would taste divine and not look like Bernini threw up on it. I was lucky I found it at Wedding Cakes Online, but that's not whom this post is about.

That's one of the reasons I always like to make my own desserts for dinner parties. I know that when it comes to baking I don't have the most dexterity. I don't do pretty when it comes to sweets. What I like is quality. Any dessert that comes out of my kitchen is made with lots of love and the best ingredients I can afford. I prefer eating one of my lopsided cakes to something from a bakery that looks pretty, but tastes like a pile of sugar. (The other reason is that I'm a huge diva and I want to be loved and admired for my delicious desserts.)

This past weekend I threw a big surprise 50th birthday party for Sir Pickypants. I gathered about 30 of our closest friends and family members to a restaurant and sprung them on him. It was a great night.

When it came to dessert though, I knew it wasn't something I could do myself. I don't have the time or the kitchen to bake that much birthday cake. Also, let's face it, I don't want everyone I know looking at one of my lopsided cakes. I would need to go out and buy something. I needed a cake that would look respectable, but would make my chocolate-loving husband smile with joy over the taste.

Enter Nancy.

Who is Nancy? Well, she's someone I have known since I was in elementary school. Like many old school folks, we didn't see each other after high school graduation. I can remember certain things about Nancy from school. She had a sharp tongue on her when we were little (she and our friend DeeDee were dangerous together!). She and I were in the same Italian class in high school. Signora Miscella, the woman responsible for me being the one person in the world who doesn't mind Giada's accent, absolutely loved her "Nunziata" in that class. (In case you're going to ask, no Mrs. Miscella didn't favor me like she favored Nancy. She picked on me a lot, but once said I was one of her best students, then put on my report card that I frequently disturbed the class. It was weird.) I also had Nancy's little sister Susan in my group for a couple of summers when I worked as a day camp counselor.

When the reunion planning was in full swing and the Harrison High School Class of '88 finally began getting in touch with each other, I learned something. Nancy now had her own business.

Nancy's Cakes

Nancy's Cakes specializes in just the kind of cake I was looking for. There are no novelty cakes or overdone sugar mountains. These are just simple cakes with very high quality ingredients. When it came time to find a cake for Kevin's birthday party, there really was no other place to go.

I opted for a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and rich ganache on the outside. The filling had fresh raspberries inside (even got the seeds in my teeth to prove it) and sank ever so deliciously into the cake layers. The ganache was rich without being too thick and heavy. A more perfect cake could not have been imagined.

I know there aren't too many Westchester readers of this blog, but for all of you out there, I strongly recommend you give Nancy a try if you need a cake. You won't be disappointed.