Fabulous 50!

One of the ways I deal with TK's frequent absences is to throw myself into Kitchen Window classes. Volunteering as a Culinary Assistant is another one of my other food-related changes in the past year. If you revel good food, talking to strangers, and enjoy hanging out with like-minded individuals, perhaps a CA role at KW is in your future!

I realised today that I have completed a milestone - class number fifty! That's a little staggering considering I only began in July 2010. What can I say, I'm a bit of an addict...

Unbeknownst to me, I "celebrated" by cooking up Gaeng Kari Gai, a yellow curry taught by KW's guest chef Joe Hatch-Surisook. Joe is co-owner and the Executive Chef at Sen Yai Sen Lek in Minneapolis, but most importantly, he's a great guy who has a passion for food.

The key ingredient is certainly the yellow curry paste. Here in Minneapolis you can purchase it at United Noodles - a mecca for all things Asian cuisine. Below is the recipe for this amazing dish.

Gaeng Kari Gai

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 cup red potatoes, cut into large chunks

1/2 cup thick sliced carrots

1 - 19 oz can of coconut milk

3 - 4 Tbsp. Kari/yellow curry paste, Maesri brand

1 lb. chicken, boneless and skinless (thighs or breast), cut into bite-sized cubes

2 - 3 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. sugar

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes and carrots in water for about 5 minutes, drain and set aside.

2. Skim the thick coconut cream that sits at the top of the canned coconut milk until you have a 1/2 cup of cream. Set aside the remaining coconut milk.

3. In a medium sauce pan or pot, stir fry the coconut cream and kari/yellow curry paste over medium high heat until oil begins to separate from the coconut/curry mixture stirring frequently (approximately 5 minutes).

4. Add chicken, potatoes, carrots, and remaining coconut milk. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

5. Add fish sauce and sugar to taste. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve with rice.

March Madness

It's been ages since my last post - I guess I realised that I'm a better cook than a writer. Over the past year there have been a few food-related changes - the most recent being an almost completed kitchen remodel in the 1926 Craftsman home we purchased in July 2010 (pictures to follow at a later date).

Since TK is gone on another work trip, I decided to resurrect the blog and force myself to cook in his absence. (He had me pegged that I'd settle on cereal and chocolate almond milk in his absence...the man knows me well.) So, that makes it "Operation Clean Out the Cupboards" as well as trying new recipes from my ever-growing stash.




Tonight's meal comes to us from the New York Times: Quinoa Salad with Lime Ginger Dressing and Shrimp. It was super easy, very tasty, and I'll be sure to make it again. The recipe is as follows:

DRESSING:

• 2 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed if possible
• 1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (more to taste)
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• salt, to taste
• 1 pinch cayenne
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil or 2 teaspoons walnut oil
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk

SALAD:

• 3 cups cooked quinoa (3/4 uncooked)
• 4 scallions, white and light green parts, slicely thin
• 1 small cucumber, halved, seeded and thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 12 - 16 cooked medium shrimp, peeled

Directions: In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lime juice, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, salt, cayenne, sesame oil, canola oil, and buttermilk. In a salad bowl, combine the quinoa, scallions, cucumber, and cilantro. Toss with the dressing and divide among salad plates, top each portion with 3 or 4 shrimp, and serve.

Super Plate Sunday

I have to admit it, ever since watching Julie & Julia I've been salivating over Julia Child's signature dish: Boeuf Bourguignon. Seriously, how good could it be? The characters in the movie made such a big deal about it and I was intrigued. If you're not familiar with the recipe, it's quite time intensive. But, as far as I'm concerned, what better way to spend a Sunday than working in the kitchen? (Sorry Colts/Saints fans, football just ain't my thing...)

Surprisingly enough, I don't actually own a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. (Then again, I also don't own the other quintessential cookbook, The Joy of Cooking.) So I did the logical thing - I googled the recipe. (How did we ever survive before Google?) The best I found was here: http://cooking.knopfdoubleday.com/2009/07/13/julia-childs-boeuf-bourguignon-recipe/ and it included the recipes for the sauteed mushrooms and braised onions. (Hey, if you're going to do it, you may as well go whole hog, right?)

In the beginning, everything starts off so neat and orderly...which is a stretch at best for me. Despite my new love of cooking, I don't always prep-cook as well as I should and had to call my hubby, TK, in for reinforcements. (He got the job of peeling the little onions, ha!) One of these days I'll sit down and read the recipe in its entirety before I start throwing stuff into a pan and flying by the seat of my pants.

Eventually this dish gives you a bit of a reprieve as the meat is cooking in the oven....which is plenty of time to do up the mushrooms and onions properly. (Don't skip this part, it's definitely worth it!)

All in all, bouef bourguignon isn't all that difficult to achieve, just time consuming. Would I make it again? You bet!...it is as spectacular as it's made out to be. The beef is fork tender, there is no over-powering wine flavour, and the sauce is simply to die for. Make sure to serve this dish with something that will sop up the juice (such as mashed potatoes, like we did). We're not wine drinkers so TK paired this meal with a La Terrible beer from Unibroue: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/3635/ . Based on the contented sighs and the odd belch, I'd say it was a great pairing!

And so it begins...

I never used to be much of a cook - when it came to food, I preferred the eating part, not the preparing part. I don't particularly enjoy being lousy at anything and cooking certainly fell into that category. But, lo and behold, everything gets better with practice and I ended up with lots of time on my hands whilst waiting for my Green Card application to get processed. What better way to "contribute" than provide tasty meals for my better half after a hard day at work?

I'm nothing if not a little obsessive...so with a collection just shy of 60 (I just counted!) cookbooks, I hope to use this site as a way to share some of the delicious (and potentially not-so-delicious) meals that find their way onto our plates.

Enjoy!