This site has moved

I've closed this site and started a new food blog at http://www.kitchen.chezanimalhair.com/
Please come visit over there!

So here's the dealio

I abandoned this blog over three years ago when I decided to just put all my recipes on my personal/main blog. I figured no one except friends was reading it anyway. So I moved all the recipes and then thought I deleted this blog.

Some months later, I got an email that said that someone had commented on my blog. Since it was spam, I wanted to 'reject' the comment but I'd since forgotten my password. I tried the password retrieval process but I never got the email. So I gave up.

Today I got another message saying someone left me a (spam) comment. This time I tried again and since they're now hooked up with Gmail accts, I was able to sign in and lo and behold, my cookbook/blog is still here! So I'm thinking of reactivating it. I've been doing a lot of cooking lately since I'm on a new (not a diet, not a diet) eating plan.

So that's the intention. Not that I have ANY extra time for another blog. I've abandoned at least one other one already, but I just may give it a go. Maybe having more of a focus will help. Just food. No posts about the dogs, cats, husband, unless it pertains to the recipe.

Yeah, right. Wish me luck!


NOTE: about half hour later, after poking around in here, I changed my mind! Blogger is awful. I can't even figure out how to categorize the posts. (such as, label some Beef, or Desert). Then I looked back at my regular blog, and saw that I had a TON of recipes there and not wanting to move them all I decided this was a bad idea.
So I'm deleting this one. for Good. I'm only writing this in case the delete didn't work, like last time. And if that's the case, you can find all my recipes and food related posts here:

http://www.blog.ecalos.com/?cat=8

Laad Na

Greg and I went to Sawatdee a week or so ago and I was determined to try something different than the same old red curry I get every time we go there. I needed to branch out.

So I opened the menu and the first thing I saw was something called Laad Na. It was described as such: Fun noodles (those are the big wide lasagna, looking ones) stir fried with egg in a bean sauce topped with stir fried broccoli and Napa cabbage in a savory gravy. I just loved the words “savory gravy” so I ordered it. It was delicious.

I looked all over the Internet for a recipe and none seemed to be like what I had. But some were close. So I printed them all out and then improvised and tried to come up with something that would be similar. This is what we came up with. It’s not exact, but it’s darn close.

The photo is of the actual dish I had at the restaurant. I didn’t take one of my masterpiece because we used the wrong kind of noodles (can’t find “fun” noodles here) so it didn’t look exactly right. When I had it in the restaurant I had tofu, at home we used chicken. I liked the tofu much better.


Laad Na

Marinade:
3/4 pound boneless, skinless beef, chicken breast, tofu or pork, cut into 2 x 1/4 x 1/4-inch strips, or 3/4 pounds shrimp
2 teaspoon thin soy sauce
2 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine
2 teaspoon cornstarch

Noodles:
1/2 bag wide rice noodle
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon black bean paste
2 eggs

Sesame oil
2 cloves garlic smashed

Gravy:
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons black bean paste
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon fish sauce
¼ cup Chinese cooking wine

To thicken:
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Place noodles in a bowl and pour hot or boiling water over them to soften. They need to sit for about 25 minutes or so, so this is a good time to get everything else ready.

Assemble marinade ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Assemble gravy ingredients in large measuring cup or mixing bowl, set aside.

Cut up the broccoli and cabbage, and yep, you guessed it, set aside.

Now you’re ready to begin cooking. Once you start, it’s hard to stop, so you want to make sure everything is ready.

Heat wok, add soy sauce and black bean paste and rice noodles, cook for just a couple of seconds and then add the egg. Scramble it all up until the egg is done and noodles are covered with the sauce. Place the noodles in the serving bowls.

Heat oil in wok. Add marinated meat/tofu and cook until white (for pork or chicken, starting to brown for tofu). Remove and dish out in serving bowls.

Adding more oil to the wok if necessary, add the garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant. Add the broccoli and cabbage and stir-fry until the broccoli begins to soften and turns a deeper green. Remove to serving bowls.

Add gravy mixture to the wok and let it boil for a few moments. Once it’s at a good boil slowly add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir until thickened. Ladle over the other ingredients in the bowls. Optional but good, add some freshly ground black pepper just before eating.

Indian Beef With Cucumber Rice

We made this last night. It was really yummy. It lost some of it's flavor the second day, and I thought the rice needed salt, but it was really pretty good. The meat has to cook at least this long or it won't be tender.

1 1/2 lb. lean beef boneless chuck roast
1 c. plain nonfat yogurt
1 tsp. cardamom seeds (removed from pods), crushed
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tbsp. reduced-calorie butter
2 lg. onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp. grated gingerroot
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 tsp. coriander seed, crushed
1/2 tsp. cumin seed
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. cold water
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. Gold Medal all-purpose flour
Cucumber Rice (below)
1/4 c. plain non-fat yogurt
Chopped fresh cilantro

Trim fat from beef roast. Cut beef into 1-inch cubes. Mix 1 cup yogurt, the cardamom, cloves and nutmeg in glass or plastic bowl or heavy plastic bag. Stir in beef. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Heat butter in 10-inch nonstick skillet until melted. Cook onions, gingerroot and garlic in butter about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are tender. Stir in beef mixture, coriander, cumin, turmeric and salt. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook about 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is tender.

Shake water, cornstarch and flour in tightly covered container; gradually stir into beef mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Serve beef mixture over Cucumber Rice. Drizzle with 1/4 cup yogurt. Sprinkle with cilantro.

CUCUMBER RICE:

2 c. hot cooked rice
1 med. cucumber, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)
2 tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients.

I've been busy

Yes, I have cooked since February 25th...if you call opening a can of pasta sauce and boiling water "cooking".

I'll try and post something soon. I'll have to make dinner tongiht....unless I throw in a frozen pizza. :)

Smothered Pork Chops

I was determined to make something that did not involve rice tonight. I found this on the FoodTV Network site and then, of course, made some changes. Greg actually cooked this. I made the accompanying mashed potatoes and spinach salad.

Smothered Pork Chops

Recipe By :Tyler Florence...then us.
Serving Size : 2


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pork chops -- 1" thick
2 tablespoons olive oil
1- 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup buttermilk

Put the flour in a shallow platter and add the onions, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels to remove any moisture and then dredge them in the seasoned flour; shaking off the excess.

Heat a large saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is nice and hot, lay the pork chops in the pan in a single layer and fry for 6 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove the pork chops from the pan and add a little sprinkle of seasoned flour to the pan drippings. Mix the flour into the fat to dissolve and then pour in the chicken broth in. Let the liquid cook down for 5 minutes to reduce and thicken slightly. Stir in the buttermilk to make a creamy gravy and return the pork chops to the pan, covering them with the sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

I made a simple spinach salad of just spinach, sliced mushrooms, sliced black olives, and the dressing was raspberry vinegar, honey, garlic powder, pepper and olive oil. Then I tossed some pecans over the top.

Thai Shrimp And Spinach Curry

This was originally found in a Gourmet magazine, but I've changed so much about it, it's mine now.

Thai Shrimp And Spinach Curry

Original Recipe found in Gourmet – 1993 – But revised.
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:20


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
14 ounces coconut milk
1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste
1 pound shrimp – cooked, shelled, deveined
1 tablespoons naam pla (fish sauce)
1 red bell pepper – chopped into ½" squares
3/4 pound spinach -- stems removed
¼ cup fresh cilantro -- chopped
cooked rice
1 cup basmati rice – uncooked
2 cups water

Bring the water to a boil while you rinse the basmati rice in water in a strainer.
Add the rice to the water and bring back to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. You can begin to make the shrimp sauce when the rice is almost done.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of the coconut milk and in a large heavy skillet cook it over moderate heat, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it is thickened slightly.

Add the curry paste and cook the mixture, whisking, for 1 minute.

Add the remaining coconut milk and the naam pla and simmer the mixture, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.

Add the shrimp and the bell pepper; simmer the mixture over moderately high heat, stirring, for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens a little and the shrimp are heated through. Add the spinach, stirring until it is wilted. Add the cilantro.



(this is what it looks like before you add the rice)

Add the cooked rice to the shrimp sauce and mix well. Serve.