PAD SEE OOH BABY

Thai me up, Thai me down, Thai one on!

That’s right! You know how to do what you do so do it. Ooh ooh, baby, do it one more time. I can’t get enough of your tasty taste. It’s so exotic, so flavorful, so foreign to my white bread existence. Suddenly all the TV Dinner memories are evaporating into adventures in Thailand. I’m on a beach getting my hair braided. I’m in the jungle communing with shaman living in a tree house. I’m in Bangkok breaking all 10 Commandments. It’s all because you spice up my life. Keep it up. Now that I’ve tasted the East, these noodles will keep the memories alive at the very least.

Total time: approximately 17 minutes
Projected cost: $10
Drinking Buddy: Thai beer

Ingredients (serves 2):
1. 2 tablespoon of Kwong Hung Seng Sauce
2. 2 teaspoons of fish sauce
3. 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
4. 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
5. 8 ounces of dried rice noodles
6. 3 green onions chopped coarsely
7. 2 handfuls of bite-sized broccoli
8. 1 handful of chopped cilantro
9. 1 handful of mushroom cut in slices
10. 1 chicken breast diced into bite-sized pieces

Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the dried noodles and stir until they become soft and al dente (approx 8 minutes), use this time to complete Step 2. Drain the noodles in a colander.

Step 2
Warm up the vegetable oil in a deep pan or wok on high heat. Add the green onions, cilantro, broccoli, mushrooms and chicken and cook until veggies soften and chicken cooks through (approx 5 min). Add the Kwong Hung Seng, fish and oyster sauces and let flavor set (approx 2 min). Dump in the noodles and stir-fry it all together until the noodles have soaked up the flavor (approx 2 min). Add extra sauce if you so desire.
Serve it up with a thai.

Bourbon-glazed Baby Back Ribs with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Special occasions mean we get to treat ourselves to something normally out of our budget. This Christmas, that special something was a rack of baby back ribs. I have to say, I’ve never been a fan of pork, but this asian-inspired bourbon glaze would make anything taste delicious.

And compared to the all day endeavor that was thanksgiving, this seemed like a breeze. Really. You would think (or I would, at least) that cooking ribs is complicated. In reality, it’s easier than turkey (no temperature taking required).

Serve these ribs with the surprising wasabi mashed potatoes and some asparagus steamed and quickly seared in sesame oil, and you have yourself a delicious, albeit non-traditional, Christmas dinner. Now just wait until I post dessert…

We increased the cooking time on these to 90 minutes, with a slightly lower temperature than the original.

Bourbon-glazed Baby Back Ribs

Makes 6 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
5 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup bourbon
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon plum sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon hot chili paste or hot sauce (we used sriracha)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 2 1/4- to 2 1/2-pound racks baby back pork ribs
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

DIRECTIONS
To make glaze, whisk first 11 ingredients in small bowl. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Place long sheet of heavy-duty foil on each of 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Sprinkle rib racks on all sides with salt and pepper. Place 1 rib rack on each foil sheet. Fold up sides of each foil sheet around rib rack to form boat-like shape. Pour 1/2 cup pineapple juice over each rib rack. Fold up foil to seal packets. Bake until ribs are tender, about 90 minutes. Remove ribs from foil packets. Transfer to roasting pan; pour any juices from foil over and cool. These can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate.

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Cut each rib rack in half. Grill until browned, brushing frequently with glaze and turning often, about 10 minutes. For the grill-less among us (ourselves included), broil the ribs for 4-5 minutes per side, until golden. Cut racks between bones into ribs.

Wasabi and Green Onion Mashed Potatoes

Makes 8 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
3 pounds Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 tablespoons wasabi paste (horseradish paste)
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
1 cup chopped green onions

DIRECTIONS
Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water. Reduce heat to medium; cook until tender, about 17 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, bring cream, butter, and wasabi paste to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Season with salt and pepper. Keep hot. Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat; add green onions and sauté until wilted, about 3 minutes. Set aside. Using potato masher in same large pot or ricer, mash potatoes. Stir in hot cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in green onions. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in microwave, stirring occasionally.

Baby Portobello Fettuccine

Now this would have been the recipe to break out the pasta maker. It was delicious, but could have been even more so with freshly made pasta. Maybe we’ll make it again this week, and post about the results.

We added thyme and hazelnuts to the original recipe, and used baby portobello mushrooms instead of Porcini (for affordability reasons and the fact our store didn’t have porcini… it’s not like we even had a choice). I’m sure any mix of mushrooms would suffice for this dish – which is true proof that pasta doesn’t need to be slathered in sauce to be good.

Baby Portobello Fettuccine

Makes 4 servings.
Recipe inspired by 101cookbooks.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 fresh porcini mushrooms, chopped (1-2 cups)
fine grain sea salt
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound fresh egg fettuccine noodles
scant 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts

DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In the meantime, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in your largest skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms and a big pinch of salt. Saute the mushrooms until they release their liquid and begin to brown. Now stir in the garlic and 1/2 of the thyme and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Remove from heat and set the skillet aside.

Salt the pot of water generously and cook the fettuccine noodles according to package instructions. Drain. Transfer the noodles to the skillet with mushrooms, and stir in the black pepper, cheese, lemon zest, hazelnuts and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and thyme. Sprinkle with cheese and enjoy!