Pad Thai

We've had a few weeks of illness around here, and while we have been feeding ourselves reasonably well (all things considered), blogging about those nourishing meals tended to fall by the wayside. It seems we're finally back on our feet, so maybe Blackwood Eats will get back on track as well.

Jeff recently took a trip to the Silver Wok Asian Gourmet in Mariakakis Plaza and brought home some rice stick noodles and tamarind pulp. I decided to try my hand at pad thai -- it's a dish I love the idea of (spicy... peanut-ty...yum!), but often find too sweet at restaurants, so I had high hopes for the diy approach. Plus, it gave me a chance to turn to one of my most beautiful cookbooks that, sadly, I rarely use: Hot Sour Salty Sweet: a culinary journey through southeast asia, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (worth buying for the photography alone).

I adapted the recipe slightly: I left out the pork (which I don't eat), used fresh shrimp instead of dried (which I didn't have) and threw in some shredded savoy cabbage with the scallions (because I needed to use it up). Other than that, I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, and the result was everything I hoped for: savory, spicy-hot, with a vinegar bite tempered by a hint of sweetness. Make sure to serve with all the accompaniments -- they add so much to the taste AND look great on the table!

Pad Thai
1/2 lb narrow dried rice noodles
1 1/2 T tamarind pulp
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 T Thai fish sauce
3 large eggs
3 T peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz pressed tofu, cut into narrow strips an inch long
1/4 lb shrimp, peeled and chopped a little
1/2 lb mung bean sprouts
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup shredded cabbage (optional)

Note: there's a lot of prep here, but once that's done the cooking is quick.
1) Soak the rice noodles in warm water for 20 minutes, then drain
2) Dissolve the tamarind pulp (which is thick, stringy, and mixed with big seeds) in 3 to 4 T warm water, then press through a sieve. (If you don't have it, substitute 1 T lemon juice plus 1 T water.) Mix the resulting liquid with the soy sauce and fish sauce in a small bowl.
3) Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt in another bowl.
4) Heat a large pan (or wok, if you have it) over moderately high heat and add half the oil. Stir-fry the garlic, then add the tofu and shrimp and cook just until the shrimp are pink.
5) Add the eggs and cook until they set around the shrimp and tofu (fritatta-style). Cut into big pieces, remove from pan, and set aside.
6) Add remaining oil to the pan, then stir-fry the noodles, pressing them against the pan, turning them, and pressing them again. They start out pretty hard, but soften up in about a minute. Unless you have a really big pan, you might need to do this in two batches. Remove the noodles to your serving dish.
7) In the same pan, stir-fry the scallions, bean sprouts, and cabbage just until wilted. Add the soy sauce mixture, then the reserved fritatta pieces (break them up some now). Pour over the noodles and toss to mix everything together.

Accompaniments
1/2 cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
4 T chopped cilantro
Chile-Vinegar Sauce: dissolve 3 T sugar in 1/2 cup rice vinegar; add 1 small hot pepper, sliced thin

Plate up the noodles and pass the accompaniments in small bowls for each person to add to his or her taste for a delicious one-dish meal.

Grilled Veggie Pasta

2 thin (Japanese) eggplants
2 red peppers
several tomatoes
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c fresh basil, chopped
1 T fresh rosemary, chopped
red wine vinegar
feta cheese
chunky pasta, cooked (we used mini farfalle)

Grill eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes until skins are charred and come off easily. Chop the vegetables coarsely (trying not to lose any of the juice). Saute the onions and garlic, then add the grilled veggies, basil, and rosemary. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and a splash of red wine vinegar. Toss with pasta and top with crumbled feta.

A good basic pasta dish. 3 1/2 stars.

Meatballs with Roasted Tomato Sauce

I made this to accompany a bottle of wine Jeff and I bought on our trip to the Fingerlakes region of New York last month. It's a fantastic red blend called Synergy, produced by Shalestone Vineyards. It was my favorite of all the local wines we tasted, so I wanted to make something really good to enjoy it with on a lovely, just-starting-to-think-about-fall evening. This simple dish, served over fresh pasta, fit the bill.

Roasted Tomato-Pepper Sauce
2 lbs fresh tomatoes (I used romas and some of our German Johnsons)
3 or 4 sweet or mildly hot peppers
1/2 small yellow onion, minced
4 to 6 large garlic cloves, crushed
small handful fresh basil, chopped
salt & black pepper

Grill the tomatoes and peppers until skins char; try to keep them whole on the grill so you don't lose all the juice. Let cool enough to handle, then peel. Core the tomatoes and remove seeds from the peppers, then chop or puree. (I pureed most of them but kept some big chunks to give the sauce texture.) Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent, then add the tomatoes, peppers, and their juice. Cook this down for a while, tasting for salt and pepper. Add the basil just a little before serving.

Turkey Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey
3/4 c fresh ground breadcrumbs
1/4 c grated parmigiano cheese
salt & pepper

Mix all ingredients together with your hands. Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour, then shape into balls. I like mine about the size of big walnuts, but you can also make big ones or little-teeny ones depending on the presentation you want. Fry the meatballs in a little olive oil at fairly high heat until browned all over, then add to the sauce. Bring to a simmer, cover, and finish cooking the meatballs in the sauce.

Serve over pasta. Leftovers freeze well, or make a great meatball sub.

Habanero Chicken Pasta

Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Penne or some other kind of tasty pasta
Chopped tomatoes - either a 12 oz can or several fresh 'maters
Olive oil
Crushed garlic
Onion - maybe 1/2 of a small one
Habanero pepper - probably just one unless you're sadistic
Fresh thyme - about a teaspoon
Lime juice - from one fresh lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Five easy steps to prepare
1. Heat oil in pan. Rub chicken with lime juice, salt and pepper and cook until skin is brown. Remove chicken from pan and set aside to let it think about what it's done.
2. Add remaining oil to the same pan and cook onions, garlic, thyme and habanero for 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and simmer for 2 minutes.
4. Add chicken breasts and simmer until chicken is throughly cooked. If sauce gets too thick, add a little water or chicken broth
5. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve whole chicken breast with sauce on a bed of cooked pasta.

This is a tasty, simple dish with a slow habanero burn. It's well accompanied by some wilted spinach or a salad. 4 solid stars.

Peanut noodles

This is a good "kitchen sink" recipe to use up whatever vegetables are around (broccoli, carrots, cucumber, green onion, peppers, zucchini, peas...). I like to use whole-wheat spaghetti in this because I can't stand it with any other sauce. Top the whole deal with a spicy peanut sauce and you're all set in about 15 minutes.

Sauce should go something like this:

peanut butter
soy sauce
hot sauce
garlic
vinegar
lime juice
sugar

To taste.

Yum. Quick, easy, and edible. 3 1/2 stars.