Category: Cooking

Take a look at this and you can see why they call orzo "risoni" (big rice). It does look like rice doesn't it? It's actually a pasta made in the shape of rice…… and I'd never really had any desire to make something that, well…. looks like rice. But one day I was puttering in the kitchen with the television on….. there's some "food show"….. I'm not really into "Food TV" anymore, but will have it on as white noise….. minus a few shows I just can't stand. Anyway, a subliminal "Orzo Salad" recipe just stayed with me. I think the original had raspberries or something like that. This version was just the thing on a summer day……

This ended up being pretty good, the Missus really enjoyed it.

The drill went like this; rehydrate sun dried tomatoes in warm water, cook the orzo in salted boiling water, just as any pasta. While orzo is cooking, toast pine nuts in a dry pan to lightly brown. Remove to a plate to cool. Drain orzo in in  colander, before it is fully cooked. After the orzo briefly drains, pour the orzo out onto a cookie sheet adding some extra virgin olive and mix well. This will ensure that the pasta doesn't stick together. I actually chilled the orzo in the fridge since I wanted a chilled salad. After draining the sun dried tomatoes, I coarsely chopped them.

Putting the salad together was a snap; orzo, two hefty handfuls of baby arugula, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes in a metal bowl. Mix. Add a chiffonade of basil and mint….. basically two parts basil to mint. I used the best grade of Extra Virgin Olive Oil we had in the house, Liquid Gold 24, which has an acidity of less than .24%, a wonderful oil we bought during our trip to Crete. And combined the whole shebang. A mild crumbled goat feta cheese topped everything off. I served it with sliced of lemon on the side….. I wanted a bit more acid…the Missus enjoyed it just the way it was.

 Love the flavors….. the pine nuts (not much, about 1/4 cup) looked very similar to the orzo and were nice flavor surprises. And of course pine nuts and basil is a great combination. The mint added a nice palate cleansing element as did the tart sun dried tomatoes. The peppery arugula added the bitter element to the dish. The fruity olive oil and mildly salty feta brought it all together….. I'm probably going to make this again soon. It's so easy…. just remember to use a good olive oil.

 
On this day, I served it with garlic shrimp and some bread…… a nice meal for a warm evening!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful long weekend!

The Missus has been on a over roasted vegetable tear since we've returned from vacation…. we've been roasting vegetables almost daily so She can get Her fix. Bless Her heart, when the Missus is obsessed with something, She can eat it every day for weeks, sometimes months. There's a broccoli dish that I'm almost embarrassed to mention that She eats several times a week!

I on the other hand, need to have a bit of variety. Sitting staring at a pound of oyster mushrooms, having a bit of time on my hands, I decided to make a balsamic glaze……. one of the easiest things in the world. There's really no reason for buying the stuff from the supermarket. In this case. all it took was 1 cup of Balsamic Vinegar, and since this wasn't great quality, even though it was from Modena, I added 2 teaspoons of white sugar and reduced. Depending on the Balsamic, you may not need any sugar at all since Balsamic has its share of sugar. This one took about 45 minutes to reduce to the consistency I desired; a bit thinner than corn syrup.

I first mixed 3/4 cup of Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil with some Turkish Oregano, the last of my stash from Penzy's, 7 cloves of garlic finely minced, and some sea salt (use more then you think you'll need if you use good sea salt). I used this as sort of the marinade as I mixed it with the mushrooms and let sit for 20 minutes while I preheated my oven at 425 degrees.

I rubbed (don't use a paper towel, most of the oil will be soaked up) about 3 tablespoons of canola oil on a sheet pan a set it in the oven for a couple minutes to heat up. Placed the mushrooms in a single layer, slightly spaced, and let her rip for about 20-25 minutes. I opened and turned once so the mushrooms wouldn't brown too much or stick.

I removed the mushrooms from the oven, placed in a bowl, drizzled on some of the glaze, and gently mixed everything together………

Yes, another easy recipe. I still have some glaze left in the fridge. It's gotten a bit thick so I'll either microwave it or add a touch of water and warm it before using it again. Tightly covered and stored, this stuff can last for weeks……. I'm thinking, maybe a filet or some chicken perhaps?

Thanks for reading!

We've seen this as both Dry Cooked Mushroom and Twice Cooked Mushroom on menus in China. It's sort of both. It's also one of those "non-recipes", that will kind of list the process rather than exact quantities……

This one is for "KenB" who asked for a recipe in the comments of last night's post. Ken has given us so many great recommendations, that I thought it only right that I do something right away. Anyway, this is what the first couple of efforts looked like:

We were given a box of Cordyceps Mushrooms as a gift in China. The ones we've seen at places like T S Emporium in LA are priced in the $30 + per pound range! I really didn't want to mess these up.

I basically took about a cup and a half of those mushrooms and soaked them in warm water for about 30 minutes. After that time, I removed and drained the mushrooms, but saved the soaking liquid. I sliced the rehydrated mushroom lengthwise, and patted them dry. I also rehydrated some dried Lily Buds and sliced some Chinese Celery.

I then heated my wok until smoking and added about a cup and a half of canola oil until it shimmered. I then did a quick fry of the mushrooms until the edges were crisp.

I removed the mushrooms to a paper towel lined plate, and drained all but 1-2 Tb of the oil, which had a nice fragrance. I waited until the oil hit smoking, then scalded a couple of dried red chilies that had been de-seeded. From here it was basically a stir-fry, starting with a dash of Shaoxing wine and white pepper, with the following added for flavoring:

1-2 Tb Premium Dark Soy Sauce
1 Tb Premium Light Soy Sauce
1-2 Tsp White Sugar
Mushroom soaking liquid to taste

It turned out great, savory and slightly sweet, but I just can't bring myself to part with nearly forty bucks to keep making this. So what to do when my mushrooms were gone? (I actually have enough for one last batch). I decided to try this out with King Mushrooms:

I julienned the mushrooms lengthwise into matchsticks. I also replaced the lily buds with mung bean sprouts which would bring more crunch and a nice flavor to the dish.

These rest was basically the same process, except I added some Mushroom Dark Soy Sauce for additional flavor. The water from the bean sprouts renders out during the stir-fry process which keeps the dish moist.

It was different, but also delicious……. and very easy……you really don't need a recipe for this.

So there you go. Sort of like that eye test….which looks better?

Number 1?

 
Or number 2?

I was surprised to receive a couple of emails regarding the Num Jim Jaew from Siam Nara, asking me for a recipe. The funny thing is; I've made this a couple times, and actually took photos when I made this after our return from Laos, where it's called Jeow Mak Keua. For some reason I just never got around to making it.

This was something I actually made at the Tamarind Cooking School, and came out looking like this:

You can tell this one was quite spicy, lots of chilies. And of course the "kitchen" where this was made wasn't quite the same as home.

This recipe is based on what I m ade there….. it's very easy. I've even made t his using roasted garlic  which adds a heavenly sweetness to the Jeow…. if you decide to do that, make sure to use a neutral, or no oil at all on the garlic.

 Jeow Mak Keua – Lao Eggplant Dip:

3 Small-Medium Japanese Eggplant
4-8 Thai Bird Chilies
4-5 Cloves of Garlic Skin on
1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro Leaves
1-2 Stalks Green Onion – Green parts only sliced thin
1/2 Tsp Salt
Fish Sauce

– Prick eggplant and chilies with a knife or skewer.
– Grill eggplant, chili, and garlic, until the skin is blackened.  I usually grill right over hot charcoal which adds a layer of smokiness to the dish, but you can do the same over a gas flame or under the broiler.
– Peel Garlic, and slice eggplant lengthwise keeping the stem portion on and intact… it should look sort of like a flower.
– Pound the garlic, chili, and salt together in a mortar to make a paste.
– Then pound each eggplant in the mortar, by holding the stem of the eggplant and pounding it until all the flesh is removed. You can then pull the skin off the eggplant out by the stem. Conversely, you can just peel the eggplant.
– Add the cilantro and green onions and pound into a thick paste.
– Taste and add fish sauce to taste.

There is another recipe in which you boil the eggplant and chilies first until soft, peel and squeeze the excess moisture out of the eggplant, pound in a mortar to a paste and stir-fry.

It was only a matter of time before the Missus got tired of jumping in the car and going to Aria on the chance that they'd have Her favorite cauliflower dish. This meant trying to make something that frankly, I wasn't too confident I'd pull off. But it came out much better than I thought it would.

I'm not really going to list a "recipe" for a couple of reasons. First I used regular off the shelf supermarket brand Curry Powder, ground coriander, and tumeric……. starting with a ratio of 2:1:1.

In the end, I ended up adding at least double that amount of curry powder to adjust the flavors. I don't feel comfortable advising someone to use off the shelf Curry Powder from a supermarket in the amounts I did. Second, the Missus swears that Aria uses Dill in their recipe, so I ended up adding 2 teaspoons of dill. The end product came out surprisingly good……quite a shock for me.

I started with 4 tablespoons of olive oil heated over medium heat, then added 2Tb Curry Powder, 1Tb ground coriander, 1 Tb ground tumeric, stirring the the spices into the oil to let them "bloom" for about 20 second or so until fragrant.

 
To this I added one large onion chopped, and seven cloves of garlic finely minced. Once the onions had started softening, I added 1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce and the dill. Once this mixture started bubbling I added my cauliflower, the equivalent of one medium head of florets, mixing to coat the cauliflower. Once the florets were coated I added 1/2 cup of water, mixed well, tasted the sauce and added salt and pepper to taste, and adjusted the flavor a bit further with more (quite a bit) curry powder. I then lowered the temperature, gave cauliflower a good mix, and covered the dish. I'd open and stir every five minutes or so, and added water, in quarter cup portions twice to keep the sauce from getting too dry. After about twenty minutes or so, the cauliflower had reached the desired texture……soft and almost buttery.

A quick taste, and the addition of a bit more salt and fresh ground pepper and it was ready to go……

It ended up not being that difficult……

So did you try to cook anything new this week?