Vietnamese Shrimp Summer Rolls

When people travel, they typically like to shop. Maybe they'll buy some souvenirs to remember their trip by, some toys for the kids or perhaps they'll take advantage of department stores and local designer storefronts. Well, I'm not your typical traveler. When I get home, I unpack a suitcase filled with food products.

While we were in Chicago, my brother informed me that Lettuce Entertain You started bottling its Spicy Peanut Sauce from my favorite spot, Big Bowl. To give you some context, this is like telling a 12 year old girl that the Jonas Brothers are on her doorstep. I absolutely FREAKED out, hopped a cab to Big Bowl and bought 4 bottles to take home, (I also made a to-go order for my plane ride).

Big Bowl is one of my favorite LEYE concepts that blends Chinese and Thai flavors and is down-right delicious. I worked there for a summer in college and have continued to eat there for over 10 years. The dish that keeps bringing me back is the fresh and light summer rolls they serve with their Spicy Peanut Sauce and now that they are bottling the stuff (prayers answered!) I can recreate the dish in my San Francisco kitchen. And that's just what I did last night.

A little side note: I marinaded my shrimp in a mixture of grated lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and fresh ginger which added acidity and brightness.

Vietnamese Shrimp Summer Rolls
(Not the official Big Bowl recipe)

• 1 cup thinly sliced Bibb lettuce
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup cooked bean threads (cellophane noodles, about 1 ounce uncooked)
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions (about 2)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped mint
• 6 ounces cooked peeled and deveined shrimp, coarsely chopped
• 8 (8-inch) round sheets rice paper

1. To prepare the rolls, combine the first 8 ingredients.

2. Add hot water to a large, shallow dish to a depth of 1 inch. Place 1 rice paper sheet in dish; let stand 30 seconds or just until soft. Place sheet on a flat surface. Arrange 1/3 cup shrimp mixture over half of sheet, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Folding sides of sheet over filling and starting with filled side, roll up jelly-roll fashion. Gently press seam to seal. Place roll, seam side down, on a serving platter (cover to keep from drying). Repeat procedure with remaining shrimp mixture and rice paper sheets.

Serve with Big Bowl Spicy Peanut Sauce

Vietnamese Shrimp Summer Rolls

Shanghai Fried Noodles

We went to San Francisco for the day to apartment search and stayed with my sister and her husband at their new house in the Haight. As much as I have loved living in Napa this summer, there really isn't a lot of ethnic food at your finger tips (with the exclusion of Mexican, of course). So when my sister asked me what I was in the mood for I didn't hesitate to say Asian. Turns out that she has a fantastic spot around the corner where dishes run in single digits called Citrus Club. This place really hit the spot and portions ran very large so you get a huge bang for your buck. I ordered the Shanghai Noodles with Flank Steak so I did a quick search and pulled this recipe from Food Network so I can try to make it at home. I heart udon noodles.

Shanghai Fried Noodles
Ingredients
1 pound fresh Shanghai noodles, or Japanese udon noodles
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
12 ounces flank steak, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon minced green onions, plus 1 cup cut-on-a-bias green onions
3 cups julienned Napa cabbage
1/2 teaspoon minced jalapeno

Directions
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the noodles until al dente, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold running water and drain well. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the rice wine, hoisin, and cornstarch. Add the beef, toss to coat, and marinate for 15 minutes. In another bowl, combine the dark soy, soy sauce and sugar, and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Place a wok over a high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil, swirling to coat. When hot, add the garlic, ginger, and minced green onions, and cook, stirring quickly, for 10 seconds. Add the beef and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

Transfer to a platter and return the wok to a high heat. Swirl the remaining tablespoon of peanut oil in the wok and once hot, add the noodles to the pan and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sliced
green onions and jalapeno and sauce and toss all for 1 minute. Add the beef and stir to heat
through. Serve immediately.

Shanghai Fried Noodles

Spicy Cold Sesame Noodles

The recipe I promised last week:

These are SO good, some of the best I've had. I used sake instead of rice wine vinegar, and used thick spaghetti instead of angel hair (i like a little more heft to my sesame noodles) and served it with the Korean Short Ribs. Yum, yum, and more yum. By Tyler Florence. Oh, and these are great for summer BBQ or potlucks, since they're served cold, but they're also tasty warm, too.

12 ounces angel hair pasta
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon red chili paste, such as sambal
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons brown sugar (seriously, mine was hard as a ROCK, so i had to chop off a chunk, and let it dissolve in the sauce before adding the peanut butter.)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
2 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (yeah, right. you know i just chopped mine up.)
Fresh chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish

Cook the noodles in large pot of boiling unsalted water over medium heat until barely tender and still firm. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water until cold. Drain the noodles really well and transfer to a wide bowl; toss with the sesame oil so they don't stick together. Chill.

In a blender (Why dirty the blender? I'm lazy, and I don't have a dishwasher. I just used a whisk) combine the peanut oil, ginger, garlic, chili paste, lime juice, brown sugar, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, and hot water. Blend. Toss the noodles with the peanut sauce until well coated. Serve at room temperature or chilled; garnish with the sesame seeds, green onions, and cilantro.

Spicy Cold Sesame Noodles

thai chicken-coconut soup

so if you refer back to Elizabeth's comments about loving thai food from sunday night you will notice there are a couple of recipes missing, so here they are. Carrie (my better half) has turned into a wonderful cook through the expert guidance from her best friend Liz and i really believe her cooking hit a pinnacle last sunday on "thai night". Having lived in that neck of the woods for a while, trust me you want to try the following recipe. Stop thinking about it and start looking for the fish sauce in the back of the cupboard.

From http://www.epicurious.com/

makes 4 servings


Ingredients:

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1–2 red Thai (or jalapeño) peppers, seeded and finely chopped (plus slices for garnish)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, divided
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced (3 cups)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each), cut into 2 1/2-inch-long by 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 cup light coconut milk
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (plus sprigs for garnish)

Prep:

Place noodles in a bowl; add enough warm water to cover and let sit until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain. Combine broth, pepper, garlic, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice and 3 tablespoon fish sauce in a medium saucepan. Season with salt.

Bring to a simmer, add noodles and cook 3 minutes more. Using tongs, transfer noodles to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm. Add mushrooms to broth; season with salt, if desired; simmer 3 minutes more.

Add chicken and coconut milk and simmer, stirring, until chicken is just cooked, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt, about 1 minute. Add chopped cilantro and season with remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce.

Using tongs, divide noodles among 4 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sprigs of cilantro and slices of pepper.

thai chicken-coconut soup

I Heart Thai Food

My best friend made a 4 course Thai dinner on Friday night that was out of control. Every dish was so delicious and so flavorful. The best part about Thai food is that it is pleasantly filling. The food is light and the flavors are crisp so a 4 course dinner won't put you to sleep and make you feel too guilty. We'll post pics from the dinner this week but the recipe below (featured on May's cover of Food & Wine) was her second course.

Thai Seafood Noodle Salad
6 ounces rice vermicelli
2 red Thai chiles, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup Asian fish sauce
2 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 pound bay scallops
1/2 pound small squid, bodies cut into 1/2-inch rings and tentacles halved
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup mint leaves
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts
6 lettuce leaves, for serving
Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions
In a medium bowl, cover the vermicelli in cold water and soak for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a mortar, pound the red Thai chiles and garlic cloves to a paste with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, boiling water and the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and pound until the sugar is dissolved. Let the dressing stand for 30 minutes.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Add the shrimp to the boiling water and cook until white throughout and curled, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to the ice water. Add the scallops to the boiling water and cook until white and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the scallops to the ice water. Add the squid to the boiling water and cook just until firm, about 45 seconds. Transfer the squid to the ice water. Drain all of the seafood and pat dry.

Bring a fresh saucepan of water to a boil and refill the bowl with ice water. Drain the vermicelli, add to the boiling water and cook just until al dente, about 1 minute. Drain and transfer to the ice water. Drain again and pat dry. Cut the vermicelli into 3-inch lengths.

In a large bowl, toss the seafood with the vermicelli, tomatoes, bean sprouts, mint, red onion, peanuts and chile dressing. Line a platter with the lettuce leaves and top with the seafood salad. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

MAKE AHEAD All of the components can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated separately. Toss the salad just before serving.
WINE Because Thai recipes combine so many flavors, they tend to pair best with adaptable wines like Spanish Albariño, known for its perky acidity, medium body and depth of citrusy flavor. Two bottlings to look for are the minerally 2006 Bodegas Fillaboa and the citrusy 2006 Vionta.

I Heart Thai Food

Szechuan Green Beans

Ever since I got back from vacation, I have been working pretty hard and laying low. Tonight, I am going to whip up my Cashew Chicken recipe for a friend and watch a movie. To accompany the entree, I quickly googled to find a Szechuan Green Bean recipe. I found this recipe on http://www.recipezar.com/ and it looks full-proof. The only thing I would add to this are some seasame seeds. I like to sprinkle them on top before serving.

Szechuan Green Beans
1 lb green beans
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon hot chili flakes
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

Rinse and drain green beans;trim off and discard stem ends.

Cut green beans into 2- to 3-inch lengths.

In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chili flakes, and white pepper.

Set a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat.

When pan is hot, add green beans and 1/4 cup water.

Cover and cook, stirring once, until beans are bright green and slightly crunchy to bite, 3 to 4 minutes.

Uncover and cook until any remaining water has evaporated.

Add oil, garlic, and ginger to pan stir until green beans and garlic are slightly browned, 1to 2 minutes.

Stir soy mixture and add to pan; bring to a boil and stir until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce thickens and coats the beans, 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour into serving dish.

Szechuan Green Beans

First Timer Pad Thai

For as much as I order pad thai and love Thai food in general, I cannot believe that I have never made the dish at home. Plus, I love breaking out my wok. Last night I gave it a shot and it came out great. It all comes together very quickly so it's a fairly easy recipe to execute. It does require some prep work but it's all prep with your knife and I actually think that knife prepping is fun. Shucking corn or peeling potatoes is another story.

Now, the only bummer about last night is that I didn't have any delicious peanut sauce to dump on top of my pad thai. This is not how this dish is served but if I order this in a restaurant I always ask for a side to dump on top. A tip: make sure to taste the peanut sauce before you take the plunge. The difference between fresh and bottled peanut sauce is HUGE and every restaurant is different. Don't go for the bottled stuff at home. Just trust me. You might as well melt Jif in your microwave and pour on top.

I morphed a couple recipes that I found online together and this is what I came up with:

First Timer Chicken and Shrimp Pad Thai

8 ounces dried pad thai noodles

1/4 cup fish sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 pound peeled and de-veined raw shrimp, halved lengthwise

1/4 chicken breast, cubed

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

3 tablespoons peanut oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

2 large eggs

2 cups bean sprouts

2 cups sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped roasted unsalted peanuts

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (I used extra but that's just cause I love cilantro)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

In a large bowl, combine the noodles with lukewarm water to cover. Soak until just tender, about 16-20 minutes, then drain. They should not be soft. Just limp. They will cook in the wok.

In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, vinegar, and sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Season the shrimp and chicken with cayenne.

In a wok or large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and shallots, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and chicken and cook until the shrimp are just cooked through and the pork is brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Add the eggs and cook, stirring, until just set, about 45 seconds. Add the sprouts, onions, fish sauce mixture, and noodles, and cook, stirring, until warmed through. Add the shrimp and chicken, and peanuts, and cook for 30 seconds. Transfer to a serving platter and toss with the cilantro and lime juice. Serve immediately

First Timer Pad Thai

Thai Curry

Ever want to make Thai food, but are too intimidated? Don't be! Last night we learned how to make it from our friend Cooper (he took the photos). It was so easy! Seriously. So here goes, the first recipe I have posted to the blog that I have actually tried and LOVED:

Cooper's Massaman Curry with Beef

2 piece of cinnamon stick
5 cloves
2 tbspoons vegetable oil
2 tbspoons massaman curry paste
1 lb beef flank or rump steak cut into 2 inch cubes
1 2/3 cups coconut milk
1 cup beef stock
2-3 potatoes cut into 2.5 inch pieces
3/4 inch piece of ginger shredded
3 tbspoons fish sauce
3 tbspoons palm sugar
2/3 cup salted peanuts w/o skin chopped
3/ tbspoons tamarind puree

Serves 4

Dry fry the cinnamon stick and cloves in a sauce pan or wok over low heat. Stir all the ingredients around for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from the pan.

Heat the oil in the same sauce pan and stir fry the massaman paste over a medium heat for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

Add the beef to the pan and stir for 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk, stock, potatoes, ginger, fish sauce, palm sugar, 3/4 of the roasted peanuts, tamarind puree and the dry fried spices. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer for 50-60 minutes until the meat is tender and the potatoes are just cooked. Taste then adjust the seasoning if necessary. Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with the rest of the roasted peanuts.

We cooked the meat for longer than 60 minutes - more like 2 hours at a very low heat so the meat was falling apart by the time we ate it. It was DELICIOUS! Give it a whirl.

We also made spring rolls but I forgot to get that recipe from him.

Thai Curry