Secret Recipe Club: Thai Peanut Noodles

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Jess's blog, Inquiring Chef!  I was really excited to get her blog because I'd already poked around on it a bit.  Her blog is just chock full of amazing looking recipes.  I couldn't sleep the day we got our SRC assignments and actually read her entire blog that night, all the way back to when she started it in late 2010!
 

Jess's blog is really interesting, and not just because of the recipes she posts.  She's lived in Thailand with her husband for the past several years.  I absolutely love travel and am fascinated with different cultures, so her blog is a good read!  Jess and her husband also have a pair of pretty much the cutest identical twin baby girls, Molly and Clara.  I even love their names!
 

Anyway, to the recipes.  I marked a good 20 of them as possibilities to make for this blog post.  A couple of weeks ago, I actually made her Parmesan Rosemary Oven Fries, but realized after I made them that she originally adapted the recipe for an SRC post a couple years ago, so I had to pick a different recipe for my post.  No problem, like I said, she has lots of yummy looking recipes.  The ones I considered the most were Chicken and Orzo with Lemon and Olives, Chicken Stew with Rosemary Parmesan Dumplings (any recipe with rosemary catches my eye!), Crispy Scallion Pancakes, Baked Crab Rangoon, Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Chocolate Pots de Creme, Light and Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancakes, Apple Rubies in Coconut Milk, and her very simple looking 5 Minute Baked Ziti.  I fully intend on making the ziti, whole wheat pancakes, chicken with orzo, and apple rubies very soon!
 

In the end, I chose Thai Peanut Noodles.  I've made recipes for peanut noodles a few times in the past, and they've ranged from okay to pretty good.  None of them were good enough for me to make again or post on my blog, though.  I'm happy to say that Jess's recipe makes the cut to qualify for its own blog post, even if I didn't have to post about it!

My only changes were to sprinkle the crushed peanuts on top as a garnish instead of mixing them in, and I used canned Chaokoh coconut milk instead of the lighter kind you drink because I didn't catch that I was supposed to use the drinking kind until after I'd purchased a can.  No regrets, though, because the noodles turned out amazing!  Very creamy and delicious with great peanut, coconut, and curry flavor.  Absolutely no complaints, and I intend to make the recipe with the canned coconut milk in the future.  Next time I'll use another half teaspoon of red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen brand, turns out it's pretty mild) and spaghetti noodles instead of bucatini, but that's it for alterations.

Just want to note, I served these noodles with Salt & Pepper Tofu Triangles and thinly sliced cucumber tossed with seasoned rice vinegar.  Very satisfying dinner!  I can also confirm that leftover noodles are delicious both cold and reheated.
 

Thai Peanut Noodles
 

8 oz spaghetti noodles

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp red curry paste (or more if you want more spice)

1/4 C peanut butter (the typical kind like Jif or Skippy that has a bit of sugar in it)

1/4 C water

1/2 C coconut milk

1 tsp salt
 

for garnish:
finely chopped peanuts

sliced green onion

Cook pasta in lightly salted water and drain.

While pasta cooks, heat oil over medium in a large nonstick skillet.  Add curry paste and peanut butter, and cook until both are melted and mixed together.  Don't cook at too high a temperature or the peanut butter can separate (I had to throw away my first go at it)!

Stir in water, coconut milk, and salt, and cook until sauce is very smooth and slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.  Add cooked, drained pasta and toss to coat.  Divide among plates to serve and garnish with chopped peanuts and green onion.

Yield: About 3-4 servings
 

An InLinkz Link-up

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

 I came upon this recipe for Teriyaki Chicken on the Cooking Classy blog a couple of weeks ago.  The sauce ingredients looked so good that I had to try it!  It turned out great.  A bit spicy, gingery, sweet (but not too sweet), and tangy.  My husband gave it a 10 out of 10, which isn't a rating he hands out willy nilly.  I had to add a little more cornstarch than the original recipe called for, but other than that, the recipe was spot on.  Next time I'm going to try adding the orange marmalade to the sauce pan after the cooking liquid has been strained so that the little bits of orange peel won't be strained out (I like the orange flavor), but that's the only change I would make.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

1/3 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C honey
3 Tbsp orange marmalade
6 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 C low sodium soy sauce (the low sodium part is important!)
1 Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water

In a medium bowl, mix together everything except chicken, cornstarch, and water until sugar and marmalade are partly dissolved.  Pour into a slow cooker.  Add chicken breasts to slow cooker and turn to coat in the sauce.  Cover and cook on either low or high heat until chicken breasts are cooked through.  How long this take will depend completely on your slow cooker!

When chicken is done, remove it to a plate and refrigerate so it can cool down a bit while you finish the sauce.  Strain liquid in slow cooker into a small saucepan and discard the solids left in the strainer.  Bring cooking liquid to a boil.  Stir together the cornstarch and cold water until smooth, then pour it into the liquid, stirring constantly.  Simmer sauce for at least a minute or two so it can thicken and the cornstarch can cook completely.  Pour sauce back into slow cooker.

Shred the cooked chicken breasts, return them to the slow cooker, and toss with the sauce to coat.  Cover again and let cook until heated through, about 20-30 minutes.  Serve chicken over rice.

Yield: about 8 servings

Pork, Mushroom, & Cabbage Stir Fry

For some reason, I've never had a lot of luck with stir frys.  They seem to turn out average at best.  There are actually only two stir fry recipes that we enjoyed enough for me to want to make them again!  This is one of them.  It's so good that I'd actually be happy to be served it at a restaurant!  It has nice flavor (not sweet at all like many), is spicy from the pepper flakes, and is just all around really enjoyable.  Be warned that it just makes enough sauce to coat the stir fry without much left over for rice.  We didn't eat ours with rice so that was no problem, but I supposed you could double the sauce ingredients (except maybe the pepper flakes) if you want more sauce for rice.

I found the original recipe at A Sweet Life and have altered it a little bit.  The main change is I increased the amount of pork and eliminated the scrambled eggs.  When I made it, I did use the eggs, but for some reason they ended up seeming like an odd addition and we'd prefer it without.

As for the cooking temperature, it depends on the stove since some are hotter than others.  For the cabbage and mushrooms, you'll want to cook it at a high enough temperature so the veggies get browned in places without going limp, but of course you don't want them to burn!

Also, sorry, no photo- it turned out hideous looking, but you can check out the photo at the link above!

Pork, Mushroom, & Cabbage Stir Fry

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces

1 small cabbage, cored and chopped into 2 inch pieces

2 portobello mushrooms, cut into quarters and sliced (this was 1/2 lb)

salt to taste

for the sauce:

1/3 C water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium and add sesame seeds.  Cook and stir frequently until seeds are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.  Remove seeds to a small bowl.  Add a tablespoon of the vegetable oil to the skillet, raise heat to medium-high, and add pork.  Salt to taste.  Stir fry until pork is browned and cooked through, then place it in a large bowl.  Add another half tablespoon of oil to the skillet and add cabbage, plus salt to taste.  Stir fry until tender.  Add to bowl with the pork.  Add remaining half tablespoon of oil to the skillet as well as the mushrooms and salt to taste.  Stir fry until soft.

Add the cabbage and pork back to the skillet and cook until heated through.  While everything's heating up, stir up the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour into skillet and stir fry until sauce has thickened and turned clear, about two minutes.  Serve over rice if you'd like and top with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.  Fresh fruit goes great on the side!

Yield: 6 to 8 servings 

Shrimp Egg Foo Young

SHE LIVES!  Sorry about the long hiatus.  I started a new job in January and have been pretty busy with that so haven't been cooking a lot of new recipes.  Several times I did refer to the blog though for recipes I've already made so I could make them again!  Hopefully I am out of my cooking slump though.  Last night I spent a solid couple hours looking at new recipes and am all excited to try them out.

To kick things off, here is a recipe I made for dinner last night.  Egg foo young.  A couple of weeks ago my in-laws took us to a nice Chinese restaurant to celebrate our birthdays (which are a week apart) and I ordered a combination plate that had egg foo young on it.  Had never had it before, but it sure was good, so I decided to try it at home!  The recipe I made is loosely based on this one from AllRecipes.  Had to tweak it a bit based on availability of ingredients and so it would suit our tastes better, but it turned out REALLY well and I will definitely make it again.

Oh and I served this with brown rice.  I'd never actually cooked brown rice, but found out you could bake it so decided to give it a try!  Worked PERFECTLY and it turns out we both really like brown rice, so I plan to make it frequently now.  I just followed Alton Brown's recipe, which you can find here.  My only suggestion is to cut back on the salt a tad if you're going to serve it with something salty like Chinese food, and the butter is probably unnecessary.  Also I haven't tried it yet, but apparently you can double the recipe and bake it in a 9 by 13 pan if you want a whole lot of brown rice!

Quick note:  I cooked the Egg Foo Young as one big omelet in the pan to save time, but you could cook it in smaller amounts like pancakes so they're round.

Shrimp Egg Foo Young

about a tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
1/2 lb shredded cabbage (I used the shredded cabbage and carrots in a bag for coleslaw)
1 clove garlic, minced
5 eggs
1 C frozen cooked baby shrimp, thawed
1/3 C thinly sliced green onion
1/4 t salt
1 T soy sauce
2 t sesame oil

Sauce:
1 1/2 C chicken broth
1 T sugar
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 T white vinegar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
2 T cold water

Heat about a teaspoon of oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add shredded cabbage and garlic and cook just until it starts to wilt.  Set aside to cool.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs, then add in remaining Egg Foo Young ingredients.  Add cabbage mixture once it has cooled.  Stir well to combine.  Heat remaining 2 t oil in skillet over medium (don't want it too hot), then pour in mixture.  Let it cook until it's nicely set on the bottom and sides, about 4 minutes, then cut the round into quarters with a spatula and carefully flip each quarter over.  Cook until lightly browned on the other side and completely set, about 2 more minutes.  Remove Egg Foo Young to a plate and keep warm in an oven set to 200 while you make the sauce.

To make the sauce, rinse out the skillet or use a saucepan.  Add all ingredients except cornstarch and cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Stir together cornstarch and water in a small bowl until smooth.  Once liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat a little, then whisk in cornstarch mixture and cook until thickened and clear, which should only take a minute or so.  Serve over Egg Foo Young and rice.

Yield: 4 dinner sized servings