The Swing of Things

I've been at home, recuperating from my foot surgery, and I've really missed writing this blog, and most of all, cooking! We were down to a little bit of nothing in the fridge, in the way of proteins, and have been subsisting on take-out. My husband doesn't cook very often, and it's been quite an effort to stand in the kitchen and prep ingredients, so take-out was the solution. I think we exhausted about all of our options by the time I was ready to pull a list together and get some food in the house! Finally, last night, Peapod delivered, and our fridge is again stocked with delicious, fresh ingredients, and there's a menu hanging on the door. Ah, getting back into the swing of things now!

I decided to start off simple, with meals that don't take a ton of time, or prep...and best of all, clean up easily. I still have to take it easy on my foot, although I can walk on it, so short stints in the kitchen are best. For my first trick, Asari Sakamushi (Steamed Clams with Soy, Butter and Garlic) with a side of Thai-Style Brussels Sprouts. This meal took a total of about 20 minutes, with only about 8 minutes of actual cooking time, between the two dishes. It was so simple to pull together, totally delicious, and great for a hot summer's evening.

Between the two recipes, there were a total of 11 ingredients, which is great because I could pull everything out without too many trips to the pantry and fridge from my workspace near the stove. I gathered my bottles of olive oil, fish sauce, sake, and soy sauce, and then grabbed some roasted peanuts, garlic cloves, butter, scallions and a lemon. I had unpacked the groceries and left my Brussels sprouts and clams on the counter already so now I was ready to start! Instead of the Manila clams suggested in the recipe, I purchased about 3 pounds of steamers - they were on sale, and they are my favorite! I washed them in some cold water to remove a lot of the grit and set them aside. I trimmed, groomed, and halved my Brussels sprouts too, placing them in a bowl with the olive oil and fish sauce to marinate for a few minutes. That was the extent of the prep, aside from a little chopped garlic!

At the same time, I heated a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, and also brought the sake and garlic to a boil in a separate deep-walled pan. I definitely had more than 30 clams so I wanted to make sure there was a lot of room for them to open. I placed the Brussels sprouts halved-side down into the cast iron skillet, and left them to caramelize while I tended to my clams. Once the sake was simmering, I poured those clams into the pan and covered them, leaving them to steam for the next 5 minutes. I don't think I've ever steamed clams in a pot with a clear cover before, and I have to stay that it was very cool to actually watch them cooking, and slowly opening. Maybe it's just been too long since I cooked a meal...but I was intrigued!

As the clams finished cooking, it was also time to stir the brussels sprouts and get the other side a bit more browned. I stirred them up, and then removed the clams from the pan with a slotted spoon. In place of the clams, I added some soy sauce, lemon juice, and butter to the pan, allowing it all to meld and get deliciously luxurious and silky, just two or three minutes longer. I poured it all over the clams, sprinkled some sliced scallions on top, and voila...dinner is served!

We ended up baking a loaf of frozen bread towards the end of our dinner, because there was so much delicious broth left over that we couldn't waste! I didn't think we'd need it with all the clams, but, it was too good to just pour down the drain. YUM!!

Welcome to Thailand!

Let me first say that Thailand is number one on my list of places to visit. With that being said, let's take an imaginative journey to this intriguing country, and have some dinner! From The Essential Asian Cookbook, I took two Thai recipes and paired them together for this mini-feast. The book's chapter on Thai food briefly introduces the cuisine, and I couldn't word it better myself: "Every Thai meal is a delicate balancing act of bold flavours. The soups and curries are both tart and creamy sweet, flavoured with sour tamarind, scarlet-hot chillies, tangy lime leaves and handfuls of aromatic basil, coriander [cilantro] and mint. While the cooking of Thailand has borrowed from other countries - stir-fries and steamed dishes from China, spices from India - these influences have been shaped into a cuisine whose tastes and fragrances are uniquely Thai." That's putting it perfectly, I'd say!

A month or so ago, reader Laurie had asked me to do a post on making Pad Thai, so I decided to incorporate it into tonight's post. I paired this Pad Thai, a traditional fried noodle dish, with some Steamed Fish in Bamboo Leaves (the recipe called for banana leaves - but I couldn't find those!) I put together my bamboo leaf baskets for the steamed fish and assembled that part of the meal, setting it aside until the Pad Thai was done, since the fish only took 7 minutes to steam. I gathered some chopped prawns, thinly sliced pork, chopped garlic cloves, rice stick noodles, chopped garlic chives, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, beaten eggs, bean sprouts and some chopped peanuts. I left off the coriander [cilantro] because Matt has an aversion to it. I can only trick him into eating it if it's really cooked right into the dish...but a garnish isn't going to fly!

Brown sugar, Fish Sauce, Pork and Shrimp not pictured

The rice stick noodles are totally easy to prepare - just soak them in warm water for 10 minutes. It doesn't even need to be boiling! Does it get any easier than that? Once you've prepped everything, this dish comes together very quickly. Heat some oil in a wok and once it's hot, add the minced garlic, chopped chillies and the thinly sliced pork. Stirring constantly, allow this to cook for 3 minutes and then add the prawns, cooking for another 3 minutes. At this point, throw in the chopped garlic chives and the drained rice stick noodles. Allow the mixture to simmer, covered for about a minute. Using some tongs, toss the mixture with the 2 beaten eggs, fish sauce, lime juice, and brown sugar until everything is coated evenly and the egg has had a minute or two to thicken up. At this point you can throw in the bean sprouts and the chopped peanuts. See how quickly that came together!!

I was going to put pictures of each step, but everything went so quickly, and the images weren't the greatest quality so hopefully this works well as a finished product! It's very simple to throw all these things together, toss 'em in the wok and serve it. It's a great, quick, weeknight meal. 

Now, the steamed fish was also really simple! It's just coconut cream, red curry paste, and thinly sliced cod (I used cod, but you could use another sturdy white fish if you so chose). There's some sliced cabbage thrown on top, and then some fish sauce, lime sauce and sweet chili sauce as toppings right before serving. Steamed in bamboo (or banana) leaves, it is a sweet, but savory dish with a hint of heat from the curry paste. The dishes paired really nicely together too, so for that I say, GO ME! :)

It was a nice little jaunt to the balmy climate of Bangkok, but it's time to hop back on the plane and continue our trip around the world. But don't worry Thailand, I'll be back! 

ราตรีสวัสดิ์ (ra-tee-sa-was) which means Good Night! in Thai