happy new year!

Don't forget to eat your black eyed peas for extra good luck in the new year.  here's to an even more fabulous and flavorful 2011!!  

yum yum soup

if there is one thing that I crave when the weather begins to turn cold or a cold begins to turn in my body, it's tom yum soup, or as I like to call it "yum yum soup". it warms the soul like a hot cup of lemon tea, but is savory and filling.  I've got some Thai ingredients around, so I looked up the recipe the other day, and it's pretty easy to make at home, and a good one to master as winter comes our way.  All you'll need is lemongrass, fresh ginger, chicken broth and some mushrooms. Here's the recipe for a little winter warmer of Thai hot and sour soup.

TOM YUM SOUP

2 quarts chicken broth
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, sliced on a bias in 2-inch pieces
4 kaffir lime leaves
1-inch piece ginger, sliced
2 red chiles, sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups mushrooms, rinsed and halved
2 limes, juiced
2 green onions, sliced
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped


Bring the stock to the boil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, and chiles. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth. Uncover and add the fish sauce, sugar, and mushrooms. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lime juice, green onions, and cilantro. Taste for salt and spices; you should have an equal balance of spicy, salty, and sour.

carving the pumpkins and roasting the seeds

Last Monday, in preparation for Halloween, Sarah and I carved a couple pumpkins and roasted the seeds.

This year, I made the seeds a little spicy with a mixture of butter, salt and cayenne pepper.



ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

1 1/2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons butter, melted

salt to taste

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Toss seeds in a bowl with the melted butter, salt and cayenne. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown; stir occasionally.

it was a graveyard smash

Last Saturday marked our 2nd annual Halloween gathering of ghosts and ghouls.  we had some pretty famous people here: the little girl ghost from The Grudge, Buddy the Elf, Mike "the Situation", Carmine Gotti, Kenny Powers, a dead head, a Chicago Bull, a well-known cat burglar and some mummies, among others. We had lots of fun getting down to some Halloween jams, eating bat wings and screaming peanuts, and drinking zombie blood.  I had some inquiries on the bat wings, screaming peanuts, and blood drink, so here are the recipes that will come in handy for next Halloween or the next spooky occasion that presents itself.

BAT WINGS

1 cup dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons five-spice powder
1 teaspoon Frank's hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
20 buffalo style chicken wings
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, for garnish


Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and add wings.  Marinate overnight or for up to 24 hours.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat two large baking sheets with cooking spray.  Spread wings in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes, flipping once.  Serve warm or cold, and garnish with black sesame seeds.
 
SCREAMING PEANUTS

3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups high quality dry roasted unsalted peanuts
5 dried chiles, optional garnish


Mix butter and seasonings in a large bowl add peanuts and stir to coat the peanuts evenly.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spray or line a cooking sheet with parchment and spread nuts in one even layer.  Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and toasted. Stir every 15 minutes to toast evenly.   


ZOMBIE BLOOD with ZOMBIE EYEBALLS & ZOMBIE BRAINS
1 bottle of red wine
2 cups frozen cherries, pitted
1 cup peaches, cut into chunks
2 cups black grapes, sliced in half
1 bottle of sparkling pinot grigio
ginger ale
red food coloring


Mix all fruit in a large bowl and pour in the red wine.  Soak fruit overnight.  When ready to serve, scoop out the fruit with a slotted spoon and add to a pitcher, pour in the pinot grigio and fill the rest of the pitcher with ginger ale (should be about half wine, half ginger ale).  Add about five drops of the red food coloring to make the mixture extra bloody.  You can also make this with red wine and ginger ale and omit the food coloring.

an apple for your thoughts

Fall is the perfect time to embrace apple pie. Find your favorite apples, peal them, slice them and eat them up in a little crust topped with ice cream.  Apples are everywhere right now, on the trees, rolling down the streets, in people's yards, and probably even in the grocery stores. In short, they are available for your dessert eating pleasure, so go, go now, grab them and bake them up.  This recipe is quick and has a little extra tang, thanks to the juices of some lemons

FOR THE CRUST:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
6 tbsp. cold milk

FOR THE FILLING:
1 cup sugar
3⁄4 cup cornstarch
1  tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/4-1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
6-8 apples (or about 5 lbs.), peeled, cored, and sliced
6 tbsp. butter

1. Preheat oven to 400°. For the crust: Sift together flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Measure oil into a measuring cup, then add milk, but don't stir together. Pour oil and milk into flour mixture. Stir until dough just holds together. Divide dough in half, shape into 2 balls, and flatten slightly. Roll out each ball between two sheets of wax paper into 12" rounds. Transfer one pastry round (discarding wax paper) into a 9" pie plate, and set other pastry round aside.

2. For the filling: Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add apples and mix with your hands, tossing until well coated.

3. Fill bottom crust in pie pan with apple mixture and scatter butter on top. Cover with remaining pastry round (discarding wax paper) and crimp edges together to seal. Score top to allow steam to escape, brush with milk, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tsp. sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 50 minutes. If edge of crust browns too quickly, cover edge with a strip of aluminum foil to prevent burning. Allow pie to cool for 1 hour before serving.

this corn is like candy

Just in time for Halloween, this is the perfect alternative to candy corn.  It's the infamous New York corn on the cob from La Palapa.  Or at least my replication of it.  I tracked down a copy of Barbara Sibley's Antojitos cookbook, and quickly made the recipe that night. And then the next night.  And then the next night.  I mean, if you have a whole package of cotija, are you just going to stop making delicious corn treats?  I think not. I also tried this recipe without the cotija, with just lime, mayonnaise, cayenne, paprika and cilantro, and it was equally delicious. Enjoy!

ELOTE DEL MERCADO

Ingredients:
6 ears of corn on the cob, husked
3 quart water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon salt
2 limes cut in half
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated cotija
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:
In a shallow bowl mix the cotija, cayenne, paprika and cilantro. Remove the husks from each ear of corn, and bring 3 quarts of water to boil. Add the sugar and salt. Boil the corn in the water for approximately 8 minutes or cooked. Rub a lime over the kernels. Then using a pastry brush, brush the ears of corn with mayonnaise. Roll the ears of corn in the queso, pepper and cilantro mixture.

Have a lemon soup

Every year since we first moved to Seattle in 1994, we've gone to the fall Greek Festival at Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.  After sixteen years this festival draws us in with the dancing (little kids dress up and perform traditional Greek dances on stage), food and a Greek market that will knock your socks off.  It's the ideal place to stock up on blocks of feta, kalamata olives, fresh-pressed olive oil, salty capers and fresh baked breads and baklava.  And the ladies at the checkout will pinch your cheeks and sweetly ask if, "you want another loaf of bread, honey? God bless you." It's a marvelous experience, and I'm always amazed at the camaraderie between the people at the festival, it's like a big family and they welcome you in with kindness and their delicious cuisines. This year was the 50th anniversary of the Greek festival, and we were there again with our tokens, and after a stop at the market, sat down and enjoyed a few favorites - avgolemono soup, lentil soup, Greek salad, and mini donut holes.  Everything I tried made me want to master the art of Greek cooking, and promptly pick up some books and spices to do so.  Until then, here's a recipe for their lemon soup, that requires only a few basic ingredients - eggs, rice, chicken broth and lemon. When all mixed together a heavenly combination is created.  I'm still trying to figure out how they season their lentil soup, it's the most flavorful I've ever tasted, I'll keep you posted on that quest.

AVGOLEMONO SOUP (GREEK LEMON SOUP)

Ingredients
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup long-grain rice
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley

Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large sauce pan. Toss in the rice, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until rice is tender, about 25 minutes. While you wait, whisk together the egg yolks and lemon juice.

When rice is done, turn off heat. Remove about a ladle full of the hot broth, and whisk it into the egg-and-lemon mixture. When combined, take this mixture and whisk it into the sauce pan. Return the pot to medium heat, and cook until soup is hot, but not boiling.

Garnish with parsley and a slice of lemon, and serve.