Thai lemongrass chicken in lettuce cups

This is one of my all-time favorite meals; the crispness of the ingredients remind me of hot summer days and what better way to usher in our first really warm day then to make this dish.

1 lb. ground lean chicken or turkey

2 cubes each frozen garlic and ginger

3 Tbs. hoisin sauce

1 Tbs. soy sauce

1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar

2 Tbs. sweet chili sauce

zest from 1/2 lime

2 Tbs. Garden Gourmet lemongrass

Saute above ingredients in a nonstick pan until chicken is fully cooked and crumbled.  Set aside.  

1/2 package cellophane noodles

1/2 English cucumber, peeled

2 carrots

1/2 mango

1/2 red pepper

2 scallions

1/4 C. fresh Thai basil (regular is fine if you can't find Thai)

1/4 C. fresh mint

1/2 C. fresh cilantro

1 head lettuce, romaine or iceberg

1/4 C. salted peanuts (optional for garnish)

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook cellophane noodles for 3 minutes.  Drain and combine with ground chicken and set aside in a bowl.

Julienne the cucumber, carrot, mango and red pepper.  I use this great julienne tool that looks like a peeler, but is much easier than doing it "long hand"-you can find it in most kitchen supply stores or amazon.com.

Chop scallions, basil, cilantro and mint, mix together in a bowl and either combine with cellophane noodles and chicken.  Pull apart lettuce leaves and place on a plate until ready to use.  Place chicken mixture in a lettuce leaf and enjoy!

Thai meatballs with dipping sauce

I made these tonight for my family and they were a huge hit! Although they have lots of flavorful ingredients, they were not too strong for little palates.

These meatballs are delicious served in a lettuce leaf or eaten over rice and the flavorful dipping sauce is incredible!

FOR MEATBALLS:
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground turkey
3 finely chopped scallions
1/4 C. chopped cilantro
3 cubes each- frozen garlic and frozen ginger
3 Tbs. fish sauce (nap pla)
3 Tbs. vegetable oil

FOR SAUCE:
1/4 C. fresh lime juice
1/4 C. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. fish sauce
3 Tbs. each- chopped cilantro and mint
1 grated carrot
1/2 peeled, grated cucumber
2 Tbs. sweet chili sauce
1 Tbs. brown sugar

1 head butter lettuce, leaves carefully removed
1/4 C. dry roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 375. Combine all ingredients -except vegetable oil- in a bowl, hands work best. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. While oil heats, roll meat into balls, about 2" wide. When oil shimmers, add meatballs and cook 2 minutes per side or until meatballs are golden brown. Remove from pan and add to a casserole pan. Cover with foil and finish cooking in the oven for 20 minutes.

While meatballs cook, assemble sauce by combining all sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Assemble meatballs by placing 1 meatball in a lettuce leaf, spoon sauce and a few peanuts before eating.

Thai chicken wings

I haven't posted a new recipe in a while as I haven't been making anything worth writing home about. Today, however I made a version of Chicken Satay, but as a wing.

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a glass casserole pan with aluminum foil. While the oven heats, add 6-8 chicken wings to the pan. Add 1 jar (8 oz.) of Peanut Satay dipping sauce (Taste of Thai makes a good one, so does Trader Joes), 1/4 C. honey or agave and 1/4 C. soy sauce. Smear the sauce around the wings and bake in the oven uncovered for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes cover with foil and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.

We ate the wings with some steamed green beans from our garden tonight. I added a few shakes of toasted sesame seeds to mine, and the kids dipped theirs in soy sauce.

This would also be delicious using boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

For a little heat, make a slurry of 1 Tbs. soy sauce with a good squeeze of Thai red chili paste- YUM!

Hoisin grilled pork tenderloin and Thai cellophane salad

We had dinner with some friends over the weekend at our favorite restaurant in town and I was inspired to make Thai food.

Here is my recipe for Thai cellophane noodle salad and hoisin grilled pork tenderloin.

4 ounces glass noodles (bean threads)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons light vegetable oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 large cucumber, halved, seeded, and sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in ½
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
2-3 heads of romaine lettuce, washed and roughly chopped
½ C. crushed roasted peanuts

Soak noodles in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender; rinse and drain. Place in a mixing bowl. (For easier serving, cut noodles into pieces with kitchen shears.)
Combine lime juice and next 4 ingredients; pour over noodles, tossing to coat.
Stir in remaining ingredients, and toss salad until well blended. Serve.

Hoisin grilled pork tenderloin:
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cube frozen ginger
1 cube frozen garlic
1 pork tenderloin

Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and let marinade at least 4 hours, turning bag occasionally. Preheat oven to 400. Heat grill to high. Grill pork for 5 minutes per side on grill, saving marinade. While pork is grilling, reduce marinade in a small sauce pan on medium high heat.

Remove pork from grill and place in an aluminum lined casserole pan. Add reduced marinade, cover pork in foil and continue cooking in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Thinly slice pork and add to top of salad before serving.

***Note- My kids will NOT eat the cellophane noodle salad, but will eat the pork, so I made them some couscous instead.

Fresh Thai Spring Rolls

I taught a Food and Wine Thai cooking class today at Peacock and wanted to share a recipe for those yummy fresh spring rolls that the Thai restaurants charge $10-$12 each for.

The dipping sauce is the best and really makes these irresistible! Give them a try.

Fresh Spring Rolls
For the Rolls:

16 (8-1/2 inch) round rice paper wrappers
16 cooked shrimp, cut in half lengthwise
1 peeled and julienned English cucumber
2 cups carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
32 fresh mint leaves
32 sprigs fresh cilantro


For the rolls: Fill a large bowl with hot water. Place a clean kitchen towel next to the bowl. Submerge 1 rice paper wrapper in the water and soak it until softened, about 1 minute. Carefully remove the rice paper from the water and lay it flat on the towel. In the center of the sheet, layer 2 pieces of shrimp, 1 Tbs. cucumber, and 2 Tbs. of grated carrots. Place 2 mint leaves and 2 cilantro sprigs over the mixture and fold the bottom of the wrapper over the filling. Fold both sides inward over the filling, then roll up in egg roll fashion. Place seam side down on a plate and repeat the process with the remaining rice papers and filling ingredients. Once all the wrappers have been assembled, cut each spring roll in half on the bias so that you have 32 pieces. Place the spring rolls on a platter and serve with the dipping sauce at room temperature.

Note: Spring Rolls can be assembled up to 1 hour in advance. Keep refrigerated, covered with damp paper towels and wrapped in plastic wrap.

Spring Roll Dipping Sauce:

½ C. coconut palm sugar or 1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
2 cubes frozen ginger
2 cubes frozen garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon grated carrots
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro


In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, vinegar, lime zest and juice, soy sauce, salt, fish sauce, ginger and garlic. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Strain sauce into a clean, non-reactive bowl, and add the crushed red pepper flakes. Allow the sauce to cool completely before adding the carrots and cilantro. Serve in a decorative bowl alongside the spring rolls.

Thai noodle soup

We are all a little under the weather today so I decided to make soup. It is, however about 85 degrees here with 100% humidity!!

This soup started out as a vegetable saute, but I just kept adding things.

Start with a nonstick pan with high sides. Add 1 tbs. peanut oil. Add a diced shallot and 2 cubes of frozen garlic and a cube of frozen ginger, saute about 1 minute. Add a handful of sliced mushrooms and saute for another minute.

Add about a cup of green beans that have been sliced in 1/2. Saute for another minute, then add a pinch of curry powder and a good pinch of kosher salt.

Add in a can of diced tomatoes, a can of coconut milk and an 8 oz. container of chicken stock.

Zest 1/2 a lime and add that to the soup as well as about 3 tbs. roughly chopped cilantro.

I happened to have an ear of corn, so I cut that in half and added it to the soup as well as a leftover cooked chicken breast that I thinly sliced.

Lastly, I added in a handful of cellophane noodles about 5 minutes before sitting down to eat the soup.

I know the kids won't eat it, so they're getting some leftover chicken breast, noodles, and an ear of corn.

cellophane noodle salad with grilled shrimp

We had a great weekend, it was hot, hot, hot and we spent much of the time in a pool!

Our friends came for dinner tonight and I had quite a few things in the fridge so I decided to pull everything out and see what came together.

Here is a list of what I had:
spicy chicken sausage
romaine hearts
cucumber
steak
shrimp (in the freezer)
Cellophane noodles (in the pantry)
scallions

I decided to grill the steaks for the kids (5) and make them a little pasta and I made us a delicious Thai cellophane noodle salad with grilled shrimp.

For the salad, I enlisted the help of my husband who impressed me with his knife skills tonight! He thinly chopped 2 heads of romaine, diced 1/4 of a cucumber, chopped a bunch of scallions, and thinly sliced some carrots.

For the noodles, boil water, add the noodles to a bowl and pour the hot water over the noodles. let the noodles soften for about 5-7 minutes, drain and rinse under cool water and put aside until ready to use.

To make the dressing: mix together
3/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 cubes frozen ginger
1 tbs. thai chili sauce
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs hoisin sauce

Mix the noodles in with the salad and pour the dressing over the salad.

Defrost shrimp and grill on HIGH for 2 minutes total time, shrimp will cook very quickly on the grill.

OPTIONAL: Our vegetable garden is growing beautifully and the herbs are ready to be used, I added in a few leaves of fresh cilantro, mint and basil, which Kirk chopped up and threw into the dish.

Add the shrimp to the top of the dish and crush a handful of peanuts roughly (I use the bottom of a glass), top as a garnish.

I grilled the chicken sausage and we enjoyed it on the side.

Thai roasted salmon with coconut rice and cucumber salad

We had a great dinner with friends on Sunday to "break-in" their new kitchen. I wanted to share the meal we made. I made coconut rice before we went to their house. The recipe is super easy, simply use 1 C. of rinsed basmati rice and 1 1/2 C. light coconut milk. Boil the coconut milk in a pot and add in the rice. Add a pinch of salt, cover and reduce the heat to low and let cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed. It usually takes about 35 minutes.

We made a marinade using:
2 tbs. hoisin sauce
juice from 1 lime
2 tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. sambal oelek
2 tbs. honey
1/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbs. chopped fresh mint

Combine all of the ingredients and pour over the salmon (1 use 6 oz. per person, this is a good serving size) in a casserole or deep-sided glass pan.

Preheat oven to 400 and bake the fish for 18-20 minutes.

While the salmon cooked, we made a delicious cucumber salad.

Peel and chop 1 English cucumber and add to a bowl.
Add 1 diced shallot
2 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. chopped mint
1 Tbs. chopped cilantro

Combine all ingredients with cucumber and stir well to combine. Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

We saved a little of the salmon marinade and cooked a few pieces of thinly sliced chicken breast in a pan. The kids loved it!