Kitchen Adventures

I tested out two, new adventurous recipes recently. My motivation was to experiment with new techniques, and to make something I’ve never made before.

The first was Scallops in Parchment, en papillote if you’re fancy. I love this technique, having admired chefs on television demonstrate it, and having been a very young Girl Scout doing the more hardy, aluminum foil version over a camp fire. Cooking in parchment is super easy, not messy, easily versioned and elegantly rustic. A great dinner party idea would be to have everyone BYO fish, while you supply the herbs, veggies, wine/stock and parchment. Guests could assemble the papillote to their liking. When it’s done cooking, place the steamed pack on a plate, rip open and enjoy! Makes for easy clean-up, too.

For my Scallops in Parchment, I trimmed down the recipe for one serving. I added baby bok choy to up the greens content, and to take away some of the emphasis on fennel, which I don’t love. I asked the fish guy at The Freshmarket for a 1/4lb of fresh sea scallops (that came to 2 big guys, but in my price range, too). Here’s the assembly process!

gently toss all ingredients (except scallops)

place mixture on 12x12 parchment, stack scallops on top

first you roll it, then you bake

tear it open!

i added couscous and lemon juice

I did not have white wine on hand, which I would have added to the package, but the veggies and scallops produced enough moisture to steam themselves. The couscous I made on the side because I wasn’t sure how the steam bag would handle cooking it thoroughly. Overall, this meal was a huge success. Like, I said, I’m not a huge fan of fennel. The baby bok choy was delicious, as well as the tomatoes. I love when grape tomatoes get hot, burst and produce that highly acidic, hot juice! That is divine. Now that I’ve tested out this technique, I’m ready to try different ingredients, switching up the recipe with asparagus, zucchini, carrot slivers, peas, salmon, snapper, etc.

My second recipe test-drive: Homemade Pizza. This is mostly a no-brainer, so the dough was the emphasis. Major roadblock, I’ve never bought yeast, and wasn’t going to make a trip to the store just for that. So I’d have to go the no-yeast dough route. Yeah, sort of a cop-out. But my next pizza adventure will most certainly involve proper, yeast pizza dough. And maybe even whole wheat flour next time. Here’s how the assembly went.

flour, milk, olive oil, baking powder, salt

after kneading

nope, don't own a rolling pin.

all rolled out, with olive oil on top

now for the fun part: choosing the toppings

The toppings include (building from bottom to top), pesto, mozzarella, grape tomatoes, capers, sun dried tomatoes & bacon (leftover from this BLT dip), Parmesan and parsley.

before baking

golden brown. dinner time!

This pizza was ah-mazing. Granted, I normally don’t have these kinds of ingredients around, but it truly made all the difference. So much great flavor. I will definitely make this again because it was so easy and beat the hell out of delivery. And DiGiorno. One mistake I made was not spraying the baking sheet. I lost some of the crust trying to get it off the pan. Or, use a Silpat, which I also do not own.

spinach salad with grape and sun dried tomatoes, capers, marinated mushrooms and artichoke hearts

Here’s my lunch the next day, using some of the antipasto ingredients that made their way onto my pizza. Note the container by Oggi (set of three nested containers at TJMaxx for less than $10). They have great design sense with functionality (date slider on the side to mark when you made the contents). Love it.

Finally, I made some of my favorite salad dressing. Before I was limited to fresh ginger dressing when dining out at sushi bars. Now I can make my own, and avoid shelling out cash for the fancy bottled versions. Here’s the recipe for Carrot Ginger Dressing. I highly recommend it.

combine in blender or food processor

More kitchen adventures to come. I loved trying out these newbies.

Thaime of My Life—Thaiphoon Bistro

That will be my only remark on the name of the Thai establishment located in Glenwood South just across from work. I went with a friend for the Chicken Pad Thai lunch special ($9) since dinner entrée prices are fairly steep. I did myself a favor by cutting myself off half-way through the noodles to avoid the lunchtime coma. But don’t mistake that as a review of the food because the Chicken Pad Thai was indeed the jam. And I have leftovers.

chicken pad thai...a thaiphoon specialty

One of the best parts about this meal is that you get to play with your food! Squeeze the lime, sprinkle on peanuts (all), chili flakes (lots) and sprouts (mmmm more crunch!) as desired. I cannot pretend to know that much about Thai cuisine, the authenticity or the bold flavors, but I’ll provide the quick overview: yummy, gummy noodles (not slippery), tossed in a delicious peanut/fish/chili/sweet sauce, green onions and even some crispy green bean spears. I added chicken for the protein and texture, though in flavor, it was just there, really. The menu indicates spiciness of dishes, the Pad Thai’s being mild, so I asked to kick it up to medium. The kitchen was happy to accommodate. On the side—a romaine salad with sweet peanut dressing! This meal deserves high marks for flavor, serving size, price and spice. At dinner, I would recommend the Grilled Beef Salad (with tender flank steak). It is wickedly nose-running spicy.

Thaiphoon also earns high marks for ambiance. That’s right. Ambiance. Check out their site to get an idea of the decor. They successfully combine traditional Asian with modern elements. A DVD case holds the food menu, and the drink list is displayed on records like track listings. And I love love love the flatware and water pitchers. And lanterns. And the orange.

© 2008 thaiphoon bistro

Project Use Up Fresh Herbs

I purchased a large portions of fresh herbs—lemon thyme and French tarragon—from Coon Rock Farms a couple of weeks ago. To my delight they have stayed perky, fragrant and fresh in a bag in the fridge. My history with store-bought herbs in the plastic boxes is disappointing and wasteful. They wilt long before I can use them up! My mom has a ROCKIN’ herb garden at home, mingled in with shrubs and flowers in our front yard planters. There are a couple of massive basil bushes, the scent of which is pleasantly overwhelming when walking up the front sidewalk. She’s also got rosemary, thyme, chives, sage and lavender available for quick picking. Fresh herbs pack a lot of punch, instantly boosting flavor in simple dishes. So that’s what I did.

First I prepared some veggies for roasting: two medium sized yellow onions, a lot of peeled garlic cloves—probably 10, large bag of baby carrots and the biggest sweet potato I’ve ever seen, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces. Toss everything with a coating of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and throw in bunches of fresh herbs. I went with the lemon thyme here. If I’d had rosemary on hand, I would have added that for sure. The great thing I’ve learned about roasting veggies from my mom is that it’s easy, there’s no recipe and it doesn’t have to be pretty! Going with all root vegetables cut at about the same size means that everything will be tender at the same time. I set the oven at 350, roasted for about 20 min., gave the veggies a toss, and roasted for another 20-30 min. The outcome was great. I’m planning on tossing the warm veggies into a cold spinach salad. Should be delectable.

just imagine the aroma!

My second item was Citrus Herb Vinaigrette. The lemon thyme truly smells like lemon, so I knew this combination would work (confirmed by a quick search on foodnetwork). I adapted my recipe from one by the dreamy Dave Lieberman. Having oranges on hand, rather that lemons, I juiced and zested them both, plus added some OJ from the fridge. Threw in some Dijon honey mustard (about 2 T), salt, pepper and chopped fresh thyme leaves and French tarragon (probably 15 sprigs thyme and 10 tarragon). Eyeball olive oil as you whisk. This made a store-bought sized bottle of salad dressing. Great to have on hand.

Dressing + lunch salad for work

Here’s a nerdy link on the chemical properties that explain how to make a vinaigrette that emulsifies and doesn’t separate.

Asian Tilapia Roll= Always a SUCCESS

I go to The Rockford about once a week. A quick walk from work in Glenwood South, it’s quite convenient. Though not obvious. It’s got the tricky 320 1/2 street address. Choose the door between the salon and the boutique and head upstairs. The loft space is small, and usually packed. Picture hard wood floors, windows out onto Glenwood Avenue, funky art on the walls, cute Castro-looking hipster host and a massive bar running the length of the far wall. I love this place. LG. Come to Raleigh. We. will. go.

I get caught up ordering the same thing nearly everytime…the Asian Tilapia Roll is just that delicious and I can’t help myself. I’ve tried the veggie burrito (boring, better just to get that at Armadillo Grill across the street), the veggie and turkey burgers (both deserve high marks, especially for the variety of toppings the chef rotates), the Cubana and the Cannelini Bean sandwich. And yet I keep coming back to the tilapia roll. Here are the major players: grilled spinach tortilla; sautéed, flaky tilapia; purple cabbage slaw with coconut milk dressing and spicy Thai chili sauce. The warm and cold, spicy and sweet, crunchy and tender all amount to a bangin’ lunch. Another great thing about The Rockford: a variety of sides rotate seasonally. In the past I’ve have the succotash, Thai green beens, pasta salad, and the tomato basil soup (soup for an additional charge). The tomato basil soup was perked up with a roasted, somewhat smoky flavor and a touch of heat. And it wasn’t over-blended, so it maintained just a little bit of texture. New to the side list now: garlic mashed potatoes. It’s going to be a good winter season at The Rockford. With the warmness of the soup and mashed potatoes, I won’t mind the cold lunch-hour walk.