Jenmenke

Road Warrior

meatless monday

Asparagus Diversion

Perfect fast lunch for a Meatless Monday

Tastes better than fresh hollandaise, I swear.

Cook a few spears of fresh asparagus in water like I show you in my first asparagus post.

Gently fry (not like me with my huge freaking bubbles in the whites) one or two fresh eggs

(rub the feathers off first)

Put them together, break the yolks, squeeze with lemon or lime and shave with pecorino or parmesan an drizzle with olive oil or a pat of butter.

Then, try not to egg-fart for the rest of the day. Or is that just me?

Meatless Monday Seventeen!

Shrimp Pad Thai

I’m over-the-moon about this recipe.

[Now, if by chance, there were anyone under the age of 40 reading this post, I will have lost them with that first sentence. What kind of loser says “over the moon?”]

But I am. Over the moon.

I am giving all the credit to the recipe on Rouxbe.com. I know I have mentioned that site before, but can’t remember when. I watched a whole bunch of their video cooking lessons when the site was first launched and everything was free — about a year or so ago. (It was probably three years ago, and my addled and aging mind has compressed a thousand days into 300 or so.)

As planned, after that initial launch period, some of the content became subscription based. I got busy and stopped visiting the site, having watched most of it anyway. Then one day early this year, I got an email saying something like “One Time Chance! Lifetime Membership for the low fee of _____!” I usually delete offers like that, and who knows why, but I clicked the link. I refuse to give the amount I paid here because Dave has apparently been sneaking over to this site and secretly reading it on occasion (!) and I don’t want him using it against me. I like to pretend I am a woman barely making ends meet by using three year old garden carrots out the freezer for dinner. You know what I mean? He knows I’m buying cooking school lessons and… well then I’ll have to start explaining why I won’t turn the heat up past 64 degrees in the winter… (Answer: to pay for online cooking school lessons.)

You can go to Rouxbe (pronounced Roo-Bee) yourself to see how much it was. But let me just say this: my aging and addled mind — for some reason — saw the price as being $100 less than it actually was. It must be that sub-conscience 99 thing that I always dismiss as being so stupid. Like $1.99 or $299 or whatever. Well, it got me this time.

Oh for Heaven’s sake. It cost $299, OK? I spent fricken $299 on Rouxbe.com! Are you happy? In my mind I thought it was $200 and I thought that was a pretty good deal. Lifetime membership! The website is a huge undertaking. And very well done. I wanted to support them. Assuming they are still around in a few years, that’s a great deal, right? The site has expanded to contain a ton of stuff, they are always adding more videos…. Oh, you’re not my husband, why am I explaining this to you?!

Whatever. Now I feel stupid. Is it any wonder I can’t keep secrets? I write a stupid post and feel compelled to tell all. Just imagine how easily I cave when questioned by a real person! Note to readers: don’t tell me secrets.

Anyway, I certainly experienced pangs of buyer’s remorse, but since I have the membership, I’ve been using the site a lot more. But here is what I can’t figure out: most of it still seems free to the public! It really is an amazing site. This shrimp pad thai recipe is so good. I’ve probably made pad thai three or four times in the past, and frankly, they stunk. Nothing like the real thing. This recipe was THE BEST. Easily as good as the best pad thai I’ve had in restaurants. And it’s so simple. And you can watch it free. While I paid $299. And you can feel smart and frugal. And I can feel dumb and frivolous. Even though you wouldn’t even know about it if I hadn’t taken the $299 bullet. Consider it my gift to you.

The only new ingredient I used for this batch, versus the other recipes I’ve tried, was tamarind concentrate. To be clear, other recipes had called for it, I just didn’t have it. But I hardly think that alone could have made such a huge difference. Taste, yes. But the recipe as a whole, no. I think it was the actual technique, which a video demonstration is perfect for. See for yourself: watch this video below. If you like it, watch some of the other videos, too. Be careful though, you might get hooked.

I have no idea what I’m embedding up there. The preview? But here is a link to the whole shebang: Rouxbe.com Shrimp Pad Thai Recipe Video and Text
My notes: (because you didn’t think I had all the ingredients, did you?!)
  • I did have tamarind concentrate, not the brick, but a jar of it, and used the same amount listed in the recipe.
  • I used vegetable stock instead of chicken, and for once didn’t taste it.
  • I used stupid thin little rice sticks because — for the life of me — I can’t find the larger flat ones ANYWHERE. And it makes me so mad! And that is why my noodles are more mangled in the photo above. At least that’s why I say they are more mangled, and not because of my unpracticed technique.
  • I ran out of fish sauce after 4 tablespoons (instead of 6) and it was just fine.
  • I did not have palm sugar (jaggery in Indian cooking) and used brown sugar as a substitute.
  • I did not have pickled radishes. I had moldy radishes and considered putting some vinegar on them and calling them pickled, but I restrained myself.
  • I did not have ground shrimp. I made no substitutes and make no apologies.

My photo is, as usual, hideous. I apologize for that. Oh, and I also apologize to Morgan, who I yelled at before dinner and, therefore, ruined her true enjoyment of another great meal cooked by her mom.

With that, I end this post and leave to go eat the leftovers as depicted in this blurry photo:

Meatless Monday Sixteen!

Namaste.

Indian again?

That’s what he said. He being Charlie, who contends that he doesn’t know where I got the idea he loves Indian food. Truth is, I think if I keep telling him that he loves it, he’ll actually start believing me.

Which would be convenient, since the rest of us are deeply, madly in love with it.

Here’s my theory on the attraction of Indian: going meatless for a meat-loving family is hard. Not because we can’t get filled up on stuff that doesn’t contain meat, but because I want to make truly vegetarian fare — not pancakes! With no experience in vegetarian eating, I try to seek out interesting recipes.

Like Thai. LOVE Thai food. So I could make a curry, right? No. Cuz I end up thinking… “oh. I wish this had chicken thighs in it….”

Or Japanese/Chinese. LOVE Japanese/Chinese. So I could make a noodle/broth dish, or a stir fry, right? No…. Cuz I find that I am not a huge fan of vegetable broth. (Still haven’t made my own, so I am reserving final judgement on this.) So, soups are out, at least for now. Stir fries are OK, but I still haven’t found a wining tofu recipe yet that will convince Dave and Charlie that it is legitimate food.

The problem is, most of the food and recipes I gravitate to have a taste history I am already familiar with. And I find myself missing that which is missing: chicken, bacon, broth, pork, etc.

Whereas, Indian is new! I have none of those biases. Not to mention the bold seasonings don’t require chicken broth! Win. Win. WIN. Love Indian food and don’t miss the meat. Now, I just need to find other ethnicities that are like that. Maybe African? Jamaican? Creole? Anyone got any bizarre suggestions for me along those lines?

I made this week’s recipe up, sort of melding a few together. I realize now that I really didn’t take any pictures and have since horked down the leftovers, spaz that I am. So I’ll just describe it. Some readers will be thankful, as I have been receiving feedback that my photos of Meatless Mondays are ‘sick.’

Nutty Dal and Rice on Naan

I did the usual spice mix, of heating oil and tossing in cumin and mustard seeds and quickly covering the pan before they pop all over the place. Then added onion and garlic (instead of asefetid…. can’t remember how to spell it), garam masala, coriander, turmeric, cardomom.

Then I added diced potatoes and cooked for a long time to soften. Added the cooked lentils. Then I added about 3/4 cup of rough-chopped peanuts. I wished I had some cilantro, but didn’t.

I also made some dough for naan and let rise for about 2 hours, while everyone was at soccer. They didn’t get home until almost 8:30pm. I have no idea where I was and why I didn’t have dinner ready and waiting when they got back, but I didn’t. It was a scramble. So instead of rolling each piece of naan into a ball and resting and blah blah blah, I cut the dough in two, rolled it flat and threw the two pieces into the oven like that. It worked great.

The meal was delicious, even if the one photo I took of it isn’t:

I feel the need to boast that in the last 9 days, we’ve had 4 meatless dinners (Dave worked another baked potato dinner in last night) and I’ve had at least 5 meatless lunches! Why, I’m practically a vegetarian!

Well… if you ignore the fact that I’m looking for a local place to buy a whole lamb, that is…

Meatless Monday Fifteen!

I made this “Make-Up” Meatless Monday last week with the kids while Dave was out of town. Somewhere along the way, I got a week behind. This one brought me back on track. It is Sunday night as I write this. We had THREE meatless mondays this week: Monday, Wednesday and tonight, since I will be gone at book club tomorrow.

Again, I didn’t really have a plan, except for a sort of vague asian noodle theme. My menu choices are mostly determined by what I don’t have, rather than what I have. I wonder how common that is? It certainly makes things more interesting. — though I find you get sidetracked when searching the web for inspiration. You know how it is, you aim for goodfood.co.uk, or something, and end up at learning new crochet stitches…. It happens. But I find that at least lacking ingredients narrows my choices down a little.

Anyway, I was flipping through The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook and was intrigued by:

  • Pho: had some cooked chicken and good broth. No bean sprouts, no cilantro: deal breakers.
  • Miso Ramen with all the Trimmings: had the hard boiled eggs (from Easter!). Had the Chinese noodles, broth… No Instant Dashi granules. Damn! I keep forgetting to look for those at the store…
  • Spicy Korean Tofu Stew: had the tofu, the broth… no fresh shitakes, only dried. Plus… Charlie might ax-murder me in my sleep if I made him eat tofu again. Since Dave was out of town that night, I decided not to chance it.
  • Quick Noodle Stir Fry: had the noodles, but not thick ones. Had chives, but not Chinese ones. Had Maggie Gin stir fry sauce, but not Maggi sauce (What is Maggi sauce, anyway?). Had sweetened Chinese rice wine, but not regular Chinese rice wine… I think I can make this work! I’m calling it:

Jen Jen Noodles*

Cook the chinese noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water and toss with about 1 teaspoon sesame oil in a bowl and set aside.

In a wok — here’s mine. I’ve had it since college and paid about $10 for it at Pier One. I should be embarrassed — it looks awful — but according to just about anyone who uses one, it looks just like it is supposed to — nasty!

Par-cook a handful of broccoli and one carrot (sliced) in boiling water (in the wok) until just barely, barely tender. Should still retain crunch! Then plunge into an ice bath and drain. Dry the wok and put back over high heat.

When it’s hot again, add about 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté a clove or two of minced garlic and a handful of chopped chives about a minute. Add the broccoli and carrot. Also add whatever you can dig up that sounds good. I threw in about 1 cup of shelled edamame and completely forgot to throw in the asparagus (from the garden, no less!). Toss around a bit.

Add 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons Maggie Gin stir fry sauce, 1 tablespoon sweetened rice wine, 2 teaspoons soy sauce and 2 teaspoons fish sauce. Add the noodles and toss like mad or they will clump. Once heated through, it’s done. Drizzle with about 1 teaspoon additional sesame oil if desired. Oh, I forgot: I also sprinkled toasted peanuts over the top (which, for some reason don’t appear in the photo) and sliced up a hard boiled egg that didn’t turn out to be very hard. The egg was sort of gross. The rest was great.

*get it? Like Dan Dan Noodles.

Meatless Monday Fourteen!

Linguine with Tomatoes & Shrimp (for lack of a better name)

Disclaimer: Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman’s Penne Pasta a la Betsy.

Why didn’t I just make it easy on myself and duplicate Pioneer Woman’s no-doubt delicious recipe? Well, for one — and you should know this by now — I didn’t have at least one main ingredient (penne). But there are a host of other reasons, as well:

  • I have yet to find a PW recipe that doesn’t call for a cup of cream, and I’m still recovering from the last PW recipe which involved a cup of cream and a stick of butter combined with a gaggle of blue cheese, served over a grilled steak. Honestly? Fatty thought she was going to die.
  • I wanted to use a fresh tomato
  • I hadn’t committed to any particular recipe when I started cooking the pasta. (No, I have not learned my lesson yet from Meatless Mondays One and Thirteen.)

Another reason was that I didn’t have any shrimp. Or at least I didn’t think I had any shrimp. I had thoughts of making a pasta with just tomatoes, at first. Then, in the middle of cooking, it just seemed so blah. “I wish I had some shrimp,” thought I. So I threw some boots on and ran up to the loft (the studio apartment above our barn where my parents live when they are in town).

Lo and behold, a brand new bag of frozen ready-to-cook shrimp. Thanks Dad! (I’m pretty sure he did not know about this until now.)

So it became Pasta with Tomatoes and Shrimp.

It was good.

We dined on it almost a week ago. So why so late with the post? I lost my USB SD card reader, I’ve been in meetings all week, wrote this days ago, didn’t have a photo, heated some leftovers up on the way to a 50th birthday lunch (no, not for me!) today and am racing to get it up before the end of the day.

Recipe?

Basically, it went like this…

  • Saute 3 cloves Garlic in olive oil and butter (less than half of what PW uses)
  • add about 20 medium shrimp to garlic and flash fry over high heat about a minute. Remove and chop shrimp
  • cook a box of linguine in salty water
  • Add a bit more olive oil to same pan you cooked the shrimp in, add another clove of garlic, saute.
  • Sauté about 1 cup chopped onion until translucent
  • Add 1/2 c white wine and bubble a few minutes over medium heat.
  • Add 1 chopped tomato, saute a few minutes
  • Add 1 8 oz can Tomato Sauce
  • Add 1 T dried oregano
  • Add 1 T dried basil
  • Add 1 t red pepper flakes
  • Salt and Pepper to taste, simmer
  • Then finish with 1/2 c half and half
  • Heat to simmer and stir in shrimp
  • Then stir in drained noodles
  • Top with toasted pine nuts and good grated pecorino cheese.

What? Why Pecorino cheese?

Because I’m so cheap that that’s what I bought last time at Costco instead of the Parmesan, which was more than double the price. It is simply delicious. It is multi-tasking cheese. And I appreciate that.

Pioneer Woman’s looks way better than mine. It probably tastes way better than mine, too–how can it not with all that cream and butter? Take a look and judge for yourself:

pasta betsy 150

I call a do-over.

Meatless Monday Monstrosity

That would be unlucky #13.

[I dedicate this deliberately ugly photo to my brother who called me last week and suggested to me that I stop photographing my Meatless Monday meals. While he may be right, I consider that at least half of the fun.]

Believe it or not, it tasted delicious. But… It looked like ______. (See above photo and fill in the blank below in the comment section.)

It all started with baked tofu.

And brown rice.

And coconut milk.

I should know better than to ad lib. When Morgan asked what I was making, I demurred. When pressed I said, “Ummm. I’m not sure. Some type of coconut rice and…” (voice fades out). She knows the drill. She said, “It doesn’t always go so good when you do that, you know.”

And so, the 15 year old was right. How it pains me to say that.

Let me also say this: baked tofu is disgusting. And I actually like tofu. Maybe I did something wrong. Or maybe it was low quality tofu. Is there such a thing? I think, by baking all the water out of it, it concentrates the flavor. In this case, the flavor ended up tasting like metal. The texture was cool– nice and chewy– but the taste was *blech*.

So, this will be an I’m-Not-Sharing-The-Recipe Meatless Monday, because frankly, you’d have to be pretty hard-up to want to make it. Not to mention that I doubt I could replicate it. Let’s see if I can even remember the general ingredients:

  • Brown Rice
  • Baked Tofu
  • Lite Coconut Milk
  • Shallots
  • Basil Paste
  • Kale
  • Oh MY GOSH! I JUST REMEMBERED: Pickled Eggplant! Which actually added a nice amount of ‘brightness and acid.’ [I’ve been watching Top Chef. Can you tell?]
  • Toasted Cumin and Mustard Seeds [The Indian food jag rears it’s delicious head]
  • Cilantro
  • And…. drumroll please…. Since I didn’t have mint, I used Mint Tea, which I thought was brilliant.

I’m sure there was more, but let’s just leave it at that, shall we?

The craziest part? We sat down. My family said nothing. They served themselves up.

And they ate it.

I’m still shaking my head. Maybe they really are that afraid of me?