Food eXchange

Mexi-polenta

2006-03-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

Quickie mexican polenta chicken casserole (heat through and melt cheese - 15 min?)

Salad fixings: arugula, pine-nuts, Goddess dressing.

love you,
tanya

Catch Up Time

2006-03-10T23:15:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s jambalaya is like Food Exchange crack. We can’t get enough. We hide it away secretly, and then fight over who found the secret stash and ate it without sharing. I could eat it every day and never get sick of it.

So much food has flowed since then and I want to play catch up on the menus.

This week I made shrimp in a coconut curry (sauce was a little thick, sorry) with black and white rice (white rice mixed with wild rice and flax seed. I want to note I am not using the rice cooker and I am pleased with my results making rice in a normal pot in my attempt to par down any extra curricular electronic cooking devices) and cucumber slices.

Last week I made my spice rubbed salmon with (a Weight Watcher’s recipe) baked potatoes, cream sauce and spinach.

Tanya made a meatloaf (is that hard boiled egg in the middle some sort of love poem to me?) with smashed potatoes and a green salad. Yum. So yum. You made another meal, too, Tan. For the life of me I can’t remember up what it was or what Tupperware it arrived in. Complete brain freeze on my part.

Sarah also made gumbo which was spicy! and delicious. All of it disappeared remarkably fast.

This week I am making Mrs. Mollymouse’s spicy pulled pork in the crock pot and I’ll accompany that with some shredded cabbage, sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, and whole-wheat flour tortillas. The recipe (I’ll double it) –

SPICY PULLED PORK

1 can crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
1 can whole tomatoes in puree (14.5 ounces)
1 chopped onion
2 3/4 Lb boneless pork shoulder (trimmed and halved crosswise) I used 2 packs of shoulder pieces instead
1 TbL. adobo sauce
1 chipotle in adobo sauce (minced)
1 tea dried oregano
2 dried bay leaves

(I browned my pork pieces in a pan on both sides until lightly browned for a little added yum!)
In a 5 qt. slow cooker, combine onion, oregano, bay leaves, chipotle, adobo sauce, tomatoes (& puree), 2 tea salt, and 1/2 tea pepper. Add pork; toss to coat with sauce. Cover; cook on high setting until meat is pull-apart tender, about 6 hours (do not uncover while cooking)
Transfer meat to a large bowl; shred with forks, discarding any fat and gristle. Return meat to pot; toss with sauce.
To serve, discard bay leaves; if desired, garnish with lightly toasted flour tortillas and grated cheddar cheese or sour cream

"Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, File Gumbo...

2006-02-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

... Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou." So go the lyrics to a famous song by Hank Williams heard year round in N'awlin's but particularly popular in those festive months bookended by Mardi Gras in Febrary and Jazz Fest in late April/Early May. This time of year, my homesickness for New Orleans generally manifests itself in gigantic batches of gumbo, jambalaya, and crawfish pies, as well as king cake cravings (only ever marginally satisfied by cheese danish). Each year, my food exchange comrades benefit from this malaise as my authentic renditions of creole, cajun, and acadian favorites make their way from my kitchen to their tables.

This time around, though, I had a Like Water for Chocoloate moment. As my annual homesickness gave way to heartsickness at the thought of tragedies endured by my friends and acquaintances in New Orleans this past year, a very peculiar thing happened: my roux broke. If you know anything about gumbo at all--not African gumbo, mind you, with tomatoes and okra and what not, but real cajun gumbo that sticks thick to the spoon like so much andouille gravy--you know that the roux IS the gumbo. Basically, you cook equal parts fat and flour for hours as it turns from golden to brown to the last possible shade before coal black. (I actually use the low heat overnight in the oven technique, but that's proprietary.) This process gives gumbo the nutiness, the richness, the thickness that makes it stick-to-your-ribs good.

But back to the point: my roux broke. As a chef in New Orleans and since I have made hundreds if not thousands of batches of brown roux and this has NEVER happened to me--not once. I looked down into my pot, where I had just sweated the cajun mirepoix (substitute bell peppers where the French use carrots) in the hot roux, sauteed three pounds of Otto's andouille (a little shallow on the spice side, but workable) with six pounds of chicken, and moistened it all up with a bottle of beer before throwing in bay leaves, home-mixed cajun spice, and a couple gallons of stock. As I stirred, I thought of my friends, disappointed, displaced, and dispossessed, and my heart burned with grief and my eyes watered. (There were, after all, pounds of chopped onions in that pot.)

I stirred. Thin soup. I stirred again. Thin soup. What the fuck? Thin soup? My roux had broken. It was clear as Budweiser but peppered with miniscule black flour flakes. I cursed again and threw myself into a kitchen chair with a beer of my own. I thought of all the tension I had been holding so close of late, the mile-long to-do lists, the restless people waiting for my direction, my own fruitless search for answers. Then I paused, took a deep breath, and thought about how fortunate I am to be where I am right now, pursuing my dreams with the support of my beautiful family and wonderful friends.

"Never been a soup that beat me yet," I muttered. "I guess I'd better get my ass up outta this chair and fix it." Most of the people who eat at restaurants probably think that the recipes that taste the same each day get made the same way each day. In fact, almost the opposite is true. The purveyor brings too little so you don't have enough sausage for the gumbo. The cook forgets to turn the stove on and you don't have black roux for the gumbo. You're out of garlic, you forget the spice, the salt, the love. A chef knows that everyday soup is made differently every day--they also know what needs to be done to make it taste the same every single time.

I strained all the good stuff from the ruined broth and whirled the gallons of soup in small batches in my blender until the roux came back together again. It took a damn long time to get the soup good and thick. My favorite Saturday shirt was spotted with black roux and my rose-colored glasses were crusted with it. I burned my middle finger (ironic) moving hot liquid from pot to pot and my angora kangol now smells like butter brown flour. But the soup was good. My friends ate it and enjoyed it.

How they gonna bring back together the complex gumbo that is New Orleans?

Carawayed away Soup and Cabbage

2006-02-15T23:16:00.000-08:00

I am cooking late on this Wednesday night to deliver early Thursday morning, so I can avoid the on again/off again/occasionally- explosive parenting style of shopping for and cooking a food exchange meal all in one morning.

Who wants salad with this cold weather? I am delivering a mid-morning meal of hungarian chicken stew, heavy on the paprika and even heavier on the caraway. Accompanied by braised cabbage and carrots. Kind of like a meal I had at Breitenbush, but with a little meat thrown in for the boyz. Rich, warm, red, hearty, heavy, all well cooked. Hope it warms you all up.

links and homework and menu

2006-02-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick reference for buying organic fruits and veggies from This Website.

12 Most Contaminated with Pesticides
Buy These Organic
• Apples
• Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Imported Grapes
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Potatoes
• Red Raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries

12 Least Contaminated with Pesticides
• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Corn (sweet)
• Kiwi
• Mangos
• Onions
• Papaya
• Pineapples
• Peas (sweet)

-----

Food Exchange Homework – Watch Eat Drink Man Woman. Bring one tissue for tears and one tissue for uncontrollable drooling. I love the family-food connection. It reminded me of our busy kitchens, our families growing and changing. My favorite scene is the father, the aging chef, who is cooking for an entire elementary classroom. (come on, FX, let’s take over a school, just kidding, sort of)

-----

There are 6 pounds of baby back ribs in my refrigerator. This week I am cooking ribs with noodles, Asian style, with mushrooms and cabbage.

Vegetarian Dinner Party

2006-02-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it was the realization that it's going to take a little more than 16 oz. cafes au lait and protein bars to sustain myself through the next five years of graduate school; perhaps it's the health-conscious multiple-modifer friends who surround me (wheat-free, gluten-free, sulfite-free, sugar-free, you get the idea); perhaps it was turning 33 this year and, for the first time, feeling older than my age, but whichever it was (if not all), I was inspired to make the following health maintaining and earth sustaining meal:

oven-roasted beets dressed with oranges and cilantro
lentil salad adorned with local, organic goat chesse
grilled portabello mushrooms on a bed of spinach
sticky rice with organic coconut milk and mango

All accompanied by some Copper Mountain Vineyards organic, sulfite-free pinot noir from right here in the Willamette Valley. Here's to good friends, good health and wonderful weather I've been fortunate to experience this week. Bonne sante!

2006-02-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

Hey there, food exchange online community, known and unknown. I have toolbar bookmarked this posting site and will attempt to post words here weekly.

I am so excited about Nicky's restaurant. I drive by the little site everytime I go to the community center and tell the kids all about how we will go there for breakfast on the weekends. (Sausage will be served, right?) I want to pot up some artichokes, purple basil and Italian parsley in some big terra cotta for outside, as a eye-catching draw. Ariel is excited to help paint.

I am making some chicken and pork enchiladas thursday, so Jerry can have some leftovers when I am gone to Breitenbush for the weekend. Side dishes of carrots and oven roasted tubers. Serve with beer and jalapenos.

Next week I will try cooking my favorite Breitenbush food -- they serve all vegetarian but in lots of creative ethnic fresh ways. I usually find something new and worth repeating when I visit. At the least, their salad dressings rock.

Thanks for all the great food this incarnation of FEX. I am trying to convince my neighbor to join us if Sarah pulls out due to her involvement at the restaurant. Or simply doesn't need any more food in her new wife-of-a-restauranteer life. : ) I will miss her food. But maybe I will hang out with her more somehow and it will all even out.

love,
tanya

Vote!

2006-02-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

The food this week has been great! I’ve been struggling with my meals lately. Nothing turns out how I want it to. Everything is mushy. Huge pots of multi-flavored slop.

Dave stands, spoon in hand. Sniffing. “What is this?” he asks in a voice that carefully, carefully does not want to seem ungrateful for this bucket of swill.

This week I am making a big salad with a dressing from my new mini-cookbook (the 50 BEST salad dressings).

Now everybody Vote:

Should I make Lasagna or Spice Rubbed Salmon alongside my salad?

Yuppie Mush

2006-02-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

Down South, they call them grits. In "upscale" restaurants these days, they call it polenta. In Croatia, they call it pura. In Corsica, pulenta. In Zimbabwe, sadza. In South Africa, mealie pap. However you call it, it's still cornmeal mush, a peasant food much appreciated around the world.

I've spiced up this otherwise bland, everyday favorite Italian style (all our food efforts are market research, these days) by cooking it for several hours with some chicken stock and finishing it off with a layer of fontina cheese. As I've made it, the polenta will solidify as it cools. You can slice it, scoop it, grill it--whatever pleases you. (Read more about polenta here). After reheating, you can top it with a zesty and fresh sauce Bolognese style made with Otto's Italian sausage, fresh veggies, and roasted tomatoes.

To acccompany the ooey, gooey goodness of the afore mentioned, a caesar salad--toss the whole romaine leaves with the dressing and croutons, stack gently on individual serving plates and top with shaved grana padana parmesan. Here's a similar recipe for future reference.

We're drinking a 2002 Castellare Chianti Classico with ours.

P.S. For those members of this venture who haven't been posting their recipes, I know that several cashiers at grocery stores around town are reading our blog, in addition to butchers, restauranteurs, and community development students. They're all interested in seeing how we do what we're doing here, so if you can take some time to share with them, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

Comfort Food in G Minor

2006-01-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that, of late, I've been predisposed toward preparing comfort food for FX--roasts, soups and the like. I think this may be an attempt on my part to recall the family dinners of yore that I never actually had but always wished I had had.

My mom never cooked. She was busy, single, tragically depressed. Since she has the palate of a billy goat, this was not altogether a bad thing. I, on the other hand, never cook. I am busy, in school, and tragically preoccupied. My palate is refined--I am a professionally trained chef married to a wine expert.

Given these observations, it occurs to me that these meals may be more gesture than substance, despite what the smells emanating from the kitchen suggest. I think they may just be my way of telling my friends and family, "I love you. I appreciate you." And although it's really of little consolation at this level of abstraction, "I will take care of you." Tonight's gesture:

Free-range, organic chicken roasted with rosemary and lemon
Truffle roasted smashed taters
Mushroom gravy
Sugar snap peas and carrots

All seasoned with spoonfuls of tender, loving care and a pinch of guilt.

Mustard two ways, Yum.

2006-01-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

My husband plans to open a restaurant in the next few months, at which time I'll probably have to bow out of food exchange in lieu of feeding my entire neighborhood. If memory serves me correctly, when NI and I had ready access to healthy food at our restaurant (in New Orleans) all we kept in our personal refrigerator was beer and condiments. We didn't have a child then, so I imagine this time around we'll be keeping beer, condiments, and string cheese. Otherwise, we'll likely be eating at the shop.

Until then, I'll keep making food for our small network and posting the weekly specials for your reading (and--I hope--eating) pleasure. On the menu this week:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin w/ Mustard Two Ways
Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes with Rosemary
Steamed Broccoli with "I can't believe it's not butter!"

Okay, I'n not really using ICBINB--I've just always wanted to put it on a menu and I thought today could very well be my last day on this planet and I should not put off until tomorrow that which I can do today.

what to cook? what to cook?

2006-01-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

Ok ladies, you guys are raising the bar. Sarah’s saag paneer was excellent and Tanya's meal last night of roast garlic soup with fig/cheese toasts and bacon/walnut salad was amazing. I am struggling to keep up with you guys.

This week I am making...

Perciatelli pasta tossed in peanut sauce (organic smooth peanut butter, water, soy sauce, garlic, chili paste and rice vinegar mixed well in the blender), chopped cilantro, and green onions.

Topped with a pile of crisp, sliced, fresh red peppers and cucumber.

Squeeze on some fresh lime juice and top with shrimp (the cooked trader joes ones, that you just have to rinse under running water to defrost).

It is a simple meal but I hope you enjoy it!

I hope your week back at school is going well, Sarah, and that Ariel is feeling better, Tanya. I love you all.

Saag Paneer Night

2006-01-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

I know that as soon as I post this recipe, every family in middle America is going to pull themselves away from Fox news, bicycle to their nearest organic grocery to buy 6 pounds of fresh spinach before stopping at the Mediterranean market for three pounds of paneer. After making the recipe together (of course while singing show tunes), they'll probably settle in for a game of Life, renew their TerraPasses, and floss well before hitting the sack for a long, peaceful sleep.

Yes, Virginia, Portland is full of freaks who can't relate to the rest of the world, but we do our best. I'm serving the entree tonight with ginger scented carrots and Trader Joe's Naan bread.

Saag Panneer

1 1/2# fresh spinach
1# paneer
vegetetable oil
6 Tbs butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
a pinch of tumeric
1 cup yogurt (I used the rich mediterranean kind)

1. Wash the spinach well. Cook it in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water for 2 or 3 minutes. When tender, drain and chop.

2. Cut the paneer into 1/2-inch cubes. Heat oil in a large skillet. Fry the cubes of paneer in batches, turning over once or twice, until they are light brown. Remove the paneer with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels.

3. In a large skillet, melt the butter with 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat and cook the onion until just beginning to turn brown. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the ginger and the spices, and stir well. Heat for a few minutes.

4. ~~Transfer the contents of the skillet into a food processer. Add the yogurt and process together until smooth.~~ Throw the yogurt in and stir until uniform. Processing loses the beautiful character of the sauteed onions.

5. Transfer the spinach mixture back to the skillet. Add the paneer, and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Third Annual Feast of the Seven Fishes

2006-01-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

For the record, here's what we ate (to the best of my recollection) at the Third Annual Feast of the Seven Fishes:

Cheese plate
Bacon wrapped dates
Yaquina Bay oysters on the half shell with bloody mary granite
Gravlox on wasabi rye toast points with citrus creme fraiche
Prawns sauteed with fresh basil, white wine, and garlic
Devilled crab cakes with New Orleans style remoulade
Whole grilled bluefish
Pasta con sarde (sardine pasta)
Mussels with garlic, white wine, butter and lotsa crusty bread
Grilled prawns wrapped in proscuitto and basil
And for dessert, Tiramisu, Rum (!!) Babas, Anise Biscotti, Pignolta (pine nut cookies), Truffles, and Cannolli

And--yes--that's eight dishes, but only seven fishes. And--yes--fishes is thems that live in the deep blue sea, be they gilled or in shells, by our standards at least. Sticklers for accuracy should see the bartender for a spanish coffee before entering a complaint.

(I'll see if I can't get Nick to post the wine pairings.)

Refresher Course

2005-12-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

I finshed my first term in graduate school on Thursday and planned to cook Friday, but was swept away by meetings and grant proposals and the First Annual Winter Picnic at my daughter's school.

During the last two weeks of every term, my meal consciousness dips precipitously from careful consideration with flexibility to coffee, coffee, coffee, something solid (probably sugary), coffee.

That being said, it is now time for the post-finals recovery diet which includes switching from coffee to tea, from sugar to protein, from quaaludes to actually sleeping, and this meal:

Miso Soup with Dashi Broth

Soak a bunch of kombu in a pot full of water for a few hours. The package says 1-2" for every cup of H2O, but I'm sure it's wrong, so I use 2-4" for every cup.
Bring the water to a boil. Throw in a bunch of bonito flakes. A BIG bunch. Like two packages. Maybe more if you're inclined toward fishiness.
Turn of the heat and let the fish flakes just swirl around in the hot water for about five minutes. Maybe ten if you're on the phone or something.
Strain the broth in --this is the important part-- the EASIEST STRAINER TO CLEAN IN YOUR HOUSE!. That's right, those bonito flakes stick like an insult to your favorite outfit. Rinse the strainer right away. And remember to make sure there's something underneath the strainer to catch the broth, or else you have to start all over again.
Add miso. A lot of miso. Good miso is the key. I like red miso. Or golden miso. Even brown miso will work, but quality is the key. Don't be a cheapskate. And by all means taste it every now and again to find out when it's time to stop adding miso already.
Cut up some soft tofu into cubes. Cut up some scallions into tubes. Sprinkle 'em in there and serve.

Chicken Udon Salad

Cook some noodles. Don't overcook them; that's just foolish.
Cook some chicken. You can grill it, saute it, braise it, roast it--it doesn't matter as long as you kill the possibility of foodborne illness when you do it. I usually give mine a nice long bath in Trader Joe's Oy Vay marinade because, hey, what could be better than teriyaki sauce with a yiddish moniker?
Cut up vegetables, doesn't matter what, doesn't matter how big, doesn't even really matter if you remember this step. In my house it's all about the chicken. Who needs vegetables?
Toss everything together and dress it tastefully. (This is the hard part, I know, because good taste is just not that common.) Use some lemon juice, some nice expeller pressed sesame oil (Only a touch, dahling. You ruin the whole thing with too much sesame oil), some salt (for gawd's sake use salt) and a bit of soy sauce if you must.
Chop up some cilantro and throw it on top. Green stuff shows them you really care.

Serve with green tea and PLENTY of hot sake. (I said refresher, not retirement.)

mulligatawny soup with fruit and chicken

2005-12-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

My friend Carrie took me to the Oregon Symphony this weekend. One of the pieces played was Mendelssohn's Concerto in E minor for Violin and Orchestra. Vadim Gluzman, an Israli violinist was the soloist. It was fantastic. I felt alive, enthusiastic, inspired.

Anyway, afterwards we caught a bite to eat at Dragonfish downtown, Carrie ordered Mulligatawny soup with fruit and chicken and a terrific curried apple and herb salad. In an effort to recreate the wonderful evening I had listening to the symphony, I tried to make the mullligatawny soup (an English version of Indian food, translated as Pepper Soup.) I searched the internet for recipes and found a few, picked one and loosely followed it. I chose Mango for the fruit, but I think dragonfish used apples or pears.

The ingredients are roughly: onions, carrots, touch of ginger, garlic, celery, one hot pepper, 2 yellow bell peppers, veggie stock, chicken breasts, curry powder, light coconut milk. The rice is Basmati, half white, half brown. The recipe says it improves the next day.

Serve over a ball of basmati rice and garnish with cilantro and green onion. Ariel chopped the scallions for me and they might be a bit unrecognizable, macerated. Take it on faith, they were very recently passable organic green onions.

I had ambitions to make a salad similar to the one Dragonfish had on the menu, but Piper had a fit about wanting strawberries (the three bucks a pint kind) at LiIMBO and I had to make a quick getaway with my cilantro, green onions, and jalapeno pepper before she completely lost it.

Hey Sarah - About the feast of the seven fishes...

2005-12-03T15:48:00.000-08:00

I don't think we can come to the feast of the seven fishes. We have too many kids! I think it would be overwhelming for us to descend on C & P's house on an evening I can guarantee that my kids will have way, way too much unruly energy.

But I was hoping you could post the planned menu on this blog, because I am dying to know what you guys are going to cook.

Thanks for the invite, anyway...

Turkey Meatloaf

2005-12-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

Next Tuesday (Dec 6) I'll make my turkey meatloaf and some sort of side veggie like perhaps a beet/carrot/soybean slaw like the one Tanya made once, or maybe some brussel sprouts which I have been craving.

Meatloaf
This makes one big loaf. For FX I double it and add about a half a pound more turkey and it makes three smaller loaves.

in a food processor pulse into medium chunks (not totally mashed to a pulp)
- 4 slices toast
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 chopped shallot
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 ribs celery
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 cup parsley

in a big bowl mix above chunks with
- 1 pound ground white turkey
- some pine nuts
- some annie's goddess dressing
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tsp dry mustard
- salt and pepper

mix all well and put in a loaf pan

combine in a small bowl
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tsp dry mustard
- 2 Tbs brown sugar

brush sugar/ketchup over loaf
bake at 400 for about 90 minutes or until thermometer reaches 160 degrees
cover with foil if it gets too brown

Hiatus Introduction

2005-11-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

Since we're taking a break from food exchange this week, I thought I'd take this opportunity to thank Helen for creating this blog and to share my personal

Top Ten Meals List

10. Any of Summer's Beautiful Bounty Salads
9. Nick's Lasagne (it's good and I get the week off)
8. Tanya's Grandma C's Chicken Salad
with Grapes and Cherries
7. Helen's Death by Chocolate Cookies
(Not a meal? Obviously you've not had them!)
6. Helen's Spice Rubbed Salmon
5. My Risotto (a delicious timesaver)
4. Helen's Turkey Meatloaf with Carrots
3. Tanya's Enchiladas
2. My Short Ribs with Pomegranate BBQ Sauce
1. Jerry's ~~Nilla Wafer Pudding~~ "Nilla Thrilla" (Thanks, Helen!)

Also, I have a folder full of menus from Food Exchange Episode I (you remember, back when we all had but one child and time for things like elaborate menus). I'll try to post a vintage menu every now and then for inspiration and good ol' fashioned reminiscing.

This is gonna be fun!

Thanksgiving

2005-11-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Appetizers
- bacon wrapped dates (H & D)
- spinach balls (H & D)

First Course
- carrot ginger soup (E & Z)
- big salad (Emily)

Main Course
- Turkey (H & D)
- Stuffing (H & D)
- Gravy (H & D)
- Creamed Pearl Onions (?)
- cranberry Sauce (H & D)
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes (H & D)

Dessert
- Pumpkin Pie (E & Z)
- Ice Cream (H & D)

Beer & Wine (Jesse?)

Thai Coconut Soup with Pomegranate Rice Salad

2005-11-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

Thai Coconut Soup with Chicken and Oyster Mushrooms
Makes a Huge Pot

I have been making this soup for years and I love it. I can't remember where I got the original recipe from. It is so different from any other soup I make, it makes me salivate at the thought of it. Some of the ingredients like the kaffir lime leaves or galangal may not be in traditional grocery stores. If you live in Portland I highly recommend going to Anzens. They have keffir lime leaves in their freezer; their galangal is near their ginger in the fresh produce. I like the cans of coconut milk they have a Trader Joes and if you are shopping at the SE 39th location, Limbo next door has great local/seasonal mushrooms right now.

1 head garlic cloves chopped
1 bunch cilantro stems chopped
3or4 stalks lemongrass finely sliced (bottom 6-8 inch only)
7 kaffir lime leaves sliced ultra thin
4 sliced shallots
6ish Tbs ginger root peeled/chopped (better to use galangal if you can find it)
1/2 tsp. white pepper

Blend the above into a paste in a food processor or blender.

Pour the top half of cream from
3 cans of coconut milk
into a huge pot (reserve the watery part for later) and bring to a boil.

Add the spice paste and cook 5 minutes or so then add

2lbs boneless skinless chicken sliced thin (or firm tofu, drained and sliced in chunks)

continue to boil for 10 minutes

pour in the rest of the coconut milk then add

1 head green cabbage roughly chopped (but bite size)
4 carrots peeled and chopped
8 or 10 (about 1 pound) oyster mushrooms washed and chopped rough (or any other kind of mushroom will do)

cover all this with barely enough water to top it all off

heat for until veggies are barely tender (about 5 minutes?) then add

2 finely sliced red peppers - the small and spicy kind
7 Tbs fish sauce (or to taste)
7 Tbs fresh lime juice (or to taste)

Rice Salad with Pomegranate and Orange
Fills a Big Bowl

I got this recipe from Cooking Light and adapted it only a little. Trader Joes sells already peeled pomegranate seeds in a small plastic container in their salad department. I don't think they are as good as a freshly peeled pomegranate, but they do save a lot of time if you are into cutting corners.

cook
3 cups of long grain white rice as according to the directions
fluff with
1 tsp salt and allow to cool completely then toss with

1/2 cup white wine vinegar
the grated rind from one organic orange
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 cups orange sections from about 4 oranges
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1 bunch freshly chopped parsley leaves