OMGSNAX!

i received a vegetarian thai cookbook for chanukah from sarah & sue under the condition that i choose a recipe or two from the book to make for a sunday night dinner sometime. sarah & i flipped through the book when she first gave it to me, dog-earing interesting-looking recipes & chatting about our mutual love of thai food. a couple days ago, i decided that this would be the week of my first attempt, & that it would have to be something involving easily acquired ingredients (as i hoped to avoid a trip to global foods or jay’s market until the weather was warmer).

i only noticed later that the recipe i selected is known as paht si-yu (or pad see euw), which happens to be my friend megatron’s favorite thai dish!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons dark sweet soy sauce, or 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce & 1 tablespoon molasses or brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic (4 to 6 cloves)
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 cups bite-sized broccoli florets
1 pound soft, fresh flat rice noodles, or 8 ounces dried rice noodles soaked in warm water for about 20 minutes until pliable
2 eggs, lightly beaten

METHOD
in a small bowl, combine the dark sweet soy sauce or dark soy sauce mixture, vegetable stock, regular soy sauce, salt, & pepper. stir well & place near the stove along with a serving platter.

heat a wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. add 1 tablespoon of the oil & swirl to coat the pan. add the garlic & toss until fragrant & just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. add the mushrooms & cook, tossing often, until they are dark, softened, & shiny, about 3 minutes. add the broccoli & cook, tossing often, until shiny & bright green, about 2 minutes. scoop out the mushrooms & broccoli & place on the serving platter; set aside.

add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan & heat for about 30 seconds. add the noodles & toss until they are separated & heated through. push the noodles to one side of the wok & add the eggs. swirl to spread out the eggs & let cook for about 30 seconds. then scoop & toss everything together gently, scrambling the eggs & mixing well.

quickly stir the soy sauce mixture to combine & then pour it over the noodles. add the reserved broccoli & mushrooms & their juices & toss until the noodles are handsomely colored & evenly coated with the sauce, about 1 minute. transfer to the serving platter & serve at once, offering the condiments — chili-vinegar sauce, sugar, red chili pepper flakes — in small bowls on the side.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i of course omitted the mushrooms — maybe 2007 will be the year i cave & try to figure out a non-gross way of cooking them — but followed the rest pretty closely. despite my best efforts, i did wind up having to go to the asian market (jay’s on south grand) to get the flat rice noodles, as the grocery stores i visited only had udon noodles (buckwheat), rice sticks (too thin), or mein. i felt a little intimidated by the store & so didn’t bother looking for dark sweet soy sauce (having already read that i could throw together my own), but i might consider giving jay’s another shot.

i washed the wok from the previous evening’s fried rice while sarah cut up the broccoli, & then we worked on separating the noodles while the garlic & broccoli cooked. the whole dish took virtually no time to make once everything was chopped, & i’m not kidding when i tell you that the flavor was AMAZING. i would absolutely make this again — it was incredible! i couldn’t believe it. i undercooked the broccoli a tiny bit, but DANG y’all.

“Rice Noodles with Eggs, Broccoli, & Dark Sweet Soy Sauce” from Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott (a Thai name if ever i’ve heard one!), © 1997.

so i guess it’s finally winter — after all, one freak ice storm & power outage in december does not a season make — & the weather’s got me craving soups all the time. i’d decided over the weekend that potato soup was in my future, but then i neglected to get any ingredients at the store when we went grocery shopping. i checked my recipe bookmarks this afternoon & found this, & once i re-read & it sunk in how easy the soup would be to make, i had a plan.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken vegetable stock
plain yogurt, to serve

METHOD
preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. place the diced sweet potatoes & onions on a baking sheet. drizzle with the olive oil & then season with the cumin, salt, & pepper. toss the vegetables to coat evenly & then spread into one even layer.

place the pan in the oven & roast, stirring every so often, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the onions have caramelized a little & the sweet potatoes have gotten tender. the roasting time will depend on how small the sweet potatoes have been diced.

meanwhile, place the stock in a medium saucepan & bring to a simmer. when the onions & sweet potatoes have finished roasting, scrape them into a blender & then pour in the stock. purée until smooth & then pour back into the the saucepan.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
(still working out the photo kinks, honest. i’ve been meaning to start up again but have had battery issues recently.)

so i didn’t realize till after i made the soup (& consumed three bowls) that this is not only lowfat (perfect for my health-conscious mother), but also vegan (perfect for those of us who strive to be socially conscious in our eating habits)! i will admit to being a little apprehensive about the cumin, which i think drowns out the sweet potatoeyness of sweet potatoes, but it actually didn’t overwhelm at all in this instance.

notwithstanding almost losing a hand while cutting the obscenely huge sweet potato, to which i say THANK GOD FOR DANIEL’S DULL KNIVES, although my grandpa the butcher tells me that you’re more likely to cut yourself on a dull blade than a sharp one (as a sharp one will cut what you want it to cut & a dull one will, oh, i don’t know, slip around & make your job much more difficult) — NOTWITHSTANDING a near miss on a hospital visit! — i followed these directions slavishly & was rewarded with a sniffariffic & savory soup. (if a tiny bit thinner than i like. but really that’s just splitting hairs.)

the downside: it looks like baby food. & after spending more time than is normal smelling tiny pouches of baby food over the weekend (daniel’s step-brother’s girlfriend is having a baby, so there were naturally some odd games taking place at her shower), i have to say that looking like baby food isn’t a way to win over the hearts & minds of the people.

that being said, it tasted divine, & my only thought is that perhaps i’d leave a portion of the sweet potatoes in as chunks. i happened to be using an old worn-out blender so this happened naturally anyway — i suspect an immersion blender is really the best way to get a good creamy purée here — but next time, i’d leave more & do it intentionally.

& there WILL be a next time. although sadly neither daniel nor bart even stooped to tasting the soup, i will persevere.

sweet potato soup: a delicious (if unpopular) selection.

“Roasted Sweet Potato & Red Onion Soup” from cooking blog Well Fed.

i’ve been flipping through old cookbooks again, pausing at already-dogeared pages & contemplating new recipes. after a while, they start to look the same, or at least similar to recipes i already make — the devil’s in the details. so, for example, i’ve already made a pasta with squash, but come on! it’s winter! squash season! throw me a freaking bone here!

this was for our weekly sunday night dinner at daniel’s house, which was attended this week by the two of us, bart, sarah, val, & ian. bart felt sorry for daniel in his squash-hating state & brought along some chicken to prepare as well, but i think this recipe can stand on its own.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cups diced (1/2-inch) butternut squash (from a 1 1/2 pound squash)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
6 sage leaves, minced or 1/4 teaspoon powdered sage
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound uncooked penne
grated parmesan

METHOD
bring a large quantity of water to a boil in a stockpot. heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. toss in the squash & sauté 5 minutes, or until it begins to get golden. sprinkle in the garlic & sauté 2 minutes. pour in the quarter cup of water. cook the squash until tender, about 5 minutes more.

cook the penne until al dente, about 10 minutes. drain thoroughly in a colander & return to the pot. spoon on the squash mixture & toss gently. serve with a sprinkling of parmesan & pass more at the table.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
so as i’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s a step missing from the directions — no indication as to when the seasoning should be added. common sense says it should be added before the squash is covered & cooked, but honestly: proofreading!!

as usual, there was recipe doubling involved, which meant much dicing of squash, & i know i tend to shout it from the rooftops, but i’d definitely like to reiterate that without pre-peeled & cubed squash from trader joe’s, i’d be SOL on this venture. it still took nearly fifteen minutes to take the cut squash & dice it, after all, & i’m nothing if not lazy. (plus the dish i made to go along with this was a sweet potato/russett potato/onion home fries medley that involved a fair amount of dicing itself!)

this recipe was easy to follow to the letter — although i used a rennet-less cheese instead of parmesan (as i always do) — & i thought it was mighty fine. i know my propensity for butternut squash knows no bounds, & i know the time is nigh to investigate other vegetable options, but it’s just so damn delicious.

verdict: the pasta was too al dente, daniel still hates squash, & yes, it was quite garlicky. but still: would make again.

“Penne with Garlicky Butternut Squash” from Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential Recipes for Every Course and Every Meal by Jeanne Lemlin, © 2001.