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.

i picked this out at the last minute b/c i knew that i needed to squeeze in a fourth recipe before june ended & as i’d crapped out during the middle of the month due to other time commitments, i needed to come up with something a little more challenging than, say, french toast. which i considered!

INGREDIENTS
sauce:
3 rounded tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons dark soy, eyeball it
3 tablespoons water, eyeball it
2 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it

everything lo mein:
1 pound spaghetti
salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
2 large eggs, beaten
3 chicken breast cutlets, thinly sliced into strips
3 thin-cut pork chops, thinly sliced into strips
black pepper
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 inches fresh ginger, chopped or grated
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 scallions, cut into 3-inch lengths then sliced lengthwise
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into quarters, seeded, then sliced
1 small can sliced water chestnuts
2 cups fresh bean sprouts, 4 generous handfuls, or 1/2 pound shredded cabbage, your choice

METHOD
mix together sauce ingredients & reserve.

bring pasta water to a boil, salt water & cook spaghetti to al dente.

while pasta cooks, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large, nonstick skillet over high heat. when oil ripples, add beaten eggs & scramble them to light golden brown, remove & reserve.

season the meat with salt, pepper & coriander. heat the remaining vegetable oil to a ripple, then add meat & stir-fry 4 minutes, push meat to the side & add ginger, garlic & veggies. stir-fry veggies 2 minutes, then drain & add pasta & eggs back to skillet. pour sauce over the spaghetti & toss to combine. turn off pan. toss 30 seconds & let the liquids absorb.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
dear rachael ray,

spaghetti? are you serious? b/c they sell lo mein noodles at most grocery stores these days. like, even aldi carries it, probably. come on now hey.

sincerely yours,
the lo mein club

plus i think the lo mein noodles were cheaper. so whatever. oh, & they were kind of awesome to cook, b/c they came in three wafer-style sheets & cooked in a big block, like ramen (RA MEIN??), although they were kind of a big sticky mess after they sat in the colander for a few minutes (& i even followed the directions on the package & tossed them with a little oil to separate them out!).

cooked mein, looks like BRAIN!

i did, of course, futz around with this recipe some, b/c although the first rule of Lo Mein Club is you don’t talk about Lo Mein Club, the second rule is BROCCOLI. like, seriously, buy some. if you need help justifying it, well, ok: obviously i eliminated the meat, so i partially made up for it in volume by adding a head of broccoli & a sliced carrot. how’s that? (i bet baby corn & bamboo shoots would’ve been a nice addition, too.)

broccoli & bell pepper

cabbage, carrot, & mushrooms

i also steamed the vegetables a little in the wok after stirfrying them (which, thank god & grandpa for the wok, by the way, b/c there’s no skillet in which this all would’ve fit comfortably, like, what the hell?), b/c they would’ve been totally way too raw otherwise (especially the broccoli), & i actually stir-fried them with the spices that would’ve been used on the meat, which i thought was pretty clever of me.

stir-fried vegetables

the ginger was kind of a disaster as the piece i had was something i’d frozen a few months ago, & maybe i didn’t thaw it long enough or something, but it seemed sorta mushy & gross, so i used a little ground ginger instead. i also cut way back on the mushrooms b/c they squick me out, but in retrospect, i probably could’ve used closer to the full amount than i did as they were virtually undetectable. & you know, i wish i’d overruled daniel on the bean sprouts, b/c i think they would’ve been way better than the cabbage i actually used, but he thinks bean sprouts are gross & would’ve refused to eat the dish had i used them, so i compromised on that. the cabbage was fine, but 1/2 a pound wasn’t really all that much once everything else was thrown in there! i guess i could’ve used more of everything, really — at least, vegetable-wise.

lo mein sauce

giving it one final toss

no complaints about the sauce or the seasoning — it tasted like lo mein & was a little too greasy (like most lo meins i’ve had), but i thought it was pretty good. it fed five of us comfortably with no leftovers at all, which reinforced my feeling that, although i prefer cooking by myself most times, i ultimately prefer cooking FOR people besides myself.

sarah takes the first bite

angel is not amused

 

 

“Everything Lo Mein” from 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray.

passover + easter = a match made in heaven. except foodwise, not so much. but we do what we can b/c my mom’s family is jewish & my dad’s family is protestant, & hell, who doesn’t like chocolate eggs?

i figured i’d make a crustless quiche this year since the alternatives were lamb chops or salmon which just won’t fly with the vegetarian contingent (ie, me). my mom & i talked about this, & i told her how daniel had said, when i asked him if he’d eat the quiche, “is that that thing your mom made for dinner that one time? b/c i liked it but it was kinda eggy.” HA!

anyway, i managed to get her to email me her recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1-9″ unbaked piecrust
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened
1/4 pound shredded swiss cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups half & half
3/4 teaspoon salt
steamed broccoli cut into pieces

METHOD
preheat oven to 425F. spread piecrust with butter or margarine. steam broccoli & cut into small pieces. sprinkle cheese & broccoli in piecrust. in medium bowl, beat eggs with remaining ingredients; pour into crust. bake 15 minutes. turn oven down to 325 & bake 40 minutes more or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. remove from oven & let stand 10 minutes before serving.

it’s eggy ’cause it’s made with eggs!!!

love,
moom

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
ok, like i said, no crust — other than that, though, no major differences between my attempt & the recipe, which is pretty easy as far as recipes go.

exciting point #1: i got to use my new grater on the block of cheese i got! daniel picked it up for me at a garage sale but it only has one little rust spot on it & it’s still sharp enough to grate swiss cheese, so what do i care?

new grater

the other issue was that i had no idea how much broccoli to steam, but i only had the one head so that was all i could do. it seems to have worked out ok. also, & i’ll be honest with you here even though i feel kinda stupid, i had no idea how to steam broccoli. i mean, i get it — boil water, stick broccoli in, simmer — but how much water? for how long? & do you bring the water to a boil before you add the broccoli, or do you start with the broccoli in the pot already? & i have one of those steamer thingies but no clue how that factors in, so i just flew blind & it was fine.

steamed broccoli

oh, the last point to note was that i undercooked it by about 10 minutes b/c i was planning to bring it to my grandma’s house for easter & i wanted to finish cooking it there, but when i pulled it out of the oven, it was already brown & bubbly & totally cooked. i guess maybe my oven cooks hot? either that, or not having the crust in there really affected the cooking time.

after the first 15 minutes

finished quiche!

those of us who ate it at my grandma’s easter lunch thought it tasted fine but we all missed the crust. & my mom said that hers is fluffier. which it is. WELL, WE CAN’T ALL BE PERFECT.

 

 

“Broccoli Quiche” from The Fanny Farmer Cookbook (i think) by way of my mom.