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’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.

this is a dish my mom used to make all the time when i was a kid & is one of the first recipes i learned how to make when i was old enough to get sucked into making dinner for the family. additionally, i believe it holds the record as my most requested birthday dish!

when my sister was little, we tricked her into eating manicotti by telling her it was stuffed with cheese & parsley — no spinach to be found. she was really mad when she discovered our lie, but it worked!

INGREDIENTS
1 package frozen spinach
2 eggs
4 cloves minced garlic
1 15-oz package ricotta cheese
12 manicotti noodles
1 jar tomato sauce

METHOD
thaw spinach under hot running water & press to remove excess moisture. combine with ricotta cheese, garlic, & eggs & set aside.

parboil manicotti noodles (about 4 minutes).

stuff noodles with cheese/spinach mixture & place in 9″x13″ baking pan. top with a generous amount of tomato sauce. bake at 350, covered, for 30 minutes.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
lordy, at this point, any deviations have become scripture! this is an incredibly simple dish, & the only thing to watch for is that there’s a danger that the parboiled manicotti noodles may split. i’ve solved that problem for the most part by draining them & then removing them immediately from the colander to a plate or two so that they can lay flat without other noodles pressing on them.

fresh spinach can be used as well, but i’m not very good at estimating how much it’ll cook down.

for the record, daniel doesn’t like cooked spinach & yet has enjoyed this for dinner on several occasions, so that ought to tell you something!

“Manicotti” from my mama!