Thai Style Corn Pancakes

So, I’m pretty into Mark Bittman. I have three of his cookbooks and I just downloaded his “How To Cook Everything” app for my iPod. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I recommend getting the app. It contains every recipe from his book of the same name; plus you can use it offline! I got this recipe for corn pancakes from said app.

First, take 2 eggs. Separate the yolks and whites, reserve. In a large bowl combine 2 cups corn (the recipe calls for corn freshly stripped off the cob or frozen; mine were canned…I broke the rules), a tablespoon soy sauce, 1/2 cup chopped scallions, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, one minced chile (I used jalapeño), and the two egg yolks. Now, turn your attention to the reserved egg whites. In a metal or glass bowl (Bittman was emphatic about not using plastic), whip the whites with a whisk for way longer than you’d like to. You’re arm will be tired by the end. When the whites are “stiff” and stick to the whisk, they’re probably ready. Fold the egg whites into the corn mixture. In a non-stick pan over medium high heat, melt a couple tablespoons of butter (or oil) and, once hot enough, add dollops of the pancake mixture. Turn after one side is brown, 3 to 5 minutes. (One of the great features of the app is that when a recipe calls for something to be done for a certain amount of time, you can click on the time and a timer pops up. Back to cooking.) Once both sides are brown and pretty, place on paper towels to drain. Now, eat. I whipped up a mix of horseradish mustard and soy sauce for dipping. Yum. Best served hot with a cold can of Black Label (click onto picture below). Enjoy! [Update: I meant to mention this before. You probably have all of the ingredients for this at home aside from the scallions and chile. A bunch of scallions and a jalapeño will run you a buck, so, in addition to being very tasty, this recipe is really, really cheap!]

The Result

Mussels alla Diavola

I have to admit that until a month or so ago I was sure I didn’t like mussels. All that fleshy, mysterious…mess, nestled within an admittedly beautiful black shell. And then I finally tried them. Here. In a delicious seafood paella. Yum. After trying them, I knew I had to cook them into something. Tomorrow is our fifth anniversary, and I knew Mary would like this dish. It’s simple, beautiful, and delicious.

I started out using a recipe from epicurious and made a few changes. Bring a heavy, deep skillet (I used a dutch oven, might not next time) to medium heat. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil (not extra virgin..the pan is too hot), then add 4-6 minced garlic cloves and a teaspoon or so of crushed red pepper flakes (to taste). Let the garlic get nice and fragrant (2 minutes?) then add, say, 10 ounces of whole canned tomatoes and their purée (this recipe was amended to serve 2 instead of 6. The original recipe calls for a full 28 ounce can of whole canned tomatoes), a tablespoon or so of tomato paste, a couple of tablespoons of sliced, pitted Kalamata olives, two tablespoons of capers, a third of a cup of white wine (original recipe calls for red, but I wanted to drink white with the meal…so, take that), and two or so teaspoons of “Italian” herbs (basil, oregano). Simmer for 15 minutes. Why don’t you stir it occasionally, huh?

During the simmer, boil water in a pot. Make linguine. Ale Dentay.

After the sauce has thickened and the tomatoes have broken down, add the cleaned and debearded mussels to the sauce. Cover and check after 3 minutes for opened mussels. As the mussels open, remove them and put them in a bowl. Discard mussels that haven’t opened after 6 minutes or so. Easy.

Once the mussels are ready and removed from the sauce, turn off the heat. Now, add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir. Plate the pasta and add the mussels. Garnish with lemon. Eat it, bud. Yum.

Tasty

Uh Oh

Looks like a staple food in my “I don’t feel like cooking” diet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Even when I was eating meat, you could find fake meat patties in my freezer most of the time. It’s easy and quick and makes me feel like I’m eating healthy with very little effort. It turns out that (and this is still being vetted for absolute accuracy) many brands of soy patties bathe their soybeans in hexane, an EPA registered air pollutant/neurotoxin and a byproduct of gasoline refining. The hexane bath separates oils from the protein, keeping the fat content down so that the brands that produce the patties can appease their key demographic (me) that seeks out low fat foods by slapping “80% less fat than ground beef” graphic on the package.

Here’s a link to the Mother Jones article that got my attention.

And a link to the original study (pdf).

Guess I’ll just have to stick to real food. Shucks.

Patty

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Mary and I are sort of obsessed with the Thai Fresh Spring Rolls from Nida’s Thai on High.  Something about the cold herbs, veggies, and vermicelli coupled with the warm chicken (tofu, these days) gets my tongue excited.  And then there’s the peanut sauce!  Man…

I decided to try to recreate it at home today.  I used a variation on Mark Bittman’s recipe for Goi Cuon (Vietnamese spring rolls) and for peanut sauce.

So, this was the very first time I’ve used vermicelli for anything…though I’ve enjoyed stuffing it down my gullet in the past.  I now realize how great it is.  It’s dirt cheap, adds a good deal of substance to what ever you’re making, and is made without cooking…ten minutes in hot water from the tap!  Awesome!  The vermicelli done, I moved on to the chopping n’ such.  Red leaf lettuce, loads of cilantro (the store was out of basil and mint…those jerkasses), scallions, grated carrot, peanuts.

Tofu time. If you eat meat, shrimp and/or pork would probably be awesome.  Before doing the tofu, scramble a couple (2) eggs in some oil.  I recommend doing this in a wok, because cooking in a wok is more fun (plus I just got one).  Set scrambled eggs aside.  In the same pan, put a 1/3 of a brick of tofu to fry.  Brown all sides.  Slice thinly.  I did thin strips, lengthwise.  Set tofu aside.

Another first that I was looking forward to:  Rice paper!

After opening the package, I was surprised by the look/feel of the paper.  Interesting.  Soak it for a few seconds…get it soft and real sticky.

At this point I rolled a bit of everything I’d prepared up to this point in rice paper.  I’d never made spring rolls (or any other asian roll) before, so I thought of it like rolling a burrito..and that seemed to work.

The end result:

Rolled TIGHT!

Now for the peanut sauce.  Cayenne, 3 cloves garlic, 2 shallots, Lime juice (lemongrass if you’ve got it), turmeric (didn’t have it, tasted around, used ginger and ground mustard seed…for some reason).  Grind that up in a food processor/blender.  Heat some oil, place the garlic/shallot/cayenne,etc. mix in the pan with the oil until it smells fantastic.  Add a cup of coconut milk (it’s too rich for me sometimes, plus we didn’t have any.  Used almond milk.), brown sugar, nam pla (fish sauce), salt, chopped peanuts.  Simmer for a while.

Dip and Eat.