Wanted to make a soup with lemongrass and coconut milk... might leave out the chicken though. Found this recipe on recipezaar.com. I did leave out the chicken, but this was an amazing soup. I used zested lime instead of kaffir and left out the chilies.

400 g chicken breasts, sliced into strips seasoned with
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 (400 g) can button mushrooms

Soup flavouring
1 cup good chicken stock
2 stalks lemongrass, sliced
3 kaffir lime leaf, shredded
1 large onion, sliced
1 (200 ml) can coconut milk, diluted to give 4 cups
6 birds eye chiles, bruised
4 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1-2 teaspoon salt, to taste

Garnishing
1 sprig coriander leaves

Place stock in a pot and add lemon grass,kaffir lime leaves,and onions.
Bring to boil over medium heat.
Add the mushrooms,chicken,lime juice,fish sauce,sugar and salt.
Cook slowly uncovered for 10 minutes then add coconut milk and chillies.
Bring to almost a boil,stirring frequently,then remove from heat and serve,garnishing with the coriander sprigs.

Posted by Maggie at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just had a nice walk to the asian market in Woodside and picked up a few things including thai basil and chile peppers. Was going to try this recipe... or some variation of. Found on recipezaar.com. Made this and it was pretty good. I think it needed more sauce though. I should have ignored the boiling of the noodles as they were too soft. Next time I'm just going to soak rice noodles.

8 ounces flat rice noodles
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup diced extra firm tofu
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 sliced Thai chile
1 1/2 cups sliced broccoli
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onions
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup Thai basil

Soak noodles for 15 minutes in warm water.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook rice noodles until just tender, about 1 minute; drain and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar and put it aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
Add tofu and cook until its a golden colour which should take about 30 seconds to a minute and set this aside.
Add garlic and cook 10 seconds.
Add chili, broccoli, onion and stir fry for 30 secs.
Add the soy sauce mixture, noodles, sprouts, basil and reserved tofu and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until hot.
Serve in a serving platter.

Posted by Maggie at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I love lemon so I thought I might love this recipe... made this for lunch (5/6/06) and it was super tasty. I forgot to save liquid and even though I zested lemon I forgot to add it. Still yummy though!

Lemon Spaghetti

Recipe By :Giada De Laurentiis
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

Posted by Maggie at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm going to make an attempt at this tonight I think. I had some feta cheese in the fridge and thought this would make good use of it. So I walked to Titan, a great greek grocery in Astoria, to get the fillo (or phyllo) pastry and they had about ten different kinds! None of the recipes I read mentioned a specific dough, so I just picked a random #4 fillo dough and I'm hoping for the best. Oh, and every recipe calls for frying the "cigars" in oil, but I think I'll spray and bake them. I hate frying things in oil...

ooh, I found a picture of what I'm supposed to do! Was a little hard to visualize it before.
http://www.geocities.com/ftcookery/recipes/2_mezeler/sigara_boregi_muska_boregi.htm

http://home.hvc.rr.com/tekbens/pilav.htm#Sigara%20Börek

So I guess I'll just cut the pastry into triangles, mix some cheese, parsley, and dill together and spoon it at the wide end and roll it up into a cigar shape. Will report back on the outcome...

Ok, made my first attempt tonight (5/7/06) and I've learned a few things. Having never worked with Fillo, I had no idea what to expect. I read about covering the layers that were waiting to be used with a damp towel, so I was prepared, but even then they dried out quickly. The style of fillo I bought was a thin one, and I think next time I should use a thicker one, which after a little research, seems to be a "country style" fillo. I used the #4 nonetheless, but the next issue I had was how to cut the sheets and how many layers of dough to use. I just cut the 12" x 17" sheets into 2 triangles and used 3 layers of dough. Looking back, I think I should have cut the sheets into many more triangles, maybe the short way instead, and perhaps 5 or 6 of them. I think maybe 1 or 2 layers of dough would have been sufficient. Not sure if only 1 layer would hold up, but it's something to experiment with for next time!

Posted by Maggie at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I made this some time ago for my honey and he remembers it to this day and requested it. I'll have to make it soon. I think I probably just halved it to make enough for 2.

Just made this last night (5/3/06), but I used sirloin steaks and button mushrooms and it was still great. I made the same amount of sauce as the recipe called for because my man likes his meals saucy...

from allrecipes.com and it's a cooking light submission... of course. http://beef.allrecipes.com/az/FiltMignnWithMshrmWinSc.asp

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon margarine, divided
Vegetable cooking spray
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
1 1/2 cups dry red wine, divided
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef consomme, undiluted and divided
Cracked pepper
4 (4 ounce) filet mignon steaks (about 1 inch thick)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIRECTIONS:
Melt 11/2 teaspoons margarine in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add shallots and mushrooms; saute 4 minutes. Add 1 cup wine and 3/4 cup consomme; cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove mushrooms, and place in a bowl. Increase heat to high; cook wine mixture 5 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Add to mushrooms in bowl; set aside. Wipe skillet with a paper towel.
Sprinkle desired amount of cracked pepper over steaks. Melt remaining 11/2 teaspoons margarine in skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add steaks; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 11/2 minutes on each side or to desired degree of doneness. Place on a serving platter, and keep warm.
Combine soy sauce and cornstarch; stir well. Add remaining 1/2 cup wine and consomme to skillet; scrape skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute. Add mushroom mixture, cornstarch mixture, and chopped thyme; bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Serve with steaks. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Posted by Maggie at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)