Peanut butter pasta with Thai chicken

AUGUST 25, 2010

tags: Food, norway, recipe hack, Things I love!

by wife ic

After a fun shopping trip to Stavanger we stopped atDéjà Vu for dinner.  This is my second visit to Déjà Vu and honestly this place makes me want to move to Stavanger!

Well, I wanted something spicy that popped like the Mango Salmon salad I had last time.  The daily special was creamed pasta with chicken. Snore! That sounded boring but my clever friend has deep faith in the daily special and as usual, she was right!

It was anything but boring. I ran straight home to figure out what all these wonderful flavors popping in my mouth were.  Even now just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Creamed pasta:

• 3 cups cooked pasta, I used whole grain corkscrew but suit yourself
• 2/3 cup cream
• 2 – 3 tablespoons tomato paste for thickening and color
• 2 – 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• crushed chili pepper to taste
• dash of Cayenne pepper sauce
• dash of tabasco
• dash of soya sauce for color and saltiness

Blend together in a saucepan over low heat until liquid is mostly absorbed.

Chicken (or pork):

Pre-grilled chicken or I have now tried this with both pork and chicken – wonderful either way.  We had some left over beer can chicken which I divided up and warmed in the following sauce.

• Thai sweet chili sauce
• Soya sauce
• Sesame oil
• Oyster sauce

Assemble the dish and if you have greens toss in a vinaigrette and place on top of it all.  They will be just lovely and can hide the slightly unattractive blackish sauce that tastes ever so delightful with the creamy pasta.

Far from boring! Hubby gave Creamed pasta  10 of 10 stars and we renamed it!

Prego!

If you like this recipe hack you might also like the salad from my first visit to the wonderful Déjà Vu.

Cooks note September 6, 2010

Shrimp is also an A-OK variation on this recipe!

Summer salad nr. 4 - Steak salad

I had a lovely surf and turf salad when we were in Adenau to see the races at Nurburgring and I was looking to recreate it.  Unfortunately, I could not remember anything besides the lettuce, steak and one decorative scampi on top.

So, here I am craving meat and lettuce and I have no recipe.  A quick search on epicurious, allrecipes and googleturned up a lot of recipes but nothing that reminded me of that salad. So here is a self-compiled, human-tested Steak salad recipe.


Dressing:

Chili flakes

Salt

Garlic

Peach juice

white vinegar

lime juice

Salad:

Pretty lettuce, washed and crisp

Avocaodos, peeled and diced

Steak, grilled and thinly sliced

Roasted bell peppers, disemboweled and sliced

Red onions, thinly sliced

Fennel, chopped

Ripe tomatoes, in boats

Basil for decoration

Toss with dressing and serve with naan bread.

I am pretty sure it has to do with the red meat content Hubby has given this recipe at 10 of 10!

God fornøyelse!

Summer salad nr 3 – La Salade Niçoise

One of my favorite summer salads is a Salade Niçoise.  The first time we vacationed in France this was all I ate, mostly because I was afraid of ordering something with frog legs. But even after I have become acquainted with "safe" menu choices, this salad has remained my all time favorite.

I love the briny flavors of the olives and anchovies with the mild egg and potatoes. I still order this when we are in Provence.  The ingredients are NEVER the same, from restaurant to restaurant as everyone has "improved" it with their own touches and normal variances according to what is in season but core ingredients are tuna, anchovies, green beans, eggs, potatoes, lettuce with a Dijon vinaigrette.

The salad in this photograph is Salade Niçoise interpreted by an outdoor café in Menerbes where we had lunch after a bit of site-seeing this past weekend.

La Salade Niçoise

— pour la vinaigrette:
Dijon mustard
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Pepper
— pour la salade:
Tomatoes in boats
Cooked potatoes sliced
Spring onions chopped
Mixed lettuce cleaned and crisp
Cooked egg in boats
Tuna in olive oil
Anchovies (give them a try - this gives the salad a nice salty flavor)
Good quality green or black olives
Artichoke hearts (marinated)
Green beans (lightly steamed and chilled)

Basil leaves
Toss the greens with the vinaigrette and arrange the remaining ingredients decoratively on the salad!

Voila´

After a nice lunch we got to watch some local beekeepers remove a hive that had unfortunately placed itself in the middle of the market area.  It was a perfect amount of drama after a nice lunch and wander about the hillside village.

When we got home I had to make one. Here is a pic of My Salad Nicoise. It's only fair to say that this salad received an embarrassing 4 of 10 from hubby.  I think it has to do with his dislike of anchovies but also the mildness of the dish.

Summer salad nr. 2 - Swedish chicken curry salad

This recipe we discovered on a three-week road trip around Sweden some 8 years ago.  I had plotted out every arts and crafts store in southern Sweden and hubby drove us diligently from one place to another in a borrowed camper.

There are 3 food experiences I remember from the trip.  Peanut doodles (like cheese doodles but peanut butter dust instead of cheese dust), licorice ice cream and Chicken curry salad.  The latter is the salad I have recreated for this post and of course our dinner.


The chicken curry salad came on everything! At the Ekelund factory we had chicken curry salad on a steaming baked potato, at the Orrefors factory they put it in a baguette and on Öland they served it on pasta. My favorite stop on Öland was the Paradise workshop were I got some of the wonderful ceramic eggs they make! Which reminds me that it might be time to go back.

We have settled on our own variation with rice as our preferred starch as the juiciness in the salad makes a nice sauce for the rice.  I serve the rice warm and the salad cold and think it is a good contrast.  Any good rice will do such as basmati, jasmine, natural or wild.
Now, I will be the first to admit that this salad does not photograph well.  It looks like yellow smush, sorry that I couldn't capture the cheeriness of this dish.
Chicken curry salad
Shredded chicken breasts (boiled with 2 garlic boats)
Fresh mango - chunked
Fresh or canned pineapple in juice
Canned Mandarin
finely chopped shallots
add fruit and some juice to the warm shredded chicken breasts
add curry powder until you get a bright yellow color, I have sometimes used saffron to improve the color or Norwegian gurkemeie (Curcuma longa L.).  NOTE: If you are using a spicy  curry powder such as Madras Curry powder, color the dish with a milder curry. I have also tried Pataks Curry paste in varied strengths but was not pleased with the texture it gave.
Sea salt - to taste
Fresh ground pepper - to taste
Chili pepper flakes
Chili powder

Let these flavors meld in the refrigerator until cool.
When cool add sour cream, crème fraîche or yogurt cheese -to moisten.  Whatever you have or prefer will do.  I have tried all of them with good results.

Serve on rice and garnish with roasted cashews (if you need the MUFAS).

Non-salad loving hubby gives this also an 8 on a 10 point scale!

Guten Appetit!

Summer salad nr. 1 - Salmon Mango salad

Summer is all about salads in our house.  Things that can be made ahead and picked out of the refrigerator when the day cools down and the appetite awakens.

During a trip to Stavanger I ran across Déjà Vu Delikatesser where I had a lovely salad which I have tried to recreate here.




Salmon Mango Salad
Field salad - I used red leafed for a little color
Fresh mango - chunked
Fresh cantalope - chunked
Smoked salmon - in pieces
Sweet peas in a pod - chopped
Sprouts - preferably crunchy type
Shallots - finely minced
Cayenne and Chipotle pepper flakes
Fresh ground pepper
Sea salt
Toss above ingredients in a large bowl


Dressing
Balsamic vinegar
Squish of lime juice
Salad Olive Oil
Dijon mustard
Mix well

We didn't have wasabi paste to mix in the dressing but we did have wasabi potato chips which are very spicy.  I crushed some over the salad. I would also consider Wasabi dried peas or Wasabi covered peanuts as a nice  spicy / crunchy addition.

Hubby isn't a fan of salads or salmon (the dislike of salmon is due to an overdose from several years of commuting on Scandinavian Airlines in the early 2000's) but this salad he gave a 8 on a 10 point scale.

Bon Appetit!

Asparagus season

We are 2 weeks into asparagus season and have devoured lovely albino bunches.  I think hubby loves it more as a vessel for Hollandaise sauce, I am learning to appreciate the subtle nutty flavor of the white asparagus.

The first night we had it as a side dish but it is gradually taking over our plates.  The perfect springtime meal in Germany is lots of asparagus, new potatoes, thinly sliced ham either fresh or dried like prosciutto served with, of course, Hollandaise.

My mother swears by microwaving asparagus to get it just right and I agree that this works very well for the tender green sprigs but the vampire asparagus needs Julia Child's expertise to get it just right.  Julia recommends boiling the asparagus with one half of a lemon and salt until it is just tender.  We popped for an asparagus pan with a strainer which is wonderful - just dunk, boil and drain.

There are a few more weeks of abundant asparagus and I see no sign that we are getting tired of it.  Although I am starting to suspect that it the draw is the rich and creamy Hollandaise!  Bon Appétit!

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

I have been eyeing my Silver Spoon cookbook in the same way Julie Powell eyeballed Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Committing to blog about my attempts at perfecting Italian cuisine is not happening.
Others have tried , others have failed.

Just look at Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, the entire storyline was copied off the far superior Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence. A true travesty! Something French is ALWAYS better than something Italian.  It's a fact.

Brigitte Bardot	vs	Sofia Loren
Châteauneuf-du-Pape	vs	Chianti
Boeuf à la bourguignonne	vs	Risotto
Jacques Chirac	vs	Silvio Berlusconi
The French Riviera	vs	The Italian Riviera

I could go on, but my arguments are getting thin.  Point is that French is cooler than Italian, except food.  I would gladly swap my fois gras for a Tuscan beans or snails for pizza.  Not to mention Tiramisu and Gelato – do the French even make a decent dessert?

Italy is a foodies paradise even though it is falling apart and smells weird.

In 2010 I vow to try a lot of the recipes from Silver Spoon, share these with my friends and sometimes write about it. Trying a "Powell" is not my style, but I loved the movie!

Here are some other things from Very Good Taste's list of the omnivore's hundred,  I should try:
_____________________
Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
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There are definitely things on this list that I will never eat.  I have an additional rule that I will not eat anything that could smell, see or taste in its previous form and that rules out Norwegian smalehove since eating the eye is the high point of this meal.

Turkey meatloaf

In captivity, people do things they normally do not i.e. Stockholm syndrome. In my normal habitat I heat up things or order takeaway.  Not really much time for cooking but now all I have is time.  Well not only that, I still have charm and grace but I have a lot of time too and have started playing around in my one butt kitchen.

Yesterday turkey meatloaf was on the menu.

Roughly recipe: Turkey Meatloaf

Ground turkey

handful dried cranberries (rehydrated)

handful cooked brown rice

handful of chopped mushrooms

handful of chopped leeks

1 chopped celery stalk

teaspoon chicken bouillion

lots of twists on the Weber Kick'en chicken spices

Squish together and smush into a bread pan.  Top with chutney and pop a meat thermometer in.  Place in oven at 180 degrees Celsius for around 2 hours or until poultry temperature is reached (90 degrees Celsius).

I split some squash and baked them alongside the meatloaf and heated up some green beans in the micro.

Got a thumbs up from DH (Dear hubby) and thats not easy when there is no gravy involved.