Thai Pork and Green Beans with Coconut Milk

This is a dish I wrote about before in May 2008 ( http://mommygourmet.blogspot.com/2008/05/thai-pork-and-green-beans.html ) . My husband asked me to make it for his birthday. I obliged. I made quite a bit, so he could have it to his hearts content. I decided to change up the leftovers a bit and I added about a ¼ c. of coconut milk. It was out of this world. Honestly I don’t know which I like better. The original is fresh and simple but the coconut milk adds a wonderful richness. It also got me thinking that this summer I might try some fresh tomatoes too.

I swear nothing is safe in this house, even dishes we love!

Salmon over Turnip Greens

I served the greens and salmon over mashed potatoes. Yesterday Joel wasn’t feel well and I hadn’t planned anything for dinner. So I just took the leftover greens and broth, warmed it in a pan and tossed with with some past and parm. It was quite good.



Normally, I am not a fan of cooking vegetables too much. This is a bit different. I cook them until they a totally soft and limp…almost soupy. Also I use a micro planer to grate my garlic. I like it better than a garlic press but you could to that as well but you might want to add an extra clove.

Turnip Greens

3tb olive oil
4 cloves garlic grated
1 lb turnip green cleaned and chopped
1tsp sugar
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste


Sautee the garlic in the oil for 2 minutes. Add ½ the turnip greens a bit at a time and turn to coat. Add chicken stock and wine. Add the rest of turnip greens. Add sugar and cook until very soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

1 lb salmon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ tsp lemon rind


Cut the salmon into 4 pieces. Coat each piece with a touch of olive oil. Salt an pepper each piece. In skillet heat about 2 tbs olive oil and get it hot. Add salmon and turn heat down to medium. Cook on first side for 2 minutes. Flip and cook another minute to two. Remove from pan.

Plate about 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes. Put turnip green on top with several tablespoons of the liquid from the pan and place salmon on top. Finish with a couple of passes on the zester of fresh lemon rind.

Mushroom Risotto

Believe or not this was the first time I made Risotto. You hear how complicated it is to make and honestly, it scared me off. Then the other day in the supermarket, I see the big container of risotto next to the basmati and I think, “Now honestly, how scary can a little bit of rice be?” So, I buy it and I make it, and I am utterly shocked. Shocked I tell you. It takes the skill level of rice- a- roni. I am not joking. At all. It has all been a lie! But now I know the truth…. I think we will be have a lot of risotto for a while!!
1.5 c. of risotto
4 tbs olive oil divided
1 cup of white wine
4-6 c. of chicken stock (it took me about 5)
1 packaged of mixed mushrooms chopped
1 large or two small shallots finely chopped
1 tbs porcini and truffle oil (optional, you can get at sur la table)
1 tsp tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and cook mushrooms and shallots. Once done set them aside.
Heat the other 2 tablespoons of oil. Add risotto to pan and cook for about 3 minutes stirring until rice starts to yellow/brown just a bit.
Add wine and tarragon. Cook over medium low heat until liquid is absorbed. Add 2 cups of the chicken stock. Cook, until that liquid is absorbed (the recipe on the canister indicates to stir constantly. You do want to stir it a bit, but constantly is a bit of an overstatement. However, you do want to stay close, this is not a dish you can leave and come back to check on.) At this point add liquid a cup at a time. Check doneness of rice after 3 cups of stock and check each cup after. Risotto should be firm but not hard. It will be a bit wet.
Once risotto is done add mushrooms back in, drizzle with oil and serve.
One thing I could use suggestions on is reheating the risotto. The next day I went to have some and it was terrible. It was gluey and pasty and the kids ended up getting it for lunch (they thought it was great). I just microwaved it. Any ideas on a better way to heat it?

Fried Green Tomatoes Topped with Crab

Okay, okay I did not invent this, at all. I didn’t even improve it. My parents made this for me and I don’t know where they go the recipe. It is just so good I can’t stand it. I will tell you if you want to make this a bit healthier, instead of frying, spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray, and then lightly spray the coated tomatoes. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes or until crispy. Honestly, the yumminess of this dish is the flavor combination not the frying. No matter how you slice it, Hollandaise is just fancy butter, so it is not low cal, however, you drizzle it over (so you don't use much) so use your judgment. If you just can’t bring yourself to do the Hollandaise use a butter substitute with a lot of lemon or just lemon juice.

Start with the Hollandaise and set it aside until you need it. You can also by the jar stuff but it is quite easy to make
Add 3 egg yolks, 2 tbs lemon and a pinch of salt and pepper to a food processor or blender. Blend for 30 second. Heat 1stick (yeap a whole durn stick) until bubbling. Here is the trick, while the processor or blender is going, slowly, slowly add the hot butter. If it seems a bit thin at first, don’t worry it will thicken.
You will need 1 lb of crab, though you will have likely have left over crab (but you don’t have too!!) . I by back fin, because I am cheap, but lump….of course would be better.
Fried Green Tomatoes
2 large green tomatoes
2 egg whites beaten
½ c. white flour
½ c. cornmeal
Salt and pepper
3 tbs oil
Slice tomato. Combine flour and cornmeal and salt and pepper. Coat tomato with egg white and dredge though flour combination. Meanwhile heat oil. You really don’t need to deep fat fry these, a little oil goes a long way. Fry them up until they are gold brown on both sides. Remove. Top each slice with a healthy scoop of crab and drizzle with the Hollandaise. ENJOY…these are good!

Cilantro Lime Tuna

2 tuna filets
4 TBS chopped cilantro
Juice of one lime
Zest of ½ lime
Salt/pepper

Season filets heavily, just like chicken tuna takes a fair amount of seasoning. Heat oil in pan over high. Once good and hot, sear each side of tuna and reduce heat to medium low and cook to desired doneness. While cooking, chop cilantro and add the zest to it and mix. Once fish is done, top each filet with about half the cilantro and squeeze the juice of half a lime on each filet.

The Worlds Best Crab Cakes

This is not something I made up, but we had them last night and honestly, there is no better. I have to tell you nothing irritates me more than when someone takes some wonderful crab and messes it all up by putting a bunch of bread and stuff in so that then end product tastes more of mustard and bread than anything else. I get that crab is expensive and you want to stretch it, but on the flip side it is expensive and you want to enjoy it. So ditch the fillers and try this, with just enough to hold it together but not so much to mess up the wonderfulness of the crab. ***Also, for a crab cake there is no reason you can not use back fin crab as opposed to lump and save yourself some change. However pick through the crab first to make sure you get any bits of shell out.

2 slices of bread
½ c. milk
1 lb crab meat
1 tbs Worcestershire
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs mayo
1egg
1 tsp old bay

Set bread in milk and let set for 10 minutes. Squeeze out excessmilk from bread, and toss milk. Place bread back in bowl and add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form into patties and fry until golden on both sides.

Thai Chicken Empañadas

Finally someone contributed a recipe to share! This is my fathers (Bill Walkers) creation. I have not tried it but he said it came out great so I can't wait to try it. He also said that a spring roll wrapper would be a good substitute for the empanada dough (also an easier substitute).

Dipping Sauce:
2 T. brown sugar
4 T. lime juice
1 T. Thai red curry
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup water
¼ cup shallots, chopped
¼ cup soy sauce
2 T. fresh ginger, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Chicken Filling:
½ cup water
2 T. brown sugar
4 T. fresh lime juice
1 T. Thai red curry paste
¼ t. red pepper flakes
1 T. fish sauce
½ t. salt
2 pounds chicken thighs, skinned
¼ cup green onions finely sliced
¼ cilantro, chopped
½ cup dipping sauce (below)
Empañ ada Dough:
2¼ cup all purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1 t. kosher salt
½ t. sugar
Egg Wash:

1/3 cup cold water
1 egg

1. Place all the Dipping Sauce ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. Put into bowl and set aside. Clean food processor bowl.
2. Pulse first 4 ingredients for the empañ ada dough together in food processor until crumbly.
3. Add water and egg and pulse until dough forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until needed 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350. Place the first 8 Chicken Filling ingredients in a bowl and mix until it combines into a cooking sauce.
5. Place the cooking sauce and chicken in a medium oven-proof pot, cover, and bake until the meat falls from the bones (about 1½ hours).
6. Let chicken cool. Discard bones and sauce. Coarsely chop the meat, mix with the green onions, cilantro and Dipping Sauce and set aside. Save remaining sauce for dipping the empañ adas.
7. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out until it is thin, no more than 1/8” thick. Using a 4 inch diameter cookie cutter, (I used a large martini glass) cut dough into rounds. Set rounds on a cutting board and cover with a damp towel. Re-roll dough scraps and cut more rounds. Continue rolling and cutting until most of the dough has been used. I got 18 rounds, but my dough was a little thick. I think you should be able to get 20 rounds.
Assembly and Baking:
8. Preheat oven to 400. Put about a ½ T. of the chicken mixture in the center of a round. Fold the round in half and use a fork to seal the edges. Continue until all the rounds have been filled. I had about ¾ cup of filling left.
9. Transfer the empañ adas to a baking sheet. Thoroughly mix the egg and water. Brush the tops with the egg wash and bake until golden, about 30 minutes.

Pesto Portabella Cheesecake

1.5C. pesto
6 oz. Portabella (roughly 10 pieces of sliced portabella)
1/2 onion
1 TBS olive oil
2 block cream cheese softened
1 C. sour cream
3 large eggs
Tomato slices (about one tomato)
Parmesan

Line the bottom of a spring form with sliced tomatoes, and set aside. Sautee mushrooms and onions in olive oil. Combine cream cheese and sour cream and add onion and mushroom mixture, and pesto. Test seasoning. Add eggs. Pour over tomato slices in spring form and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. It is done when you stick a knife in and it comes out almost clean (not soupy). Let cool. Loosen sides of spring form and remove. Invert so that tomatoes slices are on top. Remove bottom of spring form and dust with Parmesan. This can be served warm or cold.

This is particularly good on bagels the next day! I have never tried sun-dried tomatoes but I think they would be great.