Green Curry Paste

8 fresh green chiles (serranos, jalapeños etc)
2 tablespoons minced lemongrass bulb
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 large shallot, minced
1 teaspoon fresh shredded ginger root
2 medium cloves garlic
a few slivers lime zest
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
10 peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt

In a small skillet roast all the ingredients over medium high heat for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, leave in pan for one minute more.
Using a blender or food processor grind to a thick paste.
Stays fresh for one month if kept covered in the refridgerator

Pad Thai

2 quarts water
8 to 10 ounces dried flat-sided rice noodles or fresh noodles

PAD THAI SAUCE
1 1/4 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh green chile, seeded and minced

GARNISHES
2 eggs scrambled (optional)
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1/3 cup chopped unsalted peanuts (optional)
lime wedges
sliced scallions

1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil, remove from the heat. Soak the noodles in the hot water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside or make fresh rice noodles.
2. In a bowl, blend the vinegar, tomato paste, water and sugar
   
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan, fry the garlic and chili on medium heat for 3 minutes.
   
4. Stir in the tomato-vinegar mix continue to simmer the sauce until very thick 4 to 5 minutes.
   
5. Add the noodles to the sauce, mix well.
   
6. Place the noodles and sauce in large serving plate
7. Serve with garnishes
   

Fresh Rice Noodles

Making Fresh Rice Noodles
Makes 1 Lb.

1 1/4 cups uncooked long-grain rice
1 1/4 cups water
Vegetable oil

1. Soak the rice overnight in the water. After soaking, grind the rice and water for 5 or 10 minutes in a blender to form a very smooth thin batter, (A food processor won't work for this.) When done grinding, you should be able to feel no more than the slightest hint of solid particles if you rub the batter between your fingers. Better too smooth than not smooth enough!

2. Lightly coat an 8" x 8" x 2" baking pan with oil and heat it for about 3 minutes in a steamer. Pour in 1/2 cup batter in an even layer and replace the steamer lid. Steam for 5 minutes. From this point on, check to make sure there's water in the steamer. Add boiling water as necessary if it's low.

3. After 5 minutes, coat the top of the first layer lightly but thoroughly with vegetable oil and pour 1/2 cup of batter in an even layer on top of it. Again, steam for 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter. After adding the last layer, steam for 8 minutes. When sliced, the layers will separate into thin noodles.
Making Fresh Rice Noodles
Makes 1 Lb.

1 1/4 cups uncooked long-grain rice
1 1/4 cups water
Vegetable oil

1. Soak the rice overnight in the water. After soaking, grind the rice and water for 5 or 10 minutes in a blender to form a very smooth thin batter, (A food processor won't work for this.) When done grinding, you should be able to feel no more than the slightest hint of solid particles if you rub the batter between your fingers. Better too smooth than not smooth enough!

2. Lightly coat an 8" x 8" x 2" baking pan with oil and heat it for about 3 minutes in a steamer. Pour in 1/2 cup batter in an even layer and replace the steamer lid. Steam for 5 minutes. From this point on, check to make sure there's water in the steamer. Add boiling water as necessary if it's low.

3. After 5 minutes, coat the top of the first layer lightly but thoroughly with vegetable oil and pour 1/2 cup of batter in an even layer on top of it. Again, steam for 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter. After adding the last layer, steam for 8 minutes. When sliced, the layers will separate into thin noodles.

Comida Listo

I just realized that I never announced that I am writing a weekly article about food for Yo Listo, it's called Comida Listo, which actually is not correct Spanish since the gender doesn't agree. I've written three articles so far, you can read them on the home page. They come out on Tuesdays.
Where this blog and Comida Listo differ is that here I write about what I am cooking at home, while Comida Listo is more aimed to people missing foods or conveniences from "home".
Please stop by my column and tell me what you think.

Nopales and me

Since Jonna mentioned nopales, I did a little internet research, if you google nopales cactus+ cholesterol, you will find a whole range of articles. I'll let you have the fun of doing that search for yourself.
By an interesting coincidence, when I was a the supermarket stocking on vegetables for our TLC (total living change) I bought some cactus paddles. A nice thing about living in Mexico is that you can buy already scraped (to remove the spines) nopale paddles, already cleaned and chopped nopalitos, canned nopales, or even fresh frozen nopalitos. The nopalitos are nopale paddles that have been diced.
I had heard from several people that they are really tasty grilled. I already had planned to grill eggplant and zucchini,so why not?I've had them boiled (to remove the "slime") and they were okay,I had heard that they were nutritious so I was interesting in finding a way to prepare them that we would enjoy.
Somehow,after I put them away in the refrigerator, I promptly forgot about them. Jonna's comment was doubly helpful, since it nudged my memory. So today when I was preparing lunch,
I heated my griddle and simply laid the paddles on it. As they were cooking, I decided to consult my copy of Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico, he recommended scoring them first and then sprinkling with lime and salt. He advises about 15 to 20 minutes grilling time.
I figured better late than never, so I scored the paddles and seasoned them. We ate one each that way and I reserved 2 more to use in a salad.
They were much more to my liking grilled than boiled,so with all the health benefits in mind, nopales look to become a staple in my kitchen. Another benefit is that I didn't need to add any oil to the paddles to cook them, this is where their sliminess was a positive attribute.
The photo at the top of my post is courtesy of Wikipedia, the photographer is pro_bug_catcher.

Dietary changes

Husband had his cholesterol counted or what ever it is that they do. Dr. Duran looked at it, and was not happy. Then he said to me in a conspiratorial tone, you do realize that if his is like this, then yours is probably not too far behind.
The doctor is confident that just a few changes and everything will be better soon. He has banned pork! He isn't too happy about beef either which leaves chicken and fish. Husband isn't fond of chicken and I have never learned how to cook fish.
There was some mention restricting the consumption of chocolate, dark beer and yellow cheese. I must be the only woman on the planet Earth who would rather eat Gouda than Godiva, but there you are. The really sad thing is that I think cheese is the culprit.The upshot of all this is that for the next three months we're being primarily vegetarian.
Today we had whole wheat flat bread, it was supposed to be pita, but I learned today that you can't make pita bread in a tabletop oven. Grilled eggplant, zucchini and spring onions.
I also made couscous, tabbouleh and a garlic tahinni dip.
It was all good and we ate moderate amounts. Maybe this won't be so bad after all?

Commenting

I have heard from various people that it's hard to leave a comment on my blog. I want comments,I encourage comments, I enjoy the comments. So in an effort to make life easier for everyone, I have disabled the verify comments. If it turns out that I am getting a lot of spam, I will start moderating all the comments before they post. I hope that makes it easier for you.

Is that a real recipe?

yup, that is what Husband asked me last night! I would be insulted if it wasn't for my tendency to veer from recipes. I made vegetable filled bread for the IWC coffee held at my neighbor's house this morning.
I indignantly informed him that it was indeed a real recipe, that I was making a savoury bread, thank you very much! Then proceeded to adapt it and make it my own.
Actually, I was out of onions, zucchini and tomatoes. Even if I had them I had decided not to include the tomatoes and onions because I was pretty sure that one of "the girls" is allergic.
If you already know how to make bread this should be easy, so I am just going to hit the high spots.
In a large pan saute in oil until soft:

• 1 eggplant diced into quarter inch cubes,
• 3 large cloves of garlic minced,
• 6 large mushrooms, diced
• 1 carrot peeled and diced.
• 1 jalapeño seeded and diced

Remove from the pan to another container. Set the container in cold water to cool. When cool, toss the vegetables with half a cup all purpose flour. This keeps the veggies from sinking down in the bread and from sticking together.

For the bread dough:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 to 4 cups general purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon dry thyme
• 1 teaspoon dry tarragon
• 1/4 cup dried basil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup grated cheese (I used Costco Mexican blend)
  

In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water along with the sugar. Reserving the general purpose flour, add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. Mix well.While using the dough hook (or kneading by hand) add the reserved flour a cup at at time to dough until it's smooth. Incorporate the vegetables into the dough, add more flour if necessary, you want a smooth dough not a wet one.
Once the dough is kneaded enough place it in a greased bowl to rise until double in size. About an hour. Once the dough has risen, punch it down, form it into a round loaf and place on a greased cookie sheet to rise again for about 30 minutes.
Bake in a pre-heated 350ºF oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the sheet and let cool on a wire rack. Let it cool completely before you cut into it.

Please pass the ear.

The other day, Husband and I met some friends at Las Ruinas which is a bar familar within walking distance of our house. When we arrived the table was stacked with all sorts of little dishes of food. Botanas or snacks. As long as you are drinking, the food keeps coming. The variety is amazing, there was pig's ear in adobo, chunks of liver, bulgar wheat, calabasa (a small green pumpkin similar to the a patty pan) in tomato sauce, elbow macaroni in tomato sauce, guacamole, ceviche, thick corn chips, ceviche and I don't remember what else. The elbow macaroni which was cooked in the sauce,sopa seca style was tasteless, the rest of the food was good. The pig's ear was spicy, and chewy, I tasted it, decided it was too picante, and then found myself eating more. Spicy food is like that, I think chiles are addicting. The guacamole was excellant and the liver was pretty good too. I never did get any ceviche but I heard that it was up to the same standards. The waiter also passed around a list of specialties, we each got to choose an entree for themselves. I ordered the queso relleno and Husband got kibis.
As the party slowed down the waiter started putting dishes of mango and jicama on the table, with the ever present chili and lime.
After two hours the party broke up, and we walked home, well satisfied.