Tom Kha Gai

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Tom Kha Gai

This is one of my favorite Thai entrees. This soup is so full of flavors I love it. This is what got me loving Thai food in the first place years ago. My brother introduced me to Thai food When I was 11. He went on his mission to San Jose, Ca and spoke Thai and met lots of Thai people and of course they all cooked for him. So when he came home he took me to a Thai restaurant called Chars. It was so good. Me being 11 of course loved the Thai coconut Ice ceam sprinkled with chopped peanuts and coconut. Delish! I make that too, It’s Easy and great for dessert after spicy Thai food. Anyway Here’s my version of this wonderful soup.

Not a great picture but it’s yummy I swear. You see the chicken and mushrooms and yummy flecks of chili.

Tom Kha Gai
2 cans of coconut milk
2t. palm sugar or brown sugar
3 stalks of lemon grass bottom 1/3 trimmed and outer leaves discarded chopped in chunks and bruised with your knife
2 shallots diced
1/2c. of cilantro
4c. chicken broth
5 1 inch chunks of galanga ( you can get this asian ginger at asian markets)
5 kaffir lime leaves crushed/bruised
3T. red curry paste or more if you like it spicier.
2-3 thai chilies bruised
Mix altogether over stove and bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook 30 minutes.
If you want you can remove the leaves, galanga and lemon grass but traditionally they leave it in and you pick them out as you eat the soup.
Add: 2-3 Chicken breast diced
8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
simmer until chicken is done about 8 minutes.
Add: 3Tbsp of fish sauce simmer 1 minute more then serve with cilantro and sliced green onions
It should have a balanced taste of salty, sweet, creamy, herbal, sour and spicy.  You can add fish sauce to make it saltier, sugar obviously for sweet, coconut milk for creamy and if its too spicy it will cool it down. Chilis for heat and sour will be from lemongrass, lime leaves and if you need more sour notes add 1-2 T. lime juice.
Enjoy

Another Meal Using your Cauliflower Rice – Cauliflower Pizza Crust

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This was so good! I’m totally hooked. Healthy too! You can put whatever toppings you like on it. I put roasted eggplant, oven dried tomatoes, green onions and fresh mozarella with a little balsamic vinegar drizzled over after baking. I almost ate the whole dang pizza myself. It was that good and almost guilt free.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Eggplant, fresh Mozzarella, and Oven Dried Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400

1 batch of cauliflower rice (Big tip: put “rice” in a thin cloth and squeeze out all the excess water) This helps so crust isn’t soggy.

1 egg

1/3c. goat cheese

1t. oregano dried

1/4 t. salt

Mix altogether until well combined and spread out on a parchment lined baking pan. Press the dough into a crust about 1/3″ thick making edges a little thicker.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown around edges and spots through out rest.

Put on the toppings.

Fresh Mozzarella cheese

2 green onions sliced

Half an eggplant diced 1 inch cubes and sprnkled lightly with salt

Mix 2T. olive oil, 1 T. cider vinegar, 1T, agave nectar, 2 Garlic cloves chopped, 1/4. t. cumin, 1/2 t. smoked paprika, and a sqeeze of lemon juice

Pour mixture over eggplant and roast at 400 for 20 – 30 minutes or until tender.

Oven dried roasted tomoatoes

balsamic vinegar

I put on a thin layer of tomato pizza sauce then I layered slices of mozzarella cheese, the roasted eggplant, the green onions, the oven dried tomatoes and then put back in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Slice and Serve.

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Crust recipe from detoxinista.com

Eggplant adaped from the kitchn

Jambalaya

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My family loves this dish and so does everyone that eats it. I based this recipe from  a cookbook recommended to me by a chef in New Orleans.  It was all delish!
Chicken,Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya
1lb. andouille or smoked spicy sausage sliced into 1/4 inch slices
3 chicken breasts cut up into bite size chunks
2c. onions chopped
1 green and 1 red pepper chopped
1 large tomato copped
4 celery stalks chopped
3T. oil
4 T. flour
1/2  6 oz can tomato paste
1 can of beef consomme’ (if you don’t have it you beef broth)
2 bay leaves
1t. basil and thyme
1/2t. chili powder
1/4t. red pepper
pinch of black pepper
1t. salt
1/4t. cayenne
11/2c. chicken stock
3 cloves garlic minced
1c. chopped okra
11/2c. med. shrimp
6 green onions chopped
3T. parsley choppedBrown the sausage in 1t. oil. Remove and set aside. Place chicken in pan and brown very well set aside. Add 3T. oil and 4T. flour and make a medium brown roux whisking until flour is all combined and turns brown. Add chopped vegetables except green onions and parsley and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, Add tomato paste and stir well, then add beef consomme and gradually add 11/2c. chicken stock while stirring. Bring to a slow boil, then add meats stirring well. Add seasonings and garlic and let simmer 15 minutes You can add rice at this point with 2-3 cans of broth and cook 25-30 minutes longer covered or do as I do and keep it as a sauce/topping to put on top of rice. I do this only because I am a big saucey girl. I love the sauce so I want more of it rather than having the rice soak it up.  I add green onions, parsley and a couple dashes of tabasco right at end. Serve over rice. Serves 8-10 people.

Menu Planning – Staying Organized

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Making a menu for your dinners not only helps you stay organized it helps you save money.

 I try to sit down twice a month to plan out my dinners and grocery lists.
By doing this it helps you stay organized and not wondering what you’re gonna make for dinner each night especially when your pressed for time.
Keep it in a notebook so that you can also look back for ideas of what to make especially the things you tried that’s new and enjoyed.  Give a rating next to new things, if it didn’t go over well cross it out.  I try to try something new once a week to help broaden my dinner menus plus it also helps you in your cooking skills.
So plan out your weekly menu. Leave a day for leftovers and a day for a night out.  When you have a menu for 2 weeks make up a grocery list of items you need. You will most likely have a fresh produce list that you might have to get each week a long with milk, bread and whatever things you go through quickly, but some produce will last longer than others so plan accordingly for your days and you might not have to go again until second week.
Other than that you can buy everything you need for your menus and won’t end up buying extra stuff that sounds good that you never get around to making or it spoils before you make it. So 2 big shops a month isn’t bad. You will also not spend extra $ when your going shopping hungry and buying all kinds of stuff with good intentions. Also make sure you look through your pantry see what you already have on hand or that’s getting close to expiration and plan meals based on that. Another nice thing about having a menu planned is that if you don’t feel like what is planned for let’s say Monday you can switch days around because you already have the necessities. Another important factor is a well stocked pantry it is a great helper.
Some necessities to always have in your pantry are:
Tomato sauce
Cans Stewed or diced tomatoes
Chicken broth Powder
Beef broth powder
Refried beans
Rice
Pasta of a few kinds
Taco shells
Soy sauce
Large assortment of spices
Coconut milk
Oatmeal
Quinoa
Assortment of beans – can be canned
Worcestershire sauce
 Vinegar, balsamic, red wine, white
bread crumbs
Cornstarch
Cornmeal
Flour
Olive oil
Canola oil
Sesame oil
Salt
Pepper
When I start getting low I just remember to write it on my grocery list then I always have what I need when I need it.
Some of my menus might look like this :
Mon-stuffed flank steak
Teus- fontina chicken with mushroom sauce
Weds-lamb curry
Thurs- left overs
Fri-eat out
Sat-ceviche tostadas
Sun-lasagna
Grocery list
Fontina cheese
Flank steak
Spinach
Mushrooms
Fish
Bell peppers
Avocados
Mozzarella
Cilantro
Romaine
I hope this helps you it has helped me greatly and I have been doing it since I got married.  It has been a valuable time and money saver.

cauliflower rice

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I am pretty much in LOVE! If you love rice and want to eat it without the carbs, try Cauliflower rice!

Need:

Head of cauliflower.

Seasonings. (I used butter, salt and pepper)

Blender/food processor

Microwave safe dish with a lid

What you do:

Cut the cauliflower from the head and cut it into smaller pieces.  Wash and dry the pieces and then put them into the blender/food processor and mix it till it is the size of rice.  Add Cauliflower into microwave safe dish with the lid (nothing else, don’t add water) and microwave for 5 minutes.  When it is done add what ever seasoning  you would like!