Spicy Thai Noodles

Bored with the regular menu, I made some spicy Thai noodles for dinner last week.

 This trick is one of the coolest things I have learned in the kitchen in a long time!  This is how you get  consistent spiciness to a dish:

Heat 1/2 cup sesame oil with 1-2 Tablespoons of crushed red pepper over medium heat.  

Separate the crushed red pepper, discard, and keep the now spicy oil.

(I used only 1T and it was perfect. Normally I enjoy a medium spice level in Asian and Indian cooking and I would pin this amount right on the nose in that category.)

Next add 6 Tablespoons of teriyaki sauce and a few Tablespoons of honey.

(A trick my mom taught me years ago is to counter act spicy food, sweeten it with sugar or honey.  So at this point, add more or less honey to balance out the spiciness of the oil - if you feel like you added too much pepper, add more honey and vice versa)

 The cooking instructions for the chow mein noodles told me to boil rapidly and to let it over boil, add a cup of cold water then cook until it over boils a 2nd time, 6-7 minutes.  Any type of noodle will do here, really.

Coat the cooked noodles with the sauce.  If you want to serve this cold, refrigerate the noodles before tossing with your toppings and do so just before serving.   Otherwise, keep on going.

Toss with chopped peanuts, shredded carrot, and sliced green onions then top with fresh cilantro once dished.

Enjoy hot or cold with a nice, crisp beer (if over 21, of course) to balance out the spicy.  Yum!

Black Bean Enchiladas

Last night we had our good friend over for dinner and served black bean enchiladas. So yummy and easy to make!

I cooked the beans all day in the crockpot with a half an onion, chopped, 2 slices of cooked bacon & their drippings, and about 5 cups of water. (I did a quick soak in the morning by boiling the beans for about 10 min on the stove.)

Mixed the beans with some enchilada sauce and mozzarella cheese for the filling.

Cooked 11 tortillas in oil to soften and bring out the corn flavor (this batch I used Jalapeño Cilantro corn tortillas - they gave it a nice kick!) and set them aside on paper towels.

Filled each tortilla with 1/4 c o the bean mixture, rolled, and placed open side down in a 9x13 pan.

Top each enchilada with a little bit of sauce and then make a line of mozzarella cheese on top of all of the enchiladas. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 min.

GREAT to make ahead so you can entertain for a while before eating. I timed it to be ready when our guest was to arrive at 6:30 but just turned off the oven and let them sit until we were ready to eat around 7 or so.

Another favorite in my recipe box!

The Famous "Sunday Roast"

This post is technically from my old blog, but it is one of my proudest and I just so happen to be doing one today.

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To date a man, you need to know how to cook. To date an English man, you need to know how to cook a roast and how to perfect Yorkshire Puddings (basically a popover). Ladies, I think this meal goes down in history as a sure fire way to win a man's heart through his stomach!

Here is my step by step to eat about 5:15...

1:15 preheat oven to 325. Prep roast in pan ( I used a 3.2 lb chuck roast - look for a "manager's special" if you can find it to get a nice, tender piece of meat). Salt and pepper each side and add about a half cup of water into the bottom of the pan. Cover.

1:30ish put in the roast on the center rack

Do all of your prep work - clean and cut veggies & place in the steamer so they're ready to go, get all of your ingredients sorted for the yorkshires, cut up potatoes and place on a baking sheet covered in foil insides down, place sprigs of Rosemary and chunks of garlic throughout the pan and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to cook. 

2:30 prepare yorkshire batter (see below)

3 turn roast over, recover and put in about another hour 

4 pull out roast ( if ready) and set oven to 400.  Keep roast covered in the pan so it can set and stay nice and warm.

4:20 put in potatoes on the top rack and Yorkshire pan on the center

4:30 take out Yorkshire pan and add mixture. (See below for super important details!)

4:45 Turn on the steamer and steam veggies for 10-15 minutes

5 take out potatoes, quickly!!!!!!!!!! (and carefully!!!!!!!)

Make gravy and let simmer (we just use a brown gravy packet and or granules)

5:10 yorkshires should be done

By 5:15 you'll have a heavenly meal on your plate. Enjoy!!

Siri comes in really handy to remind you to do all of these at the right time :)

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Yorkshire pudding Recipe (if you cannot find a box mix - in the states they're sold at Fresh and Easy):

2c flour

1tsp coarse salt

cracked pepper

3c milk

4 eggs

Lard (or saved pan drippings from last week's roast)

Mix 2 cups flour, 1 tsp coarse salt and a little bit of cracked pepper. Create a well in the center.
Measure out about 3 cups milk. (2% is good. Original recipe called for whole) Pour about 1/4 of the milk and 4 eggs, beaten into the well and whisk together. Fold in the flour. Add about half of the remaining milk and beat with an electric mixer on low until liquid. Cover and put in the refridgerator for about 1 1/2 hrs at room temp. Set remaining milk aside.  **the key to perfect puddings is cold batter & hot lard**

Put about a tsp of lard in the bottom of each cup of a 12 cup muffin tin. Once you pull the roast out, turn up the heat to 400 an put in the potatoes and the Yorkshire pan. Now, slowly add more milk to your batter and mix with the electric mixer on low. You may not need all the milk, just get it to the consistency of cream. I used a total of 2 1/2 cups or so.

About 10 minutes in, take out the pan and fill each tin about 3/4 of the way. Put in the oven on the center rack, centered pefectly, shut the door, and do NOT open it for anything. Your potatoes will be just
fine unturned. 

They should begin to rise after about 10 min or less and continue until about 20 or 30 in. They are done when they are golden brown. If they start to fall when you open the door, they aren't done so close
the door quickly!!! Should take about 40 minutes.