Cooking wins

CP and I have been doing some cooking recently. Here are some of our wins:

Thai noodles with beef and basil

Ingredients:

10 ounces dried flat rice noodles
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 bunch basil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3/4 pound beef bottom round steak (pepper steak cut), cut into thin strips
5 green onions, green parts only, thinly sliced
2 limes, cut into wedges

Directions:

Cook noodles according to package instructions, then drain and cool. In a large bowl, mix noodles with 1 tablespoon of the oil and soy sauce. Set aside.

Roughly chop 8 large basil leaves, then transfer them to a mortar. Add garlic, chiles and a pinch of salt and grind with a pestle until a paste forms. (NOTE: I did not use a mortar and pestle. You can easily make a paste by chopping up the ingredients and pouring a little salt on the mixture. Then continue to chop. Also, instead of chiles, I used a heaping tablespoon of Singapore hot sauce that CP made last year.)

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and the fish sauce together; set aside.

(NOTE: I sautéed zucchini in a little oil at this point to add to the dish.)

Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Add garlic-serrano paste and cook, stirring often, for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Season beef with salt and pepper, then add to skillet and cook until brown, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes. Add sugar mixture, stir and let cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Add noodles and toss until heated through, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons water if it appears sauce is drying up. Once heated through, remove skillet from the heat and add remaining basil leaves. Toss again until lightly wilted, then serve immediately, garnished with green onions and lime wedges.

I would highly recommend this recipe. It was tasty and very easy to make!

Raspberry jam (recipe from this book)

Ingredients:

5 tart apples, stem and blossom removed, chopped coarsely
1 lemon, finely chopped
Water
4 cups raspberries
5 cups granulated sugar

Directions:

Combine apples, lemon and a little water to prevent sticking. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat, partially cover and boil gently, stirring occasionally for 20 min until mixture is soft. Transfer batches to a fine sieve (we used a food mill). Press through sieve to yield 2 cups applesauce. Discard cores and skins.

Prepare canner, lids and jars. (Don't know how to can? This website tells you how.)

Combine applesauce, raspberries and sugar. Boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil until mixture thickens, about 20 min. Remove from heat and skin off foam.

Ladle jam into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim then screw on lid. Process in boiling water for 10 min.

Yum! We currently have 8 jars of our new jam sitting in our basement!

Zucchini quinoa cakes

I don’t have the recipe because CP made this up, but it was delicious! These cakes were pictured prior to baking.

(Not quite a cooking win, but still related to food.) This is our new compost bucket that sits on our kitchen countertop. We put all of our scraps in there- veggie stems, banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc (no citrus and no animal parts) and then dump it at least a few times a week in our neighbor's compost bin. It's made out of bamboo and surprisingly doesn't stink! When we move into our new house we plan on getting a compost bin of our own!