Updating recipes

I wanted to give a heads up that I will be revisiting my posts as I go along.  I've realized over the years that frequently people will post/publish a recipe they have made once and never revisit it.  If it didn't come out the second time, you never hear about it.  You have no indication whether the recipe is reproducible or not.  I will go back and revisit these recipes and tell you, oops, I left out something or, shit, this totally didn't work out the second time and offer some reasons why and what to do to make the recipe better.  I can also toss in some pictures, which would be nice.

Basic Thai/Vietnamese stir fry

A big trend lately is Thai/Vietnamese restaurants.  They are all over and provide a food broadly between Indian and Chinese, with some of the spices of Indian cuisine and the sauces of Chinese.  Like most restaurants, I've been generally pretty disappointed with them.  They lack much complexity or flavor, though frequently the springs rolls are pretty yummy.

This recipe is a versatile base for whatever you want to cook up.  Toss in some snow peas, green beans, carrots, napa cabbage, whatever.

I loosely based this on a recipe I found in Mai Pham's "The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking".  The recipes are a bit hit or miss.  I jacked up the amount of sauce, as everyone loves sauce.  Her recipes tend to be a bit dry.

The basil is added with the heat off to preserve the delicate aroma of the basil.  If you heat basil too much, it kills the flavor.  When you preserve the basil flavor, the dish is oh so good.

Key ingredients that I keep around the house more or less constantly:

Fish sauce (nam pla in Thai, nuoc mam in Vietnamese):  They soy sauce of SE Asia.  Very delicious, but make sure not to throw it directly into a hot pan or oil.  It will stink terribly.  It's made basically by stuffing a barrel full of fish, filling it from brine, and letting it age for a while.  Doesn't sound very appetizing, but neither does sausage making, but it still tastes great.  Buy some without any MSG or other artificial ingredients.  Squid brand is a safe bet.  Soy sauce is an OK replacement.

Fresh chili paste (Sambal Oelek):  Basically, ground chilis, vinegar, salt, and maybe garlic.  Super delicious, but hot.  Not fermented, like chinese chili paste.  Good fresh on top of anything or yummy stir fried.  Huy Fong (the makers of Sriracha) make a tasty variety that is widely available.  Pretty flipping hot, so be careful with it.

Quorn: great veggie replacement for meat.  Tastes like a chicken crossed with a mushroom.  Kroger seems to have 2 for 1 deals once in a while on this.  Much better than a lot of the meat replacements, which tend toward execrable.

Basil: key in this recipe.  Thai or regular work fine.

Oyster sauce: great source of umami.  Not fishy like fish sauce.  They have mushruoom oyster sauce without oysters as well.  Seems to taste fine.

 I seem to recall adding Recaito to this, but I can't remember anymore.  I would have been about a tablespoon.  The cilantro/pepper flavor would be appropriate.

Basic Thai Stir Fry:

1 lb Quorn or chicken
2 Tbsp cooking oil (canola, etc)
1/2 - 2 Tbsp chili paste
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
 1-2 shallots, chopped
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup broth (veggie or chicken)
1 chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped basil, Thai or Western
Optional: lemongrass (add with sauce), snow peas, other veggies in place of pepper.  Precook them so that they are ready to go when you add them.

1) Heat oil over medium heat (if you heat it too hot, the chili paste might gas you).
2) Add garlic, shallots, and chili paste and cook ~30 seconds
3) Add onions and fry a couple of minutes, until softened.
4) Add protein and fry until cooked.  You might need to dial up the heat.
5) Deglaze the pan with the broth.
6) Add the rest of the sauces and heat through
7) Turn off the heat, mix in the basil.
8) Serve over white rice.

Black Beans and Millet

I bought some millet a couple of months back, but haven't seen too many recipes using it, so I decided to construct my own based on a beans and rice recipe.

Millet is one of those super-grains that was more or less forgotten in America until recent times, a bit like quinoa.  As agriculture moved to greater yields over the years, older crops like millet got forgotten.  Industrialized nations moved to corn, wheat, and rice, giving the biggest bang for the buck.  Only in less developed regions, like Africa, India, and South America did the traditional crops linger.  Millet is an ancient grain and they find records of it from archaeological sites 10,000 years old.  It is gluten free and you can bake flatbreads from it, supposedly.  With some protein, you can bake it into more traditional breads.

I started pretty basic in the recipe, but added more components to give it more complexity.  One great ingredient to have around the house is chipotle chlilis.  Frequently you can find them canned en adobo in the Mexican section of the grocery.  I just frozen them and scoop out a chili when I want some.  One is enough to flavor a whole dish.  I really like the recaito, cumin, chipotle chili, and Mexican oregano blend in the dish.

You'll want to pay attention to the moisture level and the cooking of the millet.  My experience was that millet took about 30 minutes to cook.  It is a bit gummy and chewy until it is done.

Save the extra bean broth.  It is a great addition to stews and a good basis for cooking.  Add it along with broth to add additional flavor and nutrition.

Mexican oregano is great stuff.  It is like super-oregano, bursting with aroma and flavor.  Traditional oregano is a fine replacement.  Make sure to crumble it with your hands before addition to release the flavor.  The flavor components are oil-soluble, so it is good to added directly to the stir fry.

You can soak the beans overnight in salt water to speed the cooking.  You can probably get away with canned beans in place of the dried, but you will need to replace the bean broth with additional veggie broth.

Black Beans and Millet

 1/2 lb dried black beans
1 bay leaf
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup millet
2 cups broth (veggie or chicken)
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chili (jalapeno or serrano), chopped
1/4 cup recaito
1 tsp ground cumin
1 chipotle chili

1) Cover beans with water to the depth of 2 inches (the length of a small eating spoon)
2) Add 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano, and 1/4 tsp baking soda
3) Simmer covered until beans are cooked (~1h)
4) Drain, reserving broth.  Remove bay leaf.
5) Bring 1 cup millet and 2 cups broth to a boil, simmer ~30 minutes, until millet is mostly cooked.  Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

6) Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat
7) Fry garlic, onion, and 1/2 tsp oregano until the onion has softened, ~ 10 minutes.
8) Add recaito, chili, and cumin and fry 5 minutes
9) Add millet, beans, 1/2 cup of bean broth, and chipotle chili.
10) Simmer until cooked through.  Add additional bean broth to keep moist.
11) Splash with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add salt to taste (I added around 1/2 Tbsp), and serve.