November 9, 2009

Tasty Kale with Peanut Sauce

Posted by tastymealsathome under East, Tasty Kale with Peanut Sauce | Tags: , , , |
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Over the weekend, K and I made the decision to support our local farmers and participate in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box program. This is a really cool program where for just $15.00 a week, we get a box full of organic produce directly from the local farmers in the Los Angeles community. This is what our box looked like:

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Here is another picture:

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The box was full of wonderful goodies–a lot of which we never cooked with before. Very exciting!!! :)

Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised to see the box contained several types of kale in it. Immediately, we decided to recreate one of our favorite kale dishes–Kale with Peanut Sauce. This is a popular side dish served at our local macrobiotic restaurant, M Chaya. We love the slight chewiness of the kale with the creamy and spicy peanut sauce. It is sooo delicious! :) Of course, you are not limited to just kale–spinach, swiss chard, collard greens, green beans, and galore!

Here is our own rendition of this tasty dish:

What you Need:

  • kale (3-4 bunches to make a good size portion)
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 1 tablespoon of peanut butter (any kind)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon of ponzu sauce (soy sauce with citric flavor..may substitute with regular soy and vinegar)
  • 2 teaspoons Japanese red pepper flakes (substitute with cayenne)
  • 1/2 tablespoon of diced ginger
  • 2 cloves of diced garlic

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What to Do:

First, boil water in a deep pot and season with salt. While the water is heating up, clean the kale and de-stem the kale.

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Once the water is boiling, boil the kale for about a couple minutes. Have a pot with cold water handy. Remove the kale and put it into the pot with cold water. The purpose of this is to shock the veggie–stop the cooking and preserve the color. Next, squeeze the water out of the kale and transfer it to a mixing bowl. The kale will look weird–all clumped up. That is ok. Just ‘declump’ it with your fingers.

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Ok, now it’s time to make the sauce. In a blender/food processor, blend the garlic and ginger together. Then add in the peanut butter, ponzu, honey, spice, and blend. Taste the sauce. We want a creamy, not too thick consistency, so add in a couple spoonfuls of water to thin it out, if it’s too thick.

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Ok! Now, all we need to do is mix the sauce into the kale. :)

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We drizzled on some more sauce for looks. You can also top it off with some chopped peanuts for extra bang!.

ENJOY!!!!

 

October 25, 2009

Tasty and Simple Puttanesca Pasta

Posted by tastymealsathome under Tasty Puttanesca Pasta, West | Tags: , , , , |
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Here is a tasty first: Pasta! We have pasta frequently at home because it is easy to make in bulk. :) This is a pasta dish that we are currently obsessed over: puttanesca! We first had it at a tiny Italian restaurant at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. We had it again at a lovely place during a trip to Santa Barbara….and had it again in restaurants in LA…and again at home….and again at home…and, oh you get the idea! We are puttanesca crazy. Why? It is full of our favorite things: olives, tomato, anchovies, garlic, capers, and spicy heat! :) :) This dish is definitely not a boring one for sure! Surprisingly, it is not too difficult to make as well! Yay! Let’s get started!

*NOTE: We made this dish for dinner, and the pictures came out very yellow and dark under our crappy kitchen lights. We tried to brighten it up a little, but it didn’t come out all too pretty. Our sincere apologies!

What You Need:

  • Box of pasta (any kind will do)
  • 28 oz can of whole tomato
  • ~20 pitted olives (we used mostly kalamata olives)
  • 4-5 filets of canned anchovy
  • 1 tbsp of red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup capers
  • white wine (just a ’splash’)
  • olive oil
  • 3 garlic-sliced
  • dry oregano
  • salt and pepper
  • parmesan cheese
  • optional: fresh basil

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What to Do:

First, slice the olives in half, length wide. Next, in a large pot, heat up about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Saute in the garlic slices. Then, add in the pepper flakes.

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Then, add in the anchovies, capers, and olives and saute.

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Next, add in splash of wine and deglaze the pot.

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Then, stir in the can of tomatoes. Add about 1/2 a tablespoon of oregano.   Try to break up the tomatoes with a spoon. Bring to boil and simmer.

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While the sauce is simmering, boil the pasta in salted water. Once the pasta is done, add it to the pot of sauce and stir!. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with basil and parmesan cheese. You’re done! Easy, eh? :)

Enjoy!

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September 22, 2009

Tasty Madeleines

Posted by tastymealsathome under West, tasty madeleines | Tags: , , , , , , |
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Hello Everyone! Here is a classy yet delicious snack that you can enjoy with a good ol’ cup of tea/coffee–madelines! A few years ago, H went on a trip to Paris and returned with a new love for great parisian pastries. This past weekend, we went out and purchased a madeleine pan and got to work. After many failed attempts, (we must have made at least 5 batches!) we are pretty satisfied with what we have come up with. :) So, what do you say? Let’s give it a try!

What You Need:

  • Madeleine pan – there are mini size ones as well as the regular large size ones. We used a mini pan.
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • powder sugar for dusting (optional)

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What to Do:

First off, combine the eggs and sugar and whip till smooth. It will be easier to use an electric mixer.

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Next, add in the salt, honey, and vanilla.

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Add baking powder into a separate bowl. Sift flour into the bowl as well. Using a rubber spatula, add the mixture into increments and mix until all is incorporated and smooth.

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Melt the butter and add into the batter. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven at 375 F. Generously grease the madeleine pan. You want the cookies to come out in one piece with the shell like design, so yes..grease it up!

Now, is the somewhat tricky part. In order to fill the pan, we found it easiest to use a makeshift pastry bag. We tried to fill it up by just spooning the batter onto the pan, but it was difficult to do. Since we did not have a pastry bag handy, we just used a regular ziploc bag and filled it with batter. We then cut a small corner of the bag off, and wa la–makeshift pastry bag.

It is important to not to overfill the molds! We filled ours to the top initially and ended up with huge hunchback looking madeleines. We later found out that it is best to fill it up a little more than 1/2 way:

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Once you have filled the pans, tap the pan onto a working surface to roughly distribute the batter into the molds. Then, slip it into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes…it may take longer depending on the oven that you have. When using our oven, 10 minutes was too long, so keep watch around the 8 minute mark to figure out how long is long enough. These cookies are done once the edges are golden brown.

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Now, if you want to make these cookies a little more decadent, sprinkle on some powdered sugar!

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ENJOY! :) This recipe makes about 30 mini madeleines.

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