Enjoy the Delicious

This was definitely the weekend for familiar and comforting food.  On a mission to not consume a single salad, I decided to throw together a dish reminiscent of my childhood.

Cooking a curry always makes me think of my mother.  I'll never do it as well as she did, but I do find a certain affinity with my Asian heritage as I try to recreate and remember her dishes.  I think of the creaminess of coconut milk paired with the heat of red chillies and the mellowness of  steeped ginger combined with the sticky rice noodles as the ultimate in Asian-style comfort food.  Throw in a few shrimp and you have yourself a little bit of luxury too!

Shrimp Curry over Rice Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 can of coconut milk
• 2 cups of chicken or seafood stock
• 4 spring onions
• 1/2 shallot
• Curry powder
• 1 red chili
• A piece of ginger, peeled
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, cut in half - ends cut off
• 1/2 a lime
• 2T chili paste
• Vegetable oil
• Rice noodles
• 1/2 lb shrimp

Preparation

First and foremost, an absolute must when cooking with curry powder is to cook the curry powder first.  Never, and I mean never just add the powder straight into your dish.  Cooking it will ensure that there is no grit or chalkiness and it will also add depth of flavor.  It's very simple, just coat a pan with vegetable oil and add 4-5 teaspoons of curry powder.

Stir it together for a few minutes and then add half a chopped shallot to the pan.  Next dice the red chili and add that, along with just a few seeds, to the mix.  Stir it all together for a few minutes then add a can of coconut milk, the stock, a cube of fresh ginger, the lemongrass and the lime and it's juice to your pot.  Throw in a few pinches of salt and a teaspoon of fish sauce (optional).  Simmer on a very low heat for 30 minutes to allow all the flavors to marry together.  The curry might seem a tad "thin" but once the rice noodles are added it will thicken up.

Next prepare your rice noodles per the package instructions and then cook your shrimp.  Heat some oil in a skillet and season the shrimp with salt and pepper.  Cook until the crustacean are opaque...about 3-5 minutes, if that.  Now, add the chopped spring onions to your curry as well as the shrimp along with the chili paste.  I use the Asian chili/garlic sauce in the bottle with the green top.  In this recipe I only call for 2T of chili paste but truth be told I use a hell of a lot more.  I love the hot, I'm predispositioned for it.  Nothing makes me happier than the hot.  You using more than the 2T will make me happy too.  Now, let it all bubble for a few minutes.

The lemongrass and ginger are only for flavor so be sure not to serve them in your bowl.

Presentation

Place a pile of the rice ribbons in a bowl and spoon over the mellow curry sauce.  Drop in the shrimp and add the final touch, a wedge of lime for flavor.

My sun worshipping friends will hate me for saying this, but I'm loving the weather in NYC today:  70F, a light breeze and a sprinkle of rain. Secretly, I'm in full anticipation of autumn and a fuller wind enveloping the air but let's not fool anyone here...I'm really in full anticipation of autumn meals.  I've had it with salads.  I need something to stick to my bones.

I am super lazy today, I just cannot get it together.  The thought of leaving the house is giving me the scares but I'm hungry!  I haven't shopped this week so all I have are the remnants of last weeks trip to The Essex Street Market and I have absolutely no protein in the fridge.  I figure I should pull it together and run down the street to my favorite one-stop-shop market.

Todays meal was inspired by a meal I saw Nigella Lawson prepare on Nigella Bites.  I'm using skirt steak bought from Jeffrey, at Jeffrey's Meat Market and making the mash with a few additions.  This delicious meal is pulled together in about half an hour and it's just what you need on a rainy afternoon.

Skirt Steak with Cannellini Mash

Cut yourself a piece of skirt steak and season it with olive oil, salt, pepper, a rub of garlic, thyme and a squeeze of lemon.  Let it sit for about 15 minutes and then cook it for 3 minutes on each side.  Let it rest and then add another squeeze of lemon before serving.

While your meat is marinating, cook a can of cannellini beans.  Add the can of beans to your pot (I don't drain the liquid) and just throw in 2 smashed cloves of garlic, a few thyme sprigs, olive oil, a generous amount of salt and pepper.  I also like to squeeze in the juice of a quarter of a lemon and then throw in the lemon piece.  The flavors will all infuse together and it will be beautifully aromatic.  Simmer on a very low heat for about 15-20 minutes.  Check your seasoning and then mash it together, adding additional olive oil as necessary

Presentation

Spoon the cannellini mash on your plate and top with tomatoes tossed in a little salt and olive oil.  Slice your steak against the grain and add that to the mix and dig in to this perfect lazy day meal.

My mother was an amazing cook.  Throughout my childhood I cannot remember a single bad meal served at her table.  Everything was perfectly seasoned and balanced and unbelievably comforting.  She made delicious curries, casseroles, roast dinners and pasta dishes; even her baking skills were amazing.  I can remember her measuring out her cake batter ingredients and mixing it to perfection - all by hand!

One of my favorite meals was the chicken salad sandwich she put in my lunchbox.  She prepared the chicken and mixed it carefully with just the right amount of mayonnaise and always added juicy ripe tomatoes to the creation.  I was in heaven at finding this perfect creation to sate me during the midday break.

This afternoon I pay culinary hommage to my mother by creating a delicious update on her classic chicken salad sandwich.

Chicken Salad Wrap

Ingredients:

• 2 large skin-on chicken breasts, preferably with the bone in
• 3 T Greek yoghurt
• 2 T mayo
• 1 1/2 cups of halved seedless red grapes
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• 2 pinches of chopped tarragon
• Olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon

Method:

Start by seasoning the chicken with salt, pepper a shake of olive oil and lemon.  Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes at 400F.  When the chicken is done, let it rest, remove the skin (and eat it!) then remove the meat from the bones and run a knfe through it to make bite-sized pieces.  These beautiful chicken pieces are organic breasts from Jeffrey's Meat Market in the Essex Street Market and they are succulent and delicious.

Mix together the yoghurt and mayo then fold in the grapes, onions, tarragon and chicken.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Presentation:

Spoon the creamy, cool mixture onto flatbread, roll and tuck in.

New York City is a big place with a lot of big food.  When I hear that a restaurant has "the best" of something I'm usually a little skeptical and, as much as I love to eat, I am in no way a connoisseur of any particular type of food; if it tastes good, I'll eat it.

My friend Jake is the ultimate persnickety eater and drinker.  On a recent trip to a pub, he took it upon himself to educate the bartender on the sub par pint of Boddingtons she poured, pointing out that this particular establishment was not using the required nitrogen in its tap.  So when I got the word that we would be lunching at Keste Pizza & Vino, recently written up in Time Out as having the best pizza in The City, I knew we were in for a little adventure and a lot of gastronomic critique.

Continue to Enjoy "Pizza Napolentani"

This is my signature dish.  Dinner parties, potlucks, home alone, whatever.  It's so simple and packs a huge flavor punch.

I used tilapia but feel free to use any flaky white fish; monkfish works great too.

Continue to Enjoy "Fresh Summer Eating"