Tonight I felt like Thai food, Though truth be told I've craved Thai for a while. So for dinner for myself, my cousin, and a friend we chose to make A veggie and noodle stirfry with peanut sauce. We made the sauce from scratch, tasting as we went along. It was pretty tasty.
Why are these measurements in Imperial? Because I honestly don't know exactly how much we used. I only have a rough guess, fortunately I am very good at eyeballing things. So my advice to people who want to try this recipie: Taste it Constantly and Adjust! This sauce can be made with any damn ingredients but Short of the Sriacha I make no promises that the ingredients you have at home and the ingredients I had will have the same effect at the same quantity. These are good guesses at best, though they should be give or take what you're looking for as an end product.
1 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Smooth Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Soya Sauce
1/4 Cup Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sweet Chili Sauce
The Juice of Half a Lime
1 Teaspoon of Yellow Chili Paste
1 Tablespoon of Sriacha Chili Sauce
4 Tablespoons of Chopped Cilantro
Splash of Rice wine (Optional)
First get a bowl and a fairly sturdy whisk. Put your peanut butter in the bowl, add the Soya sauce, and whisk until it is incorperated, after this add the vinegar(I used malt, but the ideal would be rice or rice wine.), and the Sweet Chili Sauce, and whisk to combine. Add the Juice of half a lime and WHISK AGAIN!!!!!
Now we're at the tasting stage, check to see if it's too/or not enough: salty, sour, sweet, peanutty. If it isn't Adjust! If by adjusting you have to make some more sauce: No worries, it'll keep in the fridge for a least a week in a sealed container. Now: Add about 1 teaspoon of Yellow chili paste and about 1 tablespoon of Chili sauce, if you love spice and heat, add more, this is the bare minimum you need. (remember what I said about tasting?) Add your Cilantro to taste, and maybe add a small splash of rice wine if you're feeling frisky.
There you go, a respectable peanut sauce waiting for some stir fry and noodles.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
In My Humble Opinion: Drink, also known as "BOOOOOOOOOOZZZZEEEEEE! WHYYYYYYY?"
Okay, I am not of the school of thought that says that you cannot have Food without Drink. Nor am I of the school of thought that thinks that Drink is only for the purposes of getting drunk. I am most notably of the school of thought that says that Drink is like any other food/ingredient that should not be over indulged terribly often.
Think of it like Butter or Lard, both worthy ingredients that should be eaten and occasionally indulged in, but not the kind of thing that you want to consume in large quantities all the time unless you're in a situation where you can't get access to it regularly. I am not against the practice of occasional indulgence that leads a person to ordering an occasional buttery croissant to go with their Café-au-lait with extra whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. However, if that's the kind of thing you consume EVERY morning...doesn't it take the magic out of it? I feel that this same principle can be applied toward drinking. I can understand enjoying a nice beer after a hard days work, but I feel that having a beer every day gets you too used to it, which I think destroys the idea itself. You have that beer because it's a special experience that you have as a kind of mental support/reinforcement reward. I see it as an aesthetic accompaniment to what you eat, rarely something to be enjoyed on it's own. Unless it's something special, unless you keep that fifty year old brandy, unless you have that carefully stored Don Peringion, unless you have that one artisan brewed beer, to me it's best an addition to a meal.
Even so, this leads to one of my few pundit-like stances that I will not stand down from: life is too short to settle for crappy booze. I'm a proud Canadian, but I don't drink Molson's Canadian, Why? Because it is Shit! Merde! Schise! Merda! Mierda! Дерьмо! compared to the nice beer that is made in more local breweries. Hell, even compared to the beer made in some of our national chains (Sleeman's). You will never find me willingly drinking what I know to be an inferior tasting beer. People don't willingly drink sub-standard rotgut wine, why should you hold the same kind of standard to your beer?
Adolecents and Adults have tried to convince me of one particular case: If you're going to get wasted why spend the extra money? I have a question for them: Why would I want to get violently ill by drinking good beer? In all honesty I don't wish to get wasted often, I don't particularly feel the need to get particularly drunk very often, I enjoy the mild buzz I receive after a few drinks but I feel that is the extent of my interest most of the time I'm casually drinking. I just don't see the complete appeal in getting drunk for no better reason than the need for entertainment at the cost of your liver.
Why am I talking about reasons to drink more than the Aesthetics of drinking? Because I don't think this issue has been addressed adequately. As a general rule, drink is talked about with the assumption that the people drinking it only care about the taste and will appreciate the more esoteric aspects of the wine or beer. Sorry Chums! Fat Bloody Chance! These people do exist, but on the whole as a culture these things really aren't being hammered into us. It's assumed that we'll learn, but for many people they don't! That's what bothers me.
Personally there are four occasions where I will allow myself to drink to excess: Celebrating a birth, Honouring the dead, Celebrating a wedding, or saying goodbye for a long time. Even then I may not drink very much. If the Drink is not a part of the meal, I just drink enough to be more sociable, that's it, for two reasons: 1) I like being in control, and 2) I actually like enjoying the taste. Bare this in mind.
Think of it like Butter or Lard, both worthy ingredients that should be eaten and occasionally indulged in, but not the kind of thing that you want to consume in large quantities all the time unless you're in a situation where you can't get access to it regularly. I am not against the practice of occasional indulgence that leads a person to ordering an occasional buttery croissant to go with their Café-au-lait with extra whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. However, if that's the kind of thing you consume EVERY morning...doesn't it take the magic out of it? I feel that this same principle can be applied toward drinking. I can understand enjoying a nice beer after a hard days work, but I feel that having a beer every day gets you too used to it, which I think destroys the idea itself. You have that beer because it's a special experience that you have as a kind of mental support/reinforcement reward. I see it as an aesthetic accompaniment to what you eat, rarely something to be enjoyed on it's own. Unless it's something special, unless you keep that fifty year old brandy, unless you have that carefully stored Don Peringion, unless you have that one artisan brewed beer, to me it's best an addition to a meal.
Even so, this leads to one of my few pundit-like stances that I will not stand down from: life is too short to settle for crappy booze. I'm a proud Canadian, but I don't drink Molson's Canadian, Why? Because it is Shit! Merde! Schise! Merda! Mierda! Дерьмо! compared to the nice beer that is made in more local breweries. Hell, even compared to the beer made in some of our national chains (Sleeman's). You will never find me willingly drinking what I know to be an inferior tasting beer. People don't willingly drink sub-standard rotgut wine, why should you hold the same kind of standard to your beer?
Adolecents and Adults have tried to convince me of one particular case: If you're going to get wasted why spend the extra money? I have a question for them: Why would I want to get violently ill by drinking good beer? In all honesty I don't wish to get wasted often, I don't particularly feel the need to get particularly drunk very often, I enjoy the mild buzz I receive after a few drinks but I feel that is the extent of my interest most of the time I'm casually drinking. I just don't see the complete appeal in getting drunk for no better reason than the need for entertainment at the cost of your liver.
Why am I talking about reasons to drink more than the Aesthetics of drinking? Because I don't think this issue has been addressed adequately. As a general rule, drink is talked about with the assumption that the people drinking it only care about the taste and will appreciate the more esoteric aspects of the wine or beer. Sorry Chums! Fat Bloody Chance! These people do exist, but on the whole as a culture these things really aren't being hammered into us. It's assumed that we'll learn, but for many people they don't! That's what bothers me.
Personally there are four occasions where I will allow myself to drink to excess: Celebrating a birth, Honouring the dead, Celebrating a wedding, or saying goodbye for a long time. Even then I may not drink very much. If the Drink is not a part of the meal, I just drink enough to be more sociable, that's it, for two reasons: 1) I like being in control, and 2) I actually like enjoying the taste. Bare this in mind.
Monday, May 5, 2008
so, some food, some life...dare I go into Love? ...Drink can wait.
Anthony Bourdain said food is sex. In the same note the kind of stuff I write about in this blog could be considered pornography. But I'd like to explore yet another angle on this metaphor, the right meal between the right people could be considered a form of making love. If you're mind immediately went to the spaghetti scene in lady and the tramp you're close. Why is the candlelight dinner between two people considered such an effective romantic cliché? It's the fact that two people are allowed the privacy to just be with each other and experience each other's personality through the medium of the meal.
I didn't bring this up to remind you about the sex part, trust me after a romantic dinner that part usually takes care of it self, I'm more talking about the intimacy of sharing a meal. So you can stop thinking of food=sex, I'm talking meals=Intimacy, and I feel that this is something that most people either understand or ignore. There is great intimacy in sharing a meal, and I admit I hate eating on my own unless it's a special occasion. Sharing a meal with someone allows you to sit down and talk openly...most of the time. Though I admit a meal's intimacy outside of the romantic scope is best understood in the scope of a carefully prepared meal shared between a loving family, no matter the kind.
Last year, before the new year, my friends and I held a dinner in my house, it was a get together with food prepared lovingly for a group of friends to meet and share the experience of the meal. Were any of us related? No. Then why do I consider it one of the most special meals I've experienced in my life? Because we wanted to get together, because all that mattered was the food and each other's company.
Food prepared, served, and shared without love is just that, food. Food that is pepared, served, and shared with love, no matter how humble the fare may be, is a meal.
I didn't bring this up to remind you about the sex part, trust me after a romantic dinner that part usually takes care of it self, I'm more talking about the intimacy of sharing a meal. So you can stop thinking of food=sex, I'm talking meals=Intimacy, and I feel that this is something that most people either understand or ignore. There is great intimacy in sharing a meal, and I admit I hate eating on my own unless it's a special occasion. Sharing a meal with someone allows you to sit down and talk openly...most of the time. Though I admit a meal's intimacy outside of the romantic scope is best understood in the scope of a carefully prepared meal shared between a loving family, no matter the kind.
Last year, before the new year, my friends and I held a dinner in my house, it was a get together with food prepared lovingly for a group of friends to meet and share the experience of the meal. Were any of us related? No. Then why do I consider it one of the most special meals I've experienced in my life? Because we wanted to get together, because all that mattered was the food and each other's company.
Food prepared, served, and shared without love is just that, food. Food that is pepared, served, and shared with love, no matter how humble the fare may be, is a meal.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Cullinary Mental Note (new application of potatoes in Soup)
okay, new thought:
I've often pondered Scalloped Potatoes, there really isn't a why behind it, I like the dish, even though it's a bastard child of a classic French peasant dish...but that is yet another blog.
The style of cutting starchy potatoes into medallions isn't that uncommon, it's just emphasized in that particular dish...and of course me being me I had to sit down and think for a bit. I once tried long boiling raw potatoes into a stock in order to thicken it without resorting to any flour based substance. Upon consideration a thought occurs...what if I was going about it all wrong?
If you want to use potatoes as a thickener in a soup the better thing to do then is to first cook them so that they are more capable of breaking apart. Take chunks of a cooked potato and boil it in stock so it falls apart. I suppose if you wanted to go to the effort required to mash them into paste it would work just as well but now I have something to experiment with next time whole chicken is on sale.
I'll let you guys know how this adapted chicken stew turns out.
I've often pondered Scalloped Potatoes, there really isn't a why behind it, I like the dish, even though it's a bastard child of a classic French peasant dish...but that is yet another blog.
The style of cutting starchy potatoes into medallions isn't that uncommon, it's just emphasized in that particular dish...and of course me being me I had to sit down and think for a bit. I once tried long boiling raw potatoes into a stock in order to thicken it without resorting to any flour based substance. Upon consideration a thought occurs...what if I was going about it all wrong?
If you want to use potatoes as a thickener in a soup the better thing to do then is to first cook them so that they are more capable of breaking apart. Take chunks of a cooked potato and boil it in stock so it falls apart. I suppose if you wanted to go to the effort required to mash them into paste it would work just as well but now I have something to experiment with next time whole chicken is on sale.
I'll let you guys know how this adapted chicken stew turns out.
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