Thai green curry mussels

This past weekend Craig and I were craving seafood, mussels in particular, so off we went to our local fishmonger...We got  us some West coast mussels. The difference between East and West coast mussels is that west coast mussels are larger in size and they don't shrink up as much when they are cooked. Either way, they were delicious. We normally cook them in a white wine or tomato based sauce, but we were in the mood for a richer/creamy sauce.  Naturally, when I want something rich and creamy I tend to go to coconut milk...so thai green curry mussels it was. Now, this sauce is the basic sauce I would use for a chicken curry as well (I use green beans and cauliflower for veg).

What you will need...

Serves 2-3

1 1/2-2 lbs of fresh mussels (scrubbed and debearded, if necessary)

1 tbsp of coconut oil (or oil of your choice)

1 can of coconut milk

1 tbsp of Thai green curry paste

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp of fresh ginger, chopped finely

1-2 Thai chillies, chopped finely

1 stalk of lemon grass

1 kefir lime

2 tsp of fish sauce

chopped cilantro and lime for garnish (optional)

How to prepare it...

Cut the bottom 1/3 of the lemon stalk into one inch  pieces.Crush the pieces with the flat side of chef's knife.

In large, heavy bottom sauce pan or wok over medium heat add the coconut oil and fry the garlic, ginger and chillies until fragrant (1-2 minutes).  Stir in the Thai green chilly paste and cook for an additional minute, so that it releases its oils. Stir in the coconut milk. 

Add in the lemon grass, kefir lime and fish sauce. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Discard and open mussels that do not close to the touch, increase heat to medium-high and add the mussels.  When a few start to open, cover the pan/wok and cook for 5-7 minutes (or until remaining mussels have opened).

Transfer mussels to bowl/s, discarding any that have not opened.

Ladle the broth over the mussels and garnish with chopped cilantro and fresh lime.

Roasted Chipotle Chicken with Peruvian Green Chilly Sauce

 

This is a staple weekend or week night dinner in our house, particularly in the summer, over the charcoal BBQ. Since the weather is not cooperating up here in the north, and it will be a while before we can get the BBQ out, I have concluded that I need to make this chicken....even if it's in the oven.  The chicken has a fragrant sweet and smoky flavour and the the Green Chilly Sauce is to dye for! If there are any green chilly sauce left overs I like to put it on my scrambled  eggs  in the morning!

What you will need...

One free range chicken

For the rub

2-3 tbsp of olive oil

2 tsp of coarse sea salt

1 tbsp of smoked paprika

2 tsp of chipotle pepper

1 tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of ground coriander

2 tsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of brown sugar

zest of one lime

Peruvian  Green Chilly Sauce/Aji verde

3 jalopeno peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped

1 pablano pepper, roasted 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 bunch of cilantro

1/3 cup of fresh mint

1/3 cup of fresh basil

juice of one lime

1/2 cup of mayonnaise (I make my own, it is super easy and much, much better for you) or you can use 2 avocados if you want to avoid the fat

1 tsp of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

How we make it...

Wash the bird and pat dry. Split it (I use my kitchen shears and cut out the spine). 

Mix all the rub ingredients in a small bowl.

Rub the chicken all over with the rub. Cover it and let it marinate over night or a minimum of  6-8 hours.

I like to take the chicken out of the fridge for 45 min. to one hour before putting it in the oven.

Preheat your over to 400F.

Cook chicken in the oven for about one hour, or until the meat cooked.  This skin will be nice and crispy! 

Doesn't that look good!!!

For the Green Chilly Sauce...

While the chicken is in the oven (or before) add all the ingredients in a blender/food processor and blend and that's about it :)

Easy, peasy :)

Here, I served it with black kale and fresh beets salad with feta!

Tom Yum (Hot and sour) Soup

This was not really intended for the blog and was a spur of the moment dinner idea. The pics were taken with my phone, so the quality is not great. 

What I can guarantee you though, is that the soup is fan-freaking-tastic!

Tom Yum soup is a Thai clear, spicy and sour soup. It is the first Thai dish I tried, over 17 years ago, which ignited my love for Thai food.  The broth is made with lemon grass,  keffir lime leaves, galangal, tom yum paste, fish sauce and thai chillies.  It's the perfect soup, in my humble opinion.  I like to add a variety of mushrooms to it, as well as shrimp, thai eggplant, bean sprouts and vermicelli noodles. For garnish, use thai basil, chopped green onions, and cilantro.

Here is what you  will need...

4+ servings

3 cups of fish stock

4 cups of chicken or veggie stock

6 tbsp of fish sauce

3 thai chillies

2 stalks of lemon grass, cut into 2 inch pieces and crush pieces with the butt of knife to release oils

4 keffir lime leaves, roughly torn

1 inch piece of galangal, cut into slices

4 tbsp of tom yum soup paste (you can find it in Asian food stores)

2 tsp of palm sugar (or brown sugar)

2-3 roma tomatoes, cut into thick slices/wedges

1 cup of sliced button mushrooms

1 cup of enoki mushrooms

20-25 medium size shrimp, peeled

5-6 thai eggplants, sliced

2-3 cups of bean sprouts

Garnish

Thai basil

Cilantro

Chopped green onion

Fresh lime

Extra enoki mushrooms (optional)

Vermicelli noodles (optional)

How we make it...

Add stock, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal and chillies  to a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.  Add tom yum paste, sugar, fish sauce, shrimp, mushrooms, eggplant, bean sprouts and tomatoes. Cook for further 10 minutes. 

If you choose to add vermicelli noodles, cook as per instruction on package, separate from soup.

Garnish soup bowl as listed above, add soup and a squeeze of fresh lime and go to your happy place:)

PS You don't eat the lemon grass stalks, keffir lime leaf or galangal. It's ok to pick it out of the bowl as you eat it.

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs with Garlic Sweet Potato mash

We went to Wholefoods this  past Saturday to get some sweet potatoes (they have all types of sweet potatoes there, Japanese, Hannah, Garnet, Purple etc). While cruising the store we walked by the butcher/meat section and boy, oh boy....did the short ribs look good.  So, it took just a second to decide what's for dinner....:)

So here is a little 411 on sweet potatoes:
Your grocery store tends to sell the orange sweet potato or often called yams. The orange fleshed sweet potatoes are usually softer and sweeter when cooked. This makes them a great candidate for mashing and stuffing.
The other varieties,  like the Japaneses (purple skin and butter coloured flesh) and the purple skin and flesh ones  are drier and starchier, which makes them a good candidate for potato hash, scalloped or roasting.

What you will need...(two servings)

For the meat:
Two  5-inch-long beef short ribs
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 small shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp of tomato paste
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups of a full bodies red wine (like a Cab. Sauv. or Syrah)
2 tbsp of oil

For the sweet potato...
2 small- medium size sweet potatoes (orange flesh)
1 tsp of fresh thyme(or rosemary), chopped
1 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 small garlic cloves, minced

For the ribs...
Preheat oven to 325F.
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat.
 Season the short ribs with salt and pepper,
and sear in the hot oil on all sides until well browned, about 8-10 min.  Be patient with this step, it is key to brown the meat well.



Remove the short ribs from the pan.
Turn down the heat to medium and add the carrots, celery, garlic and shallots to the pot. Cook until soft, about 7-8 min. Stir in the tomato paste. Cook for an additional 2 min.

 
Return the short ribs to the pan, add in the thyme, bay leaf and wine. The ribs should be almost covered in liquid. If you don't have enough, add some more wine, water or beef broth.

Bring to a boil. Cover and bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.

 

For the sweet potato mash...
Preheat oven to 400F
Scrub  and dry the sweet potatoes and place on cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 45-60 min.
Tip...you will know they are done when they start oozing juice onto the baking sheet
Take out of the oven and let them cool, 5  minutes or so, or until you can handle them.

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, sautee the minced garlic in the olive oil until fragrant and golden (3-4 min).  Remove from heat.
This step gives the sweet potatoes a roasted garlic flavour. YUM!
Remove the peel from the potatoes (it should peel right off).

Using a potato ricer (what I like to use), masher or hand-held mixer mash/whip the potatoes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Mix/Whip in the butter, thyme, garlic and olive oil mix.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper seasoning if needed.