Ingredients:
1 cup spicy-sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup sake
1/4 cup passion fruit syrup or orange juice concentrate
1/4 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon minced shallots
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut in 1/4″ cubes
Directions:
Combine all sauce ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over low heat 15 minutes, or until thick.
Posted in Sauces
Download Printable version of : Appetizer Dinner
Posted in Downloads
Ingredients:
6 medium cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups raw chickpeas, soaked 1 1/2 hours and boiled until very soft (1 1/2 hours)
dash light soy sauce
juice from 2 lemons
lots of pepper
dash of cayenne
3/4 cup tahini (less if you are concerned with calories or fat content)
1/4 cup (packed) finely minced Italian parsley
1/4 cup minced scallions
Directions:
Place garlic and salt in a blender blend until it is a thick paste. Add chickpeas, soy sauce, lemon juice, pepper, cayenne and blend until smooth. Add water if necessary. Add tahini and blend until smooth. Place in a bowl and add parsley and scallions. Note: use a good blender as blending chickpeas stresses an inexpensive blender. Chill thoroughly. Taste to adjust seasonings.
Serves 6
Posted in Appetizers
Ingredients:Directions:
In a large frying pan, melt 1 tb butter and 1 tb olive oil over moderately low heat. Add shallots and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add fresh mushrooms, soaked procini mushrooms and soaking liquid. Cook until mushrooms give up their liquid, about 5 min. Transfer to a food processor or blender.
Melt remaining butter and olive oil in the same pan. Add livers and saute over medium-high heat, tossing, until browned outside but still rosy inside, 6-7 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, thyme, tarragon, pepper, and Cognac. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for 1 minute. Scrape liver and pan juices into food processor. Puree until smooth. Check seasonings and adjust if necessary. Scrape into a serving bowl or crock. Let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until cool, several hours or overnight.
Posted in Appetizers
Ingredients:
1 package rice paper wrappers (banh trang) 8-inch round
1 lb ground pork or chicken (lean pork is best)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 finely minced or pressed garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 carrot, shredded
1 egg
1 ounce bean thread noodles (soaked in hot water for 15 minutes to soften )
2 dried mushrooms (soaked in warm water for about 15 minutes)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Directions:
Drain the mushrooms and noodles. Chop both – the noodles should be chopped into approximately 2-inch lengths.
Mix the filling ingredients together.
Dip the rice paper wrappers in warm water. (Alternately, you can use a pastry brush dipped in water to dampen the wrappers). Lay out on a flat counter or on a towel.
Spoon about two heaping tablespoons of filling onto the bottom section of the wrapper. Roll the bottom edge over the filling. Fold the two sides over the filling, and then roll up. Repeat with the other wrappers.
Pour about 2 inches of oil into the wok. Deep-fry the wrappers a few at a time, carefully sliding them into the wok so the oil doesn’t splatter. Deep-fry until light brown. Drain the rolls on a tempura rack if you have one, and then place on paper towels or a towel. To serve, cut the rolls crosswise into serving size pieces, or serve wrapped in lettuce or cilantro leaves. Serve with Nuoc mam dipping sauce (sweet and sour fish sauce).
Sweet and Sour Fish Sauce (Sweet and Sour fish sauce is as ubiquitous in Vietnamese cuisine as salt is in Western cuisine)
Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
1/2 cup warm water
6 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground red chili pepper (optional)
Directions:
In a small bowl, mix garlic, sugar, citrus juice, water and fish sauce until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in ground red chile pepper, if you like it a little “hot.”
Posted in Appetizers and Salads
I
ngredients:
1 package Pepperridge Farm puff pastry sheets
OR 1 package large flaky biscuits (8 biscuits)
4-5 medium potatoes
4 tbs vegetable oil or corn oil
1 large onion peeled and finely chopped
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
1 1/2 tbs finely grated ginger
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 fresh hot green chile (jalapeno or serrano)
3 tbs finely chopped cilantro
3 tbs water
1 1/2 tsp salt (or less)
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp garam masala or curry power
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbs lemon juice
Make the Stuffing
Cut potatoes into 1 1/2-2 inch pieces. Microwave or boil until barely done. Allow to cool. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch cubes.
Heat 4 tbs oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add garlic and onions and stir-fry until onions begin to brown at edges. Add the ginger, green chili, fresh cilantro and 3 tbs water. Cover, lower heat, and simmer 3 minutes.
Add the diced potatoes, green peas, salt, coriander, garam marsala or curry power, roasted cumin, cayenne and lemon juice. Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently. Check for salt and lemon juice flavors and add more as needed. Turn off heat and allow mixture to cool.
Make Samosas
Remove frozen puff pastry from the package and allow to sit out at room temperature for 35-40 minutes. Cut each sheet into 4 squares.
If using biscuits: roll out the biscuits (one at a time) in the shape of a 5-6 inch circle.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put about 3 tbs of the filling in the middle of a square or circle. If using pastry: fold the square tip to tip to form a triangle. If using biscuits: fold circle in half. Seal by pressing a fork along the edges. Place on a cookie sheet. Repeat the process with each samosa.
Bake samosas for about 30 minutes until a light golden color. When samosas are done, remove from cookie sheet and cut each samosa in half. Serve hot with Tamarind Chutney or Mango Major Grays Chutney.
Serves 8
Posted in Appetizers
Ingreadients
1/2 lb carrots scraped, ends trimmed, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt
2 tbs white wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste or put through a garlic press
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 ground cumin
1/4 tsp paprika, preferable Spanish style
1 tbs Italian parsley, chopped
Place the carrots in a saucepan with the chicken broth and add a little salt. Bring to a boil, then cover, lower heat, and simmer with the top ajar for 6-8 minutes. Carrots should be done, but still slightly crisp. Drain and set aside.
In a small bowl mix together the vinegar, water, garlic, oregano, cumin, paprika and salt. Add cooked carrots and fold gently. Marinate for several hours or overnight. Garnish with parsley. Serve at room temperature.
Serves 4.
Posted in Appetizers
Squid:
1 lb raw cleaned squid, wiped dry
Marinade:
5 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash crushed red pepper flakes
Prepare Squid.
Marinate squid 1/2 hour to 1 hour in marinade. Soak small wooden skewers in water for 1/2 hour so they do not burn on grill. Stuff the tentacles inside each squid. Skewer each squid in several places lengthwise.
Prepare grill, heat to med-high. Cook squid on each side until barely done.
Great served with Romesco Sauce or Raspberry Inferno Sauce.
Posted in Appetizers
Ingredients
1 teaspoons butter
1 garlic cloves, chopped
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoons half and half
1 teaspoons saffron threads
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup clam juice
1 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tomato, seeded, and chopped
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 tablespoons chives or green onions, chopped
Preparation
Melt the butter in a largepot, then add the garlic. Saute until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the wine, half and half, and saffron; simmer for ‘5 minutes. Add the clam juice, scallions, tomato, and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the mussels, cover, and stream until they are open, about 5-7 minutes. Shake the pot, holding down the lid with a kitchen towel, to redistribute the mussels. Discard any mussels that do not open. Divide the mussels into eight bowls; distribute the broth equally among the bowls, and top each with fresh chives.
Focus on: Cleaning Mussels
Hold the mussel under cold running water. Use a brush with stiff bristles to thoroughly scrub the mussel and remove grit, sand, and mud from the shell’s exterior. Mussels—especially non-farmed ones—often have a dark, shaggy beard extending from each shell. Remove them for a neater appearance in the finished dish. After scrubbing a mussel, pull the beard away from the shell until taut, and then pull the beard down sharply toward the dark hinge. It will snap away easily. Removing its beard will kill the mussel, so perform this step just before cooking.
Source Information
From Gourmet Meals in Minutes by The Culinary Institute of America, (C) 2004 Lebhar-Friedman Books
Posted in Appetizers
Wok on the Wild Side 