Recipe 6 - Shrimp Pad Thai

Tonight I made Thai for dinner. I found a recipe in Everyday Food that I adapted to make a) spicy and b) shrimpy!

Shrimp Pad Thai

8 oz. flat rice noodles

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. lime juice

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

4 Tbsp. chili oil

4 Tbsp. peanut oil

6 stems scallions

3 cloves garlic

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup cilantro

1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped

1 cup shrimp

2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes

1. Marinate shrimp in 2 Tbsp. chili oil, 2 Tbsp. peanut oil and 2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes.

2. Soak noodles according to directions on package

3. In a bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, remaining chili oil and soy sauce.

4. In a large nonstick skillet, cook shrimp over medium high heat. Remove once cooked/warm.

5. Add peanut oil to skillet and heat. Add scallions and garlic, cook, stirring constantly for 30 sec. Add eggs and cook until eggs are almost set. Remove egg mixture to bowl.

6. Add noodles, soy sauce mixture and shrimp to skillet tossing constantly until noodles are coated with sauce. Add egg mixture and toss to coat.

7. Top with peanuts and cilantro and serve.

I was super psyched about this recipe solely because it meant that I could use our new giant stockpot with pasta drainer. I got the water boiling and added the drainer, only to discover that I hadn't added enough water to get the drainer even remotely wet. So then I left the drainer in the pot and filled the water up. Problem solved. Granted it took FOREVER to get the water to boil, but good things come to those who wait! And it was well worth the wait. This was super simple and AMAZING! Two thumbs up!!!

Recipes 3, 4 & 5 - Biscuits and Jams!

Finally a recipe I can master! I spent today making jam. Today I made both raspberry and strawberry jams. Yum!

Strawberry Jam (adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

1/2 lb. strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Cook all ingredients over high heat stirring until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until mixture is thick.

Raspberry Jam (adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

1/2 lb. raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Cook all ingredients over high heat stirring until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until mixture is thick.

Overall, this was a successful endeavor! Raspberry jam was a snap, everything happened as instructed. The strawberry, however, created more an issue. I had the foresight to slice the strawberries before adding them to the skillet, however that still wasn't enough to get them to dissolve fully into the jam. So, after about 30 minutes on the stovetop, I fished out the strawberry junks and pureed them. I then added the puree into the skillet on the stove and everything gelled together! We had both of these over homemade biscuits this morning for breakfast. Yum - a success!

Biscuits - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/biscuits-recipe/index.html

I decided after the success of the jam, that we needed biscuits so that we could have something upon which to put the jam. We didn't have buttermilk at home, so I had to find a recipe that didn't call for buttermilk. Surprisingly, it was really quite challenging to find such a recipe! I followed Paula's recipe to a "t", however, I rolled them far to thin and cut them with a white wine glass (it was the only thing we had that was small and round). Since I rolled them so thin, I rubbed butter on the tops and stuck two together. This made them thick enough to bake, but also created a natural break upon which we could put jam. The recipe didn't really properly explain how to cook them, so I decided to bake them in the oven at 350. I cooked them for about 10 minutes and flipped them over, cooking for another 10 minutes until they were golden brown on each side. They looked great (the wine glass did the trick), prompting my husband to ask what brand they were. Granted he wasn't caffeinated yet, but still I took that as a positive sign! They were a wee bit floury tasting ...