My month had been like that... until yesterday. Now I'm huddling behind my space heater and won't let my dog leave my feet...
#EdenCooks - Pad Thai and a Singapore Sling - Monday, Jan 21, 8pm EST
01/21/2013
Quote:
We had ours open, but it got too humid. In November, we had freezing temperatures. I busted out my wool peacoat! And now it's freaking hot and our plants are confused. Our raspberry bush has started to bloom!
Originally posted by
Ansley
Windows are open at least. It's been crazy weather lately!
01/21/2013
Quote:
I know, I feel so bad for all the trees that had put out their buds... not so much for survival after today
Originally posted by
SneakersAndPearls
We had ours open, but it got too humid. In November, we had freezing temperatures. I busted out my wool peacoat! And now it's freaking hot and our plants are confused. Our raspberry bush has started to bloom!
01/21/2013
It's been unusually warm for a January where I'm at, but I've been baking a lot anyway. And it definitely cooled off today... I'm sipping some hot chocolate right now.
01/21/2013
Welcome to the Januray meeting of Eden Cooks! Pad thai is one of my all-time favorite party gathering meals, and I'm really excited to get to share it with you. The Singapore Sling is a drink I had never even tried before, but when you read the list of ingredients, and you realize it's mostly pureed pineapple, it sounds hard to go wrong, right? It's 8pm Eastern now, so even though it looks like a light crowd right now, let's get started, and more people will join as we go!
01/21/2013
I'm pretty jealous of everyone's nice weather. My house has been between 53-55 degrees most days. And that's with two heaters on. It's cold here in Eastern WA
01/21/2013
Quote:
Eesh That always makes baking all the more appealing for me.
Originally posted by
Lildrummrgurl7
I'm pretty jealous of everyone's nice weather. My house has been between 53-55 degrees most days. And that's with two heaters on. It's cold here in Eastern WA
01/21/2013
I want to apologize in advance that the picture quality isn't what you're used to in these meetings---my laptop died and I had to borrow one to take these pictures. By next month I'll have my own camera again. These are awfully blurry in their full-size form, so I am just going to use the thumbnails in the meeting since they're easier to see. If there is a picture you'd like to see full-size, though, let me know and I'll add it in!
01/21/2013
Pad Thai is a very simple meal to make---the main difficulties when you're making it for the first time are learning to read rice noodles (they're not the same as the wheat noodles from Italian cuisine), and basic stir-fry timing. I'll be sure to explain all the times you have to plan ahead, so it should go easily for you even the first time you get cooking.
I make mine in a wok---my wok is a cheap kind, it has a round bottom to cook in but a flat bottom to sit on the stove burner. If you have a nicer wok, this will be even easier for you---and if you don't have a wok at all, even using a normal skillet or pan is fine. Just follow my lead, and when I pull ingredients off to the side of my wok so they don't overcook, just put yours in a bowl to wait to be added back in at the end.
01/21/2013
Yay! I made it in time! Thanks for hosting the event Antipova!
01/21/2013
I'm here! Hey everyone!!
01/21/2013
Quote:
Glad you got here Bleu!
Originally posted by
Bleu
Yay! I made it in time! Thanks for hosting the event Antipova!
01/21/2013
Pad Thai (serves 6)
Sauce
1 cup Fish Sauce
1/3 to 1/2 cup Golden Mountain Sauce
2 lumps (1/3 cup) Palm Sugar (or regular sugar if you don't have it)
2 Tbsp Chili-garlic Sauce (Sambal Olek is a popular brand name)
2 Tbsp Tamarind Paste
(all ingredients are to taste here, so taste and adjust how you like them.)
Meal
1 to 2 lbs shrimp---heads-on is best. Or chicken if you prefer chicken.
4 eggs (one small egg for each person---if you use large eggs, just about half an egg per person)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 small shallots, minced
4 Tbsp peanut oil (or sesame oil, or vegetable oil, but peanut is best)
1 (8oz?) package rice noodles (size "M" is best for Pad Thai)
green onions, 1 bundle
cilantro, 1 bundle
And for the Singapore Sling
1 Pineapple
gin
cherry liqueur
lime juice
the original recipe calls for Benedictine, but I really didn't enjoy it, and it cost a lot per bottle, so go for it if you want to be authentic... but feel free to skip it.
And hi Melan!e!
01/21/2013
Quote:
Gin and pineapple? Oh I am so there!
Originally posted by
Antipova
Pad Thai (serves 6)
Sauce
1 cup Fish Sauce
1/3 to 1/2 cup Golden Mountain Sauce
2 lumps (1/3 cup) Palm Sugar (or regular sugar if you don't have it)
2 Tbsp Chili-garlic Sauce (Sambal Olek is a popular brand name)
2 Tbsp ... more
Pad Thai (serves 6)
Sauce
1 cup Fish Sauce
1/3 to 1/2 cup Golden Mountain Sauce
2 lumps (1/3 cup) Palm Sugar (or regular sugar if you don't have it)
2 Tbsp Chili-garlic Sauce (Sambal Olek is a popular brand name)
2 Tbsp Tamarind Paste
(all ingredients are to taste here, so taste and adjust how you like them.)
Meal
1 to 2 lbs shrimp---heads-on is best. Or chicken if you prefer chicken.
4 eggs (one small egg for each person---if you use large eggs, just about half an egg per person)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 small shallots, minced
4 Tbsp peanut oil (or sesame oil, or vegetable oil, but peanut is best)
1 (8oz?) package rice noodles (size "M" is best for Pad Thai)
green onions, 1 bundle
cilantro, 1 bundle
And for the Singapore Sling
1 Pineapple
gin
cherry liqueur
lime juice
the original recipe calls for Benedictine, but I really didn't enjoy it, and it cost a lot per bottle, so go for it if you want to be authentic... but feel free to skip it.
And hi Melan!e! less
Pad Thai (serves 6)
Sauce
1 cup Fish Sauce
1/3 to 1/2 cup Golden Mountain Sauce
2 lumps (1/3 cup) Palm Sugar (or regular sugar if you don't have it)
2 Tbsp Chili-garlic Sauce (Sambal Olek is a popular brand name)
2 Tbsp ... more
Pad Thai (serves 6)
Sauce
1 cup Fish Sauce
1/3 to 1/2 cup Golden Mountain Sauce
2 lumps (1/3 cup) Palm Sugar (or regular sugar if you don't have it)
2 Tbsp Chili-garlic Sauce (Sambal Olek is a popular brand name)
2 Tbsp Tamarind Paste
(all ingredients are to taste here, so taste and adjust how you like them.)
Meal
1 to 2 lbs shrimp---heads-on is best. Or chicken if you prefer chicken.
4 eggs (one small egg for each person---if you use large eggs, just about half an egg per person)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 small shallots, minced
4 Tbsp peanut oil (or sesame oil, or vegetable oil, but peanut is best)
1 (8oz?) package rice noodles (size "M" is best for Pad Thai)
green onions, 1 bundle
cilantro, 1 bundle
And for the Singapore Sling
1 Pineapple
gin
cherry liqueur
lime juice
the original recipe calls for Benedictine, but I really didn't enjoy it, and it cost a lot per bottle, so go for it if you want to be authentic... but feel free to skip it.
And hi Melan!e! less
01/21/2013
Quote:
I know, right? Next time I make this it's going to be only gin and pineapple. My blender finally earns its keep.
Originally posted by
Ansley
Gin and pineapple? Oh I am so there!
01/21/2013
Can we ask questions? I'm allergic to pineapple, is there any substitute I can make or should I avoid it all together?
01/21/2013
Quote:
And it just so happens that I have a blender that never gets used!
Originally posted by
Antipova
I know, right? Next time I make this it's going to be only gin and pineapple. My blender finally earns its keep.
01/21/2013
I've also made a singapore sling without the benedictine (just cause I didn't have any) and it was great!
01/21/2013
Quote:
Pureed mango and gin would probably be good, or strawberries and Bombay Sapphire gin (it has less of a juniper taste to it than other gins). Or kiwis or...any fruit that has a decent flesh to it. Peaches would be yummy, too.
Originally posted by
Bleu
Can we ask questions? I'm allergic to pineapple, is there any substitute I can make or should I avoid it all together?
01/21/2013
Quote:
Oh! For this drink, it would be better to just use a different fruit. And it wouldn't be very 'singapore sling' anymore... can you eat persimmons? Those would be tasty with gin.
Originally posted by
Bleu
Can we ask questions? I'm allergic to pineapple, is there any substitute I can make or should I avoid it all together?
01/21/2013
The first step in making your Pad Thai is to make the Sauce. You can make lots of this and keep it in your fridge for up to a month... and it is also the slowest part of making Pad Thai, so make sure to err on the side of making too much.
To make the sauce, put about 3/4 cup of water in a saucepan. Add the palm sugar and put the heat on medium-low until the sugar is dissolved. Stir it occasionally. Let the sugar water keep simmering for a bit, the thicker the syrup, the longer it will keep.
After 3 to 4 minutes, add your fish sauce. This won't smell good to a nose that isn't used to Thai cooking---fish sauce is salty and savory and it just doesn't smell good until it's diluted by your noodles and shrimp. So don't worry. Add the Golden Mountain sauce (which is a brand name for an especially dark and delicious soy sauce---this should be easy to find even at American grocery stores.)
Now add your chili garlic sauce and your tamarind paste. Be sure to separate the seeds from your tamarind, if you weren't able to find seedless tamarind paste. This picture was taken before I removed my seeds.
Stir while simmering a bit longer, then turn off the heat.
01/21/2013
Quote:
Ohhhhh those all sound delicious.
Originally posted by
Ansley
Pureed mango and gin would probably be good, or strawberries and Bombay Sapphire gin (it has less of a juniper taste to it than other gins). Or kiwis or...any fruit that has a decent flesh to it. Peaches would be yummy, too.
01/21/2013
Quote:
Ohhh I love just about every fruit you listed and can eat it.
Originally posted by
Ansley
Pureed mango and gin would probably be good, or strawberries and Bombay Sapphire gin (it has less of a juniper taste to it than other gins). Or kiwis or...any fruit that has a decent flesh to it. Peaches would be yummy, too.
@Antipova: I can't really call it much of a "sling" since I can't drink yet but I do know how to sub alcohol well, just not fruits.
01/21/2013
Quote:
Yeah, peaches sounds like an especially aweosme idea.
Originally posted by
Lildrummrgurl7
Ohhhhh those all sound delicious.
01/21/2013
Quote:
I...may have knocked mine out of the cabinet and shattered it.
Originally posted by
Ansley
And it just so happens that I have a blender that never gets used!
01/21/2013
It's a little difficult to give *exact* measurements for a sauce for Thai food. For one thing, there are like 300 brands of fish sauce you can buy, and sugars vary, and since tamarind is a fruit, it can change from batch to batch and brand to brand as well. The best thing to do is to just taste your sauce as you are creating it---the secret to Thai food is to find the balance between sweet and salty and savory and spicy and sour. If you follow my measurements you should be pretty close, but then use your own tongue to perfect it. Just remember that everything will taste more potent when it's pure sauce---if it tastes too strong right now, that's fine because you will add it to a *lot* of noodles. But don't skimp on the tamarind to make it sour enough if the salty fish sauce is overwhelming!
01/21/2013
It's a little difficult to give *exact* measurements for a sauce for Thai food. For one thing, there are like 300 brands of fish sauce you can buy, and sugars vary, and since tamarind is a fruit, it can change from batch to batch and brand to brand as well. The best thing to do is to just taste your sauce as you are creating it---the secret to Thai food is to find the balance between sweet and salty and savory and spicy and sour. If you follow my measurements you should be pretty close, but then use your own tongue to perfect it. Just remember that everything will taste more potent when it's pure sauce---if it tastes too strong right now, that's fine because you will add it to a *lot* of noodles. But don't skimp on the tamarind to make it sour enough if the salty fish sauce is overwhelming!
01/21/2013
Quote:
Oh that sucks. I think I used mine once. It sits near the crock pot. They're both very lonely.
Originally posted by
SneakersAndPearls
I...may have knocked mine out of the cabinet and shattered it.
01/21/2013
Quote:
I actually intentionally gave my blender away because I hate cleaning up after I use it so I never use it... but then I got another one. But I learned I can clean it by "blending" water after (at least that gets all the gunk so it can go in the dishwasher.) And now my life is better.
Originally posted by
Ansley
Oh that sucks. I think I used mine once. It sits near the crock pot. They're both very lonely.
01/21/2013
Quote:
*as a gift, I got another one.
Originally posted by
Antipova
I actually intentionally gave my blender away because I hate cleaning up after I use it so I never use it... but then I got another one. But I learned I can clean it by "blending" water after (at least that gets all the gunk so it can go in
...
more
I actually intentionally gave my blender away because I hate cleaning up after I use it so I never use it... but then I got another one. But I learned I can clean it by "blending" water after (at least that gets all the gunk so it can go in the dishwasher.) And now my life is better.
less
01/21/2013