Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

So I was going to make this as a simple broth soup, but after perusing a couple of recipes online (Nigella's and the more authentic one on About.com) I just sort of took bits from both and added my own things. The great thing about this recipe is it is totally open to interpretation and the whims of your palate. This is just what I found at the market, chicken was on sale, wanted some color so hence the red bell pepper, etc. You could just as easily make this with shrimp or tofu.  I used Mai Fun rice sticks for noodles but any noodle will do, using the rice noodles keeps it gluten free if that's a concern.  Use any vegetables that make you happy. Spinach instead of bok choy, for example.


Thai Chicken Noodle Soup with Coconut Milk
Serves 4 to 6

1 48 oz. or 2 32 oz. boxes of Swanson's Natural Goodness chicken broth
1 2-inch piece of ginger (I slivered half of it, then grated the other half in with a microplane)
2 cloves garlic, minced, grated or pressed
1 jalapeño or serrano chile, minced, seeded and de-ribbed if you don't want too much heat (red thai dragon chiles would be best but I couldn't find any in my market.  Leave those whole if using them.)
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. turmeric
1 can coconut milk
1 stick lemongrass, tough outer leaves removed, stalk smashed and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 kaffir lime leaves (available at Asian grocers, usually in the freezer)
1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
sweet Asian chile sauce and/or chile garlic paste to taste - (I used both. Start with a teaspoon or two of each and go from there)
Juice of 1 juicy lime or 2 Tbsp.
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thin
1/2 to 3/4 of 6.75 oz. (191 g) package rice sticks (mai fun)
1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 large carrot, julienned
baby bok choy, thinly sliced
shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

Garnish:
bean sprouts
crushed roasted peanuts
cilantro leaves
sliced scallions
lime wedges
basil (optional)

Put all the ingredients in a large pot except the vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook gently for about 20 minutes. Check the flavors as you cook, add more lime juice if it needs more acid, chile garlic sauce or sriracha for heat, fish sauce for salt, brown sugar or asian sweet chili sauce for sweet, etc. until it's too your liking.

Add the red bell pepper and gently simmer for 2 minutes, then add the carrots and cook another 5 minutes or so until tender but not overdone.  Next add the stems of the bok choy (reserve the leaves for later) and the shitakes.  When cooked to al dente, add the sliced bok choy leaves and stir for a minute.

Serve in bowls and garnish with bean sprouts, peanuts, scallions and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Enjoy!

Hate Tofu? A Tofu Salad That May Change Your Mind

Tofu gets a bad rap, let's face it. Many people won't even try it because fermented soybeans just sounds weird. But tofu, because of its mild flavor, can be a blank canvas that only needs an artist's brush to transform it from tasteless to terrific.


I admit I've been off preparing tofu for years for some reason, but it's a cheap and versatile protein that begs to be revisited. This is one of the first tofu recipes I ever made, from the original Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison, of the famed Greens Restaurant in San Francisco's Fort Mason. It's simple, healthy, tangy and delicious. Lots of vegetables, herbs and savory seasoning make this a delicious addition to your sandwich filling repertoire.

The Greens Cookbook Tofu Salad
Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:
 1 16 oz. package firm tofu in water
5 Tbsp. red bell pepper, finely minced
5 Tbsp. celery, finely minced
4 Tbsp. carrot, finely minced
2 Tbsp. scallions, finely minced
2 Tbsp. fresh herbs: parsley, thyme, marjoram
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. capers, minced
mustard to taste (I use Gulden's)
salt & pepper
red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar


Place the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze until the liquid has been drained. Crumble the tofu in a bowl with the veggies, herbs, mayo, mustard and capers. Lighty mix with a fork and season with salt, pepper and a splash of vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning. I usually add more mustard and vinegar.


The salad may seem bland at first but the flavors will blend and strengthen as it sits. If possible, let it sit at least 30 minutes before serving.


I like it on a thick piece of crusty toasted whole wheat sourdough.  Top with tomato, greens or even cheese although I find this takes away from the wonderfully fresh and crunchy vegetable flavors. Use your imagination, perhaps some finely minced kalamata olives, arugula or sprouts...

Best Sandwich I've Eaten in a While or to Rachael Ray or not?

So yeah, peeps have differing opinions of the Rach and they usually are polar opposites.  Either you like her style or you don't like her set or her recipes.

Well, I get it.  I don't always like her recipes, they don't always feel well thought out or remotely appealing.  But I saw this on TV today and I have to say, was salivating.

It's a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, very sharp white cheddar and shaved apple, served wtih a spread of apple butter, honey and grainy Dijon mustard. 

I happen to have a boyfriend who has a brother who lives in Washington State, and every year this brother sends the BF a wheel of tinned cheddar (in a can). Cougar Gold. The BF doesn't always get to it so fast so it ends up aging in his fridge.

This is a major ingredient bonus in my sandwich. Kicks it up a notch, you know?

I used, blasphemously, peppered "uncured" turkey bacon from Trader Joe's. Uncured is the same thing as "except for whatever occurs naturally in celery powder" which I am guessing is an important point. Regardless, it is lower in fat than regular bacon but once you get that salty, chewy thing, you kind of say, well, why not?

So I shaved my apple and made a slurry of apple butter, a little less honey and a little less grainy Dijon.  Slathered the french bread with it, layered some of that great sharp cheddar, a layer of "bacon" and another layer of cheese and cooked very slowly (after spreading the outside with butter of course) so that the cheese would melt.

Delicious, the only change I would make would be to maybe add some arugula or watercress for some balance to the overall sweetness.  the mustard just wasn't enough. 

So give this a try, I highly recommend it.

Sun and Sunscreen

One of the best and cheapest on the market

When I'm in the vineyard the sun can be brutal. It's no accident that vineyard workers who spend all day out there are dressed in hoodies and long-sleeved shirts. This past week, the FDA announced new guidelines for sunscreen labeling in order to protect consumers against false claims. Manufacturers can no longer use the terms "sunblock", "waterproof" and "sweatproof".  They will also have to provide  UVB and UVA protection in order to label it "broad spectrum".

UVB are the rays that cause short term damage, i.e., sunburn, but UVA rays are the ones that can cause skin cancer over time and are especially harmful to people sensitive to sunlight. What they didn't do was come out and say what every dermatologist knows: any SPF over 50 is a waste of money and a marketing ploy.  An SPF of 100 offers only about 1% more protection than that of  SPF 50, marginal at best.

So what ingredients should one look for in a sunscreen? According to Dr. David J. Leffell, Chief of Dermatologic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology at Yale School of Medicine (in other words, he's a skin cancer expert), there are three ingredients that offer the best broad spectrum protection: zinc oxide, avobenzone and to a lesser extent, titanium dioxide.  If any of these are in your product, you've got the best protection out there, but you still have to reapply frequently (every 2 hours).  He also suggests multiple strategies including SPF clothing and hats, full skin coverage and of course, just staying out of the sun, especially between 10 and 4.

I'm getting ready to head out and do some canopy management and I've checked my sunscreen, 70 for my arms and 90 for my face. None of the three essential ingredients are there.  So I'm going to toss those in favor of my Trader Joe's SPF 30 with zinc oxide. Both of my parents have had cancerous growths from their faces removed, I'm not taking any chances.

For more information on skin and the sun and the new FDA regulations, check out Dr. Lefell's website. It offers up a ton of useful info.

Fawned of Deer

One of the joys of living on a vineyard is the beautiful pastoral landscape.  I live on the outskirts of Sonoma where the roads are still barely paved and I can't vote in city elections. The result is that I have one of the most cherished vistas in 360˚. Everywhere I look there is something to marvel at, during every season.

In the middle of winter, when the vines are dormant and the weather is too nippy for salad days, the crackle and spark of the wood stove are there and I am graced with a frosty landscape on a February morning.  In the spring, everything is at its promise, the peacocks across the street begin their mating calls in March, the grasses are beginning to run rampant in the vineyard rows and the frogs keep their chorus up all night.  It is approaching summer and the last of the very, very late rains seemed to have finally said their goodbyes and now it's just madness. Those same very late rains have pushed the canopy (the green part of the grape vines) way beyond what one would expect at this time of year and the weeds are, well, they just piss me off. 

So today I took out the riding mower to mow. It wasn't two weeks ago that I had done it before and some of these weeds are again nearly the size of a yardstick.  It sometimes takes two or three passes in opposite directions to get them fully cut.  Annoying.  But today I was on the fringe of our fence line and I spotted a fawn about ten yards away, panicking on the other side of our short fence.  You see, we don't have high deer fencing around and they seem to slip in through the back of our property line.  Then I spotted its mother taking a whiz (quite a long, leisurely one) on our side of the fence.  So I stopped the mower. 

What can I say?  I'm a sucker.  Mommy and fawn were separated and I didn't want to add to the chaos with the mower.  It was about a five minute standoff, the fawn scamping about trying to make her way to mom on the wrong side of the fence and finally Momma Doe high-jumped the neighbor's fence and they were reunited.  

Most growers (and gardeners) don't like deer.  I just don't like to kill them.