Weekend Cooking: Coconut and Beef Curry with Noodles

It had to happen sooner or later. Every recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday FOOD cookbook and magazine has been a success. Our experience last week, while not exactly a failure, yielded a dinner receiving less than stellar reviews.

This was my first experience cooking rice noodles 'pasta style'. The directions directed me to run them under cold water to stop the cooking. Unfortunately, the noodles then became a little too cool. Strike one.

The recipe called for one tablespoon of Thai red curry paste, but the dish seemed very bland to all of us (and we're not generally fans of spicy food). Maybe curry pastes come in different strengths? Next time I'll add more. Strike two.

Since there wasn't a third strike, and the dish was attractive and easy to prepare, we'll make a few adjustments and give this another shot.

I found and almost identical recipe on TasteBook. Martha's recipe from Everyday FOOD: Fresh Flavor Fast called for lime juice instead of lemon and specifies that the coconut milk be unsweetened. Have you tried recipes similar to this one?

Coconut Beef Curry with Noodles

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 lb. beef sirloin, cut into thin 2-inch strips

1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced lengthwise

1 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste

1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk

1 c. packed fresh basil leaves

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

8 oz. angel-hair pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium-high. Season beef with salt and pepper; add half the beef to the skillet. Cook, without stirring, until browned on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate (meat will cook more later), and repeat with remaining beef. Set beef aside, reserving skillet.

Add onion, bell peppers, and ¼ c. water to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add curry paste; cook, scraping bottom of skillet, 1 minute.

Return beef to skillet, with any accumulated juices, and add coconut milk. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in basil and lemon juice, and season curry with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to boiling water, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions; drain. Serve beef curry over pasta.

Weekend Cooking is hosted at Beth Fish Reads. Find more posts here.

Weekend Cooking: The Amish Cook

Cookbooks are to be bought and used... or so I thought before blogging and Weekend Cooking became part of my routine. Now, several new ones tempt me each week. Thank goodness for the public library, and inter-library loan in particular. I've gotten into the habit of taking some cookbooks for a 'test drive' before buying. Others are meant to be borrowed and read.

The Amish Cook: Recollections and Recipes from an Old Order Amish Family by Elizabeth Coblentz with Kevin Williams falls into that last category. Staci featured it on Six Sentence Saturday a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to take a closer look. The Amish Cook showcases many of Elizabeth's weekly newspaper columns on Amish life but, in addition, you'll find stunning photography and reflections on Amish traditions. Of course, there are also plenty of recipes organized into chapters titled: Breakfast, Dinner, Supper, Desserts, and Sundays and Special Occasions.

Margaret and I made Elizabeth's Applesauce Cookies. The recipe for these cake-like treats originally appeared in The Amish Cook column in September 1993.

Applesauce Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup applesauce

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together the butter, sugars, and egg. Add the applesauce, oatmeal, raisins, nuts, and chocolate chips. Add the sifted ingredients and mix real well, until the batter is smooth. Drop by teaspoonfuls, spaced apart, onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, until the top and edges are slightly brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Notes: We included walnuts, but omitted the raisins. Daughter #1 was home from college... and she hates raisins!
Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone with a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button, head over to Beth Fish Reads, and link up anytime over the weekend.

Doron's Meatballs With Pine Nuts, Cilantro, and Golden Raisins

My mom's book club read A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. For their meeting, everyone made one of the forty-five recipes in the book. In my opinion, these were by far the best, so I decided to make them myself.

These meatballs are delicious -- perfect for an appetizer! I brought these to my aunt's house for h'orderves and everyone loved them.

For the Yogurt Sauce:

1 cup plain yogurt (not low fat or nonfat)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. salt

For the Meatballs:

1/2 cup minced yellow onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 cup chopped pine nuts

1/4 cup golden raisins, halved or coarsely chopped if large

1/2 cup fine bread crumbs

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground cumin

1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ground turkey

About 4 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

1) For the yogurt sauce, put all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside at room temperature.

2) For the meatballs, mix all of the ingredients together expect the turkey. When they are all well mixed, add in the turkey. Be sure not to overwork the meat.

3) Next, roll into 1-1/2 inch balls and set aside on a large plate. (Makes about 30 meatballs)

4) Warm 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add about half of the meatballs, taking care not to crowd them. As they begin to color, turn gently and roll them around in the pan until they are evenly browned. The meatballs should be firm but not rock-hard.

5) Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel. Then repeat step 4.

Notes:

Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature with the yogurt sauce.

Also, I hate the smell of cumin . . . is it just me?!

Weekend Cooking: Baking With Company

My sister and I made all of this last Sunday. Chunky Mocha Cookies, Fudgy Saucepan Brownies, and Hummingbird Cupcakes. (I bet the last one looks familiar, huh?) We wanted to continue baking, but we ran out of flour and sugar. So sad.

My friend and I made this cake on Friday. We named it the "Chocolate Avalanche Cake" because it turned out to be a bit messier than we had planned. The first of our troubles began when the cakes cracked into three pieces as a result of the doming. But, nevertheless, the cake was SO good! The recipes for the cake, caramel pastry cream, and the white chocolate glaze are in the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion Cookbook. Now, I love this cookbook; it is amazing. Some teenage girls are on Team Edward. I am a proud member of Team King Arthur.

The final results of our baking day. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies and the Chocolate Avalanche Cake, which was quite difficult to cut. The cookies were good, too!

I wonder how much flour we used this week . . .

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone with a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button, head over to Beth Fish Reads, and link up anytime over the weekend.

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Marmalade Frosting

My older sister and I decided to bake these cupcakes one morning for a family dinner. They are fruity and the frosting is sweet, but not overly so. My cousin walked in and exclaimed, "Margaret, did you make these? They look wicked good!" And wicked good they were.

Ingredients for the Cupcakes:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup superfine sugar

1/2 cup safflower oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup (2 medium) mashed bananas

1-1/2 tbsp. grated orange zest

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup (2 oz.) flaked coconut

Ingredients for the Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter, softened

2-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tbsp. orange marmalade

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degress F. Place 12 baking cups in a muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and oil with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs slowly, then stir in the dry ingredients in 3 batches. Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir until combined.

Spoon the batter into the cups. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.

To make the frosting, beat the butter in a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients. Smear the frosting onto the cupcakes. Store unfrosted in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Note:

This recipe is from the 500 Cupcakes cookbook. So far, I have tried three of the recipes and all of them were great. Only 497 left!

German Food

I'm back from Germany!

For a little summer fun, I went to visit my friend in the Ruhr area. I had such a great time; the sights, the company, and the food were amazing. So, I thought it would be fun to compose a list of my favorite German foods.

1) The bread . . . any bread. It was so fresh! I think I consumed more bread in a week there than I had in two months here.

2) Milka Chocolate, Kinder Chocolate, Merci Chocolate . . . absolutely delicious. All chocolate, really. Seriously, you'll never be able to eat Hershey's again. (I happened to find Milka and Kinder in the European section at Wegmans a few days ago. Sweet.)

3) We had a traditional German meal of rinderrouladen meat and red cabbage for my first European lunch ever. Yum!

4) Belgium waffles with confectionary sugar from the train station. Sixty cents, perfection.

5) Currywurst. I know, I know -- I had my doubts, too. Give it a try! And remember to pronounce the "w" as a "v."

6) And finally, the goodness that is Yogurette. Strawberry flavored yogurt surrounded by milk chocolate. I had at least one every day (and I couldn't stop myself from bringing a box home).

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Weekend Cooking: Appliance Aggravation

Yes, it's been quiet here in our kitchen. The oven broke over the 4th of July weekend, and has been a source of ongoing frustration ever since.

After waiting nearly a week for the repairman, a part needed to be ordered. Two weeks later, the part finally arrived... then it took several more days to get a service appointment.

Our Big Day was set for Tuesday. At 7:30 AM "John", bearing said part, knocked on the door. Scheduling this early appointment would allow me to try a recipe from United Cakes of America before temperatures climbed into that uncomfortable range.  Margot reviewed the cookbook last month, my library hold had been in over a week, and I was anxious to get started.

Well, "John" fiddled around in the oven for over 30 minutes before announcing that he had the wrong part. He informed me that one of "the girls" would call when the correct part arrives... and, incidentally, it cost $100 more than the first part. What??? Another two weeks without my oven? I calmly told "John" he was a very lucky man. If this had been November, there would surely be bloodshed!

So, no picture of a beautiful cake today. We'll see what next week brings...

*photo credit

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone with a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button, head over to Beth Fish Reads, and link up anytime over the weekend.