Thai Beef Tacos

You might have noticed, we aren't big red meat eaters.  I don't have anything in particular against beef, and I'm pretty sure the Monkey Scientist grew up eating loads of steaks (he is from Chicago), but it has some drawbacks.  It really isn't that good for you.  And more importantly, it's expensive.  So when we do have beef, it's a special treat and we usually buy pretty cheap cuts.



The key to enjoying these cheaper cuts is not to eat them in a steak-and-potatoes kind of way.  While the Monkey Scientist does broil a mean teriyaki flank steak, tacos might just be the best way to eat flank steak. Tacos are such a simple recipe to throw together on a weeknight, and I loved the Asian twist in this recipe.  Definitely made for a unique dinner!



The Monkey Scientist did a lot of work to help me put this recipe together.  He made the mango salsa!  Since the mango salsa on our pork tenderloin a few weeks ago was too spicy, we left the jalapeno seeds out  this time around.  I liked it so much better!  The shallots were much milder than onions and the mango brought out the sweetness of the coconut milk in the marinade.  It was a great addition to the tacos.



These were some of the best tacos I've ever made.  The Monkey Scientist said this was one of his favorite dinners - I think he was happy to have some red meat, plus he's a big Chipotle lover.  I think marinading for longer than 2 hours (I should learn to prep ahead of time a little better) would have been a good idea, but it was still great.  I particularly liked the peanuts on top.  They brought out the Asian flavors from the marinade while adding a nice crunch.  This is an easy weeknight meal that you will really enjoy!



Thai Beef Tacos
every so slighty adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients
1-1 1/2 pounds flank steak
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup light (canned) coconut milk
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
1/2 mango, chopped
1 shallot, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (seeds removed)
a sprinkle each of sugar, salt & pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
8-10 flour tortillas (I used burrito sized, but you could go smaller)
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce or hot salsa
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

Instructions
1. Sprinkle flank steak with salt and pepper. Combine coconut milk, chili sauce, garlic, ginger, and sugar in a bowl and whisk.
2. Add flank steak to a ziplock bag or a shallow baking dish and pour marinade overtop. Refrigerate and let sit for 6-24 hours. (I only waited about 2 hours because I don't plan ahead well)
3. When ready to prepare, remove steak from fridge and let sit for 20-30 minutes. (Yep, I skipped this)
4. In a bowl, combine mango, shallot, jalapeno, salt, sugar and pepper, mix thoroughly, then set aside.
5. Heat a large oven-safe skillet (like cast iron) over high heat. At the same time, preheat the broiler in your oven. (You can also grill the steak if you wish.)
6. Using a pastry brush, brush oil onto the skillet so there is only a very thin layer. (CAREFUL! The oil may jump when you start to brush it!)
7. Remove steak from marinade with kitchen tongs, placing in the skillet. Sear on both sides for 1-2 minutes per side.
8. Remove skillet and place is the oven directly under the broiler. Cook for 3 minutes, then flip and cook for 3 minutes more. (Less time if you like it rarer, more if you like it more well done.)
9. Remove skillet from over, and place steak on a cutting board to rest for 15-20 minutes.
10. At this time, assemble your tortillas (warm them if desired), salsa, extra chili sauce for drizzling and peanuts. After the steak has rested, slice it into thin strips. Assemble tacos as desired and eat!

Peanut Butter: Attempt #1

Have you tried this?



It is the bomb.  I'm totally obsessed.  The only issue is how difficult it is for me to get to a Trader Joe's.  The ingredients are so simple - Roasted Valencia Peanuts, Roasted Golden Flax Seed, and Sea Salt - so I figured, why not try to make it myself?



I popped around and realized that homemade peanut butter is actually super easy to make.  I've always found peanut butter, unless purchased at a natural market like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, usually either isn't smooth at all or has all sorts of weird ingredients.  I really appreciate the ability to make my own foods from scratch and control all of the ingredients.



I also love adding flax seed.  This is such a healthy ingredient, and I love to sneak it into anything I can.  I kind of jumped the gun on this one and I didn't think about roasting the flax seed before I added it to the peanut butter - that's why I'm calling this one try 1.  Next time I'm going to do some seed-roasting, I'll let you know how it goes.



This homemade peanut butter is delicious!! It isn't as smooth as Jiff or Skippy, but it has comparable texture to my favorite Trader Joe's brand. I even found it a little bit easier to spread, even straight out of the fridge. It was fantastic on a PB&J sandwich for work.  I stored it right back in my old peanut butter jar for my reduce/reuse/recycle moment of the day.  I'd call it a great success, I can't to try some new iterations.




Smooth Peanut Butter with Flax Seed
inspired by Joy the Baker
(makes about 1 cup peanut butter)

Ingredients
1 1/2 c unsalted, dry roasted peanuts
1/4 c flax seeds
1 tsp sea salt

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in food processor.  Blend until peanut butter is smooth and shiny.  You may need to stop halfway and scrape down the sides with a spatula.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Chicken Massaman Curry [Guest Chef]

photo by Amanda Farr

I've been busy going to happy hours and Red Sox/Orioles games, so I haven't been cooking too much this week. However, I couldn't leave you hungry.  I'm going to welcome back my coworker, Amanda, who tested this recipe and took some photos to share with you today.

photo by Amanda Farr

Massaman Curry is my absolute favorite dish to get at a Thai restaurant... the only thing I probably order more often is Pad Thai.  We usually order beef, but lately I've been wanting to cut down on my red meat intake.  Massaman Curry is complemented by sweet and delicious coconut milk. You can't go wrong with coconut milk.

photo by Amanda Farr

There definitely are some unusual ingredients here so you may need to take a trip to the Asian market.  If you're buying fish sauce, BUY SQUID BRAND. It's the best I've ever used, and I have most frequently bought it at Asian markets.  I have to admit though, Amanda used some really good looking brand, so that might be better.  Either way, don't sniff the fish sauce... it smells terrible but it blends with all of the other ingredients to create the most amazing flavors.

photo by Amanda Farr

Amanda did make some adjustments from the original recipe.  I know when I make this, I'll probably use ground cardamom out of laziness.  If you use whole, and for the star anise, make sure you take them out when you're done making it.  Amanda almost broke a tooth at lunch the other day when there was a star anise left in the curry.

Photo by Amanda Farr

I really want to try this one myself.  Amanda really enjoyed it, and it looked scrumptious.  You can serve it up with a big side of jasmine or sticky rice... perfection.

Photo by Amanda Farr

Chicken Massaman Curry
adapted from the very hungry cook

Ingredients
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 tbsp massaman curry paste
8 whole cardamom seeds, crushed with the side of a knife and your palm
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 star anise
1 onion
1 can coconut milk
1 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
3-4 tbsp roasted, unsalted peanuts
2 tbsp peanut oil

Instructions
1. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces
2. Add 1 tbsp of oil and the massaman curry paste to the chicken.  Mix well, set aside to marinate.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the pan.  Once the oil is hot, fry the cinnamon, cardamom and star anise for 30 seconds.  Add the onion and fry until golden brown.
4. Add the chicken and turn to low.  Let cook 3-5 min.
5. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, water, potatoes and peanuts.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 30 min or until potatoes and chicken are cooked through.  If needed, remove the lid and cook until the curry reaches desired thickness.  Check seasoning and then remove the pan from the flame.
6. Stir in the tamarind paste and brown sugar.  Serve hot with jasmine rice.

Chicken Pad Thai

This weekend, my coworker took me and another coworker shopping up on the Rockville Pike.  My family sold my car when I moved to DC, so my coworker took me to all of the stores I can't access on public transportation.  It was a wonderful day! My absolute favorite of these stops was an Asian market called H-Mart.

H-Mart is AMAZING. It has every ingredient I couldn't find anywhere else, and with great prices! One of the hardest things to find in average grocery stores was tamarind paste - but they had it at H-Mart! And it was only about $2.  And Squid fish sauce is the best kind.  A huge bottle was about $2 as well - a tiny bottle of a much less authentic brand costs me twice as much at my local grocery store.

H-Mart also had the most gorgeous produce I've seen in a long time.  And again, AMAZING prices.  These gorgeous scallions were wide and bright and crisp and only $0.25/bunch.  This is only HALF a bunch. Unbelievable.

The tamarind paste is an absolute necessity in this recipe.  It give it the "pad thai flavor" from the takeout version.  Look for it in your local Asian market, or order it online. (and if you do take a trip to the Asian market, pick up some gochujang too; you just might need it for one of my next recipes! hint hint)

I did adapt the recipe a little to make it chicken instead of shrimp pad thai.  I picked up this Thai Spice Blend on my spice shopping spree at World Market and used it to season the chicken.

I'm obsessed with this spice.  It's warm from the cinnamon but also has an interesting Thai flavor from dried shrimp, along with several other spices.  Even though it has cilantro (ick!) in it, I can't wait to keep using this spice.  If you have a World Market near you, you should pick this up - totally worth $2.99!

The rest of the recipe comes together pretty easily.  Like with other Thai noodle recipes, there are a couple scrambled eggs and some scallions, and of course garlic.

Also, I had green cabbage in the fridge from my cabbage, potato, and leek soup, so I used that instead of Nappa cabbage. It wilted down a lot and worked out great!  Still, if you were going to make this and didn't happen to have green cabbage lying around, Nappa would be the right cabbage to use.

The hardest part of this recipe was stirring all the ingredients together.  It made a total mess of my stove.  I used a spaghetti fork and tongs to get the job done, but it definitely took some careful maneuvering and some time. And some Lysol wipes when all was said and done.

The final product was delicious! I thought it tasted the closest to restaurant pad thai of any homemade recipe I've ever used.  Plus I used barely any oil, so I feel like it was way healthier than getting takeout. I topped it with lots of lime juice and peanuts, which added the extra zing to put it over the top.  It definitely isn't a simple one pot meal, but I think it was worth doing the dishes for!

Chicken Pad Thai
Slightly adapted from the New York Times

Ingredients:

4 ounces medium-width rice stick noodles
2-4 tablespoons peanut oil

2 to 4 tablespoons tamarind paste

1/4 cup fish sauce (nam pla)

1/3 cup honey

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders

1 tablespoon Thai Spice Blend (from World Market)

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1 garlic clove, minced

2 eggs

1 small head Napa cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups) (or half a large head of green cabbage)

1 cup mung bean sprouts

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

2 limes, quartered.

Instructions:
1. Put noodles in a large bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let sit until noodles are just tender; check every 5 minutes or so to make sure they do not get too soft. Drain, drizzle with one tablespoon peanut oil to keep from sticking and set aside. Meanwhile, put tamarind paste, fish sauce, honey and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring just to a simmer. Stir in red pepper flakes and set aside.
2. Season chicken with Thai Spice Blend. Put remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; when oil shimmers, add the chicken and cook over medium high heat until no longer pink in the center.  Remove the chicken to a plate, but leave the oil in the pan.
3. Add scallions and garlic to the pan and cook for about a minute. Add eggs to pan; once they begin to set, scramble them until just done. Add cabbage and bean sprouts and continue to cook until cabbage begins to wilt, then add the chicken and any juices on the plate.
4. Add drained noodles to pan along with sauce. Toss everything together to coat with tamarind sauce and combine well. When noodles are warmed through, serve, sprinkling each dish with peanuts and garnishing with lime wedges.

Asian Slaw with Roasted Peanuts

One of my favorite salads is Asian Slaw.  There are lots of recipes that I have tried - most of which used Nappa Cabbage - but this one was a little bit different.  It used 2 types of cabbage - green and purple - both of which I was able to find at my new favorite farmer's market.



It also used peanuts which add an awesome flavor.  This is definitely my new favorite slaw recipe - it was so good!  For the fresh vegetables I used bell pepper (green and red) and spinach.  I love all the fun colors and this dressing was the jam!  The lime segments and lime juice made it super fresh.  I can't wait to hit up the farmer's market again next week so I can make some more!

Asian Slaw with Roasted Peanuts

From Rebecca Crump (EzraPoundCake.com)

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

3 cups green cabbage, shredded (about half a small cabbage)

3 cups red cabbage, shredded (about half a small cabbage)

2 cups fresh vegetables (chopped baby spinach, bell pepper strips, snow peas, shredded carrots)

1/4 cup green onions, minced

1 lime, segmented and chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped

Dressing: 

1/4 cup vegetable or peanut oil

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

Juice of 1/2 lime

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated

1 to 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cabbages, spinach, green onions and lime segments. Toss.

2. In a small bowl or food processor, combine the oil, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, ginger, brown sugar and soy sauce.

3. Toss the slaw with the dressing, season with freshly ground black pepper, and add the roasted peanuts.