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Posts Tagged ‘basil’

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May 13

Pumpkin Macaroni

I had an idea of making mac and cheese, but I wanted to make it healthy. That’s why I came up with the pumpkin idea because it has an awesome yellow colour much like cheddar cheese. All components are light, but it has a creamy texture from the pumpkin. I sauteed diced pumpkin with garlic and white wine and chicken stock, then I pureed it for a smooth texture. In the same pan, when the pumpkin is off to the blender, I sweated sliced shallots in olive oil with salt and pepper. I then added lemon thyme (from my little herb pot). After the shallots became translucent, I poured the pureed pumpkin back into the pan and added low fat milk to thin the sauce. Macaroni was added into the sauce and mixed together. The final touch is julient basil and freshly grated parmesan cheese to top. TA..DA…no guilt eating this healthy pumpkin macaroni.

May 08

Summer Rolls

Summer Rolls are healthy and fortunately easy to make. I have learned to make summer rolls from working in a restaurant watching cooks make them repeatedly. The trick is when you soak rice paper, you MUST use cold water. Hot or warm water makes rice paper soften quicker, but the rice paper will crack after you finish rolling them within 10-15 minutes. The filling is all fresh vegetables and cooked shrimp or hand made pork balls (optional). Basic filling is green leaf lettuce, cucumber, carrot, basil, vermicelli noodle). There are two kinds of dipping sauce that is usually served with summer rolls. One is a clear sauce that made from fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and chilli flakes (optional). Another is made from the combination of hoisin sauce, cooked carrots, pineapple and Sriracha (hot sauce). Personally, I prefer the second sauce because the it enhances the flavour of the vegetables and shrimp more.

May 08

Green Curry Pork

green-curry

People here (in New York) keep asking me which curry is less spicy or which curry is the spiciest. Honestly, I can’t tell the difference between spices because I eat spicy food all the time. According to my grandparents, green curry is spicier than red curry. I like to serve my green curry with rice noodle that Thai people call “Kanom Jean”. It’s very easy to find green curry paste from any Asian grocer nowadays. The crucial part is the beginning when the curry paste needs to be stirred initially in hot oil and then adding any kind of meat (the most popular is chicken, pork and beef). Stir meat and curry paste until the meat is cooked half way. Add fish sauce and coconut milk to keep the meat soft and a little bit of sugar. You can add any vegetables you like, but can’t forget basil (try to add it at the very end to keep the fresh colour). The most common addition is bamboo shoot. It’s best when it’s hot.