Fresh Spring Rolls/Salad Rolls and Peanut Sauce

These are a revelation. They are so light and tasty--healthy, even. Until you dip them in the savory peanut sauce that is. These rolls are fun and easy to make, yet people will be very impressed with you. You can essentially add anything you like, then just roll it up--sort of like a cross between a burrito and sushi! This recipe is based on one from the fantastic book Quick & Easy Thai by Nancie McDermott. If you don't own it, go get it! All of her recipes are very approachable and delicious.

Salad Rolls

~Print Recipe~

• 8 ounces very thin dried rice noodles
• 12 round rice paper sheets, about 8 inches in diameter
• 2 cups tender lettuce (I used prepackaged butter lettuce)
• 1/2 cup fresh Thai basil or mint
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 5 green onions, cut in 3-inch strips
• Thin cucumber spears (optional)
• Thin carrot spears (optional)
• 18 medium cooked shrimp, halved lengthwise
• Cooked chicken (optional)

1. Boil water in a medium saucepan. Drop in rice noodles and remove from heat. Gently toss and stir the noodles so they cook evenly. Let stand 8 to 10 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well and set aside. Makes about 2 cups of noodles.
2. Arrange prepped ingredients around a cutting board. Have the serving plate ready. Fill a skillet with very warm water.
3. Submerse one rice paper sheet into the warm water for about 15 seconds, until it is soft and pliable. Carefully remove the rice paper, letting it drain, and spread it flat on the cutting board.
4. About a third of the way in, make a horizontal row of each ingredient, except shrimp. Lift the wrapper edge nearest you and roll it up and away from you, tucking the edge in over the pile in the middle. Tightly fold in the sides of the wrapper, to form a little package. Place 3 shrimp halves over the filling, then continue rolling the wrapper tightly. 
5. Press the seam to close the roll, applying a little water if it has dried out. Set the roll on the platter seam side down. Continue until you run out of fillings. Serve with peanut sauce or other dipping sauce.

Makes 10-12 rolls

Peanut Sauce

~Print Recipe~

• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste or mussamun curry paste
• 2 teaspoons roasted chili paste
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1. Bring coconut milk to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan. Add the curry paste and roasted chili paste. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve. 
2. Add the chicken broth, fish sauce, sugar, peanut butter and lime juice. Cook for 1 minute, stirring to smooth.
3. Remove from heat, transfer to a serving bowl and set aside to cool. 

Goat Cheese Crostini

These are so simple and yet so incredibly flavorful and delicious! The creamy tang of the goat cheese and the sharp, savory bite of the garlic. The freshness of the parsley. We paired these with a mild potato soup and these were the standouts. We had a few left over and we figured they wouldn't necessarily store well, so we had the remainders for dessert.

These crostini are not particularly ground breaking, and yet I never would have thought to combine these flavors just so. I combine a few techniques I've gleaned from various sources here, but the cheese spread is actually from Meals in Minutes, a Weight Watchers cookbook. Who knew they'd have anything to add? Well, try these and you will see that they certainly do.

Goat Cheese Crostini

~Print Recipe~

• 1 baguette
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Olive oil for brushing (of olive oil spray)
• Salt, pepper, thyme, other seasonings to taste

• 1/4 cup goat cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste)
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

1. Preheat broiler. Slice baguette on a bias into pieces 1/2 inch thick. Lay slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Chop 1 clove of garlic in half. Rub the cut edge on the top side of baguette slices. Spread a thin layer of olive oil on slices with a pastry brush, or spray slices well with an olive oil spray. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste.
2. Toast slices under broiler for 1-2 minutes until crispy and golden. (They will burn really quickly if you don't keep a close eye on them.)
3. In a small bowl, combine goat cheese, pepper and parsley. Press in the remaining garlic clove with a garlic press (one of the best tools ever!) and add the oil. Mix until smooth. Spread on the baguette slices. Pop them back under the broiler for 1 minute to lightly melt the cheese mixture. Serve immediately.
   

Bryan's Buffalo Wings

Another Ode to Super Bowl.  This recipe is from Bryan Pelton, our old manager at REI, now the store manager at REI Marina.  He used to make these in the break room in crock pots.  Magic.  Apparently the recipe's from Pyramid Brewery.  Mary Ann and Lauren are making them tomorrow for the big football event. (I'm all about the food, forget football).

Again, this is from Bryan's head, so you may need to adjust for quantities and taste.

What's in it:

Frozen buffalo wings (technically referred to as 'drummettes'), preferably the jumbo bag from Costco

Hot Sauce:

1/2 bottle of Frank's Hot Sauce (apparently this is key), not their buffalo sauce, though

1 Tbl Chipotle BBQ sauce (or any you have on hand)

1/2 stick melted butter

Spoon full of brown sugar

Splash of OJ

Tangy Sauce:

1/2 stick melted butter

Spoon full of brown sugar

Splash of OJ

1 Tbl soy sauce

lots of lime juice

shot or so of Tequilla

How it's made:

Thaw chicken overnight in fridge or by running hot water over them in a large bowl, or in a crock pot on low.

Preheat oven to 350 (or as directed on chicken packaging). 

Combine ingredients for either hot sauce or tangy sauce, or both.  You can make two separate batches for each flavor.  Use a baking pan lined with foil, add chicken and cover with sauce.  Bake as directed, or for about 15-20 minutes until done.  Baste often and turn 3-4 times.

Totopos: Tortilla Chips

This is one of those things that is really simple and mind-blowingly delicious, but that most people don't (or at least I didn't) think to do. About a year ago, I bought a lovely cookbook from a hip and tasty Mexican restaurant called Tacubaya on Berkeley's famous 4th Street. Part of why I compulsively bought the book were the enticing photos and sleek design, but Tacubaya's food also happens to be fantastic and authentically Mexican (not so many Mexican restaurants actually are).

One of my favorite Mexican dishes, chilaquiles, has a base of fried corn tortilla chips or totopos. I couldn't wait to make chilaquiles of my very own (I hope you've had the opportunity to try them and know why), so the totopos were the first recipe I attempted. Now, I have to tell you that I am afraid of frying anything. My family never fried foods when I was growing up and I had never personally attempted to fry anything, ever.

I found that this was actually nothing to fear. And while it's cheap and easy to buy corn tortilla chips at the store, this only takes a few minutes and is more worth it than I could have ever imagined.

Totopos

~Print Recipe~

• 3 cups canola oil
• 24 fresh corn tortillas
• Kosher salt

1. Put the canola oil in a large frying pan and turn the heat up to high.
2. In the 5-10 minutes it will take the oil to heat up to 350 degrees (I don't have a thermometer, but when it's hot, it's hot), cut your tortillas into sixths to make chip-size triangles.
3. When the oil is ready, turn the heat down to medium-high. Put half of your cut tortillas in the pan, submerging them with a slotted spoon if they float up to the top. They will turn crispy and brown in about 3-4 minutes. (Try not to let them get too dark.)
   
4. Use the slotted spoon or a spatula to fish out the chips, letting as much oil as possible drain back into the pan. (You'll want to do this pretty quickly, since they'll get extra crispy if you leave them in too long.) Set the chips on a few layers of paper towels to soak up the extra oil.
5. While they're still hot, sprinkle them with salt and have a few!
6. Repeat with the other half of the tortillas.

These would be a fantastic appetizer as is or served with salsa and guacamole. The best chilaquiles I've ever had were made with these chips, and I've made a delicious plate of nachos with them as well.