Zentz THAI Style Dinner

THAI Style Dinner
This a recipe that I got from my friend Renae Zentz.

Marinade for Tofu or Chicken:
1 cup apple cider vinegar—I like Braggs organic
1 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP olive oil, sesame oil, OR peanut oil
1-2 tsp curry paste—green, yellow, red, masman… choose a favorite
(Or use curry powder)
1 inch ginger root, grated (check the freezer door for ginger root)
2-4 cloves garlic, pressed
Optional ingredients: lime/lemon juice (use less vinegar), star anise

Tofu: Cube firm or extra-firm tofu and soak in marinade 10 min or more
Chicken: Slice boneless skinless chicken breasts and soak in marinade 10 min or more
(Both chicken and tofu can marinade overnight in the fridge)

GRAIN: Prepare long-grain brown rice, quinoa or rice noodles according to instructions

Vegetables:
Choose a 3 or more vegetables and have FUN cutting them up (or use fresh frozen :)
Group 1 needs a little more cooking time unless cut very small
Onion, diced
Celery, sliced on diagonal
Carrots, julienne peeled
Group 2, add after a few minutes
Broccoli, chopped
Cauliflower, chopped
Zucchini, julienne peeled
Crooked neck, chopped
Cabbage—red, green or napa
Snow peas, whole
Spinach, Beet tops—add these last
Frozen peas can be added right at the end

Heat 2 TBSP coconut oil or olive oil in skillet. Stir in vegetables, 1st group a few minutes, then 2nd group; pour some ( ½ cup) of the marinade over them, and cook until tender.

Season to taste with your favorites like green butter or pesto, curry powder, garam masala, tumeric, 5 Chinese spice, cumin. Set aside.

Stir-fry the Tofu:
Scoop equal parts of peanut butter and honey (½ cup) into hot skillet with ¼ cup coconut milk (2 coconut milk ice cubes). Add drained tofu and gently stir-fry for @ 5 min.
In large serving bowl, scoop noodles, then vegetables, then fried tofu on top. Garnish with chopped peanuts, flax seeds and cilantro.

Homemade Gluten Free Pasta

Homemade Gluten Free Pasta

98g millet or 3/4 cups
33 g potato starch or 1/4 cup
2 g guar gum or 1 teaspoon
1/2 g xanthan gum or 1/4 teaspoon
1 whole egg
1 egg white
4 g olive oil or 2 teaspoons
For cooking pasta: 4 g of kosher salt or 2 heaping teaspoons

Bring a pot of water to boil.

In the bowl of a stand mixer sift flours together with gums. Make a well in the flour and add eggs and oil. Using the paddle attachment run mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes until a soft dough forms. (you can also mix dough by hand but the stand mixer is quite fast).

Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper. With the pasta machine dial set at one pass the dough through the sheet pasta side. Pass it through again at the number two setting. And then pass it through the machine to cut into fettucine. (if you are rolling the dough by hand do so between two sheets of parchment and roll as thin as you possibly can prior to cutting into noodles).

Put two heaping teaspoons of kosher salt into boiling water.

Cook pasta in boiling water for 5 minutes until slightly al dente.

Drain and serve with some butter and a little truffle oil or truffle salt.

Here is what I am going to try next:

1. After reading other ratio rally ideas I am going to swap out the egg white for an egg yolk.

2. To achieve a lighter pasta (though this is quite good now) I am going to weigh a little bit of each whole grain flour that I have to see which one is lightest and I will use that instead of the millet. I chose millet first because it is a favorite of mine and it is the least expensive of the healthier flours. I also chose to use just two flours to keep ingredients to a minimum.

3. Once I find the lighter flour I will be making ravioli and celebrating. I haven’t had good ravioli since Adriattica closed way back when.

4. I may also try a 20 minute dough rest covered with a damp kitchen towel.

Stay tuned……