Hotteok #EattheWorld

Hotteok is a Korean flatbread or pancake, stuffed with sweet or savory fillings.  It is a common street food in South Korea, brought over by the Chinese as a savory treat and adapted to the sweet, nutty version that I am sharing today.

Join us as we Eat the World........

Pork Satays #SummerGamesWeek

Strips of tender pork tossed in a spicy sauce and threaded onto skewers before being grilled to perfections.  These Satays are a classic Thai street food.

Chile and Chocolate Prawns; #ImprovCookingChallenge

This months challenge asked us to share recipes that used chocolate and chile peppers.  I love a little heat with my chocolate so I was thrilled with this theme.

I chose to use crushed red chile peppers and Ghiradelli 68% cocoa chocolate for this recipe that I found in The Food and Cooking of Mexico, South America and the Caribbean by Jane Milton, Jenni Fleetwood and Marina Filippelli.  

I received this cookbook as a gift from our friend's, the Greens.  It not only contains a ton of great recipes but also the history of these areas, the foods cooked in different regions of these countries, and the feasts and festivals that they celebrate. It is the perfect book to curl up with on a dreary winter day, with a cup of tea and lose yourself into the sunshine and tropics of these areas.  I will be posting this recipe over at Foodies Read 2017 where we share all of our food related reads each month.

I adapted this recipe from one found in the section labeled street food and snacks.  They cook up in quickly especially if you, like I, buy raw shrimp that has already been peeled and deveined.  

Then you only need to butterfly them, dredge them in seasoned flour and fry them up in a little olive oil for only a minute or two before they are ready to be tossed in the chile chocolate sauce.

This sauce!!  Not only does it contain chiles and chocolate but also fresh squeezed orange juice and a touch of sherry.  If there is anything better than chocolate with a little heat it is chocolate and orange together.  I have loved this flavor profile since I got my first foil covered chocolate orange as a kid.  I love those things and buy them each Christmas when they are available in the stores.

They may be street food or snacks in Mexico but in our house it was the first course at our Valentine Dinner Party. Very apropos to serve a savory chocolate dish on this day accompanied by a bit of bubbly to get the party started! Don't forget to scroll past my recipe for more great Chile and Chocolate creations.

Chile and Chocolate Prawns

adapted from The Food and Cooking of Mexico

3-4  Raw Large Shrimp per person, peeled and deveined. (I used 24 shrimp)

2 T. flour, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste

1 T. olive oil

2 T.  dry sherry

Juice of 2 oranges

1 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

2 t. garlic paste

1 t. ginger paste

1/4 t. crushed red chile pepper, or more to taste

Place the orange juice, sherry, garlic, ginger and chile pepper into a small saucepan over med low heat and bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate pieces until smooth.  Set aside.

Butterfly your shrimp by cutting down the back until nearly but not completely through the other side.  Press flat into the seasoned flour on both sides.  Heat the olive oil in a skillet over med high heat.  Add the shrimp, in batches if necessary and cook for a minute or so on each side until golden brown with pink edges.  Remove shrimp to a plate.  Pour the sauce into the skillet and cook, stirring and scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom into the sauce until slightly thickened.  Return shrimp to skillet and toss with the sauce before serving.  Print Recipe

Chile and Chocolate Challenge

An InLinkz Link-up

Malaysian Noodles with Sausage and Crab #SecretRecipeClub

I was very excited this month when I found that my SRC assignment was none other than our fearless leader and one of my favorite blogging buddies, Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.  I was recently switched from my SRC group D (which is now defunct)  to group B.  I was happy for the change for many reasons.  First, I get to meet bloggers who are new to me and try their recipes and secondly because Cam is the leader of group B.

As leader of Secret Recipe Club, Cam puts together the assignments and emails each of us to let us know who we got.  Then we secretly go and spy on the blogger we are assigned without them catching us....hence the secret part.  While perusing their blogs, we pay special attention to their recipes and choose one to share with the rest of the group on the assigned reveal day.  It is a lot of fun and you can learn more about it by linking to the about page.

To be honest with you, I didn't snoop around Cam's blog.  I have been following her for a couple of years now and read her blog everytime something new is posted.....and there is always something fun and new going on at Cam's.  She and her kitchen elf are always cooking up something unique and exciting and sharing it with others.  Cam made it her goal to teach her children to eat everything and they do...from snails to goat to ugly fruit....they eat it AND they enjoy it.  Cam also gives cooking classes at her kid's school to teach their friends and classmates about different foods and cultures through food.

I have another confession.  I had printed out this recipe way back in April when Cam first put it on her blog but hadn't gotten around to making it. When I saw that I was assigned her blog this month, I leapt for joy and pulled it out.

This is the perfect recipe.  Easy Peasy and Delicious.  Make sure all your ingredients are prepped and ready to go because once you start cooking this dish is ready in minutes.  I did adapt the recipe slightly.  First, and most important, I am not lucky enough to live near an ocean.  We are surrounded by wonderful water here in Michigan but they are all freshwater, hence no fresh crab being delivered to my door.  I used canned crabmeat. I didn't have any fish stock so I used vegetable stock.  I also adapted this recipe to be Fast Metabolism Diet friendly for Phase 3.  That means I used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and brown rice pasta.

This is a wonderful dish.  It is certain to become a regular on the repertoire as it is so quick and easy to prepare and is impressive enough to serve to company.  Cam stated that this is typical streetfood in Malaysia.  I can see why it would be so popular to both the street vendors and their customers. 

Malaysian Noodles with Sausage and Crab

adapted from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

1/2 lb brown rice spaghetti, cooked per package directions

2 T. olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. chili paste

2 chicken sausages, cut into 1/4" rounds

1 1/2 c. vegetable stock

2 T. coconut aminos

1 (6 oz) can lump crab meat

chopped cilantro to taste

lemon wedges for serving

Rinse the pasta in cold water and set aside.  Heat the olive oil in a wok over med high heat.  Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic.  Cook and stir until vegetables become tender and onions start to caramelize.  Add the sausage and chili paste.  Cook and stir until sausage starts to brown.   Add the stock an coconut aminos.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer unitl the noodles are warmed through and stock is reduced.  Stir in the crab meat and cilantro.  Serve with lemon wedges. Print Recipe

What the others brought to the table this month.

An InLinkz Link-up

Eggplant Piadina with Pesto Spread

My son Chuck, used to share an apartment with a young lady who was with him in the Navy.  Camie and Chuck were great friends and he would often bring her home when they had leave together so Camie became part of the family.

A couple of years ago, Camie got married and was restationed to Maryland from Virginia.  She finished her commitment to the Navy and is looking forward to the next chapter in this journey we call life.  As luck would have it, Camie's father (who is also military) was recently assigned duties here in Michigan and moved to the neighboring town.  Camie was in for a visit and contacted us so we had her over for dinner.

Camie came for dinner on a Meatless Monday which suited her very well as she eats very little meat. I had found a recipe in my latest issue of Cuisine at Home for an Italian Flatbread Sandwich called a Piadina.  Piadina's can be topped with any fillings but I chose to go with the Eggplant and Tomato toppings used in the recipe.  I did adapt the recipe by using homemade pizza dough and pesto instead of store bought as suggested.

Reminiscent of pizza, this open faced sandwich uses a ricotta/pesto spread instead of sauce.  It can be prepped ahead of time and once you are ready to have dinner takes only minutes to create.  I think this is going to become a regular in our household.  I will definitely try other toppings but it will be hard to beat this delicious Meatless Monday combo.

Eggplant Piadina with Pesto Spread

adapted from Cuisine at Home, Issue #118

1/2 c. olive oil

juice from one lemon

2 t. garlic paste or minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 eggplant, cut into 12 slices

1/2 c. pesto, see my recipe here or use your favorite or store bought

1/4 c. ricotta cheese

2 t. lemon juice

2 T. fresh basil cut in chiffonade style (sliced thin)

1 lb. pizza dough, see my recipe here or make your favorite or buy from market

3 T. olive oil

12 slices fresh Mozzarella cheese

12 slices heirloom tomatoes

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Whisk together the 1/2 c. olive oil, lemon juice, garlic paste, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Place the eggplant slices in a baking dish and pour the olive oil mixture over the slices, turning to coat both sides.  Set aside until dinner time.

Combine the pesto, ricotta, 2 t. of lemon juice and fresh basil in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Divide the pizza dough into 6 equal pieces.  Stretch and roll each piece into an 8-10" round.  Brush olive oil on each side of the pizza rounds.  Heat a grill to high.  Grill the eggplant slices for 2-3 minutes per side, until tender, flipping halfway through and topping the cooked half with a slice of Mozzarella cheese.  While the eggplant are cooking, place the dough rounds directly onto the grill rack and cook 1 or 2 minutes per side, until nice grill and char marks appear and the dough puffs nicely.  Remove the pizza rounds and the eggplant from the grill.  Spread 1/6 of the pesto mixture on each warm pizza round. Top with 2 slices of eggplant and 2 slices of tomato. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve. Print Recipe

I'm linking up over at Small Victories Sunday.