Sunday, August 26, 2007

Coming in the box August 29th - 31st

cilantro photoIn the box this week:

Cilantro (this photo is of cilantro)
Basil
Potatoes
Cabbage OR Summer Squash
Tomatoes
Steve's Mystery
Andy's Mystery
Sweet Corn (!?)

If you're inspired to send me what you would do with this week's box, please do email me. Here's a couple of recipes I already received from Terri F. and one from Gudrun:

A couple of Thai dishes for you.

A great use for cilantro, so easy and truly an amazing dish:

Thai Marinated Striped Bass - (note any white fish works fine here,
bass is amazing though)
3 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6oz) striped bass fillets

Combine first 4 ingredients in ziploc, add fish; marinate in
refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Remove fish from marinade,
reserve marinade. Heat a large nonstick pan coated with cooking spray
over medium-high heat. Add fish, cook 4 minutes on each side or until
fish flakes easily. Remove fish from pan. Add marinade to pan, bring
to a boil. Cook 30 seconds, serve with fish.

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Shrimp and Corn Cakes - Kao Pood Tod

4 ears corn kernels, cut from the cob(2 cups)
1 cup finely chopped shrimp
2 Tbsp finely minced shallot
2 Tbsp finely minced garlic
2 Tbsp finely minced cilantro root
2 Tbsp red curry paste, more to taste
1 Tbsp sugar, more if corn is not very sweet
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/3 cup tempura batter mix or all purpose flour, more as needed
1 tsp salt
2 tsp shrimp paste
1-2 whole eggs, beaten, adding one at a time and checking consistency
4 cups vegetable oil for frying

Combine all ingredients except the oil and mix well. The texture
should be like cookie dough, holding together as patties. Add more
batter mix or eggs as needed. Do not put too much liquid.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or wok to 375 degrees. With damp
hands, form a heaping Tbsp of batter into a flat, round patty and drop
in hot oil. Lightly aerate the batter by jabbing it with a fork.
Repeat the process until cakes loosely fill pan. Cook for 2 to 3
minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove from pan and drain on
paper towels. Serve with cucumber sauce.

Cucumber Dipping Sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups thinly sliced english cucumber
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 cup thinly sliced red pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced thai chiles
1/4 cup rice vinegar or lime juice
1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
1/4 tsp salt, more to taste
cilantro for garnish
In a small pot over medium heat, combine 1/8 cup water, the fish sauce
and sugar. Cook and stir until the mixture is reduced into thin syrup.
Remove from the heat and let cool.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the syrup and combine well. Serve
as a sauce to the shrimp cakes.

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Chicken and Leeks

6 chicken thighs
2 TBS olive oil
salt & pepper
cumin
paprika
3 leeks, sliced diagonally into 1 inch slices, cleaned well
3 garlic cloves or 1/4 cup chopped shallots
3/4 cup white wine
1 TBS dried basil (could also use tarragon, I think)
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, without salt

Sprinkle S&P, cumin and paprika on chicken thighs. Brown on both sides in the oil in a dutch oven. Remove to plate. Add leeks and garlic or shallots to pan, saute for 3 minutes, until limp. Add white wine, basil and tomatoes. Bring to boil. Add back in the chicken and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer 15-20 minutes, until the rest of dinner is done. Especially good served with cooked pasta.

-Gudrun

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