Shrimp Pad Thai

Shrimp Pad Thai

Really yummy and fast pad thai from the Food 52 blog. I found that it made enough for 4 healthy portions. You can find tamarind paste at whole foods in the Asian aisle.


Serves 2

* 1-2 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 ounces thick rice noodles
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
small handful honey roasted peanuts, chopped
small handful cilantro, chopped


1. In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, 2 tablespoons oil, and tamarind concentrate. Stir until sugar is dissolved and set aside.

2. Soak the rice noodles in hot tap water for about 20 minutes, or until they start to soften but not fully tender. Drain and set aside.

3. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt in a small bowl and set aside. (There's lots of things to set aside, aren't there? Makes it easier in the end because the cooking of this dish is fairly quick)

4. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil under high heat for about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the shrimp start to turn pink with browned edges. Remove shrimp and set aside.

5. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to skillet. Add garlic, shallot, and jalapeno. Cook over medium heat and stir continuously for about 1 minute. Add eggs to skillet and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until scrambled, about 30 seconds. Add the egg noodles and toss with tongs to combine. Pour the tamarind/fish sauce mixture over the noodles and increase the heat to high, continuing to toss the ingredients with the sauce.

6. Add 1/2 of the chopped peanuts and cooked shrimp. Toss noodles for about 2 more minutes.

7. Dish out onto hot plates and top with remaining peanuts and garnish with cilantro.

By day, Jennifer Steinhauer, aka Jenny, covers Congress for The New York Times. By night, she is an obsessive cook.


Read more: http://www.food52.com/

Pasta with Chopping-Board Pistachio Pesto

Delish!!

Reprinted fromThe Splendid Table's® How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift (Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2008). Copyright © 2008 by American Public Media.

Serves 4 to 6 as a main dish

10 minutes prep time; 10 minutes stove time
Equally good hot from the pot or at room temperature

Pistachios, scallions, garlic, and fresh herbs: who would think this adds up to a pasta dish? This is actually a riff on an Umbrian home sauce. You do it all with your trusty knife and one pot. Call it green spaghetti, and the kids will be all over it. It's also good hangover food.

5 quarts salted water in a 6-quart pot

The Pesto:

• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper, or to taste
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1 tight-packed cup coarse-chopped fresh chives or scallion tops
• 4 tight-packed tablespoons fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1/3 cup shelled salted pistachios or almonds
• 2 tablespoons good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil

Pasta and Finish:

• 1 pound imported spaghetti or linguine
• 1 tablespoon good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fine-chopped red onion
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated Asiago or Stella Fontinella cheese

1. Bring the salted water to a boil.
2. To make the pesto, pile the salt and pepper on a chopping board. Crush the garlic into it with the side of a large knife, and fine chop. Add the chives, basil, and onion, and continue chopping until the pieces are cut very fine. Add the nuts to the pile and continue cutting until they are coarsely chopped. Directly on the board, blend in the oil. Taste for salt and pepper.
3. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook at a fierce boil, stirring often, until it is tender but still a little firm to the bite. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water and set it aside. Quickly drain the pasta.
4. Film the empty pasta pot with the 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place it over medium heat, and sauté the finely chopped onion in it for 1 minute. Stir in the pesto. Warm it for only a few seconds over medium heat to let the flavors blossom do not cook it. Stir in about 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta water to stretch the sauce. Immediately pull the pot off the heat.
5. Add the drained pasta to the pot, and toss with the pesto and the cheese, adding more pasta water if the mixture seems very dry. Taste again for seasoning, and serve.

LYNNE'S TIPS

This pasta demonstrates a pet theory: chop ingredients together and not only do you save a lot of time, but their flavors also blend in a unique way.

You want the pasta cooking water to taste salty, like sea water, to season the pasta as it cooks. Toss a quarter cup or so of salt into the water as it starts to heat.