Cooking in Moscow

On a trip to Russia last year I made a Thai dish to complement the amazing meal we had at the home of my husband's friend. The plump cherry tomatoes were perfect for the Coconut Soup with Chicken.

Harvesting Basil

I dropped by a friend's house to gather some lovely basil that started growing earlier this summer. Basil grows very well in this climate.

Stir-fried Chicken with Ginger (Phat Khing Gai)

Ingredients

• 3-4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 15 g dried black fungus, soaked and drained
• 25 g fresh ginger, julienned
• 1 lb chicken breast fillet, sliced
• 4-5 Tbsp. chicken stock or water
• 1 small sweet onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 2 green onion (scallions), diagonally sliced
• 1 Tbsp. sugar (to taste)
• 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce (to taste)
• 1 Tbsp. thin light soy sauce (to taste)
• ground white pepper, for spinkling
• a few cilantro leaves, for garnishing
  

Preparation

• Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and stir the garlic over a medium heat until light brown.
  
• Add the meat and stir until the meat is cooked.
  
• Add oyster sauce, fish sauce, thin light soy sauce and sugar and stir.
  
• Add ginger, black fungus, sweet onion and chicken stock or water. Stir for a few minutes.
  
• Taste, then adjust the seasoning if necessary. Stir in the green onion.
  
• Sprinkle with ground white pepper and cilantro leaves before serving.

Makes 3 to 4 Servings

Last Night's Grub

Pork with Basil

Tom Yum Goong 

(Hot Spicy and Sour Soup with Shrimp)

Southern Pecan Pies

Thai Dinner Party in Highlands, North Carolina

Rimson and Charlotte Solomon get their mountain home ready.

My Thai spring rolls and homemade sweet chili sauce were a hit! A great recipe awaits if you simply scroll down the page.

Wine, Spring Rolls, Conversation

Glass Noodle Salad was course # 2. This dish is a combination of bean thread noodles, shallots, green onions, Chinese celery, cabbage, ground pork, dried shrimp, peanuts, lime juice, fish sauce, chillies, sugar, lettuce, and shredded carrots.

The big dishes of the evening were Chicken Coconut Soup and Stir-fried Chicken with Ginger. My recipe for the chicken w/ ginger dish will be added to this site within a couple of weeks.

"I'm finished. Now it's time for Charlotte's Coffee Toffee Surprise!"

Seated L to R: Fran, Kathy, Fred S., Elizabeth, Standing L to R: Dennis, Charlotte, Kade, Rimson, Wiley, Sarah, Mary, Fred M.

Easy Appetizer

For the vegetarians out there, this is a great appetizer: deep-fried tofu with spicy chili sauce. Just cut the extra-firm tofu into bite-sized chunks and drop in oil that is 375 degrees. Once the tofu turns a light brown, take it out and place on a paper towel to cool a bit. Then, take the fried tofu and your favorite dipping sauce and "go to town." Even if you're not a vegetarian, this snack will truly surprise your taste buds. Give it a shot!

ChefCargo.....Mission Accomplished

ChefCargo is in the beautiful (but parched) Biltmore Village. Keep scrolling for more photos.

Class time!

With Matt, co-owner of ChefCargo. Matt and his wife Alex have operated ChefCargo for three years.
The students will arrive any minute!

They did want it to be hands-on!

Spicy Fruit Salad, coming up!

A success!

More photos way down the page....just scroll

Thai Cooking this weekend! Double-Click Images

To learn more about this weekend's programs, double-click these images and enlarge. Contact Matt at Chef Cargo to reserve your spot. 828-277-7994

Thai Spring Rolls

Here's my recipe. It was published in WNC Magazine's May edition.

Thai Spring Rolls

Ingredients

vegetable oil for frying

1 package spring roll wrappers

2 cups chopped cooked shrimp

2 cups ground pork

2 cups shredded carrot

2 cups shredded cabbage

1½ cups mung bean noodles, soaked

4-6 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked

1 Tbsp. Seasoning Sauce

1 Tbsp. Light Soy Sauce (to taste)

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 teaspoon pepper

salt if needed

1 egg yolk

Preparation

Drain and chop the mushrooms.  Drain the noodles and cut into short lengths of about 2 inches.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the pork and shrimp. Stir until the meat is almost cooked.

Add carrot, cabbage, mushrooms and the noodles.  Season with soy sauce, seasoning sauce,

sugar, and pepper.

Stir and mix well until the meat is cooked.  Move into a bowl and let cool.

Place a spoonful of filling in the center of a spring roll wrapper.

Turn the bottom edge over to cover the filling, then fold in the left and right sides.

Roll the wrapper up almost to the top edge.  Brush the top edge with egg yolk and seal.

Repeat with the rest of the wrappers.

Heat the oil in a wok or deep fryer to 350°.  Slide in the spring rolls a few at a time and fry until

crisp and golden brown.

Remove and drain on paper towels.  Serve hot with Thai sweet chili sauce.

For Dipping Sauce

3 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp white vinegar

1-2 fresh thai chilies

2 Tbsp shredded carrot

Mix sugar, salt, and water in small bowl.

Heat in microwave about 30 seconds until sugar dissolved.

Add vinegar, crushed chillies, 2 Tbsp shredded carrot, and stir together.

Wedding Party

I had the pleasure of preparing dinner for Laura's lovely wedding party. The menu: Spring Rolls, Chicken Green Curry, Shrimp with Basil and Spicy Fruit Salad. You can see the recipe for the fruit salad below. It combines the four flavors that are essential to Thai food: sweet, spicy, sour and salty.
My assistant: Andi Smith, from Atlanta, GA

Spicy Fruit Salad (Yum Phon-la-mai)

Ingredients

3 cups mixed fruit, cut into small chunks*
2-3 Thai chillies, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. dried shrimp (miniature)
2-3 Tbsp. toasted peanuts or cashew nuts (lightly salted)
1-2 Tbsp. lime juice (to taste)
1-2 Tbsp. fish sauce (to taste)
1-2 Tbsp. sugar (to taste)
a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

*apples, mangoes, cantaloupes, grapes, pears, and stawberries work best

Preparation

Put everything into a salad bowl. Mix very well.

4 Servings

EarthFare Cooking Demonstration

See more photos below

Dinner Party, Thai-Style

Amanda (with her baby), Erin, Mary, Valerie, Natalie, me, Katie, Amanda

Scroll down for more fabulous photos from that night

"Okay, time for spring rolls!"

Tom Khai Gai (Chicken in Coconut Soup)

Pad Thai with Tofu

Saturday Night Cooking Class Blast!

(L to R) Lynn, "Alley Cat" Georgia, Jim, "Hill Tribe" Chris, Paul, me, "Judge Judy" Lainie, Leslie

Stir-frying Away!

Stir-fried tofu and mixed vegetables with basil

Cooking Class at Susan's House

Rosie, Susan, Michelle, me, Lea, Celeste, Catherine, Caylie

This cooking class took place at Susan's lovely house. These ladies learned how to prepare three scrumptious Thai dishes: Pad Thai, Stir-fried Tofu and Vegetables with Basil, and Spicy Glass Noodle Salad. Susan provided the wonderful wine. Thanks Susan! I also whipped up a soothing after-meal treat: a warm sweet potato and ginger drink. It is just right for this time of year. Below, you can see more photos of the class. It was lots of fun!