Pad Thai

After only eating thai food twice in my life, the last time being about 3 1/2 years ago, I'm not really sure what possessed me to taking on making a thai dish at home. It might have been that I stumbled upon a pad thai recipe on the Williams-Sonoma website and that every W-S recipe I've read about in other people's blogs (like Annie's Eats) has turned out wonderful. It probably also had something to do with the fact that I had nearly every ingredient on the lengthy list in my pantry and would only need to purchase one or two things outside of chicken and shrimp.

So last night, I took to the kitchen and cooked up a pretty damn good pad thai dish! Kyle gave it an 8.5 (on the 'ol 10-point scale) and that was after he took a taste from the pan before it was finished cooking and made a God-awful face. (duh.) I do admit there was a bit of veggie prep (I highly recommended prepping everything before you start cooking this dish) but once things started moving, the cooking part was quite basic. And the results....MMMM!! I'll admit that I was a little skeptical while cooking because the recipe doesn't call for any spices but it really turned into a wonderful dish. I only very slightly modified the recipe which you can see in italics below but overall, I really stuck to the recipe. DEFINITELY give this one a shot!!

Pad Thai

source: Williams-Sonoma

This simple home-style noodle dish made with chicken and shrimp is quick and easy to prepare. The right noodle is essential. Look in Asian markets and well-stocked food stores for the flat ribbon-shaped noodle called sen lek in Thai. They are 1/8 inch wide and made with rice flour.

• 1/2 lb. dried rice ribbon noodles (I couldn't find ribbon so I used regular flat rice noodles)
• 2 Tbs. vegetable oil, or as needed
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half, about 1/4 lb., cut into strips 1/8 inch thick (I used 1lb chicken)
• 1/4 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup minced shallot or yellow onion (I used shallot)
• 3 Tbs. tomato ketchup or tomato paste (I used tomato paste)
• 2 Tbs. plus 1 1/2 tsp. Thai fish sauce
• 2 Tbs. lime juice or rice vinegar
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 egg
• Large pinch of red pepper flakes (small pinch for me)
• 4 Tbs. chicken stock (I used about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 lb. mung bean sprouts
• 6 green onions, including tender green portions, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 carrot, peeled and julienned
• 1/3 cup chopped roasted peanuts (omitted)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (for garnish - omitted - forgot)
• 1 lime, cut into 6 wedges (for garnish - omitted)

1. Place the noodles in a bowl, add warm water to cover and soak until soft and pliable, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a nonstick wok (I used a 12 inch non-stick frying pan) over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the oil. Add the chicken and toss and stir until opaque, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and toss and stir until bright pink, about 1 minute more. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
3. Return the wok to medium-high heat and add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil. Add the garlic and shallot and toss and stir until golden, about 1 minute. Increase the heat to high and add the ketchup, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Toss and stir until thickened, about 30 seconds.
4. Crack the egg into the middle of the wok and lightly beat. Cook, without stirring, until set, about 20 seconds. Gently fold the egg into the sauce; tiny egg flecks should peek through the sauce. Add the noodles and red pepper flakes and, using tongs, toss to coat with the sauce.
5. Add the stock, 2 Tbs. at a time, to moisten the stiff noodles, and cook until the noodles begin to cling together and are almost tender, about 3 minutes. Add the bean sprouts, green onions, carrot, chicken-shrimp mixture and half of the peanuts. Toss to combine and cook until the bean sprouts begin to wilt, about 3 minutes. (I probably cooked the dish for an extra 4 minutes or so while adding about 1/4 cup chicken stock at the end and letting it cook down in order to finish cooking the noodles. The noodles were al dente when I served up the pad thai.)
6. Divide among individual plates and top with the remaining peanuts and the cilantro. Squeeze the lime wedges over the noodles. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Lifestyles Series, Asian Flavors, by Joyce Jue (Time-Life Books, 1999).

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6

Cheddar Bacon Biscuits

Adding to our starch-fest dinner for Kyle's birthday a couple of weeks ago were these cheddar-bacon biscuits I found on the Williams-Sonoma website. I pulled this recipe from the website a few months back and really hadn't planned on the "right" meal to make these with until Kyle's birthday dinner. What a nice addition these were! I had only made biscuits from scratch once previously - it's just so easy to pop open a can and throw some biscuits on a cookie sheet - but these really were so easy to make! I even prepared and refrigerated the dough about an hour before I planned on baking them for two reasons: 1.) so that I wouldn't be rushing to make them while I cooked everything else, and more importantly, 2.) so that the butter in the dough would remain very cold until I was ready to bake them. They turned out crunchy on the outside, soft and flakey on the inside, and full of flavor. I'll definitely make these again but will half the recipe next time because 10 large biscuits was just too much.

Cheddar-Bacon Biscuits

from the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

What are the secrets to making tender, flaky biscuits? When cutting the butter into the flour, work quickly so it doesn’t melt too much before you put the biscuits in the oven. And when adding the milk, don’t overmix the dough; stir until the ingredients are just combined.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
• 6 bacon slices, finely chopped and fried until crisp
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim)

1. Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 400ºF. Lightly spray a biscuit pan with nonstick cooking spray. (I dropped the dough onto a cookie sheet because I don't have a biscuit pan.)
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal. Add the cheese, chives and bacon; using a fork, stir until evenly distributed. Add the milk; using a rubber spatula, stir until just combined.
3. Divide the dough among the wells of the prepared pan. Bake until the biscuits are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a biscuit comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Makes 7 biscuits (see below).

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Yields: 10 large biscuits