Friday, April 15, 2011

Something New in Honor of Someone New

Not much to write, but here are a couple meals from last week.  Below is some fresh sweet potato gnocchi in a roasted red pepper and corn cream sauce.  Next to it, is an arugula salad that Vanessa made.  This creamy pasta was enjoyed by all three house mates, after a weekend of everyone being out of town.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
in a Roasted Red Pepper and Corn Cream Sauce
Arugula Salad


This past week, I had some very exciting news.  My brother and sister-in-law in Los Angeles welcomed a new baby boy into their lives.  As I write now, I am out in California visiting them with my sister and parents.  The new boy is very, very cute!  He was born Friday night, and in honor of the new arrival we tried something new for dinner on Saturday.  I have a great Asian Cookbook with really tasty recipes from China, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore.  I have made many dishes in the past from this book, but Saturday night I tried my hand at Burmese food for the first time.

Dry Burmese Fish Curry
with Rice, Broccoli and Caramelized Papaya

The fish curry is made with tilapia.  The sauce is a very straight forward South Asian dish: onion, garlic, ginger, chillies, turmeric, fish sauce and lime.  I suppose the book called it a "dry curry" because the dry ingredients are all chopped up in a food processor, while the fish marinates in fish sauce.  The dry ingredients are then cooked, and then the fish is added.  It is finished with the lime. 

Vanessa made the broccoli and the papaya.  I really recommend making the papaya.  Chop it up, and sear it for a minute or so on a very high heat, adding a little salt, pepper and lime juice.  The trick is to not cook it too long or on too low a heat, so that the sugars in the fruit quickly caramelize.  We topped everything with some fresh cilantro.  Very nice.

New food for my new nephew!  Hurray!!!  Stay tuned for the next post.  Tonight, I am cooking at my brother's house for eight people.  It is a bit of a feast, and it is a bit ridiculous. 

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