Drunken Noodles by Jody

 I love Thai food, and this is one of the dishes that is a standard go-to dish when I try a new restaurant. I've found a recipe that I like and have made some adaptations to it, so this is a rough idea of my Drunken Noodles.

6 ounces of rice noodles
8 ounces of pork (you can use ground pork or pork strips, both are good)
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 large hot green chili, chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, diced
2 tbls kaffir lime leaves ( I use bottled, since fresh is almost impossible to find in Maine)
2 tbls soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tomato, cut into wedges
2 tbsp fresh basil, shredded (I had to leave this out last time because I couldn't find any)

Cook the rice noodles according to the instructions on the noodles. If using pork strips, salt & pepper them, then stir fry for a couple minutes until they are just cooked. If using ground pork, stir fry the onions, garlic and chilis for about a minute before adding the pork and stir fry for an additional minute before adding the bell pepper. Stir fry about 2 minutes, then add the lime leaves, soy sauce and sugar. Lastly, add the drained noodles and tomatoes and stir to cover the noodles. Sprinkle with basil. Serve.

I've made this before and love it every time. This time, I added way too many noodles and it ended up not quite as good. So learn from my mistake and don't add too many noodles. Of course, that just means I'll have to make it again soon, and make it right the next time.

Pasta Carbonara - by Jody

This is one of my favorite dishes. Pasta, bacon, cheese, what's not to like. When I first started making this I used a totally different technique but I've since discovered that this works well as a skillet dish. I'm sure it has about a million calories, but I really don't care.

1/3 pound bacon
1/2 diced onion
Butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
Pasta
6 egg yokes
Cream
Parmesan Cheese
Basil
Pepper
Salt

Put some butter in a large skillet, add bacon, onion & some pepper. Cook until bacon is crisp but not overdone.  Do not drain the bacon fat.
Boil pasta while cooking bacon. When pasta is done, drain and then add directly to the skillet.
Add chicken stock & toss.
Combine egg yoke & cream, lightly beat to break up the yokes.
Take skillet off heat, add the yoke & cream and toss to coat.
Salt & Pepper to taste (this should be a peppery dish)
Sprinkle fresh basil and cheese on top.

You might have noticed that I add spinach to a lot of dishes. I'm a big fan of chopping up a cup or 2 and adding it for some extra nutrition with negligible calories. I chopped up about 2 cups of spinach and added it to the bacon & onions about 3 minutes before I put in the pasta. It wilts quickly so don't add it too early.

This dish doesn't take long to make, and once the pasta is added to the skillet, it comes together very quickly. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes to make so it's a favorite to both cook and eat. 

Thai Spring Rolls - by Jody

I love Thai food. Drunken Noodles, coconut milk based curry, seafood soups, and spring rolls. I love them all. This is my take on vegetarian spring rolls.

Since this was just for us, and not for company, I made about 8 rolls, but I like them stuffed full, so your mileage many vary.

1 package egg roll skins
2 oz fine rice noodles. I use Thai Kitchen.
Oil for frying
2 cloves glarlic
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2-3 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup spinach. Alternately you can use alfalfa or bean sprouts.
1 carrot, shreaded
1 tbls soy sauce
1 tbls rice wine
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbls cilantro, chopped
1 tbls mint, chopped

Cook noodles according to the package. Drain.
Fry garlic, ginger, scallion, spinach & carrot for about a minute. Stir in soy sauce, rice wine, pepper cilantro & mint. Stir in noodles and toss with the mixture. Take off heat and let cool a little.

Roll in the egg roll skins. Demos of the different techniques can be found on line, but here are pictures of my method. Use cornstarch & water to help the skins stick together and keep the rolls from falling apart.
Fry for about a minute on each side, or until golden brown. I eat them with sweet chili sauce, but you can use your favorite.

Meatloaf - by Steve

     I have always loved meatloaf.  My Dad has always been my inspiration for the stuff, he has always made a great one.  Ever since I started cooking seriously, I wanted to recreate the meatloaf he would make.  I've never been able to replicate it, so I made the conscious decision to never try again.  Instead, I would use meatloaf as a test bed, as it were.  I have since done numerous things with it, from stuffing it with prosciutto and cheese to wrapping it in bacon.  This time, since Jody had picked up a pound of hot Italian sausage for me (organic no less) at the Belfast CoOp, I thought how cool it would be to embed a couple links of sausage IN the meatloaf itself.  So, here is the process and the result.  Jody couldn't stop raving about it, so I must have done something right.

Ingredients:

1lb. ground pork

1lb. ground meatloaf blend (something our local market sells, pork, beef, I think veal, etc)

2 links hot Italian sausage

2 eggs

2/3 cup bread crumbs, your preference in type

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced small

4-5 oz. spinach, chopped fine

5 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

salt

pepper

onion powder

garlic powder

dry mustard

sage

barbecue sauce for glazing, again your preference in brand

     Preheat your oven to 400.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all your ingredients, thoroughly mixing with your hands.  Make sure everything is completely integrated together before moving on.  Take a standard bread loaf pan, preferably non stick, and fill it halfway with the mixture, pressing in firmly.  Lay the two sausage links in lengthwise, press them into the meatloaf mix a little bit to get them secure.  Fill with the rest of the meatloaf mix and firmly press into place to completely cover and secure the sausages.  Once your pan is filled and pressed, toss it in the oven for at least 45 minutes.  Check your temp after that, and let it go for another half hour if need be.  I cooked mine to about 145-150 and it was spot on.    Pull, let it sit for five minutes to finish, glaze and cut to serve.  I cut mine right in the pan, but there's no reason you couldn't dump it out and cut it on a board.  I added a little extra barbecue sauce after I served mine and it really sang.

Chili - by Jody

I've made chili for decades, and each one is different depending on my mood and audience. This time I made it bean-less, but my basic recipe includes beans & beer. I can't tell you how many this feeds, but I'd say 10 easily.

3-4 large cans Contadina spaghetti sauce
3-4 small cans of Goya beans. I use black beans, but you can use your favorite.
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
2 pounds of meat. I usually use one pound ground beef or pork and one pound Italian sausage
1 package Morningstar Farms veggie crumbles. You can replace all the meat with this for a veggie chili
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chili powder & cumin. I usually just start adding these until it tastes right. You can also use some of Auntie Arwen's spice mixes. Tonight I used Fiesta Dog because she has discontinued my favorite, which was Turkish Delight.
3 bottles Guinnesse. You can also use red wine instead of beer.

Top with cheese, diced onion and/or tortilla chips. 

Weekend in Quebec City - By Jody

I went to Quebec City for the weekend on a kind of whim. It's only 4.5 hours away, I had never been, and I was meeting up with several friends. It wasn't a huge foodie weekend, but food and drink kind of defined it.

I think of myself as fairly adventurous, but I've never driven to a place where I didn't speak the language. Fortunately, I was among friends who did speak French, so they translated a lot for me. Saturday was spent at a gathering that included a dinner, but since the meal was made by amateurs, I'm not going to review it.

After dinner, my friend Alys and I went back to her hotel, Loew's Le Concorde Hotel. And when I say we "went back" I mean we drove around Quebec City, without directions or a GPS, only vaguely knowing where we were going. The tag line of the movie they'll make of our adventure will be: Two middle aged women, driving though a foreign city, trying to get to their hotel, what could possibly go wrong?

Once we finally got to the hotel we found out that room service was closed (on a Saturday night) so we dropped our bags in her room and went to the bar. I wish I had pictures of the bar. It was a quiet, classy place and the hostess/waitress/bartender was one of those quintessential Frenchwomen of indeterminate middle age, wearing a little black dress and sweater set, her blond hair in a perfect up-do. We ordered drinks, a cheeseplate, and a turkey sandwich and split them. The sandwich was nice, piled with lots of turkey. The cheeseplate was mostly brie and blue cheese, with some lovely fruit. What really blew me away, though, was my Martini. It was perfect. I like my Martini a bit on the dirty side and this one was sublime. If I could only drink one thing for the rest of my life, it would be this Martini.

Sunday morning Alys and I were off to breakfast at her favorite creperie in the old part of Quebec City. If you haven't been there, it is the only walled city in North America and it looks just like any old part of a European city. We went to Au Petit Coin Breton, both of us having the apple & cheese crepe and a breakfast crepe. It is a really cute place, tons of old world charm and tiny chairs. The food was wonderful, flavorful and much different than the only other craperie I've ever been to, in San Diego.

 

When we left we realized there was a tea shop a couple doors down, David's Tea. Both of us being tea drinkers, we could have dropped a few bills there, but settled for a bunch of small sampler packs so we could get a good cross section of their wares. Although mostly a Canadian chain, they also have stores in Boston, NY, Chicago and San Fransisco, so if I love them, I'll be headed to Boston for more.

Alys had a plane to catch and I had to drive back to Maine, but before we parted, Alys gave me the word I wanted to look for before leaving Quebec: Fromagerie. The weather was turning slushy so I headed south. About 25 miles before the border, I saw the word and stopped. I picked up a nice sized wheel of Brie, a 10 year old cheddar and a Trappist cheese. I've only tried the cheddar so far, but if that is any indication of the quality, they should all be an amazing treat.

If you think about going to QC, but your lack of language skills makes you nervous, I was pleasantly surprised that a quick "en anglais s'il vous plait" was all that was needed.