Pad Thai

I came back from Thailand with a love for Thai food, of which one common dish is Pad Thai. Pad Thai simply means Thai noodles. As such, there are probably hundreds (if not thousands) of ways to cook this dish. You can find Pad Thai anywhere from fancy restaurants to street vendors. My favorite version was one I purchased from a street vendor. After browsing many recipes, I came up with a recipe that I think remains true to the original spirit of Pad Thai, that is, making good food from readily available ingredients. It doesn't include a few of the ingredients some people say are required for "true" Pad Thai, but those ingredients are not easy to find around here. I'm no expert on Thai food--I just like to eat it, so this is what I came up with.

Speaking of hard to find ingredients, if anyone wants to give us an awesome Christmas gift, our Asian food store stopped selling our favorite Thai dipping sauce and we haven't found anything close to it. If you're in a city with a larger Asian food market, would you look for Mae Pranom Dipping Sauce? We'll reimburse you for it!

Pad Thai

Ingredients:
8 oz. rice noodles (medium width)
1 T. oil
Cilantro (freshly chopped is best, but dried will do
1/2 lb. chicken breast, diced
2-3 green onions, diced
2 eggs

Sauce:
2 T. fish sauce
1 T. oyster sauce
1 1/2 T. rice vinegar
1 1/2 T. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cayenne

Optional garnishes:
Lime juice
Sugar
Chopped peanuts
Crushed red pepper
Fresh bean sprouts

Directions:
1. Cook the rice noodles. Because I'm usually trying to rush things, I boil a pot of water, remove the pot from the heat, and then soak the rice noodles in the hot water for about 10 minutes or until the noodles are bite-able. Drain. Alternately, I think you can use really hot tap water and soak the noodles for a longer period of time. Do not try to boil the noodles like pasta. You'll have a sticky mess, not that I would know.
2. Mix the sauce ingredients (fish sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and cayenne) in a small bowl.
3. Heat 1 T. oil in wok or skillet. Cook diced chicken with cilantro over high heat until chicken is cooked through. Add green onions. Break 2 eggs into center of wok and stir fry until egg is cooked through.
4. Add more oil to the wok if necessary. Add cooked rice noodles and sauce to the wok and stir fry.
5. Serve and garnish with a splash of lime juice, a sprinkle of sugar, some chopped peanuts, crushed red pepper, and bean sprouts to taste.

If you want to eat this in true Thai style, use a fork to push the noodles onto a soup spoon and spoon into your mouth. If only DQ made 5-cent baby ice cream cones here like they did in Bangkok, then it'd be a complete meal.

Irish Shepherd's Pie

Luke and I miss several Ames restaurants, of which one is Dublin Bay for its Irish Shepherd's Pie and Irish soda bread. Since we won't be traveling to Ames anytime soon and I've been wanting fall food lately, I attempted to make a homemade version of Irish Shepherd's Pie tonight. While it wasn't the same as Dublin Bay, it wasn't half bad, and I got to try a new vegetable in the process. I'm posting the recipe here for my memory's sake. Here's the recipe I concocted:

Ingredients:
1 stalk celery, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
2 parsnips, diced
1/2 c. frozen peas
3/4 lb. diced steak or stew meat
1/2 onion, diced
Garlic powder to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. basil

Mashed potato topping ingredients:
5 russet potatoes
1/4 c. cheddar cheese
Garlic powder and black pepper to taste
Enough butter and milk to create a spreadable texture.

Directions:
1. Boil potatoes in enough water to cover them for about 15 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain and mash with butter, milk, cheddar cheese, black pepper and garlic.
2. Place celery, carrots, and parsnips in saucepan with just enough water to cover. Boil for 10 minutes and then add frozen peas. Boil for 5 additional minutes or until desired tenderness is achieved. Drain the vegetables, reserving the water.
3. Meanwhile cook steak with onion and garlic powder. Once the meat is cooked through, drain any grease.
4. Mix together the meat mixture, the vegetables, 1 c. of the reserved water, and the spices (pepper, thyme, marjoram, oregano, and basil). Place into an oven-safe dish. Top with mashed potatoes. Top mashed potatoes with a few dabs of butter.
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven until warmed through and top is slightly crusty.

This was somewhat time consuming, but I completed steps 1-4 ahead of time and then tossed it in the oven in time for dinner. Since it was refrigerated between prepping and baking, it took about 45 minutes to bake. Because it's rather time consuming, I won't make this often, but it was good for a change from the usual. Next time I may try my hand at Irish soda bread.