magic spicy peanut sauce

Aww yeah, this is where the magic happens. 4 burners on a tiny electric stove in dark and tiny galley kitchen. I definitely dream of the time when I'll have a truly beautiful kitchen with a window, a dishwasher and a gas-powered stove. But this is what I've got. It ain't fancy and it certainly isn't a hindrance when it comes to cooking creatively.

Now what you are looking at may not look pretty, but boy oh boy, eating this made me feel like I unlocked some ancient life-changing secret. This is a peanut sauce and while I've made quite a few delicious peanut sauces, this one knocked my socks off. When I set out to make this sauce, I was just thinking of adding something simple to the tofu and veggie stirfry that I was making for dinner. An almost empty jar of peanut butter in the fridge held my attention. And while I didn't set out to re-create something magical, it just happened that way.

You see, there's a local unassuming Chinese restaurant in Vancouver called Szechuan Chongqing and they have a wonton dish in spicy peanut sauce that is my absolute most favorite thing to order. The sauce is spicy and peanutty and oh-so-perfect and never in my right mind did I think that I could create that kind of magic at home in my dingy little kitchen. But somehow this sauce was revelatory. It was just like the version I know and love. Better even, because my peanut sauce wasn't greasy like Chongquing's version. So toss this up a sauce to mix in with your stir fry or use as a dipping sauce with chicken or tofu. Or go all out and use as a sauce for some pork-filled wontons and let the magic happen to you.

magic spicy peanut sauce
3 T chunky natural peanut butter
1 T sriracha
juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 c water + more
2 T chili garlic sauce
2 T honey
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
1 T soy sauce

In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients over med-high, adding extra water by the tablespoon when or if it gets to thick. Don't use sparingly.

for papa: pfeffernusse cookies

When I was little, there was one cookie that signified the start of the holidays: the pfeffernusse. Translated, they mean peppernuts which is because they have ground pepper in them (spicy!) and they look like walnut shells (I'm guessing). My dad would bring home a small bag or two of these round and frosted cookies from the German market and I'd immediately dig in. These cookies were slightly soft, a little bit dry and not as sweet as the cookies I was used to. And oh boy, they were spicy! I loved them.

For my dad, they were cookies that I'm sure reminded him of the cookies of his youth in Eastern Europe. Cookies that tasted like his mother's own baking. For me, they were slightly exotic. They came from a deli that had dried sausages hanging from the ceiling, jars upon jars of sauerkraut, and my dad only brought them home at Christmas. This cookie was definitely something special for the both of us.

I've never tried making these cookies before. In fact, I blindly assumed that these cookies could only be purchased at ethnic markets. How wrong on so many counts! These cookies are alive and well in the same old crinkly plastic bags at a neighbourhood Italian market and then I last night I spotted a recipe in Martha Stewart's Cookies. Instead of being labour-intensive as I had assumed, they're so easy to whip up! And of course, they taste better coming from your oven than ones shipped over seas. I've packed up a container and am shipping them to my dad for Christmas. They're not only delicious, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, but they pack a whole wallop of good memories. I know he'll love them.

pfeffernusse cookies
(adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies)
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c molasses
1 large egg
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/4 c confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line sheets with silpat or parchment.

2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, spices and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat molasses, brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

3. Roll about a tablespoon of dough into balls and arrange on prepared baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 14 minutes or until the tops of the dough are firm to the touch and have cracked slightly. Place cookies on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

4. Working in batches, add a few cookies into a high-sided bowl (or paper bag) filled with confectioners' sugar. Roll about or shake until cookies are well coated. Place back on wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.

i like good smells: fragrant jasmine rice & jerk-spiced tofu

I love stuff that smells good. This soapis one of my favorites and after washing up, it's hard not to stop sniffing my hands. And a little while ago, I bought this candleand while I haven't even lit it yet, whenever I catch it's scent in our apartment, I swoon. What can I say, I've got quite the nose. Last week, I made 2 dishes that were super fragrant and made the whole apartment smell amazing. The jerk-spiced tofu was good, but it's this rice that I plan on making again and again.

For the rice, I would definitely seek out the lemongrass as I think it made the rice dish seem very authentic and uber-scented. However, if you don't have it or can't find it, add in the zest of one lemon instead. Both recipes are adapted from a cookbook that I don't use that often, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites, but after these 2 very successful adaptations, I'll definitely be cracking it open on a regular basis. These are very simple recipes that don't take a lot of time to make, despite the exotic ingredients.

fragrant jasmine rice
(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites)
2 c jasmine rice
1 t canola oil
2 T minced lemongrass (stiff outer leaves removed)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 small green chili, seeds removed, diced
1/2 t salt
1 c crushed pineapple, undrained
1 T fresh basil, chopped
2 1/2 c boiling water

Rinse rice and set aside to drain. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and add in the lemongrass, garlic, shallots, chili and salt. Cook over medium heat until fragrant and soft, about 3 minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit covered for 5 minutes before serving.

jerk-spiced tofu
(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites)
1 onion, diced
3 green chilis, seeded and diced
3 T soy sauce
1/4 c cider vinegar
2 T brown sugar
1 T fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T fresh thyme, minced
1 t ground cloves
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t black pepper
1 block of tofu, pressed

1. Press the tofu by placing between 2 plates and weighting the top with a couple of cans. Let stand for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 400F. Meanwhile combine the remaining ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.

3. Drain the tofu and slice lengthwise into 3 slices. Place layers on top of each other and slice on the diagonal to cut into triangles. Cut again into the opposite corners so that you are left with 12 tofu triangles. Place in 8x12 baking dish and pour jerk sauce over top, making sure all sides of the tofu are covered. Bake for 1 hour, turning pieces frequently. Serve with rice.

the magical mysterious chimichurri sauce and 2 easy recipes

I've been wanting to try a chimichurri sauce for a while now. From what I had read, it's a traditional Argentinian sauce and marinade for grilled meats, but is used in many Latin American countries. It's traditionally made with parsley or cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, onion and paprika with a huge glug of olive oil thrown in for good measure. I decided to try my luck with this sauce since I had a very nice looking grass-fed and organic slab o' rib eye in the fridge. But I didn't want to only try it out with meat. Surely, this chimichurri would be great as a salad dressing too! So I improvised with what I had and made a very delicious and maybe not so traditional take on this Argentinian classic.

The sauce itself was really easy to prepare. I just gathered the ingredients together and whizzed them up with my immesion blender. In less than a minute, I had a heavenly scented sauce that tasted like the heat of summer. It's a really fresh-tasting condiment that tastes as green as it looks (in a very, very good way!)

chimichurri sauce
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
4 cloves garlic
1 hot pepper, de-seeded
lemon zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
large pinch of salt
1 - 3 large glugs of olive oil
1 shallot, roughly chopped
water, if needed to thin things out

Whizzz up all ingredients in a blender. Taste and adjust seasonings & measurements if necessary. Done. Makes almost a cup of sauce.

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So while the main reason for the making of the chimichurri was as a marinade and sauce for the steak, I had sauce left over and decided that it would make perfect salad dressing. I was right. Once, the dressing is prepared, the rest of the salad is a breeze. I decided to peel the carrot into ribbons and it was a nice touch, though you could easily dice them for a different texture.

chimichurri chickpea salad
1 can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 spicy red pepper, minced & deseeded
1/4 c chimichurri sauce (recipe above)

Mix up all the ingredients and serve in a pretty dish. Serves 4. Easy.

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Okay, now for the main event! If you are a meat-lover, bask in this meaty love, please. If you are not, there's a reason I stuck this at the end of the post! Avert your eyeballs! The secret to a good steak? Start with a good steak! Really, don't buy some cheap-ass cut from your supermarket. Splurge and get one really nice steak, grass-fed organic if you can afford it. You really don't need a steak each...just share one steak. Trust me, with some wine, a nice loaf of bread and a salad, you've got a perfect meal and no one will want for more. But back to the chimichurri sauce for one last time...the quick marinade packs a punch. Reserve some of it to serve as a sauce to drizzle over top. You won't regret it.

chimichurri rib-eye steak
1 T butter
1 rib eye organic grass-fed steak (or other fine cut)
1/4 c chimichurri sauce (recipe above) + extra for serving

Slather sauce over rib eye and let sit for a few minutes. Heat up butter in a cast iron pan. When it's good and bubbly, add steak. Cook on 1 side for 6 minutes. Flip and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from pan and let rest for 8 minutes (I just made up that amount but it sounds about right). Dig in and serve with remaining chimichurri sauce. Serves 2.

hotcha! spicy thai noodle soup

After quite a battle, I'm waving the white flag. I'm sick. I've lost my voice and have turned into quite the sad sack. On Thursday night, I realized that we were out of broth. Nothing frozen, no cubes, no cartons, nada. I wanted ramen soup and so I bravely ordered out for some from a local Japanese restaurant. What arrived on my doorstep was an insult to ramen soup everywhere. The broth was murkey in the worst way and stunk to high heaven. I tossed it. Luckily, I had also ordered some passible agadashi tofu so I was able to at least eat dinner. The next day, I picked up a few needed ingredients and decided that a homemade ramen soup was going to be on the menu for dinner. But since I was sick, I was drawn to the kick-ass flavours of chilis, ginger root and lemongrass. Screw the ramen, I was going to make a spicy Thai soup with Japanese noodles instead.

This soup is really easy to make, despite the long list of ingredients. First, you want to infuse the broth with goodness, so I threw in a frozen chicken carcass I had in the freezer along with some very heady, aromatic ingredients: ginger, chili, lemongrass, garlic. If you don't have old bones laying about, skip it! Make it vegan! Don't have fresh chilies? Used dried. And for noodles, I found some fresh Japanese ramen noodles at the grocery store, but you are welcome to use rice noodles, udon, soba or just plain old spaghetti. Just use a long noodle with a bit of chew that gives a good slurp...because with an asian noodle soup, slurping is the best part! Enjoy.

spicy thai noodle soup
1 carton of chicken or veggie broth
1 chicken carcass (optional)
2 hot yellow or red peppers, seeds removed
2 inch knob of ginger, smashed
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 green onions, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed
1 T soy or fish sauce
zest & juice of 1 lime
8 mushrooms, sliced
2 t toasted sesame oil
2 individual packets of Japanese ramen noodles (or other noodle)
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 c shredded chicken, bbq pork or diced tofu
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

In a large pot, bring the broth, carcass (if using), chilis, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, green onions, soy/fish sauce and lime zest to a low, simmering boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain out all the solids and discard while placing the broth back into the pot.

Meanwhile, heat sesame oil in a frying pan and add the sliced mushrooms. Saute until golden and juicy. Add the mushrooms and their liquid into the broth, along with the julienned carrots, ramen noodles and your choice of protein and bring the pot to a low boil for 2 minutes, careful not to overcook the noodles. Add in lime juice, adjust for seasoning and serve. Top bowls with fresh cilantro.

you don't need sassy, you need spice cake

Some of the best things, when put to paper, oftentimes just don't sound that spectacular. Spice cake? Really? It just doesn't have the ring of awesomeness. Holy-Mother-Flipping-Totally-Rad-Spice-Cake, maybe. Please do not let the lackluster photo or hum-drum name sway you into not making this cake, because really, you must make this cake. It's good. Real good. With every bite my husband was rendered speechless and when he did muster up words, he rapturously muttered things like "be still my heart"*. When the last piece was eaten, I cried a little inside.

Make it now and thank me later. Oh, and go read about my food & wine autumn roadtrip outside of Vancouver for the Food Network blog.

spice cake
2 c flour
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cardamom
1/4 c ground almonds
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c brown sugar
1/4 c molasses
1 egg
1/2 c oil
1/2 c yogurt
1/2 c milk
1/2 c toasted pecans, chopped
1/2 c raisins

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, ground almonds, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together the brown sugar, molasses, egg and oil until combined. In a measuring cup, mix the milk and yogurt together and set aside.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and gently blend. Add in the milk mixture, along with the pecans and raisins and mix until just combined. Grease and flour a bunt pan and pour in the mixture. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 45-55 minutes or so (depending on the size of your cake pan). Cool slightly on rack and then invert cake from pan and let cool completely or eat warm.

* Okay, he did not say "be still my heart", but it sure paints a better picture than "this is good cake" (which I already mentioned anyway, so there).