Maya

The other day, my husband and myself found ourselves kid-less, so we decided to drive up to Sonoma for lunch. We weren't sure where we were going; we had heard of a place called Mondo, but it was closed, so we ended up at Maya. We have been there several times and its always been good. This time was no different.

We were greeted right away and asked to wait in the bar area for a few minutes. Chips, salsa, and water were served right away by a friendly busboy. After about 10 minutes, we were seated at our table. We weren't greeted by our waiter for several minutes, but when he did show up we were not only ready to order our Maya Margarita, but we were also ready to order our lunch. The food took a little bit, as it was obvious that the kitchen was busy since the restaurant was a full house.

I ordered the house salad, which was green leaf lettuce, jicama, mango, and a chipotle papaya vinaigrette. I opted to add the 5 grilled tiger prawns, and it was a delicious addition. For my entree, I ordered the cheeseburger, which was served on a soft roll, and with yucca fries. It was very, very rare, but I still enjoyed it. The waiter never asked how I wanted it cooked, and I didn't even think to order it medium. I gave half to my husband, and he shared his carne asada tacos with me. The meat was tender and flavorful, and served on top of a corn tortilla, with finely diced red onion and a spicy red sauce. The tacos were served with a side of rice and pureed white beans.

The service was a tad slow, but the food was delicious as always. I will definitely return in the future! :)

Pho Noodle Soup

I just couldn't find a recipe that would work for me, so I decided to wing it. Usually I like to follow a recipe and adapt it, but all the recipes I found called for a bunch of ingredients I either don't have or don't like.

(Americanized) Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
2 TBSP sesame oil
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 TBSP whole pepper corns
1/2 tsp sea salt
10 thin slices of fresh ginger
2 carrots, julienned
2 mini bell peppers, thinly sliced
4 cups beef broth
1 bundle of rice noodles
cilantro, loosely chopped
lime, cut into wedges
1 red and 1 green chili peppers, minced
Sriacha or homemade hot chili pepper sauce

Directions:

Saute the cinnamon stick, onion, garlic, peppercorns, salt, ginger, carrots & bell peppers in sesame oil until soft, about 8 minutes. Add beef broth, bring to boil, simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, add the noodles and cook until soft..mine took 4 minutes.

Divide the noodles into 4 soup bowls, ladle the broth over the noodles, garnish with cilantro, lime, and hot chili sauce.



The verdict:
There is a lot I would do differently next time. For one, I would get some lemon grass in there, and the other is that I would strain out the ginger, peppercorns, & garlic from the broth after letting those simmer for a few minutes.....and then I would add the rest of the vegetables and let them simmer for 15 minutes or so.

Other than the annoyances of biting into the garlic, ginger, and especially those peppercorns, the flavor was really, really good!!! Even my kids liked it....course, they didn't add the hot sauce or chili peppers...those really added some major heat.

Salad

Stacey got me thinking about salads today! I thought I'd post a couple of my favorite salad recipes. The Bean Salad with citrus juice and hot sauce is by Rachel Ray and the Food Network. I've made it several times and I love it. Its good chilled, too.

Bean Salad w/Citrus juice & Hot sauce:

Ingredients

• Salt
• 2 pounds store-bought, trimmed fresh green beans or mix yellow wax and green beans, coarsely chopped on an angle
• 1 orange, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Fill a high sided skillet with 1 inch of water and bring to simmer. Liberally salt the water. Add beans and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and cool under running cold water.

Whisk juices and hot sauce together in a shallow salad bowl and stream in olive oil. Add beans and toss to coat. Season the beans with salt and pepper, to taste.

I got this recipe below from Alosha's Kitchen, but she got it from The Kitchen Sink. I've made it about 3 times and its just so tangy and yummy!!! I'd never bought chipotle in adobo sauce before, but now I always keep a can on hand!

Chipotle Corn Salad

courtesy of The Kitchen Sink

Ingredients

4 ears of corn
1 medium Vidalia or Walla Walla onion, thickly sliced crosswise
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for garnish
1 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon chives, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
salt and freshly ground pepper

1 head of romaine, sliced

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

Directions

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the corn and onion slices with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill over moderately high heat until charred in spots but still slightly crisp, about 7 minutes. Let cool slightly, then cut the kernels from the cobs and coarsely chop the onion. Add the sliced tomatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream with the lime juice, chopped chipotle chiles, sliced chives and salt and pepper, to taste. Add the sliced romaine to the bowl and stir to coat the lettuce with the dressing. Arrange the dressed romaine on a platter.

Top with the corn mixture. Arrange the sliced avocado on top of the corn mixture. Garnish with chives and lime wedges.

My Mom's Lemon Bread

My mom used to bake this bread every Christmas and put into individual tins wrapped in colorful cellophane to give to family, friends, & neighbors. It was a big hit and everyone looked forward to it every year. The bonus was that the lemons came from our lemon tree in the back yard.

Nancy's Lemon Bread

Ingredients:

1 med. lemon

2 1/4 c. flour

1 1/2 c. sugar, plus 2 tsp more for glaze

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 c. butter or margarine

3 eggs

3/4 c. milk

Directions:

From one lemon, grate all peel, squeeze juice, set aside. (I like to put my lemon in the microwave for about 10 seconds and then roll it around on the counter to make it juicer)

In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, & salt with fork. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in lemon peel.

In small bowl, slightly beat eggs with fork, stir in milk, then stir this mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened.

Spoon into greased pan, bake 1 hour or until lightly browned. Cool in pan 10 minutes.

In small saucepan over med-hi heat, whisk lemon juice & 2 tsp. sugar to boiling. Cook, stirring until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Brush with pastry brush evenly over top of bread.

Grandma's BBQ Pork

I am so thankful that I had the good sense to ask my grandma for her bbq pork recipe a few years before she passed away! I still have her handwritten recipe that I cherish. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas that I ever spent with my dads side of the family included this delicious appetizer. I try to make it at least Thanksgiving or Christmas, if not both! I've got 4 pounds marinating in the fridge since last night (16 hours and counting!), but this recipe calls for 3 pounds and marinate overnight. I'm taking it to my brothers for Thanksgiving (an 8 hour drive!!) and I wanted extra meat and extra flavor. I tweak it a little bit..like add more of each ingredients...and mix the marinade in a small bowl first, but here is my grandma's recipe word for word:

Grandma Tillie's Barbequed Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

4 TBSP ketchup
3 TBSP Hoisin sauce
1 tsp 5 Spice
5 slices of fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 TBSP Mirin (or sherry)
1 TBSP sugar
3 pounds pork tenderloin

Garnish:
Chinese Hot Mustard
Ketchup
Toasted sesame seeds


Directions:

1. In a large glass dish, mix Hoisin, 5 Spice, ginger, garlic, ketchup, & salt. Add the pork, and smother.
   
2. Marinate overnight.
3. Put water in bottom of roasting pan. Arrange pork on rack. Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees, for one hour and 15 minutes. Turn once during roasting and baste with extra sauce.
   
4. Cool, then chill. Serve thinly sliced with hot mustard, ketchup, and toasted sesame seeds.
   

Chicken Pot Pie

I was raised on those little Swanson chicken pot pies that used to cost about 19 cents...remember those? Well, I couldn't stand them and when my mom announced that we were having pot pies for dinner, I cringed. Sometimes they were beef, sometimes they were turkey. I'm sure they were pretty good, but I was just sick of them. My mom was not the greatest cook, God rest her soul. We ate a lot of canned and frozen food. I learned to cook at the age of 9, believe it or not. I've always loved to cook and I think I'm pretty ok at it. I remember bringing home assignments for extra credit in Home Ec. in the 7th & 8th grade. My mom was loving it! I came up with all kinds of dinner ideas and was earning extra credit to boot.

Anyway, several years ago, a good friend of mine invited us over for dinner. She made a chicken pot pie. I must have made a funny face, because she picked up on the fact that I was not too thrilled about her menu! So, I admitted my dislike and told her my reason, but like a trooper, agreed that I was open to trying her homemade version. I have to say, it was actually very, very delicious!!! I always wanted to ask her for the recipe, but never did. Last week I was looking for a new chicken recipe in my new Taste of Home cookbook that I won over at Dine & Dash a few weeks ago. I adapted this recipe that is actually for a turkey pot pie, but I had chicken, so chicken it is. You can use either one.

Ingredients:
Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (should sit out for 15 minutes)
1 large potato, peeled & diced
4 carrots, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP butter
1 -14 oz can reduced sodium chicken broth
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I used a store bought rotisserie chicken)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, saute potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic in butter for about 5 or 6 minutes. Add broth, cover and cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour and milk until smooth. Gradually add to vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the remaining ingredients; simmer 5 minutes longer.
3. Fit crust onto a pie tin. Pour hot filling into crust. Place the second crust on top; crimp edges. Cut slits in top of crust.
4. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until crust is light golden brown. Serves 6.

Minestrone Soup

Adapted it from a crockpot recipe and I made my own variations.

Minestrone Soup

• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 2 cup stewed tomatoes
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
  
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 12 oz pkg small whole wheat seashell pasta
  
• Parmesan cheese for garnish

Saute celery, onion, & zucchini in EV olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes. Slowly add the chicken broth, bring to boil. Add remaining ingredients, simmer on low for 15 minutes or until pasta is cooked. Serve with parmesan cheese. Enjoy.

How easy is that? Feel free to mess around with the liquid and spices, etc. More, less, navy beans instead of kidney beans, throw in some carrots if you don't like celery, etc.