Thai Shrimp Stir Fry

As part of our "Hurricane Sandy Preparation" we decided to make some kind of food that we could eat even if the power went out... and then we failed miserably at that and decided to make a pasta dish instead, which I guess could be eaten cold, but it was not exactly what we had in mind originally. 

Thai Shrimp Stir Fry

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 box angel hair (I used Barilla Plus) 
• 1 pound frozen or fresh shrimp 
•  2 Tablespoons peanut oil 
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds 
•  2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
• 6 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup peanut butter 
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger (I only had dried, fresh would likely be better.) 
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon basil 
• 1 bag frozen vegetables (I used a 2 pound bag of mixed green beans, corn, peas and some spinach), defrosted
• 1 can mushrooms 
• 2 jalapenos, diced  
• 1/4 cup crushed peanuts

 

1. Cook pasta according to directions and drain. Steam shrimp in a separate pot.

2. While pasta and shrimp are cooking, in a wok or skillet heat peanut oil. 
3. Add in onion, garlic, and sesame seeds and cook for about 2 minutes. 
4. Add in soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and peanut butter. Stir well over heat until peanut butter starts to blend/ melt. 
5. Add in vegetables (whatever ones you choose to use), mushrooms, jalapenos and spices (ginger, basil, red pepper). Stir well. 
6. Add cooked and drained pasta and shrimp. Mix well.
7. Serve topped with crushed peanuts.

 

I usually do not like shrimp, but I found this quite tasty. 

As usual, the children need a cameo.

 

Supper Club: Baraka Cafe

The supper club ladies used to meet up roughly bi-weekly at one of our house and took turns hosting at our various abodes. We even had a blog of our exploits!

Sadly one by one members moved away

First, Fiona moved to New York(?) or some other state, and then back to Ireland!

Then Rachel Moved to California and then to Kansas city....

Then Sarah- our resident tiny -awesome-Japanese supper club-ee moved to California!

Then Laura moved back to California! (Whats up with that California?!)

There are still some of us in the area- but even smaller moves, like me moving from Cambridge to Gloucester have made supper club less feasible. But a few of us decided to get together nonetheless this Tuesday! Instead of our usual cooking escapades, we decided to meet up at a local restaurant, Baraka Cafe in Central Square, Cambridge.

The place was very tiny, cozy and cute! Jen had been there before and recommended we meet early, as it fills up fast!

Baraka Cafe "offers traditional Algerian-Tunisian and North African cuisine in a cozy space reminiscent of eating in the chef's home kitchen in the Mediterranean." None of which I was familiar with so it was all new and exciting! I decided to be that obnoxious person in the restaruant with a camera.

The 4 of us split a couple of appetizers and entrees.

For Appetizers we got:

Special of the night: Dates with Cheese

They were quite good! Just plain old dates with African cheese, which tastes a bit like ricotta cheese.

M'Chermlat El Sanaria :: spicy carrots in m'chermla sauce with oregano, raisins & onion jam
Very good! I wish there had been more if.

Zaatar Coca :: traditional Bedouin galette of sage, thyme, sesame seeds, lemon juice, caramelized onions on hand-stretched grilled Berber bread
I was not a huge fan of this item, it was a bit to hard and not too exciting. It could have used something for dipping.

and we didn't order this.. but they brought it anyway so we ate it

Karentika :: Oran famous savory chickpea custard with harissa tapenade
We were all quite happy with this order mess up- it was one of the better apps we got!

This was my tasting plate of chickpea custard, bread and carrots.

For Entrees we got:

Melfouf la Kasbah :: grilled marinated varieties of white & red meat with tchektchouka & pommes frites drizzled with h'rissa vinaigrette ::
A very interesting combination! I really liked the salad it came with and the french fries-- the meat was good too, though split 4 ways it was pretty small portions.

M'Katef :: New Zealand baby lamb chops delicately marinated in ras-el-hanout served with "ehbah essoufra," an Arabian almond tartlet layered in sweet saffron shallots, mint sauce & leeks spinach t'biykha ::
The leeks and spinach were the best part in my opinion, the lamb chop was a bit too fatty.

For Drinks we split a pitcher of their famous Rose Petal infused Lemonade. It was AMAZING. I could have drank the whole pitcher... but I am glad I did not.

All of the food was very good, but the portions were modest and we all left feeling satisfied but not stuffed.

We headed to Green Street Grill for a drink.

I first had a Malbec which was much too earthy for my taste, followed by a glass of Syrah, which was sweeter and more to my liking.

We all split a piece of pumpkin cake with mascarpone.

The fact that we were out and about led to much less drinking than our group usually does, which is probably for the best! I slept over Phoebe's in Fenway anyway to avoid my excessively long commute home. All in all, another very successful supper club night!

How do you like to spend your girls nights??

Dinner time!

As usual, I’ve been a terrible blogger, but here is what I had for dinner tonight!

My internet has been down for the past few days, it has been terrible. Honestly, I wouldn’t care if I did not have so much school work that requires blackboard and other methods of reading/ communicating and passing things in online. Plus not getting to check my email is maddening.

So of course I have been taking trips to Starbucks, Gourmet, and other places with free wi-fi. The dilemma is then that I have to buy something (usually coffee), which then makes me have to pee a lot. Having had my purse stolen at a dining establishment before, I am very wary about leaving anything out, so every time I go to the bathroom I take my computer/ purse etc, which can become quite an annoyance.

Plus, the fact that it feels like it is -10* outside certainly is not motivating me to make any extra trips outside than I have to.

Salmon: Marinated in low sodium soy sauce and chili and garlic paste, and lemon juice broiled on low. 

Tofu: Extra firm, marinated in: soy sauce, chili and garlic paste, toasted sesame seed oil, honey. Baked. 

Spinach: Fresh bagged spinach cooked in the microwave.  No seasoning. 

Onion: Stir fried with olive oil and garlic powder. Mixed in with spinach.

Carrots: Whole, unpeeled, well-washed, steamed on the stove top. Seasoned with a little lemon juice.

Brown rice: (an afterthought) I decided maybe a grain would be nice at the last minute so I just threw in a bag of brown Minute Rice.

I actually ate dinner before the rice was done, but everything else was delicious! 

I ate by myself, but Jordan is usually starving when he comes home from work, and if I do not specifically put something out for him, he usually winds up eating cheese and crackers or cereal, so I took all of the work out of it for him and plated the food and everything.