Pictures of Beautiful Salads

                               Everything from the Garden

Grilled Prawn Salad

Sunday Brunch, My Way

Fire Cracker Steak Hand Rolls

Asian Shrimp Noodles

    Sunday  Brunch, My Way

Inviting friends for Sunday Brunch is my new favorite way to entertain. Imagine twinning brunch and lunch into an easy make -ahead feast. The plan is to make a few fabulous recipes that won’t require my eagle-eye attention during the party. If I shop and prep everything on Saturday, then my weekend ‘feels’ somewhat stress free. By Sunday, I’m ready to start cooking and eager to get the party started. 
 

    The Farmers Market is the right place to shop, for ready -made goodies. I can’t go home without fresh, sweet coconut granola, loaves of nut breads, coffee cakes, cookies and macaroons, ruby red strawberry jam and and jars of homemade pickles. My culinary shopping spree includes every exotic seasonal  fruit for slicing, plus pommelos, tangelos and Cara Cara oranges for fresh juice.  I snap up a variety of roasted private reserve coffee beans and my favorite green and lavender tea. Who can resist the fresh goat cheese with such different toppings like basil flavored hummus and sun-dried tomato pesto. Without too much effort on my part, I have gathered a festive array of top quality products. 

    When the weather warms up, hearty composed winter salads makes everyone happy.  An Asian Shrimp Noodle Bowl layered with cool crunchy greens and thin rice noodles in a light, lemony dressing: Chinese Chicken Salad restyled with ingredients that Snap! Crackle! And Crunch! The real star of the trio is the Fire-Cracker Steak Hand Rolls.  They are sweet and salty, fun to make and eat. This recipe sings to me. Everyone rolls his own, into crisp ruffled lettuce leaves, slivers of colorful peppers and Maui onions.(The recipes for the Fire-cracker Steak hand-rolls and Asian Shrimp Noodle salad id featured at the end of this article.)

Chinese Chicken Salad

        With a little help from the talented artisans at our Farmers Market and this easy menu, put on your Sunday dress, and enjoy yourself.  The best part is being with friends and eating too.  Don’t be surprised, more often than not, cozy afternoons like this, stretch straight into the dinner hour. Be prepared, have all the fixings you’ll need to make stacks of pancakes to go with the Fire-Cracker Steak with fried eggs!

                                        

Chinese Chicken Salad is a universally loved dish.  For a change,  place a big portion  of the dressed salad between two crispy wonton skins, one per person. Then diners chop up the bottom layer of the wonton skin together with the salad. It’s pretty cool… and tastes incredible too.

                                                              

Ginger Dressing:                                                                         Makes 6-8 servings

2 teaspoon dry mustard

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons soy sauce

6 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 tablespoons ginger, minced

1 tablespoon sesame Oil

2/3 cup oil

Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender, except for the oils and whirl until smooth. Add oil drop by drop on a low pulse until the dressing is thick and emulsified.

Salad Ingredients

Mai Fun Noodles

12 large Wonton skins

Macadamia Nut oil or Coconut oil to fry

4 scallions, sliced

½ each red and yellow pepper, finely diced

4 cups of shredded lettuce & Napa cabbage

12 oz roasted shredded chicken, skinless

Break Mai Fun noodles into 3 inch long pieces. Pour oil into a wok about 4 inches deep. Heat on a high flame. When hot, dip a portion into the hot oil- they will puff in a few seconds. Use 2 spoons to turn over all the noodles so they cook evenly.

Remove from oil as soon as crackly and place on a paper towel to drain.

Place wonton skins on a cutting board and cut into 6inch circles with a biscuit cutter. Fry in the hot oil till crisp and lightly browned on both sides. Remove from oil and drain.

Place scallion, peppers, shredded chicken, mixed greens and cabbage in a large bowl and lightly toss the salad with just enough dressing to moisten the leaves

To Serve: Place salad between 2 crispy wonton skins and garnish the tops with the fried Mai Fun noodles.

                                                   

Asian shrimp and Noodle  Bowl

Everything in this salad is addictive and healthful, even the dressing! You can make this salad in individual bowls, one per person or in one gorgeous salad bowl. I love to make this salad with fresh tuna poke as well. Just give the poke a quick stir-fry just before serving and don’t forget serve the salad with chopsticks.

 Dressing                                                                                    Makes 6-8 servings     

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon red chili flakes

½ cup sugar

½ cup fish sauce

8 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup water

Put the ingredients into a jar with a lid and shake well to mix the ingredients. Set aside.

Salad Ingredients

1 package Saifun Noodles

18 large shrimp, cooked

5 cups mixed lettuce, torn into bite size pieces

2 cups mung bean sprouts

2 Asian pears, thinly sliced

2 medium cucumber, thinly sliced

1/3 bunch fresh mint leaves, stemmed

3 carrots, peeled and sliced into coins

1 daikon radish, peeled and sliced into coins

Macadamia nuts, roasted and chopped

Cook the Saifun noodles as directed on the package, drain well in a strainer.

Layer the salad ingredients, except the macadamia nuts in a large salad bowl.

Gently toss with just enough dressing to moisten the leaves and garnish with the macadamia nuts.

 　

Firecracker Steak Hand Rolls

                                                                                               

The ingredients in the marinade create a sweet and succulent flavor. I love the meat rolled in soft lettuce, you can make it hearty and bundle the sliced meat and greens into soft warm buns.

                                                                                                              Makes 10 -12 rolls

1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar

1 cup Soy sauce

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

2 teaspoons crushed red chili flakes

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

1- 4inch piece fresh ginger, peeled & finely chopped

2 pounds flank steak

1 head butter lettuce, washed and thoroughly dried

2 scallions, separated into thin strands

½ each red and yellow pepper, thinly sliced

½ Maui onion, thinly sliced

Whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili flakes, garlic, ginger, and ¼ cup water in large bowl. Add the flank steak and toss to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally to coat.

Heat barbeque, Remove steak from marinade, and grill the steak till desired doneness. Remove from the grill, place on a cutting board and let sit to set juices.

To serve, Place slices of steak into the lettuce and garnish with the pepper and Maui onion slices.

A Cool Summer Dessert ~Caramel Espresso Floats

                       

                                                            Caramel Espresso Float

This float was inspired by an Italian dessert Affogato Al  Caffé, which consists of ice cream that has been “drowned” in hot coffee. I added caramelized sugar to the coffee for extra depth and topped it all off with a just enough  whipped cream, toasted nuts, and chocolate shavings.

• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup instant-espresso powder*
• 2 cups ice cubes
• 1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
• 4 generous scoops premium vanilla ice cream (from 1 pint)
• 2 tablespoons chopped nuts, such as almonds or hazelnuts, toasted
• 3 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate shavings (made with a vegetable peeler; from a 3-oz bar)

 Cook  granulated sugar in a dry 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar melts into a deep golden caramel. Remove from heat and carefully add 1 cup water (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over high heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved, then remove pan from heat. Add espresso powder and stir until dissolved. Add remaining cup water and ice cubes and stir until espresso is cold.  Discard  remaining  ice cubes.

Beat cream with confectioner’s sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds soft peaks. Divide ice cream among 4 (8-ounce) glasses, then pour 1/2 cup espresso over each serving and top with whipped cream, nuts, and chocolate.

                                 

Unusual and Beautiful, A Banana Flower Salad

A Banana Flower

Banana Flower Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Chicken

I learned to make this beautiful salad using banana flowers  in Thailand at the Blue Elephant Cooking School. I was doubly interested because we have a large  grove of bananas at home  in Kauai.  If you are not familiar with banana flowers, take a look at the top photo. This is what  banana flowers looks like. The inner leaves of this flower tastes like raw artichokes!

With each  new crop of bananas, down drops a big fat purple flower. The flower feeds the baby bananas until they are ready to pick.  I wait until the baby bananas start to fatten before I chop of the flower. Every time we have crop of bananas,  I make this incredible salad. This recipe is the Asian version of an Italian Raw Artichoke Salad.
 

Preparing the banana flower is the next step. Peel back all the purple leaves and discard the tiny developing bananas inside. When you get deep down into the center of the flower  pod, you will see the leaves change from deep purple to golden white. Now, you have the good stuff, in the core. I shred the leaves, as I peel back the layers, I also  taste much of them. If woody, keep peeling until it tastes like fresh baby artichoke. Soak the julienne banana flower in water and lemon juice, because they will  brown.

 When I  am in Los Angeles, I have ordered fresh banana flowers from the local markets.  If you can't find banana flowers, use raw artichoke heart. The Blue Elephant Cooking School recommended  raw cauliflower, if fresh artichokes are out of season. 

 The most unusual ingredient in my recipe is the Nam Prik Pla Sauce which is a jarred condiment. Nam Prik Pla is a smooth sauce of pulverized  peanuts, shrimp, shallots, sweetener, fish sauce and oil. The flavor is unique, there is no other substitution, at the moment! Nam Prik Pla, not so hard to find in Los Angeles. Go to Bangkok Market on Melrose Avenue. Nam Prik Pla , hard to find in Kauai! I was lucky to find a Thai restaurant on the island. I begged the owners for a jar, even tho I really needed just a few tablespoons.

The rest is easy, shred a peeled apple and add segments of  pommello or a pink grapefruit . Grill some shrimp and chicken, shred those. Make the dressing and  mix everything in a large bowl. Add lovely bits of cilantro and a little scallion for added flavor and some roasted peanuts,  almonds or macadamia nuts.
 

From the Blue Elephant Cooking School and Restaurant

Banana Flower Salad

(Yam Hua Pee)

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 Banana flower (can substitute shredded cauliflower or raw hearts of artichokes)

6 tablespoons  lemon juice

5 ounces  chicken thighs , grilled and  shredded

8 each large  prawns, cooked and coarsely chopped

1 apple, peeled and sliced

1 pomello or a pink grapefruit, segments

Dressing:

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon dried shrimps, finely crushed

4 tablespoon  tamarind juice

1 tablespoon  fish sauce

8 tablespoons Palm sugar or brown sugar

4 teaspoons  Nam Prik Pha sauce -jarred

4 tablespoons  shredded coconut, unsweetened and toasted

4 tablespoons  coconut milk

4 tablespoons peanuts, roasted and finely crushed

2 tablespoons cilantro

2 tablespoons scallions, sliced

For the garnish:

12 shallots, finely sliced

½ cup vegetable oil for deep frying

4 hard boiled quail’s eggs

Preparation:

Cut the banana flower in half vertically. Remove the small, unripe bananas inside and discard. Slice the flowers horizontally into fine segments about 1 inch wide. Add 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice to water, and then immerse them for 1 minute so that they remain white.

Mix together the palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind juice, lemon juice, and the Nam Prik Pha in the salad bowl. Mix together all the ingredients, except for the coconut milk and the peanuts, in a bowl. Toss until thoroughly combined. Add the coconut and peanuts last and toss lightly.

To make the golden fried shallot garnish, deep-fry the shallots in oil for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove and drain on absorbent paper. Set aside.

Remove the ingredients to a serving dish and sprinkle with golden fried shallots and boiled quail egg. Serve at room temperature.