Soapnuts Food Recipes Page 2

This recipe is from The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by

Gloria Bley Miller. This book received a great review from Craig

Claiborne of The New York Times. It's off the shelf of my entire

bookcase of cookbooks. It makes 4 to 5 servings. I'm not a big

fan of Hot-Sour Soup, but my friend judges it based on how

much her eyes water. The more, the better. - Kathy B.

3 or 4 dried black mushrooms

1/4 lb. lean pork

2 bean curd cakes

1 scallion

1 egg

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup water

5 cups stock

1 cup mushroom-soaking liquid

1 tablespoon sherry

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/4 to 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon pepper

few drops of sesame oil

1. Soak dried mushrooms. Reserve soaking liquid.

2. Sliver mushrooms, pork and bean curd. Mince scallion. Beat

egg slightly. Blend cornstarch and cold water to a paste.

3. Bring stock and mushroom-soaking liquid to a boil. Add pork

and mushrooms and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

4. Add bean curd and simmer, covered, 3 minutes more.

5. Stir in sherry, vinegar, salt, soy sauce and pepper. Thicken

with cornstarch paste.

6. Slowly add beaten egg, stirring gently once or twice. Remove

from heat. Sprinkle with sesame oil and minced scallion.

VARIATIONS:

1. For the pork, use half white-meat chicken and half pork.

2. For the white vinegar, substitute wine or cider vinegar, or

lemon juice.

3. For the sesame oil, substitute Tabasco Sauce.

4. In step 3, add with pork and mushrooms, 1/2 cup bamboo

shoots, slivered; or 4 cloud-ear mushrooms and 1/4 cup lily

buds (both soaked and cut in half).

5. Omit vinegar and pepper (it's then called Mandarin Soup).

Evil Jungle Prince with Chicken

Makes 3-4 Servings

1/2 lb. boneless chicken breasts

2 to 6 small red chile peppers

1/2 stalk fresh lemongrass

2 kaffir lime leaves

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cups coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-3 tablespoons fish sauce

10 to 15 sweet basil leaves

1 cup chopped cabbage

Thinly cut chicken into 2-inch strips. Grind together red chile

peppers, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in a food processor or

pound in a mortar. Heat oil to medium-high and saute pepper mixture

for 3 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and cook for 2 minutes. Add

chicken and cook for 5 minutes, or until cooked. Reduce heat to

medium-low. Stir in fish sauce and basil. Serve on bed of chopped

cabbage.

Kathy's Notes:

The recipe never tells you when to add the salt, so I omitted it

since there is salt in the fish sauce. This sauce would be awesome

over rice. The book says that kaffir lime leaves are very hard to

find. It says you can use a bit of lime zest. I didn't have any

limes, just lime juice, so I added a squirt of that.

Pork Chops with Lemongrass and Garlic

Makes 4 Servings

2 lbs. pork chops, 3/4 inch thick

3 stalks lemongrass, chopped

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1/4 cup chopped Chinese parsley roots (cilantro)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Sliced cabbage

Sticky rice or hot steamed rice

Garnish: Chinese parsley springs, cucumber slices, red chile peppers

In a bowl combine pork chops with lemongrass, garlic, Chinese parsley

roots, soy sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper; toss lightly to

coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. In a frying

pan heat the oil to medium heat. Remove pork chops from marinade and

fry for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked. Line a serving platter

with cabbage and top with pork chops. Accompany with sticky rice or

hot steamed rice. Garnish with Chinese parsley sprigs, cucumber

slices, and red chile peppers.

Kathy's Notes:

I hand-chopped the cilantro (and I used both leaves and stems), then

added it to the food processor with the lemongrass (cut into 3/4"

inch pieces) and whole garlic cloves, then processed the whole thing.

I scraped it into a gallon-size Ziploc and added the remaining

marinade ingredients. I started in the morning, marinated all day,

then cooked it that night. I also added about 1 tablespoon of

vegetable oil to the marinade because I broiled the chops instead of

frying them. After I took the pork chops out of the bag for broiling,

I added some 1/2" thick slices of tofu to the remaining marinade,

tossed, and then sauteed in a non-stick frying pan. The herbs get

nice and crispy.

Miriam's Pesto
I love pesto, but make it by eye. Here's my mad method:

First instruction: take a food processor. If I had to do it the traditional

way with mortar and pestle, I probably wouldn't do it.

Then take:

1 bunch of basil; rinsed, patted dry and leaves taken off the stems

3-5 large, peeled cloves of garlic

100 grams of pine nuts

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Start by processing the basil leaves with enough olive oil to make a paste.

Add the other ingredients, one at time, tasting once everything is

incorporated for flavor and texture satisfaction. You can always add more

of anything at any stage.

Serve over hot pasta or polenta, with a tablespoon or two of grated

Parmesan or other favored sharp cheese on top of everything. I agree that

angel hair pasta is best, as the fine threads allow the pesto to spread

around most, but any good pasta will do.

1 cup packed, of basil

2 cloves garlic

1 cup boullion

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cup pine nuts

I use Angel hair pasta.

boil your pasta. Put the basil in a blender with a little boullion and grind

it. Meantime, heat your olive oil, saute the garlic. When the garlic is

translucent, put in the rest of the boullion, then add your basil mix. Heat

until hot. Drain pasta, put your pesto sauce over and top with pine nuts.

Debbie

Alice's Yogurt Recipe

here is my recipe for yogurt, no special

equipment needed.

Heat a quart of milk (whole, semi, low-fat, no-fat or reconstituted dry)

in a your heaviest pan to just below boiling point, when bubbles just

start to form on the edge of the milk. Remove from the heat and let it

cool to about 112-113 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which you

can stick your finger in and count to 10 without screaming. Stir in 2-3

Tablespoons good-quality plain yogurt, a live-culture one, if possible.

Mix well, cover, place into an gas oven with the pilot light on or a

electric oven with the light on, leave for 5-6 hours undisturbed. Don't

move it. Then refrigerate.

Yogurt Cheese

Put the chilled yogurt into a cheesecloth-lined sieve and set it over a

bowl for 20 minutes or so, by which time most of the liquid will have

drained away. Then gather the cheesecloth together into a ball and rig

up some location for more draining. I tie it to the kitchen faucet

overnight. Leave it for several hours, up to 12. You end up with a nice

firm cheese, perfect for seasoning as home-made boursin, or as a

substitute for ricotta, or cream cheese.

"Snow Cream" Recipe

1-3 Cups of Snow (clean, of course)

1/2 Cup Whipping Cream or other cream of choice

1 T. Sugar

2-3 drops Vanilla flavoring

In a separate bowl, mix cream, sugar and vanilla. Slowly add snow to

desired consistency.

Enjoy! : ))

Muniirah's Chai

2 c. nonfat dry milk

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. powdered honey

1/2 c. unsweetened iced tea mix (like Lipton)

1/2 c. non-dairy creamer

1 t powdered ginger

1 t powdered cinnamon

1/2 t powdered clove

1/2 t powdered cardamom

1/2 t powdered vanilla (or 1 t vanilla extract*)

Mix all ingredients together in a blender or food processor and blend

until you get a powdery texture, about one minute.

If you don't have powdered honey, just use 1/4 cup more of plain

sugar.

* Mix the liquid extract in with your sugar and stir it around to

break up the lumps, then let it dry before mixing it in with the

other ingredients. Otherwise the vanilla will cause clumps in the mix.

This will make about 1 gallon of prepared chai. For one cup at a

time, use 2 to 3 rounded tablespoons to about 8 oz of water. Always

mix with hot water, or you will get clumps. Once mixed, if you like

iced chai, you can pour over ice or just keep in the fridge.

Debbie's Bread Recipe

1 tbsp or package dry yeast

2 cups water

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup soy flour

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3- 3 1/2 cups white flour.

Okay, I use the wheat germ and soy flour to up nutrition. If you don't

wanna, just use whole wheat flour to take its place.

You make your yeast dough as usual. let it raise for about an hour, then

punch it down and divide in half. knead a bit to get all the air out, then

roll flat, then roll into a loaf. grease your baking sheet, and sprinkle

with cornmeal. put your loaves on, and let raise again, for about another

hour. Heat your oven to 350*, slash your loaves diagonally. Put a pan of hot

water in the bottom of the oven, then your baking sheet in the middle or the

top half of the oven. bake for 20 minutes, then glaze with egg white.

Continue baking another 30 to 40 minutes, so your total cooking time is

50-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For garlic bread:

slice your bread not quite all the way through.

Mix a stick (1/4 lb) of softened butter with 1/2 cup parsley, 2 crushed and

chopped cloves of garlic, a pinch oregano and/or marjoram.

Spread your mixtures on both sides of bread slices, wrap in tin foil, and

bake at 350* for 20 minutes.

Candied Orange Peel

3 Oranges

1 Tablespoon salt

4 cups water

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

Cut peel of each orange in sixths; loosen from pulp with bowl of spoon. (Save

orange sections for breakfast) This is exactly how it was written! Add salt

to 4 cups water; add peel. Weight with a plate to keep peel under water; let

stand overnight.

Drain; wash thoroughly. Cover with cold water; heat to boiling. Drain.

Repeat three times. This helps remove bitter taste.

With kitchen scissors, cut peel in strips. In saucepan, combine 2 cups

peel, sugar, and 1/2 cup water. Heat and stir till sugar dissolves. Cook

slowly till peel is translucent. Drain.; roll in granulated sugar. Dry on

rack.

Hope this is it. :) Deb M. (Oregon)

I sent this to someone privately and thought I'd shoot it over to you all

too, : ) I'm busy preparing this right now-

This is sooooooo awesome that I do believe in some cases it's the only

reason I'm invited back, hehehehe

I've been making this since I was about 13 years old, a family friend gave

it to me and I'll give you the original recipe first, then some notes of my

own, : )

Banana Split Cake:

Crust-

1 Cup butter or margarine if it has to be, LOL

1 Cup ground nuts

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Flour

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix well and pat into 13x9 inch pan, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or

until golden brown.

Cool...

Cream Filling-

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1 Stick butter

2 eggs (this is not cooked and I don't worry my head over salmonella)

1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract, depends on how wild you are for almond, : )

Beat for 15-20 minutes on high speed of electric mixer or food processor.

When crust is cool, pour the filling over the top, then layer with 1 can

Crushed Pineapple drained well, sliced bananas (about 5), then cover with 1

container of Cool-Whip or homemade. Place and store in the refrigerator up

to one day before needing it.

*My notes-

I take it a step further and use one frozen container of strawberries,

thawed and drained and add that over the top of the pineapple.

In the crust, sometimes I use walnuts, sometimes pecans, : )

Sometimes I pour warmed chocolate syrup over each slice before serving and

sprinkle with a garnish of more ground nuts.

The mixing time of the filling is a PIA, but it is the key to this turning

out scrumptious.

Over the years, I was told by someone that you can help prevent the bananas

from browning if you layer them UNDER the pineapple (Sometimes I do this

with the bananas, other times I pre-soak them in some lemon juice).

....because I do make this 1 day before I need it, the crust then soaks up

the fruit juices and gets realllllly yummy!

Enjoy!

p.s. many make a similar recipe no-bake using graham crackers, IMHO, that

one does not compare and when I did try that one out on friends, they told

me never to do that to them again, LOL

Turkey Bursts

1 lb extra lean ground turkey

1 can campbell's condensed cream of celery soup (not the 'light' version -

it's too watery)

4 oz Feta cheese

1/2 - 3/4 cups frozen peas

2 cloves minced garlic

1 sm onion, chopped fine

couple dashes white pepper (or black, but you might need more if it's black

pepper)

1/2 tsp sweet basil

1/2 tsp parsley

dash low sodium soy sauce

dash or two of rubbed sage

1 pkg small won-ton wrappers (about 4"x4")

1 egg, beaten

Brown the ground turkey. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are

translucent. Add soup, basil, parsley, sage, soy sauce and pepper and mix

up. Heat through until hot. Add peas and stir around a little. Add feta

cheese and stir until all melty. Take pot off burner (don't forget to turn

the burner off... specially if you have one of those smooth topped stoves

that don't always look like they're still on. Ouch!). Get a teaspoon,

open package of won-ton wrappers, take out a wrapper, curse when three come

out instead of one. Put the torn ones aside. Plop about a teaspoonful of

the meat mixture onto the wrapper. Dip your fingers in the egg, fold in

corners of wrapper while trying not to let egg bits drop all over the

stove. Seal won-ton with egg. Fold in all the rest of the corners, (it'll

look like a circle when you're done) and seal again. Place egg-side-up on

a plate. Continue until plate is covered with almost one layer of turkey

bursts. Before you fill the plate, place a frying pan on the stove with

oh... about *that* much oil in the bottom - you know, 1/4 inch or so. Let

heat while you finish the layer of bursts. Gently, using tongs (that's

very important! Don't just throw them in there), place bursts seal side

down in the hot oil. They *will* expand, but usually don't explode. You

could pierce the tops of them, but then the filling oozes out. Ew. :) Fry

both sides until honey brown (this doesn't take long!) and remove from oil

to paper-towel covered plate. Turn off heat and start process over until

you run out of meat mixture or won-tons, whichever comes first.

The reason I call these bursts is because they're about bite sized and when

you bite into them they sort of burst in your mouth and you get all this

wonderful flavor... mmmmm... flavor *gurgle* </homer simpson> :)

Anyway - I made these for my room mate and she loved them, too :) If you

can't find the small won-ton wrappers, then egg roll wrappers work, too -

they're just bigger. :)

They're really good served with green salad (romaine and spinach for

preference) with great, big croutons and caesar vinaigrette dressing. :)

(Page 3-Christmas Cookies) and other recipes!

(Page 4-More Great Food Recipes)

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