Helllooo everyone!

I have a blog-related announcement today…the look of my Recipes page has changed! Click the link or the Recipes tab in the header bar to check it out!

The Recipes page used to be just a searchable database of past posts tagged as a recipe. Each one was listed as a paragraph excerpt from the beginning of the post with no pictures to help you find what you were looking for.

Well…my awesome programmer husband has jazzed it up and now it looks like this!….

Now, all recipes show up as a Poloroid-like icon, much prettier and easier to sift through than the clunky search feature was.

Currently, about half of the total recipes from the site are available, but as I have time to update the rest to the new format more will pop up.

Speaking of the new format….

Some of you may have already noticed that my posts containing recipes appear a little differently now. To show you an example of the new look, here’s a short recipe for spicy cucumber quick pickles that I made yesterday.

Spicy cucumber quick pickles

These spicy cucumber pickles are quick to make and are a cooling compliment to spicy dishes.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Yield: About a cup of pickles

Ingredients

• 2 small cucumbers
• 1 sliced scallion
• 1 tbsp. mirin
• 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
• up to a 1/4 tsp. chili garlic sauce
• sesame seeds for garnish
• salt to remove excess moisture

Cooking Directions

1. Slice cucumbers very thinly and sprinkle with salt.
2. Massage salt into cucumbers and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
3. Rinse and squeeze out cucumbers and return to bowl.
4. Add mirin, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds.
5. Mix everything well and store in the refrigerator.

Now, recipes appear in a box with all the information you need to recreate them at home. Even if all the steps for the recipe were explained elsewhere in the post, you’ll still find the whole recipe written out like this towards the end of the post. That’s because soon I intend on adding a print feature to make using recipes even easier!

Neat, huh?

I hope these changes really do make finding and using recipes easier. I know even I was having trouble finding anything with the old layout.

What kinds of recipes do you get most excited about? Desserts, smoothies, appetizers, ethnic foods, dinners?

May 24, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 3 comments

While we were in Seattle, Jeff had a Thai dish that had him “mmming” and “yumming” the whole time. It was this dish of pork, flavored with Thai basil, garlic, and ginger, and served with a fried egg.

It looked like something that I could recreate at home, so I logged it in my memory to try out sometime.

I got together a pound of ground pork, Thai basil, scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, chili-garlic sauce, and 2 eggs for my attempt at recreating that memorable flavor.

I chopped up the scallions, garlic, and grated some ginger and set it aside.

I browned the pork in a pan without oil, there’s enough fat in the pork to keep it from sticking. When the fat had rendered out and the pork was browned, I drained it in a metal sieve then returned it to the pan to add the aromatic ingredients…

As soon as those were smelling fragrant, I added the sauces and made sure to mix the spicy stuff in well…

Then I added the chopped basil and let it wilt completely.

And here’s my finished version!

Complete with a fried egg just like the original.

This was awesome. Certainly a more meat-heavy dish than we typically have for dinner, but it was a nice indulgence. I think the pork would taste amazing in crisp lettuce cups, maybe I’ll try it that way next time.

Pork with Thai basil and fried egg

Pork with the aromatic flavors of Thai basil, garlic, ginger, and scallion. Served with a fried egg over rice.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 bunch Thai basil
• 2 large cloves of garlic (minced)
• a 1 inch piece of ginger (grated)
• 2 scallions (sliced)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. chili garlic sauce

Cooking Directions

1. Brown pork in a pan without oil.
2. When pork is cooked through, drain off fat and return to pan.
3. Add scallions, ginger, and garlic.
4. Add sauces and mix in.
5. Add chopped Thai basil and allow to wilt.
6. Fry eggs sunny-side-up in a separate pan.
7. Serve pork over rice with a fried egg and garnish with toasted sesame seeds if desired.

Have you ever made something at home that you’ve tried in a restaurant?

May 22, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 5 comments

I have no idea why this recipe is not already on this blog. I make this about once every other week because it’s easy and because it’s one of my husband’s favorite meals.

Thai basil is more aggressive and slightly more bitter than it’s sweet Italian cousin. Its bright and springy flavor melts in and permeates the salty sauce and gets soaked up by the hot fluffy rice.

It’s easy to tell Thai basil from sweet Italian basil. Its leaves have streaks of purple and the stems are often purple too. If you can’t find Thai basil, Italian basil will work but you should plan to use more of it.

I start by sauteing an onion and a bell pepper in sesame oil…

Then I make a space in the center to brown the flank steak…

Then I add the basil and garlic…

And the sauces…

And allow it to heat through.

Thai basil beef

Thinly sliced beef and veggies in a salty-sweet sauce infused with fresh Thai basil.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 2 to 2 1/2 servings

Ingredients

• 2 portions flank steak
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large bunch thai basil (about 10+ stems)
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp. sweet soy sauce
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• a pinch of chili garlic sauce
• 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• garnish with toasted sesame seeds

Cooking Directions

1. Slice onions and bell pepper and saute with sesame oil.
2. Slice flank steak thinly across the grain.
3. Push vegetables to the outside of the pan and saute steak in center.
4. Brown steak on both sides then mix in with vegetables.
5. Add garlic, sauces, and thai basil torn into small pieces.
6. Allow to heat through and serve over rice.

This is as good as what you would expect to get in a restaurant. I’ve made it with tofu too, and while it’s not the same dish without the beef juices melting into the sauce, it’s still really good.

What’s your favorite dish to eat over rice?

May 18, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 8 comments