Flavors of Thailand!!

Over the weekend, Brett and I made some new dishes that we have never done before. The picture below is the crab rangoon before they were fried. It was really simple. We used wonton wrappers, which worked great. The filling was easy, too - cream cheese, crab (I used imitation), green onion, onion powder, salt and sugar.



And here is the finished product - they were great! We cooked them in a shallow pan with canola oil in batches of six. We let the oil heat for a good 10 minutes on medium heat, and they cooked up in about two minutes.

I made this cucumber salad as a side dish. It was nice and light but had a lot of flavor. Another really simple dish - peeled cucumbers and vidalia onions sliced thin and flavored with apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt.

And here is the main entree - Beef Pad Thai! We used a thinner noodle than is normally used for traditional pad thai, but it worked great. The key here was to have everything ready to go cause the hot wok cooked everything up really quickly. It was a fun night and a great dinner!!

Wines under $20

Wanted to share a couple of our favorite wines that we have found over the last couple of years. These are solid everyday wines that always to seem to hit the spot when we pop them open. Would love to hear other's recommendations on their favorites as well. As the old saying goes, the family that drinks together, stays together (or something like that).

Whites:

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc -- best drank on a porch on a summer day, our go-to white

King Shag Sauvignon Blanc -- a Trader Joe's exclusive, Crystal often drinks with her friends


Villa Del Borgo Pinot Grigio -- very good value wine, under $10 most places

Sparkling:

Cantine Ceci - Tre di Terre Verdiane -- got this on a recommendation of the waiter on my birthday at Pop's for Champagne and loved it. Not overly sweet like a lot of sparking wine, this really hit the spot. Our new celebratory drink.

Reds:

Wild Horse Pinot Noir or Merlot -- Very drinkable, a great wine to serve when people come over

Louis M. Martini Cabernet -- our first case of wine we purchased, bought this one the first time in a rush at the grocery on our way to Christmas...and everyone loved it. Bought a case a few weeks ago since it was such a great price. Will be enjoying a lot of this in the weeks to come.

B.R. Cohn Cabernet (Silver Label) -- Had this one for the first time at Frasca, a pizza and wine bar at the end of street. Very nice wine and have enjoyed on multiple occassions at home and restaurants since.

Allegrini Pallazo Della Torre -- Stumbled across this one at Osteria Via Stato while we were waiting for a table. A couple came to the bar and ordered their second bottle of this wine and started talking to the bartender about it. The bartender said it was her favorite. We of course tried it with dinner after hearing that and had to agree with them. Great with a big bowl of pasta.

Marques de Caceres -- I think this was the first bottle of wine I ever bought, I had no idea what I was doing and looked up online what a good, cheap wine would be to buy. This came up...and it was great.

Ercavio Tempranillo -- excellent value, another great wine to serve at a party

Dona Paula -- another wine originally recommended by a waiter, this one at Fogo de Chao. Was a big hit that night and have been one of our favorite, value reds since. I enjoy just drinking it alone, but pairs well with grilled steak.

Ethan's Truffle Nuggets

Ingredients:
1 package of Oreo's
1 8oz. package of cream cheese
2 packages of chocolate morsels

Recipe:
1. Crush Oreo cookies into small pieces
(using a food processor or in a baggie with a rolling pin)
2. Add a package of cream cheese to the cookies
3. Mix cream cheese and cookies together
(using hand mixer or blender)
4. Roll nickel-size balls
(makes 40 total)
5. Melt chocolate morsels
6. Dip cream cheese and Oreo balls into melted chocolate
7. Place on wax paper
8. Refrigerate for 1 hour

Ethan's suggestions for garnishing:
-Drizzle white or raspberry chocolate over chocolate balls
-For aesthetic purposes, garnish with a mint leaf
-Before refrigerating, sprinkle left over cookie crumbs (or sprinkles) to warm chocolate balls
-Place finished truffle nuggets on mini cupcake liners

Village Anchor

Wanted to share a couple of pictures from a great meal we had in Louisville in honor of Taylor and Alex. We went to the Village Anchor in Anchorage, KY on the Wednesday before their wedding. I was very impressed with the restaurant, very cool atmosphere and want to go back to eat on the outdoor patio. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, which ranged from fish tacos to grilled pork chops. You could tell the restaurant was new and still getting their legs under them, but if it continues to progress I really think it could be one of Louisville's true destination restaurants. Excited to try it again. Most of all, will remember the great company from that night, it was fun to get so much of the family together for a entertaining and delicious meal.

Taylor and Alex

Ethan Perellis

MMM...goat cheese fritters

Ahi Tuna Salad, looks great

Pork Chop w/ corn pudding

Kabobs

We had some Beef Kabobs tonight for dinner with basmati rice. I bought some tri-tip steak from Trader Joe's and skewered with marinated onions, green peppers, cremini mushrooms and garlic. Here is the before picture:

Grilled the skewers for about 8 minutes or so over high heat and below is the result. Crystal made some basmati rice to go with the kabobs. She makes it way better than I do. Rice 1, Brett 0.

On a side note, I also loaded Taylor and Alex's birthday gift to the fridge today, it was a 10 pack of beer from across the world. Excited to try them, will let you know if anything blows me away.

We made a run to Binny's today, so will let you know if we have any good wines in the coming days. We are currently enjoying a 2007 Louis M. Martini Cabernet (we bought a case -- only $12.50/btl), its very good. I have a feeling the case will not last quite as long as we thought it would.

my test kitchen at rest.

today we made

• speghetti squash from farmer market
• corn with roasted peppers
• jerk chicken thighs
• roast turkey thigh with shish kabob seasoning
• roast pork country ribs
• baked pork butt

purchased at farmer's market

• yellow corn
• heirloom tomatos
• yellow beans
• blueberries
• eggs
• ground buffalo
• speghetti squash
• canteloupe

NEW RESTAURANT

BIG BEN

Thursday Mimi, Phyllis and I tried a new restaurant located in Norton Commons

you order at the counter and they bring out you food. It was new and cashier was overwhelmed. It took awhile to get our drinks. But once food came it was pretty good.

the best dish was the sider sampler, three mini hamburgers, one with bacon and cheddar, one with feta cheese and one with carmalized onions, served with very good homemade potato chips.

we also had a Mediterrean flatbread pizza, which would have been better if it had more black olives and tomatoes and less onions. The asian pear and chicken salad was decent and has potential. It was served in a black plastic tortilla server, and it looked like it had a lot of lettuce in a big bowl, only to find out that it was really flat and shallow.

Overall impression: it is not worth a trip out there, but if in the area, it is worth eating there.

New Recipes

I have been working on taco recipes:

I roasted a pork butt today and it will make great taco. I also made some salbutes, to use as bases.

To roast a the pork butt:

2.2# boned and wrapped pork butt
season and rub into meat with; granulated garlic, Baron's habenero and green chili blend-secret #57, ground annato, and black pepper. Place pork into shallow baking dish.
add 1/2 cup water to baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 2.25 hours at 350

Salbutes:

combine in large mixing bowl:
1 cup masa flour
1 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of water
1 cup cooked corn kernels

mix well to form a batter, a little firmer than pancake batter.

Lightly grease a cast iron skillet and heat to medium temperature. drop spoonfuls of batter onto skillet and cook about 4 minutes a side, or until crisp and golden brown.

I will post the results in a couple of days, hopefully with photos

Honeymoon Heaven!

As two hungry newlyweds, we were so excited to munch on some goodies in our Honeymoon Suite -- even in our wedding clothes!!



Al's second breakfast as a married man! We loved the Avacado, Tomato, & Cream Cheese Bagel! We will definitely be trying that recipe at home!

Enjoying a nice glass of Champagne (at 8:30AM) after a safe hot air balloon landing in Moab, Utah. It was such an awesome experience to fly over Arches National Park!

Our first "homemade" dinner as married people!! We mixed tortellini with gorbanzo and black beans -- (pesto was added to Alex's dish only). Al made a most delicious avocado & fresh mozzarella cheese appetizer. We topped it all off with local Cherry wine!

I think I gained 10 lbs. last week...

Last week was definitely a great week of eating. We had delicious meals at the Fish House in Peoria with Crystal's family, Basa and the Village Anchor in Louisville with various Perellis family members and picked up some great BBQ from the FABD and ate at Mimi's. On top of all of that we had the rehearsal dinner at Captain's Quarters and of course the Wedding. What food items stood out the most?

1) Graeter's ice cream cake for Andy's birthday
2) Pork Chop at Village Anchor
3) Pistachio Gelato at the Wedding (of course this was also the only thing I ate at the wedding)

Anyone else have any other favorites?

Brett & Crystal's Greek Feast

This is Crystal and I's first foray into our cooking world tour, we each picked 10 countries and will prepare a dinner representing their cuisine. First country was Greece and was a good way to start us off. For the appetizer course, I made my own hummus (shockingly easy, but a tad bland) and toasted some pita points with paprika. I served this two ways, one was a simple pita point and hummus dip and the other was a mini pita point with hummus and sliced grape tomato, looked like a little greek pizza. The entree was a roasted chicken with garlic and dill, after a very patient 1.5 hrs of cooking it was ready to be served with a warm orzo salad that I made with roasted tomatoes, marinated cucumbers, onions and garlic. A few things I would change next time around, but overall a great dinner. We drank some italian sparkling wine that we love to start us off and a 2003 Flora Springs Chardonnay with the entree, both went great. Opa!

Basa Louisville KY

Yummy food fellow blogger. Great company and a great start to the wedding weekend!

Basa - Vietnamese Fusion Restaraunt

Tonight was a great dining experience shared with Brett, Crystal (both in from Chicago), Alex and Jeff. We went to Basa on Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, KY. Started with mussels and calamari which got the meal off to a great start. Our entrees hit the mark as well, read on below to get the details.

Brett's Scallops:

Seared scallops in a sweet ginger broth, served with a black forbidden rice risotto and wilted greens. Excellent, the firm risotto offered a great balance to the smooth texture of the scallop, which was cooked perfectly. However, the most interesting part of my meal was my Bombay Heat cocktail. It was gin mixed with jalapeno, simple syrup and lemon juice. It was equal parts spicy and refreshing, a unique mix to say the least, would be back just for the drink.

Crystal's Shrimp:

Salt and Pepper Prawns were served with scallions and wilted greens, in what reminded me of an oyster sauce. Best part was Papa P taking all of the shrimp tails off my plate and eating them whole, guess I am really part of the family now :). Great dinner!

Taylor's Side Dish Platter:

Mmm... I love my veggies. The asparagus was slightly disappointing since they put BBQ sauce on it, not my fave. The mushrooms, however, were wonderful! I ordered them "slightly seasoned" to make sure they weren't too spicy for my bland palate.


By far, the best part of the dining experience was the fresh baguette and whole stick of butter. Despite it being only days away from our wedding I ate 4 slices with loads of butter. Now that is my kind of dining experience!!

Jeff's Halibut:
[transcribed from the mumbles we heard from the bathroom] "Halibut was very good, but not as good as the mussel appetizer."

Alex's Filet with Scallops and Mashed Potatoes:

They had me at Filet (FEE-Lay as Jeff pronounces it) and scallops, ate every bite, which is all that needs to be said.

First post!

This blog is meant to be a portal of Perellis recipes. We encourage all Perellis' to post their favorite home-cooked meals or other great dining experiences.