How you doin’? I was always under the impression that Peanut Sauce originated in Thailand where it is used as a multi-purpose condiment. But actually, it’s an international favorite, maybe one of the first to stretch across Europe, North America and Asia.
 
Introduced from Mexico by Portuguese and Spanish merchants in the 16th century, peanuts found a place within Indonesian cuisine in a popular sauce. Peanuts thrived in the tropical environment of Southeast Asia, and today, they can be found roasted and chopped finely, topping a variety of dishes and in marinades and dipping sauces.
 
Peanut sauces reached the peak of sophistication in Indonesia, with the delicate balance of taste achieved from various ingredients according to each recipe of peanut sauce; fried peanuts, gula jawa (palm sugar), garlic, shallot, ginger, tamarind, lemon juice, lemongrass, salt, chili, pepper, and sweet soy sauce all ground together and mixed with water to achieve the right texture (in this recipe I use peanut butter).
 
The secret to good peanut sauce is to make it not too thick and not too watery. Indonesian peanut sauce tends to be less sweet than the Thai version (which is a hybrid adaptation). Gado-gado is eaten with peanut sauce throughout Indonesia showcasing the delicate balance of sweet, spicy and sour. Satays are commonly served with peanut sauce. However, satay doesn't actually mean peanut sauce. Southeast Asia’s favorite street food snack is a plate of skewered, grilled meat (pork, beef or chicken) with an infinite variety of sauces.
 
This Peanut Sauce Recipe is my Thai version, because I first learned to make it at the cooking school at the Oriental Bangkok Hotel. It can be used as a dipping sauce or a salad dressing, and can be used on peanut noodles, a drizzle on pizza or with chicken satay.
 
Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut butter natural, unsweetened
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (use tamari or coconut aminos for gluten free)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar (or better yet palm sugar if you can find it)
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (or to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3 garlic cloves pressed or grated
1 tablespoon ginger root grated
2-4 tablespoons warm water
 
Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients except the water.  Whisk to fully combine.
2. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. I normally use 2 tablespoons for a sauce and up to four if using it for a dressing.

ChefSecret:  My preference is for unsweetened peanut butter.  If you use some commercial brands of peanut butter that include sugar, the sauce may turn out too sweet.  Try reducing the sugar to 1 tablespoon—taste and adjust.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  “Have you ever found yourself in the ‘What can I do with a pound of green beans and chocolate cake mix? I think I’m at that stage of needing to go grocery shopping."
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a with our readers?  Send your favorite recipes, pictures or thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. Recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Sauces #PeanutSauce #Peanuts #ThaiPeanutSauce #Satay #NPB #NationalPeanutBoard #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                              ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

How you doin’? Spring has sprung and in SoCal it’s time for those great backyard brunches with fresh berries and fruit, yeasted waffles and Hawaiian French Toast (made with King’s Hawaiian Bread). But don’t forget the libations.  For these occasions, there is nothing better than a Mimosa.
 
A Mimosa Cocktail is composed of dry, sparkling white wine and chilled, fresh orange juice. It is traditionally served in a tall champagne flute at brunch, at weddings, or as part of business or first class service on some airlines.
 
What is the best Champagne for Mimosas? Well it isn't actually Champagne. For Mimosas, I opt for a less-expensive Cava from Spain or Prosecco from Italy. They're both delicious dry sparkling wines that mix well with citrus juice.
 
Let me warn you… Bottomless mimosas should be approached with caution. People often don't realize that they are getting drunk, due to the champagne being mixed with orange juice, but it eventually hits them and hits them hard.
 
Prep time:  3 minutes
Yield:  1 serving
 
Ingredients
5 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice, well chilled
3 ounces Cava, Prosecco or Champagne, well chilled
Garnish: orange wheel, cherries or fresh strawberry
 
Directions

1. Pour the orange juice into a well-chilled Champagne flute.
2. Top off with sparkling wine glass without ice—no need to stir or shake.
3. Garnish with an orange wheel, cherry, splash of grenadine (called a Sunrise Mimosa) or a fresh strawberry.

 
ChefSecret:  There are several wonderful variations on this bar standard and they don’t all involve OJ.

• There’s the Buck's Fizz. This is a similar type of cocktail, invented a few years earlier in London, which has twice as much Champagne as orange juice.
• Then there’s the Poinsettia. It consists of cranberry juice with Champagne. It also can be made with vodka and/or Cointreau).
• Ahhh, the refreshing Lemosa. Made with champagne—substitute the orange juice with fresh-made lemonade.
• Tip your hat to Johnny Appleseed with a Vermosa. This is made with apple cider with Champagne. Sometimes seen on the menu as an Apple Crisp. Why the name? It was invented in Vermont
• When in Hawaii I love a Soleil--made with pineapple juice. It seems that Champagne and almost any fruit juice are exciting.

 
Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Cracking the code to Covid-19 to produce effective vaccines was not easy, but rather complex. Leaning into the complexity of things rather than fighting them can be the fuel to spark ingenious solutions."
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Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Cocktail #HappyHour #Mimosa #Prosecco #Champagne #OJ #Cheers #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                              ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

How you doin’? I fell in love with recipes from the South while researching different cuisines for one of our clients. Most people just lump Southern Cuisine into one big “Gone with Wind” bucket, but when you get inside you find that every state, as well as areas within the states, have their own specialties that have been passed down from generation to generation.
 
While watching Smoke Ring on Discovery+ last night, hosted by Stephen Ray Tickle (a real life moonshiner), one of the contestants orchestrated a beautiful Lowcountry Perloo. It was a thing of beauty to behold. I had decided to skip dinner but suddenly, I was drooling, just watching it on TV. 

In the Lowcountry region (the coastal areas of the Carolinas and Georgia), Perloo is a beloved rice dish often made with the region's plentiful shellfish. Like Jambalaya, Perloo starts with a flavorful base of rice simmered with tomato, bell pepper, celery, garlic and onion.
 
One-pot rice dishes are incredible easy and versatile, you can use chicken, seafood, sausage, and whatever vegetables you have on hand. These dishes are ideal for weeknight suppers.
 
You can get in a Lowcountry frame of mind with my delicious Shrimp Perloo recipe which can be ready in just 40 minutes. The size of the shrimp is key to this recipe—be sure to purchase medium-sized, not large, shrimp. They are stirred into the pot at the end of the cook time. The residual heat from the rice mixture cooks the shrimp to tender perfection, in about 3 to 5 minutes.
 
Prep time:  20 minutes
Cook time:  20 minutes
Yield:  6 servings
 
Ingredients
4 thick-cut bacon slices (about 6 oz.), chopped
2 cups chopped sweet onion
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine (or moon shine, if you have it 😊)
2 (14.5 oz.) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
7 cups seafood stock (made from the heads and shells of shrimp)
3 cups uncooked basmati rice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-1/2 pounds raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup smoked Andouille sausage, sliced in rings
1/4 cup chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley
 
Directions

1. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring often, until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the bacon drippings in Dutch oven. Set cooked bacon aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper to Dutch oven; cook, stirring often, until vegetables soften but haven’t begun to brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Add garlic, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of the salt; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add wine (or moonshine), stirring and scraping to loosen browned bits from bottom of pot.
5. Add tomatoes and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes.
6. Stir in stock, rice, and butter; bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook until rice is just tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
8. Remove from heat. Working quickly, gently stir in shrimp and sausage; cover and let stand until shrimp are cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes.
9. Stir in remaining 2 teaspoons salt.
10. Garnish serving bowls parsley and bacon.

ChefSecret:  This dish works best with medium-sized shrimp. If the shrimp are too large, the rice mixture will cool off before the shrimp are cooked and you will have undercooked shrimp and lukewarm rice.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “When you serve this dish for company, they’ll be grinnin' like a possum eatin' a sweet tater.”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Entree #Lowcountry #Shrimp #Andouille #ShrimpPerloo #SmokeRing #Moonshine #StephenRayTickle #GoneWithTheWind #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                              ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

How you doin’? I lived in San Francisco for over 10 years as it was evolving as an exciting culinary town. I owned several restaurants, had a cooking show and loved to show people how to cook. There were so many options from the great Italian food in North Beach to the exotic dishes of Chinatown and all the other outlying ethnic areas in the Avenues and the Sunset area. The Bay area was a destination for many Vietnamese immigrants after the fall of Saigon. The first things that immigrants bring with them when they come to America from their native countries are the culinary traditions they grew up with and that was no different for the newly relocated Vietnamese… and America is so much better for it.
 
I spent several years in Saigon and in addition to the wonderful people there was the magnificence of the food. You could always count on getting great foods and flavor from even the most meager of food stands.
 
The Vietnamese people originally came from Indonesia, Southern China and elsewhere, struggling to maintain their independence since about 100 BC.  At that time China, coveting the rich rice growing areas of the Mekong and Red Rivers, first conquered the young kingdom of Nam Viet. The excellence of Vietnamese cooking owes a great deal to the example of China and, in more recent generations, to that of France. The French ruled the country for most of the past century and left a heavy culinary influence. Well-to-do Vietnamese still enjoy both the cuisines of France and China, and when they venture out to eat it is often at a Chinese or French restaurant. However, when they cook at home, they can’t resist mixing things up a bit.
 
During the season, our Fanny’s Fish Markets always served fresh caught crab boiled in large, open caldrons located in the front of each of our restaurants. Fanny’s specialized in inexpensive pasta in seafood sauces.
 
Living in the Dungeness Crab capital of California our R&D team frequently went out to find the best Vietnamese Garlic crab we could find. One evening we stumbled onto Thanh Long restaurant, where recent arrival Chef Helene An was serving the best garlic crab, I ever tasted. Chef An was soon to become famous for her garlic crab and noodles and crab. If you live in Los Angeles their sister restaurant, Crustacean, is in the center of Beverly Hills—a big change from Saigon in 1972.
 
As with many prized dishes, Chef An kept her recipe a big secret.  In fact, she has a special closed box in the kitchen where she plied her garlicky magic. Her garlic noodles recipe is such a closely guarded secret that not even their kitchen staff knows the recipe. We knew the minute we tasted her garlic noodles they were going to be featured into one of our restaurants during the next crab season cycle. So off went our chefs to rise to the challenge.
 
After many failed attempts at making garlic noodles, we had a winner (or as close as we could come to it). It isn’t Vietnamese, American or Italian… it’s a dish onto its own—a fusion of flavors. Now you can make garlic noodles just like we found them at Thanh Long restaurant in San Francisco.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Yield:  2 servings
 
Ingredients
14 to 20 ounces fresh, pre-cooked Chow Mein noodles
1/2 cup unsalted butter or neutral flavor cooking oil
15 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Maggi seasoning (more on this later)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or as much as you want)
 
Directions

1. Bring a small, 8-10-quart pot of water to boil.
2. Add in fresh Chow Mein noodles and using a long fork, gently stir the noodles until they separate. It should take about 2 minutes. Drain the noodles and set aside. Coat with a little melted butter or oil so the noodles don’t clump together. (If you are using another kind of noodles, follow the cooking instructions on the package.)
3. In a large sauté pan or wok, heat the butter or oil. Do not burn the butter. When the oil starts to shimmer or the butter has melted, add in the minced garlic.
4. When the garlic starts to brown and becomes fragrant, add in the fish and oyster sauces, sugar and Maggi seasoning. Then add the noodles and stir for a minute to combine.
5. Turn off heat and add Parmesan cheese to the noodles. Stir well.
6. Serve while piping hot.

ChefSecret:  This is one of those recipes where you need all the ingredients as specified. Don’t skip anything or take a shortcut! Don’t use spaghetti in place of Asian noodles. If you want spaghetti, buy a bottle of Prego tomato sauce and a few meatballs. If you’re going to the trouble to make this recipe, use the right noodles. Chow Mein noodles are moist and springy and absorb the garlic flavor and oil/butter well.

Maggi Seasoning is a flavor enhancer used in a lot of Asian cooking. Maggi seasoning comes in a container that looks like a little like a genie bottle and it contains MSG. Without Maggi Seasoning, the garlic noodles don’t taste like Chef An’s.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Quarantine has really put a damper on comedy. For months nobody has walked into a bar.”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Entree #GarlicNoodles #ChefAn #ChowMein #Garlic #CrustaceanBeverlyHills #ThanhLong #SFO #DungenessCrab #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                               ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

How you doin’? Allow me to share a story about my first restaurant, President Nixon and Crab Rangoon.
 
We received a phone call from the White House asking if we would close Warehouse Restaurant for about 2-hours on a Saturday so President Nixon could eat there with security. Exciting, right? Sure.
 
The Secret Service got into the kitchen even before our staff started for the day. They inspected every step of the preparation. Someone from the President’s staff had pre-selected the menu to be served to every guest—Dinner Salad, Crab Rangoon, Grilled Sirloin Steak with Loaded Baked Potatoes and a Frozen Ice Cream dessert.
 
The motorcade pulled up promptly at 8pm that Saturday night and everyone filed into the restaurant…. the President, followed by the Secretaries of State and Defense along with 30 other people. The President thanked me for the courtesy of closing the restaurant and told me that the Crab Rangoon was his favorite and very original. (See ChefSecret for the rest of the story.)
 
I probably should have told him that Crab Rangoon was on the menu of the famous Polynesian Restaurant Trader Vic's in San Francisco since at least 1956. Although the appetizer was allegedly derived from some authentic Burmese recipe, the dish was actually invented by Victor Bergeron, founder of Trader Vic's.
 
The filling is made with a mixture of cream cheese, crab meat or imitation krab meat, scallions or onion, garlic, and other flavorings. A small amount of the filling is wrapped in each wonton wrapper. The dumpling is then shaped by folding the wrapper over into a triangle, by creating a four-pointed star, by gathering it up into flower or purse shape, or by twisting it into the traditional wonton shape.
 
The dumplings are then deep-fried in vegetable oil until brown and crisp. They should be served warm with a sauce for dipping: soy sauce, plum or duck sauce, or sweet and sour sauce, with a dot of hot Chinese mustard. You can make these dumplings in advance of the festivities and freeze them on trays until party time. Everyone will love these bite-size, fried dumplings stuffed with crab fit for a president.
 
Prep time:  20 minutes
Fry time: 10 minutes
Yield:  10 servings
 
Ingredients
1 quart oil for frying
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh scallions
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 pound crab meat, shredded
1 (14 ounce) package small won ton wrappers

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet or deep fryer to 360⁰ F.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, scallions, parsley and crabmeat.
3. Place 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the crab/cream cheese mixture into the center of each wonton wrapper.
4. Fold the wonton wrapper over the stuffing to make a triangle or a half moon, depending on the shape of the won ton wrappers you have purchased. Moisten the edges with a little water, and seal.
5. Place filled wontons under a slightly moist paper towel until ready for frying.
6. Add 3 or 4 wontons to the hot oil at a time, and cook until golden brown, turning once.
7. Set aside on paper towels to drain.
8. Repeat until all wontons have been fried. Serve hot.

ChefSecret:  Closing a new restaurant, even for a President, is very costly. The owner losses all the revenue for the evening and the servers lose all their tips. We were asked to send a bill to the White House; we did. The bill was never paid.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  Sign hanging in our test kitchen—"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. 
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Appetizer #CrabRangoon #Krab #Crab #Nixon #TheWarehouseRestaurant #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                                ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021