Category Archives: Travel

Side dishes Travel Vegetarian

“Alta” Brussels Sprouts

December 30, 2006 – 7:08 pm

Last night my husband and I traveled to New York to meet a group of friends for an impromptu dinner at Alta, a tapas restaurant in the West Village. Between the seven of us we shared 20 delectable small plates with the unanimous favorite being the Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Fuji Apples, Crème Fraîche and Pistachios — it was the only dish we ordered twice!

I have already written to the “R.S.V.P” and “You Asked For It” sections of Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines, respectively, requesting this recipe from Alta’s Chef Mosher, but in the meantime I have done a little experimenting of my own. While my husband and I were not disappointed with my attempted re-creation — charred Brussels sprouts, sweet apples, sour crème fraîche and toasted pistachios alone combine to form a delicious mixture of contrasting flavors and textures — something was missing.

At Alta, over our second plate of these crispy mini cabbages, we all mused and speculated about this indiscernible ingredient: a very flavorful, at once vinegary, sweet and sharp sauce present in each mouthful. Here, I’ve reduced balsamic vinegar with honey to capture this effect and until I hear from one of the above contacted authorities with the secret formula, I can survive with this substitute. While we enjoyed this side dish tonight with our hamburgers, the combination of Brussels sprouts and apples would be especially delicious served aside a nice, juicy pork chop.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple, Crème Fraîche and Pistachios
Serves 2

10 oz Brussels sprouts, tough stem removed and halved
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 Fuji Apple, unpeeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon crème fraîche, or more to taste

Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Toss the Brussels sprouts with enough olive oil to coat, a generous pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan, gently simmer the balsamic vinegar with the honey until the mixture has reduced and is slightly thickened, 3-5 minutes. Set aside.

After 15 minutes, remove the Brussels sprouts from the oven, stir and rearrange with a spoon and test one with a paring knife. If the Brussels sprouts are not sufficiently charred or tender, return to the oven for five minutes. If they appear to be charring too much, reduce the oven temperature to 400˚F and continue roasting until they are knife-tender.
When the Brussels sprouts are finished cooking, remove from the oven, transfer to a bowl, and add the pistachios and apple slices. Pour the reduced balsamic mixture into the bowl and toss to coat evenly.

Transfer mixture to serving platter and top with a dollop of crème fraîche. Serve immediately, seasoning with more salt if necessary and more crème fraîche if desired.

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Asian Entrees Pasta Seafood Travel

Rad Na Thai Shrimp

December 9, 2006 – 7:14 am

Every so often I find myself craving Continental’s Rad Na Thai Chicken. I was first introduced to this warm bowl of fresh rice noodles, bean sprouts, scallions, peanuts, chicken and slightly wilted romaine by a friend who described it as “a big bowl of goodness.” And that it is. You can imagine my excitement when I came across a recipe for this Continental staple in Aliza Green’s new cookbook, Starting with Ingredients. More exciting was discovering how easy the dish is to prepare—the sauce only has four ingredients—and once all of the ingredients are prepped, the dish takes fewer than ten minutes to complete. Here I’ve prepared the dish with shrimp but any cut of meat that can be quickly sautéed—thinly sliced chicken, pork or beef—can be easily substituted for the shrimp. Some of the ingredients, such as the fresh rice noodles, will have to be purchased at an Asian grocery store. My favorite is Hung Vuong Market at 11th and Washington (there is a link to the market in the sidebar). Look for the uncut fresh rice noodles that are packaged in clear plastic with red writing in the non-refrigerated section of the market.

Rad Na Thai Shrimp
Serves 3-4

Sauce:
6 tablespoons Chinese oyster sauce
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small pot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Cool before storing.
Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Rad Na:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound shrimp 16/20 count, peeled and deveined, tails left intact
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 pound fresh rice noodles, cut into 3/4-inch wide strips
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Rad Na Sauce (see recipe above)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 pound fresh mung bean sprouts
1 cup roasted salted peanuts
1 head romaine, outer leaves removed, cut into squares

Heat a skillet or wok until smoking hot. Add the oil and heat again until smoking. Add the shrimp and let cook on one side for about a minute and a half. Flip the shrimp, cook for another minute, and then transfer to a plate–the shrimp should still look slightly raw (they’ll continue cooking as they sit and they’ll finish cooking at the end when they are tossed with all of the hot ingredients). Let the oil heat up again, another 20 seconds or so, then add the eggs. Stir vigorously to break up the egg as they cook.

Add the noodles, crushed pepper, and Rad Na Sauce. Stir to combine and coat noodles. When noodles are hot and coated with the sauce, add most of the scallions, most of the sprouts, and most of the peanuts. Return the shrimp to the pan, stir well to combine and coat all of the ingredients with the sauce and remove from heat.

Divide the lettuce between 4 bowls. Top with the hot noodle mixture and garnish with the remaining scallions, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Serve immediately.

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