thai ga pow. & perfect macarons.

I boldly continue my experiments cooking Asian food. I love when a success comes along so I can add it to my repertoire of homemade "take-out," then share it with all of y'all. 

This Thai dish does not look fancy, but it sure does taste fancy. It packs loads of flavor hitting all your tastes buds: salty, sweet, sour & spicy. I believe ga pow just means a rice & meat dish. I used ground dark turkey, jasmine rice & steamed green beans for this recipe I adapted from Thai Table. I served this with some almost-dry Riesling & I think it paired really well together.

Oh, & another bonus, this takes hardly anytime at all. 

thai ga pow.

serves 4

1lb. ground free-range dark turkey or chicken meat

4 scallions, chopped

1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled & grated

4-6 cloves of garlic, grated

6 TBL Thai fish sauce

2 TBl organic sugar

2 tsp chili paste

1 or 2 big handfuls of basil, chopped (separate & chop stems too)

1 TBL olive oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

serve with...

sliced lime

&

prik nam plah:

juice of 1/2 lime

4 TBl fish sauce

1/2 or 1 chili (to your spicey taste)

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1. In in a large non-stick pan, heat oils on medium-high heat. Add scallions, ginger, garlic & basil stems. Cook for about 2-3 minutes stirring frequently.
2. Add the ground meat & cook until "browned." Add fish sauce, sugar & chili paste & continue to for another 4-5 minutes until the meat is cooked, the sauce has reduced to half & become a bit sticky.
3. Add the basil & cook another 30 seconds. Serve over jasmine rice (cooked according to package instructions), squeeze a bit of lime & drizzle with prik nam plah.

For desert I made macarons adapted from Tamra Davis (director/ chef/ mom/ married to a Beastie Boy). Actually, on her site you can watch her & her youngest son go on an adventure to buy the ingredients then make them. This is a great recipe, they are perfectly fluffy & sweet without falling apart. The key is really beating the sugar & egg whites. Again, macarons are a great gluten-free, dairy-free dessert option--plus they're cute.

coconut macarons.

a lazy 2 dozen

2 free-range egg whites

3/4 cups organic sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla

2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut

a pinch of maldon sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees & line two baking sheets with foil.
2. In a large bowl combine egg whites, sugar & vanilla--beat with a whisk until combine & fluffy (about 1 minute).
3. Fold in coconut & sea salt. With wet hands make small (1 TBL size) mounds & place 1" apart on baking sheet.
4. Bake for 16-17 minutes until golden. Cool for 3-5 minutes before transferring onto a baking cooling rack.

happy eatings & cheers!