Yum Woon Sen - A Versatile Spicy Thai Noodle Salad

Recipes, Salads, Seafood, White wine pairings 2 Responses »
Aug 062010

Yum Woon Sen is one of my favorite summer salads, especially when the weather is hot and sticky. It was one of my go-to dishes when we were traveling in Thailand. The lime and lemongrass flavors are so refreshing in this salad that I knew that I wanted to start serving this at home. The salad can be served hot or cold but I much prefer the cold version in the summer time.

Yum Woon Sen

Yum Woon Sen

The noodles in this salad are bean threads, usually made from mung beans. Bean threads are also called cellophane noodles because they become translucent when cooked. High in protein, this salad is low in fat and doesn’t weigh you down. A perfect salad to eat when you need the nourishment but it is too hot to have a big appetite.

There are lots of versions of Yum Woon Sen but the common ingredients are bean threads, shrimp, ground chicken or pork, hot peppers and vegetables dressed with lemon/lime juice, lemon grass and fish sauce. This version has many of the ingredients of the classic Yum Woon Sen that you can find all over Thailand with a few modifications for American convenience and the addition of tomatoes. Tomatoes are frequently part of Yum Woon Sen served in Thai restaurants in the US but rarely seen in the street stands of Thailand.  If I have ripe tomatoes in the garden, I love them in Yum Woon Sen.

Don’t be intimidated by the rather lengthy list of ingredients, this salad comes together very fast, especially with a food processor to grate the vegetables. Continue reading »

Posted by Bean at 1:31 am Tagged with: , , ,

BBQ Salmon in February!!!

Recipes, Red Wine Pairings, Rosé wine pairings, Seafood, White wine pairings 1 Response »
Feb 212010

Happiness is standing in my front yard, barbecuing salmon over mesquite charcoal in FEBRUARY! We aren’t talking cheating BBQ with propane on a covered deck, we are talking about being out in Seattle sunshine in February. I cleaned out the grill and got it set up with the last bits of mesquite from last summer. It started right up and as my coals heated, I soaked the hickory chips. I lightly sprayed my fish grill with Pam for outdoor grilling.  I rubbed a crushed garlic clove over the salmon, sprinkled some mesquite seasoning on top and squeezed a wedge of lemon.  As soon as the coals were hot, I spread them to the outside edges of the grill. I spread the cup of water soaked hickory chips over the coals then placed the salmon in the center of the grill. I quickly covered my trusty weber grill, but the yard streams of hickory  smoke escaped from the vent to scent my yard with summer.

Hickory smoked salmon

Hickory smoked salmon

Checking the grill every 15 minutes, I removed the salmon after an hour. I didn’t have time to do a traditional smoked salmon. This dish was designed to give potent hickory smoke flavor while slow grilling the fish. I wanted the smoky flavors to infuse the salmon.

I was a little skeptical about February salmon so I only purchased half a fillet of this wild Atlantic salmon. What a mistake, this was sooo tasty! I would have been very happy with this as my main dish.

Wine Pairings

The classic rule is white wines for fish but salmon gives us lots of possibilities to break the rules! Pinot noir is another classic pairing with salmon but barbecued salmon is great with Syrah! Add a bit of pepper and smoked salmon is a great pairing for a big Syrah. I also like salmon with the versatile rosé. We paired it that particular night with  a french style rosé from Lullaby Winery out of Walla Walla, Washington. Vivian thought the salmon was too intense for the this old world style rosé but once the rosé had opened up a bit, I enjoyed it with this tasty salmon.

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Posted by Bean at 11:20 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Italian Bread Salad with Shrimp

Recipes, Salads, White wine pairings No Responses »
Feb 022010
shrimp salad

Italian Bread Shrimp Salad

This is not your classic Italian Bread salad, where the juices of ripe tomato saturate the bread with flavor. This bread salad doesn’t even have any tomatoes in it! Instead this bread salad was modified to pair with Chardonnay, so the tomatoes were omitted and the bread was lightly toasted.

  • 4 cups crusty Italian bread cut into 1″ cubes
  • 1 TBS regular olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
bread cubes

Bread cubes

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the whole crushed garlic clove and cook it until golden brown to flavor the oil. Remove the garlic clove. Add the bread cubes to the frying pan. Toss them in the oil to coat. Cook them 3-5 minutes, just enough to lightly brown one or two sides of the bread cubes. You want to have some of the cube still soft enough to absorb the dressing. We are NOT making croutons! Place the bread cubes in a large salad bowl. Continue reading »

Posted by admin at 5:19 am Tagged with: ,

Succulent Scallop Chowder

Recipes, Soups, White wine pairings No Responses »
Feb 012010

I took a spoonful of this scallop chowder and said WOW! This was the best tasting dish that I have made in a long time. Rich and creamy with layers of flavor, this chowder is elegant and satisfying. The bacon and Swiss cheese really elevate this dish to something special. Easy and fast to make, this is a dish that impresses.

Scallop Chowder

Scallop Chowder

  • 2 strips bacon
  • 1 bunch green onion, minced
  • 1 1/4c. fresh mushrooms, halved and sliced
  • 1 TBS butter
  • 2 TBS  flour
  • 1 c.  whole milk
  • 1/2 cup chardonnay
  • 1 lb bay scallops, rinsed and drained
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
  • 2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
scraping pan

Browning the flour

In a stock pot, brown the bacon. Remove the bacon and set aside. In the remaining bacon grease, sauté the mushrooms and green onions until they just begin to brown. Add the butter to the stock pot. As soon as the butter has melted, add the flour. Stir the flour into the butter and vegetables until it becomes a thick coating and begins to brown.

Add the milk to the stockpot over medium heat until it begins to bubble and thicken. Add the chardonnay to the stock pot, stirring it into the milk-vegetable mixture. Add the drained scallops. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes until the scallops turn opaque but don’t over cook. Add freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve in soup bowls, sprinkling the Swiss cheese and parsley on top.  Serve with crusty bread to  best enjoy this creamy chowder. Serves 4.

Cheesy chowder

Cheesy Scallop chowder

Wine Pairing

This is a dish for a buttery Chardonnay. We paired it with a Patz & Hill Chardonnay and it was good but I surprised myself by saying that I wished that I had a bigger, buttery Chardonnay for this chowder. I am not usually a fan of that wine style but this is an exception.

Posted by Bean at 11:27 pm Tagged with: , ,

French Onion Soup

Recipes, Red Wine Pairings, Soups, White wine pairings 1 Response »
Jan 182010

Many French Onion soups on the Internet claim to be “authentic” Julia Child recipe. This French Onion soup does not, but it certainly is inspired by Julia Child. Ed is a big fan of the Julia and Julie film and book and Nancy was ecstatic about a French Onion soup pairing at Rover’s at their Julia Child inspired dinner event.  So, when we had a dinner “work” party it was time to make soup!

    French Onion Soup

    French Onion Soup

  • 3lb yellow onions (approximately 6-7 cups thinly sliced) -do NOT use sweet onions for this recipe
  • 1 TBS regular olive oil
  • 2TBS  unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 TBS flour
  • 2 boxes low sodium organic beef broth or 6 cups  homemade beef stock
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp sage, ground
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1/2 french baquette, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices
  • Olive oil for drizzling
  • 1/2 lb swiss cheese, grated
  • 1/4 lb guyere cheese, grated
  • 1/4 lb parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1/2 raw yellow onion, grated
  • 2-3 TBS brandy
Sliced onions

LOTS of sliced onions!

Thinly slice the onion with a mandoline or food processor. Heat the 1 TBS olive oil and the butter in a heavy stock pot, add the onions to the pot and stir with a sturdy wooden spoon to coat the onion slices with the oil/butter mixture.  Cook the onions over medium-low heat for about 40 minutes or until very tender. Turn up the heat to medium high and add the sugar and salt to the onions.  Stirring frequently with the wooden spoon, cook until the onions caramelize and start to brown. They will reduce in volume by about 25%. Continue reading »

Posted by Bean at 12:17 pm Tagged with: , , , ,
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