The Miracle Mile

Hello Everyone

In anticipation of a trip to Chicago and a RecipePhile dinner with four very good friends, my friend Tiffany and I spent an evening dreaming up ideas for a dinner party. The entrée was spectacular (Cornish Hens With Supreme (1) Citrus Cream), but the appetizers are what really shined in this Asian influenced meal. The feeding frenzy began with twists on two favorite dishes from two favorite restaurants.

The first appetizer, Shrimp and Savoy Cabbage Rolls, was inspired by Betelnut (2), a favorite Thai and Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco. Next in line was Rare Beef In Lime Juice, one of my favorite dishes from Nam Phoung (3) in New York City. Together, these fantastic dishes were exploding with flavors and we could not have asked more appropriate surroundings, compliments of two very talented guys, Tim and Max (4).

I hope you enjoy this week's edition of RecipePhile. Special thanks to Tim, Max, Nick and Mark for letting me use them as my food guinea pigs. You guys are great.

Have a wonderful week.

Michael
"Always remember that food is about more than eating...it is about thinking, buying, preparing, enjoying and most importantly... sharing."

Shrimp and Savoy Cabbage Rolls

2 pounds of peeled, deveined and shelled shrimp finely chopped (5)
1 tbsp butter
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup of finely diced onions
1/2 cup of vermouth
1 cup chopped scallions (top part only)
2 tbsp wasabi powder
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp fish sauce
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Savoy cabbage

Before you prepare the shrimp, remove the leaves from the savoy cabbage head making sure to get rid of the hard, white, root-like stem on each leaf. These will be used as the wraps for the cooked shrimp.

Melt butter in sauce pan and saute garlic over medium heat (do not let the garlic burn). Add onion and saute until translucent. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of vermouth and let cook down until liquid is almost gone. Add shrimp and cook over medium heat, constantly stirring until completely cooked through. Add scallions, wasabi powder, lime juice, fish sauce and mix well. Take off of the heat, taste and then add salt and pepper to your liking. You may also want to add some additional wasabi to give the dish a little more heat.

Platter and serve with the cabbage leaves on the side. If you have never had these before, take a spoonful of the shrimp and place onto one of the cabbage leaves. Roll it up and eat it up!

Rare Beef in Lime Juice

1 pound of top sirloin sliced very thin - ask the butcher for thinly sliced
Carpaccio (6)
The juice of four limes
4 tbsp ginger julienned
1 tbsp serachi (7) or red chili sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup of coarsely copped unsalted cashews or peanuts

The beef you purchase will be sliced very thin and about 4 inches in
diameter. Quarter each piece and place into a mixing bowl. Add all of the ingredients and mix together well. Transfer into a shallow glass baking dish (you can use a Pyrex dish) and allow the mixture to marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour. Taste the meat and adjust the flavor to your liking. I usually find when making this dish that more sugar is needed, but this all depends on how tart you like things to be. You may also want to add more serachi to make it a little more spicy.

This dish was served on a large white paltter over celophane noodles, which made for a beautiful presentation. We used small appetizer plates and forks, but you can also serve with toasted pita.

FoodNoteworthies

(1) In this instance, supreme does mean spectacular, but it is also a method for removing the inner core from a citrus fruit. Cut off the top and bottom from an orange and remove the skin with a knife. Try not to cut away the pulp. Now cut in-between the skin of each orange slice removing only the pulp. This is how you "supreme" a citrus fruit and it leaves only the deliciously juicy pulp.

(2) Betelnut is a favorite of mine and where I shared lettuce wraps with Tim and Max for the first time. Betelnut uses chicken and water chestnuts in their concoction so I decided to use shrimp to give it a RecipePhile flair. Check this place out next time you are in the city by the bay.

(3) My friends and I found Nam Phuong while randomly flipping through the pages of a Zagat restaurant guide. This quaint Tribeca Vietnamese restaurant is an absolute gem and where I first had rare beef in lime juice. The service is impeccable and the prices are about as low as they can go for NYC. Make sure you visit this place next time you are here in New York.

(4) Tim and Max are two of my closest friends and also two of the most creative and talented men on this earth. These two have visited every garage sale, estate sale and antique show in the country. Their combined collection of kitsch and passion for unique style and comfort has helped to make their home a cozy and creative showplace. Three cheers for Tim and Max

(5) Buy two bags of 41/50 frozen shrimp from the grocery freezer. Don't waste your dollars on the freshest of the fresh as size does not matter in this case since you are chopping it up.

(6) Carpaccio is raw, thinly sliced beef dish that is served at Italian restaurants. Go to a fine butcher and ask him or her to slice some up for you. Make sure they use the toppest of top sirloin and ask for the freshest cut of beef they have on hand. You may want to call ahead of time and order in advance, because they usually have to freeze the cut of meat and cut while frozen to get the thinnest of slices.

(7) Serachi is that hot sauce you find on the tables at Thai restaurants. It is usually in a clear, squirt bottle with a green top. This stuff is very hot, very very hot, but also sweet and delicious. I absolutely love this stuff, but in very small doses. You can purchase this hot sauce at any Asian grocery store.