Thai honey… I know, big deal right? It is what you do with it that gets really, really good. We were running out of honey so I decided I pick some up at our local farmers market. The vendor had plenty to chose from but we decided to pick up a ‘standard’ batch of local honey. My wife typically uses honey in her teas but I typically use it in my cooking. That’s when I thought I would take some of that honey and infuse it with some Thai flavors.
Thai Style Honey Recipe
This is so easy to make, stores well in the refrigerator, and is perfect drizzled on salads, pizza, or sandwiches.
Let’s get started.
1 cup of honey
3 Thai bird chilies (less for less heat)
1 inch of lemongrass
Add the ingredients to a small pot, and cook on low for about 30 minutes. This will allow for those flavors to infuse the honey.
Thai Style Honey Recipe
Pour into a sealable container, and place in the refrigerator until it is ready to be used.
The result is a great, sweet honey with just the right amount of spice. Your guest will be questioning what the heck it is, especially with that note of lemongrass. Hope you enjoy!
Lately my daughter has been really into mushrooms. So I typically pick up a couple of large containers of whole mushrooms during the week, and her and I will clean them and she will cook them down however she wants. This past week was no exception, plus they were on sale which makes it all the better. As these cooked down into a lot of mushrooms, I knew I had to do something with them as I think she was mushroomed out after a couple of servings. That’s when I threw out some bait to my wife stating that I was going to serve up some mushroom tacos this week. Her response was ‘Mushroom tacos? C’mon!’. I don’t think she really believed me, but as we are trying to eat a lot less meat during the week, this I knew would be a real winner, and it was.
Mushroom Tacos Recipe
I knew these would be a big hit, and seeing as though my boys were up north fishing, I knew that my wife and daughter would devour these. These mushroom tacos are way too easy to make, and make for a fast and delicious meal any day of the week.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
16 oz whole mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1 tbsp canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 whole onion, diced
1 whole jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 tomato, diced
salt, to taste
cracked black pepper, to taste
1 package corn tortillas, warmed
1 package of queso Chihuahua, optional
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped, optional
Start by heating a skillet on medium heat. Add in the canola oil, onion, and garlic. Give that a good stir and cook for a few minutes. Add in the mushrooms, and continue to stir.
Cook until the mushroom caramelize, about 20 minutes or so, stirring along the way. Add in the jalapeno, salt, pepper, and diced tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Mushroom Tacos Recipe
Once the mushrooms begin to caramelize, heat another skillet, and add in the corn tortillas. Continue to flip the tortillas until they are completely warmed through. To be honest, I like a little bit of char on mine so I let them go a little longer.
I also like to add the slices (or shredded) cheese directly on top of my mushrooms, allowing it to melt. Also if you have never had queso Chihuahua, try it. It could possibly be one of my favorite melting cheeses.
Take two tortillas, if using corn, and fold in the cheesy mushrooms. Shower with a bit of cilantro and dig in.
Mushroom Tacos
The end result is one darn good taco. It’s ‘meaty’ in the sense because of the mushrooms, and it’s just loaded with flavor. You know what would also be good is the Mexican mushroom salad I made a handful of years ago. Shove some of that in some tortillas to kick start your day and you would be all set!
Tilapia gets a bad rap in my opinion, and there are probably reasons why. They get a bad rap for many reasons, however being surrounded by many Filipino family members, tilapia seems to be the default fish of choice, and probably for many reasons. But to be honest, it’s a fish that we tend to enjoy, whether it be baked, fried, grilled, or even put into a soup. So recently I purged some items in our freezer, and tilapia was one of those items. I decided to come up with something new, yet something familiar for the family to try. Baked tilapia in a red curry sauce.
Baked Tilapia in Red Curry Sauce Recipe
I knew all of my kids loved fish, and many of us love the red curry and coconut curry that I often make with chicken, vegetables, and rice. So this tilapia dish was not stretching too far from the meal rotation.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
6 skinless tilapia fillets, rinsed and patted dry
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp red curry paste (use more if you desire a bit more heat)
14 oz can of coconut milk
large handful of fresh green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup pearl onions, optional
salt, to taste
cracked black pepper, to taste
1 lime, juiced
This dish is a one skillet recipe, which is nice not only for the cooking process, but also for the cleanup.
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
During this time, heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add the oil, and then add in the curry paste. Use a wooden spoon and mix in that curry paste, breaking it down. Take in the aroma. I love that aroma. Add in the coconut milk and continue to break in the curry paste.
During this time, season the tilapia filets with a bit of salt and pepper and place into the oven to cook for about 10 minutes.
Tilapia with Red Curry Sauce
Once the sauce comes to a simmer, remove the fillets from the oven and add the fillets to the sauce.
Toss in the green beans and the pearl onions.
Give a gentle mix, then move the skillet into the oven to finish cooking, about 5-10 minutes. This will allow the fish to fully cook, and thicken up the sauce a bit.
Remove, plate, and squeeze on the fresh lime juice. Enjoy!
I know it drives my wife a bit nutty when she opens the refrigerator and sees a couple of shelves of condiments. See I grew up on condiments. My parents were condiment junkies, obsessed with what was new, and what varietal there was with things like mustards, ketchups, and mayonnaise. That’s probably where I got my own issues when it comes to going down a couple of aisles in the grocery store. I ALWAYS stop and look at different barbecue sauces, ketchups, olives, mayonnaises, etc. You get the point. But I have gotten better over the years, and sure, if my wife says to go get a second refrigerator, I’m sure my flood gate would open and that second refrigerator would start to load up on different condiments.
But my narrowing it down, I have came down to three mayonnaises that I truly love and will need no other, other than homemade. Hellmans, Duke’s, and Kewpie. My wife and kids are not fans of mayonnaise all together, with the exception of including it in things like potato salad, and this particular recipe inspired me to get the awesomeness in mayonnaise embedded into some grilled potatoes without them knowing of course.
Mayonnaise Grilled Potatoes Recipe
I know when you think mayo, and grilling, that you may think ‘grosse’, but trust me on this one, it’s pretty rad. The mayonnaise actually creates not only flavor (and great flavor at that), but great crust and texture. Think of using mayonnaise beyond sandwiches and potato salads, and using it as a marinade for all of your grilling needs.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
Baked potatoes, washed
1/2 cup of mayonnaise per potato
salt, to taste
sliced scallions, optional
That’s it. Really simple stuff going on here for your grilling needs.
Start slicing your cleaned baked potatoes about 1 inch thick, about 3/4 of the way down. You still want them to remain in tact, but not fall apart. This is much like a hassleback potato, but a thicker slice.
Next, lather the mayonnaise all over, and into the crevices, of the potato. Season with salt.
Now you can do these in the oven if you desire and you can roast these as you normally would, but my grill was going that day and I decided to lay these on the grill for some additional flavor. However you decided to cook them, just cook them until fork tender.
Mayonnaise Crusted Baked Potatoes
Once cooked, place these on serving plate and shower with some fresh scallions.
If you are looking for different ways to use mayonnaise, give these mayonnaise crusted baked potatoes a try. I know next time, I will be grilling some up and lathering some mayonnaise onto them once they come off the grill! Hope you enjoy.
