Posts Tagged ‘basil’

There is an awesome asian food chain in Israel called Giraffe. They are open for for more than 10 years now, and have been successful from the very first day. Well, when you have the ever-working combo of excellent food, reasonable prices and great atmosphere - you’re just bound to succeed. Over the years it has become the model for all that’s good in Asian food here in Israel, and whenever we eat at another Asian restaurant - we can’t help it but eventually compare, and usually (ok, always) the Giraffe wins.

Ok, so this is no restaurant review, nor do I work for the Giraffe (although it may seem so from the first paragraph), so let’s talk food. Food you said? Let me tell you about one of their best dishes - “The Malaysian Dish” - it’s a dish based on noodles, pesto, a touch of cream and chicken. One of our most definite favorites there. So now you know how happy I was when its recipe was published in one of the Israeli food magazines I’m subscribed to. Actually, this was the first time I’ve ever actually made something from one of these magazines. But that’s totally because I simply forget the recipes that attracted me when I read it - an indexing method is needed. I’m working on it.

Restaurants recipes are inaccurate at times (most of the time?) but not this one. Well yeah, maybe it had 2 ingredients on the list that weren’t mentioned in the directions, but hey, we can’t be petty when we have such a precious secret in our hands, right?! The result was 95% the same as the restaurant’s, and it lost the 5% on account of the egg noodles that they make there, and we just used store-bought. Oh, and I was a little short on Pesto, so if you work close to the recipe, your dish should be a little greener. Wanna use yummy home made pesto to complete the great taste of this dish? Go ahead!

Oh, almost forgot, this post is dedicated to Shai Brumer, a friend from college, who is also crazy about this dish. Shai, now you have to try and make it at home

The Malaysian Dish / Adapted from the Giraffe Restaurant, Israel
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
5 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp fresh ginger, crushed
160 gr chicken breast, sliced to thin stripes
1 red pepper, sliced to stripes
1 cucumber, unpeeled and sliced to stripes
1 cup chicken stock
8 Tbsp cream (15 or 30 percent fat)
6 tsp pesto, packed
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
60 gr sprouts 
1 onion, sliced to stripes
400 gr egg noodles, cooked according to manufacturer’s instructions

For Serving:
Peanuts, crushed
Fresh basil leaves

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a wok and add the ginger, chicken, pepper and cucumber. Fry for about to minutes, for softening.
2. Add in the chicken stock, cream, pesto, sugar, salt, sprouts and onion. Dissolve the pesto well in the mixture.
3. Add in the noodles and fry about 2 more minutes. Serve with crushed peanuts and fresh basil leaves.

המנה המאלזית / עיבוד למתכון של הג’ירף
עבור 2 מנות

רכיבים:
5 כפות שמן קנולה
2 כפיות ג’ינג’ר כתוש
160 גרם חזה עוף, חתוך לרצועות דקות
1 פלפל אדום, חתוך לרצועות
1 מלפפון על קליפתו, חתוך לרצועות
1 כוס ציר עוף
8 כפות שמנת (15 או 32 אחוז שומן)
6 כפיות פסטו, גדושות
1 1/2 כפיות סוכר
1/2 כפית מלח
60 גרם נבטים
1 בצל, חתוך לרצועות
400 גרם אטריות ביצים, מבושלות לפי הוראות היצרן

להגשה:
בוטנים גרוסים
בזיליקום טרי

הכנה:
1. מחממים שמן בווק ומקפיצים את הג’ינג’ר, העוף, הפלפל והמלפפון במשך כ-2 דקות, לריכוך.
2. מוסיפים את ציר העוף, השמנת, הפסטו, הסוכר, המלח, הנבטים והבצל. ממיסים היטב את הפסטו ברוטב.
3. מוסיפים את האטריות לרוטב ומקפיצים כ-2 דקות נוספות. מגישים עם בוטנים גרוסים ורצועות עלי בזיליקום.

Bread and all things pastry are one thing I’d always prefer eating, any given day. When going to a restaurant, there always has to be bread (and butter, or other spreads) on the table. When I go out to a pub (which, unfortunately, happens not as often as I’d like these days, cause since meeting Avi I’ve turned from a true party animal to someone that more often than not, prefers staying at home and watching a movie or something) I always order a cocktail, and can’t help myself to bread and butter. I also always think that it’s the best alternative for any other fatter food. Talk about wishful thinking

So spreads for me are the perfect complementary food to bread, and if I may say so - they are merely an excuse to eat the bread. Yes, I am a breadoholic! And so was this one. For the dinner with friends we held last week, I wanted to make focaccias, and thought what is gonna be best to serve with it. I decided - Pesto. The recipe I chose produced a great pesto, which can be used as is - over fresh bread, in sandwiches, or can be used for pasta sauces, or noodles sauces, as we did today. But more on that on a future post, cause that noodles dish definitely deserves a post of its own.
I used walnuts instead of pine nuts, which I don’t like (yes, I know, weird, please don’t throw anyhting at me). Like I said - great pesto!

Basil Pesto / Simply Recipes
Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

ממרח פסטו / Simply Recipes
עבור 1 כוס ממרח

רכיבים:
2 כוסות דחוסות עלי בזיליקום טריים
1/2 כוס גבינת פרזמן מגוררת
1/2 כוס שמן זית כתית מעולה
1/3 כוס צנוברים או אגוזי מלך
3 שיני שום בינוניות, כתושות
מלח ופלפל שחור טחון טרי, לפי הטעם

הכנה:
1. אם משתמשים באגוזי מלך שאינם קצוצים, מכניסים אותם למעבד מזון ומפעילים אותו למשך כמה פולסים, על מנת לטחון חלקית את האגוזים. מוסיפים את הבזיליקום (או אם משתמשים בצנוברים - הוסיפו את הצנוברים והבזיליקום לקערת המעבד יחדיו), ומעבדים מספר פולסים. מוסיפים את שיני השום ומעבדים עוד מספר פולסים.
2. מוסיפים לאט לאט את שמן הזית תוך כדי העיבוד. עוצרים מדי פעם כדי לגרד את החומרים שנתקעו על דפנות הקערה. מוסיפים את הגבינה המגוררת ומעבדים עוד כמה פולסים, עד אשר היא נטמעת בתערובת. מוסיפים מלח ופלפל שחור טחון טרי לפי הטעם ומערבבים.