My Menu Blog

2 qts. cold water
1 tbs. jasmine tea
1 tbs. green tea
½ cup fresh, peeled, roughly chopped ginger
2 stalks lemon grass, peeled and roughly chopped
12 sprigs fresh mint, roughly broken apart by hand
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Lemon or lime slices, for garnish (optional)
Candied ginger, for garnish (optional)

1. In pot with lid, bring water to boil over high heat. Immediately after it begins to boil, add jasmine tea, green tea, ginger, lemon grass and mint.
2. Remove from heat and stir briefly. Add sugar and stir until granules dissolve. Allow to steep 10 to 15 min.
3. Pour solution through a fine-mes-sieve. Bring to room temp. before storing in reefer. Chill until cold.
4. Pour into glasses with ice and garnish with lemon or lime slices, and candied ginger, if desired.

1 qt. brewed, sweetened black tea
2 cups pomegranate juice
1 lemon, sliced into rings
1 lime, sliced into rings
1 orange, sliced into rings
1 apple, sliced into strips

1. Mix tea, juice and lemon, lime, orange and apple slices ina  3-qt. pitcher, stirring well.
2. Chill until very cold and serve.

1 quart brewed tea
2 limes, sliced into rings
12 sprigs of mint
4 tbs. turbinado sugar, or more to taste
Tonic water or seltzer, optional

1. Fill 4 highball or old-fashioned glasses with ice. Pour 1 cup tea into each glass. Divide lime slices and mint among the glasses, squeezing the limes to extract juice and crushing the herb roughly with your fingers.
2. Add a tbs. of sugar to each glass. Stir briskly until sugar dissolves. Top with a little tonic or seltzer, if you like, and stir again. Taste and adjust sugar, if necessary. You can also add more lime or mint to taste.

1½ lbs. tilapia fillets
¾ tsp. salt, divided
½ tsp. pepper, divided
5 tbs. unsalted butter, divided
1 lime (for zest and juice, rinsed)
1 shallot (rinsed)

1. Preheat large sáute pan on medium-high 2-3 min. Season both sides of fish with ½ tsp. of the salt and ¼ tsp. of the pepper.
2. Place 1 tbs. of butter into pan; swirl to coat. Add fish; cook 3-4 min. on each side or until internal temp. reaches 145°F (or flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork).
3. Cut remaining 4 tbs. of the butter into small pieces; place in a small bowl to soften. Peel several strips of lime peel, without any white pith, with zester. Chop finely for zest (1 tbs.); add to butter. Remove ends and peel from shallot; chop shallot finely and add to butter.
4. Stir remaining ¼ tsp. each of the salt and pepper into softened butter mixture until well blended; chill until ready to serve.
5. Squeeze juice of lime (1 tbs.) over fish; remove fish from pan. Top fish with lime butter mixture and serve.

1 (14 oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 jalapeño, slivered
4 shallots, minced
1 tsp. fish sauce
2 limes, divided
3 tbs. minced cilantro leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
10 oz. sushi-quality tuna
2 tbs. olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ripe avocado, sliced

1. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, a sliver of jalapeño and the shallots and simmer until reduced by half.
2. Chill coconut mixture until cool, then add fish sauce, juice of 1 lime and minced cilantro.
3. With a sharp knife, carefully dice tuna into 1/8″ cubes.
4. Transfer to a bowl and combine with 4 tbs. coconut milk mixture and 1 tbs. olive oil.
5. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently with a fork.
6. Divide seviche onto 2 chilled plates.
7. Arrange avocado and sprigs of cilantro as garnish, drizzle with remaining olive oil and lime juice.

Vietnamese Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 fresh long red chiles, seeded and finely diced or julienned
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1 lime, juiced
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons groundnut oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad:
8 ounces cooked small shrimp
6 ounces glass noodles
4 ounces sugar snap peas
4 ounces bean sprouts
3 scallions, sliced into thin circles
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, to garnish

1. To make the Vietnamese Dressing, simply mix all the ingredients together. This will keep very well in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator for at least a week.
2. To make the salad, marinate the shrimp in 1/2 cup of the Vietnamese Dressing.
3. While this is going on, soak the noodles in freshly boiled water according to packet instructions. Once re-hydrated, refresh the noodles in cold water, then drain.
4. Put the sugar snaps and bean sprouts into a colander and pour over freshly boiled water from a kettle.
5. Rinse them with cold water and drain well, just shaking the colander, so they’re not actually wet.
6. In a large bowl, mix the marinated shrimp with the drained noodles, scallions, sugar snaps, and bean sprouts.
7. Dress with 2 tablespoons more of the Vietnamese Dressing; add more dressing, to taste, if desired.
8. Sprinkle over the chopped cilantro and toss everything together well before arranging onto a large plate.