Pad Thai and Iced Orange Mint Tea

After weeks of sunshine, followed by a weeklong blizzard, it appears spring is finally here to stay in Calgary. After far too much indulgence at the Palomino Friday for my last day party at work, I spent the rest of the weekend lying low and soaking in the sunshine. With a clean and organized balcony, a trip to the farmer's market under my belt, and an exhausted dog from running around town, I'm finally ready to kick off summer with some pad thai and iced tea. 


Sorry there won't be a wine pairing recommendation for this week's post. Also related to recent indulgences at the Palomino and other favourite watering holes, a few friends and I have decided to go on the wagon (or are we off the wagon? We're still not sure). In lieu of a wine review is a recipe for iced tea - I must give thanks to my mother's friend Tina in California, whose brewed tea and Crystal Light lemonade combination was the inspiration for this. I hope you enjoy, and experiment with different teas!


Orange Mint Tea:
- 2 orange herbal tea bags
- 2 tbsp honey
- juice of 1 fresh squeezed lemon
- small bunch of mint leaves


1. Brew 2L of hot water and steep tea in it for desired strength (I leave the tea bags in for an hour).
2. Stir in honey for desired sweetness.
3. Add honey and mint leaves and stir.
4. Cool in the refrigerator and serve cold, garnished with mint and lemon slice for presentation.


Pad thai is incredibly easy to make. The noodles don't actually require much cooking, just several minutes soaking in hot water. And you can use whatever vegetables and protein you have around (peppers, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms; tofu, shrimp, chicken, pork, egg). The only key to making this dish so delicious is that you MUST use fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, mint are staples of thai cuisine). The recipe below makes enough for 4 generous meals.


Pad Thai:
- handful of shrimp
- 2 eggs
- orange pepper, sliced thinly
- yellow pepper, sliced thinly
- large tomato, sliced thinly
- sliced mushrooms
- 2 tbsp sesame or peanut oil
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp chili paste
- handful of basil
- quartered limes, chopped green onion, crushed peanuts, and shredded cilantro and mint to finish


1. Cook noodles according to instructions.
2. Slice, chop etc all vegetables.
3. Fry eggs, scrambled style. Set aside.
4. Fry shrimp in peanut oil with a bit of chilli paste. Set aside.
5. If desired, briefly fry some vegetables (mushrooms, peppers etc). Set aside.
6. Combine all liquid ingredients remaining with sugar and basil in wok/fry pan. Briefly fry noodles in wok/pan.
7. Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Finish each plate with the limes, onions, peanuts, cilantro and mint.


We actually enjoyed this meal on the newly cleaned balcony with the iced tea. If you happen to also be enjoying this on a sunny evening (and not recovering from weekend festivities), I recommend the Kung Fu Girl Riesling (to be reviewed later this week with my summer salad recipe).

Jalapeno & Cheddar Cornmeal Biscuits

My apologies for not posting in over a week. I was explaining to a coworker today that I need to update my blog, because I simply haven't had time to make a recipe and publish any night recently. He suggested I just do some really simple baking, so that was the inspiration for tonight's entry. I usually make this recipe with chives, not jalapenos, but true to tonight's goal, I am throwing together whatever I had in the fridge (tomorrow morning I go to the farmer's market, I promise no more clean out the fridge meals for a few entries).

This recipe looks like it has a lot of ingredients, but it really doesn't. You probably already have all of them or most of them in your fridge and cupboards. And what you don't you can improvise (milk instead of buttermilk, herbs instead of jalapenos, feta instead of cheddar, etc). Just keep the basic dry ingredients, butter, and the 1 cup of milk product.

- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup cornmeal
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, cooled and cubed
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 small jalapeno, finely diced
- 1 cup buttermilk

1. Combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl or stand mixer.
2. Add butter cubes. Either use stand mixer on low speed to blend into small chunks with dry mix, or use two knives to "cut" the butter into the flour. It is very important the butter is cooled, so it does not blend with the dry mixture.
3. Add cheese and jalapeno, combine.
4. Add buttermilk. Mix until a dough-like substance is created.
5. Dust a cutting board or counter with some flour. Form the dough into a large ball with your hands and flatten into a cake-like shape on the floured surface. Use a knife to cut into 6 biscuits (like you are cutting a birthday cake or a pizza).
6. Dust a baking sheet lightly with flour before placing biscuits on sheet. If you have leftover buttermilk, lightly brush it on top of each biscuit using a pastry brush.
7. Bake at 425 F for 12-15 minutes, or until slightly golden on top.

These biscuits are easy (30 minutes max to make, including clean up if you clean while they're baking) and make a delicious morning snack on the way to work or a nice compliment to soup for lunch/dinner. However I also highly recommend eating one while it's still warm shortly after taking them out of the oven. Butter at your discretion.

In other news, I won second place in the Janice Beaton "Warm, Cheesy Goodness" contest! The guy who won first is the head chef at a restaurant in Calgary though, so I like to think I won first place in the amateur division. Free grilled cheese lunch and wine for 2 for the next 3 months, here I come!

Complete list of entries and winners here: http://www.farm-restaurant.com/webpage/1002676/1000637