Piggy-backing on Previous Pad Thai Post...

Quote du Jour
  We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. 
  There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them 
   with our eyes open.                                                     ~ Jawaharial Nehru

A Local Travel Adventure...
Deciding to try Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Pad Thai recipe from her Post Punk Kitchen blog, led to the type of experience you usually get when traveling in a foreign country. You know, touring a country that speaks a different language? 

Rather than buy rice noodles at the local chain grocery story, I decided to check out 99 Ranch Market. Shopping list in hand, along with my own grocery bags, I set out for an unexpected adventure!

Melting Pot? My shopping perspective quickly became THINK OUTSIDE the pot! Many of the interesting food items I saw...geez, they've never been in any pot I've ever seen, and believe me, I want to find out what these ingredients are, and I want to taste and cook with so much that I saw. Check out their website (99 Ranch Market) for an e-experience. (You know they're in America -  their store logo is decorated for Halloween!)

Comparison shopping? OMG! The few American foods looked boring, relying on the same ingredients over and over again, they all seemed to contain cheese, cream or butter. 

99 Ranch has a whole aisle devoted to rice, with dozens of varieties beyond the plain white or brown rice we usually see at a grocery store. And the noodle aisle...OMG again and again! 

Here before me was a visual of our American diet...along side multi-Asian cuisine ingredients. Gotta tell you, the American diet comes off boring. 

Back to the Frying Pan
A new skill using my old cast-iron skillet:

Following Isa's simple and clear instructions for Perfectly Browned Tofu from Post Punk Kitchen, 
I finally know how to fry tofu, and it's delicious.

Already I've plans for using Perfectly Browned Tofu in other recipes. Thank you, Isa!

Confessions of a Cook

Okay, I made 3 deviations to Isa's Excellent Pad Thai Recipe

1. added 2 carrots (for color), peeled and sliced diagonally
2. cut tofu into .5 x.5 x 2 sticks, just cuz I wanted to
3. because of a peanut allergy in the family, I used chopped smoked and salted almonds. (How cool that we can make Pad Thai at home and not worry about peanut reactions!)

absoliman bon gou
(absolutely delicious in Thai)