Friday, October 05, 2007

P is for Pak Choi with minted greens

"Who's teeth marks are these?" came a cry from the kitchen. Noone moved from their seats in front of the television.
Chris came in holding a piece of cheddar with a perfect dental imprint.
I was relieved to see they were too small to be mine. I don't make a habit of biting into food and putting it back into the fridge but the stress of trying to do too many things at once can lead to irrational behaviour.
The inquisition over the teeth marks continued.
"You might as well own up. These are clear enough to mould a set of false teeth." said Chris.
No one owned up. Eyes remained fixed on the X-Factor. Bertholt Brecht was right when he said, 'Food comes first and then morals.'
I went into the kitchen to make supper. The Green Pak Choi were waiting with their glossy green tresses. And it was the colour green that inspired our recipe that night; Pak Choi with minted greens. Our next vegetable will be P for Peas - Freddie's Freddie's worst vegetable nightmare. He had enjoyed the Pak Choi stir fry, giving it 8 out of 10. I hoped that by sneaking in a few peas it would be a gentle introduction. He liked the sweetness of the mint dressing on the Pak Choi, served with lamb chops. He consumed a couple of peas by accident. The rest were left lined up rejected on the side of the plate. But despite contamination by peas, the recipe earned another 8 out of 10. Wish me luck as we move on to...
 

Pak Choi with minted greens
Serves 4-6
200g green pak choi
200g peas (frozen or freshly podded)
100g broad beans, podded
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp dried chopped mint or 2 tbsp of freshly chopped mint
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar

Boil a pan of water. Cut about two centimeters off the bottom of the Pak Choi so the leaves fall part and place them in a steamer over a pan of boiling water for two minutes. (Or you can throw them in a big pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes.) Don’t overcook them. Drain them and place them in a serving dish. Steam or boil the peas and broad beans for 3 minutes. Drain them and add them to the Pak Choi. Make the dressing by mixing together the olive oil, sugar,mustard, mint and white wine vinegar. Pour over the greens so that they are well covered and serve.
 
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14 comments:

  1. That's a whole lotta green on a plate to deserve an "8". Oh Freddy, what is happening to you? Have you been abducted by the vegetable demons?

    Mum, great photo, the bottom one. Funny, I could take nearly the same shot from what used to be my dining room (except that it's now a sitting room).

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  2. Ha! Very funny. Did nobody own up then?

    Roll on Pea Monday, thats all I can say. Go on Freddie.

    Cheers
    David

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  3. Great blog! I've been reading for a while, but I think this is my first comment post....

    As I was reading about the stirfry and pondering Freddie's dread of peas, I thought of a way of eating them that minimizes their contribution: in macaroni and cheese, with some diced ham. You may have already thought of that--it always worked for me as a kid (though I never had a distaste for peas--picking them myself in the garden helped a lot!).

    ...and a friend of mine loves eating frozen peas straight out of the package! She says she likes the texture--that they don't taste like much that way, but they're crunchy, and nice and cold (she lives in Texas).

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  4. That looks like a delicious symphony in green!

    If you want to sneak some peas onto the plate wearing a slight disguise, try Jamie Oliver's 'Minty Mushy Peas' - easy peasy!!
    http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_19345,00.html

    Celia

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  5. I recently planted some Pak Choi and I am eagerly waiting for some positive development. As a kid I hated peas, then one day, suddenly and without a reasonable explanation, I started to like them. I would certainly like the green combination you presented.

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  6. Minted greens with lamb sounds like heaven to me right now. Maybe that's our dinner! Thanks. I buy the most beautiful baby pak choi in chinatown when I'm feeling particularly motivated. Can't wait for Monday - poor, brave Freddie.

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  7. We're well past pea season in my part of the world, but there's still plenty of mint in the garden. Will give this a try!

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  8. Anonymous9:58 AM

    The dish looks delicious. It is world HerbDay2007 next Saturday, so we are featuring herbs. This is a cheery way of using mint - hope you don't mind if I link to your recipe
    TopVeg

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  9. Anonymous12:40 PM

    Where's the photo of the dental impression in the cheese??? We could have all played detective by looking at their photos! Good luck Freddie you can do peas.

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  10. Anonymous2:31 PM

    Top Veg - I would be delighted.
    Lindy - the evidence was destroyed before I got the camera out.

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  11. Anonymous2:32 PM

    Alanna
    Freddie has been abducted. Definitely.

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  12. Thanks for visiting my blog! I love parsnips and can't wait to see what you do with them!! Vida x

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  13. I like this green on green action.

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  14. Peas ... well, obviously, not whole. And not mushy, either, they've got a grainy texture which a pea-hater would - well, hate.

    I've done two or three pea purees which might be the thing, including one very smooth one which is mixed with roasted garlic - the effect is v v sweet, delicious on toast.

    I think this may be your toughest challenge yet, they're so undisguisable

    Good luck!

    Joanna
    joannasfood.blogspot.com

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