Thai at My House

We have been home in the evenings!
yeah!
So it is not that I have forgotten to post or anything, just that we have been eating at home. However, being home has given me reason to cook some Thai flavored food, something that I thought I would never really do very well... so the verdict...

YUM!
Here is a recipe...

Easy Thai Chicken

2 whole chicken breasts, skinned, boned & cut into bite-size pieces
( I used pre-cooked chicken, but you can cook it as you make the recipe below.)
1/2 c. peanut butter, chunky or not.
1/2 c. water
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, (I used 1 1/2 tsp. of red chili pepper sauce.)
3 to 4 c. sliced broccoli or mixed frozen Asian veggies.

In a small bowl, blend peanut butter, water, soy sauce and sugar; set aside. Heat oil over high heat in skillet. Add garlic and pepper; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add chicken, stir-fry until firm and white, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli or veggies, stir-fry until bright green, about 3 minutes. Stir in peanut butter mixture. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.
Serves 4.

Hot Rod Cafe

Driving from Couer De Alene to Spokane or from Spokane to Couer De Alene, you can't miss it. Post Falls sits directly between the two.  Getting there from the highway might be a bit of a challenge if you are in a hurry, but finding it is worth the time.  if you can see the sign, you can figure out how to get there...or stop and ask a local for directions... right?

There along side the highway in Post Falls ID, I always saw the sign, HOT ROD CAFE,  and I always wanted to try it, but we were always going someplace else... and when Geo suggested we try it, get a hamburger and a shake instead of Thai food, I have to admit.. I was a little crushed, but I couldn't resist much, after all I have seen the movie CARS and I love Herbie the Love Bug too. I have even watched an Indy 500 and sat in the stands watching my brother either be in the pit or race a time or too. Besides that,  have a friend named Steve who always gives this place high reviews.  We simply could not drive by and not stop.

This place is amazing. We could only laugh as we walked past the old fashioned gas pumps outside and entered the restaurant to the sound of a revving car engines. Out mouths must have dropped with amazement as we looked up at all the motorcycles, cars and car paraphernalia decorating the place. This was a car lovers paradise.

Like a bar, there are video screens showing scenes, from every direction in the restaurant, so that no one misses what is on the screen, but it's not girls dancing or sports you'll see; its a peek under the hoods of sports cars, roadsters, dragsters and exciting scenes of cars racing. Their are parking meters at each table and as you read the cleverly devised menu, listen to the sights and to the sounds, you just simply know, it's completely understood that motorease is spoken here, and mechanics of every kind are welcome.

As for the menu, I really got a kick out of the fact that french fries were called wrench fries and cole slaw, car slaw. Besides that, there were many many other linguistic treats. The best of all was that they even serve Hot Rod Pad Thai! (THAT, and so many other interesting items (like... calamari) it was truly hard for us to decide what to eat!)

We ordered a hamburger to share, so it was cut in half for us. It was big! (1/2 pounder.) So we shared a hamburger bar b que style... and piston rings! Okay, well, they were really onion rings. : ) Geo had a 1950's style vanilla shake and I had rip-roaring strawberry lemonade. ( I just called it "rip roaring" it's officially shake rattle and roll on the sipsational menu...)

You can take a photographic tour of the restaurant here: Tour. I think it's pretty cool. A fun place to celebrate something special! Maybe like the acquiring of a license to drive... or a birthday or anniversary! (Geo and I were celebrating ... 29 years of marriage!)

As we left a little horn honked at us, going through the doorway as if say, "Ya'll come back now, ya hear!"

I hope to go back. I kinda liked it. I am thinking that with Pad Thia on the menu, it might even be an easy place to get Geo to drive to once again, and I might need that kind of lure with him, unless of course I am in the driver's seat!

These are photos from a subsequent visit there with my son. 

: )
 a sideways smile and a sideways shake!

Bangkok Cousine Exotic Thai Resturant (Sandpoint ID)

Another great dining experience!

We went to Sandpoint this weekend and in our travels decided to try this Thia restaurant located in the downtown area. It had a great atmosphere and I tell you, the waiter we had was one of the best I ever had. He was friendly, attentive and he definitely knew what he was doing, serving his customers with care. The restaurant is family owned and operated which is often a nice touch when looking for a place in the center of a busy touristy town, if you ask me.

We ordered an appetizer called Silver Bags. at our waiters suggestion when we asked which of the many delightful sounding choices he would recommend. These were a rangoon type of item, crabmeat and cream cheese deep fried in a pastry type of dough. They look like little loot bags, something an outlaw would carry, sort of like a bandanna with coins inside and tied with a string. Hence the name I am sure, "Silver Bags," or bags of silver.

I kinda think the appetizers on menus these days are expensive, at 6 or 7 dollars usually. I am surprised whenever we order them at all. These were no exception. They were exceptionally delicious and we ate them all. We also ordered Thai Tea, our new addiction since we tried it at Sam's place a few weeks ago. We ordered one Thai Tea and one Thai coffee.

I liked the Thai Tea best but the Thai Coffee was good too. These were served with creme on top and the straws had a swirly whirly presentation too. making them extra special I am sure!

We had soup, our favorite, Thom Ka Guy. This was good, it tasted just as good as we like it but it did have some differences in appearances. For example, I could not find any galanga. The taste was the same, but besides no galanga, there were different mushrooms (more normal ones at that!) and even a bit of a different presentation. It was served in a dish to keep it warm, but it was hard to ladle from. Kinda awkward if you ask me, but we ate it all.

Then we had a panag curry. This was different too, rather mild on the curry.
It had a lot of green peppers which I was surprised to hear George order as he is not big on green peppers. It also had a delicious peanutty flavor. Served with rice, we even had to order a little more because we ended up putting a lot of rice in the broth of out soup. (We like it that way too.)

This place was great. It was a busy atmosphere, pretty, and the prices were reasonable. We even enjoyed the special touches too, like fish tanks, swirly decorations on our straws and even smelling the lovely fragrance of some real roses on display in a dish as we left.

This was the kind of Thai food Restaurant that makes it hard to ever want to eat anything else.