One of the cookbooks that I recently given is Williams-Sonoma’s Entertaining with the Seasons (thanks Mom!). The book presents a year of recipes — and I can’t wait to try them all. Beautiful pictures, recipes and entertaining tips! After having another tasty and adventurous outing with my lunch-buddy Tyler last week (we, of course, ate Chinese BBQ at a Vietnamese restaurant on High Point Road — check out Van Loi II) I had the urge to test out more Asian recipes. Williams-Sonoma’s recipe for Beef Skewers with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce looked like a good way to start. I made the entire recipe – including the dipping sauce – but I prefered the concoction that Tyler and I had at Van Loi (a mixture of Hot Chili Oil and Soy Sauce). I reduced the recipe from the book and made it a big more simple. Either way, this is a great appetizer that I’ll be serving again very soon!

Easy Spicy Beef Satay

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 half tablespoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon thai-style green curry paste
• 1 pound flank steak, sliced thin
• scallions, chopped
• peanuts, chopped
• skewers
• hot chile oil
• additional soy sauce

Assembly: Combine sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and curry paste. Meantime freeze steak for 15 minutes and then slice thin (about 1/4 inches). Add beef to mixture. Set aside for about two hours. Soak skewers in water for about thirty minutes. After 2 hours in marinade, skewer beef. At this point you can refrigerate until ready to present. Broil meat on high for about 4 to 5 minutes (bring meat to room temp if you waited). Sprinkle with scallions and peanuts. Mix hot chile oil (the kind in the jar with the chile seeds) and soy together for an extra hot dipping sauce.