Day Four - Flavor - Calamari with Coconut Curry & Green Paypaya and Peach-Phyllo Strudel with Goat Cheese Cream

So today I made the Calamari with Coconut Curry & Green Papaya.  I wanted to make this recipe since I purchased the book.  However, I was a bit skeptical about the green papaya going into the rice.  Once I made the dish, I couldn't get enough of the green papaya.  It was steeped in vinegar and sugar, which gave the papaya a sweet and sour taste.  I added a bit of the steeping liquid to the rice, and it was delicious.  Now the calamari was excellent.  It was so good, that my husband who hates and refuses to eat any kind of curry, didn't realize the dish had curry in it until I told him......after he finished eating of course LOL!  He even had seconds.  The calamari was tender and the sauce, which was in fused with lemongrass and green apples, was excellent.  This dish was certainly restaurant quality. I do have a confession though....I used frozen calamari instead of fresh and they weren't cut in rings.  The dish still came together without the extra work.  Go figure.

The Peach Strudel with Goat Cheese Cream turned out amazingly well and it tasted fantastic.  We had seconds for dessert.  I'll certainly have to walk it off tomorrow.  There are a lot of unusual ingredients in this pastry, but the flavors truly come together, so well in fact, that you can't stop eating eat.  Which means I'll have to get someone to help us eat it.  I think I'll have to bring it over to my girlfriend up the street or just have her over for coffee, this way I still get to have another piece.

The Cookbook Addict