topping for strawberry ice cream pie?

[foodfiend]

I need a recipe/ idea and am wondering if you guys can chime in with suggestions. We had our annual summer party at the lake house this past weekend (loooong weekend, Thursday through Sunday) and along with the food which others added, I had too much and have 2 strawberry ice cream pies (w/ graham cracker crust) that were unused.

I am having friends join me at the lake house this weekend to cook and hang out, so I decided that since I had the pies made (well, pie, since we already started eating one...) I would use that as dessert for the dinner which I am preparing for this Friday. I am making a Thai summer bean stew with chicken, and thought that perhaps adding a mango & coconut sauce over the pie slices would be a good idea. I'd probably do that with mango nectar, chunks of mango, thickened, and sprinkled with toasted coconut.

Does that sound appropriate with strawberry pie (there is ground cinnamon in the filling, but just a little)? Or does anyone else have a better idea?

And, while I'm asking, I'm looking for a Thai-style appetizer (we did summer rolls last year and, truth be told, I am absolutely pathetic at rolling them tightly!).
Any ideas for that ?

Thanks!

[Gourmet_Mom]

I am absolutely the last person to ask for creativity. Heck I'd drizzle with chocolate (infused or not with mint).

BUT companionable foods for strawberries according to Culinary Artistry:

"almonds, apricots, bananas, basil, brown sugar, caramel, Cassis, Champagne, cinnamon, clotted cream, coconut, Cognac, Cointreau, cream, cream cheese, creme fraiche, Curacao, black currants, figs, Grand Marnier, grapefruit, guava, Kirsch, kiwi, lemon, lime, maple syrup, marscapone, nuts, oranges, passion fruit, peaches, black or pink pepper, pineapple, port, raspberries, rubarb, sambuca, sherry, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, balsamic vinegar, violets, wine (especially red-eg.Beaujolais and claret), yogurt, and zabaione"

Good luck...I hope this helps!

[esgunn]

Vicci, I have a Thai cook book - that I have not made anything out of - but here are some ideas. If you want me to post a recipe, let me know.

Also, This is the recipe for coconut sauce they use. It is usually stirred into sticky rice and served with mango - It might work for a topping.
Refrigerate a can of coconu milk. Skim the thick cream from the top of canned coconut milk into a small bowl. Measure out 3/4 cup. Combine the cocnut cream, 1/4 tsp salt and 3 tablespoons sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Cover and remove the pan from the heat.

Green Mango and Prosciutto
Eggplant Fans
Spicy Stir Fried Cashews
Pineapple Ginger Soup
Sweet Corn Fritters with Dipping Sauces

I think they are pretty authentic recipes. And again, I have not tried any of them. But they sure sound good.

[labradors]

Have never tried mango and strawberry together. Down here, we get loads of mangoes, but not many strawberries. Of course, as consumers know from juices, yogurts, and the like, strawberries do go very well with bananas, so that's almost a sure bet. Down here, the popular combination is guava and pineapple, so that could be an interesting alternative.

Something else that may be good, if the pie, itself, isn't already super sweet, would be to melt a little white chocolate in a double boiler then gently fold it into some freshly whipped cream.

For the Thai-style appy, how about the Thai Chicken Skewer Wraps that we did for my birthday-dinner review in January of 2008. I know I liked them, and they seemed to go over pretty well with a number of the others. Also, the "wrap" part of that is NOT the same as the rolling you dread, but is the final wrapping of everything in lettuce leaves (i.e. one leaf per serving) right at serving time.

[labradors]

Quote:

---

Spicy Stir Fried Cashews
Pineapple Ginger Soup
Sweet Corn Fritters with Dipping Sauces

I think they are pretty authentic recipes. And again, I have not tried any of them. But they sure sound good.

---

Those sound delicious, Erin. The one that particularly intrigues me is the soup, but I'd love to try all of those three, if you wouldn't mind posting them all (don't need them right away).

[Gourmet_Mom]

Shoot...I forgot your request for an appy...LOL! Labs is correct...the wraps were a HUGE hit here. I've made them often and William started visiting the local (Southport where he works) Thai restro regularly after that!

They would be GREAT! You could easily do everything ahead and let your guests "build" their wrap themselves from a pretty tray/spread! They are so fresh and light! That reminds me, I haven't done them this summer...on the menu they go! Pay day is coming, so Butter(?) or Boston (or Bibb) lettuce will go this time! I usually sub red and/or green leaf lettuce, but the others are just a bit more tender! I had planned on testing Jean's peanut sauce this time also...not in time for your party though. The sauce that goes with is good though!

Edited to add: I only use ONE strip per lettuce leaf. I also don't think I used the skewers...at least after the first time. I'd have to check my notes and I'm on a strange computer.(I find the skewers difficult to remove sometimes.) I also remember using tenders, at least once because they were sooo much more "tender"!

[foodfiend]

Well, okay! I'm all set!

The appy will now be the Thai chicken skewers which Labs mentioned. And Daphne "seconded"...

And, for dessert, thanks to Lab's suggestion and confirmed by the "companionable foods for strawberries" paragraph which Daphne copied:
Strawberry Ice Cream Pie with Guava-Pineapple Sauce (sprinkled with toasted coconut)

And, Erin, when you have the time to post the spicy stir-fried cashews recipe I would appreciate it (I won't need it for this weekend, but if you could do it before September...) Also, that coconut sauce recipe (with sticky rice and mango) is going into my recipe file.

THANKS!!!!

[labradors]

Cool! You say this is THIS weekend....

BTW, here's one of the local juice products:

[Gourmet_Mom]

Well, that is just gloating Labs...LOL! YUM!

It sounds great, Vicci! Be sure to let us know how it goes...I know you will!

[cjs]

Wow, all the above sound wonderful! Lookin' forward to the recipes.

All I can add is blackberries are good with strawberries.