recreating DC memories

Our very favorite restaurant in the Washington DC area was Bangkok 54, a cheap but surprisingly classy Thai restaurant in Arlington, located next to the charming Arlington Cinema N' Drafthouse - an old movie theater where you sit in leather chairs at little tables and a waitstaff comes by during the movie and brings you beer and nachos and hot fudge sundaes (such a great concept, if it weren't for the fact that the "smoking section" is actually just the middle section, separated from the "nonsmoking section" by a 3 ft wide aisle...) Anyway, I digress! At Bangkok, we almost always started with an order of their fresh rolls - tofu, avocado, and other yummy things rolled up in rice paper and served with peanut sauce. Tonight, after all my valiant attempts at social plans fell through (one girl had to take her dog to the vet, another had a grad school test, and another had to stay at work late to meet a deadline - all very credible excuses, but I am still left feeling a bit like I have the plague...maybe it's the vow to stop bathing...ha!), Dan and I decided to try to recreate Bangkok fresh rolls.


This is THE peanut sauce - I love this recipe.

1 garlic clove, chopped
2 T. fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 T. vegetable oil
1/4 c. tahini (sesame paste)
1/4 c. smooth peanut butter (i use natural)
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
2 T. honey
1 T. toasted sesame oil
1/4 t. pepper
Sprinkle of caynne pepper

Whirl it all together in the food processor. I use this for lots of stuff - on noodles, with a little more oil added for salad dressing, as a dipping sauce for chicken skewers or fresh rolls.