Posts

Showing posts from April, 2013

Gai Pad Khing or Kai Phat Khing

Image
Gai Pad Khing or Kai Phat Khing (literally, stir-fried chicken with ginger) original this dish is from Taejew Chinese food (Taejew is one of Chinese dialects and it is the biggest group of Chinese in Thailand ). This dish is used to be found at Raan Khao Tom which is kind of Taejew Chinese restaurant (literally for Raan Khao Tom, rice porridge shop) but nowadays it is available almost every Raan Khao Khaeng. Raan Khao Khaeng is a short order Thai restaurant, it is a Thai fast food but all the food is made from scratch everyday. Gai Pad Khing is pretty much one of Raan Khao Khaeng’s main dishes. Chinese immigrants introduced ginger to Thai people through Chinese food in Thailand, when we talk about ginger we will think about some of Chinese dishes that have been known for a long time and became a common food for Thai people, for example - Pad Khing, steamed fish with ginger and as well as a well-known dessert called Bua Loy Nam Khing , is made of sticky rice dough balls in the ginger an

Roasted pepper soup -- Soupe Catalane aux poivrons

Image
Sitting in the dentist's office--the dentists who inspired Jane Smiley's novella Age of Grief , about a husband-wife dentist practice--I found a recipe that I dictated into my phone while sitting in the waiting room. And it is really 1 minute. Roasted pepper soup shots one 16 ounce jar fire roasted red peppers with your juices. 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar. 1 fourth cup olive oil. Salt and pepper. Blend and serve in shot glasses. Bon Appetite October 2012 page 104 I wondered if there is anything like this in Julia or de Pomaine. Turned out there is: MAFC II p. 21, Soup Catalane aux poivrons, which I adapted and served last week to Rich and Julie. Serves four as a first course 1 large garlic clove one16 ounce jar fire roasted red peppers with their juices 1/4 cup cocktail onions 2 tablespoons sherry 1/2 cup chicken stock 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 cup cooked rice, preferably brown basmati Salt and pepper Peel the garlic and chop it in a food processor.  Add everything but the rice a

Gai Hor Bai Toey (Chicken in Pandan Leaves)

Image
Chicken in Pandan Leaves, or Gai Hor Bai Toey, is another popular Thai dish with chicken marinated wrapped in pandan leaves and deep-fried, and serve with sesame sauce. This dish is more a restaurant food from middle class restaurants to high end restaurants because it is more delicate in preparing and appearing. Pandan leaves or Pandanus Amaryllifolius, and or Bai Toey (in Thai), is a tropical plant and is used widely in Southeast Asian cooking as a flavoring and coloring. In Thailand we use commonly and wildly in dessert more than in savory food. Pandan leaves are available in frozen form at Asian grocery stores. About 18 pieces Ingredients 400 - 450 g           or 2 Large chicken breasts (boneless and skinless), cut into approx 1.5 inch chunks. ½ tsp                     Ground pepper 3 roots                   Cilantro (coriander), chopped and pound with pestle 4 cloves                 Garlic, chopped and pound with pestle Pinch of Salt 1 tbsp                     Soy sauce 2 tsp   

Moo Yang

Image
Moo Yang (literally, grilled pork) Last weekend we had some friends came over. One of the dishes that I made was Moo Yang, and some of my friends asked for the recipe so I just post it here. Moo Yang is pretty common dish in Thailand and we make this dish for a beer party or any relaxing occasion. You can find Moo Yang at a restaurant too but may not exactly be like my recipe. The weather is warming up; the BQQ season is coming so this dish is perfect for a nice warm sunny day with friends or family. You may like to try something different - Moo Yang with sticky rice. Ingredients   1 kg.              Pork loin,(best with pork loin with some fat) slice into  ¾ inch thick (from any size you wish) 4 - 5 cloves    Garlic, chopped and pound with a pestle 4                    Big coriander roots, chopped and pound with a pestle 2 tbsp            Honey or Sugar ½ tsp             Salt 2 tsp              Fresh ground black pepper 2 tbsp            Soy Sauce 1 tbsp            Oyster sauce 2 tb

Tartare de saumon

Image
Easter brunch 2013 continues, with salmon tartare. This is a sort of French ceviche, where lemon juice "cooks" raw fish. It's really really good. It made a nice little starter for us, before the quiche. This is another lightning dish if the fishmonger (butcher here in Iowa) dices or minces the fish, as the friendly folks at Fareway did for me. Don't dare use a food processor, as it mangles the fishie's tissues. I suppose verrines are really supposed to have layers. That's easy to do, such as Thomas Keller's with a layer of red onion crème fraiche , or one I did yesterday with capers. A red layer of marinated roasted pepper, drained from the jar and chopped would be nice too. These "verrine" glasses are actually votive candle holders from Walmart, 88¢ each. Serves 4 8 ounces of salmon filet (belly if possible) cut into 1/8 in dice or minced 10 chive spears or 2 green onion tops 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, preferably Maille 1/3 cup extra virgin o

Melon and champagne soup

Image
The bubbly is Segura Viedas Brut Reserva 2011 cava We had a champagne brunch for Easter, just the three of us. Salmon tartare, Maddie's quiche. And to start this melon soup. It's lightning fast. I bought some melon cubes (Chilean) at the store, popped them in the blender with the juices and bubbly, and -- ZAP! -- summrery froth. I found some little airplane bottles of bubbly, so it's possible to make an ordinary day special by making this speedy soup. This is a another dentist waiting room special, adapted from Shape magazine. But it's really elegant, and it sort of tickles the nose. Or maybe that's my imagination. Serves 4 2 cups cantaloupe chunks 1/4 cup orange juice 1 tablespoon juice 1/4 cup champagne fresh mint In a blender, puree all the ingredients except the mint until frothy.  Garnish with chopped mint

Boston Cream Pie with a twist

Image
I just love Boston Cream Pie. It's soft sponge is filled with creamy custard that melts in your mouth. If this is not good enough this flavour overload is enhanced by a topping of fabulous chocolate ganach. It is a cake of dreams and begs to be eaten alone so that you can sigh over every mouthful. The twist? Use rum to flavour the cream. To start you will make a light crumbly sponge. There are two possibilities for this cake: a Victorial sponge or a genoise. I chose to make the genoise as it is the lighter of the two. Also, as this cake needs to be stored in the fridge, the lower butter content of the genoise stops the sponge from firming up. So start by making your cake. Heat your oven to C 180. Have a 23cm or 9 inch tin ready. Grease and flour it in readiness for your sponge. I used 3 large free range eggs which were at room temperature. 100g caster sugar 100g SR flour 30g butter melted a pinch of salt 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract Start by breaking the eggs into a very clean and

Savory souffles

Image
Souffles are pretty easy to do once you've got the hang of separating eggs and whipping them into stiff peaks and folding them in (MAFC I 157). Once you have the trick of this, it's possible to vary this infinitely by adding leftovers to the bottom of the dish before turning in the souffle mixture, or putting half the mixture in and then the leftovers, and then the rest. And of course you can vary the condensed cream soups many, many ways. Campbell's Cream of Celery is a good base for fish souffles, as is Cream of Shrimp (MAFC I pp. 166-171). The Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Herbs is a good base for poultry souffles. Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic is good too. These taste less like, well, canned soups! Serves 4 as a starter Preheat the oven to 425 1 10oz can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken, cream of broccoli, etc.) 4 egg yolks 4 egg whites OPTIONAL: grated cheddar cheese In bowl combine soup and yolks. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into s

A plea for a recipe

In February I bought the  Waitrose  Kitchen Magazine, February 2013. from it I made a pear, caramel and peacan crumble tart. My husband said that it was one of the best tarts that I had ever made. My grandaughter thought it look so good that I must have bought it.  Well what's the problem? I lost the magazine.... Can anyone help? Please!!

Os à moelle grillés: Marrow bones

Image
On Rue Dauguerre last fall, the night the Beaujolais Nouveau was released, I sat at the banquette at Le Plan B , next to a well dressed gentleman who was diving into a plate of marrow bones. Cross cut ones, like in the picture below. With a tiny spoon. Very much enjoying himself.   Julia has a recipe of sorts for marrow bones (MAFCI p. 19), but it's for poaching them quickly to get the marrow for sauces, like sauce Bordelaise . ( You can pull the marrow from stewing bones for this as well, like Osso Bucco.) The fleur de sel is crucial . I got some when I was in La Rochelle --raked from the Atlantic salt flats nearby (and very expensive , for salt). When J first had it, she was skeptical, b u t one taste and she became a believer.      You can eith er split the bones len gth - wise or crosswise. But because I buy dog bones at Fareway, they are always cross-wise . And they are not a s long as I would like . The longer they are, the longer th ey take to roast.  There's a gr