baby rambutan

fish cakes, Thai-style

stel — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:47:06 +0000

i must confess, i made these fish cakes specifically so i could enjoy them with this dip.

it’s very easy and quick to make, especially if you use a food processor to chop up the seafood. otherwise if you’re handy with a knife or mezzaluna, you’ll just end up with a chunkier mix.
my kids don’t like wild lime leaves (from “kaffir” limes) so i just used, sparingly now, but maybe more and more as time goes by to get their tastebuds acculturated, Maesri red curry paste (a mix of garlic, shallots, lemongrass, lime leaves, dried red chili peppers, cumin, coriander, cardamom bay leaves, and sugar and salt).

just mix up ground fish (haddock, scrod, cod or other firm, white-fleshed fish), ground shrimp, 1 beaten egg, chopped scallions, a few drops of fish sauce, freshly ground black pepper, and a teaspoon or so of red curry paste. you can add bread crumbs (i used panko) or not (or a dusting of all-purpose flour instead), and you can add finely sliced dark long beans or green beans for a bit of color and texture (not to mention vegetable goodness!).

heat vegetable oil to a depth of about an inch then gently drop in spoonfuls of fish and shrimp mixture coated with bread crumbs or flour and fry for about 2 minutes per side (depending on the thickness and size).

enjoy with a cucumber and red onion mix steeped in a vinegar, sugar, salt and black pepper dip–with a bit of red chili if you like!
i dissolved 1/2 cup of sugar in 1 cup of white vinegar (or rice vinegar) in a small saucepan, brought up the mixture to a gentle simmer while stirring, then added salt and pepper to taste, before pouring into finely diced cucumber and red onions.
delicious! and gone in a flash…

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under the gun…the weather gun, that is

stel — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:58:05 +0000

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of AccuWeather. All opinions are 100% mine.

Thirty years of living in the United States, and one of the first conclusions I made was that small talk was an important skill to have, particularly small talk about the weather. It used to irritate me so much, but I now know that this is a necessary skill.
The root of all this necessary small talk of course: the weather in this part of the world, is quite exciting and volatile. It is very interesting listening to the meteorologists. I sympathize with the poor blokes, they have a very complicated job I think! And then when everyone assumes the forecasts are exact, nature always throws big unpredictable surprises.
I am about to go on another plane trip, alone this time, and I am quite anxious about the weather. I peer anxiously out the window and check out AccuWeather for the latest news, both for my destination and my point of origin.
It’s quite easy to navigate and everything I need to know is right there.
At the very least I need to know what kinds of clothes to bring–keeping warm is of the utmost importance to this tropical creature, you know.

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pancake day

stel — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:16:12 +0000

yesterday, it was.

more and more snow–the photo does not quite capture how fast and furious the flakes were falling.

banh xeo, for pancake day (Shrove Tuesday) at our neighborhood pho palace…this was a disappointment. not much flavor; thankfully our only child for the day, #2son, loved the crispy egg crepe. (daughter was off on a trip with her friends, #1son at college. their winter/spring breaks don’t jibe anymore).

comfort food: a bowl of bun, noodle salad, with all good things as toppings (grilled pork and shrimp, meatballs and shrimp cake).
so why is today another (painfully flat as ) pancake day?
i’ve just had my not-quite-yearly mammogram (i am always reluctant to book this appointment), and to you my blog sisters…you know what i mean .
have you had your check-up yet?

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tea sablés

stel — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:00:46 +0000

or more precisely, tea cookies to eat while drinking tea, from Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat, The French Cookie Book.

a friend’s sweet 16 birthday, on Valentine’s Day, no less!, called for something sweetly special…
i followed the recipe down to the last detail. i think that’s the only way to give a fair review, following instructions and using all the prescribed ingredients.

i might not be so obedient next time! but then again, they were so fragrant, buttery, crispy…just truly delectable with a mild whisper of lemon flavor. i think these are too good to reserve for special occasions, that i might have to tweak the methodology, to see if i get the same results.
the recipe calls for smearing the cold butter into the confectioners’ sugar before incorporating the rest of the ingredients in the same way…it got a bit hairy, when it came time to add the beaten eggs!

ahh, but the taste and the textures made the suspense definitely worthwhile.

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red velvet cake therapy

stel — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:54:27 +0000

have you? had red velvet cake? have you been curious about it at all?

i really find that baking is the most therapeutic activity for me.
much much stress and sadness, and i didn’t want to think, and dwell, so i brought out the mixer and cake pans and cookie sheets and bowls and measuring cups and spoons.
it’s not good to cry into the batter though.

i think it was from Ellen DeGeneres that i first heard about it.
it reminded me of deep-red roses, and Chinese lacquer, probably because it’s also Chinese New Year.
i mean, just look at all that deep crimson.

problem was, my kids don’t like the traditional cream cheese frosting, so i used Swiss meringue buttercream from The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread.

the cake recipe itself, i used from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, because it called for the most of cocoa powder (alkalized Droste brand…i just was very wary about the other recipes that only called for a minuscule 1 to 2 tbsps. of cocoa.)

you’ll need an unholy amount of red food color! i used 1/4 cup. i think the recipe origins are from red beet juice or beet puree, which would almost certainly be healthier.

the cake layers bake up high and moist, with a very mild hit of cocoa and tangy buttermilk. i guess it is a sentimental novelty, much appreciated by folks who grew up in the South. i’d like to try it with the cream cheese frosting next time.

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“tagine” of duck legs with clementines

stel — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:15:33 +0000

from Vietnam, to Morocco, in my dreams.

something about duck and citrus…that blends so well together. i’m not sure if it’s allowed to call something a tagine if it’s not cooked in one: the dish is named after the conical clay pot with the steam vent on the tip. i don’t have one (except for a mini) and i can only dream of the day i can eat a genuine tagine in Morocco.
the recipe is from BBC Good Food,–there’s a prettier photo over there too!– and it’s a lovely blend of spices (cumin, coriander, ginger and paprika), browned duck legs and sweet clementines. we even had it with couscous (albeit of the instant variety).

the duck legs are roasted first–to render out most of the fat under the skin. (the duck fat is great to bake and brown potatoes.)
the only thing i’d do differently next time is to brown the skin more, either in a skillet or under the broiler. all in all it was a truly comforting winter dish with a twist of citrus… sort of like a hint of fairer skies and better times ahead.

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stel — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:09:10 +0000

a bunch of broken hearts. .
forgive me, i am a sourpuss lately.

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a crepe-y fail and a birthday

stel — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:40:39 +0000

The Birthday?
our fat little furry cat has turned 4. still as finicky as ever–we’ve had a helluva time finding canned food that he’ll actually eat up, instead of us scraping them off all dried up and shriveled from the bowl.
for now, it’s anything sliced, never ground, not pate, nothing minced! AND, Fancy Feast only.

fancy cat. HRH, Emperor BaoBao, Jack Bauer, Napoleon of Maine, and Massachusetts. fancy cat food for him, brownie, a la mode, for us (kid-suggested King Arthur Flour brownies + Breyer’s extra creamy vanilla ice cream).

and the crepe-y fail i am writing about, only to appeal to anyone out there, yoo hoo, help?!, with a friendly recipe for Saigon sizzling crepes (banh xeo). it is a savory crepe made of rice flour, turmeric, curry and coconut milk, filled with ground pork, mushrooms, shrimp and bean sprouts.

it’s just that the memory of the first bite i had, many many years ago, cooked by a co-teacher’s Vietnamese student, is so tugging at my heartstrings, and belly, that i long to replicate it at home.

mine was a complete and utter disaster, which my family courageously attempted to eat, out of pure love i think…i snatched away the platter after seeing their politeness dissolving into grimaces.
could it be because i used a bit of mung bean flour in the crepe batter? ( saw an online recipe which included steamed/mashed mung beans–it looked delicious!)
hmmm, i am retreating from this challenge for a while, and ordering a take-out portion from my friendly neighborhood pho place for now.
a successfully cooked crepe, and tips for its creation, is pictured here.
my #2son was very wary, suspicious, no! he was outright scared!– the next day when he saw me opening up the Vietnamese cookbooks once more.
“er… more Vietnamese experiments, mom??”

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hot and spicy chicken with lemongrass

stel — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:15:01 +0000

the dish arrives with a caveat:
if you do not have a passion for fish sauce, what i call, patis love, look away now, “X” it now, come back another day.
still here?
the reward is a dish worth a pot full of rice both because the sauce deserves to be licked clean and because the spicy punch will need the soothing mouthfuls of starch to cool your mouth down.

the first step is to make this caramel with fish sauce. you must be brave.

you must also add at least one red hot chili pepper.
based on recipes from three cookbooks (authors Nicole Routhier, Corinne Trang, and Mai Pham) and my desire to eat something spicy and saucy, since i had a stuffed up nose with matching dead tastebuds. i had to consult with my favorite testers to check if the flavors (lemongrass, garlic, chili, chili paste, caramel, fish sauce, shallots) were all right .

recipe ~~coming soon~~ follows…

6 chicken thighs, cut in two with a cleaver
vegetable oil for stir-frying
10 whole dried chilis (or to taste)
1/4 cup minced lemongrass, preferably fresh
1 tbsps. minced garlic
1 tsp. ground chili paste, and/ or
1 small fresh red chili, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fish sauce-caramel (or more, according to taste)
1/2 cup homemade unsalted or canned chicken broth
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 cup julienned carrots, blanched and shocked in ice water (optional, i think pickled radish served separately was a better foil)
fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish

NOTE: quantities are based on Mai Pham’s recipe, from The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking); feel free to adjust according to your tastes.

heat the oil in a nonstick fry pan over low heat, add the dried chilies and cook until they puff up and are slightly brown (not black), about 10 seconds. remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and set aside.
brown the chicken thighs in the hot oil until surfaces are slightly seared.
increase the heat to high and add the lemon grass, garlic, chili paste, and fresh chili until fragrant, about 1 minute. add the chicken and any juices and cook until the chicken is well coated. reduce the heat and add the chicken stock, fish sauce-caramel, salt, onion, and carrots if using, and continue cooking until chicken is tender. add the reserved chilies, garnish with the cilantro, and serve immediately.

fish sauce-caramel (from Nicole Routhier’s The Foods of Vietnam):
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce (preferably phu quoc, made in Vietnam)
1-2 shallots, thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper

cook the sugar in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, swirling the pan constantly until brown. it will smoke slightly. immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir the fish sauce into the caramel, being careful to guard against splatter (the mixture will bubble vigorously).
return the mixture to low heat and gently boil, swirling the pan occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved about 3 minutes. add the shallots and ground pepper to taste. stir to combine.

tip: add water w/ the fish sauce if you’d like the caramel to be a bit thinner. it also helps to dissolve the sugar. oh, and don’t forget to ventilate the kitchen

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chocolate layer cake

stel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:53:30 +0000

i decided to shine the spotlight on the chocolate cake i mentioned in the previous post–it got overwhelmed by my being so chef-starstruck, and it really does deserve its own post.

this is currently The One, yes i have it on good authority: the cake we will bake for when we are chocolate-deprived.
plus, it’s got that Good Housekeeping seal of approval (latest issue on newsstands).
cake layers:
2 c. all purpose flour
1c. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp.baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter (1 & 1/2 sticks), softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk

frosting:
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
1/3 c. boiling water
1 c. butter (2 sticks), softened
2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1. prepare cake layers: preheat oven to 350ºF, grease three8-inch round cake pans. line bottoms with waxed paper; grease paper. dust pans with flour.

2. on another sheet of waxed paper, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. in large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and brown and granulated sugars until blended. increase speed to high; beat 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy. occasionally scraping bowl with spatula. reduce speed to medium-low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. beat in vanilla until blended. add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. beat just until batter is smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

3. spoon batter evenly among prepared pans. if necessary, stagger pans on 2 oven racks, placing 2 on upper rack and 1 on lower rack, so that top pans are not directly above bottom one. bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. with small knife loosen layers from sides of pans; invert onto wire racks. carefully remove and discard waxed paper; cool completely about 45 minutes.

prepare frosting:
in small bowl combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until smooth. in large bowl with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar 5 minutes or until fluffy. reduce speed to medium-low. add melted chocolate then cocoa mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. if frosting is too runny, refrigerate until just stiff enough to spread.

assemble cake:
place 1 cake layer bottom side up on cake plate; spread with 1/3 cup frosting. top with second layer, bottom side up; spread with another third cup of frosting. place remaining layer bottom side up on top. spread remaining frosting over sides and top of cake. (you may have to trim the tops off of the cake to make them even..i used a serrated knife.)

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