shesimmers

Blood Orange Upside-Down Semolina Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:01:00 PST

Blood oranges slices are arranged on the bottom of a cake pan with a light sprinkling of sugar. Once baked, the sugar and the orange juice turn into garnet-colored syrup that is soaked up by the tender semolina cake. Requiring only extra-virgin olive oil and no butter, the cake batter can be prepared very simply by hand in one mixing bowl. Did I mention there is vodka in the batter? Blood Orange Upside-Down Semolina Cake (Makes one 9-inch cake)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Peel and cut 4 blood oranges into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Remove the seeds from the orange slices.Grease the bottom of a 9-inch round pan and sprinkle 4 tablespoons of sugar all over the bottom of the pan.Arrange the orange slices in the bottom of the prepared pan; set aside.In a mixing bowl, whisk together 1 large egg, 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup milk, and 1/4 cup vodka (unflavored or infused with blood orange).Gently whisk in 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, 2/3 cup fine semolina flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth out the top, and bake until until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes.Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 45-60 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Don't forget! We have a cooking contest with Chef Curtis Duffy to which all of you are invited to participate. Show us your chefy side and win over $200 in prizes! The winner will:Enjoy $50 off each person for a 2-person dinner at Avenues Restaurant -- a gift from the Peninsula Chicago. In addition, on your visit, Chef Duffy will include in your dinner menu his interpretation of your winning creation. If the winner cannot travel to Chicago, s/he can opt to forfeit the discount offer and instead enjoy the honor of having his/her winning entry, with Chef Duffy's refining touch, included in the menu of Avenues Restaurant. Receive an extraordinary gift set with a value...

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Announcing a Cooking Contest with Chef Curtis Duffy

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:13:00 PST

You are cordially invited to participate in a cooking/blogging event and vie for a grand prize worth over $200, courtesy of Avenues Restaurant and BLiS™, maker of fine ingredients trusted by several nationally-acclaimed chefs. Cooking Contest with Chef Curtis Duffy The contest will be judged by Curtis Duffy, Chef de Cuisine of Avenues Restaurant, Chicago, based primarily on the contestant's ability to achieve a harmonious balance between the required ingredients in terms of color, aroma, flavor, and texture. Creativity manifested through plating and presentation, though secondary to the first criterion, is also important. Please know that even though we have a professional chef as the judge, we're not looking for 4-star restaurant quality or presentation. So there is no need to feel intimidated. We expect most, if not all, of the contestants to be enthusiastic home cooks just like you who want to have fun with the ingredients and get in touch with their "chefy" side. No liquid nitrogen required. No spherification. No need to present your dish amidst a plume of solid CO2. Well, unless you want to. Contestants will create a multi-element entrée using all of the following ingredients: Chocolate with a minimum of 85% cocoa solids Mushrooms - any one variety or a combination of multiple varieties Fish - any one variety Fennel - Every part of the plant, i.e. bulb, stalks, fronds, must be used. Entries must be posted on your blog and one image of your entry (500 x 333 pixels only) sent to Leela at leela[at]shesimmers[dot]com by midnight (Central Time) on March 31, 2010. Your entry must include links to both She Simmers (http://shesimmers.com) and Curtis Duffy (http://curtisduffy.blogspot.com) with a mention of this contest. Those who do not have a blog can participate by submitting an image of your entry (500 x 333 pixels) by the time indicated above with a list of ingredients and detailed method of preparation. The winner will be announced here at...

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Fesenjan: Persian Pomegranate Walnut Stew

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:50:00 PST

"Have some fesenjan," my gracious host, Sargon, pointed in the direction of a wet mass of brownness in a ceramic bowl on the buffet table. A brief moment of awkwardness followed. The fact is -- in terms of appearance, this thing could only be described as uninteresting at best and unappetizing at worst. Nestled between a platter of colorful assorted vegetables and a bowl of vibrant-colored saffron pilaf, the stew's lack of aesthetics became even more pronounced which, in turn, made my reluctance to plunge the serving spoon -- poised in mid-air -- into it more justified. "It's good," Sargon assured me. At that very moment, three things popped into my head: 1. it would be very rude of me to refuse the food which my host was recommending, 2. how awful of me to unfairly judge a stew who had never done anything to hurt me, and 3. doggone it, how many times in your life do you get invited to a Persian/Assyrian Christmas party? Eat up! The wet brown thing was ladled over the saffron rice on my plate. But the awkwardness remained until I sat down at the table and took a bite of it. And that was when I found out that the previously unidentifiable meat was chicken, that the meat was so tender and the sauce so rich and intensely flavorful, and, lastly, that when it comes to braised/stewed/slow-cooked dishes, it's the pretty ones that are more likely to fail you. Repentantly, gratefully, and greedily, I finished my portion of fesenjan before going back for more. And more. And a little more. This Persian pomegranate and walnut stew goes by the official name khoresht fesenjan خورشت فسنجان or oftentimes merely fesenjan فسنجان. The English transliterations, not surprisingly, vary greatly. Depending on the region whence the speaker comes, you get anything from fesenjon or fesenjoon to fesenjaan. According to the classical form, however, the last vowel is supposed to be a long A vowel, so I'm leaning towards fesenjan and fesenjaan as the most accurate provided that the...

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Sweet Potato Mascarpone Bourbon Bread - Announcing the Winners of Battle Sweet Potato

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:16:00 PST

A few weeks ago, I bought a 16-ounce tub of mascarpone cheese. Half of it was used to make the ethereal and delicious banana mascarpone soufflé pancakes, and the other half was used to make this hearty sweet potato mascarpone bourbon bread to mark the conclusion of our 5th Beet 'n Squash event - Battle Sweet Potato. To make one 10-inch Bundt or tube pan of this sweet potato bread:Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan and set aside.Beat together 1 cup (8 ounces) of softened butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar until light and fluffy.Beat in 4 large eggs, one at a time.Beat in 8 ounces of softened mascarpone cheese and 1 cup of cooked and mashed sweet potatoes; mix well.Stir in 3 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 cup of walnuts, chopped (optional).Spread the batter into the prepared pan. The batter will be quite sticky.Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.Remove the bread from the oven and, while the bread is still hot, immediately pour 1/4 cup of bourbon (or Calvados) all over the surface of the bread and allow the bourbon to get absorbed into the bread.Let the bread cool in the pan for about 20 minutes.Unmold and serve. As always, we've received so many awesome entries to Battle Sweet Potato, our fifth (!!) Beet 'n Squash YOU! contest, a fun monthly vegetable-themed food fight, hosted by Mel of Gourmet Fury and me. We'd like to thank all of you for participating. Not only have you guys made the contest fun, you have also shown us so wonderful ways to cook and bake with sweet potatoes. Alas, only two winners are chosen each months. So even though there are so many deserving entries, Mel and I had to painfully narrow our choices down to only two. Leela's Pick for Battle Sweet Potato is: Sweet Potato Lamingtons by Allison of A for Aubergine: Grated sweet potatoes are added to the...

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Thai Pomelo Salad with Poached Shrimp - My Guest Post on Rasa Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:40:00 PST

Bee of Rasa Malaysia has invited me to guest post for her. Gladly, I agreed to it. To find out how to make pomelo salad, one of the most sublime salads in the modern Thai cuisine, please move over to the recipe page.

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Ostkaka: Swedish Cheesecake Recipe from Mikael

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:22:00 PST

As much as I love blogging, one of the things that come with putting yourself in public is that you get strange things in your mailbox. Every day -- and I mean every day -- my mailbox is inundated with stolen content notifications, invitations to join a mail-order bride club, offers for a product that's supposed to enlarge a body part I don't have, etc. If you catch me in front of the computer muttering and saying bad words under my breath, chances are I'm checking my email. But interspersed with tooth whitener offers and 24-hour free passes to websites of dubious nature are kind notes from my readers who take the time to tell me how appreciative they are of this little blog. If there's any truth to a definition of (divine) grace as "an undeserved favor," well, then I have to say I've found myself at the receiving end of grace quite frequently ever since I started blogging 16 months ago. If you catch me in front of the computer flapping my arms, grinning like an idiot, and whimpering with joy, chances are I'm checking my email. I woke up one morning last November to an email from a reader from Sweden, Mikael Zayenz Lagerkvist, a doctoral student from Sweden, who described himself as "a Swedish guy that a) loves cooking, and b) loves Thai food." He wrote: "... what I would like to say with this letter is that I found your blog a few weeks ago, and you have truly inspired me to new heights in the kitchen. To date I've done Laab Gai with home-made Khao Kua, your peanut sauce, sweet sticky coconut rice with mango, and a coconut-curry based on a recipe from you. All your recipes have turned out wonderful, and I love the Laab Gai (one of my favourite dishes of all time in general). My girlfriend is also really happy that I found your blog, since she gets all sorts of new and wonderful dishes ..." If that doesn't make one's day, one is probably dead. Mikael's initial email came with some questions and a few requests, so he and I were exchanging emails for a bit after...

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Gai Pad Khing Classic Thai Stir-Fry of Chicken, Fresh Ginger, and Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:05:00 PST

This is a classic Thai dish that has been a household staple for a long, long time. I adore this stir-fry on top of a mound of Jasmine rice and one egg, perfectly-fried Thai-style, on the side. More importantly, this is one of the dishes which make you glad you have Bruno by your side. Literally "chicken stir-fried (with) ginger," Gai Pad Khing (ไก่ผัดขิง) consists of chicken and fresh ginger as the sine qua non ingredients. It also classically consists of either green or yellow onions and reconstituted dried wood ear mushrooms. (Don't confuse this dish with pad prik khing which is a curry paste-based stir-fry.) Start off by preparing your ingredients. You need: 1 lb chicken breast, cut into thin strips 1/2 large onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices 2 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 ounce dried wood ear mushrooms, reconstituted and cut into strips 4 ounces of fresh ginger, peeled and julienned* 1/2 cup Bruno 3/4 cup water Heat up a large skillet over medium high heat. Dump every thing into the skillet and stir. Cover the skillet and let everything cook until the chicken is done. By the time the chicken is done, everything else will have been perfectly cooked as well. Remove from heat and spoon over steamed Jasmine rice. This portion is enough for 4-5 servings. Don't worry if you have any leftover; this stir-fry tastes even better the next day. Do you love Bruno now? *If you're very sensitive to the heat of ginger, rinse the julienned ginger once to wash off some of the juice. This will greatly reduce the ginger impact.

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Banana Mascarpone Soufflé Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:16:00 PST

The pancake batter is made in a similar way to a soufflé batter, i.e. egg whites, beaten stiff, are folded into a starchy, cheesy base. The result is pancakes that are light and substantial at the same time. The banana and cheese flavors, which permeate every tiny particle of the light and tender pancakes, come through with every bite. Here's another delicious answer to the question: "What can I make with overripe bananas?" Banana Mascarpone Soufflé Pancakes (Makes 14 4-inch pancakes) 8 ounces purée of very, very ripe bananas 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened* 4 ounces all-purpose flour 2 large eggs, separated 2 ounces sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract In a mixing bowl whisk together the banana purée, mascarpone, egg yolks, flour, sugar, and salt.In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the banana mixture; be careful not to deflate the aerated whites as they are the sole source of leavening power in this recipe.Bake the batter on a griddle over medium or medium-low heat, 1/4 cup for each pancake. These pancakes are very delicate so be careful when you flip them. Also, the wait-until-the-edges-bubble-before-you-flip standard doesn't apply here. The pancakes are so light that they cook very quickly. The moment the edges of the pancakes are firm enough to allow you to flip them, flip right away.Serve warm. These pancakes are also great cold right out of the fridge. *Other mild soft cheeses, such as cream cheese, ricotta or farmer, can also be used.

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Making Bread with Red Wine: Chianti Pine Nut Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:08:00 PST

Though I wouldn't say that I'm a complete bread noob, I still consider yeast bread a thing of mystery. I have been making yeast bread regularly for 3-4 years now, but it's still a series of hits and misses. For recipes which have proven to work consistently, I have shared them with you on my blog. I'm just hoping you don't ask me why they work for I have no clue. Take this Chianti pine nut bread for example. It works, and I'm thankful for that. I just don't know why. Not understanding the science of bread making well enough is precisely my problem. I don't recognize what it is that I do right when things turn out well, and I don't know enough to perform accurate autopsies on things that turn out horribly. My bread knowledge and skill are average at best and currently limited to how to check for gluten development (the gluten "window" method) and how to achieve crusty exteriors (baking stone and steam in the oven). When a recipe doesn't yield the desired result, I can't even be sure whether it's the recipe's fault or mine. This is frustrating. As we all have learned from daytime TV, the lack of wisdom or knowledge in a person is often accompanied by recklessness and impulse. What I am too timid or ignorant to experiment with in life, I make up for those lost thrills by experimenting wildly in the kitchen. I can't recall how I came up with the idea of using red wine in bread, but there I was, thinking about it day and night. The concept itself isn't too crazy; bakers replace water and milk in bread recipes with other liquids all the time. The execution of it, on the other hand, seemed daunting to me at the time. I'm not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to bread, but I could see how red wine and the sugar alcohol contained therein would interfere with the yeast fermentation. With my heart set on making bread with red wine, I started searching for clues from experienced bakers. The only search result that looked good to me was Susan's Red Wine Loaf...

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Light and Crispy Sweet Potato Fritters with Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:19:00 PST

Remember GFB's coconut batter-fried sweet potatoes from last year? This version is just as good, if not better. The batter is simpler and lighter. The sweet potatoes are shredded more finely into long, thin strands, resulting in much, much crispier, bird's nest-like fritters that bear more resemblance to shoestring potatoes than potato fries. The only thing that remains the same is the dipping sauce, a perfect mixture of Thai sweet chilli sauce, chopped roasted peanuts, and chopped fresh cilantro. Some things just can't be improved upon, I guess. I am submitting these delicious sweet potato fritters as an entry to Battle Sweet Potato, our 5th Beet n Squash YOU contest hosted by Mel of Gourmet Fury and me. The deadline for Battle Sweet Potato is March 5th, 2010, so you still have plenty of time to join us. For contest rules and prizes, please consult this page. To make enough of these fritters as an appetizer for six people (or four hungry people), you need 1.5 pounds of sweet potatoes. Peel them and shred them as finely as you can into long, thin strands. If you have a food processor that can do that, that's great. If not, I highly recommend Super Benriner Slicer which is a very good and reliable tool. Be sure to get the Super Benriner as the regular one is much too small to slice anything bigger than a large shallot. For those still feeling the effect of the recession, the next best tool for this task, in my opinion, would be this very inexpensive handy dandy shredder which is much more affordable. Or you can go for the more expensive brand - Kiwi Pro-Slice Thai Peeler. These uni-tasking hand-shredders are not as versatile as the Benriner mandoline, but they are inexpensive, don't take up much space, and do the job just fine. I have one just for shredding green papaya to make Thai papaya salad (Som Tam ส้มตำ). For extra crispy fritters -- the kind that, as you bite into them, creates the crackling noises in your skull like those you get from bad radio...

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Nampla Prik น้ำปลาพริก - The Ubiquitous Thai Table Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:16:00 PST

This simple table sauce is so commonplace -- lowly even -- in the Thai households that it's almost ridiculous for me to blog about it. A blog post on this sauce is in many ways like a blog post on table salt and pepper. And I bet this post, just like a few similar ones in the past, will bring my way many have-you-run-out-of-stuff-to-blog-about-HUH? email and voice messages from my friends and family in Thailand. Oh, well. My only justification is that although nampla prik (น้ำปลาพริก ), or as I'd like to transliterate, namplaa prik, is considered ordinary, its presence cannot be ignored. This salsa-like meal accompaniment is one of the most ubiquitous items in the Thai cuisine. Everywhere you look, you see it. On make-shift tables set up by street food vendors. On the tables of sit-down type of restaurants. On your family dining table. On the seasoning table in every corner of every food court. In a tiny bowl that comes with the plate of fried rice you order. In a little rubber band-fastened plastic bag nestled inside your fried rice to-go box. You see it everywhere. I was tempted to call it a dipping sauce, but that somehow feels weird to me as it's not something we dip stuff into in the manner of buffalo wings and bleu cheese dip. If anything, nam plaa prik acts more like a flavor enhancer (mainly for rice or rice-based dishes). You take a spoonful of it and drizzle over or mix into whatever it is that's on your plate. If your fried rice is a little bland, or could use some heat, a dab of fish sauce and a few pieces of fresh chillis would be of tremendous help. Sometimes, having a little bit of the vibrant kick of fresh chillis along with rice and curry makes for a very pleasant meal. Most Thai food vendors aren't so sensitive when it comes to the customers adding seasonings to their food; most of them don't take it personally. If anything, they seem to encourage self-customization. Anyone who has eaten street noodles in Thailand is familiar with the...

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Blanquette de Veau: French Veal Stew - The Elegance of White on White

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:06:00 PST

I'm positive I can hear the condescending laughter of food snobs from all corners of the world as I'm composing this paragraph in my head. Though I'd heard of blanquette de veau since I was a kid, my first encounter with this sublime veal stew took place only a few years ago during a trip to Paris. Wait, that's not the uncool part; it's this one: I discovered it at, of all blessed places, the Louvre's food court -- the place where, supposedly, mediocrity reigns. As if that wasn't enough fodder for ridicule, I liked what I had too. A lot. That day started off really great. I got up early, went straight to the museum, and made a beeline to the Egyptian Antiquities section where I ended up spending the whole day. Those who know me well are well aware of the fact that one of my favorite historical figures of all time is Akhenaten or Amenhotep IV who I can hardly wait to incorporate into one of the future blog posts (I have incorporated the Dead Sea Scrolls into a food blog post before; a pharaoh shouldn't be a problem). The Louvre has lots of cool items from the Amarna period to which he belongs. I could spend -- no exaggeration -- days in that section alone. You see, putting me in a place full of mummified bodies, parchment scrolls, and ancient pot shards is like letting a sugar-addicted kid loose in a candy store. People don't go to museums with me any more, because once I'm there I just won't leave. It took the feeling of dizziness from not having eaten all day to remove me from that much-loved section of the museum -- something I doubt a bulldozer could have done. It was the kind of situational hypoglycemia that was severe enough to make someone pass out on the spot. Grabbing on anything that was nailed down, I finally staggered my way to the food court and ordered the first thing that I saw. Blanquette de veau. Granted, my first blanquette wasn't the best version. But at that very moment, I couldn't have asked for anything better. Tender chunks of veal in...

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Thai Pig Ear Salad - Yam Huu Muu ยำหูหมู

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:35:00 PST

They say all phenomena in life comprise two opposing yet complementary forces. Though the two forces constantly fluctuate, both are present at all times. Yin vs. yang. Darkness vs. light. Goodness vs. evil. No wonder after a rare display of a well-concealed side of me, my whole being is straining and striving to restore the equilibrium by making something that doesn't drip with cuteness. I just had to. It's a matter of survival. Hence the pig ears. I love pig ears (♪ and I cannot lie ♫ ...). With every bite you get the chewy and gelatinous flesh and the crunchy and chewable cartilage (also known as joy personified). Also, despite the rich mouthfeel (due to the collagen), pig ears are very, very lean. Perfect protein source, if you ask me. People prepare pig ears in different ways. Some deep-fry them; some red-braise them Chinese style. My favorite way to prepare pig ears is to turn them into a spicy Thai yam* (ยำ - rhymes with "some") or, to be more precise, Yam Huu Muu or Yam Hoo Moo (ยำหูหมู ). Although no official Thai polls have been conducted as far as I know, I'm willing to bet that this will make the top five favorite "drinking foods." I have posted about the standard way to make yam before here, so I won't repeat it. The only procedure specific to this particular yam is the preparation of the pig ears. Pig ears straight from the meat department are tough and very chewy. You need to tenderize them through a long, slow simmer. All you have to do is put them in a pot, add water just enough to cover them, season the water with some salt (or whatever fragrance or flavor you want the pig ears to take on), bring it all to a boil, lower the heat to simmer, and let it go for about an hour or an hour and a half, depending on the size and number of the ears. Some people cook them longer, but I prefer the texture achieved at the 1- to 1.5-hour mark. Then you drain them, pat them dry, and slice them into thin strips. Your pig ears are now ready to be turned...

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How to Make Homemade Lollipops - Celebrate Valentine's with Big Red Cherry Lollipops

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:27:00 PST

Rumor has been going around that I am the Grinch who destroyed Valentine's. I don't know how it got started. Sure, I might have said something that seems to suggest that I hate Valentine's. The truth is, deep -- really deep -- down, despite the fact that I am the type that starts a new year with a requiem, I am quite a romantic. Please believe me. Just not in ways that most people are used to is all. To prove it, I'll tell you this: Ever since I published my first blog post on how to make lollipops, I've been making them over and over and over, sometimes for no other reason than that it makes me happy. Now, someone who makes these cute, colorful lollipops cannot possibly be the Grinch, can they? So far my favorite color and flavor are red and cherry respectively. The reason, I believe, is self-evident. These things are bright red, 3.5 inches in diameter, glossy, sweet, fragrant of cherry, and -- get this -- its sole reason to exist is to melt in your mouth. Well. So for those who celebrate Valentine's, won't you make these for whomever it is that celebrates it along with you? The rest of us will watch from the sidelines. The recipe which I gave you last year works and works consistently. These past several months, I have tested and retested it. Be sure to get a good, reliable candy thermometer and lollipop molds with grooves for the sticks. Make sure you don't stir the molten sugar. Grease the mold with unflavored oil before you pour the lollipop mixture into it. Once the lollipops get unmolded, run them under warm tap water to wash off the grease, but do not blot them dry with a piece of cloth or paper towel as that will leave ugly lint on the surface. Lastly, store the lollipops in clear plastic bags with decorative ribbons or what have you, but do not, under any circumstances, touch the surface lest your valentine witness your fingerprints on the otherwise beautiful lollipops. Other than that, it's just a matter of keeping the sticks in the middle....

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Spiced Apple Macaroni and Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:28:00 PST

I know this may sound strange to some as many people don't necessarily consider macaroni and cheese as anything but a savory dish. Nevertheless, the concept of sweet or savory-sweet macaroni and cheese has been around for a long time. Dishes wherein egg noodles are baked in sweetened dairy-based cream sauce exist in different cuisines around the world, mainly Eastern European. And though the names by which this type of dish is called vary just as greatly as the cuisines of which it's part, I simply call it, "delicious." Sometimes, in my silliness, I fantasize about having a Russian grandmother. I called her, "Bubba," and she called me, "Lilechka." In my fantasy, Баба made the best Кугель in the whole world and her little Лалечка just gobbled it up, along with all kinds of Eastern European treats, with glee. Don't worry about me, though, I limit myself to no more than 10 goofy thoughts like this per day. In reality, being a purebred Thai, born and raised in the capital city of Thailand and darned proud of it, I didn't grow up eating Kugel (קוגל or, to make the throat work a bit harder, קוגעל), but you bet I'm making up for lost time. I mean, what's not to like about Kugel? I can see how certain food items could only be appreciated by means of early exposure of the palate or even genetic predisposition.* But noodles baked in gooey, creamy, cheesy sauce? One needs no more than functional taste buds to appreciate that kind of sublimity. There are many different ways to make kugel. You could ask ten people to bring a pan of kugel, made according to their own family recipe, to a potluck and I'm willing to bet that there will be no two identical kugels among those ten. This also means there isn't any consensus on what an ideal kugel is supposed to look and taste like even though, from my experience, people tend to use their childhood kugel as the one and only standard and their grandmother or mother as the sole arbiter of good kugel. There are some rough guidelines,...

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Julia Child's Chicken and Rice Soup and the Winners of Battle Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:18:00 PST

There are so many great recipes in the book, Julia & Jacques: Cooking at Home, some of which seem too ordinary to mention on a food blog. But once one pauses to think of why recipes like that get included in such a high-profile book in the first place, one feels compelled to give these recipes a shot. Nestled somewhere in the book, fully revealed (to all), yet somehow previously concealed (to me) is Julia Child's chicken and rice soup recipe in which she blends together cooked white rice, and chicken stock in a blender to achieve a creamy, velvety soup with no added cream. No cream? Julia Child? No cream? This, from the woman to whom the "If you're afraid of butter, use cream," quote is attributed? Yup. I'm sure the idea is not to avoid added fats, but to show the versatility of the humble leftover cooked rice. In this soup that seems so ordinary, especially to those of us who grew up eating jook or rice congee of some sort almost on a daily basis, rice brilliantly mimics the mouthfeel of fat/cream. I've made this recipe with brown rice and it's just as good. If you have any leftover rice that's too soft to turn into good fried rice, this is a great way to use it. And those dry, stringy leftover chicken breasts? Cut them into strips and give them a second chance in life in this soup. Creamy Rice Soup with Chicken and Shiitake Mushrooms Based (extremely loosely) on Julia's Creamy Chicken Soup with Rice Serves 4 2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock Roughly 2 cups of very tender, cooked white or brown rice 8-10 ounces of sliced mushrooms* About 1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken breasts** 1 1/2 tablespoons of finely-minced shallots or onions, sautéed in 1 tablespoon of butter or oil until soft 3-4 tablespoons of clarified butter Korean red chilli powder***Reserve one quart of the chicken or vegetable stock and heat the rest in a saucepan.Put the reserved stock in a blender along with the cooked rice and blend until smooth; pour the puréed rice into the hot...

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Sangkhaya สังขยา: Thai Coconut Bread Dip and Ratio Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:01:00 PST

While it may seem that this post is late in coming considering that the book Ratio*, its very axis, has been released for almost a year ago, the truth is that the idea behind this article came even before Michael Ruhlman's latest book hit the shelf. It started back in February 2009 when I read with great fascination Ruhlman's article, "Is Franchophilia Retrograde?," along with the spirited responses in the comment section. With my interest piqued, the moment Ratio hit the shelf, I bought a copy. And if you have to know why it had taken me so long to write about the book, my answer is this: I'm not the type that falls in love at a drop of a hat. These past several months, I have tested Ruhlman's theory. The entire book has been scrutinized. Every single ratio in the book has been used. By me. In my kitchen. With great results. And though the words which I am about to say come from someone who just threw three sentence fragments in a row as well as two sentences so far that start with "and" in your face and is now unashamedly composing this long, badly-crafted sentence, please know that they are not spoken lightly: this is a book you want to buy for yourself and those whom you love enough to see them flourish in the kitchen. I can only explain the value of this book as a language geek as that is what I am. I think it will make sense even to those who never study languages, though. There was a time when I would spend hours committing one verb or noun paradigm after another to memory. Every time I was presented with a new paradigm, it became another thing which I had to learn and memorize on top of what I'd learned before. If you study one language, that may not sound like such a big deal. But if you have to study 5-6 different languages simultaneously, to say that your sanity is seriously at risk is only mildly exaggerated. Then one day, it dawned on me that the only way to handle massive amounts of information effectively is to look for patterns which...

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Soy Sauces Used in Thai Cooking and How to Make Your Own All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:44:00 PST

Before I talk about my love, Bruno, who has been with me through thick and thin over the past several years, let me first tell you about my plan. Throughout 2010 and beyond* you will see posts consistently, though not consecutively, published on this blog on how to equip your kitchen and stock your pantry with items that are sitting in the homes of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends in Bangkok as we speak as well as how to turn those ingredients into either 1. the dishes we eat over there, or 2. the dishes you can't get enough of at your favorite Thai restaurants outside of Siam, or both. The goal is to get you acquainted with Thai/Southeast Asian ingredients so that you won't find them intimidating any longer, assuming that is presently the case. Then it's just a matter of knowing how to make the most of those ingredients in the realm of Thai cooking. So if you feel that missing any future posts on shesimmers would potentially cause you to curl into a fetal position in a dark corner, fighting off a fit of sobs, please take a peek at the RSS feed subscription button on the right hand side bar. I truly thank you very much. Posts in this series will be under the "She Stocks a Thai Pantry" label. Yes, I do realize it is a lame title. But if at this point you are still surprised by the lameness of how I label my posts, well then ... (harrumphing with raised chin in the manner of an over-emoting soap actress) I guess you don't know me at all. Our first subject is the major soy sauces (ซีอิ๊ว) used in Thai cooking. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Only what I consider to be the major players are included. Let's start with the ubiquitous table sauce, Maggi. Technically, Maggi is not a soy sauce as it's made out of fermented wheat. However, due to the way in which it is used among the Thais, I think it's appropriate to put this very concentrated sauce in the soy sauce category. Ah, Maggi. This is the table soy sauce of choice for most Southeast Asian...

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Old-Fashioned Dinner Rolls As I Think They Should Be

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:20:00 PST

Ask 100 people to describe to you their ideal hamburgers, pancakes, cinnamon buns, etc., and you will most likely get 100 different opinions some of which are entirely incompatible and all of which are subjective. But isn't that the way it is with pretty much everything in this world? How, then, can we evaluate all these opinions and decide which one(s) we should allow to influence our position regarding the issue at hand? Personally, when it comes to matters in which there is no clear right or wrong, I often find myself influenced by people who can aptly, logically, and eloquently outline the reasons behind their position. This is why it's kind of sad that some valid opinions in this world are dismissed because they are ineptly presented, oftentimes with the underlying belief that the louder or insistent one is, the more authoritative and, consequently, the more convincing one appears. I'm not sure how aptly, logically, or eloquently I can state the reasons for my intense like of these dinner rolls. My guess is - not much. But would you kindly allow me to try anyway? In my opinion, old-fashioned "homey" dinner rolls -- the kind that I want alongside of tender pot roast or beef stew -- should be:White or, at the most, half white half whole grain.Soft.But equipped with long, strong gluten strands that result in some chewiness.Crustier than Wonder bread, but certainly not to the degree of artisan bread which requires a strong serrated knife to saw through.Light and tender.Yet strong enough to allow you to use them to mop up thick sauce and gravy without falling apart.Not sweet. I've had and made several dinner rolls that taste almost like dessert rolls. Several of the recipes for "best dinner rolls ever" on some recipe sites yield this type of rolls. And, apparently, based on the glowing user reviews, people like them. So I guess I'm in the minority here. I think dinner rolls should not be sweet; their flavor should complement, not interfere with, the savory...

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Durian Coconut Flan คาราเมลคัสตาร์ดทุเรียน

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:13:00 PST

Ah, durian. Can you think of any fruit that's more controversial and divisive? You either despise it or adore it. Those who hate it, please avert your eyes (Now that you're here, may I interest you with some Thai or gluten-free recipes in the archives?). Those who can't have enough of it, please read on. Durian (ทุเรียน), as is the case with most fruits, is best eaten fresh. The opportunity to enjoy perfectly-ripe Mawn Thawng (หมอนทอง) or Gaan Yaaw (ก้านยาว) durians in their natural state alone justifies flying half way around the globe, if you're a durian fiend like me. Short of that, the only durian avatar that does any justice at all to fresh durians would be durian in sweet coconut cream over sweet coconut sticky rice* (ข้าวเหนียวน้ำกระทิทุเรียน). On a good day, I'm also willing to make an exception for sweet durian paste (ทุเรียนกวน) -- the concoction most commonly used as one of the most popular mooncake fillings. That's as far as I'm willing to go. But durian cakes or cookies? Nah. Growing up or these days whenever I visit Bangkok, it has never occurred to me to seek out or make any treats wherein durian serves merely as a perfuming agent. I don't have anything against durian chiffon cake or durian-flavored spritz-type cookies -- the most common of all inferior durian avatars; I have eaten tons of them and would still continue to do so, if force fed. I just don't think those are the best applications for such an expensive fruit whose greatest virtue lies in the creamy, custardy texture and sublimely sweet taste. I've seen tons of durian cake or cookie recipes where you're supposed to whip up a huge batch of batter with just a tiny bit of durian pulp added. The exiguity of durian used in those recipes only serves to magnify their pointlessness. You don't really taste durian that way. You detect mild durian scent and that's about it. (At a risk of undermining the width and depth of my love for durian, the scent is not the best part about durian; the...

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Crispy Satay-Flavored Mushroom Cigars with Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, Charlie Brown, and I

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:55:00 PST

Lucy: Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton. I could just lie here all day and watch them drift by. If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations. What do you think you see, Linus? Linus: Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean. [points up] That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor. And that group of clouds over there ... [points] ... gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen. I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side. Lucy: Uh huh. That's very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown? Charlie Brown: Well ... I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.* Since my buddy Mel of Gourmet Fury and I started co-hosting Beet n Squash YOU!, our monthly vegetable-themed food "fight," in November 2009, we have been dazzled by the ingenuity and talent that the participants have shown through their entries. Check out past records of our previous battles and you'll see what I mean. I don't know about you, but sometimes that makes me a bit insecure. You see, I'm all about simple dishes. That's one of the reasons this blog is called shesimmers.com instead of shemakeslavendermacaronswithwhiteteainfusedganachetoppedwithgoldleaves.com, shecookselbulli.com, or shemakesmultielementdisheseveryday.com. Simmering is easy. You throw stuff into a pot and simmer till done. Culinarily speaking, that's about how far I'm willing to go on a daily basis, really. If you've been a regular reader of this blog, you already know that. If you're not familiar with this blog, well, feel free to dig into the archives and you'll see. Only once in a while do I whip up something that requires more than one or two steps of preparation like a liver mousse with gelée. But even that is considered novice-friendly. My philosophy: if it leaves many bowls and dishes to clean...

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My Mexican-Inspired Lasagna with Queso Cincho vs. Uncle Vinny's Mexican Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 09:19:00 PST

Vivian: He's not really my uncle. Bridget: They never are, dear. (Pretty Woman, 1990) Okay, so Vinny isn't my uncle. I was tempted, though, to fib about having a Mexican uncle named Vincente as that sounds so cool. But I know better. With an emphatically Thai face that I have, I knew I was never going to get away with that lie. The very intelligent, well-traveled, and funny Uncle Vinny is a Seattle-based bachelor (ahem, you hear that, ladies?) who authors a blog called The Sayings of Uncle Vinny. Fed up with being harassed by me on Twitter, Vinny had graciously agreed to share his story and a recipe on SheSimmers. (Thank you, Vinny!) The agreement I'd made with Uncle Vinny was that he would share a bit about himself and one of his favorite recipes. My job would be to recreate the dish based on his instructions. Well, despite the good intention, things didn't quite go as planned. Driven by my burning desire to glamorize Vinny's casserole, I took on the role of a mad scientist in the kitchen. (I made the casserole once, following the recipe exactly, and it was absolutely delicious, so I knew there was nothing wrong with it. If there was anything wrong with this picture, it was me.) With my heart firmly set on transforming a dish fit for Taste of Home magazine into something more suitable for Food & Wine or Saveur, I created 4 more batches of Vinny's casserole each of which bore very little resemblance to the original recipe. I fearlessly experimented with replacing crushed corn chips (gasp) with blue corn tortilla chips and Panko, using fancy heirloom beans in lieu of canned red kidney beans, etc. It was crazy. Even if I failed, I thought to myself, I could always resort to giving this down home beef casserole a French name like Gratin de boeuf haché à la tomate which would instantly and exponentially increase its perceived value. In one way, I was like that idiot who goes through life believing that all foods are bland until proven otherwise and,...

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Thai-Style Coconut Milk Gelato ไอศครีมกระทิ ตามแบบไอศครีมทิพย์รส

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:54:00 PST

Growing up, I lived in the same zip code as the most famous ice cream store in Bangkok, ไอศครีมทิพย์รส, that, for more than four decades, have sold all kinds of Thai-style ice cream, the most popular of which is the fresh coconut milk ice cream (ไอศครีมกระทิสด ). Every time our whole clan got together, we ordered from them by a truckload. This mildly-sweet gelato is as close as it gets to that Thai-style coconut ice cream of my childhood. The texture is silky smooth and creamy. It never develops icy crystals and scoops easily right out of the freezer. I don't remember which of my aunts came up with this recipe, but it has been with us since before I was born. It is a gelato, really. No eggs are involved. No need to make a crème anglaise base. Mix. Heat. Stir. Cool. Churn. Freeze. Eat. Don't you just love that? In a large saucepan, whisk together two 13.5-ounce cans of Chaokoh coconut milk, 2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin powder, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, 1 cup of nonfat dry milk, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring the mixture to a very gentle boil over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. Once the sugar and gelatin have dissolved, remove from heat and let cool completely over an ice bath. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Freeze for 3-4 hours. Serve Thai-style with roasted peanuts (because without peanuts, it's not Thai, is it?*) and a drizzling of evaporated milk on top. This recipe makes a bit shy of a quart. *Sarcastic, of course.

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Buttered Napa Cabbage and Edamame: Announcing the Winners of Battle Napa Cabbage

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:37:00 PST

This simple side dish consists of nothing more than lightly steamed slices of napa cabbage and shelled edamame. The vegetables are glistened with melted butter and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. It's one of those sides that are simple enough for a weeknight dinner, elegant enough for company, take minutes to make, cost very little money, go with just about everything, and allow you to really taste the vegetables. I usually stick with the 1 part napa cabbage:1/4 part edamame. One tablespoon of butter per every three cups of cooked vegetables is plenty for me. The amount of salt and pepper is up to you. With this simple side dish, we conclude our third round of Beet 'n Squash YOU! - Battle Napa Cabbage. My co-host, Mel, and I would like to thank our Battle Napa Cabbage participants who joined in the fun despite their busy schedules these past few weeks. Because of the holidays the entries are smaller in number than what we had seen in the previous months, though, I have to say, they're not at all inferior in quality. Thank you, everybody. And now my pick of the winner of Beet 'n Squash YOU! Battle Napa Cabbage. Lan of Angry Asian Creations stuck her angry hand into my rib cage and took hold of my racing heart with this Stuffed Napa Cabbage Roll Soup. For days, I got this dish floating in my brain. As much as I love Golubtsi (Голубцы), stuffed cabbage rolls according to the Russian tradition, Lan's cabbage rolls are quickly becoming a new favorite of mine. I love it when the dishes submitted by our participants put the theme vegetable in the spotlight and make the most of what it has to offer. Anything short of that would be like, you know, dating a gorgeous, intelligent person and putting a potato sack over his/her head every time you go out and forcing him/her to talk dumb. I'm very impressed with the way in which Lan has used napa cabbage in this dish. In terms of texture, napa cabbage leaves, in my very subjective and bigoted opinion, make for a...

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My Favorite Lemon Pudding Cake Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Leela) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:28:00 PST

[My rant on lemon as a symbol and the chick that turned on King Solomon.] You know that perfect lemon pudding or soufflé cake that is:so ridiculously easy and very quick to make,emphatically lemony,neither too sweet nor too tart,relatively low in fat but tastes like it contains tons of it,self-separated into three delicious layers of spongy cake on top, custard in the middle, and thick, creamy, lemony sauce at the bottom? Search no more. It's right here. The recipe is for the most part fuss-free and amateur-friendly. There are only three things which I can think of that would ruin this pudding cake: failure to whip the egg whites until they form stiff, glossy peaks, failure to use the right pan size, and failure to employ the hot-water baking method properly. Experienced bakers, please ignore me. Not-so-experienced bakers, the following tips may be helpful to you. For most people who bake regularly, whipping up egg whites should not present a problem (although from time to time we hear funny tales of people who really don't know). However, As long as you use a clean, completely grease-free bowl and beater and there is no trace of egg yolks in your whites, failure to achieve fluffy egg whites with stiff peaks is highly unlikely even if you beat the whites by hand with a whisk. The second factor is the pan size. The recipe specifies a 1 1/2-quart baking dish, and that's exactly what you should be using. A pan that's too large or wide would completely ruin the desired separations. The last factor is the method of baking in a bain marie. While all experienced bakers know how to do this, I've just come to realize many people, including a friend of mine who turned the term into something dirty involving a fictional woman named Marie, are not familiar with it. It's simply a way of using hot water to make sure what you're baking is baked gently and at a fixed temperature. This is great for baked goods with custardy texture. Just be sure that the water you pour...

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