An Asian food kind of day

I happened to be watching a program of one of those TV chefs who is traveling through Southeast Asia and cooking all these fabulous meals.  This put me on a panAsian (is that the correct phrase?) course to cook an Asian food kind of Sunday.  I have to start with something I really enjoy and have some kind of recipe for.  So I made a bahn mi.  I don't have the patience or experience to make the proper pork belly for this scrumptious sandwich and besides, I have no pork belly anyway.  That may not be entirely true as my freezer is busting, but I digress.  I start with some lovely lean ground pork that I had ground for me at the butchers.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it while the mixture was raw.  The real misfortune is that you can't smell the lovely fragrance of all those wonderful aromatic ingredients.  Start with ground pork, chopped scallions, chopped garlic, Thai basil (very important! Thai basil is best but hard to find, I just started growing it, but sweet Italian will work even though it won't taste exactly the same), fish sauce, Sriracha chili sauce, sugar, pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours to come together.  Shape into meatballs, or meatspheres like I did, and you can either pan fry or roast in the oven like I did.

Make your pickled veg. Shred some carrots and daikon radish (I suppose a regular red radish would work as well but I've never tried), then just dump these puppies in a mixture of equal parts rice wine vinegar and sugar with a pinch of salt and a small amount of water.  Let this sit for at least 1/2 hour before consuming. I like to keep a jar in the fridge. Then mix your spicy mayo.  Just some good quality mayo spiked with Sriracha hot sauce, some sliced scallions, sprinkling of bright green coriander leaves (cilantro) and a drop of toasted sesame oil if you would like that extra warmth in the mayo.

You can make this as spicy or not as spicy as you like.  Ah we get to the bread.  This is a very important part of this whole operation because the bread is the vehicle that brings all these luscious, simple yet complicated flavors together.  The traditional French baguette is not my favorite for this. I find the French baguette a little too hard and crusty, then again, perhaps the crisp crustiness of the baguette is better for a traditional pork belly and pate bahn mi.  However, I find a soft, semi-sweet, eggy bread to be perfect. In SoFlo we are inundated with sweet-types of breads.

This is the bread for a "medianoche" and is very easy to find here, so use what you can get your hands on, a slightly sweet brioche would be marvelous as I think the sweetness in the bread is what complements the spicy heat in the meat and mayo. Cover with your pickled veg, that happens to be acidic and sweet and you have an outstanding sandwich!

Garnish with some coriander leaves and very skinny strips of scallions (green onions) and don't forget to provide a little sprinkling of that gorgeous pickling liquid very sparingly over the meatballs!  My recipe is a take on any bahn mi meatball recipe you can google and play around with, so go nuts.

And now for dinner! Dinner will come from the Kingdom of Cambodia, or what used to be called the Kingdom of Cambodia? Oh well, Cambodia. It is clay pot chicken, but not in a clay pot because I don't have one.  So it goes like this, 1 chicken dried well.  Then come the aromatics. I stuff the cavity with some bruised lemongrass stalks, 2 or 3 chopped shallots, galangal is traditional but I couldn't find any so I used some thickly sliced ginger, some kaffir lime leaves (my friend has a huge tree) and made my own addition of a garlic head sliced in half then I mixed all this together with some oyster sauce.  Stuffed this lovely mix into the chicken cavity and brushed the outside with some teriyaki sauce and poured about half a can of coke over the chicken. Like I said no clay pot, so all this was in a roasting pan and covered with aluminum foil.  Into a 350 oven for as long as it will take to cook this chicken.  No pictures, but trust me it was delicious!


For my side I made some steamed jasmine rice and studded it with fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves. The smells are amazing. I think I shall finish this lovely chicken with a brushing of either hoisin or oyster sauce and place back in the oven for a few minutes and then serve!  I also have some of my spicy mayo concoction left over that will go beautifully with the chicken, not to mention some leftover pork bahn mi meatballs.  All this and some Alfred Hitchcock movies make for a perfect Sunday to complete a weekend that is just begging for my favorite time of the year. Autumn. This means baking for me so I should be busy updating my blog after my spring/summer hiatus. Keep cooking.

Apple Crumb Pie

Apple pie is usually reserved for July 4th festivities. However, I had no festivities this year but that doesn't mean I can't make a pie.  So, I made an apple pie for B. We had discussions about my baking and how I love to make pies when she mentioned that her mother used to make an apple pie with a crumb topping and it was very delicious. So I took this as an opportunity to not miss my apple pie making for the summer and to make one of these pies.  I have always wanted to make a crumb topped apple pie and this was a great opportunity.  So here goes.

My usually crust recipe that is very basic and simple; just flour, ice water, some sort of fat (butter or shortening or a combo depending on what I have on hand), salt and sugar.  Stir together the flour, sugar and salt and then cut in the fat.  After you have a mix that resembles course sand, mix in the ice water until it is still dry not over mixed or over handled.  I finished this step about a week ago because crust keeps well in the freezer and my kitchen is so crazy hot sometimes I can only go one step at a time. :-)

 There are the lovely golden delicious apples that work so well in a pie because they stand up well to cooking and have a lovely tartness and pronounced apple flavor that works well with the simple ingredients.  Peel, core and slice the apples, just add lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and a touch of flour to thicken the juice as it bakes.

Pour this lovely concoction into the crust covered pie plate, mix my stand by crumb topping from a previous blog and voila!

A delicious apple crumb pie!

And here is the final product as B and her family get ready for what I hope they enjoyed very much!

Colombian Empanadas

I discovered Colombian empanadas about 3 years ago.  I went to a Colombian bakery and sampled various goodies.  They have a bread called "pan de bono", I have no idea how to translate this except that it is bono bread because I don't know what "bono" means in Spanish.  Therefore I will provide a description.  It is a gluten-free bread made of yucca flour and one of those bland homestyle fresh cheeses much like farmer's cheese or mozzarella.   Those are really the basic ingredients and I know because I have tried making these little buns and they are really good and very easy to make. Absolutely wonderful fresh from the oven and only about 20 minutes of prep time along with about 12 minutes in the oven.  I had one of their typical big breakfasts with sausage and salted potatoes and I think they call them mountaineers breakfasts, cause that is one big honkin' breakfast!

That was when I tried the empanadas.  They are very different from anyone else's, with the exception of the yucca ones I made before (still my favorite ones!).  These shells are made from cornmeal, water, salt, and oil.  That's it and then you let it rest for about 20 minutes and it comes together in a beautiful way!

While this lovely concoction sits, you make the filling.  This filling is a little different from the ones I usually make as you incorporate your choice of minced meat (I used pork and beef), with semi-mashed boiled potatoes.

You combine the potatoes and minced meat for your filling. The general Colombian spices are actually very simple and the recipes I found had only a little onion, garlic, cumin, tomato S&P. This simple seasoning in the filling paves the way for a spicy dipping sauce.

 The dough is very tender and should only be handled initially to form a ball then put between 2 sheets of plastic to pat out into a disk.  Ummm my pictures are kind of messed up so above is the disk, below is the meat and potato mixed together.

 Here is the ball of dough.  You rip off about 2 tablespoons and roll it between your palms then pat out under the cling film.

 Add about 1tablespoon of filling and use the cling film to fold over the other side.  Press to seal.

 That's it! Just fry fry fry in some oil. I use canola oil in a cast iron pan as my lovely pan has become my favorite tool in the kitchen. I must confess I only use it to fry but I really need to expand my repertoire and make a bunch of stuff in there!  One important note, the dough is VERY sensitive, so use a tool to drop the empanada in the hot oil.  I finally figured out that I could use a metal spatula.

 Here is one cut in half as you can see the potato chunks.  Now the sauce!

The sauce imparts a large amount of flavor and some spicy heat.  Just use a chili pepper, any one you want, habanero for the brave ones, jalapeno for those who want a little less pain, etc.  I remove the seeds and ribs because I don't want to die.  You combine this with a white vinegar to water ratio of 2 to 1 and add salt, little caster sugar.  In one of those tiny food processors (I have a 1 cup size), add bunch, coriander, parsley, green onions, your hot chili pepper of choice, and lime juice.  Blitz it and add to your liquids along with some veg or olive oil. I use olive oil.  You can spruce up with some dashes of your fave hot sauce and you are good!

This is very different from the empanadas you may be familiar with but you will not be disappointed. Give it a whirl if you enjoy these little meals in a package.

Summer is here...officially. It actually started yesterday. We have been having hot days for a few months now but the arrival of June 21st makes it so...official. I need to examine my masochistic tendencies because if it is in the upper 80's outside this means that my kitchen is actually in the mid to upper 90's. No kidding.  So why do I get a crazy desire to bake with weather like this? God only knows because I certainly have no answer.  But there it is. I have been yearning to bake.

I recently made a pineapple upside down cake and Martha Stewart's recipe for New York crumb cake.  They came out delicious.  I really love chocolate and other delicate but complicated recipes, but I have a very soft spot for a simple cake.  The New York crumb cake is a very simple cake that does not even contain butter in the batter but yields this lovely yellow cake with a tender fragrant crumb.  The top is bursting with buttery, cinnamon sugar crumbs that complement the tender crumb beautifully.  This is how I started:

Next came the mixing of the crumb that became very moist from the heat and humidity in my kitchen. Did I mention that the kitchen is unbearable?  I am constantly complaining about the heat but can't stay out of the kitchen.  Then came the crumbs, very simple mix then doused with butter to make them moist and clumpy.

Assembly!

 And final product!
It's not a good picture and my shadow is covering the crumb along with a liberal dusting of confectioner's sugar.

Turned out very well!  I highly recommend this simple and delicious cake.  It flew and there is nothing left and this is my proof that it turned out well.  I hope I don't disappear for another 6 months so I will try to keep this up.

Cheers!

French Confit

Happy New Year! I know it's almost February but I only waited three months to post.  I have "almost" kept up with my blog and one of my new year resolutions to post more entries onto my blog this year.  I have to start somewhere and here it is.  I became very intrigued with the French practice to confit clementines when my brother found a picture of one that is sold in a Paris bakery and immediately sent me the link.  If you have seen this blog you will see a previous post of candied sour orange pith from a family recipe.  Really good and interesting because I've never seen it anywhere else.  Then my brother finds this and sends it to me so I simply had to try it.  It is just as complicated as my family recipe except that it takes about 2 weeks to complete.

I started the clementine confit around mid-December and knew it would only be complete around the first week or so, of January.  Here it is!  It was a success and I must say I had to wing it as I could not find many recipes for French clementine confit.  I found one, in French and about 2 more with very vague instructions.  So here I go.  It is very easy to find clementines at this time of year and I found a nice big box at the grocery store.

First, the clementines must be pricked by a long needle to ensure that the boiling liquids get inside the fruit thoroughly.  I didn't have one so I used a thin knife.  First you boil the clementines in plain water to soften them up.  I don't know how long this took or how much water I used, I simply covered them and boiled them till my kitchen smelled orange-y.  Then you add sugar and some corn syrup to prevent the sugar from crystalizing.

As soon as the syrup comes to a boil, remove from the heat immediately.  Pour the syrup and the clementines into a large bowl and cover.  Leave the clementines in this syrup and soak for 2 days.  Remove the clementines and add the syrup into a pot, add about half cup of sugar and bring the syrup to a rolling boil.  Pour the boiling syrup over the clementines and soak again.  Repeat this step, every 2 days for 14 days.  I had to do this for a few more days because, my guess, is that I didn't boil the clementines long enough in the first boil without the sugar.  And here they are:

They become translucent and candied all the way through.  They should remain in the syrup and become candied as the clementine would otherwise be much to bitter to consume.  It is uber sweet but very delicious.  The one my brother sent me is covered in dark chocolate and looks a little drier than mine.  I think I should have pricked them with pins instead of a knife, however, it was pretty fantastic for just winging this recipe.  If anyone should come upon this please let me know how you are doing and how you did it.  I want to try again!

It's a holiday today and won't have another for a few months.  I want to make entries to my blog a little more often than once a month so let's see what else I can come up with.

Cheers!

Gluten Free Empanadas

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday and I love it.  Perhaps not for the traditional reasons like eating until you explode, but because I get to cook and I have the time to cook.  The 4 day weekend is wonderful to relax and recharge.  I also get to make complicated recipes.  Making something complicated is very satisfying to me.  I enjoy trying to make something that is difficult and different.  This Thanksgiving was no different.  I started with my great aunt Laly's orange candy.  This was fun because I had to make it up as I went along.  She didn't write anything down so I had to remember everything I had witnessed during her preparations.  I did it!! It turned out great and wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be.

This time I wanted to make something crazy as well.  I found a recipe for Cassava Pasties.  These are made from grated cassava (yucca).  They are gluten free and that's a plus for anyone who can't consume gluten.  But they are amazingly good!  These beauties are very popular in the Dominican Republic and called catibias.  I found a recipe and adapted it from a Dominican cookbook.

The recipe starts with raw cassava root (yucca).  Grate it until it is a fine paste.  Bring a small amount of salted water to a rolling boil in a heavy bottomed pot.  Add the grated yucca and lower heat.  Cook, stirring constantly! until it is translucent and most of the mixture becomes a translucent dough.  Turn out onto an oiled surface and knead until cool.  Keep your hands wet to avoid sticking.  Tear off 1/8 cup amounts and pat them into disks.  Fill with desired filling.  I used cooked ground beef.

Fill the disks and fold over to form an empanada and press edges with the tines of a fork.  After you are done with the entire amount you can refrigerate until you are ready to deep fry them.  I think you can freeze them at this point also, but I didn't try.

Then deep fry and this is what they should look like.  They are very crispy on the outside and very soft and delicious on the inside.  You can also opt out of filling and just fry up the disks and that is very good also.

This didn't make very many so it looks like I'll be upping my ingredients next time!

Delicious!

Tis' the Season

Why do I disappear during the summer months?  I think it may be the dreadful heat.  It is painful to have to cook anything in my kitchen when it is easily almost 100 degrees.  This summer was particularly harsh and I don't just mean the heat, work really took up all of my free time as well.  I quit a part-time job that allowed me the time to bake and cook but had me flat broke.  In better news I got a job that allowed me the purchase power for ingredients but no time.  It's always somethin'!

Tis' the season though and that means I need to make the time to get into the kitchen.  I started with my great-aunt Laly's sour orange candy.  Like many recipes that involve very little ingredients, it is complicated and time consuming.  In this case all you need are about 25 or so small to medium sour oranges, lots of sugar and water.  That's it believe it or not.  The hard part is finding about 18 hours of free time.  Let me walk you through this delicious and complicated holiday treat.

First I need to actually be able to get the sour oranges off my tree.  This is no small feat here in Miami where sour oranges, avocados, mangos, and mamey sapote are quickly stolen by anyone who can a) jump your fence, b) destroy your fence, c) get past your pets, and want to steal them to to sell them off a truck on the street corners or just take them home to eat.  The sour oranges are different and to understand this you must know that the juice is popular on pork meat (and any other meat really) as a marinade. This complicates matters because citrus begins to flourish now, just around the holidays. But I digress, first I had to fight for my own sour oranges.  After I secured as many as I needed I duly shared with my deserving neighbors, friends and co-workers.  Here is my first pic:

This isn't all the ones I used, you will need about 25 or so to make a decent amount of this marmalade candy concoction.  The next step is just as difficult, remove the rind only.  Leave the pith!  The pith makes the candy!  You can try to grate the rind off using a grater but I find it leave way to much rind and therefore leaves too much bitterness in your final product.

After you grate and/or cut away the colored rind, you have to remove all the pulp from the oranges.  This is where I squeezed all the lovely juice out and saved it in my bottle for future marinading.  These are juicy oranges.

Just so you know this takes a few hours.  No kidding.

Next you need to soak the cleaned piths in water overnight with about a teaspoon of salt.  I omitted this step for my first batch last week and the end result was a little too bitter for my taste.  So I made sure not to omit this for yesterday's/today's batch.  Now comes the boiling.  Discard the soaking water and cover the piths in fresh water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, rinse and repeat a minimum of 2 times.  At this point you should taste the piths and see if it is to your liking but I took it to 1 more boiling round.

After the last boiling round drain again and add equal parts sugar and water to cover the piths.  Cook until the syrup becomes thick, reduced and a light amber color.

The syrup is thick and sweet and the piths keep a very mild bitter orange flavor that works well with the cloying sugary syrup.  This is why you need sour oranges as sweet oranges will not have the flavor punch necessary.

And so, here I begin some holiday stuff.  My next challenge is to make empanadas out of cassava.  This will be another journey into culinary hell but I need to start the engines and stop neglecting my blog. I am following the recipe of another blogger and of course, 3 ingredients to make this cassava dough.  Peeled and grated yucca (cassava root), a little water and a little salt.  Why do I try these crazy things? I also want to take more pictures again.  Ugh, responsibilities always gets in the way but I hope to have lots more time for this year's holiday season.

I found a kitty on election day at my voting station, I named him Romney.  Looks like he will be around when I'm blogging.

So was it the heat or my lack of time? I think it's a combo because the hot oven warms the house during the cool months. Till next time (hopefully this coming week as I already will not be at work from Tuesday through the end of the week, some black friday shopping maybe?  ;-)