I'll be in Southeast Asia next week, but I made this the other day so I'm posting anyway. I discovered sweet potato noodles through a package of Korean ramen I bought a while back, and I love them because a) they've got a wonderful stretchy chewy bouncy wonderful texture and b) they're made just from sweet potato starch, so my celiac mother can eat them. We had a lot of mint in the house, so I improvised this, based loosely on the flavors of Vietnamese spring rolls and laarb, and served it with grilled pork loin and those mint potatoes from two posts ago. Lovely summer dinner.
Vietnamese Noodle Salad
1 package sweet potato noodles (from Asian markets, probably the Korean section)
Handful (preferably fresh) mint
Handful basil
garlic
soy sauce
a few shakes of fish sauce
sriracha to taste
Optional firm or fried tofu and/or shrimp, if you're into that
Cook the sweet potato noodles til done. Set aside to cool.
Roughly chop the herbs. (Cilantro would probably also go well.) Mince the garlic or put it through a press. Toss everything together, making sure the noodles are coated with dressing. Serve room temp or chilled.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
TastyKakes
Um, yes. This. (Plus ~1 tbsp ground fennel seeds, just for kicks.)
www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Orange-Scented-Olive-Oil-Cake
ETA: Here's the actual recipe, straight from the Saveur website. I skip the glaze and the sea salt, and add the fennel seeds with the flour, eggs, etc.
2 1⁄3 cups sugar
Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 1⁄2 cups flour, plus more for pan
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄4 cup fresh orange juice
1⁄4 cup confectioners' sugar
Sea salt, for garnish
1. Trim about 1⁄2" from the tops and bottoms of oranges; quarter oranges lengthwise. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan; add oranges. Bring water back to a boil; drain. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. Put oranges, 1 cup sugar, and 4 cups water into a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and orange rind can be easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 10" round cake pan with butter and dust with flour; line pan bottom with parchment paper cut to fit. Set pan aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside. Remove orange quarters from syrup, remove and discard any seeds, and put oranges into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until oranges form a chunky purée, 10–12 pulses. Add remaining sugar, reserved flour mixture, vanilla, and eggs and process until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add olive oil; process until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40–45 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, whisk orange juice and confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Remove cake from pan and transfer to a cake stand or plate. Using a pastry brush, brush orange glaze over top and sides of cake; let cool completely. Garnish cake with salt.
www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Orange-Scented-Olive-Oil-Cake
ETA: Here's the actual recipe, straight from the Saveur website. I skip the glaze and the sea salt, and add the fennel seeds with the flour, eggs, etc.
Orange-Scented Olive Oil Cake
2 oranges2 1⁄3 cups sugar
Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 1⁄2 cups flour, plus more for pan
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄4 cup fresh orange juice
1⁄4 cup confectioners' sugar
Sea salt, for garnish
1. Trim about 1⁄2" from the tops and bottoms of oranges; quarter oranges lengthwise. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan; add oranges. Bring water back to a boil; drain. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. Put oranges, 1 cup sugar, and 4 cups water into a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and orange rind can be easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 10" round cake pan with butter and dust with flour; line pan bottom with parchment paper cut to fit. Set pan aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside. Remove orange quarters from syrup, remove and discard any seeds, and put oranges into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until oranges form a chunky purée, 10–12 pulses. Add remaining sugar, reserved flour mixture, vanilla, and eggs and process until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add olive oil; process until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40–45 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, whisk orange juice and confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Remove cake from pan and transfer to a cake stand or plate. Using a pastry brush, brush orange glaze over top and sides of cake; let cool completely. Garnish cake with salt.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Phnom Penh & Potatoes
Recent recipes I don't want to forget:
Khmer Samla (with thanks to Carol Henderson)
(serves 10)
10 stalks fresh lemongrass
1/4 of a lime (kefir, key, or regular)
1 tsp ground turmeric
several pinches of salt
1/3 cup minced galangal or regular ginger
2 cups chopped shallots (sweet onions work well too, like vidalias)
10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
4 Tbs shrimp paste
2 lbs chicken or tofu, cut in small pieces
1 small eggplant, quartered & thinly sliced 1/3 cup olive oil
5 c. coconut milk
1 Tablespoon salt
2 tsp sugar
Blend the first 8 ingredients together in a food processor, until they
form a smooth paste. (Traditionally, this would be pounded in a
mortar, so you can try that if you like!)
Heat the oil in a large pot, and saute the blended mixture a minute
or two. Add chicken or tofu, and cook 7 minutes over medium heat.
Add half the coconut milk, salt and sugar, and simmer 10 minutes.
Add eggplant and remaining coconut milk. Simmer half covered
until eggplant is tender, about 10 minutes.
Serve over rice.
Mint Potatoes
new potatoes
crushed garlic
lots of chopped mint
salt, pepper, and olive oil
Cook potatoes. Add the other ingredients. Use a combination of
regular and sea/kosher salt for a nice crunch and distributed salt
flavor. Mix well. Let cool. Tastes better the next day.
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