Lotsa Laksa

So in yesterday's post I mentioned Anthony Bourdain's awesomeness. I have loved him since he took me (figuratively, darn) to Malaysia in his show No Reservations and introduced me to laksa. This Malaysian noodle soup is a serious contender for best soup EVER. It's great to make these days, when everyone has that cold that hangs on for three weeks. What's the deal with that, anyway?

To make the paste, soak 6 dried chiles with stems and seeds removed (I used Ancho because they were the only ones I could find--they are very mild but you may want some that have a little more kick to them) in boiling water until they're soft. Grind them in the blender with a little of the soaking water, a couple cloves of garlic, about half a medium-sized onion, 5 macadamia nuts (I know you--you're tempted to leave this out but don't; it adds a good texture to the soup), a 2-second squirt of fish sauce, juice from half a lemon, about a teaspoon of salt, and a thumb's length of peeled ginger.

When the paste is smooth, get your soup pot hot and add a little oil, then fry the laksa paste a couple of minutes, until it is fragrant. Add 2 cans of coconut milk (make sure it's the unsweetened kind) and 3 cups of chicken broth, and simmer the soup for about 15 minutes. What you have now is known as "laksa gravy." Add whatever meat you'd like (I always choose tofu and usually a pound of shrimp as well) and continue to simmer until the meat is cooked.

While your gravy is simmering, start your noodles--use rice sticks that you find in the Asian section of your grocery store. Don't boil the rice sticks the way you would cook pasta; they'll get mushy. Just pour boiling water over the dry noodles and let them sit for a couple of minutes, until tender but still with a good bite.

To serve, put a good chunk of noodles into your bowl, ladle the gravy over, and garnish with bean sprouts, green onions, and Sriracha chili paste. A good squeeze of lime can't hurt either.

Guaranteed to clear your sinuses so you can get back to work...or not.

Book Review: Born Round

I am a big fan of the "foodie" book--loved Julia Child's My Life in France and anything by Ruth Reichl. And of course Anthony Bourdain, who's completely awesome because in his latest book Medium Raw he devotes an entire chapter to the people he loves and hates, and specifically why he loves and hates them. Who does that?

But I digress. Born Round is the story of a chubby boy born into a large Italian family who shows their love through food. He grows up struggling with his weight (at one point refusing his grandmother's fried fruit pies, which she interprets as him not loving her) and becomes a journalist. When he is offered the position of New York Times food critic, he is forced to come to terms with food, and the way he looks at it.

This is a great vacation read--intelligent and funny but easy to put down and pick back up. Frank Bruni is totally self-deprecating and brutally honest about his food issues.

My favorite line in the story comes when a collegiate Frank embarks on a wilderness camping trip that includes a long, difficult hike. When he balks, the counselor says, "There are things you are glad to do, and things you are glad to have done." I now think this every time I hit the snooze button when I should be getting up to go to the gym. Damn you, Frank.

Also fascinating is how Frank is treated as a food critic, and the lengths some restaurants will go to a) identify the food critic, and b) try to get a good review from said food critic. An interesting look at the world of fine dining and how much those reviews mean to these places.

Janet's review (on a scale of blech to yay): a hearty nod yes with half a fist-pump.

Back of the Container: Ricotta Pancakes

My son, carbo-loaded on Ricotta Pancakes at his very first high school track meet. Look at that kid fly!

My son is running track and had his first meet ever on Saturday. I have heard of "carbo loading" but as a nervous newbie track mom, may have gone a little overboard. I made lasagna and then had about half a container of this cheese left, turned it over and saw a recipe for Heavenly Ricotta Pancakes. More carbs! Why not?

The recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup complete pancake mix (bleh), 1 1/3 cups milk, and 1 cup ricotta. I used my failproof Fannie Farmer pancake recipe (I'm sure you have a favorite too) and just added the cup of ricotta to the batter, and cooked as usual.

Your batter will be thicker than normal.

The thicker batter will make about a dozen pancakes, but since they were dessert for us, it was enough.

I threw about 2 cups of frozen blueberries in a small saucepan and added 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup sugar, and simmered them for about 5 minutes. I thickened the sauce with a cornstarch/water slurry (about 1 teaspoon cornstarch to a few Tablespoons water), poured it on top of the pancakes, and dusted it with powdered sugar.

These were so good. They were really tender and light and quick to make. And speaking of light and quick, I'd like to say that photo of my son running all alone was him way out in front of the competition because of his mama's love, but in actuality he was bringing up the rear. Oh well. He was the cutest.

Stylish Blogger Award

My very first follower Jennifer, at http://www.jennizart.blogspot.com/, who happens to be a very talented artist, has given me the "Stylish Blogger Award." Thanks Jennifer, and in the Stylish Blogger tradition (I'm sure you know), I will post 7 factoids about myself and then pass it on to other deserving bloggers.

1. I live in Sunny California but love cloudy, cold weather. When I asked my husband why we live here he said, "Because it's so expensive?"

2. Sweet peas are my favorite flower.

3. I know the letters of most of my friends' license plates, yet if you ask me what I did this weekend I won't remember.

4. My ultimate dream is to start an animal sanctuary for dogs and cats.

5. I usually paint my toenails blue.

6. I love Jack in the Box tacos.

7. I ran a half marathon in January, then came home and threw up.

Now to pass on the award:

http://www.queennmyownmind.blogspot.com/

http://www.orangiesattic.blogspot.com/

Won Tons Like Mom Used to Make

Well, like Mom used to make if your mom is Chinese. Which mine is. This recipe is very much a traditional family recipe in that it is one of those "some of this" and "a splash of that." It's very forgiving so just give it your best shot and I promise it'll be delicious.

Mama May's Won Tons
Filling:
1 lb. ground pork (I use ground turkey sometimes and nobody notices)
1/4 c. each onion, celery, carrot, and water chestnuts, chopped fine
1 generous splash soy sauce, or as we call it, shoyu
1 package won ton wrappers (you will probably have enough filling left over to fill two packs of wrappers, or just put the leftover filling in the freezer for another batch later)

Saute the veggies in a little oil, then add ground meat and shoyu. Cook until it's done, and let it cool for a while before you fill the won tons.

If you can get your kids to help you make these it's a lot less tedious. If you make them by yourself it will seem like every time you make a won ton, two more skins appear in the package. Give each person helping a plate and a small dish of water, and set a large "done" plate in the center of the table.

Put a small amount of filling in the center of each wrapper. Don't put too much or it'll be hard to fold and seal.

Dip your finger in the water and run it along two connected sides of the wrapper. Fold over diagonally, corner to corner and seal the edges together well. You don't want filling leaking out when you fry them.

Pick up the folded won ton and put a little water on the back of the right corner. Bring the right corner forward and bring it over to the left so that the back of the right corner seals to the front of the left corner. Put the third finger of your left hand in the center to make a little dent as you seal the corners. (Is that hard to understand? This is why I did not become a teacher...)

What a gorgeous pile of won tons you have made! Fry them in a couple inches of oil and try not to eat them all before you serve them. (You can also put these into broth and make won ton soup.) Dip them in some sweet chili dipping sauce that you can find ready made in the asian section of the market, or a mixture of shoyu and mustard. My kids just like them plain.

Custom Tile Table

When it comes to redecorating, it's amazing what you can accomplish with a can of black spray paint. I found this TV tray at a garage sale for a dollar. It had a super groovy retro fake wood grain but once I sprayed it black, it looked great, clean but with the retro lines. To make this project, look for a table with a small lip around the edges--they're not as hard to find as you'd think.

When you are Home Depot picking up that black spray paint, get some tiles (I used 4"x4"). You'll also need tile adhesive, grout, a sponge, and spacers. How you lay it out is up to you but I jazzed it up with a sheet of this stuff, which I found on clearance for about $7 a sheet. The 1x1" tiles not only finish off the look well, but also fill the space if your tiles don't fit quite perfectly. I'm not going to explain how to lay tile--there is plenty of info about that on the Web, plus I have to pee.

Now the boring part is over--look through your kids' drawings and choose as many as you want to put on your table. (I recommend using the one that Jr. drew of your husband with no neck, but not the one of you that makes you look really fat.) Scan them into your computer and resize them so they're roughly the same.

Now here's where my shameless plug comes in: if you want them to be totally permanent and scrubbable, contact me at sales@customsepia.com or through my Etsy site Custom Sepia and I'll fire your images onto 4x4 square white or cream tiles. (You can also use these tiles for your kitchen backsplash or in your bathroom shower or tub.) If you want to keep this project totally DIY, print your images onto these decals and affix them to the tiles. If you go this route, you will want to use a sealer to preserve the images.

You will be amazed at the compliments you get from this project, and your friends will envy how talented your children are, and isn't that really what it's all about?

Back of the Can: Orchid Coconut Milk

I'm starting a new regular feature today. About once a week I'm going to cook a recipe that comes on the back of the can/box/package. You know, those recipes that you never cook, or even consider cooking. Who knows, maybe there are some gems out there.

Today it's Orchid Coconut Milk.

Pa-Naeng Neua (Beef curried in sweet peanut sauce)

400 grams beef, cut into thin strips (I don't know how much this is but I used 1 lb.)

2 cups coconut milk (Why your recipe would call for 16 oz of coconut milk when your can contains 14 oz. I'll never understand...)

1 thinly sliced red spur chilli (sic)--what is this? A little chopped jalapeno will have to suffice
1/2 cup ground roasted peanuts

6 kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces (I put in a little lime juice and zest instead of the leaves)

3 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1/4 cup sweet basil

3 Tbsp. pa-naeng curry paste (I used green curry paste because it's what I had)

What it says to do: Put 1 cup coconut milk over medium heat until some of the oil surfaces, add the curry paste and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Put in meat strips and cook for 5 minutes, add 1 cup coconut milk. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients except lime leaves. Add this to the curried meat, stir well and simmer about 15 minutes. Add the lime leaves, sweet basil, and remove from heat.

What I actually did: Pour entire can of coconut milk in pot; heat for about two minutes until you get bored of waiting for oil to surface, then put in curry paste, meat, and all other ingredients except basil. Throw in some chopped bell pepper and onion because beef and coconut milk do not satisfy your childrens' nutritional daily requirements. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then add basil.

The verdict: This was surprisingly delicious. I was so ready to bag on the idea of just throwing a bunch of stuff into broth without sauteeing anything first but cooking the beef in the liquid gave it a great flavor. And the whole thing took me literally 5 minutes to prep, and then 20 minutes total cooking time (mostly simmering which leaves you free to clean the kitchen). A back of the can winner!