We can serve this to chefdave

While on vacation with Dave Gilbert and friends this summer, he made a vegetable curry using Thai red curry paste. It was outstanding. Even better it was easy enough to add some kind of protein or filler to it and have a substantial meal. It was easy to do, so I thought a reprise would be in order.

Little did I know that there was an accolade from Madame that is even higher than "We can serve this to people". This dish garnered a "We can serve this to Chef Dave". So I figured it should be added here so I remember what we did.

Ingredients - Curry Base

1 can coconut cream (No, not sweetened coconut cream a la Coco Lopez)

2 small cans of Thai red curry paste

1 white onion, cut into spoon sized pieces pole to pole

2 cilantro bunches (stalks and leaves separate)

2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced very thinly

4 kaffir lime leaves sliced in to thin strips

1 can coconut milk

3T Fish sauce

2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/3" cubes

2 lbs carrots cut into 1/3" cubes

2 large egg plants , peeled and diced into 1/3" cubes. Also dice the peeled trimmings into a very fine dice, they will thicken the dish.

Method - Curry Base

Skim the thickest cream from the can of coconut cream into a large Dutch oven. Heat over low heat until it breaks down and becomes oily. Immediately add the curry paste from the cans and stir while frying the paste. Add the onion, cilantro stalks, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves and sweat for about 10 minutes - until the onion has softened. add the remainder of the coconut cream can and all the coconut milk + the fish sauce. Stir until combined. Add the potatoes and the carrots and enough water just to cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes - until the potatoes are nearly cooked.

Meanwhile prepare the egg plant. After 10 minutes add the egg plant to the pot, stir to mix and simmer with the lid on for a few minutes (until the eggplant is cooked and the potatoes are soft, but not mushy). Some of the egg plant will disappear and thicken the liquid, while some will maintain integrity.

Serving/Finishing

Once the base is made,m it can be used to cook a variety of proteins. In the Bahamas, we used some of the fish that the guys caught in the afternoon. Also possible to use chicken, or if you want the full vegetarian experience, some soaked chick peas (garbanzo beans).

It is a matter of slicing the fish or chicken (about 4 oz per person) very thinly and immersing in the hot curry. The fish/chicken are cooked, by simmering in a matter of minutes.  If using chickpeas, the same approach is adopted, but no slicing. They take a little longer, especially if they are a bit firm to start with. No quantity is given here, but for 2 people, one small (14oz) can would work for 2 people.

Serve with a squeeze of lime juice and finely minced cilantro leaves.

Home Made Beef Pho

I have been wanting to make that terrific Vietnamese noodle soup - pho for a long time. The key seems to be getting the broth right. So, I was pleasantly surprised when my issue of Cooks Illustrated (from Americas Test Kitchen) came in and it had a pho approach. As you can imagine, this wasn't a recipe to be followed slavishly, but a set of ideas that I could adopt. The big aha was to use a bunch of ground beef as a stock base. Something that the ATK folks have previously suggested and I have tried before. The simple idea is that you grind up some beef chuck, cover with water and bring to the boil. Throw away the water at this stage, rinse the ground beef, then add store-bought beef stock and other flavorings. The stock comes up well flavored and quite clear. An ideal base for pho.

Ingredients

8 cups beef stock

6 cups water

1 1/2 lb ground beef (I used chuck which I ground myself)

2 medium yellow onions peeled and quartered - divided use

5" ginger piece sliced thinly - no need to peel

6 star anise pods

10 whole cloves

4" stick of cinnamon

12 black peppercorns

1 Kaffir Lime leaf

1/2 cup fish sauce (divided use)

2t salt 

2T plain sugar

1 lb thin rice noodles, soaked in hot water and then quickly boiled

1 bunch cilantro

3 scallions, green parts only, cut on the bias

12 oz rib eye meat, very thinly sliced - easier done if frozen a bit before. 

1 jalapeno pepper sliced thinly, maintaining seeds and ribs

5 oz bean sprouts

a little more fish sauce

1 bunch Thai (or in a pinch regular) basil

2 or 3 T srirarcha 

Lime wedges from 2 limes

Method

Place the ground beef into a large dutch oven and barely cover with water. Bring to the boil over high heat, turn heat down and simmer for a further 2-3 minutes. Strain off and discard the water (and associated scum). Rinse the beef, clean the dutch oven and return the ground beef to the dutch oven. Add the onion, aromatics, fish sauce, salt and sugar to the pot, followed by the beef stock and water. Stir to combine as well as possible. Bring to the boil and then simmer for at least 45 minutes.

Strain the beef and other solids reserving the liquid. Discard the solids. Strain the broth again, this time through cheese cloth until clear.

Soften the noodles in warm water for about 10-15 minutes, then boil them for 1 minute.

Layer the noodles, some thinly sliced onion (from the remaining quarter), the scallion tops, cilantro and beef into preheated soup bowls. Fill the bowls with steaming hot broth

Serve accompanied by sliced jalapenos, basil, srirarcha, fish sauce and lime wedges.

Thom Yum (Chicken)

I was given a copy of Chef McDang's terrific book on Thai cookery (http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Thai-Cookery-Chef-McDang/dp/6169060107) by Chef David Gilbert . Combine that with the arrival of my Satay grill (ordered from here http://importfood.com/satay_grill.html ) and a Thai feast was in order. Of course it was all experimental, so we weren't sure how any of it was going to turn out. We invited the neighbors (Guinea and Pig) over for the experiment. It turns out that the most impressive dish on the menu was the simplest. It took 7 minutes start to finish and used minimal ingredients This recipe is almost straight from Chef McDang's Principles of Thai Cookery, but I substituted chicken for the prawns - since I can't eat shellfish.

Ingredients

6 cups water
1 stalk lemon grass - cut into short strips and bruised
5 kaffir lime leaves (preferably fresh)
3 silver dollar sized slices of galanga (sometimes called blue ginger)
4 bruised Thai chilis (left whole, but with the stalks removed)
1/4 cup fish sauce
Juice of 3 Persian limes (or 6 Key limes)
1 chicken breast cut into 1/2" cubes (slightly smaller is better)

Method

Bring the water to the boil. Add the lemon grass, kaffir lime, galanga, chilis and leave to infuse for a minute or so. Add the fish sauce and then the lime juice until the desired degree of sourness is achieved. Simmer for a few more seconds. Add the chicken pieces and turn the heat off. Allow the heat of the broth to cook the chicken. To serve, spoon into small, hot bowls. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

The tartaric acid files

For any who have been following the thoughts of using tartaric acid to set cream based desserts, I am here to tell you that the results are quite mixed. Interesting, but it is a whole lot harder than I expected.
Tartaric acid is very bitter, so the quantity is crucual. I am zeroing in on it, but am not there yet. All of these experiments have been using 1 US pint of heavy cream (2 cups, 16 fl oz).
The basic ratio has been to use 4 oz sugar per recipe also. However, the chocolate experiment didn't have added sugar because the chocolate should have been sweet enough - it wasn't!

Experiment 1 - Pink peppercorns

This was in many ways the easiest recipe, but ot really brought home the bitterness of the tartaric acid. Here I used a (US) pint of cream, 4 oz sugar, 1/2t tartaric acid dissolved in a little sugar syrup (ginger flavored). This set up beautifully, but was dedinitely bitter.

Experiment 2 - Chocolate

This one was Ok, but I messed up by using too much espresso powder in an attempt to boost the chocolate. For 1 (US) pint of cream I used 4 oz sugar,  1 whole disc of Ibarra chocolate, 1/4 t tartaric acid and 1t espresso powder dissolved in hot water. Set up fine. But again was a bit bitter. The coffee was overwhelming. The texture was nice though.

Experiment 3 - Orange

This one did not set up properly. Shame because the flavor was superb. Here the 1 (US) pint of cream, 4 oz sugar, finely grated zest of 3 oranges in the base and then juice of 1 orange 2T Grand Marnier and 1/8t tartaric acid. Clearly not enough tartaric acid to get the set that I wanted.

Experiment 4 - Kaffir lime/ginger

Again, terrific flavor, Perhaps my favorite. 6 fresh jaffir lime leaves (from tree in garden), a 2 inch chunk of ginger minced finely + 1 (US) pint cream and 4 oz sugar. 1/4t tartaric acid in ginger syrup. Surprisingly didn't set up quite enough, But probably my favorite in terms of flavor.

My local Tom Thumb now has an official cream shortage!

More ceviche thoughts

We are hosting a party in a week or so where we will be making a variety of ceviches (well perhaps technically not), more really "seafood where the proteins have been affected by acid". So by freeing up the approach, we tried some different acids and ingredients. So these are conceptual ceviches rather than the proper dishes.
Also because we wanted a variety, we decided to try several kinds of fish. The upshot of yesterday's experiment was to make the identical base for 2 different kinds of white(ish) fishes and something way out there for the salmon. With help from Chase and Jon at TJ's fish market, the experiment got under way.
We had the dishes for lunch and shared them with our neighbors. The neighbors thought that the dishes could have used more heat, but agreed with us that the fattier amberjack was the right way to go. So, for the party itself, I will take their advice.
I had had a conversation with Chef Gilbert (of Sustenio in San Antonio) and he counseled me against doing the vinegar based approach. However, I am a stubborn old cuss and wanted to try it anyway. It came out very well - not something that could ever be described as ceviche but extremely tasty anyway. I am glad I experimented - these are not dishes you do for the first time at a party!

INGREDIENTS - White Fish
1/2 cup key lime juice
12 oz fish (we used 6 oz bonefish and 6 oz amberjack but made the dishes seperately) 1/4" cubes
1" piece of ginger, finely grated
6 scallions, white and light green thinly sliced
1 habanero - seeded and minced finely
1 small orange bell pepper cut into 1/4" dice
1 small red pepper cut into 1/4" dice
1/2 cup diced (1/4") watermelon
1/4 cup diced (1/4") jicama
1/2 cup cilantro leaves and stalks finely chopped
3T tequila
salt to taste

METHOD - White Fish
Place the cubed bonefish into one bowl, and the amberjack into another. Pour 1/4 cup of lime juice over each, cover with cling wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients in another bowl. Leave to rest also.
When ready drain the fish leaving them slightly moist. Add 1/2 of the mixed ingredients to each fish bowl and mix thoroughly with a stainless spoon.
Server immediately with corn or other chips.

INGREDIENTS - Salmon
6 oz Atlantic salmon - cut into 1/4" cubes (no skin)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 kaffir lime leaf - torn and bruised
1t sesame oil
2 Thai peppers minced finely
3 scallions, white and light green thinly sliced
3T finely minced fennel fronds
3T finely minced fennel bulb
1T red palm oil
1 small red and 1 small yellow sweet pepper, cut into 1/4" dice
2T sake
salt to taste

METHOD - Salmon
Place the salmon in a bowl. Pour on the vinegar and add the kaffir lime leaf. Leave covered in the refrigerator for at least 90 minutes.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and leave to rest.
When ready to serve, drain off the vinegar from the fish and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well and serve with corn chips, fried wontons or other crispy chips.

Simple chicken soup

I have been feeling under the weather - with a cough/cold/sore throat. Unimaginably grumpy - poor Madame. So I thought maybe some chicken soup might help. As you can imagine preprepared chicken soup doesn't do it for a variety of reasons. So I needed to make some. This is an unbelievably simple way of doing it - and surprisingly good given the amount of effort involved. As Madame would say, "the taste to effort ratio makes this worth doing". Not quite as high praise as "we can serve this to people", but still worthwhile. The vegetables and chicken aren't browned, so there is no flavor from caramelization. It's just chicken/aromatics/stock/water. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but the prep time is very short. As you will see from the method you just bung them all in the pot.
Ingredients
1 whole roasting chicken (this one was about 5lbs)
2 medium onions sliced pole to pole
6 medium carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
6 stalks celery roughly chopped
2 Fennel bulbs washed and quartered
3 Kaffir (Thai) lime leaves
3 inches lemon grass cut on the bias into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups (or so) water
1 Chipotle pepper
3" piece of fresh ginger peeled and roughly chopped
Salt/pepper to taste
Method
Clean out the cavity of the chicken and remove the silly pop up timer (if present). Place the whole chicken into a large dutch oven. Sprinkle the flavoring ingredients (except the salt) into the pot, add the liquids. Bring to a simmer over a medium flame and then simmer for at least 90 minutes with the lid on. The chicken will make its own broth while it cooks. If you cook it for longer than 90 minutes (and it does get better with time), then discard the vegetables 1/2 an hour before the end of cooking and put in fresh vegetables. The old vegetables have given everything up so you will need fresh to get them to taste of something.