Frog Porridge / Collard Greens / Hot and Sour Thai Soup

Blog Post & Recipe: Frog Porridge 田鸡粥

We usually call this 'tin gai'(田鸡) in Cantonese, which simply translates into paddy field chicken.

Blog Post & Recipe: Collard Greens

I had just about given up and resigned to the fact that I was going to be one of those people who hated collards. But then my mom intervened. She swore that my cousin's husband, Chad had the best recipe ever. She said it was fabulous...made with wine, etc!

Blog Post & Recipe: Hot and Sour Thai Soup Recipe

Tom Yum Thai soup has a unique taste. It's both spicy and sour and loaded with amazing flavors such as lemongrass, galangal, fresh kaffir limes leaves and coconut milk. For this version, I combined fresh water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, tamarind, red chili powder, baby squid and mackerel. You could also add shrimp or chicken. And of course, the soup is easy to make vegetarian as well.

Sweet Potato US Biscuits with Ham, Mustard, & Honey / Iced Eggnog / Spicy Sour Curry with Seabass & Mixed Veggies

Recipe: Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, Mustard, and Honey

Spread bottom half of each biscuit with mustard, then top each with sliced ham and second half of biscuit. Serve with honey.

Blog Post & Recipe: iced eggnog

Refrigerate overnight before serving and serve on ice (if you are in the hot summer like we are) with a generous grating of fresh nutmeg.

Blog Post & Recipe: spicy sour curry with seabass and mixed veggies

This recipe is for sour curry form central of Thailand. There is another version of sour curry or in another name called "yellow curry" which is from southern of Thailand. The flavour is bold, more spicy and more sour. I will post a recipe later.

Goose with Apples & Calvados / Asam Laksa / Tofu with Roasted Chili Paste

Blog Post & Recipe: Christmas Goose with Apples and Calvados

The goose was stuffed with apple pieces marinated in Calvados, then surrounded with apple wedges before roasting.

Blog Post & Recipe: Asam Laksa

Let me present you the 7th most delicious food in the world, the Penang Asam Laksa a noodle dish flavoured with flaked mackerel, tamarind, pineapple and lots of different spices. It is sour, spicy and definitely addictive.

Blog Post & Recipe: Tofu with Roasted Chili Paste | เต้าหู้น้ำพริกเผา

Then you chop a few herbs and start cooking – just sauté the garlic, add the roasted chili paste, then add the tofu and allow it to soak up the wonderfully spicy and sweet flavors of the chili paste. At the last minute, add some green onions and even cilantro if you want. By that time, the rice is generally done and you’re ready to eat.

Hot Buttered Rum / Chai Concentrate / Suki Dry Noodles (สุกี้ยากี้แห้ง) /

Blog Post & Recipe: The Wednesday Tipple – Hot Buttered Rum

Mix the butter, sugar and cinnamon together and drop into the bottom of a mug. Add the rum, then top up with hot water

Blog Post & Recipe: Chai Concentrate

I’ve always boiled the spices directly in my milk, however I decided to try making a concentrated version with water. A concentrate is much more flexible, as you can mix it with milk or soy/nut milk.

Blog Post & Recipe: Suki Dry Noodles | สุกี้ยากี้แห้ง

Suki dry is composed of the same ingredients as Thai-style sukiyaki. You have bean thread noodles, which are now the base of the dish instead of being a supplement to the broth. You have thinly-sliced beef, pork, or whatever other protein you wish. You have an egg or two. And you have tons of vegetables.

Trimming Globe Artichokes / Fennel Gratin / Pad Thai

Blog Post: Turning (Trimming) Globe Artichokes

Judy Rogers said it before me: choose artichokes as you would flowers- make sure they look freshly picked and young, still about to blossom rather than spent and loosely formed. Hold the petal head in your hand and squeeze. It should sound crunchy. And feel heavy for its size.

Blog Post & Recipe: Fennel Gratin

Fennel is the most wonderfully versatile vegetable. You can slice raw fennel thin and serve it with a little shaved Parmesan for a crisp salad. Or you can plop it in the oven with a little balsamic and roast it until it gets sweetly caramelized. Fennel has a special affinity for Parmesan, and in this simple gratin fennel wedges are tossed with breadcrumbs, Mozzarella and Parm, and baked until golden brown.

Blog Posts & Recipe: Pad Thai Recipe (ผัดไทย) - Part Five: Making Pad Thai (This is the final part of the series. The other four parts are linked in the post.)

The immediate goal of this series is to facilitate you in creating the version of Pad Thai which I like, using the ingredients and method commonly employed by street vendors in Bangkok, my hometown. But that's just to get you started; it's not the ultimate goal. Eventually, you will want to get to a place where you can move the noodles around in the pan with the spatulas and know just how much longer it will take for them to cook, how often to stir them, whether the heat is too low or the evaporation rate is too high, how to season it, etc.

In other words, the ultimate goal is for you to know how to make Pad Thai which is different from how to follow a Pad Thai recipe.

Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam) / Agedashi Tofu / Mussaman beef curry

Blog Post & Recipe: Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)

Som Tam is the epitome of the perfect blends of hot, sour, salty, and sweet—the iconic tastes of Thai cuisine.

Blog Post & Recipe: just back from japan

It’s a tender, silky tofu with a crisp fried coating in a small pool of dashi-based broth. There would be grated ginger, daikon radish, and bonito flakes served on top.

Recipe: agedashi tofu

Blog Post & Recipe: Mussaman beef curry

The preparation began with a method I’ve never come across before: an initial two hour cooking of the meat with just coconut milk, cinnamon bark and black cardamom, the last of which lent a smoky, almost funky aroma. The fattiness of the coconut milk kept the meat moist, while the liquid reduced and took on a nutty flavour and hue. With about 45 minutes to go, cubed potatoes, fish sauce, tamarind, palm sugar and a curry paste were added.

Stir Fried Dried Cuttlefish (Ojinguh Chae Bokkeum) / Daikon Sweet Pickles / Somtam

Recipe: Stir Fried Dried Cuttlefish (Ojinguh Chae Bokkeum)

A staple side dish in most Korean kitchens and lunchboxes. Takes less than 5 minutes to make and will stay good for a long time. Adjust the amount of red chili paste and sugar depending on how spicy and sweet you like it.

Blog Post & Recipe: Takuwan-Japanese Daikon Sweet Pickles

Making the takuwan yellow comes from the artisan method or old fashioned method of making takuwan in Japan, this longer method can be seen on Takuan/Japanese Pickled Daikon: Basic Recipe by the Shizuoka Gourmet. Mrs. Miyake's recipe is sweet and takes a lot less time.

Blog Post & Recipe: Pok, pok, pok… Somtam!

Somtam comes in many variations depending on the region and personal preferences. In Isaan, or northeastern Thailand, where somtam is often called tam bak hung, plaa raa (fermented fish sauce)—no problem for me in small doses but often an acquired taste for many others—is often added in a papaya salad. The central Thai version often sees the addition of items such as salted egg, grilled pork collar or plaa haeng (ikan bilis, or dried anchovies).

Zucchini & Tomato Flatbread Pizza / Chickpeas with Sage / Stir Fried Chinese Chives

Blog Post & Recipe: Farmer’s Market Flatbread Pizza

I shredded the zucchini, sauteed it with olive oil, and spread it on a toasted flatbread. It got kind of, almost, creamy? Obviously it was a little weird. But totally good.

Blog Post & Recipe: Chickpeas with sage

Using sage from the patio, walnuts from the freezer, leftover chickpeas and butter, I made this instead. It is crunchy, its delicious, it has the subtle fragrance of roasted butter (what the French call beurre noisette). Did you ever try fried sage leaves? You will eat these crispy and dainty gems like popcorn.

Blog Post & Recipe: Stir Fried Chinese Chives | ผัดดอกกุ้ยช่าย

This stir fry of Chinese chives and shrimp is a perfect example. It's made from only four ingredients and literally takes five minutes to cook, but it tastes fantastic. The flavor comes from the Chinese chives, also known as garlic chives because of their very present garlic flavor. To retain as much of this flavor as possible, these chives are stir fried quickly over super high heat for only a minute or two.

Beetroot, Peach & Radicchio Salad + Artichoke & Silverbeet Risotto / Panang Curry with Beef / China Chilo

Blog Post & Recipe: Passionate by design

Red salad (beetroot, peach and radicchio) ... Artichoke and silverbeet risotto

Blog Post & Recipe: Panang Curry with Beef | แกงพะแนงเนื้อ

I followed the general protocol for most Thai curries - heat the thicker part of the coconut milk over medium heat until it just starts to bubble and separate, add the curry paste, cook the meat, add more coconut milk and/or water, and adjust the seasonings.

Blog Post & Recipe: China Chilo

In The Spirit of Cookery: A Popular Treatise on the History, Science, Practical, Ethical and Medical Import of Culinary Art, (1895) by J.L.W. Thudicum, this was described as “a ragout of green peas and mutton, stewed with some onions, lettuce, butter and spices, to be served with rice boiled in broth and moistened with butter. This is a most excellent dish, and is most conveniently eaten with a dessertspoon.’

Green Mango & Papaya Salad / Braised Beef & Burdock / Fesenjān With Chicken

Blog Post & Recipe: Green Mango and Papaya Salad | ยำมะม่วงมะละกอ

I don't think this Thai-inspired salad is that far off from what you might expect to find in Thailand. I simply mixed the shredded mango and papaya with basil and mint, added some freshly roasted cashews, and then drizzled the typical Thai salad dressing of fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chilis over top.

Blog Post & Recipe: Braised Beef and Burdock

In this braise, the iron rich burdock not only provides a texture contrast, it also adds an earthy flavor that goes well with the miso. The tomatoes and wine contribute sweetness and a fruity aroma and that balances out the earth-tones. Lastly, the collagen rich shank produces meltingly tender morsels of meat that adds richness and body to the stew.

Blog Post & Recipe: Fesenjān With Chicken

Fesenjān is one of those many great Iranian dishes that becoming so popular among my family. The deliciousness, nutty, fruity, sweet and slightly tangy flavor is tantalizing. One might think that this dish require times to prepare. It just the oposite, and though it sounds exotic, ingredient such as pomegranate molases, or pomegranate syrup are readily available in most grocery store. You can use any poultry for this dish, I suppose any meat will be delicious as well.

Garlic Dill Pickles / Caramelised Onion Flatbread / Thai Green Curry

Blog Post & Recipe: In a Pickle: How to Make Garlic Dill Pickles

Homemade pickles aren't complicated, but there are a few things you should know before getting started.

5 Things to Know Before Pickling ... The Recipe

Blog Post & Recipe: De Scott Evans -- Caramelized Onion Flatbread

Cover the pastry with the onion mixture and slide into the oven for about 15 minutes until the pastry is fully cooked and the top is golden. Remove from the oven, cut into squares and scatter the fresh marjoram leaves over the top of the flatbread.

Blog Post & Recipe: Thai Green Curry

When you’re shopping for your herbs, there are a few classics to look out for, but this recipe is really open to anything fresh and green. I picked out the best looking stuff at the market and ended up with basil, coriander, lemongrass, scallion, and jalapeno. Like most Thai curries, this one also has ginger, garlic, coriander seed, and black pepper. I’ve also added a little fennel seed to bring out the bright fresh flavor of the greens. For me this dish is all about the sauce, so I like to use steamed jasmine rice, and vegetables with a subtle flavor that won’t overwhelm the herbs

Vintage Recipes / Green Curry Fried Rice / How to Store Vegetables/Fruit Without Plastic

Blog Post & Recipes: Vintage Recipes

BOLOGNA CUPS WITH PEAS

Blog Post & Recipe: Green Curry Fried Rice | ข้าวผัดแกงเขียวหวานไก่

It's made in a very similar manner to green curry, starting with a good quality curry paste and coconut milk and then letting the other ingredients simmer in this fragrant sauce. The wonderful thing about green curry fried rice, though, is that the rice actually soaks up all of this sauce so that every bite you take is infused with rich, spicy green curry.

Article: How to Store Vegetables/Fruit Without Plastic [ via ]

How to Store Vegetables without Plastic
Always remove any tight bands from your vegetables or at least loosen them to allow them to breathe.
Artichokes‐ place in an airtight container sealed, with light moisture.
Asparagus‐ place them loosely in a glass or bowl upright with water at room temperature. (Will keep for a week outside the fridge)
Avocados‐ place in a paper bag at room temp. To speed up their ripening‐ place an apple in the bag with them.
Arugula‐ arugula, like lettuce, should not stay wet!
... etc etc

Thai Green Curry Paste & Tilapia Baked in Thai Green Curry / Korma Chicken Curry / Collared Beef

Blog Post & Recipe: Thai Green Curry Paste (The blogger goes on to post a recipe for Tilapia Baked in Thai Green Curry)

Thai curry pastes freeze well so I like to divide the curry paste into several 2 tablespoon portions and freeze them and that way whenever I fell like a Thai curry I can just pull one out of the freezer and be ready to go.

Blog Post & Recipe: Korma Chicken Curry Recipe {via]

Instead of coconut milk, you can also use natural yoghurt as the cream in this curry - the recipe I adapted this dish from suggests the addition of some fresh lime juice to thick coconut milk which results in your very own coconut yoghurt which was extremely delicious I must say.

Blog Post & Recipe: Old English Beef

Simply put, it is a thin piece of flank steak, tightly rolled up, wrapped in cheesecloth, tied tightly, and simmered for hours in a broth of water infused with fragrant spices. After this, the meat, encased in its cheesecloth shroud, is removed from its bath and transferred to the refrigerator, where it is pressed with a heavy weight until it compresses and chills

COLLARED BEEF

Ginger Tofu with Bok Choy / Fermented Refrigerator Pickles / Thai Green Curry with Vegetables & Tofu

Blog Post & Recipe: Ginger Tofu with Pak Choi [via]

Gently prick a few holes in the tofu with a toothpick (this will help the marinade to soak into it, giving better flavour), then cut into bite-size cubes.

Blog Post & Recipe: Cookin' It Old School

There’s just something about taking a vegetable or a fresh crisp piece of fruit, stuffing it in a jar and boiling the hell out of it that just makes my heart sing.

Fermented Refrigerator Pickles

Blog Post & Recipe: Thai Green Curry with Vegetables and Tofu. (The blogger goes on to post a recipe for Green Curry Tofu Cakes)

Look for a green curry paste without fish sauce in your supermarket or Asian grocery store. But if you do have access to the ingredients and a little extra time, you’ll be surprised how quickly you can make your own curry paste, which will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks or in the freezer for 6 months.

A Tasty Liver Recipe / 5 Thai Recipes / Quiche Lorraine

Blog Post & Recipe: Tasty Liver Recipe - كبده بدبس الرمان و الكزبره

Wash the fresh Liver with water and drain. Add white vinegar to it, mix well. This step is done to get rid of any unpleasant odor.

Article & Recipes: Sweet And Spicy Flavors Of Northern Thailand

Working my way through each recipe, I found myself adding similar ingredients each time: oyster sauce, fish sauce, chili, coconut sugar and lime.

Get recipes for Kao Soi (Noodle Curry), Spicy Papaya Salad, Pad Thai (Thai Fried Noodles), Stir-Fried Chicken With Basil Leaves, and Massaman Curry.

Blog Post & Recipe: How to cook perfect quiche lorraine

The Good Food recipe also commits the dreadful sin of including cheese in its filling – to be fair, this is a foodie shibboleth with some legs, if Elizabeth David was able to observe back in 1960, that, although Parisian and English cooks often add Gruyère, "Lorrainers will tell you that this is not the true quiche lorraine, whose history goes back at least as far as the sixteenth century."

Thai Coriander & Pepper Spice / Avocado Mango Dunburi / Roasted Pumpkin & Chickpea Soup

Recipe: Spices - Thai Coriander and Pepper

A basic Thai flavour to use on its own or make into a green curry paste.

Blog Post & Recipe: Avocado Mango Donburi (Japanese Rice Bowl), aka Avo-don

Then a thought occurred to me—what if I applied the same concept that Chef Mashita used for coming up with the California roll, to maguro-don?

Blog Post & Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup

Plus it’s easy to make. You are using only five ingredients, yet producing a fabulous flavour. There’s practically no chopping involved and while there’s some cooking in the oven you hardly have to do anything.

Pumpkin Seed Mole / Hot Soba / Lemongrass and Chili Relish

Blog Post & Recipe: Pumpkin Seed Mole | Mole Verde

In Oaxaca, green mole (mole verde) is one of the seven famous moles. What makes this one different is not just the lack of chocolate, but also the fresh herbs, which give it a fabulous green color.

Blog Post & Recipe: Dinner Tonight: Hot Soba

While I have a deep abiding love for noodles of all kinds, soba has never exactly worked for me at home. Part of the issue is that most recipes call for the soba to be cooked and then cooled. Obviously I'm doing something wrong, because they come out slinky and watery, and seem to repel flavor. Considering I suck at cold soba, I figured I should give hot soba a try.

Blog Post & Recipe: Old Fashioned Lemongrass and Chili Relish (naam phrik dtakhrai ; น้ำพริกตะไคร้)

Chili relishes are made by pounding together chilies with salty ingredients, such as fermented shrimp paste, salt or dry shrimp, to which various proteins are added, the mix is than further seasoned to sour, salty and sweet flavors. Burst with tastes, chili relishes are served in a central bowl and are eaten along with rice and a wide variety of condiments, sweet pork, grilled fish, salted meat and vegetables picked up fresh from the garden.

Thai Three-Flavoured Sauce / Steamed Pork Buns / Baked Endives with Ham

Blog Post & Recipe: Thai Three-Flavored Sauce: The Newbie Sauce That Can Be Used I Many Dishes

The three flavors here refer to sweet, sour and salty.

Blog Post & Recipe: Steamed Pork Buns

Making these pork buns actually requires a fair amount of steps, but none of it is that hard and you can do a lot of it days in advance.

Blog Post & Recipe: Baked Endives with Ham.

Wrap each endive in a piece of ham and place, seam down, in the baking dish. Spoon the béchamel over the endives. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake the endives for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has browned.

Nam Prik Pao / Which Rack Should I Put My Stone On? / Fennel, Cucumber, Seafood Salad

Blog Post: Nam Prik Pao: Thai Chilli Jam - Secret Ingredient in Thai Spicy Stir-Fries, Salads, Etc

Nam Prik Pao is jam-like in many ways.

Blog Post: The Pizza Lab: Which Rack Should I Put My Stone On?

This week I decided to explore a bit of the thermodynamics of pizza stone placement. No recipe, but I hope you find it interesting nonetheless.

Blog Post & Recipe: Fennel, Cucumber, Seafood Salad

I’m having a fennel month and not because I have a glut in my garden either. I did have some that grew into five foot high triffids and I didn’t do anything with it so for my penance for not looking after and harvesting my fennel I have to buy it at $2.50 a bulb.

Spicy Green Tomato & Apple Chutney / Ignore Expiration Dates / FOODday picks 12 favorite recipes of 2010

Blog Post & Recipe: A proper chutney

It’s finally dawning on me that our capacity for sweet preserves is fairly limited, so I knew this year’s project would have to be savory.

English-style Spicy Green Tomato & Apple Chutney

Article: Ignore Expiration Dates

... we should focus our efforts on what really matters to our health—not spoilage bacteria, which are fairly docile, but their malevolent counterparts: disease-causing pathogens ... which infect the food we eat not because it's old but as a result of unsanitary conditions at factories or elsewhere along the supply chain.

Blog Post & Recipes: FOODday picks 12 favorite recipes of 2010

Storm Large's Roasted Vegetables With Toasty Quinoa, Tandoori Fish With Mango and Baby Spinach Salad, Margarita Bars, Bourbon Caramel Sauce, Spicy Chicken Thighs With Apricots and Olives, Grilled Sweet Corn on the Cob With Salty Coconut Cream, Southwestern Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Potato and Corn Salad, Endive, Fennel and Apple Slaw, Potato-Asparagus Soup, Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler, Easy Oven-Roasted Ribs, Thai Chicken Soup