the tumult of turmeric

new notebook entry over at Licking the Spoon! this round: spring veggie paella! it's v. tasty, so you won't want to miss out~~~!

cocolat

in the midst of a couple of weeks of utter franticness, i'm currently baking a cake to take to the familial gathering tomorrow, which is taking place directly after band practice.

nothing too overtly special about this, right?

i'd be inclined to agree, were it not for the fact that i believe this cake has quite possibly made it completely impossible for me to ever think about making a normal old chocolate cake the same way again.

sure, it's got butter, and sugar, and eggs, and salt, and baking powder, and cake flour, and vanilla...and, of course cocoa. copious amounts of cocoa.

but what does it have that you might not have been expecting?

EARL GREY TEA.

it's to be an earl grey chocolate mousse cake, and if the cake tastes anything like as good as the batter did (which, er, it had better), i fear it may have ruined me on normal chocokeeki for good.

and think about it. it is the ultimate geek cake. seriously. XDXDXD

more to follow later, quite possibly with photos.

soup or sushi?

got a bit of both for you today, and i'll not waste more time apologising for my lack of here-ness. things are mad hectic as usual. go me. XD

there's a new recipe for lentil soup up at Licking the Spoon, though. hope you enjoy it. it's not vegetarian the way i made it, but could easily be altered if you so desire.

also, check out Koo-ki Sushi if you're looking for a most unusual and beautiful chocolate gift for yourself someone. yes, you read that correctly. go look if you don't believe me.

now, off to wreak havoc with my sewing machine, some lentils, and my tax return~~~!*

* = no, not all together. amnae that crazy. yet.

wrath of basil!

new recipe for Drunken Basil Sauce up at Licking the Spoon. a bundle of recipe goodness lately, i am!

now, must finish watching the 2004 Rallye Monte Carlo. the return of Mitsu shall be interesting, but damn if the Evo isn't really, really hideous...o.o;;;

mmm, self-revision!

now playing: "many classic moments. (Vincent de Moor's Budou Vox Mix)" globe.

new rice pudding variant recipe up at Licking the Spoon. don't walk, run!

plans in place

keeki plans are (almost) completely in place. seriously, i'm almost at the end of drawing up an outline for the remaining things i've yet to do for this keeki i'm making (which is due in full on Saturday, 29 November).

the outline is about 2 pages long. as it has been decided that the keeki is to be 3 tiers, with each tier being a different flavour, there are 3 keeki recipes involved. as a result, have been adding together amounts of common ingredients so as to come up with Master Shopping List in order to have No Ingredient Left Behind. so far, so good.

also, it appears that Sugarcraft, Inc. is fast becoming my new best friend. i haven't placed my order with them yet, but if ever you're doing anything involving keeki, candymaking, or myriad other foodstuff craziness (of course, most involving sugar in some way), check them out. page is not the prettiest in the world, but it's very functional and so exhaustive that really, it doesn't need to be pretty. they're located in Ohio, and will apparently ship anywhere in the world.

now, i shall return to my keeki outline. this weekend i plot; next weekend, the actual keekibaking begins. have already done some of the preliminary fussing with getting the keeki together, mostly involving the support plates. cannot go into too much detail now, as overall decorative theme is meant to be a surprise. hee. >D

pumpkin soup, take two

WAHOO! my precioussss pumpkin soup recipe is now posted!

go. experience its exquisite pumpkininess. mere words cannot describe how tasty it is; you must make yourself some and experience it for yourselves! better still, invite friends over and have a soupmaking extravaganza!

(er, pardon me. seem to be a little hyped up. probably a little post-class energy combined with coffee infused with cocoa. lo muy siento. XDXD)

Mlle. Sparkuru!

Keito-chan wrote me the sweetest e-mail talking of how she made salad kaek for her family last night and it went over really well---so well, in fact, that apparently they ate so much they couldn't finish dinner. i'm so excited; this totally made my day. ^-^

have also got a nice big pot of the lovely jasmine tea Fi gave me, and it's a gorgeous day out...

...yay vacation! ^^

fweee!

just in time for summer, i've posted up one of my favourite salad recipes of all time; if you'd like to try your hand at making salad kaek (Thai southern salad), go check out Licking the Spoon right now. don't walk; run. ^^

brake, baby, brake---taking me in with all your charms

currently spinning: "my white noise." blur.

right, then.

who needs the utterly unnecessary remake of The Italian Job, anyway? certainly not i. i can get my Mini (and MINI) fixes elsewhere. aside from having the original on its way to me even as i type this (and i checked---it really did ship out this time), i just found out that this DVD came out here. WEIRD. considering the original Minis weren't really anything like prevalent over here, and hadn't been put out here for decades. i know that people who are into them here (as well as elsewhere) are usually REALLY into them, but still. i've been frequently amazed at some of the things that have come out here, though---i guess this is just one more thing to add to the list. aha! it's Kultur! no wonder! they put out all sorts of random stuff like this---and what's cool is, a lot of it is R1. granted, at this point it doesn't really matter too much for us, but that makes it a little easier and cheaper, and will look slightly better for not having to be converted...^^

also, if i get really desperate, i can always go watch Fresh Gear on TechTV and hope Sumi Das talks about her MINI Cooper S some more. ^-^ and heck, despite how much i really don't care in the least for DiCrappio's mildly retarded younger brother Matt Damon, i think i'd actually prefer to sit through The Bourne Identity if in desperate need of a MINI fix rather than this thing i saw the trailer for. *shivers* yeesh.

(er, and i think we've been watching a little too much TechTV lately. oops. ^^;;;)

also, on a completely unrelated note, new recipe up at Licking The Spoon. enjoy!

in the mouths of history

most of the people i know who are reading this enjoy food, to some extent. and likewise, most of the people i know who are reading this know that i enjoy food a great deal; preparing it, enjoying the smell of it, serving it to others---and eating it, of course.

i also enjoy learning about it, and growing it, and in general finding out all i can about different aspects of it that interest me---in much the same way i end up doing exhaustive and obsessive research into most things i enjoy to any great degree. so, y'know, food geekery. ^^

it seems very likely to me that food is probably as reliable an arbiter of truth as one is likely to find. things political, artistic, spiritual, supernatural, scientific, social---everything can be told in fairly vivid detail through food. while various institutions and individuals may continuously alter various histories concerning people and places and things---it doesn't seem like much thought is ever given to altering mentions of food. food is overlooked as incidental and superfluous---and this is what protects it from such alteration. (i could of course be entirely wrong about this; need to do further research. ^^) but it seems that food, if not entirely truthful, will at the very least be able to tell more about more things with more accuracy than most other historical texts will. one might have an opinion of the food, but the food itself is impartial.

that being said rather awkwardly, probably one of my personal biggest comfort foods is pad-siew. my mom used to make it a lot when i was little, amongst the other things passed down in her family; my dad had taught her to cook it and a handful of other Thai dishes a few years before i was born.

of course, it had to be adapted in order to be made in an American kitchen, particularly at that time. there are of course a whole slew of more authentic options which are fairly widely available now, and thusly much less of a need to substitute ingredients. but still, the thing that's particularly interesting about the Thai approach to cooking is that the philosophy is very adaptable; it uses what's around. it takes other methods of cooking, pulls them into itself, and comes back with something entirely different, and uniquely its own. curry is an excellent example---of course, Thai curries are famous. but so are the Indian curries which made their way to Thailand, which Thai cooks learned from and adapted to their own ends, thusly creating something new, and something uniquely Thai in character.

so the question arises---when is something truly "bastardised"? i don't think adaptation is bastardisation; i think that it's necessary. authenticity is more about the spirit of a cuisine than it is about specific ingredients, barring certain exceptions that become obvious with each instance. a landlocked area is generally not going to be known for its great sea-life-based culinary creations. is it bastardisation if they observe techniques from an island town, adapt them to their needs, and dress their poultry/meat/tofu/vegetables/roots/etc. in it? i really don't think so. of course, this means it's different than what one would get if one travelled to that island town, but that's to be expected. civilisations throughout history haven't all been eating the same thing; there are certainly regional differences to take into account, and even within those, families. generations. individuals. it's not bastardisation; it's variation. according to constraints of ingredient availability, personal preference, and the palates of those who you're serving (and not to mention time and cooking for oneself vs. cooking for multiple people, i.e. CupNoodle vs. something requiring more effort XD).

so complaints regarding bastardisation baffle me---unless it's the spirit of the thing which has been violated. the art of cooking is not one of ingredients; it's of spirit, it's of willingness to adventure into territories unknown. cooking isn't boring at all if you do it right.

all my babbling aside, here's a couple of interesting things i've run across in cursory fits of Googling; haven't gone too far into either, but they do look quite interesting:

and finally, getting back to Thai food---i also found this book, which i desperately need. if it's half the things it describes, i'm quite happily sold. o.o;;;

in conclusion, i'll offer a quick & easy recipe for super-ghetto Thai-style curry. if you've got a few ingredients around, you can pull this together in about as much time as it takes to do a stovetop packet of instant ramen (and i specify stovetop because it's quite obvious that you could microwave it much faster, smartass XD). quick and good, and you can make it as hot or not as you'd like.

TIME REQUIRED: 20-30 minutes, give or take.

INGREDIENTS:

* bit of neutral cooking oil for your skillet
* 1 breast of chicken per person you're cooking for (or shredded beef, or shrimp, or tofu---whatever you'd like)
* variety of frozen veggies. i like bell peppers, peas, corn, squash, okra, onions, mushrooms---most vegetables taste wonderful in curry. broccoli, cauliflower---really, it's up to you! mmm, pea pods!
* curry paste (store-bought or homemade; colour and degree of spicyness up to your delectation---the store-bought ones aren't bad. just make sure to refrigerate them. ^^)
* 1 can of coconut milk (hrrm, can't recall the ounceage on this. a small can, definitely. more if you're doing this for more than just yourself, though. in a pinch, you can substitute cream of coconut mixed with regular cow's milk if necessary. or just use regular cow's milk, although obviously the coconutty elements will be missing.)
* dash of fish sauce (store-bought or homemade; again, your choice---although really, if you're making your own curry paste and your own fish sauce, you probably have no need to read this recipe. XD)
* minced garlic (optional)
* fresh basil (optional)
* the rice of your choice to serve this over (leftover rice makes this even faster, but fresh is always good!)

PREPARATION:

I adore frozen boxes of chicken breasts. They're insanely handy. This is where having a microwave comes in handy---defrosting. One can throw together a meal involving chicken in a matter of moments, and the frozen box lasts for ages; you can use the chicken as you need it, not waste any, and have some always at hand. Frozen shrimp is good this way too---in fact, most familiar protein-laced centerpieces of meals freeze fairly well. Anyrate, if your chicken/meat/tofu is frozen, defrost it before beginning this recipe. Also, if you don't happen to have leftover rice sitting around, you might want to start cooking it before you do anything else. (and if you've got a rice cooker, so much the better!)

Heat a large skillet on med-high heat. If you're using chicken, beef, or tofu that needs cutting into smaller bits, cut it while you're waiting for the pan to heat. Once it's hot, add only enough cooking oil that it puts a nice, thin coating across the bottom of the pan (or less, if using nonstick cookware). Add garlic if you're using it. Add chicken/beef/shrimp. and lid skillet for a few minutes; stir occasionally until browned (or pinked, in the case of the shrimp). If you're using tofu, ignore all that and skip to the next step.

Add coconut milk (or cream of coconut/milk mixture) and curry paste to taste. (start out with a very little bit of curry paste if you're not familiar with it; you can always add more, but you can't really remove it if you've added too much!) Stir until curry/milk mixture is uniform in colour and all paste chunks have been dissolved. Add frozen vegetables. Lid again; allow to simmer for awhile. Turn down heat if necessary; in any case, stir occasionally. If using tofu, add it in and lid the skillet again.

Add just a splash of fish sauce towards the end of cooking; if you're using the fresh basil (and here, it must be fresh---dried basil doesn't do much for it and so i wouldn't even bother if that's all i had here, really), shred it by hand into the skillet and mix in just before you dish the curry onto your rice. If you're using leftover rice, throw that into the skillet with the curry for the last few minutes to heat up. Otherwise, dish the curry onto your rice and enjoy!

GIANT POT OF SOUPY GOODNESS, PART II

last night, i finished off making this week's giant pot o' soup. i'd started it the night before, quite optimistic that i'd get it done in one night (and especially since i'd gotten home early!), but alas, it was not to be. this one takes awhile, but most of it's time you can pretty much ignore it and do something else for, so it's really not so bad. it's a very simple recipe, and it's also quite healthy and very cheap---what could be better?

TIME REQUIRED: Either 1.5 hours or overnight for soaking the peas; your choice. The soup itself will take probably a good 2-3 hours to get to the nice creamy consistency you want, but again---you can ignore it while it simmers away peacefully; it only needs stirring once in awhile. Also, this recipe isn't kidding when it claims to be a giant pot of soup---it'll last the two of us a week, or thereabouts. Divide or multiply to obtain the amount you'd like.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 1 lb. bags of yellow split peas
* 1 large onion (sweet works well here)
* 3 or so stalks of celery
* as many carrots as you feel necessary
* 58 oz. (or thereabouts) of broth of your choice; for the one i made last night, i used beef broth. of the Swanson's 99% fat free/low sodium kind.)
* coarse kosher salt to taste
* a few bay leaves
* sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION

If you've never worked with dried peas (or beans) before, don't worry---it's really not very difficult.

DEALING WITH THE PEAS
The first thing you want to do is sort through the peas, removing any small stones or anything else that doesn't look like it belongs.

Next, you've got two options for soaking the peas. Option one: Place them in a big pot, add a whole bunch of water (I'd say it's not possible to use too much, really; just make sure there's quite a bit more than is necessary to cover the peas), and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let sit undisturbed for an hour. Drain; sort again (if you'd like), rinse, place once more in pot for the actual soup-making.

Option two: Throw the sorted peas into a big pot of water and let soak overnight (or at least 3-4 hours). Drain; sort again (if you'd like), rince, and place once more in pot for the actual soup-making.

Chop the carrots, celery, and onion into smallish chunks and add to pot of peas. Add broth, kosher salt, and bay leaves; turn stove on to moderately high heat; lid pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it reaches a boil, turn heat down just enough so that danger of boiling over is averted; allow to simmer (still lidded), stirring occasionally, until the peas have softened and begun to disintegrate into proper pea-soupiness. If soup is not thick enough, sift in some corn starch and stir vigorously. This will probably take 2 to 3 hours.

Serve hot; enjoy! This goes well with really quick and easy buttermilk biscuits, which i'll give the recipe for below.

Seriously, this is yet another time where I find it difficult to believe prepackaged mixes for these things exist---this is hands down one of the easiest, quickest things I've made outside of standard chocolate chip cookies. The odds are that they'll turn out brilliantly the very first time you make them, and you'll thusly have the recipe permanently embedded in your brain after having experienced such a rush (ahem). And then you'll want to share with all your friends, etc, etc.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 25 minutes. You could very easily throw these together at a moment's notice, provided you've got the ingredients in your house.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 c. all-purpose or cake flour (cake flour will make them lighter and fluffier, but all-purpose works well, too)

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* 3 tsp. baking powder

* 4 tbsp. butter (you can use more or less as you like, but this is a pretty optimal amount)

* just under 1 c. buttermilk (you can easily find powdered buttermilk in the baking goods aisle of your local supermarket; this stuff is brilliant because you can keep it for nigh on forever in your fridge and mix up exactly the amount of buttermilk you need, whenever you need it!)

PREPARATION

Preheat your oven to 450ºF. Next, mix together all dry ingredients thoroughly. Cut butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients; use your hands to work flour and butter in together until butter is thoroughly incorporated into flour mixture (this is similar to making a pie crust, actually).

Add buttermilk to mixture, stirring just until everything is mixed together pretty thoroughly. Form into a rough ball; the dough should be slightly sticky, but if it's too much so, add a tiny bit more flour. If it's too dry (which it won't be), add a tiny bit of water.

Plop that dough ball down on your chosen lightly-floured work surface (countertop, pastry board, etc.) and mush it down into a flat, semi-rectangular shape; do not handle more than is absolutely necessary so that biscuits will be light and fluffy. Stop when the dough reaches a thickness of approximately 3/4-1".

Use a biscuit cutter or handy drinking glass (or cookie cutter, if you'd like star-shapes, etc.) and cut out biscuits. Once you've gotten as many biscuits out of the dough as you can in its present shape, mush the remaining dough back together and continue cutting biscuits until there's no more dough left. Place biscuits on ungreased cookie sheet(s); there should be at least 10 of them, unless you've chosen to make them in a particularly gigantic shape.

Bake for 7-10 minutes (depending on your oven) , or until they've browned quite nicely. Serve and eat as soon as possible after baking for best taste; if you must store leftovers, I wouldn't advise refrigerating as they'll get quite hard.