Tag Archives: lemongrass

Reinvented

Posted on by

11

Hello everyone! In my last post I asked what you guys would like to see in my blog/would you be interested in seeing things from me beyond the realms of food. I used to cover more things on the blog, but somehow as life got busier I stopped frequently capturing life in front of me. I remember pausing at a detail in my outfit that I thought was beautiful and feeling the inclination to share. Or being down on the ground and looking up just to see what it looked like to see things from that perspective–and snapping a picture of it. I’m still curious in that sense, but don’t think to capture it as often. Sometimes I go back and forth between thinking: it’s silly to think those things are important enough to capture, it’s meaningful/meaningless, or why not just enjoy? C’est la vie. It’s true. For right now though, it’s important to me again.

What would I like to be in focus?

The plants, the deteriorated posts, or the other side of the Hudson River?

Whenever I go to the market I like to walk around and find things I’ve never heard/seen of before.

One day I stumbled across Siberian Kale.

Kale is a great winter vegetable, and the more it’s been kissed by a frost the sweeter it is.

Here are some more seasonal foods that I’ve prepared in the kitchen recently using recipes from a book I reviewed on here awhile ago, “Thrive Foods” by Brendan Brazier.

Mashed Kabocha Squash with Toasted Coconut

Toasting the coconut shreds is so key for this recipe. It’s an extremely delicious that you may have to approach with willpower as to not to eat the entire batch!

Dandelion Salad with Sundried Tomatoes and Lentil Dressing

Dandelion greens are not something I usually pick up, but that was what drew me to this recipe. It was a new way to try various flavors together, and well… it had me had sun-dried tomatoes as well. I also found myself pouring the lentil dressing on to other things.

Continue reading →

When Something Ancient is New to Me

Posted on by

23

First off, I want to thank you for voting for me for the first challenge of Project Food Blog! I was able to advance to the next round, and let me tell you… waiting for the results felt like how someone might feel while waiting next to the phone hoping that someone special would call! Also, congratulations to all of the other bloggers who made it to this challenge! The entries were such a great reminder as to why I love doing this. With that let’s jump right to it, shall we?

The next challenge called for tackling a classic dish from another culture. Now which cuisine would I choose was the question. I knew that I wanted to make something totally new to me, but that I’d still enjoy of course. That’s when my curiosity about Indonesian food arose. I have never had Indonesian food, but while reading up about it I found out some very interesting things! Like most countries, its history has had a great influence on its cuisine. “Indonesia’s indigenous techniques and ingredients merge with influences from India, the Middle East, China and Europe. And then there are the New World products brought by Spanish and Portuguese traders long before the Dutch colonized the islands.” All of the other cuisines I already enjoy! I knew I had made a good choice.

With this challenge I decided to stick to the traditions of Indonesia, by using the protein components as condiments for rice. A lot of westerners find Asian foods to be very spicy because they don’t use the meats, poultry, or seafood in the traditional way. Moreover, since I’m a vegetarian I wanted to use an ingredient that was still true to the culture: tempeh. Many people know that ingredients like tofu or tempeh are hard to flavor. I also got to use some ingredients that I had never cooked with before like lemongrass and galanggal.

I knew that tackling the condiment dishes would be a challenge especially since I was using tempeh, but I just went ahead and made a meal out of it. So what’s on the menu?

Urap – cooked vegetables with grated coconut

Ayam Panggang Kecap – barbecued chicken in sweet soy sauce (I made my own sweet soy sauce using this simple recipe)

Ayam Panggang Klaten – chicken in aromatic nut sauce

Nasi Ayam Nanas – pineapple chicken rice

Nasi Uduk – rice cooked in coconut milk

*For all of the recipes that called for chicken I substituted in tempeh instead.

First step: go to the Asian market to find exotic ingredients!

Hanging out with one of my best friends and her niece officially made it an adventure.

Into the cart they go.

The trick to getting flavorful tempeh is to let it marinate.

I let mine marinate overnight, and I also decided to prep the seasonings the night before. Make sure you’ve got a mortar and pestle, or food processor on hand for making the seasonings.

Rice is a staple in Indonesian cuisine, and cooked in coconut milk makes it extra special.

Next up, the veggies for the salad.

Found some of the funkiest carrots I've ever seen.

Mustn't forget the bamboo shoots.

New to me: an actual stalk of lemongrass.

The pineapple chicken rice recipe called for a bruised stalk of lemongrass. All that means is that you want to smash it with the flat blade of a cleaver or heavy knife to release the aromatic oils.

Also used galanggal (laos) for the first time as well.

Galanggal looks like a combination of ginger root and a turmeric finger. After some hours of prepping and cooking, my special guest arrived. That’s one of the great things about these challenges is that I can’t imagine not sharing these things with someone else; be it my words, pictures, or food!

The beautiful and very aromatic spread, and little Matilda peeking in the top corner.

He had an interview right after so we dubbed this his "good luck lunch".

Rice cooked in coconut milk served with these condiments: tempeh in aromatic nut sauce and barbecued tempeh in a sweet soy sauce

Cooked vegetables with grated coconut.

All together now + the pineapple tempeh rice.

I don’t have anything to compare this to since this was my first time trying Indonesian food, but I definitely want to explore more! There was such an array of flavors, yet everything went wonderfully well together. There were those aspects of things tasting very fresh, and there was also that smoky and dry quality to some dishes as well. More importantly, the tempeh was a success! My favorite dish was the “chicken” in aromatic nut sauce.

So what were my thoughts on this challenge? It really made me think of the process of doing things. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of a recipe’s name. In each of the dishes there was the step of making the seasonings out of scratch, which truly brought out the incredible qualities of freshly ground spices. While I was actually cooking I couldn’t help but feel relaxed; despite the nervousness I may have felt with the thought of having a special guest come over, “oh my gosh, the challenge”, and trying a completely foreign cuisine (that could end up tasting bad, goodness forbid). That sentence alone makes me feel anxious. But I’d like to think that it was all of the wonderful aromas floating about in the kitchen that were therapeutic for me.

With that, I leave you all with a successful adventure in my culinary endeavors! Don’t forget to vote for me here, starting 6 AM Pacific Time September 27th (tomorrow!) through 6 PM Pacific Time September 30th.

Oh Happy Day

Posted on by

37

Before I say anything in this post I just want to give a warm welcome to some new readers! I am so glad that you all have found my blog and may it bring a smile to your face. So if you’re a reader and haven’t said hello, please don’t be shy. I love discovering new blogs and learning more about all the interesting folks out there! So let’s all dive right in, shall we?

Leftover pasta + manchego

Simply stated, I am a lover of cheese.

One of my best friends surprised me with a little Valentine gift!
Crispy, milky, and deliciously sweet.

Now that we’re on the topic of chocolate, and I happen to be sitting on a throne made of decadent chocolate, it’s only natural to share!

3400 Phinney Hazelnut Crunch

Wow! Can’t quite recall when the last time was that I bit into a milk chocolate bar with such a great flavor. The crunchy hazelnut, the sweet milky chocolate, and the subtle salty twist won me over with the first bite.

Coconut Curry milk chocolate

Stained wrapper

Wonderfully complex. The curry flavor wasn’t just from the curry powder, but rather a blend of coriander, turmeric, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, paprika, red pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. So you can imagine…

More leftovers!

It’s amazing what one can do with leftovers. I used the rest of the angel hair pasta for this dish. I sauteed some mushrooms with onions and then simmered them in a tomato sauce with balsamic vinegar. Using the rest of the sage and pumpkin seed crust mix I made awhile ago, I dredged some tofu in it and baked it till it was nice and crispy on the outside. I also tossed in some pine nuts and the very very last of the sage and pumpkin seed mix.

Delicious!

Now I ALWAYS pack snacks for on-the-go, because you never know when hunger may strike!

More spicy black bean burger goodness.

I only have one bean burger left! This one I had with roasted red pepper, onions, ketchup, cilantro, pepper jelly, and melted manchego.

I got home from my night class and I just wanted something comforting so I made a cup of hot cocoa with creamy, thick almond milk.

With a warm cranberry Heart Thrive topped with coconut butter.

The last of the manchego put to great use!

I made a sandwich on this delicious bread (has dried cranberries, sprouted grains, and various nuts and seeds). I filled it with melted manchego, pepper jelly, roasted red pepper, onions, and sweet basil. I also decided to sprinkle on some nutritional yeast on the kale.

Close up was in order.

Then it was time to take my dad to airport.

It's not goodbye, just see you later!

I came home, relaxed, and got ready for a date!

We went to his favorite place... a little Vietnamese restaurant.

The woman already knew his order!

A big bowl of vegetarian pho.

I’m usually not a fan of brothy soups, I prefer thick purees. I tried his soup though and I would definitely order it for myself next time I go there. I thought it was really cool that the plate full of herbs, sprouts, and lime wedges were to rip apart and put in the soup; as much or as little as you’d like because not everyone’s tastes are the same.

I ordered fried tofu in a sweet and spicy lemongrass sauce with steamed rice.

The place may seem like a hole in a wall, but lots of times those restaurants have the best food! There’s a place down the street actually that serves Korean food and I swear the owner is a mother to everyone. If you’re sick she’ll give you extra helpings. These places seem so cozy that you could eat there alone and just hang out for hours. As for the date, it went well, but no romantic sparks. However, I’m going to keep hanging out with him because I think he’s a good friend and you never know what could happen!

Tiramisu for breakfast anyone?

I tried to recreate one of my favorite desserts in oatmeal form after seeing all of Katie’s creative recipes on her blog. Seriously, this little lady is endlessly creative and she has so much positive energy I can feel it through her words! I cooked my oatmeal in chocolate protein powder and instant coffee. Since I didn’t have mascarpone I subbed in some cream cheese, and added that while the oats were cooking. I topped it with coconut butter, more coffee granules, and a lady finger. Not quite like tiramisu but definitely reminiscent; delicious nonetheless!

On this sunny and re-energizing day I decided to tackle some recipes I had been eyeing for quite some time.

Those recipes, my dears, come straight from The Conscious Cook. I took a break from this book for awhile because I missed making up my own things.

Tomato bisque--another recipe of Chef Tal's that calls for cashew cream.

And focaccia with caramelized onions.

For the focaccia I opted to do 50/50 unbleached all-purpose flour and whole wheat. The dough ended up being enough for two large loaves. One for me and one for my roommate! Might I also add… I’m just going to say it flat out: this was my favorite meal all week and I don’t think anything can top it. Nope, can’t even try. The tomato soup was thick and full of flavors from the herbs and bay leaf it simmered with. I ripped off another piece of the bread to scoop up the very last drops of my soup. Foodgasm at it’s finest. And a pat on the back for me… on both sides! Seriously, I’ve forgotten how amazing and satisfying homemade bread is. As I was kneading it, I was reminded of how much fun the process is.

Speaking of being proud of myself, I came across a very inspiring post that Maggie wrote about believing. Click here to check it out. Her message really resonated with me and I felt it throughout the whole day as the sun was giving off it’s glorious and comforting rays. Wow, it’s not even Friday and I’m already celebrating! I hope you’re all in the same boat. Where should we sail?