Live Blogging Thai Cooking with my girls

This is mostly a place holder until about 7 PM Israel time. (Noon Eastern)
We're making Thai food.
On the menu Ho Mok Pla, Sate with crispy rice noodles and Khao niao mamuang!

7:15 PM Israel Time
We're just getting things together!

Here's the rice for the Khao niao mamnaug, it's been soaking for the last few hours.

 7:45 PM Here are our rice noodles! They're going to be the crispy base for the sate.

 The girls are helping, clean the fish and prepare the mixture for the Ho Mok Pla.

8:00 The fish is being finely diced. It will get mixed with eggs, coconut milk, green curry paste, red chili, and some lime zest as well as a squeeze of lime. That's being done by Aderet (a.k.a. #2of8)

8:25 The sate sauce is put mixed up and Emunah (a.k.a. #3of8) is cutting up the chicken to be marinated. The sweetened coconut milk is done for the dessert. I'm heating the oil for crisping the noodles.

8:45 The first test batch of Ho Mok Pla (not a Klingon name) is out! A smashing success for those who like their food extra spicy. Which is everyone except my wife. Really tasty with a nice hot finish.

 

9:45 Sorry for no updates. Blogspot isn't behaving.  

Okay, it's the next morning. Blogger kept crashing Firefox, I even tried Chrome and it wasn't working. 

Here are the pictures from the rest of the evening.

Here's the sate grilling away. The chicken ended up beautifully moist and the peanut sauce had a nice tang with out undertones of coconut. The peanut flavor was also wonderfully subtle. I forgot to scatter crushed peanuts on top which would have given it a nice textural crunch though.

All in all it was pretty successful. I need to work on the crispy fried rice noodles, they were a bit too oily. I should make them in advance next time so they have more time drain. Also, we were using the Wok to steam the fish custard, so I used a flat bottomed sauce pan, so I don't know if that was an issue.

The dessert was pretty delicious.  Khao niao mamuang was wonderful, the rice wasn't overly sweet and the coconut came through, the mango really matched up with, complimenting the flavor. I think the only thing I changed would have been to chop up some mint and fold it through the rice just before serving.

Here's how we made the Ho Mok Pla:

8 oz of a delicate white fish fillet. We used St. Peter's fish, but sole or flounder should be good.

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 eggs

2 Tbsp green Thai curry (good especially if you can't find Kaffir lime leaves)

1 Lime, both the zest and the juice

10 Basil leaves. (If you can get Thai basil, that's best. You can also use Coriander/Cilantro or regular fresh basil leaves)

Something to steam it all in. We used baking parchment, but it should be done in banana leaves. You can also use shot glasses or ramekins.

Make sure there is no skin or bones left on the fish, then dice it finely. In a separate bowl mix all the other ingredients together. I'd say taste it first. If you like it hotter dice up a couple red chilies and add them in. These will also add nice red flecks which will look nice. Mix the egg stuff into the fish. If you're going to do it in banana leaves or parchment, take a circle, put a large dollop in the middle, put a basil leaf or sprig of cilantro on top, fold over and staple it shut. Or use toothpicks. Or pins. The other option is to fill shot glasses or ramekins. 

You'll need a steamer at this point. If you don't have a one then you can improvise, a wok with a wire trivet worked for us. Fill with water to an inch or two bellow the bottom of what ever you're using and cover, bring to a fast boil. Put the packages or cups on the rack and let steam for 5 minutes. 

If you've done it in cups then just let them cool down, garnish with a fresh bit of basil/cilantro and serve with a spoon. If you've gone the package route then open up and plate it. Be careful, these things have a powerful kick. I ate a half dozen they were that good. Wonderful lime flavor, soft custardy texture, a hint of coconut and basil all tied together with the heat. We plated it with a few slices of home made pickled cucumber to add some acidity to the mix and help cool the heat.

Enjoy!

Smoke. Lemon. Chicken. Tasty.

We had a big family gathering this Shabbos. My In-Laws have been her for the last week and a half so my Sister-In-Law and family joined us for the weekend. We had, baby included, 21 people and one dog in attendance. I'm happy that I had most of the week off and was able to do some serious cooking. I normally do some chicken roasting for Shabbos but I wanted to try something a bit different to wow the crowd. The Lemon burgers were such a hit that I thought I'd do another simple lemon recipe. This one needs a grill though. You can probably do it with a gas grill as well, but I have a charcoal grill so that's what I used.

You'll need:
A grill
Charcoal (not a lot, I used about half of what I'd normally use when grilling, since you want a lower heat)
Wood chips (I took from our apple tree, but hickory or oak would be fine)
Fresh rosemary

2 whole chickens (or one or more depending on how many people you want to feed and size of grill)
3 large lemons ( 1 and 1/2 per chicken)
Handful of Kosher salt

Salt the outside and inside of the chickens and slice two of the lemons thinly and one lemon cut in half. The lemon that you've cut in half squeeze into the cavity of the chicken and then stuff it inside.

Now, out to the grill. Lay out your coals and light them, when the flames have gone down and the coals are glowing take a piece of foil and lay it over the top.

Place your wood chips and rosemary on the foil.

Replace the grill and cover it with lemon slices.

Place the chickens on the lemons. I did one breast down and one back down. I think the breast down came out a bit better. So, that's what I'll suggest. Cover the chickens with the remaining lemon slices.

Put the cover on the grill and come back an hour later to make sure that it's not too hot and things aren't burning. Otherwise cover it back up for another 2 hours. Check again, then give it another hour until the coals are cool.

Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before serving. Take the lemon out of the cavity, it should be soft enough to spread like butter. After you've carved the birds, squeeze the lemon out over it for some extra zing. Hand out chunks of rind on the plates as well. Revel in the adoration of your Mother-in-Law. Smoking the chicken at a low heat keeps it very moist and you get a nice smokey flavor to counter the acidic zing of the lemon.

You got your cheesecake in my cupcake! You got your cupcake on my cheesecake!

Is it a cupcake? Is it a cheesecake? No! It's a cupcake stuffed with cheesecake! These are amazingly easy to make and even easier to swallow down. Thanks to AmHam for suggesting them.

You'll need:

Cheesecake filling

8 oz. (225g) cream cheese (room temperature)

1/3 cup (65g) white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Chocolate coating

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (regular, not dutched)

1 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup oil

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

Cupcake tins and liners

Set the oven to 350F(175F)

The inside:

Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg

Mush everything together really well. It should be light yellow and smooth. I used a fork, but an electric hand mixer should be just fine. Cover and put in the refrigerator then get to work on the outside.

Mix together the dry ingredients:

Mix together the wet ingredients:

Make a well in dry stuff:

Add the wet stuff!

Put 'em all together and stir it all up until smooth and creamy. Go get your muffin tin and liners and let's get these puppies together. Fill the cups 2/3 full with chocolate.

Once you've gotten through your chocolate get out the cheesecake filling and put a big dollop in the middle of each cup on top of the chocolate. Try to get it as even and round as possible, but unlike what your kids might tell you, it doesn't change the way it tastes if it's kind of messy. It'll go into the oven for 25 minutes at which point the cheesecake should be set, if not give it another couple minutes.

As you can see, we need a bit of practice keeping the cheesecake even. Very subtle taste, but nice creamy middle with the rich outside.

Lokshen. The Other Kugel

So, earlier in the week we discussed Potato kugel. That one's pretty savory, which means that it doesn't hang out in seedy dive bars or something like that. This one is a bit sweeter. First of all, I should let you in on the secret. Lokshen, or Lukshen is Yiddish for Noodles. So yes, this is a big chunk of noodle pudding. It's also good for people who can't have potatoes for whatever reason. On the other hand, people with gluten issues might want to skip this one.

What you'll need:
1 lb. noodles - Egg noodles are best, about half and half broad and thin.
2 apples, peeled and cored
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
5 eggs

Preheat your oven to 375F(190C)

So, you've got your noodles. Get them into a pot of salted, boiling water. Ignore their screams and pleas for mercy, they're just noodles.

While they're bubbling away, prep your apples. Peel, core and chop into small chunks.

When the noodles are al dente take them off the fire and drain them, then transfer to mixing bowl.

Let them cool for a few minute and assemble your other ingredients.

Add the apples and raisins. You might try pineapple or pears as well. I'd think dried cranberries might be an interesting addition as well. And add in your spices. If you don't like cinnamon or nutmeg try ginger instead.

Starting mixing slowly and follow that with the sugar.

And now, it's egg time.

You need to do these one at a time, since the noodles are still hot. Beat an egg.

Slowly incorporate it in with the noodles. Do this one at a time until the mixture is nice and creamy. Depending on the size of your eggs you may need one less or one more. Before you do the last egg, pour the oil into your casserole dish and swirl it around to cover the sides then putting it in the oven to heat up.

After it's had a few minutes to get hot, take the casserole dish out and pour the oil into the noodles and mix it through. Then pour the whole lot back into the dish.

Then it's back into the oven for an hour. It should come out a dark golden brown and full of delicious flavor.

Feed it to your friends and family. They will appreciate your mad kitchen skills.

A block of Potatoes - The One about the Kugel

You may remember my post from yesterday about Gribenes. Well, one of the byproducts of making Gribenes is the rendered chicken fat, a.k.a. schmaltz. If you didn't know, that stuff is also darn tasty and gives a fine, fine flavor to whatever it's used in. So, since we had some schmaltz left over we're going to use it to add some flavor to the potato kugel. A bit of a historical note on the term, in Yiddish it means square, though the original German is more like ball. The dish, at one time was round, but these days, with some exceptions, are mostly made in square/rectangular pans. On a side note, the game Knucklebones in Yiddish is called Kugelach, and is played with 5 bronze cubes. Well, enough with the history and on to the food.

You'll need:
6 good sized potatoes
1 large onion
1/2 cup oil
2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon crushed black pepper
2 eggs
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C)

Peel them!

Then grate them. I do it with a hand grater and half on the thick grate and half on the thin.
Now, the trick to making a good potato kugel, and latkes for that matter is to squeeze out all the liquid from the grated potatoes. This is a bit messy, so do it over the sink.

Now, chop your onion, not to finely and saute it in the schmaltz from the gribenes. I told you we'd be using it, now's your chance to kick this up a notch. If you haven't got spare schmaltz, use olive oil, or if you want to make it dairy some butter.

When the onions are translucent and starting to brown dump them into the grated potatoes and mix in the oil.

Add the salt.

And the pepper. I'd personally add more, since I like mine really sharp, but I've been out voted.

Now, add the eggs.

Make sure to remove the shells before doing so, beating and then adding to the mix.

Make sure it's well incorporated and dump into an oiled casserole dish and into the oven. It should be about two inches thick.

 

Let it cook about 50 minutes at 375F (190C) uncovered until deep golden brown.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins a.ka. Cupcakes for Dinner

Yes, it's been a while since I've blogged some tasty foodie goodness. Mostly because of other things going on in life, as mentioned in a previous post, but also because a rash of flu attacks in the family have kept us from getting all the necessary sleep. Anyway, I'm back and I've brought muffins. These aren't your regular sweet muffins, no they're all sorts of savory. These are the kind of muffins you can bring home to mom and serve as a side with your main. They're actually pretty quick and easy and decidedly dairy.

1/2 cup of crushed cooked pumpkin (you can cheat and use puree)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp honey
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese.

Preheat the oven to 380F (190C). Mix the wet ingredients, pumpkin, sour cream, eggs, oil, honey and milk.

 Mix the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and grated cheese.

 Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix quickly with a fork. It should still be lumpy.

And then put it in your muffin tin and into the oven for 20 minutes.

Wait and you'll be rewarded with golden muffiny goodness.

Enjoy!