ache-y throat craves chocolate.

its been unbearably cold in southern california as of late.  for us that means windy rainy weather in the mid to upper 50s (degrees fahrenheit for my foreign readers).  in any case, this means only one thing: every other s.o.b. on the street is sick.  and i think for  the last week, i've been harboring these flu germs and my body has been putting up a valiant fight for my good health.  the war however, is not over.

today i experienced a throat ache and coughyness (yes, that is a technical term.)  feeling rather fatigued i wanted my usual dark chocolate pick me up.  but congestion and chocolate are sworn enemies, what to do, what to do?

what i did!

cold proof cocoa

cayenne hot chocolate - serves 1

ingredients

1 packet instant hot chocolate, preferably a rich/dark chocolate flavor

1 square of a bar of good dark chocolate, finely grated

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

7 oz water.

1) boil water. i used a tea kettle.

2) in a mug combine the cayenne pepper, hot chocolate mix, and grated chocolate.

3) add water to mug, making sure to stir as you do.  keep stirring until all ingredients are dissolved. voila!

the chili adds just enough bite to the chocolate to keep it from coating your throat and making you feel stuffier - i feel better already! my inspiration? the film chocolat in which chocolate proves a remedy for everything. who'd have thunk? me, that's who!

overtime means fish.

that's right. i said i'd make it up to you! marathooooon.

i first had penang salmon at saladang song.  salmon is a rather unfishy fish and the sweet creamy coconut-y goodness that is thai penang sauce complements it beautifully.  I also like that fact that salmon  tastes best when cooked medium rare to rare as a fillet rather than chunked like a fish curry, which allows me to concentrate on making the sauce exquisite without added vegetables.  i am of the type where if i go to a restaurant...indian or thai, with creamy currys, i'll ladle out the sauce and eat it with rice.  i love the meat or the vegetables but the sauce on its own is heaven and i love this dish because its an excuse to make a big unadulterated pot of the stuff!

it's orange!
penang salmon - serves 2

ingredients
2 salmon steaks (fillets)

2 tbsp penang curry paste (any asian market will have this, try to look for one without shrimp or fish)
3/4 cup chicken/veggie stock
1/2 cup white wine (for my non-sharabis, just add the same amount of stock)
1 cup coconut milk
half red or yellow bell pepper julienne sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar

salt to taste

white pepper to taste

1. combine curry paste and chicken stock in a stockpot and bring to a boil. 

2. lower heat and add white wine. simmer for 2 minutes, then whisk in all but 2 tbsp of coconut milk. 

3.  return to a boil, add soy sauce and sugar, salt to taste if needed, then simmer until thickened (about 15 minutes). 

4. season salmon steaks with salt and white pepper. bring a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil to smoke point, (you should see little wisps of smoke coming off the oil) then add the salmon, being careful not to move it once placed. after 2-3 minutes you should flip the steaks carefully, and sear the other side as well.  

5.  cover the salmon steaks with penang sauce and let them braise in the sauce for about 8-10 minutes (until medium rare). flip the steaks a few times while braising but be careful not to let them flake.

6.  serve the salmon covered liberally in the penang sauce with a drizzle of the remaining coconut milk and the julienned bell pepper.  if you have it, chopped kaffir lime leaves go great on the salmon as garnish.

penang is best served with steaming jasmine rice.  and, whatever wine you used to cook with will go great alongside it!  oh cook's note on this, i find that pinot grigio works best with this dish...i used chardonnay once and i had to cook the sauce extra long to get the bitter alcohol taste out of the sauce.  i love simple to cook but complex-ly flavored dishes like this one because you feel like a pro after making them!  go ahead, give yourself a reason to pat yourself on the back.  you know you want to!

foooooool. fool!

فول!!

fool muddamas is arabic for breakfast in egypt.  and it is delicious. fava beans simmered with onions, garlic, a bit of cumin and hot pepper. they serve it on the streets of cairo encased in warm pita bread, alongside slow-boiled creamy pinkish eggs and lettuce. i tried it first in berkeley during my elementary arabic class' potluck.  my beautiful teacher yasmin brought it as her contribution, with fresh lemon slices and fragrant parsley as a garnish. it's been years now and though i've tried it at restaurants (carousel in hollywood comes to mind) today was the first time i've made it. it's amazingly economical to make, my can of fava beans from my local middle eastern market was a mere 59 cents. and yet its really hearty and really hits the spot for something so simple to make!

it's fool, foo.

fool muddamas - serves 4

ingredients

1 15 oz can of fava beans

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon

1 medium sized yellow onion, diced. (save the skin)

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp black pepper

salt to taste

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

1.  start with a medium sized pot, and about a tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.  add the onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, and cumin.  sautee until the onion are soft and turning brown.

2. add the can of fava beans, juice and all.  add the pepper and taste before adding the salt (as the beans are usually salted).  add the juice of half the lemon and stir, mashing about half the beans. allow to simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce is thick.

3. serve hot, garnished with the juice of the remaining half of the lemon and the chopped parsley and fresh pita bread roasted over the burner lightly.

why save that onion skin?  in egypt they slow boil their eggs in barely simmering water colored by the skin of a brown onion.  the eggs are cooked overnight, and served sliced with the fool and pita.  

i updated the lettuce garnish by making a mediterranean chopped salad with a red wine vinaigrette - with toasted chickpeas, canned crushed olives, chopped romaine lettuce, feta cheese, sliced pepperoncini, chopped red bell pepper, grape tomatoes and red onion.  

it works as a delicious brunch, and the fool and pita really is the perfect breakfast for a long day.  or you could stick it in a food processor and roughly blend it and serve it as a dip to rival hummus (that's right, RIVAL HUMMUS!) please try it.  i know its' name is rather silly in english but you're a fool if you don't love it. hardee-har-har. 

oh, you love me.

snacky shrimp snack.

so sarah was hungry.  the moment was right before the salmon was cooked to a perfect pink and the lentils were tender.  the shopping trip had been trés successful.  but our stomach's demanded sustenance, an apéritif if you will, a palate opener.  i had tomatoes. i had goat cheese. fresh basil.  frozen cooked shrimp.  

here it is.

shrimp caprese - make as many as you want!

ingredients

cooked frozen shrimp - fully thawed

fresh basil leaves

crumbled goat cheese

sliced roma tomatoes

balsamic vinegar

kosher salt

1. tomato down first. 

2. then basil.

3. then shrimp.

4. sprinkle with goat cheese.

5. pinch of salt.

6. drizzle of balsamic vinegar. 

7. mmm...

i apologize good.

i love you guys. and i'm sorry.  i have no real excuses. some that come to mind, if you press me are grad school apps, failed christmas recipes, laziness.  but but but...i have goodies to make up for it, and i hope you all will forgive me!

to tell you the truth, i was anti-cooking for awhile, after my christmas candies and desserts for the most part turned out sub-par.  once i got back to school, i forced myself to cook to gain stride against the blow to my confidence...but by that time, i felt that i owed you guys more than 1 or 2 recipes.  so here they are.  today I VOW to make my absence up to you. (look at me, pretending that i have a following...i must really be into myself)

in any case, i'd like to begin with something sweet.  my birthday cake this year. there's a story behind this one. and it begins with this AMAZING ice cream (courtesy GOURMET magazine + my free hand with the liquor), which to brush my shoulder off, turned out brilliant.

breakfast ice cream

piloncillo ice cream -makes about 5 cups

ingredients

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 2/3 cups whole milk

1 2/3 cups heavy cream

4 oz piloncillo (mexican loaf sugar)

2 whole cloves

2 whole large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup turbinado sugar or light brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 tbsp brandy

-you will need an ice cream maker for this recipe-

1. slowly bring milk and cream to a simmer with piloncillo, cloves, and cinnamon in a heavy medium saucepan over medium low heat then mash piloncillo into liquid until dissolved.

2. whisk together whole eggs, yolks and turbinado sugar in a bowl.  slowly add the hot cream mixture, making sure to keep whisking.  return to sauce pan (KEEP WHISKING), cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the custard coats the back of the spoon.  (if you end up with a weird lumpy mixture like the eggs became scrambled just run in through a fine sieve)

3.  after sieving the mixture, add the vanilla mixture and the brandy then cool it in an ice water bath (put the bowl of custard inside a larger bowl filled with water and ice) for 20 minutes.  cool in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. 

 

4. freeze cooled custard in the ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer until firm, at least 2 hours.

i wish i had a picture of this stuff, it was indulgent yet familiar.  my friend upon trying it said it reminded him of what oatmeal would taste like if it was bad for you! in any case, i decided to make it for my birthday after reading about it in the December 2007 issue of Gourmet and knew i had to make a cake that would be understated enough to highlight this ice cream.  i chose one of ina garten's recipe's off the food network's website.  apple cake tatin! sounded delicious and looked easy enough to make. 

mom to the rescue birthday cake

ina garten's apple cake "tatin" - serves 8

ingredients

6 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced into 12 slices

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

confectioner's sugar

1. preheat the over to 350 degrees.  butter a 9 inch glass pie dish and arrange the apples in the dish, cut side down.

2. combine 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small sauce pan and cook over high heat until it turns in a clear syrup.  DO NOT let it turn even the least bit brown.  pour evenly over the apple slices.

3. cream the butter and remaining sugar with a whisk, until light and fluffy. beat in the eggs one at a time.  add the sour cream, lemon zest, vanilla, and mix until combined.  sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the butter mixture, mixing until combined.

4.  pour the cake batter evenly over the apple slices and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.  cool for 15 minutes and invert the cake onto a platter.  serve at room temperature dusted with confectioner's sugar.

normally i'd tell you the story of the cake first, but let's face it, y'all are here for the food.  but for those who might care - here it is.  so it's the day before my birthday dinner, and my family had to be at my uncle's house for an annual college reunion of my father's friends.  i was rushing the cake, and ina garten's recipe called for the sugar syrup to be an amber color...and in my rush i burnt the sugar syrup, didn't taste it and added it to the apples. lo and behold, the cake was tainted with this awful acrid burnt sugar taste.  i was tired...we'd been cooking all day and my nerves were shot.  my darling mother, the gem of a person she is, REBAKED this cake to perfection.  it was the belle of the ball, overstepped only by my creamy piloncillo goodness.  

please note the sad ucla colored candles.  very representative of this year, i must say.  here's to me at 22 years (and one month today!), my mother who i love to pieces, and all of you for sticking around, although i've been less than diligent about this thing.  look forward to more great eats...because i promise to bring them to you real sooner.