banh mi venice makes awesome fresh spring rolls with shrimp, rice noodle, bean sprouts, lettuce, and mint with hoisin almond butter dipping sauce. m thought we could do that at home and after months of asking me to make them, she took matters into her own hands, ordered the noodles and rice paper wrappers from amazon, and we bought all of the veggies today. she even made almond butter from scratch for the homemade hoisin sauce.
here are some other websites she consulted:
our third day of cooking indian food (specifically from the Phaidon India cookbook). the sauce for the kofta was amazing even though it separated. we saved it by whisking cornstarch into yogurt and incorporating it into the not-quite-warm sauce.
m made homemade salad dressing for dinner again:
m decided to make dorie greenspan’s mediterranean yogurt cake and the best part was mixing the sugar with the orange zest to create orange sugar.
trying out something new: m asks for arroz con pollo. i make arroz con pollo within the week. i’ll let you know how that turns out.
after seeing her on mind of a chef and for baby x’s love of bananas, i’m attempting banana pudding today.
(((why are my comments not working? ok, here’s the recipe in the post body…)))
“pudding” is made and cooling in the fridge. i don’t think we had “real” powdered sugar but i created medium-soft peaks regardless. and i only had 7/8 of a cup. bottom line: pudding is crazy sweet and needs the crumb and crust for balance.
We went to Sunnin with LCR last week and all of us devoured the cabbage salad. We agreed that we could probably make it at home. Our Lebanese cookbook didn’t have the recipe, so I pieced one together from around the web.
We Are Not Foodies
Harmony a la Carte
Spark Recipes
n.b., i shredded the cabbage with the coarse shredder KA attachment and it truly shredded it instead of cutting it into thin strips. it doesn’t look like sunnin’s salad, but shredded means it’s easier to eat with a spoon.
i should also try to emulsify the dressing instead of placing all of the ingredients on the salad individually. sunnin’s version was definitely oilier. mine could stand to be a bit oilier with just a bit more salt.
Braising is one of our favorite ways to bring out the texture and flavor of winter squash. With ginger, garlic, soy, and mirin (rice wine), the Chinese flavors in this braise make for a surprisingly versatile accompaniment to any main dish.
Saveur’s Soy-Braised Kabocha Squash
serves 6
Ingredients
2 tbsp. canola oil
1⁄2″ piece ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, minced, plus more for garnish
1⁄4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. mirin
1 tbsp. sugar
1⁄2 medium kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1″x4″ wedges
Instructions
Heat oil in 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic and scallions, and cook until fragrant, about 1–2 minutes. Add stock, soy sauce, mirin and sugar; bring to a simmer. Add squash and cook, turning once, until softened, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until tender, turning once to evenly glaze, about 15 minutes more.
caramelized banana upside down cake
hmmm, i’m becoming quite the baker. m thought it could do with a tad less salt. rj and i thought the salt was perfect.
m suggested we make lemon bars again using our lemons. this recipe rocks and the crust is perfect.
