eG Foodblog: Kerry Beal and Anna N (2012) - Mixing it up in Manitoulin

[Peter Green]

Thanks very much for this, you two. I've enjoyed it a lot, and I've got more ideas to try here at home.

But, with that cotton candy, could you try roti sai mai? We haven't had it for a couple of years, and a piece from you could help me convince Yoonhi that I need a cotton candy machine.

And Serena will back me up (I pay her off big time).

[Kerry Beal]

That puree is making me drool. How forward is the bitterness from the zest/pith?

It's there but very tolerable.

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks very much for this, you two. I've enjoyed it a lot, and I've got more ideas to try here at home.

But, with that cotton candy, could you try roti sai mai? We haven't had it for a couple of years, and a piece from you could help me convince Yoonhi that I need a cotton candy machine.

And Serena will back me up (I pay her off big time).

Peter - do you have any recipes in any books? I have no thai books here and that cotton candy looks a lot more like the cotton candy tahini treat than what we are making. Also recipe for that roti dough.

[Tri2Cook]

That puree is making me drool. How forward is the bitterness from the zest/pith?

It's there but very tolerable.

Exactly what I hoped you'd say. Going to have to try it.

[andiesenji]

I love that Denby teapot. The backstamp is the one used 1950 to 1975 and as it is in Imperial measurement instead of metric, it was probably made prior to 1972.

The Clementine puree looks lovely, can almost taste it.

The ginger Rice Crispy treats sound interesting. I've never used just ginger but have made them with peach/ginger, cooking peach puree / fresh ginger with sugar to make a fairly thick syrupy mass - I think it was originally a recipe for popcorn balls - and it worked quite well. I pressed the mixture into the muffin-tops pans so I had flat round "cakes" and then cut them into quarters. They have to be consumed within a few hours or they do tend to get soggy.

[Peter Green]

Thanks very much for this, you two. I've enjoyed it a lot, and I've got more ideas to try here at home.

But, with that cotton candy, could you try roti sai mai? We haven't had it for a couple of years, and a piece from you could help me convince Yoonhi that I need a cotton candy machine.

And Serena will back me up (I pay her off big time).

Peter - do you have any recipes in any books? I have no thai books here and that cotton candy looks a lot more like the cotton candy tahini treat than what we are making. Also recipe for that roti dough.

Kerry, I'll go through my books and notes tomorrow and get back to you. It's bedtime over here, and I'm getting the evil eye!

Cheers,

peter

[Kerry Beal]

As I am on call again today - Anna is 'drinking alone'!

Smoke 'n Choke. I had some boubon that I smoked one of the last times I was up here - I smoked it a lot! So for this I diluted it 1 part in 3 parts of regular bourbon - Anna still found it a bit smoky.

We don't have any maple syrup - but we do have maple sugar so it's DIY maple syrup.

[prasantrin]

A cookbook with a recipe for roti sai mai would be very unusual!

The roti is like popiah skins. You can use a recipe like this one http://www.houseofan...e-popiah-skins/ .

The cotton candy is different from western-style cotton candy, but more like pashmak (which I think is the cotton candy tahini treat that you mentioned). I doubt it has tahini in it, though, but I think the sugar might be either raw sugar or caramelized. I suspect the making has some sugar pulling involved. That being said, cotton candy would make a fine substitute, especially if you use my patented cotton candy eating method which would give the cotton candy more of the texture pashmak has.

This website has a video of a woman making the roti

http://www.cookingan...n-candy-in.html

Edited May 20, 2012 by prasantrin (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Vietnamese chicken thighs tonight - made a caramel of chinese plank brown sugar, deglaze with water, fish sauce, pepper and a bit of chili paste.

Saute some ginger and shallot.

Saute the thighs. Then cook in the caramel, adding back the ginger and shallot at the last minute.

Serve with scallions and of course the traditional french fries - you know vietnam was a french colony?

Anna made the fries today, cut this am, soaked in water, blanched in oil at 160 C then later cooked in 190 C oil until done. Much tastier than the fries we spent so long making the other day.

[Kerry Beal]

A cookbook with a recipe for roti sai mai would be very unusual!

The roti is like popiah skins. You can use a recipe like this one http://www.houseofan...e-popiah-skins/ .

The cotton candy is different from western-style cotton candy, but more like pashmak (which I think is the cotton candy tahini treat that you mentioned). I doubt it has tahini in it, though, but I think the sugar might be either raw sugar or caramelized. I suspect the making has some sugar pulling involved. That being said, cotton candy would make a fine substitute, especially if you use my patented cotton candy eating method which would give the cotton candy more of the texture pashmak has.

This website has a video of a woman making the roti

http://www.cookingan...n-candy-in.html

Ok so dough is under construction - not sure what we've got around here that would serve as a cast iron griddle short of 1 rather smallish cast iron frying pan that I made my eggs in this morning.

I could probably try making the cotton candy out of palm sugar.

Let's hear about your patented cotton candy eating method please.

[prasantrin]

That can be found in this post http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/113555-travelogue-spirited-away/page__view__findpost__p__1548122

I'd copy it here, but I'd hate to trangress any policies on quoting.

[Kerry Beal]

That can be found in this post http://forums.egulle...ost__p__1548122

I'd copy it here, but I'd hate to trangress any policies on quoting.

Anna might get upset if I lick her candy floss before I put it in the little crepe skin.

[demiglace]

I love sitting back and enjoying the adventures of Kerry and Anna..I am devouring every word and am looking forward to more. Would love to see more to do with the cotton candy..go wild!

[SylviaLovegren]

So normally a blog goes Sunday to Saturday - but as no one is following us - Heidi has given us the option to blog a little longer. It's the long weekend up here - we've got a few more things to clean out of the fridge/freezer before we head home mid week so we'll keep at it for another day or two.

Please keep those questions and comments coming - it keeps us motivated to perform!

Been reading and reading and enjoying and enjoying. Also totally envious. Except for the sweet omelet -- my mom would make them occasionally and while they looked yummy, there was something about the puffiness that made my head ache. Sounds stupid, but it's true. What I did love that she made that was similar but didn't have the headache making puffiness was the Dutch Baby, which is kind of an eggy popover, also baked in the skillet, and served with powdered sugar and lemon juice. Or jam.

So glad you're going to be extended!

[gfweb]

Held over by popular demand!

[Anna N]

I had decided as I sipped my first black coffee that I would have scrambled eggs and mushrooms for breakfast this morning. But as I surfed the web I stumbled across a post in Food 52 for poached scrambled eggs and decided to give it a go.

Apparently I should not attempt photography quite so early in the morning - I apologize for the blurry photos:

Remarkably these eggs worked although draining them well is a challenge. They were soft, fluffy and quite similar to scrambled eggs without that fear of over- or undercooking them.

Still haven't quite sorted out how to link with this new software but if you head over to Food52 and click on genius recipes you will soon find the method.

[Kerry Beal]

Here you go Peter - this one's for you. Thank you Rona for the link to the skins. No pandan available for colour sadly.

One takes a handful of dough and does a little dance to try and keep it under control.

Drop it into the pan.

Splat it out a bit and try to pick up the thick bits - used a spatula to spread out any remaining thick bits.

Cook until it no longer looks raw.

Clean up the stove, the counters, the pans, the scraper...

Take some palm sugar and grind to a powder in your coffee grinder.

Here is what you get.

Into the cotton candy maker.

Roll up a little cotton candy taco.

Feed little cotton candy taco to Anna.

I can see that this would be much more yummy if you had the skins right off the griddle - still a bit crispy - wasn't a huge fan of the almost rubbery ones after sitting in plastic for a while.

[Darienne]

I am so impressed with your doings! This last one is amazing. And I never thought of putting cane or palm sugar into the grinder. Another useful tip to add to the list. Thanks.

[Peter Green]

A cookbook with a recipe for roti sai mai would be very unusual!

The roti is like popiah skins. You can use a recipe like this one http://www.houseofan...e-popiah-skins/ .

The cotton candy is different from western-style cotton candy, but more like pashmak (which I think is the cotton candy tahini treat that you mentioned). I doubt it has tahini in it, though, but I think the sugar might be either raw sugar or caramelized. I suspect the making has some sugar pulling involved. That being said, cotton candy would make a fine substitute, especially if you use my patented cotton candy eating method which would give the cotton candy more of the texture pashmak has.

This website has a video of a woman making the roti

http://www.cookingan...n-candy-in.html

We just used a kid's cotton candy maker for the cotton candy. When Geoff Lindsay did the WGF a few years back, he actually went out to the lower part of Sukhumvit to the Arab quarter and found some "Persian Fairy Floss" http://egullet.org/p1283765 so Prasantrin's probably dead on with the pashmak.

For roti, Yoonhi does a flour (about 2.5 to 3 cups), salt (a pinch), sugar (a bit), a couple of table spoons or so of water, and two of our eggs (they're small here). The main flavour element is in the ghee used for frying.

Peter

P.S. - I've seen her do the compressed cotton candy thing. I wonder though, should that be patented, or copyrighted, or trademarked?

[Peter Green]

Here you go Peter - this one's for you. Thank you Rona for the link to the skins. No pandan available for colour sadly.

One takes a handful of dough and does a little dance to try and keep it under control.

Drop it into the pan.

Splat it out a bit and try to pick up the thick bits - used a spatula to spread out any remaining thick bits.

Cook until it no longer looks raw.

Clean up the stove, the counters, the pans, the scraper...

Take some palm sugar and grind to a powder in your coffee grinder.

Here is what you get.

Into the cotton candy maker.

Roll up a little cotton candy taco.

Feed little cotton candy taco to Anna.

I can see that this would be much more yummy if you had the skins right off the griddle - still a bit crispy - wasn't a huge fan of the almost rubbery ones after sitting in plastic for a while.

I've gotta buy a new cotton candy maker now!

Edited May 21, 2012 by Peter Green (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I've gotta buy a new cotton candy maker now!

Floss makers apparently come in two varieties - if you look at Ideas in Food - they discuss picking up one of the Japanese ones into which you can put whole candies rather than having to use sugar. I think for palm sugar that would be ideal - just chunk it up and away you go!

[prasantrin]

The skins should actually be soft, with no crispiness (sometimes the edges are a little crispy, but the skin is soft and pliable, not rubbery at all). So you have the soft roti with crispy sugar strands. In BKK, when you can find roti sai mai, the roti are usually not made fresh when you buy it, so they should be able to sit for a while without getting hard. They usually stack them as they make them, letting them steam together (keeping them soft).

Not that I've ever made popiah skins, but I suspect your dough might be a little wet.

The palm sugar cotton candy looks awesome! I think I need a cotton candy maker, too!

BTW Peter--when I was looking back for the post with my cotton candy eating method, I noticed that it was I who introduced you to roti sai mai! You can tell Yoonhi she can thank me (or curse me) later!

[Peter Green]

The skins should actually be soft, with no crispiness (sometimes the edges are a little crispy, but the skin is soft and pliable, not rubbery at all). So you have the soft roti with crispy sugar strands. In BKK, when you can find roti sai mai, the roti are usually not made fresh when you buy it, so they should be able to sit for a while without getting hard. They usually stack them as they make them, letting them steam together (keeping them soft).

Not that I've ever made popiah skins, but I suspect your dough might be a little wet.

The palm sugar cotton candy looks awesome! I think I need a cotton candy maker, too!

BTW Peter--when I was looking back for the post with my cotton candy eating method, I noticed that it was I who introduced you to roti sai mai! You can tell Yoonhi she can thank me (or curse me) later!

She thanks, you, don't fear.

BTW - I think the description of a "cotton candy taco" is an award winning menu item in the making!

[gfweb]

better yet, a savory cotton candy taco

[Kerry Beal]

better yet, a savory cotton candy taco

If I could just successfully get the cotton candy based on the foie gras recipe to work - I'd be half way there!