eG Foodblog: C. sapidus - Crabs, Borscht, and Fish Sauce

[C. sapidus]

Thanks for showing us that chicken.  The timing was fortuitous.  My sister called last night around dinner time (as she often does) and asked if I had any ideas of what she could do with lemongrass.  Within minutes she had the instructions for your chicken dish and she later told me it was a big success!

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That is wonderful - how did we live before the internet?

[C. sapidus]

Enough about refrigerators - a delightful package showed up today (half-price at Amazon). Our first enameled cast iron pot - I can't wait to try a braise, maybe even some no-knead bread.

Great pot - I looooooove my Staub (much prefer it to the LC pot I own). Are we going to see it in action? It's the perfect time of year for a rich, slow braise, a slow-simmered curry, a pot roast ... okay, now I have to go and plan something like this for dinner, I'm making myself hungry. Actually, that chicken dish of yours looks pretty scrummy, and I've just defrosted me some chicken ...

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Hey, you made me hungry, too, and I just ate. The Staub will probably see its first action next week. So, what did you do with your chicken?

[C. sapidus]

Ah, cafeteria food.  Let's hope your experience is better than mine!

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That was hilarious! I have always had a soft spot for cafeteria food. Our cafeteria is pretty good - they had crab cakes yesterday.

[C. sapidus]

I've not thought of doing a penang curry with shrimp.  How was the combo?

I love shrimp with Panang curry. My favorite way to make it is to make the curry, stir-fry the shrimp separately, and then mix everything together. I have talked up Austin's Panang beef curry (clickety) before - it is the bomb, and good with shrimp, too.

And, BTW, leftover larb makes a terrific breakfast or snack.  How was the balance of lime and fish sauce?  What's your preferred balance?

The larb was good, but I prefer it a bit juicier. I like a healthy dose of chiles, lime, and fish sauce, with just enough sugar to round out the taste.

I'm hesitant to admit this - I have eaten a ton of larb, but I've never made it. Unfortunately, I am the only one in the family that likes larb. I probably need to make it for lunch on the weekend - that is when I get to play with food.

[C. sapidus]

holy moly, is your kitchen always that spotless?? It looks like a show kitchen!! I really like the look of the cabinets and the layout- great use of a small'ish space!

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little ms foodie: Thank you! Of course our kitchen is always spotless - NOT! Nah, it's a working kitchen. We do try to keep flat surfaces as clear as possible. Here is a lousy picture of what the kitchen looked like when I came home this evening - a bit more lived-in.

The pictures upthread were taken several months ago, when all of the major renovation work was finished.

[C. sapidus]

Lovely day, lovely meals, VERY interesting conversations.

rachel,

aimless rambler emeritus

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Thank you, rachel. You may be emeritus, but I love your writing whether it strays from the path or not.

[Dejah]

Bruce: Thanks for the lemongrass chicken! I made it for supper tonight, and altho' I used yellow bell peppers and it wasn't as pretty as yours, it was delicious! I've copied the "instructions" onto my recipe folder as it's a definite make again.

I like the looks of the shrimp Penang curry - might be on the table tomorrow night. I fully agree that shrimp paste must be roasted IN FOIL OUTSIDE if possible.

It's great having you plan my meals for me.

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, what's your go-to cookbook?  Easiest to navigate, which will please the family, etc.?)

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Hmm, I don't really have one go-to cookbook. The boys would be delighted if we cooked from All About Braising and The Barbecue Bible every day. Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland has incredibly clear directions, and I love Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop. Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet has a ton of family favorites, as does Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table. I have high hopes for several recent acquisitions that are sitting on my nightstand.

The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diane Kennedy and Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni are sentimental favorites – those were two of my first cookbooks.

[snowangel]

The larb was good, but I prefer it a bit juicier. I like a healthy dose of chiles, lime, and fish sauce, with just enough sugar to round out the taste.

I'm hesitant to admit this - I have eaten a ton of larb, but I've never made it. Unfortunately, I am the only one in the family that likes larb. I probably need to make it for lunch on the weekend - that is when I get to play with food.

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I, too, like my larb juicy. And, I'm rather horrified that you haven't made any yet and contributed to the most worthy Larb topic. Come to think of it, it's been a while since I larbed. Maybe time for another batch. The teenager loves it as an after-school snack. It's just handy to have larb in the fridge.

[C. sapidus]

Bruce: Thanks for the lemongrass chicken! I made it for supper tonight, and altho' I used yellow bell peppers and it wasn't as pretty as yours, it was delicious! I've copied the "instructions" onto my recipe folder as it's a definite make again.

Dejah: Excellent! Credit to Andrea Nguyen for the recipe, of course.

I like the looks of the shrimp Penang curry - might be on the table tomorrow night. I fully agree that shrimp paste must be roasted IN FOIL OUTSIDE if possible.

Yes, I would love to have Majra's outdoor wok setup (click) from your Chinese eats at home, what did we cook? (click) thread. Might be a little rough in your climate, though.

It's great having you plan my meals for me. 

No problem - as long as you keep enlightening me about Chinese food.

[C. sapidus]

I'm rather horrified that you haven't made any yet and contributed to the most worthy Larb topic.  Come to think of it, it's been a while since I larbed.  Maybe time for another batch.  The teenager loves it as an after-school snack.  It's just handy to have larb in the fridge.

When I larb, the larb topic will be the first place I'll go. Twenty-one pages of posts about larb - who woulda thunk it.

[C. sapidus]

First, I hope you recover soon.

Thanks - I'm feeling better already.

When you are up and about again, I'd be interested in learning more basics from you about using the Asian ingredients you buy, whether in dishes gleaned from recipes or meals you invent, based on what's at hand.  Thinking back to what you said about eG members inspiring each other's cooking, I am looking for a few lessons and new sources for different kinds of meals.

I have found the Asian approach to vegetables particularly rewarding. Often, vegetables are prepared simply to contrast with a more highly-seasoned main course. Quickly seared with garlic, ginger, and/or chilies, and doused in umami-laden seasonings such as fish sauce and/or fermented bean paste, veggies have a satisfying meaty/smoky flavor. Hmm, I'm not sure that I addressed your question. Can you clarify?

I usually learn a new cuisine by finding a good cookbook or two and trying some recipes. With time and experience, cooking becomes less rote and more natural. I hope to achieve that exalted state some day, but I also want to keep trying new things.

Second, I've been out to Frederick only once, but I recall brown, harvested fields passed along the way.  While it has become a bedroom community for Washington, D.C. and has long been the home to a small liberal arts college that has recently gone co-ed, it's also still a place for farmers, no?  So, if there's anything you can share about the agricultural nature of your spot in Maryland...

I took some evening classes at Hood College – interesting experience being a male minority.

Pick-your-own and direct-market fruit and vegetable farms are a huge benefit of living in Frederick. In the summer and fall, a short drive yields strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, and apples of life-altering quality. A brief sojourn in the fields can provide more sweet strawberries or tart blueberries than even our fruit-loving boys can finish. Typically, you get a basket, pick the fruit, and pay by the weight of your basket. A standard joke is that children should be weighed before and after picking.

More information: Maryland Direct Farm Market Association

We also have a few berry-producing brambles that grow wild in the woods behind our house. Mrs. Crab braves poison ivy to reap the harvest.

Orchard, fruit, corn, dairy, and vegetable farming predominate in Frederick County. We frequent two farmer’s markets in the summer. A small market is held on Tuesdays at lunchtime, and a much larger farmer’s market is held on Saturday mornings. The latter features wonderful sweet corn, peaches, apples, pears, tomatoes, vegetables, dairy products, meats, baked goods (Stone Hearth Bakery), and freshly-squeezed lemonade (the lemons are not local, I’m sure). Several plant vendors sell interesting varieties of potted vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals. I bought several types of basil there last summer. Fall activities at local farms include corn mazes, hay rides, and picking pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. Last year, we each carved a pumpkin – I’ll try to dig up the picture if anyone is interested.

Maryland has a fledgling wine industry, and several vineyards are located nearby. The vineyards frequently hold festivals with music, food, and wine tastings. A wine-loving friend volunteers at one of the vineyards, and once invited me to help with the harvest. The owners fed us a simple but delicious lunch (with wine, of course), and then we braved yellowjackets to harvest the grapes. I even helped punch down the skins on a tub of fermenting wine.

Finally, breakfast habits.  Omnivore?

Yup, omnivore. I’ve never understood not eating certain foods just because it’s morning. Weekday mornings are too rushed for cooking, so I usually have some ready-made protein - nuts or leftovers – to avoid the mid-morning munchies at work. I breakfast late on weekends, frequently doing terrible things to innocent omelets.

Coffee with cream and sugar serves as breakfast more mornings than I care to admit.

[SheenaGreena]

haven't read the entire post yet, but I just want to say that its great to see a fellow maryland posting. Yes I am from maryland (not massachusetts) and I miss it terribly. I also visit frederick once in a great while, because it is close to where my grandparents live - hagerstown. I'm sure you have heard of it. How about odenton? That's where my parents live and it is right next to Fort Meade.

[MarketStEl]

"eternal cucumbers"

So what makes those beauties eternal?

[C. sapidus]

"eternal cucumbers"

So what makes those beauties eternal?

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Priscilla's comment - a proper noun, even (added underline).

I always appreciate the Eternal Cucumbers on your dinner posts, so it was extra nice to see them being so carefully prepped here.

[C. sapidus]

haven't read the entire post yet, but I just want to say that its great to see a fellow maryland posting.  Yes I am from maryland (not massachusetts) and I miss it terribly.  I also visit frederick once in a great while, because it is close to where my grandparents live - hagerstown.  I'm sure you have heard of it.  How about odenton?  That's where my parents live and it is right next to Fort Meade.

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SheenaGeena: Sure, we know Hagerstown. We have been there many times, especially since the outlet malls opened up. I have been to Fort Meade (interesting place), but not Odenton (although I've heard the name).

Who or what dragged you off to Boston?

[Pontormo]

When you are up and about again, I'd be interested in learning more basics from you about using the Asian ingredients you buy, whether in dishes gleaned from recipes or meals you invent, based on what's at hand.  Thinking back to what you said about eG members inspiring each other's cooking, I am looking for a few lessons and new sources for different kinds of meals.

I have found the Asian approach to vegetables particularly rewarding. Often, vegetables are prepared simply to contrast with a more highly-seasoned main course. Quickly seared with garlic, ginger, and/or chilies, and doused in umami-laden seasonings such as fish sauce and/or fermented bean paste, veggies have a satisfying meaty/smoky flavor. Hmm, I'm not sure that I addressed your question. Can you clarify?

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No need. What I meant was that I'd like to see demonstrations of your cooking process and an inventory of the (for me, often) unfamiliar ingredients you're using--in other words, more than the lovely finished dish you document in the Dinner thread. Your shrimp demonstration is exactly the kind of thing I meant!!!

Well, since I am a creature of habit, on to oatmeal! Marion Nestle (Nutrition prof at Columbia) says we make too big a deal out of breakfast. If all you want in the morning is coffee, that's fine.

ET correct spelling, sorry docsconz.

Edited January 20, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[nakji]

Nakji: Thank you! I look forward to learning the differences between northern and southern Vietnamese food. Please remember to bring your camera on the trip. Mai Pham (Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table) seems have more recipes from southern Vietnam, but Andrea Nguyen’s family lived in the north as well as the south. I haven't finished reading through Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, but the recipes seem to reflect influences from both regions.

Guppymo started a Vietnamese Food thread (clickety), and posted an amazing array of home-cooked Vietnamese meals. I would love to reactivate that thread – perhaps we can start posting there when we cook Vietnamese food?

[]Smacks head[/]

D'uh. I totally forgot that thread!

It's great to come back online (shakes fist furiously at ISP - NetNam) and see your kitchen. Mine really doesn't measure up!

I remember my Dad cooked exclusively Southern Chinese and Indian food when I was growing up, (Mum hardly cooked) and snotty child that I was, I refused to eat any of it. How do your kids handle your experiments in Asian cuisine? With enthusiasm? Or do they fill up on cucumbers?

[Majra]

[Ling]

Mmmmm, good.

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Your "non-purist" omelette sure looks good to me!

[C. sapidus]

Good evening, and apologies for the long delay in posting. It was one of those days. Breakfast was coffee and the last banana.

For lunch, we ate at the cafeteria while discussing house addition plans with our architect. Mrs. Crab had white chicken chili and bottled water – 7 WW points. I had a tuna sandwich on rye with Swiss cheese, potato gratin, and a salad containing spinach, mixed greens, mock crab, green olives, and Ken’s blue cheese dressing.

Next: fried rice Friday.

[C. sapidus]

Eje has Taco Tuesday, we have Fried Rice Friday. Very loosely based on the Thai fried rice recipe in Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, fried rice is a great way to use up odds and ends in the refrigerator. Besides, the boys love it. Mrs. C assigned 7 WW points for the fried rice, plus one for a smoothie.

Ingredients – fish sauce not pictured. Yes, that is Mexican chorizo. No, Mexican chorizo is not authentic in Thailand (but it gives the fried rice a special something).

I sliced up the fixings – cukes, red bell peppers, cilantro, tomatoes, lime wedges. Cilantro tastes like soap to the boys, so we serve it on the side.

A “whisper” of garlic and a “hint” of Thai chile bean paste. You can also use red curry paste.

There were a few frozen shrimp left in the bag from last night, so I thawed the shrimp under running water before peeling and drying on paper towels. Seasonings: garlic, cayenne pepper, salt, sugar, scallions (not pictured).

Stir-fry the shrimp and seasonings quickly in a very hot wok.

Set aside when done, and wipe the wok clean.

Stir-fry garlic, chile bean paste, and chorizo for a bit. Add cold leftover rice and stir-fry, separating each grain of rice.

Make a well in the middle of the rice and add an egg. When the egg begins to set, mix with the rice. Repeat with a second egg.

Add scallions . . .

. . . and shrimp, and then turn off the heat. Done! Once everything is prepped, cooking the rice takes maybe five minutes - much longer to describe than to do.

Edited January 20, 2007 by C. sapidus (log)

[mrbigjas]

mrbigjas: We chose a separate range and oven to save money. We don’t do much baking or roasting, so buying a smaller, more basic oven left us enough funds to get the rangetop we really wanted.

We have the Blue Star RGTNB366BSS. This is the 36-inch, six-burner model with two 22,000-BTU burners. We are absolutely delighted with it, although I do recommend checking into service coverage in your area. For those who may be interested, here is the Prizer-Painter website (click).

The 42-inch wide hood pulls 600 CFM – “equivalent” to 900 CFM because Vent-A-Hood uses centrifugal force rather than a filter to keep grease out of the ductwork.

very interesting, thanks. having a small house i've wondered about putting in a powerful stove like that, and the hood it would need, and how that would affect things. i appreciate the info...

[C. sapidus]

I would be completely remiss if I did not acknowledge the incredible Chinese cooking pictorials that Ah Leung (hrzt8w) has made. Clearly, these inspired my humble efforts in this foodblog. We see farther when we stand on the shoulders of giants, as they say.

Chinese Food Pictorials, by hrzt8w (clickety)

[C. sapidus]

Mmmmm, good.

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Your "non-purist" omelette sure looks good to me!

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Thanks, Lorna – I figured you for a rebel.