Monthly Archives: October 2012

penang vegetable curry

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When I was new to Thai food I was a Pad Thai girl all the way.  Pad Thai seems to be the gateway food for many who are new to Thai cuisine, though I eventually did venture away from the noodle dish and experimented with Massaman curry and satay and various peanut-based curries.  Lately I’ve been really into Penang curry.

I’m not so well-versed in Thai food as to be able to tell you what makes Penang curry different from other curries, I just know that I like it and also that a local Asian grocer conveniently carries Penang curry paste.  Score.

I found a recipe for a simple vegetable curry to use as a guide and went from there.  The recipe called for sweet potatoes (love), cauliflower, and chickpeas (which I had cooked up myself from dried beans and stored in my freezer for later use a few months back).

I wanted to add a little more color to the curry so threw some frozen peas into the mix.

A little tip that I sort of feel like a genius for thinking up, though by no means do I think that I am the first one to have this thought: the recipe called for coconut milk and a cup of water so I emptied my can of coconut milk and then filled the can up with water and added that to the pot.  It made broth richer by getting a little more coconut milk in there and also cleaned out the can for recycling at the same time: two birds, one stone.  So simple, and yet I’d never thought to do this before.

The resulting curry tasted pretty much exactly like the Penang curry I often get at a local Thai restaurant so on nights I don’t feel like making the half hour drive for carry-out I can recreate it myself at home.  It would be especially excellent with a little Thai iced tea.

Penang Vegetable Curry (loosely adapted from “Simple Vegetable Curry” from Everyday Food magazine)

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
  • coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons Penang curry paste
  • 13.5 oz. can of unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 sweet potato (about  3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 bag of frozen peas

In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3 minutes. Add curry paste and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Add sweet potato and cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir chickpeas into curry and increase heat to high. Simmer rapidly until liquid reduces slightly, 2 minutes. Serve curry over rice.

northern michigan adventures, culinary and otherwise

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I have had the good fortune to travel not once, but twice, to northern Michigan over the past month.  The first time I went I took an ancient ferry across Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan.  It took four hours.  The above picture is what it looks like when you are on that ferry in the middle of the lake and can’t see the shore on either side.  It’s a big lake.

My first trip to northern Michigan was for a family vacation in Charlevoix, which I had never been to previously.  Growing up we had visited Traverse City quite a bit and I remember a separate trip to Manistee and a few wintertime jaunts to Crystal Mountain and Garland for skiing but there was quite a lot of territory up yonder that I had heard wonderful things about but hadn’t yet explored for myself.

Of course there were many beautiful sights with Lake Michigan and nature and all but this being a food blog and my chief interest being in food you better believe I wanted to spend a good chunk of the vacation exploring that side of things.  So that’s just what I did.

Having lived in both metro Detroit and Brooklyn I’ve learned to love Polish food something fierce (not that it was a difficult feat by any means) so when I spied a restaurant called Polish Kitchen in Harbor Springs I instructed my dining companions that we needed to sup there as soon as possible.  None of us were disappointed.  I got dill pickle soup, pierogi, and latkes (because you can never have enough potato in your diet) and all were wonderful.  It reminded me of meals enjoyed at Polish Village in Hamtramck minus the low ceilings and two-man polka band.

It’s a good thing there was a fair amount of walking and biking that took place on my vacation because apart from the splendid Polish food I also had a first-rate homemade bagel with lox at L’Chayim Delicatessen in tiny Frankfort (they also have a location in even tinier Beaulah).  I almost felt like I was back at Russ and Daughters in NY except I didn’t have to take a number and wait a half hour for a sandwich.  (Mind you those sandwiches are worth waiting for.)

A day was spent wine-tasting on the Mission Peninsula just north of Traverse City.  My companions and I tasted wine at no less than five places which is relatively easy since the peninsula is quite small and the wineries are all close together.  We visited, in order: 2 Lads (beautiful modern building and lovely views), Chateau Chantal (always a classic– I bought half a case of wine here that I have been rationing out since I returned), Peninsula Cellars (their tasting room is in an old one-room schoolhouse which gave it a cool vibe, also loved their staff who we played movie trivia games with while sampling their wines), Black Star Farms (beautiful property and loved the giant round bar which meant you didn’t have to elbow your way up for a taste), and finally Bowers Harbor (lovely outdoor seating and intimate tasting area).  In addition to the wineries we also stopped at Jolly Pumpkin so that my brother could sample a few of their beers.  If we had planned it right we would have stayed on the premises to dine at Mission Table which is said to have outstanding food.  Next time.

In addition to Jolly Pumpkin we also visited Short’s Brewing Company in Bellaire for dinner another night.  Not only was the beer outstanding, the food was very good too.  I had a bowl of carrot ginger soup and split pizza with my mom.  Well worth the drive to Bellaire from nearby resort towns.

My second trip to the area was just last weekend for the wedding of my oldest friend.  (Is that the way to phrase that?  It makes it sound like she’s 102 but really we’re the same age and have been friends since we were three and used to carpool to Miss Janie’s pre-school together.  Those were the days.)  For this trip I opted to go the northern route and drove from Wisconsin through the upper peninsula of Michigan.  Hadn’t passed over the Mackinac Bridge in about ten years.  It looks the same of course, and still makes me nervous to drive in the center lane which is all grates open to the lake below.  No thanks, I’ll stick to the outer paved lane with the trucks and old folks.

Upon arriving in my destination of Petoskey I grabbed lunch at American Spoon Cafe which I had somehow missed on my first visit to the area.  The atmosphere is cozy and classic at the same time and the food was awesome.  I had butternut squash soup (if you haven’t noticed, I’m really into squash soup) and a root vegetable salad.

I had a little time to kill before the rehearsal dinner so I popped into local natural foods grocery store Grain Train because I heard a rumor they sold Light of Day Organics tea in bulk and that rumor was true.  A lovely gentlemen working in the bulk section helped me bag up three different kinds of their tea and I was on my way.  Light of Day has a farm in the Traverse City area that I plan to visit when next I’m in the area because they are starting to turn me into a tea snob and I would love to see their operation up close.  I used to be fine with regular old bagged tea from wherever and now it’s just not tasting as good to me… Funny how that works.

I also managed to sneak in a quick trip to Suzie’s Pies in Harbor Springs (which is located at the other end of the strip mall from Polish Kitchen though had not realized that when I was there a month earlier) to purchase a “Harvest” pie with apples, pears, and cranberries.  Suzie herself helped me and she could not be sweeter and the pie was awesome.  I also sampled a piece of her Canadian Butter Tart which was equally as delicious.

The rest of the weekend was lovely and filled with various wedding activities.

I put my hair in a fingerwave for the occasion.

The bride was beautiful.

And the drive home was gorgeous.

Pure Michigan.  Can’t wait to go back!

black sesame pear tea cake

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I credit my days living in New York’s Chinatown for helping me discover the beauty of black sesame.  It was always my flavor of choice at bubble tea shops and at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory which in turn inspired me to recreate the ice cream at home.  I had never baked with black sesame seeds before but had torn out a recipe for Black Sesame-Pear Tea Cake a while back that intrigued me so decided to give it a whirl.

The recipe instructs you to combine several tablespoons of whole black sesame seeds along with a half-cup of ground up seeds as well.  I put my coffee grinder to use and worked those seeds until they turned into a beautiful paste.  Besides black sesame seeds, the only other ingredient that is slightly out of the norm in the recipe is almond meal which can be found in most any grocery store these days.  Bob’s Red Mill makes a great one.

Word to the wise: I often have buttermilk on hand for various baking exploits but it can easily be made in your kitchen in a pinch.  Simply put a tablespoon of white vinegar in a measuring cup and add a cup of milk and let them sit for 5 minutes.  Voila!  Way easier than changing out of your sweatpants, putting make-up on in the off-chance of running into someone you know and driving to the grocery store to buy some while in the midst of your baking project.  You’re welcome.

Be sure to use a ripe pear– mine was slightly less than ripe and even though it softened in baking I think the pear flavor would have been more pronounced if I had used a properly ripe pear.  I can assure you it was still delightful though.  It’s the kind of cake you make when you want to have a lovely cup of tea and not feel like a total fatty after a meal.  It’s light and sweet and the black sesame has an almost savory flavor, not unlike peanut butter.  In other words, totally awesome.

Black Sesame-Pear Tea Cake (found at www.epicurious.com)

  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more
  • 1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup almond flour or almond meal
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons plus ½ cup black sesame seeds
  • 1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • 1 (medium) firm but ripe Bosc pear, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4″ cubes

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter one 9x5x3″ loaf pan or six 4x2x2″ paper or metal loaf pans. Whisk 1 ½ cups flour, next 4 ingredients, and 2 tablespoons sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Grind remaining ½ cup sesame seeds in spice mill to form a thick paste, about 2 minutes.

Using an electric mixer, beat ½ cup butter and 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl until well combined, 2-3 minutes. Add sesame paste and beat, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until blended, 1-2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk. Beat until pale and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. On low-speed, beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Toss pear with remaining 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl; fold into batter.

Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, about 1 hour 40 minutes for large loaf and 45-55 minutes for small loaves. Let cool in pans on a wire rack.

sweet potato fries

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This is going to feel like a cheat post and it kind of is.  There are only two photos and the recipe is one that I have memorized I make it so much.  I’m not sure if there even was a recipe originally, but I suppose those are the best kind.

Much like kale chips I make these when I feel like I want healthy versions of junk food.  Which is often.

I like to peel my sweet potatoes but you could certainly leave the peels on yours if you’re into that.  I toss the peeled sliced sweet potato chunks with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin, though you could shake it up and change out the cumin for curry powder and that would be awesome too.  Shake it up a bit.

These fries are healthy because they aren’t actually fried, they’re baked.  Genius.  Sometimes I eat them with honey, sometimes with ketchup, and sometimes plain– just depends on what kind of mood I’m in.  You could even get fancy and whip up an aioli to serve them with.  Go forth and enjoy!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

  • Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into desired fry shape (I like to cut them thick like classic steak fries)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Cumin or curry

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Toss sweet potato fries with a little olive oil until lightly coated.  Sprinkle fries with salt, pepper, and cumin or curry.  Bake for 30 minutes, shaking pan several times to bake fries evenly.  Serve with ketchup or honey, if desired.