A Quick Dip into the Political Arena

This is a food blog and I usually stick to food-related posts, but with all the election hoopla and commentary on the debates, I just can’t leave it be. I’m not particularly political. From the very beginning, I knew who my guy was. Yes, the issues are always important, but the fact is, I’ve just always liked the guy. I like the way he carries himself. He seems genuinely genuine. I could never articulate this gut feeling about Obama, but after reading Citymama’s post on the Momocrats site, I was thinking yes yes yes! She hit the nail on the head. Definitely check it out, if you want a unique perspective.

If I was Stranded on a Desert Island...

Alex of Just Cook It! did a fun post asking people to list the 5 foods they'd want with them on a desert island. Check it out! It'll be fun to see people's responses.

Here's my list:

1. Fish sauce. Even though he said there'd be unlimited fish and sea salt, I couldn't be bother to make my own.

2. Rice. I'd go into shock if I went without for more than a couple of days.

3. Limes. Goes great with fish.

4. Cilantro. My favorite fresh herb.

5. Garlic. It won out over chili, but just barely.

Weekend Wokking: Pumpkin Coconut Creme Brulee

There’s really nothing to say about this dessert, except that it’s absolutely fabulous! Everybody who tastes it will sing your praises. They’ll tell you that you’re a genius. They’ll tell you that your pumpkin coconut crème brulee is probably the best they’ve ever tasted. You’ll even have the die-hard-vanilla-only-crème-brulee purists wrapped around your finger. It’s that good.




Note: I used garam masala because this dessert was destined for an Indian food potluck. You may choose the more traditional spices found in pumpkin pie or Emeril's suggestions.

Pumpkin Coconut Crème Brulee
adapted from Emeril’s recipe

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 cup mashed pumpkin
• 8 egg yolks
• approx 2 tbs raw sugar for the top (I hear granulated works fine too)
  

In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut milk, heavy cream, sugars and garam masala just to the boiling point, stirring frequently.

While the cream is heating, in a large glass or non-reactive bowl, whip the egg yolks until they are pale, about 2 minutes.

Temper the eggs by adding about a cup of the hot cream slowly with vigorous whipping. Add the remaining cream and mashed pumpkin. Whisk well to mix thoroughly.

Strain the mixture through a semi-fine sieve. Don’t skip this step because the pumpkin may have some coarse or gritty bits in it. Divide the custard among eight ½ cup ramekins or a casserole dish that can hold about 4 cups. Place in a water bath (use boiling water), making sure the water goes at least halfway up the sides of the ramekins or casserole. Bake at 300F. The ramekins will take about an hour. It took me 1.5 hours for the larger casserole. These times are approximate. The custard will not be firm like a quiche, but it shouldn't appear runny either. It’s best to use your judgment. If it still looks too wobbly, leave it in for longer, checking every 10 minutes or so.

Once the custard is done, remove it from the oven and place it on a rack to cool to room temperature before sticking it in the fridge to set overnight.

To serve, put the custard in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before caramelizing the sugar on top. If you are going to use a broiler for the job, freeze the custard for 45 minutes to 1 hour, otherwise the custard will be warm and loose, rather than thick and creamy. Trust me, it won’t freeze through. Serve immediately after caramelizing the sugar.


This is my submission to Weekend Wokking (just in the nick of time!), created by Wandering Chopsticks. Precious Pea is hosting this month. Check out the round-up at her site this coming Wednesday to see the other submissions and to get the next secret ingredient. To find out who’s hosting or if you’re interesting in hosting, click here.

Regional Recipes

My two favorite hobbies are food and traveling. When I’m preparing for a trip abroad, I’ll research the region to death. I want to know what I should see, but more importantly, what I should eat or what special ingredients I should try to get my hands on. The problem is, I don’t have the time or the resources to visit all the places on my list. And so, Regional Recipes is born*!



What's Regional Recipes?

It's a blogging event that celebrates food from all over the world! Each month a region will be selected and people should post a recipe originating from that area. Submissions should be for a particular dish or should spotlight a particular ingredient that is widely used and somewhat unique to that region. To make it really interesting, I think participants should give some background about the dish or ingredient. By background, I’m not thinking just facts, but maybe a little story. Give us some context. Why is this dish great? How did you come upon it? During your travels? Did a friend make it for you? Your mom taught it to you? That type of stuff.

All right then, let’s get started! For the Regional Recipes kick-off, I’ll start with a place that is a popular vacation and food destination: Greece!

Greece has been at the top of my list for as long as I can remember. I’m attracted by the rich history, the mythology, the promise of warm days and blue waters. And of course, there’s the food. If my family is reading this, they know where I think we should go on our next family vacation.

What do you think? Sound fun and challenging? Already have a dish in mind? Grand! Read the rules below to find out how to participate. I’m not very good at following rules myself, so I’ll keep it short. If things need to change, we can do it as we go. Please feel free to leave comments or advice. This is my first time starting an event, so any help is always appreciated.

*Thank you to Wandering Chopsticks for coming up with the name and for answering all of my *dumb* questions. Thanks also to my Hubby for helping me with the logo and other computer shit I don't know how to do.

_________________________________________________

The Rules:
1. Make a dish, write it up and include a picture. I really think pictures give people an idea of what the dish should look like and convince them why they should try it.

2. In your write-up, make sure you link to this page so other people can find the information on this event. As a courtesy, please include a link to the current host. Hosting a blogging event can be a time consuming task, so let’s give the hosts some recognition.

If you want a logo to include in your post you may use this one:



Simply copy and paste the following HTML

<a href="http://www.blazinghotwok.com/2008/09/regional-recipes.html"><img src="http://www.blazinghotwok.com/uploaded_images/rr5_151-788635.jpg" border="0" alt="Blazing Hot Wok" align="" /></a>
(If you are viewing this in a feed reader, you may not see the code. To get the code, you'll have to come to my site)

3. Submit your entry to the host. Include your name (or handle), your location, your blog’s name and URL, the permalink to the post and a picture that is about 200x200 pixels (give or take), unless a different size is requested by the host.

4. Entries should be submitted by the 15th of the month so the round-up can be posted on the 20th.

I'll be hosting the inaugural event. Send your entries to blazinghotwok(at)gmail(dot)com by midnight on the 15th of October. If you’re interested in hosting future events, please let me know and I’ll get a list started.

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Who's Hosting Regional Recipes?

#1 Greece Blazing Hot Wok, deadline October 15
email: blazinghotwok(at)gmail(dot)com

#2 Japan Wandering Chopsticks, deadline November 15
email: wanderingchopsticks(at)gmail(dot)com

#3 Thailand Blazing Hot Wok deadline December 15
email: blazinghotwok(at)gmail(dot)com

#4 France Open mouth, insert fork deadline January 15
email: susancarrier(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

#5 Spot available. Contact blazinghotwok(at)gmail(dot)com if you're interested in hosting.

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Regional Recipes Round-ups

#1 Greece

#2 Japan

#3 Thailand

Try These Spicy, Delicious Chicken Wings!

I’ve really been having a tough time writing anything lately. There are a ton of things I want to share, but when I sit down to write, I can’t focus. Too much on my mind. The only thing I can think to say is, Try this dish! It’s delicious!


Can I get away with that just this once?




But really, try this dish! It is delicious! It’s chicken wings, for goodness sakes! Who wouldn’t like that?

I guess I should also mention the main flavor component, ground chilli with fried garlic paste. It has a bit of lemongrass, which gives it a nice herbal-ness, if you know what I mean. You can find it at your local Asian market or online. Or if you prefer to make something similar yourself, Wandering Chopsticks has a recipe for Vietnamese Lemongrass Chili Sauce that I highly recommend. Either one will do the job nicely here.


Chilli Garlic Chicken Wings

• 12-15 chicken wings, separated at the joint
  
• 1 bunch green onions, cut into 2-inch segments, white and greens separated
• 2 tbs ground chilli with fried garlic paste
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tbs lime juice
  
• fish sauce to taste

To make this dish, I first cook the chicken wings in my oven then toss them in a wok with the sauce. This caramelizes the sauce and coats the wings nicely.

Start by seasoning the wings well with salt and pepper. Put them into a pre-heated 350° for about 20 minutes. I have a convection oven, but if you have a conventional oven maybe 375° is better for browning.

While the wings are cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing the chilli paste, sugar and lime juice. Feel free to change the proportions to your preference. Add fish sauce to taste. Set aside until needed.

When the wings are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool a little while you’re heating your wok over high heat. Once it’s hot, add a little oil and add the chicken wings with the whites of the onions. Stir-fry until the onions soften and brown a little, about 2-3 minutes. Add about 2/3 of the sauce mix to start then the greens of the onions. Toss vigorously, otherwise the sauce may burn due to the high sugar content. Turn down the heat a bit if you need to. Add more sauce if necessary to get a nice coating. Use any leftover sauce for dipping.

Creamy Indian Curry with Chicken

About a week ago, I was walking around my local Whole Foods when I was suddenly hit with the most delicious aroma. It was like someone had put a big bowl of Indian curry right in front of my nose. I followed the aroma and was lead to a cooking demonstration being put on by the folks of Katmandu Foods. In front of the cook stood open jars of various Shiba's brand chutneys, pickles and curry pastes. “Here, dear. I know you want to taste this, “ she said, handing me a small paper cup with spiced rice. “Take a little of each and see what you like,” she said, pointing to the open jars in front of her. She didn’t have to convince me. I tried each and every one, some more than once. All the products I tried were delicious. It took a lot of will power to walk away with only one jar of curry paste and one jar of chutney.




Today I cracked open the curry paste. It was so aromatic. You know what I’m talking about-- that characteristic aroma of Indian spices. The paste tasted good coming right out of the jar—full of flavor and adequately salted. There were cooking suggestions on the label, but I wanted to do a little bit of experimenting myself. I was thinking something in the way of buttered chicken, just kicked up a notch. What I ended up with was so tasty and surprisingly easy. No elaborate doctoring, like is often the case with other store-bought pastes or simmer sauces. Even before the addition of cream, the curry was rich and well spiced (but not spicy hot). Even Sonny ate every morsel on his plate, despite early protestations that it looked gross*.

*Side note: Sonny is currently at the stage where everything that’s not pizza, burgers or mac-n-cheese looks gross. This basically means everything I put on the table. He starts by refusing to eat it; we threaten with consequences. He gives in and finally tastes it. Usually he ends up eating his entire serving without further incident. We go through this ritual almost every evening and it exasperates me to no end. Please tell me he will outgrow this stage very soon.

I know the paste can be found at Whole Foods in the Portland area as well as online at www.katmandufoods.com. The retail store is in Salem, OR.

Creamy Indian Curry with Chicken
serves 3

• 1 ½ tbs Shiba's Curry Paste
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 3 tbs ghee (or half oil and butter is fine too)
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4 chicken thighs, cut into chunks or slices
• splash of heavy cream (maybe a tablespoon or two)
• salt, to taste
• sugar, to taste (I used a pinch to offset the tomato paste)

For this dish, use a heavy bottom pot with a lid. Melt the ghee over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the sliced onion and cinnamon stick. Fry the onion until it starts to brown. Turn down the heat if it’s burning or becoming too dry. You’re not trying to caramelize; the onions should be sort of crispy on the edges yet softened. It may take up to 10 minutes.

While the onions are browning, combine the curry paste with the tomato paste. Mix well.

When the onions are sufficiently browned/softened, turn down the heat a little and add the paste mix. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute, stirring constantly to keep it from burning and sticking. You should smell a delicious aroma coming from the pot.

Turn the heat back up a little and add the chicken. Sauté until the chicken doesn’t appear raw, about 2 or 3 minutes. A little liquid will be released from the chicken and it should appear to be simmering robustly. Turn down the heat to low and simmer covered for about 30 minutes. You shouldn’t need to add any water, but if it appears too dry, just add a little water to prevent burning.

After about 30 minutes, remove the lid and add the cream. Stir and adjust flavor with salt and a little sugar if necessary. Give it a quick stir, and you’re done! Serve immediately with steamed basmati rice or naan bread.