Cream and Sugarcilantro | Cream and Sugar

Clippings: July 21, 2011

cream — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:02:22 +0000

Image courtesy of www.food52.com

The internet is a great source for all things foodie, and we’re constantly bookmarking, starring, and emailing intriguing recipes, food porn, and inspiration. Here’s a selection of clippings we think are worth checking out.

Here’s a recipe for baking sheet macaroni and cheese. The type of dish you make and savour… and then ask whomever to clean the pan after. Dish fairies if you must.

I don’t care if Mexican pasta sounds silly. I’m all for what looks to be a poblano chile pesto with spaghetti.

Swirly bread with cilantro? Yeah, I can see that smothered in like, lime butter. I’m so there.

Kaiserschmarrn? Something delicious you eat for breakfast.

Solo Suppers Beyond Cereal: Faux pho ga

cream — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 06:01:05 +0000

Chicken leftovers #2.

Few things warm you up the way a bowl of chicken noodle soup does on a winter’s night. So, with leftover chicken, time and a craving for the sense of being in hot, sticky Ho Chi Minh City (instead of cold, clammy Vancouver) on my side, pho ga it would be. Yes, while not as popular or ubiquitous as the bovine-centric pho bo, pho with chicken (ga) does exist and can serve as a nice deviation from your everyday chicken noodle soup.

I do know that a good pho relies heavily on a good broth. And it’s with my broth that I must insert the “faux.” For ease and quickness, I passed over the grilling (or broiling) of bones and vegetables and simply infused some of the chicken broth I had made with necessary aromatics. Missing out on some rich smokiness wasn’t so bad when faced with a bowl that smells heavily of cinnamon, cardamom and star anise. I took cues from both Mark Bittman’s Hanoi Noodle Soup in How to Cook Everything and the pho recipe I learned at the Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Dining companion: Misfits

Easy Pho Ga

2.5 cups chicken broth
1 star anise
1/2-inch chunk of ginger, peeled
1 cinnamon stick
1 cardamom pod
1 clove of garlic, sliced lengthwise in half
salt and pepper
rice noodles (the ones that look like linguine, not rice vermicelli), enough for one
shredded, cooked chicken, about 1/2 a cup
fresh cilantro
pickled onions and chilies (same recipe as here, just with a chopped Thai chili added)
lime wedges
chili sauce

Add spices, garlic and ginger to broth in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for an hour.
Cook noodles according to package directions. The most common method is to soak noodles for 20 minutes in hot water, then drain. Place in soup bowl.
Once broth is ready, strain out aromatics and then add salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken to broth to warm up.
Pour broth (there may be extra) and chicken over noodles in bowl. Top with onions, chilies and fresh cilantro. Serve lime wedges and chili sauce on the side.

Solo Suppers Beyond Cereal: Cilantro-jalapeno chicken sandwich

cream — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:21:10 +0000

Chicken leftovers #1.

I resisted for a long time, but now I freely admit to enjoying Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I still can’t stand Guy Fieri, his overuse of stupid phrases, his flip-flop jokes and the constant trips back to the mid-90s. The endless shots of too much are often too much, but I can’t stop. It’s become a guilty pleasure. Too much butter, too much cheese, too much meat. A double bacon cheeseburger contained within two grilled cheese sandwiches? I’m sure that’s been featured on at least three episodes. I’m all for supporting the small and local and enjoy that the show focuses on that. But the American excess steals the show. Is it the post-recession moment that causes us to turn to such TV trash? The mountains of meat and cheese and fries and BBQ that can all be had for only $4.99?

While I may view it as the Food Network equivalent of reading tabloid magazines, my eyes feasted on the Christmas marathon. Visual indigestion led to inspiration. A cilantro-jalapeno pesto from a tailgating episode. Because I was going to be putting it on a sandwich with cheese, I ended up making more of a Provençal pistou — a loose pesto without cheese and pine nuts. As the flavours I wanted were present, I didn’t mind the lack of body. Matched with pickled onions, roasted red peppers, provolone, fresh ciabatta and roasted chicken, it made my first round of leftovers totally… money.

Dining companion: Misfits (A good chunk of my holidays were spent watching the first two seasons of this British series.)

Cilantro-jalapeno pistou

2 handfuls of cilantro
1/2 jalapeno, sliced (remove seeds and ribs if you want less heat)
1 clove of garlic
a few tablespoons of olive oil

In either a food processor or with a mortar and pestle, crush the cilantro, jalapeno and garlic together. Slowly add the oil until it all comes together. Continue adding oil until you reach a pesto-like consistency. You can also make it thicker or thinner with less or more oil. Cover remaining with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Quick pickled onions

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar

Stir sugar in vinegar until it dissolves. Add onions, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 2 hours. They will keep for a few days.

Coriander, Mango, and Sunny Days

sugar — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:17:35 +0000

When the weather turns warm, my palate shifts from rich cold weather offerings to fresh light goodness. This year we happily rounded out the cold season with a comfort food potluck for one last hoorah…savory meatballs with pine nuts and raisins in a red wine tomato sauce, perfectly baked mac and cheese, spinach salad with a warm bacon vinaigrette and blue cheese, freshly made minestrone with garlic crisps, soft sauteed zucchini with mozzarella, and of course, chocolate bread pudding for dessert. Of course this event ended up being perfectly timed for the first properly hot day of the year and the nine of us, cozily squeezed around my small dining room table, were reminded why we don’t eat these delicious riches when the season turns to hot. The post dinner food coma was inevitable and the heat accelerated its effect. Totally worth it…

With a proper farewell to the days of cold weather eating, we christened the grill shortly thereafter with a new recipe from Bill’s Open Kitchen, by Australian superstar chef Bill Granger. I’ve waxed on before about my love for all things Bill, and his recipes continue to find their way into my regular kitchen rotation. Simple. Fresh. Delicious.

The warm weather menu: Bill’s Marinated Coriander Chicken with Cucumber Relish served with my own Mango and Herb Salad. This simple grilled chicken scented with fresh cilantro, peppercorns, citrus, and the sweetness of the grill, pairs perfectly with his Asian inspired cucumber, shallot, and chili relish that is tangy with a hint of sweetness. The fresh addition of my ripe mango salad with herbs and a light acidic dressing made for a lovely combination that I will certainly visit again and again.

Bill’s Marinated Coriander Chicken with Cucumber Relish

Mango Herb Salad

For the salad:
2 ripe mangoes cut into bite size pieces (the organic ones from Planet Organic are amazing!)
1 head of fresh butter lettuce washed and torn
2 green onions sliced
handful of chopped fresh cilantro
tbsp of chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup of sliced cucumber
1 avocado sliced

For the vinaigrette whisk together:
4 tbsp good quality olive oil
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 finely diced shallot
freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a big pretty bowl and toss lightly with vinaigrette just before serving. Happy sunshine days!

Across the Ocean for a Salad

cream — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:02:22 +0000

For those of you who know me, I apologize that since vacationing in Vietnam, the only post I’ve done about it concerns fruit.

Amazing fruit, mind you, but fruit nonetheless.

Every time I think about doing a post, I start to miss being there. And as Edmonton’s winter still seems to be leaving its trace, remembering moments in tropical heat makes my current discontent all the more worse. As we cannot stop mentioning the longer Alberta days, I thought our obsession with the sun would twin nicely with posts on Vietnam. And as the days are just going to get shorter again (too) soon, I should get in while the getting’s good. Like Kramer and Newman with the Mackinaw peaches.

I don’t have to go much into why a foodie would want to go to Vietnam. Culinary stars such as Tony Bourdain and Dorie Greenspan have made recent journeys to taste the vast landscape of Vietnamese cuisine. More sweet in the South, more bitter in the North. City air that is as heavy with the smells of rice and cilantro as it is with scooter exhaust. The best baguettes I’ve had outside of France. Right now I’m craving a deep-fried pumpkin flower stuffed with catfish that I had while in the Mekong Delta. *sigh*

Green papaya salad with shrimp, Mango Rooms, Hoi An

Green papaya and green mango salads quickly became an obsession. Few things seemed more perfect on a hot afternoon than a cold salad of crunchy fruit in a salty dressing.

Green papaya salad, Hoa Sua School, Hanoi

Hoa Sua School

KOTO

Banana flower salad, KOTO, Hanoi

I also became a fan of the banana flower salad. Having a slightly chewy texture and a mild flavour, the flowers paired well with the other fruit. I even had a hand at making my own while taking a class at the Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An. Rather than eating the salad with chopsticks alone, you can break off pieces of grilled sesame rice paper and put mouthfuls on top.

Banana flower salad, Red Bridge Cooking School, Hoi An

The salads were what I wanted most when I came home. An inspired bowl of cold-spicy and salty-sweet to offset the persistence of dry radiator air. Something that would be kind to my waistline after one too many baguettes and cones of “young rice” ice cream. For a quick fix, I headed to Lucky 97 to get some ingredients to go with the rotisserie chicken I had at home.

With the exception of the dressing, I didn’t really follow a recipe. For two girls who were to stay in and paint their nails, I bought two mangos and one green papaya. Purple basil, cilantro, and mint. Shredded carrots. One diced chili. Scallions. Sesame seeds. The chicken. A super simple dressing c/o Red Bridge: juice of one lime, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 garlic clove crushed, and 1 tablespoon of sugar.

It was too cold for a cold beer, but that’s what was then needed.
And as they say in Vietnam: Yo!