Christmas Cheesecake

So, after the 2008 Cheesecake Bake-Off (in which I did not win any awards), I rashly proclaimed I'd never make a cheesecake again--until next year, at least, I said. Well, for two reasons it has become apparent that I need to make the cheesecake ONE MORE TIME. First, I have exactly 200 grams of digestive biscuits in my house, and none of the members of our household is in need of a digestive aid, so far as I know. Second, I want people to taste my cake in an environment that is more suited to its subtlety--the Bake-Off was a little manic. So, I'm going to make the Christmas Cheesecake for Christmas dinner.

I did steal this recipe off the internet, but I had to do so much calculating and experimenting to get the measurements right, that I'm putting it up here as my own. It was from an Australian magazine, and they measure things by weight, not cups or tablespoons; and not just weight, but METRIC weight. Translations were necessary; charts were consulted; substitutions were made. So, if you want a very fine, creamy, custardy cheesecake, do this:

Crust:
• 200 grams Digestive Biscuits (this is actually pretty OK to measure by grams because if you’re buying a package of digestive biscuits, they’re probably imported from Europe or Asia and sold in packages of 200 or 400 grams anyway)
• ½ C Unsalted Butter, melted
Layer one:
• 16 oz. cream cheese (two regular sized “bricks”)
• ¾ C. Heavy Cream
• 3 Eggs
• ½ C. Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
Layer two:
• 1 ½ C. Sour Cream
• ¾ C. Yogurt
• ½ C. Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
Topping
• 2 C Frozen Cranberries
• 3 T. Port
• 1 ½ tsp. Cornstarch
• 12 small rosemary sprigs dusted with icing sugar, to garnish
Method
1. Preheat oven to 350°C.
2. Process biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor. Add butter and whiz to combine (we don’t have a food processor, so we mash the biscuits to bits in a ziplocked baggy). Press evenly into the base of a 9-inch springform cake pan and bake for 5 minutes.
3. Place cream cheese, heavy cream, eggs, ½ C sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in a mixer, and cream until smooth. Spread filling over biscuit base.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until filling has set. Remove cake from oven and set aside to cool for 30 minutes. Seriously: you must let the cheesecake cool before putting the next layer on or it will crack open like the San Andreas fault.
5. Meanwhile, combine sour cream, yogurt, ½ C. powdered sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Spread over the cooled cake, then return to oven for a further 10 minutes. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).
6. Place ½ C sugar, cranberries, and port in a saucepan over low heat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir. Continue to cook until the cranberries give off their juice. Take out a little bit of the juice and mix the cornstarch into the dash of the juice, then return this mixture to the pan with berry mixture and continue to cook until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and cool—all the way cool.
7. To serve, top cake with cranberry sauce and garnish with the dusted rosemary sprigs.

Thanksgiving 2008

Here are my cooking notes from Thanksgiving 2008. The carrot soup recipe I got from T. at a dinner party many moons ago. I make it so frequently now that I didn't even write out my recipe! Thanks, T.! The green beans recipe came from Mollie Katzen on NPR. I followed her directions word for word, and they came out perfectly. She's a genius with the veggies. The cranberry relish was also from NPR--in a very entertaining article by Susan Stamberg. The audio version neglects to mention the 3/4 C. sour cream, which is an ESSENTIAL ingredient. Listen to it anyway because it's funny. And if you want to know how to make delicious turkey, you'll have to ask my girlfriend.

Tiramisu

When my lady requested tiramisu for her birthday cake, I was a little panicked. I had NO IDEA what went into tiramisu or what the method was. It turns out that it's pretty easy, and my girlfriend was super-impressed by my practice efforts. There's an excellent website already in place to tell you all about it: Heavenly Tiramisu. I used the recipe called "Better Safe Than Sorry," because I don't want to accidentally poison anyone with salmonella.

I followed their recipe almost to the T--I just changed the two cheeses to mascarpone, and I had to use cream in my yolk mixture because I didn't have any milk:

Ingredients

8 egg yolks
1 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Milk
2 C. Whipping Cream
16 Oz. Mascarpone Cheese
3 - 4 C. Hazelnut Coffee, brewed and cooled
3/4 C. Amaretto
50 or more Lady Fingers
2 squares Bittersweet Baker's Chocolate, chopped finely
A sprinkle of Cinnamon

Method

1. Whisk egg yolks, half the sugar, and the milk in a 2-quart saucepan until smooth and blended.
2. Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
3. Refrigerate and cool.
4. Whip the whipping cream to very stiff peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator.
5. Mix the cheese and remaining ½ cup of sugar together.
6. Stir in the yolk mixture.
7. Then fold in the whipping cream.
8. Combine the coffee and Amaretto in a large mixing bowl.
9. Quickly dip each ladyfinger in the coffee mixture and place on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
10. Sprinkle with half the chocolate.
11. Cover with half of the cheese mixture.
12. Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers.
13. Sprinkle with chocolate and finish with the cheese mixture.
14. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top and garnish with coarsely grated chocolate.
15. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

A fun little game from Very Good Taste

Here’s what VGT wants you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoises
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomoatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchang
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobi beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harisa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake

"Thai" pumpkin custard

So, most Thai restaurants at which I've eaten in NYC have some version of a pumpkin custard on the menu, and there are a TON of "Thai pumpkin custard recipes" on the internet. My good friend and roommate, V. says that this is clearly one of those made-up American things, like French fries or chop sooey. Never the less! I have made my own Thai pumpkin custard! Both of my loyal readers know that this is in large part because my sweetheart adores all things pumpkin. This custard is quite delicious, even if it's not authentic--whatever that means. And, as you can see from the attached photo, it's a nice-looking dish, too. You can also see the lovely color of our new living room: Benjamin Moore's 'Pumpkin Pie.' It's spot on, right?

1 smallish pumpkin (but bigger than the one in my picture by a little bit)
9 eggs
1 1/2 C. Coconut milk from a can
2 C. Sugar
1 pinch Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cut a hat out of your pumpkin, and then scrape and spoon the guts out as though you were going to make a jack o'lantern. I toasted my seeds with salt, and they were quite delicious. Set this all aside while you make the custard.

The Custard:
Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Using a fork or whisk, beat by hand until fluffy (1 minute). Add the coconut milk, vanilla, and half the sugar. Beat again for 1 minute, or until well mixed. Add the rest of the sugar, stirring to dissolve it in the egg mixture.

Pour the custard into the pumpkin until it is within a half inch of the top. Set the custard-filled pumpkin in a shallow baking dish or a roasting pan and pour water into the pan until it comes up to about 1/2 an inch on the pumpkin. Put this all into the oven and bake for 90 minutes. The custard will rise as it cooks, but don't worry, it will sink back into the pumpkin when you cool it. It's possible that the custard won't have completely set in 90 minutes, so you may need to leave it in for another 15 to 30 minutes. You can roast your pumpkin's little lid, too, but not for 90 minutes--take it out after 45 minutes or so, so it doesn't burn up completely.

Allow the custard to cool on the counter for 30 minutes at least before taking it out of the hot water. Custards are served room temp or cool--I refrigerated mine overnight before slicing it like a cake.

This didn't happen to me, but apparently if your custard doesn't set properly, it's a BIG mess when you slice the pumpkin open. Good luck! And invite me over for some, I LOVE this stuff!

No more pancake mix

A. and I have been trying--in difficult economic times no less--to buy more local food and avoid processed foods. One thing that A. really prefers, though, is pancakes from a mix. She likes Arrowhead Mills brand a lot, and we also get the Cracker Barrel pancake whenever we take a road trip out of the city. I don't want to be too optimistic about this, but I think I've finally found the recipe that will break the pancake mix habit. I present it here:

1 C. Flour I'm thinking about using whole wheat flour one of these days)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-2 T. sugar
1 egg slightly beaten
1 1/2 C. butter milk

Mix your dry ingredients, then mix your wet ingredients. Pour the wets into the dries. Stir until mixed and not too lumpy. My friend Angela tells me that you shouldn't over mix cakes because it causes the glutens to fall apart, and then you get not-so-fluffy cake. Maybe that's true for pancakes, too? At any rate, don't over-mix, but you don't want lumps.

This recipes makes enough pancakes for me and A. I like my pancakes about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter, and she likes hers about 4 to 5 inches. I make some of both sizes.

Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

It's starting to be chilly outside, so I have the uncontrollable urge to make desserts...naturally. Although the it is the cold weather that gave me inspiration, my taste buds are actually clamoring for something tropical: sticky rice with mango. Luckily, I live in the land of plenty, and mangoes are available most times of the year, so I'm going with it. Glutinous rice is available in Thai and Indonesian groceries, and also in many pan-Asian groceries in NYC. It comes in big bags, so I've been working through my stash of it for maybe two years now. Glutinous refers to its "gluey-ness," not to gluten. So, my gluten-intolerant friends, you may partake in this dessert!

Ingredients
1 and 1/2 C. Glutinous Rice (also sold as sticky rice or sweet rice)
About 1 and 1/2 or 2 T. Coconut Sugar (get it where you get the sticky rice--or substitute regular white sugar)
1/2 tsp. or so Salt
1 can Coconut Milk
A Mango

Method
Start early! You must soak the rice for 6 to 8 hours. First, rinse it at least three times until the water that runs off the rice is pretty clear. Then cover the rice with water and let it soak.

Once your rice it soaked, drain the water and wrap the rice in cheese cloth. Now, if you have a Thai wicker basket for making Thai sticky rice, you are probably not reading this blog to get the recipe, so I will assume that you (like I) do not have one. I use the steaming tray on my rice cooker to do this. Put your bundle of rice in its cheese cloth bundle on your steaming tray and give a good steam--about 20 to 30 minutes, or even longer, depending on your steamer. You will know it's done when it's a little translucent, steamy hot, and sticky.

In the meantime, make this sauce: heat the cocnut milk on the stove, stirring in the salt and sugar until it's hot and the salt and sugar are dissolved (this is so easy!!). Slice your mango.

When the rice is ready, you can unwrap it, and put it in a bowl of some sort. (At this point it's a good idea to steal a little, mash it into a ball with your fingers and eat it. No one will know!) Mix most of the coconut milk sauce into the rice. To serve, spoon some rice on to each plate--I use an ice cream scoop to make pretty little scoops--and arrange some mango nearby on the plate. Spoon the remaining coconut milk sauce over each dish of rice and mango.

Food photos

I wanted to print and frame these two photos I took in a wet market in Singapore, and hang them in the kitchen. However, the people with whom I live vetoed the plan. I post these B&W photos taken with 35 mm film here instead. Maybe I can hang them in the living room?

Noodle Salad

About three years ago a friend of mine needed a place to stay in a pinch. To thank me for letting her stay at my place, she cooked for me almost every night, and my two favorite things K. made were Japanese noodle salad and udon soup. There's no secret to udon. I just buy the package and follow the instructions on the back (well, I guess K. told me which mushrooms to buy, too--the trick is lots of mushrooms in the udon to make my lady pleased). But the noodle salad I've changed and tweaked and used over and over again since that summer. It's my "back-up" meal when there's nothing else to eat, or when it's too hot to really cook. It's also one of A.'s favorite meals! The best part is that with noodles and dressing, you can pretty much add or subtract whatever else you want on this salad. It's a good way to use your almost-ready-for-the-compost-heap veggies in your fridge. Make it vegan by leaving out the eggs. Make it omnivorous by adding some diced ham or grilled shrimps. Even though this is the easiest thing I make (except my fantabulous grilled cheese sandwiches), people seem to really like it. If you've ever been to my house for dinner and eaten this, I sure hope you weren't faking it about how awesome it was.

Japanese Noodle Salad for 2

8 ounces of "Asian" wheat noodles (or three little bundles--you can sub regular spaghetti, too)
Bean Sprouts
1 Egg
Carrots, julienned
Summer Squash, sliced
Sliced femented tofu packets--inari-age (yeah, this is kind of a specialty ingredient, but it's not strictly necessary. You can get is at a Japanese grocery, but I've never found it at a Chinese or Thai grocery)
Red Pepper, thinly sliced
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Boil noodles until they are done, but not mushy, then rinse thoroughly in cold water until they are chilled all the way through. Sort evenly into two bowls.

Arrange your julienned carrots and capsicum prettily on the top.

Beat the egg with a little water, and pour into a hot frying pan to make a flat, very thin omelet (I suck at this--most of my noodle salads end up with scrambled eggs on them instead of beautiful slices of omelet). Flip it nicely to cook on both sides, and then turn it out onto a cutting board. Cut into 8 or 12 slices and place 1/2 on each salad, next to your other veggies.

Use the same hot and ready skillet to briefly sizzle your bean sprouts (just 30 to 45 seconds), and to sautee the squash until it's nice and tender. Let the squash cool a bit and then arrange it on the salad. The bean sprouts go right in the middle of the salad, with all the other items around the outside.

The inari-age should be sliced into 1/2-inch slices, and also arranged around the outside. Sprinkle sesame seeds over it all.

Dressing

Here's a start to a dressing recipe--adjust to your taste:

7 T. Olive Oil
1 T. Sesame Oil
4 T. Soy Sauce
4 T. Rice Vinegar
1 or 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 Inch Ginger Root, minced

Mix it up with a fork. Pour over salad, reserving some in case someone wants a little extra. Never put the chopsticks into the salad for your guests/dinner servees. It's back luck, I've been told.

Spinach Pesto

So being a working dog owner makes cooking a little more difficult. I don't have the hours to study recipes, compare versions, hunt around Chinatown and Little Korea for ingredients, and then start cooking at 3 in the afternoon. The good news is that now I get paid to not write my dissertation. The other good news is that I have fortuitously made not one, not two, but THREE girlfriend-approved dinners this week in only 20-30 minutes each. This was made possible in large part by my new Oster blender-&-food-processor-in-one. Here's last night's Fortuitous Dinner, made with ingredients I found in my fridge:

Spinach Pesto

1/2 pound of baby spinach (it was about to become compost if we didn't eat it soon!)
1 generous squeeze of concentrated garlic mush in a tube (makes life so easy, kind of compares to fresh cloves)
tsp. or so of basil (we just had dried in our cabinet)
1/3 C. or so Parmesan cheese
a little drizzle of olive oil.
hot spaghettis
cooked shrimp, chicken, tofu--whatever you like

I used my food processor to chop the spinach to smithereens with a little olive oil to help the process. Mix in the basil, cheese, garlic. Toss pesto with hot spaghetti and top with protein source of choice. Garnish with fresh diced tomatoes. Oh my! That was EASY! (Then I said this little prayer: please don't let me turn into a less-skilled, more misanthropic version of Rachel Ray.)

Coconut cake

By the time I finished making and frosting two cakes for my birthday, I was disgusted with cake. Nevertheless, I managed to eat a lot of it. Here's the coconut cake I made, adapted from this article from the Dallas Morning News website.

First the cake itself:

2/3 C. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/3 C. sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour
2 2/3 tsp. baking powder
pinch kosher salt
2 1/2 T. whole milk
1/4 C. Coconut milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 large egg whites at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-inch cake pans, then line each with a parchment round. Butter the paper and dust the pans with flour; knock out excess.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt to blend. In a small bowl, stir together the milk, coconut milk until smooth. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. After each addition, mix at low speed just to combine the ingredients. Stir in the vanilla.

Beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until evenly blended. Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold onto wire racks to cool completely.

Then the frosting between the layers:

1 1/2 C. Heavy whipping cream
2 T. dried, powdered non-fat milk (optional)

Whip the whipping cream and milk powder with the electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks. You can also put in a little almond or vanilla extract.

Then the outside frosting:

1/2 C. Water
1 C. Sugar
2 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. white vinegar
2 to 3 C. unsweetened coconut flakes

Stir sugar into water to dissolve it. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and cook without stirring for 3 minutes. Then boil for 5 to 10 minutes more, stirring often, until the syrup has thickened and will form itself into a thread about 2 inches long when poured from a spoon back into the pot. Set the syrup aside.

Beat egg whites and vinegar in a large bowl with a mixer at high speed until they are bright white and shiny. While beating at high speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites to blend them into a fluffy white icing, 4 to 5 minutes.

Ice the cake and sprinkle liberally with coconut flakes.

Black Forest Cake, or I missed my own birthday

I started a new job this week--and I love it!--but my first day of work was also my birthday. My sweetie asked me the night before if I was excited about turning 30, but all I could think about was what I was going to wear on my first day on the job. My new boss and a my office-mate and the woman from HR who handled my hire all surprised me with a little party, including Magnolia cupcakes--delicious! It was sweet. Between that and the health insurance, I'm a real happy camper.

At any rate, I'm going to celebrate this weekend, instead, with two cakes. One that I've made before: black forest cake; and one that I haven't: coconut cake. I might make some pulut hitam as a back-up, just in case, and for the vegans/gluten-allergic people who might come by. I'm also planning to make cappuccinos, lattes, regular coffee, tea, etc. If you're reading my blog, chances are you know where I live (or at least how to find out!) so stop on by this Sunday at 3, OK?

Black Forest Cake (adapted from "Valinda's" Black Forest Cake II on Allrecipes.com.

"The cake itself"

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, you can use 1 1/2 C. plain yogurt OR 1 C. minus 1 1/2 T. of regular milk plus 1 T. lemon juice or vinegar (to sour the milk))

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round pans with parchment paper circles. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk (or your substitution), until combined. Pour into 2 round 8 inch pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Remove paper from the cakes. Cut each layer in half, horizontally, making 4 layers total. I've heard you can do this with a piece of string or dental floss.

The first first type of frosting: between the layers

1/2 cup kirschwasser (this is a clear, cherry-flavored liqueur available at most liquor stores in the suburbs or in Park Slope. The bodega on the corner might not have it. You can substitute cherry juice or even grape juice.)
1/2 cup butter
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon strong brewed coffee
2 (14 ounce) cans pitted Bing cherries, drained

In a medium bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar, pinch of salt, and coffee; beat until smooth. If the consistency is too thick, add a couple teaspoons of cherry juice or milk. Spread first layer of cake with 1/3 of the filling. Top with 1/3 of the cherries. Repeat with the remaining layers.

The outside of the cake

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon kirschwasser
1 ounce semisweet chocolate

In a clean bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon kirshwasser. Frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with chocolate curls made by using a potato peeler on semisweet baking chocolate. I like to decorate the outside with some whole bing cherries reserved from 2 cans. Fresh cherries would be pretty, too but a pit might hurt someone's teeth if they are unprepared for it.

Mortar and Pestle--what an invention!

I'm still unemployed at the moment, and A. has been off to work ALL day, EVERY day since I quit my job. It's me, the dog, and the cat rattling around in our apartment. Technically, this is supposed to be dissertation time, but I can't get out of the kitchen! I've been experimenting with dishes I've already made, seeing if I can make them better, and I've got a few new recipes to try out. So, I redid the vegetable tart (originally posted Sept. 8), and it came out MUCH better. So much better that A. agreed that I could serve it if ever my vegetarian friends come over for dinner.

I also went to Chinatown and bought my own Thai-style mortar and pestle FINALLY. I used it to make laksa, and the results are so vastly improved that A. said I could make it for her Singaporean friends. Heavens! I am improving my leaps and bounds. So, disregard the post of Sept. 24, though I will leave it up, and do this instead (if you have a mortar and pestle):

Rempah (rempah is a shrimp paste):

10 Chillies
some dried prawns
2 slices lemon grass
15 slices blue ginger
10 shallots
2 T. belachan
1 T. turmeric

Put everything but the turmeric in your mortar, and with a circular, not-too-forceful motion, grind it in to a paste. When it's all paste-like, stir in the turmeric. This is ingredient #1 for the rest of the recipe.

Now I'm guilty of that thing that drives me nuts in A.'s mom's emails--she doesn't put how *much* of the ingredients to put it. Well, sometimes it's not that important; if you hate bean sprouts, don't put them in, if you LOVE bean sprouts put a bunch in. Either way. I've consistently neglected to put the shredded cucumber on top, but A. hasn't complained about it. OK, onward!

Rempah (see above)
2 C. water (or shrimp stock, which you can make from the heads and shells of the boiled prawns)
2 cans of coconut milk
1 lb. Prawns or shrimp - peeled and boiled
Fishballs - boiled
A handful of mung bean sprouts - boiled
Beehoon (rice vermicelli) boiled and rinsed in cold water
Cucumber (for garnishing) - shredded
Laksa leaf (daun kesom) - wash and shred

Stir fry the rempah, adding a little sprinkle of water now and then to prevent burning. When the rempah is very fragrant (after a few minutes) add the rest of the water (or stock). Stir over medium-low heat. Pour in the coconut milk, stir and simmer. When hot, add the boiled prawns and fishballs. In the menatime, put your boiled and rinsed noodles into three to four big bowls. To serve, ladle the laksa over the noodles, garnish with sprouts, cucumber, and laksa leaves. Serve with chopsticks and a big spoon.

Knocking my own socks off--chocolate torte

Just in time for Passover--a flourless chocolate torte that I love. A. was not so crazy about this recipe, but I'm going to have to go ahead and recommend it anyway because I'm so pleased with it myself. Having just quit my job under horrid circumstances, I needed a chocolate fix quick, and so I turned to Stephanie Jaworski on the the Joy of Baking website. I love her biscotti recipes, so I turned to her help with my emotional and culinary crisis this week. This torte did not let me down in my time of need. I made a few small changes to suit what I had on hand. Stephanie J.'s recipe calls for an optional ganache, but I didn't have enough chocolate on hand to do that.

1 C. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
9 oz. bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped into small pieces
6 eggs, separated
1 C. white sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar (substitute: 3/4 tsp. vinegar)

First, separate your eggs--yolks in one bowl, whites in another--and set them on the counter to warm to room temperature.

Chop up your butter and chocolate. Using a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter together. Or, if you don't have a double boiler (like me) put a few inches of water in a big pot and your butter and chocolate in a smaller sauce pan, and put that sauce pan into your big pot. It's a little ad hoc, but my chocolate did not burn.

While your chocolate is melting, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 C of sugar for about 5 minutes until it's smooth and light yellow. Add the vanilla and keep beating. Stephanie says to use the paddle attachment on your beater, but I don't have one. Regular beaters did me just fine. Beat in the melted chocolate.

Now, clean your beaters, or get out new ones. In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites until foamy, then add the cream of tartar. Cream of tartar is very acidic, which is what your egg whites need to get really fluffy. I can't find it at my grocery store, so I just use three times as much vinegar to get the same effect. Sprinkle the remaining sugar in a little at a time. Stephanie says here to use a whisk attachment, but I don't have one of those, either. Again, regular beaters seemed OK enough.

Gently fold the egg whites mixture into the chocolate mixture. Don't overmix--use a spatula or wooden spoon.

Pour the torte batter into a greased, parchment-papered cheesecake pan. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven. It will rise up during baking, but when you take it out it will collapse in the middle. A. didn't like the way it looks, but I figured I'm eating it, not hanging it on my wall. As far as tortes go, mine was pretty attractive.

Ma Po Tofu

This recipe is based on the chef's notes from Shiok Restaurant. I adapted it to U.S. measurements and the ingredients I could get here in NYC. Also, the Shiok chef uses beef, but A. likes ma po tofu with pork, so that's what I used. The Shiok chef recommends substituting minced fried tofu for the meat if you want a vegetarian dish.

1 package firm tofu (12 or 16 ounces) cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound of ground pork
1 and 1/2 T. Chili bean paste
3 T. Sesame oil
2 T. Fermented black beans
6 to 10 Whole red chilies
1/2 C. Chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 pinch Sugar
1 Tsp. Light soy sauce (this refers to the color of the soy sauce, not the American, low-sodium stuff; dark and light soy sauces taste different and look a little different. A. says that dark and light soy sauces are set on the table with sliced chilies in them, and light soy sauce is also used in cooking--like in this recipe).
2 Tsp. Cornstarch mixed with 1 T. cold water
2 T. chopped scallions for garnish

Heat a wok on high heat. When it's nice and hot, add the oil. Add the ground pork and stir-fry for about a minute on high heat. With a spatula, move the beef to one side of the wok so the oil can drain back into the middle of the wok.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the chili bean paste and stir-fry for 30 seconds. The oil should turn red. Add the fermented black beans and red chilies, and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.

Add the chicken or vegetable stock and stir it in. Then gently add the tofu to the liquid. Don't stir-fry this too much or the tofu could break apart. Add the sugar and light soy sauce. Turn the heat down and simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes.

Depending on how thick the sauce is at this stage, stir in some of the cornstarch and water mixture and turn up the heat to medium. The sauce should start to thicken. Add more of the mixture and cook till the sauce has the consistency slightly more runny than tomato ketchup. It should cling to the tofu nicely.

Serve in a warm bowl with steamed rice on the side.

Thai Iced Tea

While I was shopping today in "Little Indonesia" (Bayard St. and Mott St.), I found a 1-pound bag of "Thai Tea Leaves." I had been half-heartedly looking for Thai red tea leaves for some time, so that I could make Thai iced tea--one of my very favorite beverages EVER--at home. When I got home at opened up the bag, I was immediately transported back to my childhood when my father (who was in the Air Force) brought me home a doll from Thailand that was stuffed with red tea leaves. Now I wonder if I like Thai tea because it smells like that doll, or if I liked my doll so much because it smelled so delicious. That led to this circular conversation with my girlfriend (who is profoundly silly at times):

A: Ask me why you like Thai iced tea.
M: Why do I like Thai iced tea so much?
A: Because reminds you of your favorite childhood doll.
M: Oh.
A: Ask me why you liked your doll so much.
M: OK. Why did I like my doll so much?
A: Because it smells like delicious Thai tea.
M: Oh.
A: Ask me why you like Thai iced tea so much...

And so on and so forth. The gentleman at the store (who sometimes gives me tamarind candies for free) said: "At the restaurant they charge $2.95 for just one cup of this. You buy my bag of tea for $5 and you get 30 cups!" Indeed!

2/3 C. Thai red tea leaves
2 C. Water
1/2 C. Sugar (I use less, but it's supposed to be a really sweet drink)
Sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk or rice milk (I use SCM)

Boil your water, then brew your tea nice and strong. Strain the tea leaves, add your sugar, and let the tea chill in the fridge. When cold serve it over iced with your milk product of choice layered on top.

Crockpot--the little miracle maker

I lamented to A. that I hadn't posted to my blog in quite some time, and she commiserated, noting that BOTH my loyal readers would be disappointed. I don't know if I haven't been cooking, or if I haven't liked what I've been cooking, or if I just haven't bothered to record much of it. One meal I do remember is Thanksgiving: A. and I went All Out. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, asparagus, cranberry sauce, stuffing, broccoli rabe, and more stuff that I can't remember. We had no one to help us with it, either, until A. convinced a few of her friends to come over, and then a couple of my runner friends decided to drop by, too. I daren't (is that a real contraction?) post a post on how to cook turkey; first of all, A. handled it, and secondly, it was too long ago for me to remember how it was done. Besides, I think turkey-cooking is best studies for years and years before publishing. Kind of like musicology. Instead, I will tell you about the wonders of leftover turkey and the crockpot.

It's a little silly to post a recipe for anything that you make in the crockpot because it doesn't really matter. If you put stuff in the crockpot and leave it on low for eight hours, there's a 99 percent chance whatever you ladle out of it will be delicious. For example, after my place of work had a fundraising party, I took all the leftover chicken skewers, cubes of meat, and crudite (almost anything that was left behind), and put it in the old CP, covered it with water, and added a little salt. The next day we had delicious Japenese-Thai-Indian-chicken-beef-lamb-carrot-onion-mushroom-celery Soup. Magic!

I also did this with the leftover turkey. When we arrived home from Christmas vacation in NC, there was NO FOOD in the house. None. Anywhere. So, I took the turkey out of the freezer, found a forgotten potato (cut out the weird bits), and chopped up some "baby" carrots that had been purchased for road snacks and accidentally left behind. With some salt, pepper and a bay leaf, we ate for three more days.

I just realized that this sounds a lot like the Hanukah story, except with extra meals instead of extra days light for the sacred altar.