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.