I saw this recipe on pinterest recently and given I (ironically, it is a long list) had all of these ingredients, I could not stop thinking about it. I strayed really far from the original, but am happy with where I ended up. I could eat this all day long. I am aware it is not a truly authentic Thai list of ingredients, but it tastes delicious at the end so I'm not concerned. I don't like rambling on to sell you a recipe so instead, here are a few podcasts I listened to this past week that I really enjoyed. Not sure how you listen to podcasts, I trust you can search for them.
It is a long list of ingredients, and quite a bit of chopping, but worth the time. I add some grilled chicken or tofu, both of which I marinate in sriracha, sesame oil and a bit of tamari. Salmon would be AMAZING here. Any leftovers will keep for a few days, covered in the fridge.
The Salad
1 bell pepper, small dice
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 a red onion, small dice
2 Persian cucumbers, small dice
1/2 a small head of purple cabbage, finely shredded
1 mango (or 2 ataulfo mangos, preferable if you can find them), small dice
1 small bunch cilantro
1 small bunch mint
1 large lime
sea salt and pepper
nub of coconut oil
1 medium head of cauliflower, riced (about 1 1/2 cups prepared)
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
2 avocados, for garnish
toasted cashews, for garnish
Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup creamy, salted peanut butter
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup rice vinegar
juice of two large limes
2 inch nub of ginger, grated
1 clove of garlic, grated
dash of fish sauce, optional
1 Tbsp. honey or agave nectar
2 tsp. tamari or soy sauce
sea salt and pepper
Recipe Instructions
Put all the prepared produce in a large mixing bowl. Chop the cilantro and mint, add that too. Squeeze the lime over everything, add a pinch of salt and pepper and toss everything to mix. Set aside, room temperature or in the fridge.
Heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the riced cauliflower, pinch of salt and pepper and saute until it begins to soften. Add the coconut milk and saute another 2-3 minutes until softened. Set aside to cool down.
When the cauliflower cools, make your sauce. In a bowl, combine the peanut butter, water, rice vinegar, juice of both limes, grated ginger, garlic, fish sauce if using, honey or agave and tamari. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk everything together until smooth. Taste for seasoning, if you like some heat, add a dash of sriracha or cayenne. Add water or lime juice to thin if needed. Keep it mind it will firm up in the fridge.
Add the cooled cauliflower to the bowl of vegetables and toss everything together. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve the salad with the peanut sauce, avocado and toasted cashews on top.
My oven currently smells like it's burning off oil that had dripped to the bottom at some point. I should clean it; it really does interrupt the beautiful waft that comes from a springy cake in the oven. I have a handful of prospective projects I am back and forth about between two email addresses that while made with good intentions to keep personal and work separate, have done no such thing. There are threads regarding a potential cookbook, a recipe and article assignment about avocados, a menu card for our fundraiser dinner and open items to finish filing our taxes. Woven in between are emails about Curran's first (overdue apparently, oops) dentist appointment, follow up on invoices and the receipt for that weird oversized shirt I ordered from Nordstrom that I keep there to remind myself to return it some night after the kids are down. I never feel like doing that once the kids are down... but I also don't like going to the mall with two spirited toddlers so you may find me in a terribly unflattering oversized shirt. Anyway. I get stuck on writing here because the balls I am trying to keep in the air follow no apparent rhyme or reason or lessons learned. It feels like a simple yogurt cake on top of the stove is a constant to a life that seems to be buzzing by faster than I can keep up with. The fruit shrinks in after some time in the oven, and because fruit has a lot of water in it, the result is almost custardy which I don't mind at all once it cools. The jammy fruit and cake batter are almost tough to distinguish. It works for breakfast or an incentive for a moderately potty trained little boy or something to bring along on a date with my nieces. There is no frosting or chocolate or decadence really, it's an everyday sort of cake and the only kind that feels right to make around here lately.
STRAWBERRY + RHUBARB YOGURT CAKE // one 8" cake Recipe adapted from Sarah Waldmans Feeding a Family
I swapped in half strawberries for Sarah's exclusively rhubarb cake because I love the combination and my wee people are fans. I also cut down on the sugar slightly from her suggestion and found it to be plenty sweet. If you don't stock spelt flour, completely all purpose is fine, the texture would probably be better, I just like to sneak some whole grains in there. You can make this dairy free by replacing the yogurt for a plant based yogurt and the butter for a scant 1/2 cup of coconut oil. It's a pretty forgiving cake.
3/4 cup full fat yogurt 2 eggs, room temperature 1/2 cup/1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 Tbsp. grated gingerroot (or twice as much crystallized ginger pieces) 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour 3/4 cup spelt flour (or more unbleached all purpose) 1 cup muscavado or brown sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1 cup 1" diced rhubarb 1 cup diced strawberries
turbinado sugar, for finishing creme fraiche, yogurt or ice cream, for serving
Preheat the oven to 350' and grease an 8" pan (square, springform, cakepan etc.).
In one mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, butter, vanilla and ginger. Set aside. In another mixing bowl, combine the flours, sugar, salt, baking soda and stir to mix. Mix the fruit into the dry mix (this helps to keep the fruit from sinking) then gently combine the wet and dry mix together. Pour the mix into your prepared pan and generously sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar. Bake on the middle rack for around 45-50 minutes until the cake is browned on top and a toothpick test shows that the center is cooked through. Remove to cool so the cake sets. Serve with creme fraiche, yogurt or ice cream. Cake will keep covered on the counter for two days, beyond that, store it in the fridge as it has a lot of moisture to it.
We all come to the kitchen with a different level of experience. Maybe you grew up around the stove with your mom or you've taught yourself through trial and error and many Food Network episodes or you've stayed away completely because you're scared of failing. I think our audience here is largely somewhere in the middle of all that, a practiced homecook, but I thought it'd be nice to incorporate a number of posts that are cornerstones of our families table. This may seem redundant and boring for some or maybe a step forward for those that want to be confident in a few recipes so they can feel good about cooking for other people. I also feel like having basics down helps you to experiment just outside of them. You mastered roasted potatoes? You can do the same thing with cauliflower or other root vegetables, no problem. Now you basically have three sides down, perhaps change up the seasonings next time? Go, you. I took a Food Science class in college and read a book called What Einstein Told His Cook (wish I knew where that was now) and it helped me to understand the why about food, instead of just blindly following a recipe. I've made A LOT of bad potatoes before consistently making good ones.
These potatoes look pretty basic at first glance, but it's a few details that make them delicious every time. A few notes from the field:
- I use a mix of potatoes for flavor and texture and because they look pretty. You can use all one kind in the same volume with the same results. I wouldn't use more than one sweet potato if you go for the mix because they have a higher water content which means they'll cook faster and keep the potatoes from crisping. This is also why I par boil any other potatoes besides the sweet, it allows the potatoes to get ahead so you can roast them at a higher heat for browning without burning them before the centers are cooked through.
- Do not overcrowd! Leave the potatoes enough space for the edges to brown. Overcrowding = steaming = no crisping. It's also good to let them give off a little steam before transferring to a serving dish if you're going to pile them on top of each other. We usually just scoop from the sheet pan because we're very fancy.
- Potatoes love salt, don't be shy, but remember it's always easier to add than take away so I will finish with a little more if I didn't add enough before the roast. I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic because the later burns with 40 minutes in the oven. The herbs are better after for the same reason, and because the vibrant green is pretty on brown foods.
In other news, I am hosting a book event with Heritage Mercantile in Costa Mesa, CA on 11/13 from 3-5pm. You can sign up on that link so we can get a head count. Would love to meet you if you're in the area!
MIXED ROASTED POTATOES // Serves 4
This recipe can be doubled but you will for sure need two large sheet pans. The garlic here will roast with the potatoes to be smooth and delicious, we smush some out of the skin and dip our fork in it before taking a bite of potato. The par boil and chopping may be done in advance. I don't like to keep them in the fridge but you can do this morning of or even the night before and let them sit out at room temp until you are ready to roast. These love a little sprinkle of parmesan in the last minute of roasting too if you're into that sort of thing.
2.5-3 lbs. mixed potatoes* 3 whole garlic cloves, whole, in peel 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil 2 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. smoked paprika 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper 1 tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste
3 Tbsp. rosemary 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley zest of one small lemon
In a large pot, combine the baby red, white, purple potatoes and the fingerlings. Bring the water to a gentle boil and cook for 10 minutes, drain and cool to the touch. Preheat the oven to 425'. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into larger 2" chunks. Leave smaller fingerlings whole and hack larger ones in half or thirds. Cut the remaining baby potatoes in halves and quarters - go for uneven, imperfect chunks for lots of edges. Collect all the potatoes and the garlic cloves on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the oil, garlic powder, smoked paprika, pepper and salt and toss everything to coat. The potatoes should be generously coated, add a little more oil if needed. Sprinkle a little more salt on top. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until browned on the edges and the largest potato chunk can be easily pierced. If you’re fancy, sprinkle grated parm and pop them back in for a few minutes so it creates a parmy crust (SO GOOD!). While the potatoes roast, chop your rosemary, parsley and lemon zest. Pull the potatoes and let them cool for a moment. Add the herbs and lemon zest to the baking tray and stir to mix. Taste for salt. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy warm.
* I use one medium sweet potato, and the rest a mixture of baby red, baby white, baby purple and fingerlings. Trader Joes sells a small medley bag.
