this weekend, our friend K came to stay with us, and she cooked us a swell vietnamese dinner. She had gotten her mitts on a few bottles of Phu Quoc fish sauce, widely reputed to be the best there is — and it really is nice stuff. Much fishier than others, in the best possible way, and sort of nutty and rounded in flavor. (K agreed with our previous intelligence that Three Crabs brand is the best available in the States.)
Since K lived in Vietnam for 4+ years, she has a few recipes up her sleeve. One she got straight from the cooking queen of Phu Quoc island, involving squid, chilies, garlic, shallots, turmeric, fish sauce, and a truckload of chowdered-up lemongrass. Yum. She also made cashew chicken which was a far cry from most restaurant versions, a simple saute of collard greens, cabbage salad, and tom yum goong, the spicy lemongrass shrimp soup. All dreamy. Black sticky rice with coconut milk for dessert. Sigh.
Month: April 2004
Victoria Organic pasta sauce
Found this stuff at CostCo, and I figured anything organic and on discount was worth a shot. And turns out it rules. It’s delicious in that thin, old-skool red sauce way, hovering somewhere in a hazy area between what an Italian mama makes in Somerville and what you get at the Chateau. Comes in marinara and tomato basil flavors.
I had some Muir Glen sauce around the same time, and I figured that their canned tomatoes are so superior, their sauce would be good too. And it is, but merely good. It was very useful in a veggie lasagne, but I don’t think I’d dig it just over pasta.
pretzels that don’t suck
before i forget, thanks to gurleygurl for tipping me off to the pumpernickel & onion pretzel made by Snyder’s of Hanover. Normally hard pretzels are just boring and I don’t bother — but these have flavor! Nummy.
and the kitchen’s not even trashed
ok, so I ran out of butter and eggs. I guess that’s a sign I should stop baking. ;-P The final tally:
cranberry upside down cake
chocolate afghans
pumpkin cranberry nut bread
espresso hazelnut brownies
banana bread
no-pudge chocolate chip brownies
and one substandard loaf of beer bread, which i’m eating myself b/c it’s a little weird and overdone.
The tallasiandude will be psyched at how good I was at cleaning up after myself given the rampaging nature of this baking bender.
eat pastry for democracy
I’m not much of an activist — lazy, self-conscious, distracted — but I can bake. And if I can help kick George Bush out of office by baking, then by god I’ll do it. MoveOn.com’s nationwide bake sale is the best idea I’ve heard in a long time. So tonight I made beer bread, chocolate afghans, pumpkin cranberry nut bread, and no-pudge brownies (from a mix, *gasp*). Have a look here for more info: http://action.moveonpac.org/bakesale/
Those damn brownies are awfully tasty for no fat. They’re goopy-fudgy inside, which is rather nice. I made mine with plain yogurt rather than vanilla as instructed, and to make up for the lower sweetness I chucked in some semisweet chocolate chips. Hoo, baby! I never suspected they’d actually be good, but they are.
And chocolate afghans… mmm… sigh. Pride of New Zealand, the cookie found in every tea shop and truck stop in the land. Crunchy chocolate cookie with thick fudgy icing on top, with a walnut to crown its glory. Thought those crunchies were coconut for the longest time, but they’re really crushed-up Weetabix. Americans lacking Weetabix (which is delicious itself as a cereal) can use corn flakes smashed to smithereens instead, but I find Weetabix has a crisper, lighter texture. I also suspect that these would be better if I used unsalted butter. Normally, I can’t be bothered to buy unsalted butter, and frankly I won’t use anything but salted butter on bread, trendy NYC bistros be damned. But I think these cookies end up with a slightly funny undertaste with salted butter. Not that I won’t snarf down any and all within range.
And pumpkin cranberry nut bread has gotten rave reviews at parties, especially with a schmear of cream cheese.
Tomorrow we’ll assay the espresso hazelnut brownies, frangelico truffles, and cranberry upside down cake. Heh — take that, George!
(ps Weetabix available at Porter Square Star Market!)
Welcome to FoodNerd!
Yeah, so the kitchen’s a mess, the dishes are dirty and the floor hasn’t been cleaned in months. But I wanted to get this thing off the ground. Hopefully coming soon will be places to discuss that cool new recipe, that freaky restaurant you found on your last road trip, or just somewhere to shoot the breeze.
I’m tellin’ ya, this is the start of something big! Big, I tell you!
Stay tuned, it can only get better!