Cookbook # 66 Honga's Lotus Petal

Honga's Lotus Petal is apparently a beloved Telluride institution.  I don't know if that's true because I don't get out enough.  It is sad.

This cookbook however, introduces a bit of the ecclectic fun of Asian fusion into the home. With recipes like Asian Fish Tacos with Kaffir Lime Crepes, Tomato Coconut Soup and  Asian Pumpkin Soup who needs to go out?  So that might be stretching it a bit, but I do love the recipes. They are ecclectic enough to feel different from all my other Asian cookbooks, but familiar enough to stir up cravings. I already have the Asian Gazpacho with Lemongrass sour cream on the menu for next week.   There's also Som Tum in this book which makes it a winner in my "Must have Som Tum recipe" cookbook category. And of course the photography is stunning enough to make a girl covet the job of food photographers.  What else is there to say?

Grilled Salmon and Bok Choy with Warm Quinoa Salad with Vanilla Pineapple Salsa
Adapted from Honga's Lotus Petal


2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 6 oz fillets of wild salmon
2 baby bok choy
Warm Quinoa Salad
Vanilla Pineapple Salsa

Preheat grill to high.
In small bowl mix together oil, salt and pepper. Rub half on salmon.
Cut bok choy lengthwise from root to leaves. Rub other half of oil, salt and pepper mixture.
Place Salmon on Grill and grill for 2 mins. Flip. Add bok choy to grill. Grill until it begins to wilt and roast. Flip bok choy and cook additional minute. Remove Salmon and bok choy from grill and serve with Warm Quinoa Salad and Vanilla Pineapple Salsa.

Pineapple Salsa
½ fresh pineapple finely diced
small bunch of scallions sliced thinly
½ bell pepper finely diced
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
Combine ingredients in bowl and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Warm Quinoa Salad
1 cup quinoa
1 tbsp olive oil
½ red onion, diced
½ red or yellow bell pepper diced
1 carrot peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp butter

1. Combine quinoa with 2 cups water in medium pot with lid. Bring to boil and lower heat to simmer. Cook until all water is absorbed and quinoa is tender—about 20 mins. Let cool for 30 mins.
2. Preheat pan over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add oil and vegetables. Stir to mix and add ginger and garlic. Cook stirring frequently until veggies begin to wilt—about 3 minutes.
3. Mix in cooked quinoa and stir thoroughly. Add lemon juice, sugar, and fish sauce to pan and let steam for another minute.
4. Turn off heat and mix in butter.

Cookbook # 65 Scottish Heritage Food and Cooking

I have to fess up here.  My recipe choice for this cookbook was not really driven by the cookbook itself, but rather by a magazine recipe.  See, I had this fabulous issue of Saveur from last year.  And it called for making your own mustard.  I'm always on board with an opportunity to make an everyday type item myself. How fun is making your own mustard?  Pretty fun it turns out.

Best part was the Guinness.  While I rarely drink beer, I'm apparently obsessed with ways to incorporate it into foods.  It rocked in the mustard.

Spicy Guinness Mustard

From Saveur Issue 117

1 12-oz. bottle Guinness Extra Stout

1 1⁄2 cups brown mustard seeds (10 oz.)
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1⁄4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1⁄4 tsp. ground cloves
1⁄4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1⁄4 tsp. ground allspice

1. Combine ingredients in a nonreactive mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1–2 days so that the mustard seeds soften and the flavors meld.
2. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor and process, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, until the seeds are coarsely ground and the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a jar and cover.
3. Refrigerate overnight and use immediately or refrigerate for up to 6 months. (The flavor of the mustard will mellow as the condiment ages.)

So all that in a cookbook post to say that I took a recipe for Cheddar and Mustard Cod in Scottish Heritage Cookbook as an opportunity to make the mustard from the magazine.

The cookbook itself is all about armchair travel.  Love the stories, love the photos but am not really a skin the rabbit myself before braising it kind of recipe girl.  If you like fresh game and instructions on how to dissect and cook a freshly skinned pheasant or wild animal, this cookbook is PERFECT.  If you don't, but love Scotland, it's still great journey into a whole food culture.

And Cod with Mustard and Cheddar?  How bad can anything be with cheddar and Guinness topping it? 

Memorial Weekend

What better way to kick off the summer and celebrate  Memorial Day then wandering through classical architecture.  Is there anything like Italy in June?  Or Paris in the springtime?

 But if memory serves me right. the canals of Venice are not crystal clear.

And then, a large dose of reality.

My previous trips to Vegas were inexplicably always in the middle of summer--no es bueno.  I beat the heat this year by exactly one week--93 degrees is soooo much better than 106 degrees. And despite my complaints to my sister that everything in the town is artificial and fabricated, I actually kind of like it. With the lights, the energy, the shows--there are photo ops around every corner.

Who isn't a sucker for the dancing water shows at the Bellagio?  I hate to play favorites in a city that has so many musicals and shows available, but I don't think there's anything better...

Baby Love

Every once in awhile, a little motivation flows through these veins.  Remember these jelly rolls? 

Well, they finally met their destiny.  

Getting me near a sewing machine does require some super duper extra special person or occasion.  My sister provided both.  Were we all really this small at some point?  Girlfriend doesn't even fit newborn clothes but this is okay because nakie babies are the best.  Better access to smelling them of course.

Pattern was modified from Amy Butler's Mid Mod Quilt.

It's All About the Crumbs

I know it's early and the produce has not even begun to come into full abundance, but early every season we get a little sneak peek of the of the goodness to come...

Oh joy.  Produce is happiness.  And on the opposite end of the spectrum, so is a great crumb cake.  I'm a sucker for a big fat, brown sugary and buttery crumb.  Put the two together and you have perfection?  Let's find out.

The secret to getting those big fat Starbucks crumbcake crumbs is to melt the butter first and add the spices and sugar.  Mix thoroughly before adding the flour to make a "dough."

The verdict?  Perfection indeed. 

Rhubarb Crumb Coffeecake
adapted from NY Times

Crumb Topping:
1/3 cup  granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 cups  flour

Rhubarb filling:
1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

Cake:
1 tbsp vanilla
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tbsp butter, softened and cut intopieces.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease an 8-inch-square baking pan.
2. Slice rhubarb and set aside
3. For crumb topping: in a large bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Add flour and stir.
3. For the cake stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add butter and a spoonful of sour cream mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set aside.
4.  Spread batter (minus reserved 1/2 cup) in prepared pan.
5. Toss sliced rhubarb with sugar, cornstarch, ginger and cinnamon.  Spread on top of batter.
6. Dallop reserved batter on top of rhubarb-it will not cover completely.
7. Break topping mixture into big crumbs and sprinkle over cake.
8. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean of batter (it might be moist from rhubarb), 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

And rhubarb ins't the only thing timed for a spring arrival--apparently this is the perfect time for babies to pop out as well. With a couple of coworkers and 3 family members all having babies within a one month period, it's been busy.  My very own dear sister is one of those and pretty soon there will be some additional niece pictures to broaden the "family" photo genre beyond Peanut photos.

I did however get to meet my cousin's little one this past weekend. Look how smooshy and handsome he is...