coconut egg curry

Coconut Egg Curry

incidentally when i think of Indian food
i think of Ethiopia.
when we lived in addis ababa
there were only two restaurants
we frequented:
an italian cafe that boasted
the most impeccable service
and an Indian place
where i had my first ever taste of
goat.

Indian food also makes me think
of a Bangladeshi boy who used to leave
me love poems in my locker.
we always ran into him and his family
when we dined at the Indian joint.

since africa
(a place i still dream of)
my experience with Indian food
has been a love/hate battle.
the harmony between spices
and ingredients
perfectly balanced with
rice or
naan
but is just havoc on my system,
particularly if butter or cheese
plays heavily in the dish.

Coconut Egg Curry

this dish, for me,
is a godsend
i love eggs,
in any form
and while it does play a
minor role against the heavy
punches of cardamon and even cinnamon
i am appeased
because hello
Indian food at home is the best

just a note,
i have attempted two different
recipes,
one from the beautiful Journey Kitchen
that was lovely
but the one i feature today is from playful cooking
which really satiated my cravings

Coconut Egg Curry

also, the recipe calls for
unsweetened coconut flakes
yeah, i couldn’t find the unsweetened
stuff in my pantry
so sweetened went in
it wasn’t cloyingly saccharine
but i would imagine the
dish could do without the
added sugar

last,
just so you know,
again, we lived in Africa for just under
two years, i was only in
8th & 9th grade,
and always heavily chaperoned
on the rare occasions i would
venture out of the compound
i barely remember my time there,
i can only recall the
loveliness of the landscape
the cold climate living in Mt. Entoto‘s shadows
injera
the quiet dignity of ethiopians

Coconut Egg Curry

pb + chocolate cakelettes

PB & Chocolate cakelette

june is roaring in like a ferocious
Dragon.
as though it knows its time is
limited,
Summer is raising the
temperature,
washing over the streets
and sidewalks,
over us, and tossing up
heat like insult.

and so on the hottest
day of the season
thus far, i cranked on
the Oven
and baked for
Movita Beaucoup’s graduation
from baking school.

this is a celebration
for finishing school,
for the burn scars,
for the calories consumed.

and in true fashion, movita is hosting
another Cake-Off.
last year i made little
chocolate cakes
and lost.

this year i made little
cakes again.
i better effing
WIN.

please vote for me here.

PB + Chocolate Cakelettes

pb + chocolate cakelettes
cakes adapted from tartelette
filling adapted from angry asian creations

*note: if you go to tartelette’s recipe it does have one piece missing in the method that caused me some minor anxiety. google is your best friend.

tulip paste:
4 oz coconut oil, right on the cusp of solid & liquid, tho leaning more twds solid, obvi.
4 oz powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup egg whites, at room temperature, approx 4 egg or 122 oz
4 oz all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 TBL cocoa powder

*note: this will make a buttload of tulip paste, i only made two sheets and the rest were turned into cookies.

cream the coconut oil + powdered sugar. i kept the coconut oil in the fridge and let it sit at room temp for a few minutes. work quickly because it has such low temp melt rate/threshold. add in the egg whites (*this was the piece that was missing). sift the cocoa + flour and then add to the mixture, don’t over mix. incorporate it just enough. pour into piping bag that’s been fitted with small plain tip. at this point, use right away or keep in fridge. remember, the properties of coconut oil is different from butter, it will get hard in the fridge quickly, but handle it for too long at room temp with your body temp hands and it will liquefy. (i learned this the hard way).

on parchment paper, in the actual baking sheet you’re going to bake the cake in, pipe design to your liking (delectable deliciousness has a great tutorial). i kept it simple, with just dots and lines. freeze, and keep frozen until ready to pour cake batter on top.

cake batter:
4 oz almond meal/flour
3 ozpowdered sugar
1 oz organic AP flour
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
3 egg whites
1 oz organic sugar
1 oz melted coconut oil

preheat oven to 450F
in stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat both flours, powdered sugar and 4 eggs until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom. add yolk and mix until combined. set aside.

in another bowl, whip up egg whites until foamy and add the sugar in a steady stream, whip until glossy and peaks appear. fold meringue mixture into other bowl. stir in melted coconut oil and fold until well incorporated but careful to not deflate the meringue base.

remove baking sheet of tulip paste and pour batter on top. aim for as thin a cake as possible.
bake for 6 minutes. remove from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes and invert sheet onto platter or counter and peel away the parchment paper. (can be kept wrapped in fridge for up to a week or in freezer for a month)

using either pastry rings or cut up acetate strips (like when i used them to make dw’s mint chocolate cake) into 12″ strips and taped to make 5″ rings. cut strips of cake and fit into the makeshift molds/rings. fill with filling of your choice, allow to set in fridge for a few hours or overnight before removing from rings.

peanut butter cashew cream filling:
1 cup/5 oz organic raw cashews, soaked in warm water for 3-4 hours
5 generous TB organic peanut butter
1 TBL raw honey
splashes of non-dairy milk, i used so delicious coconut creamer to thin out

in cuisinart or food processor mix all ingredients until smooth and reaches desired consistency.

PB + Chocolate Cakelettes

crunchy celery salad

Crunchy Celery Salad

it’s finally the weekend
i shouldn’t complain,
it was a short week for me.
we spent a long weekend in
Atlanta,
where we dodged raindrops
visited a big fish tank
and ate like royalty.

right now our abode
is a mess
(when is it not)
(i’m not much of a housekeeper)
there is laundry to be done
a kitchen light to be replaced
a bathroom needing cleaning
and a gutter to be fixed

Crunchy Celery Salad

instead, we’ll ignore all that
and focus on:
CSA pickups
a donut making morning
wedding invitation making
ice cream eating
movie watching
i just don’t know if we’ll have
enough time!

what are you doing this weekend?

in the meantime, i made this super quick
celery salad
that takes no time
at all.

Crunchy Celery Salad
crunchy celery salad
note: you will not use all the syrup/dressing. don’t feel like you have to.

bunch of celery, washed/cleaned and sliced on the diagonal
1 tiny or 1/4 of a large red onion, sliced thin
1 TBL sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup white wine (i used a pinot grigio, a reisling would be nice but any will do)
1/2 rice vinegar
3/4 cup sugar

fish sauce and lime juice, to taste (the fish sauce is only optional, omit if keeping vegan)
red chili

in a mixing bowl add in the celery + red onion slices, mix with a tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt. put bowl in fridge for a few hours.

meanwhile, in a saucepan add the white wine + rice vinegar and 3/4 cup of sugar. reduce down until it’s like a syrup. allow to cool. about 15 minutes.

pour syrup over celery and mix well. for taste, add in a tsp of the lime juice and fish sauce, adding more according to preference. add in the red chili if desired.

best to eat this salad day it’s made.

strawberry sweet biscuit

strawberry picking

if you’re anything like me,
you didn’t grow up wondering where the
foods you ate came from,
and the exotic fruits you had for dessert
came from a can.
now that i think on it,
i didn’t have my first strawberry until
i was older,
like, a teenager older.
fresh strawberries are expensive
and were usually bypassed
on grocery trips.

now i know where these gems come from,
now i know the labor
it takes to harvest them
and now i understand their price tag
and why it was always
more important to buy the rice
and fish sauce
and tofu
and vegetables.

strawberry sweet biscuits

much like asparagus season,
strawberry season is fleeting.
dw took me strawberry picking the first
year we met
we missed it last year
so we made a point to go
this year.

he is too good to me,
he squats and stoops to pick me
the best berries,
while i hold an umbrella over him,
taking pictures and
judging others
pretending to harvest
resisting eating the fruit as we
worked our row.

strawberry sweet biscuit

it’s not possible to eat all
the berries we picked,
most have been washed
& packed into the freezer
destined for smoothies
or coulis
or ice cream
but i set aside a few handfuls
for fresh snacking
and for this,
a kindof strawberry shortcake.

what’s your favorite spring fruit?

strawberry sweet biscuit recipe

strawberry sweet biscuits
adapted from whole grain vegan baking by celine steen & tamasin noyes
copyright Fair Winds Press

3/8 cup (or 6 TBL) coconut milk
1 cup (120g) organic pastry flour
1/2 cup (45g) oat flour
1/2 cup (70g) spelt flour
1 TBL baking powder
generous pinch of salt
1/2 cup organic sugar, + more for sprinkling
1/3 cup ( 74g) cold coconut oil
fresh strawberries

preheat oven 400F
in food processor mix together dry ingredients
add in the coconut oil, pulse until mixture looks like little peas
add 1 TBL at a time of the coconut milk into processor until mixture pulls from sides of bowl
move dough onto lightly floured surface
knead until comes together, roll or pat down into rectangle, 1/2″ thick
cut dough with desired sized cutters
pat scraps together & cut until all dough is used
transfer biscuits to baking sheet, 2″ apart
brush with coconut milk & sprinkle with sugar
bake for 16 – 18 minutes
allow to cool
serve with strawberries
*note: i served my biscuits with sweetened tofutti cream cheese

additional info:
pink paper basket handmade via the elli blog

lamb larb

Lamb Larb

many many (and many) years
ago
i lived in thailand.
it was during my
formative years
so please know
i will not be able to provide
any kind of reference for
the best street food
but i can tell you that
they really are the
land of smiles.

we have plans to honeymoon
there
with the goal of
this
until then, i console myself
with this salad

this really simple thai salad
can be prepared ahead of time
be served hot
or at room temp
any ground meat will do
and other than the random
cleaning of herbs
very simple to put together

what’s your favorite thai dish?

Lamb Larb

lamb larb

1 lb organic ground lamb
1/4 white onion (red would be better) thinly sliced
1/4 cup water
2 stalks of green scallions/onions, diced
handful of kale, washed & rough chopped (sooooo optional, omit if authenticity is your thing)
3 TBL lime juice
3 TBL fish sauce
dried red pepper flakes
1 thai chili
cilantro leaves and mint, washed & dried, amount according to preference
1/8 cup of toasted rice powder (recipe/instructions follow)

toasted rice powder

1/8 cup of rice or gluttonous rice

dry roast in pan over medium heat until turns a light brown. grind in spice grinder until powder-ized.

cook ground lamb in skillet with no oil, with a wooden spoon be sure to separate the big chunks. go for medium heat, if you go too high it’ll caramelize the meat and that’s not the goal. cook through. at this point, i usually strain the meat of any excess oil/fat. the dish is supposed to be juicy so i add water, it’s up to you. return the meat back to the pan, add in the green onions and kale (this is just *my* addition because i had an excess of the stuff in the fridge, this is very optional) and cook until wilted.

take off heat, add in the onion slices, mix it through. allow to cool and then season with lime juice and fish sauce. season according to taste, i went with 3 TBL of each but you can certainly add more or less. i also added a dash of red pepper flakes and diced thai chili for pretty color. right before serving i add in the mint and cilantro leaves and top with rice powder.

this dish can be served at room temp or hot, with lettuce leaves or sticky rice.

others who’ve made this:
shesimmers
wandering chopsticks