international – Page 4

Miso Hummus topped with Seaweed Furikake

Published on September 21, 2016September 27, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach13 Comments

a few great things that have happened recently:

i finally saw heart in concert
seeing as how the sisters are Wilsons,
there being that very slim chance of us being related,
i had to see them live.
alas after seeing their performance,
in my scientific opinion
we do not have the same talent genes,
they’re effing amazing.

i actually don’t despise podcasts, it came down to finding the right ones
a few of my fave:
Dear Sugar,
mortified,
& unqualified
i like the 2nd one so much,
we’re going to see them later this week when they’re in town
(if you’re local, let’s meet up!)
(just don’t be weird/creepy)

inspired by the Great British Bake Off,
i entered a chicken soup cookoff.
i spent part of the weekend making the stock
and then a large portion of sunday evening
making the first batch of Experiment Soup.
that’s lunch this week.
the cycle starts again this weekend,
up until Contest Day.
i will post the recipe after the contest.

Miso Hummus topped with Seaweed Furikake
makes about 2 cups

note: dw & i are on the never ending searching for smooth homemade hummus. we’ve made our fair share, with varying results of smoothness. what’s great about hummus is that it’s a very blank slate and it’s entirely up to you how you want to flavor and season. we’ve had the very very basic garlic version to herby to now this: miso flavored. all i know is, it’s a dish that brings people together, correction: brings different people together, a sentiment that lina of the lebanese plate is most passionate about. in today’s political climate, domestic and aboard, it’s scary times. let’s stop being assholes and share some great food. #SpreadHummusNotHate
*note: local/baltimore folk: Great Sage is having a family style Middle East Peace Dinner. get on that.

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
healthy pinch of baking soda
2 TBL miso (i used brown rice)
generous 1/3 cup tahini
1/4 – 1/3 cup cold water
1 tsp sesame oil, at the end, and to top

seaweed furikake, as previously seen in Somen Noodle Bowl
2 sheets of nori/seaweed, shredded by hand
2-3 TBL toasted sesame seeds, very important to toast!
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
pinch of salt

in a bowl, mix the furikake together. set aside.

soak chickpeas with pinch of baking soda, leave on counter overnight. they will double in size, it’s quite alarming.

next morning, drain and rinse. in a big saucepan add the beans with more than you think you’ll need water, about 4-5″ above the beans. bring to a boil, lower temp and simmer for about 1 hour. test for done-ness and then boil for a bit longer. i usually aim for about 1.5 – 2 hours boil time.

drain and add the cooked beans into a food processor. lina (along with other people, dw included) says to skin the beans for extra smoothness but my lazy ass was not gonna bother. add in the miso and tahini. blitz until smooth. then blitz some more. very slowly and carefully, add in the cold water until it reaches the loose consistency you’re aiming for. i like to aim for slightly runny, because as the hummus cools, it’ll thicken up.

top with the seaweed furiake and serve with chips/rice crackers/vegs.

it tastes better the next day as the flavors have had time to meld.

BAM!

3 years ago: diy watercolor wedding invites (!!!)
2 years ago: homemade lactose free ricotta cheese
1 year ago: bún riêu – vietnamese seafood noodle soup

chilled somen noodles with cold mushroom broth

Published on July 26, 2016July 25, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach10 Comments

if you would believe it,
we’re around the corner from August.
it’s hot as balls out,
i’ve taken to worrying about
the plants outside,
the kind that belong to me
and the kind that don’t.
i sent dw out the other day
with two half gallon jugs
to water the new trees that were
recently planted in the park across the way.
this will hopefully become
a morning & nightly routine.

meanwhile,
we’ve been battling this heat
with plenty of water
and cold foods:
salad
ice cream
cereal
and this soup.

hope you’re staying cool,
wherever you are.

cold noodle bowl

chilled somen noodles with cold mushroom broth
inspired & adapted from the NY Times
makes enough for 6-8 servings

*in my freezer i keep a bag of vegetable odds/ends, they range from mushroom stems to celery heads to ugly carrot nubs. sometimes i keep parsley stems. they make for super quick and easy veg broths. for this particular dish, it made enough broth to fill a half gallon jar, which can be kept in the fridge for a week.

broth:
a very generous handful of dried shiitake mushrooms
a very generous handful of mushroom stems
1 bunch scallions, rough chopped
1 stick of kombu
a few celery heads
8 cups water
soy sauce or coconut aminos to taste
1 TBL whole black pepper

for the noodle bowls:
cooked somen noodles, prepared according to package instructions
cucumbers, sliced thin
green scallions, small chopped
kim chi, if you’re fancy make your own, we bought a local fave: Hex
2-4 hard boiled eggs, i got fancy and let them hang out in dark soy sauce for extra flavor
corn, cut from two cobs
drizzle of sesame oil
splash of rice vinegar

in the morning, while you’re brewing your coffee make the broth: add all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes. turn off heat and cool to room temp. season to taste and then strain into clean jar and place in refrigerator till cold.

when ready, assemble the bowls: divvy up the noodles, make enough so that each bowl gets about 1 – 1 1/2 cups of broth. top with vegs and last pour in the broth. drizzle a bit of sesame oil and splash of vinegar at the end for added flavor.

BAM!

3 years ago: green tomato & mint chutney
2 years ago: thai iced tea
1 year ago: i was being a bum.

creamy polenta and roasted mushrooms

Published on March 28, 2016March 27, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach8 Comments

this spring has kinda crept up on me
but i feel like i’ve made a valiant effort
at catching up —
winter clothes were packed up,
dressing room tidied up
and garbs not touched for ages
were given up.
i feel lighter already.

i start a new job this week,
one i didn’t even know i was looking for
but one that i fought very hard for.
while the warmth makes its way
into our days,
and i’m figuring out my way,
you can follow along over on IG.

happy spring!

creamy polenta and roasted mushrooms – gluten free
inspired by yotam ottolenghi and america’s test kitchen

*note: i have made ottolenghi’s mushroom and herb polenta, sans the cheese, and it’s delicious. but rather than frying the shrooms i wanted to try roasting them. enter america’s test kitchen with their scientific brine action. this entire dish was all about prepping and getting the mise en place in place, but once that was all done, it was quick to throw together.
**note: rather than grate parmesan over top the entire dish, i made a smoked egg yolk bottarga, that might be my new fave ingredient.

mushroom brine
1 lb white button mushrooms, stems removed, quartered or halved, keep sizes relatively the same
5 teaspoons kosher salt
6 cups water

in big bowl combine the salt and water. stir to mix. add in the cut mushrooms and keep them submerged with a heavy plate. ignore for 15 minutes.

mushroom seasoning
generous drizzle of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
thyme, amount to your liking
4-5 sage leaves, rough chopped

preheat oven to 400F

remove mushroom from brine and dry on kitchen towel. clean and dry the bowl that had the brine water. in that bowl add in the oil, minced garlic and herbs. toss the brined mushrooms in the bowl and then spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet.

roast for 30 minutes. they will shrink down significantly, fyi.

remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

*fyi: an alternative way: roast the mushrooms, without the herbs and garlic but coated in olive oil immediately after dried from brine. roast for 20 minutes, remove from oven and then toss with the herbs and garlic with another drizzle of olive oil. roast for remaining 10 minutes.

polenta – made according to package instructions, enough for two hungry people
2 TBL grated smoked egg yolk bottarga
(parmesan cheese can be used instead)
2 TBL chopped parsley, garnish

assemble:
on serving platter or in a bowl, pour the creamy polenta. top with the roasted mushrooms, get as much of the herbs and garlic goodness as possible. grate the egg yolk bottarga or parmesan cheese over top and garnish with the chopped parsley. serve immediately.

BAM!

other mushroom goodness:
mushroom stroganoff
homemade banh cuon chay, with mushroom filling

Jose’s Paella

Published on March 22, 2016April 22, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach3 Comments

some weeks ago,
when the air still had a bite of winter
and the gloom of february seemed ever present,
(kinda like how this past weekend was,
except it’s way past the middle of march)
we had a paella party.
kinda sorta like the time
i spent with nuria’s family in barçelona.
nuria’s dad, jose,
cooked up a storm.
there was always something to eat.
and one of the things he made was paella.
every so often
i am able to convince nuria to make it for me.
it’s especially hard now that she technically lives in california,
but for the time being,
while she lives with us in baltimore,
i’m getting my fill of paella.
this was made in the dead of winter,
and as the weather warms,
and fresh spring vegetables make an appearance,
i see another paella party happening…

jose’s paella
makes enough for 6 people, or 3 very hungry people

*note: this was all nuria, i stuck my head in a few times to take pictures but she did all the cooking. from what i gathered, make sure you have your mise en place together.

1 lb sushi rice
1/2 cups olive oil
1 TBL minced garlic
2 Liters seafood stock (best if from scratch, recipe to follow)
1/4 cup white wine
1 TBL saffron or tumeric
1/3 cup simple marinara, ideally sofrito
8 shrimps, with heads on
12 mussels
1/2 lb small scallops
1/2 lb sliced squid or calamari
1 lb of white fish, cute in bite sized chunks (tilapia, monkfish, or cod are great choices)
12 bize-size chunks of pork ribs (any meat will do, even chicken)
1 big lemon, cut into 6 wedges, to garnish
1 roasted red pepper in long strips, to garnish

carefully detach heads from shrimp, using your hands, don’t cut it and in a small pan infuse the heads with the olive oil for 20 minutes. do not bring the oil to a strong boil, aim for a light simmer.

meanwhile, in a big pot add in the stock, saffron (or tumeric), white wine and marinara. strain the olive oil from heads, set aside the infused olive oil and add the heads to the pot with the stock to simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

clean the shrimp and set aside.

in a pan sautee these items separately, but use the same oil and pan: fish, squid, and meat, with a pinch of salt and garlic. mise en place each item.

in the pan that will be used to make the paella, heat the rice with the shrimp-infused olive oil, medium-high heat. make sure each grain is coated and warmed through. all the while the stock should be at a light boil, the key is to keep the stock and rice at the same temp.

add 1-2 ladle-fuls of stock into the pan, enough to cover the rice. the rice will absorb the stock gradually, like cooking risotto. stir every 102 minutes to prevent scorching. as the stock is being reduced and absorbed, continue to add ladle-fuls of the stock to the pan, stirring as well.

at around the 10 minute mark, add the fish, meat, and squid. cook for 5 more minutes.

when the rice is still on the al dente side but is just about to get soft, around the 14-15 minute, add the scallops, mussels and cleaned shrimp. place the mussels and shrimp following the same pattern as a bike tire with 6-8 spokes.

now leave the pan alone, don’t stir it, but keep the pan moist by adding stock, a ladle at a time. the cooking time of the sushi rice should be around 18-20 minutes.

turn off stove, remove pan from heat, add the lemon wedges and the roasted red pepper strips, cover sand ignore for 5-10 minutes. the rice will continue to absorb the stock and cook in those minutes.

serve immediately. any leftovers can be eaten at room temp.

BAM!

other international dishes:
african chicken stew
caribean oxtail stew
feijoada
lamb larb
vietnamese vermicelli noodle bowl

feijoada – Brazilian Bean Stew

Published on January 25, 2016January 27, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach9 Comments

we’ve been waking to low temps lately,
maybe not as low as the northern states,
but lower than the southern states,
and you know what?
low is low
and comparison is the thief of joy.
our kitchen is currently out of commission
but before we started
the renovation
dw made a stew that warmed us through,
staving off the chill,
and comparing to all other stews
i’ve thrown together,
let’s just say it’s
such a joy that dw can cook too.

feijoada – a brazilian bean stew
as dictated to me from dw who read 5 recipes and then mashed them all together

*note: feijoada is a stew of portuguese origin, with the respective portuguese colonies having versions of their own. dw went with a brazilian bent, though we did top off with asian rice vinegar to cut through the richness. using lime would be fine too. finish the meal with some slices of clementines or tangerines, to cleanse the palate. this is a super fatty, but sooooo good, stew.

1 onion, fine diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil
6 slices of smoky bacon
1 lb pork shoulder, large cubes
1 cup dried black beans, soaked overnight
chorizo sausage links, sliced
3 bay leaves
dried chili flake to taste, optional
1 TBL coriander seeds, toasted and then finely ground
enough water or stock to cover
rice vinegar to serve

in a pan with a bit of olive oil saute the onions until translucent season with salt, add in the garlic and coriander seed to warm through. add the entire onion and garlic saute to the bottom of crock pot.

return pan to stove top and cook the bacon until crispy. pull bacon out and crumble. add to onion/garlic mixture in crock pot. (though, it can be added at the end, prior to eating. up to you).

drain off excess bacon fat, but reserving enough fat to cover pan (about 1-2 TBL) and brown the pork cubes on all sides. add pork cubes to crock pot.

saute the chorizo sausage, just to give it crisp edges. add to crock pot.

add soaked beans to crock pot, discarding the soaking water.

add the bay leaf and smattering of dried chili flakes, if using.

add water or stock to cover.

put crock pot on high until beans are soft, about 4 hours.

serve over plain rice with splash of rice vinegar and side of clementine slices.

BAM!