Traveling in My Kitchen: Thailand

My chief menu planner hat is a blessing and a curse. The fun of having so many recipes to choose from to try is beleaguered by the hassle of having sooooo many recipes to choose from to try. 

Sigh....


So, this chief menu planner made an executive decision to pick a theme for each month. That way I can focus recipe choices and menus. December 2017 was Comfort Food month, only I didn't take a single photo of any food all month. Well, not entirely true: Christmas Eve family dinner dessert was my first try at a pavlova. 

Not bad...

Vanilla Pavlova with lemon curd whipped cream and fruit

January 2018: Thailand. 
Winter in Wisconsin can be cold. As in, the air hurts your face cold. As in, you could fart snowflakes cold. 

We started with soup. Tom Kha Gai is one of the most traditional and widely recognizable soups from Thailand. I used an adapted version of this one (sub ginger for galangal, no kaffir leaves; recipe halved). What was fascinating was how the smells changed as the broth simmered, and then later as the lime juice and fish sauce were added. Totally forgot to take a picture. Halved, the recipe still made plenty for the two of us. I had thought we would have leftovers for lunch, but no luck. We polished that sucker off. 

Because it's cold outside... 

Easter Carrots

This Easter holiday was the first family gathering since I've had to go gluten-free with my diet. geekMan has been such a good sport through the saga of elimination diet diagnosis, but it was a new concept for the rest. We are an incredibly supportive bunch, and so many questions were asked about what I could eat. Pretty much everything at table, and I could avoid the dinner rolls and various breads (I miss my Aunt's date nut bread with dried apricots - yum!).

But then there's dessert. Apple pie. Sounds lovely, but not for me. And not wanting to make everyone else give up a favorite, I offered to bring another dessert. Something I could eat. Something they might want to.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
I adapted the following recipe from Ellie Krieger's, and tweaked the technique à la Ina Garten. Most of the adaptation was converting wheat flours by volume to GF flour by weight (the only way to bake - just ask Shauna at Gluten-free Girl and the Chef). The final result was unbelievably good. Moist, rich. A good semi-sticky crumb, perfect for a carrot cake. I also like that the cupcake to frosting proportions match: exactly 12, and exactly enough. 
 
Ingredients - Cupcakes
2 large eggs
165g (~5.8oz) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
154g (~5.4oz) Gluten-free flour mix*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups (or so) finely shredded peeled carrots (I used 4, but I really need to list this in weight)

Ingredients - Frosting
4oz cream cheese, softened (half a standard package)
85g (3oz) confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 °F (325 °F convection). Place 12 paper liners in muffin cups (I used "Texas-sized" liners so they were tall enough to contain the frosting).

Combine eggs and sugar in bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix well. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla. Mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, measure flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in medium bowl; whisk to combine. Add half dry ingredients to wet ingredients in mixer bowl. Combine carrots with remaining dry ingredients; stir to distribute the carrots. Add to mixer bowl, and stir to combine.

Distribute batter evenly among paper liners. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

To frost, combine cream cheese, sugar, and lemon zest, stirring well to combine. Divide evenly onto the 12 cupcakes.

Cupcakes sprinkled for the occasion.

*Gluten-free flour mixes can be purchased pre-blended, but they are just as easy (and far cheaper) to do on your own. I've been using the proportions of 7 parts flour to 3 parts starch suggested on Gluten-free Girl and the Chef with some success depending on the exact blend I make (she also explains vegetable gums, which I'm trying to avoid although it's not clear I'm sensitive to them; the thought of eating mold in my cupcakes is not appetizing). The blend I used for this recipe was comprised of brown rice flour, GF oat flour, sorghum flour, and tapioca and corn starches.

What's in the Box? CSA Weeks 10 and 11

Catching up with posts - and veg. I didn't realize until getting Week 11 ready that I utterly failed to mention Week 10. So, without further delay: 

Week 10 box contained: green beans (1.5 lb), snap peas (0.6 lb), celery, Italian frying peppers (2), collard greens, lettuce, zucchini/squash, cucumbers (2), scallions, Walla Walla onion (1).

Week 11 box contained: sweet corn (7 ears), muskmelon, eggplant (1), Walla Walla onion, zucchini/squash, basil, green bell pepper (1), cucumber (1).

 

We're holding our own on the veg with everything but the greens. I never seem to get to those in time. We still have some beets from a couple weeks ago as well. The sweet corn was amazing! And we've discovered you can grill green beans. Our favorite combo includes wedges of zuke sliced longwise, scallions, and green beans tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, & other spices. Very very tasty.

My new favorite summer dessert is from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess. I really enjoy reading her cookbooks; she has a wonderfully casual and intimate way of writing about the recipes. It feels like she's your best friend sharing kitchen secrets. The Black & White Tart recipe in the book is silly easy and seems to work with any fruit. It's no-bake too - perfect for hot summer days when I'm feeling particularly lazy. We've been doing a lot with red currants since we got some from the SSFM. First tart was with fresh figs and red currants; this version is more patriotic.