From the morning market

Flowers to brighten our home on this rainy day.  I don't want summer to end, not just yet. 

Strawyberry-Rhubarb Goodness

This was in late June. That's a very pregnant me, after I waddled half a block to the farmers market.  I bought rhubarb and strawberries, and I made this compote.  So good.

David Lebovitz's Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups (310 ml) water
• 1 ¼ cups (310 ml) dry or sweet white wine
• 5 slices (15 g) fresh ginger, unpeeled
• ½ cup (100 g) sugar
• 1/3-1/2 cup (100 - 160 g) honey
• 2-pounds (1 kg) rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 3-inch batons, about 1/2 –inch wide
• 1 pound (450 g) strawberries, hulled and quartered

Instructions

In a large saucepan, heat the water, wine, ginger, sugar, and honey (use the smaller amount if you think you might want it less-sweet.)

When all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is simmering, add the rhubarb and let the rhubarb cook in the simmering syrup until it’s just softened, which may take as little as 5 minutes, depending on the rhubarb. Remove from heat and add the strawberries. When cool, pluck out the ginger slices.

Serve warm or room temperature.

Getting back to normal.

Long work weeks throw off my routine.  One of the first things I did after the meetings, to get my routine back on track, was to bake.  Bake a cake or pie, and all seems right with the world, at least for a little while. 

Two favorites currently on rotation: some kind of pear tart, either on puff pastry or in galette form, and a simple strawberry skillet pie. 

For the pear tart/galette, sometimes I just take puff pastry and throw on pear slices, spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar.  Other times, I make a frangipane (almond cream) base and then throw pears on it.  And still other times, particularly when I'm feeling less lazy, I do a frangipane base, pear slices, and then drizzle a ginger/vanilla glaze on top.  I've adapted the recipe from a few places, primarily from Amanda's Fait Tout blog.

Pear Tart

Recipe adapted from Fait Tout

Ingredients

1 sheet frozen puff-pastry (about 9" x 9"), thawed

1 1/2 pears, sliced thinly, skin on
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger 

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

If you'd like a frangipane base, you'll also need:

1/3 cup ground almond meal

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (I usually put in a little more)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

 

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
• Make frangipane base by combining ground almond meal, sugar, egg, butter, cardamom and flour in a mixer or food processor. Blend until a creamy, smooth paste is formed. Set aside.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan. Turn off heat, then add vanilla extract, cinnamon and grated ginger. Let cool slightly. Set aside.
• Cut your pastry into a rough 9" x 5" rectangle. Score all four edges of the pastry sheet (about 1/4" from the edge). 
• With a pastry brush, spread some of the butter/vanilla/cinnamon/ginger mixture on the puff pastry, making sure to stay within the boundaries of the scored lines. Then top with frangipane base.
• Arrange the pears over the frangipane, brush the tops of the pear liberally with the remaining butter/vanilla/cinnamon/ginger mixture. Brush the edges with eggwash. 
• Bake at 400F for about 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the top of the pears are caramelized.
• Let cool for 10 minutes.

For the strawberry skillet pie, I use a simple recipe, found here, though I tend to also throw ground cardamom into the crumble mixture.  

Peach Cardamom Galette

Lately, all I can think about is cake and baking.  It occupies so many of my daily thoughts.  If I broke down the waking hours in a typical weekday, it would look like this: 50% human rights thoughts; 30% cakes/cookies/baking; 20% other/Ethan/family/travel.  I blame Winter and hibernation.

One of my favorite things to bake are these free-form galettes filled with whatever fruit I have at hand.  It may not look pretty now, but after 30-40 minutes in the oven, it comes out, crust a golden brown, bubbling, oozing the alchemy of sugar and fruit juices.  Incredible.  

Cardamom peach is a new favorite.

Just things

It's important to take note of little pleasures. Here are a few I'm currently enjoying:

1. Old shoes.
2. Piles of red leaves.
3. My weekend walks.
4. My Object & Totem necklace (i.e., part of my uniform these days).

Chicken Adobo

via the Kitchn

During her wedding this weekend, my friend was gifted a massive Mark Bittman cookbook, which I flipped through while sipping wine and dreaming about the meals I could cook this week.  I came across a chicken adobo recipe.  I paused.  

Not surprisingly, in my mind, no one can beat my grandma Elpidia's recipe.  Chicken adobo is not a dish I make or have dared to make.  It's reserved for my early childhood memories of running around on some provincial farm in the Philippines, or for my trips back home when my grandma comments on how old I am getting, usually over a meal of this dish and copious amounts of steaming white rice.  

But I guess if Mark Bittman can make chicken adobo, so can I.

This time, I am using his recipe, which calls for the addition of coconut milk.  Already, our small home in the District feels a little more homey.

Chicken Adobo

Adapted from a recipe by Mark Bittman (found here)

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
 

• 1 (3-4 lb.) whole chicken, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces*
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup white or rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk**
• Cooked white rice (enough for however many people you are serving)

*I buy a pre-cut whole chicken because I am lazy and have bad knife skills to boot. If you didn’t want to do a whole chicken, it would be perfectly fine to use breasts or whatever you like. He also says this recipe works well with bone-in or boneless pork chops.
**Bittman says this isn’t mandatory, but since the sauce is the most important part of this dish, I wouldn’t leave this out if I were you, it won’t be nearly as rich. I had canned coconut milk on hand, which works just fine, but he says it’s easy to make yourself and tastes purer than canned, so I’m providing his recipe below if you want to attempt that.
Process

1. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, water, and half the coconut milk in a covered skillet or saucepan large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Add the chicken, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, turning a few times, until the chicken is almost done, about 20 minutes.
   Optional: At this point, you may refrigerate the chicken in the liquid for up to a day before proceeding; skim the fat before reheating.
   
3. Heat the oven to 450 degrees (F). You can also cook this on a grill or under a broiler, but roasting seemed easiest to me.
4. Remove the chicken pieces from the liquid, dry them gently with paper towels and place in a dish. Don’t discard the sauce. Roast the chicken until brown and crisp and hot, about 15 minutes (closer to 10 if you are grilling or broiling instead).
5. While the chicken is cooking, add the rest of the coconut milk to the sauce in the pan and boil over high heat until sauce is thick and reduced to about 1 cup. Discard the bay leaves and keep warm until chicken is ready.

Serve with rice and top with lots of sauce.
- See more at: http://backtothecuttingboard.com/dinner/chicken-adobo/#sthash.EwSNAYN3.dpuf

• 1 (3-4 lb.) whole chicken, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces*
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup white or rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk**
• Cooked white rice (enough for however many people you are serving)

*I buy a pre-cut whole chicken because I am lazy and have bad knife skills to boot. If you didn’t want to do a whole chicken, it would be perfectly fine to use breasts or whatever you like. He also says this recipe works well with bone-in or boneless pork chops.
**Bittman says this isn’t mandatory, but since the sauce is the most important part of this dish, I wouldn’t leave this out if I were you, it won’t be nearly as rich. I had canned coconut milk on hand, which works just fine, but he says it’s easy to make yourself and tastes purer than canned, so I’m providing his recipe below if you want to attempt that.
Process

1. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, water, and half the coconut milk in a covered skillet or saucepan large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Add the chicken, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, turning a few times, until the chicken is almost done, about 20 minutes.
   Optional: At this point, you may refrigerate the chicken in the liquid for up to a day before proceeding; skim the fat before reheating.
   
3. Heat the oven to 450 degrees (F). You can also cook this on a grill or under a broiler, but roasting seemed easiest to me.
4. Remove the chicken pieces from the liquid, dry them gently with paper towels and place in a dish. Don’t discard the sauce. Roast the chicken until brown and crisp and hot, about 15 minutes (closer to 10 if you are grilling or broiling instead).
5. While the chicken is cooking, add the rest of the coconut milk to the sauce in the pan and boil over high heat until sauce is thick and reduced to about 1 cup. Discard the bay leaves and keep warm until chicken is ready.

Serve with rice and top with lots of sauce.
- See more at: http://backtothecuttingboard.com/dinner/chicken-adobo/#sthash.EwSNAYN3.dpuf3/4 cup soy sauce1/2 cup white or rice vinegar

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white or rice vinegar
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 whole (3- to 4-pound) chicken, cut up (with legs separated from thighs); or use 2 pounds bone-in thighs or leg/ thigh pieces cut in two.

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients with 1 cup water in a covered pot large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce the heat to medium-low or low (you want a slow simmer, nothing more). Cook, covered, about 30 minutes, turning once or twice, until chicken is cooked through. (You may prepare the recipe in advance up to this point; refrigerate the chicken, in the liquid, for up to a day before proceeding.)
2. Meanwhile, start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill or broiler. The fire need not be too hot, but place the rack just 3 or 4 inches from the heat source.
3. Remove chicken, and dry it gently with paper or cloth towels. Boil liquid over high heat until it is reduced to about 1 cup; discard bay leaves; keep sauce warm. Meanwhile, grill or broil chicken until brown and crisp, 5 minutes per side. Serve chicken with sauce and white rice.

Habits, pt. 1

For those days when I don't have to attend a meeting that requires dressing up, I have reverted to a work uniform, which takes most thought out of dressing: same old shoes, same necklace (more or less), and either a dress/shift or rolled up jeans and a top.  The last photo is of a shift I made during my last Cambodian tailor trip. I found the silk, just two and a half yards, at my favorite Toul Tumpong (Russian Market) stall.

My first day at work, my boss took me to coffee and, as he went over the obligatory introduction to the organization and human resources policies, I asked about dress code.  He said, "We don't care what you look like at work. We only care about your brain."

Fancy hash

via

In Thailand, I had one colleague who had recently moved back to Bangkok from Geneva, and she loved everything Swiss.  I recall one meal we had: rösti (potato cakes), salmon, a dollop of some delicious cream -crème fraiche, maybe?

I woke up this morning craving those fancy hash browns, so I set myself to grating, adding some sweet potato to the mix, and buttering the pan, though I've been told I should be using goose fat, unfortunately not an everyday staple in my fridge.

2013 so far.

Spring is here.  I do hope that means I am turning a corner this year because the first few months of 2013, for lack of a more accurate word, sucked.  Oh my god.

Ethan arrived from Bangkok two weeks ago, which helped immensely.  Even on days when I'm feeling slightly more curmudgeonly than usual, or when I'd rather sit and write all day, he forces me to go outside, to take a walk through the park. Yellow wildflowers are in abundance.   

The simple things.

More avocado, please.

Another Bangkok Market. And, my obsession with pain d'épices.

Bo.lan market, every first Saturday in Bangkok.

I picked up a few loaves of bread.  My new favorite is pain alsacien, which is a dark rye.  I nibbled on pain d'épices (pictured above) and have not been able to get it out of my mind this week.

I also picked up a container of beetroot hummus, which I hope to replicate.  That color is great.

 

The state of things.

I live in the land of dresses. You can't walk a few hundred meters without stumbling onto a sidewalk dress shop, or a shiny mall (my goodness, this city has so many and it boggles my mind how there can be such demand), or a vintage shop in an outdoor market, or an underground subway shop. The quality varies of course, but the colorful dress is ubiquitous in Bangkok.

I have been cooking in again.  Japanese curry tonight, more bircher muesli for breakfast tomorrow. I am dreaming of baked figs, of lentilles du puy, of rustic plum galettes - and I have not made chana masala in ages.  That needs to change.

I am growing more obsessed with Dream Collective, and I think a visit to the store is due this December. 

I am still thinking of my grandmother Martina and my visit to Zamboanga City, which is a culturally rich, but unstable, city in a region of the country where military presence is strong and grenade and/or bomb attacks occasionally make news (as they did during my visit).  I am thinking of my Dad's childhood home, on a parcel of land, green, overgrown with dense trees and overlooking the Sulu Sea.  

I am thinking of work, of sitting in a small room across a table from a woman seeking refuge.

I am thinking of wedding bands and honeymoon plans and small ceremonies held against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains.    

I need to send in my absentee ballot!

For breakfast: Bircher Muesli

I came back from the Philippines with several kilograms of dried fig from our fig tree in California - and bircher muesli on my mind. 

Eating bircher muesli is a habit I picked up in Cambodia.  There are many iterations of the traditional Swiss recipe.  One friend had a bowl of this in Switzerland that used condensed milk - she still raves about it.  The version I had in Cambodia did not use condensed milk, but was very creamy and always had grated apple on top. 

  

For my last batch, I used apple juice to soak the oats, added the dried fig, raisins and grated apple, plus a dash of bourbon vanilla extract.  After soaking overnight, the oats are plump and chewy.  I prefer a few spoonfuls of tart yoghurt to top it off and sometimes, a drizzle of honey.

Bircher Muesli

Recipe adapted from Fig & Cherry    

Ingredients  

1 cup rolled oats (not instant oats)

Apple juice to cover mixture*

2 tablespoons raisins and/or other soft fruit

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, toasted

Half an apple, coarsely grated

Dash of vanilla extract

Vanilla bean yoghurt 

nuts and fresh fruit, to garnish

Instructions
1. Place the oats, apple juice, raisins/soft fruit, and vanilla extract in a shallow container.  Fold in grated apple.  A rectangle plastic takeaway container is perfect. Stir well.
2. Put the lid on and place in the fridge overnight.
3. In the morning, spoon into bowls. Stir in yoghurt.  Top with chopped nuts and fresh fruit.

*Some recipes call for milk instead.  

Snaps of life.

Bael fruit tea making.  Sri Lankan lunching.  Small comforts in Bangkok.

All week, I've been dreading this trip back to the Philippines.  Throughout my childhood, the only times I've dealt with the death/near death of loved ones were when I was very young.  For  me, this is largely a foreign experience.  So this wave of apprehension and emotion has turned me into a little anxiety ball.       

For dinner: Pollo alla Romana

Despite the stresses of life lately, this week was a good week. I was able to catch up with a friend in NYC.  Another friend is visiting from China and staying with us for two weeks, while he completes his research.  And yesterday, we attended a colleague's wedding, which was followed by a small cake reception.  After the morning ceremony, we had friends over for makeshift mango mimosas, which we served on our terrace.  We spent a few hours chatting, the wind blowing, the sun burning bright.  Days like that -- those filled with ease and laughter and simple pleasures-- are glorious, no?

One of the simple pleasures I liked to indulge in frequently is eating freshly baked, crusty baguette from one of the local bakeries.  In fact, I spent a good part of my first months in Cambodia on a motorbike with fresh baguette in hand.  And over two years later, that has not changed.  On lazy nights, when we aren't terribly hungry, we'll snack on baguette, a soft rind French cheese, and fruit for dinner.

A few weeks ago, I came across this simple recipe from Rachel Eats.  Pancetta, white wine, slowly simmered with tomatoes, slivers of red peppers, and chicken - what's not to love? Slow cooking is so wonderful because there's this point when everything just magically melts together perfectly.  It's alchemy.

It turns out this dish was also the perfect accompaniment to crusty bread.  This is a definite do-over for me.

Pollo alla Romana
Adapted from this recipe by Rachel Eats

Ingredients

A nice plump chicken weighing about 1.5 kg (or 3-4 chicken breasts)
3 tbsp olive oil
50g pancetta, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic
a glass of dry white wine
300 g tomatoes
3 large red peppers
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper

Instructions
Clean the chicken and cut it into pieces.

In a large heavy based pan, fry the diced pancetta in the olive oil until it renders its fat. Add the chicken pieces skin side down and cook until the skin forms a golden crust, then turn them and fry the other side.

Add salt, several grindings of black pepper and the garlic and turn the pieces over three or four times. Add the wine and let it bubble away until most of it has evaporated.  [Note: At this point, your kitchen will smell amazing!]

Coarsely chop the tomatoes and the red peppers. Add the tomatoes and the peppers to the pan, stir, cover the pan and leave over a over a modest heat.  Add the bay leaves.  Stir every now and then to prevent sticking. Once the peppers release their juices, half cover the pan and cook for another 45 minutes or until the tomatoes and peppers have collapsed into a dense, rich sauce and the chicken is tender.

Allow the pan to sit for about 15 minutes.

Starting the day

Thank goodness for yummy breakfasts.  Today: left-over frittata that Ethan made from veggies we have at home (potato, zucchini, tomato, onion, lots of garlic), topped with torn French basil.

I cannot wait for the weekend.  I am so exhausted this week.

Should you find yourself in Kep . . .

My advice to you, oh lucky person, would be to:

1. Visit the line of crab shacks that hugs the coast for a sampling of local seafood.  People swear by Kimly Restaurant. Go there. Order anything with the pepper sauce - crab (their specialty), grilled fish (below), prawns.  You will not regret it.

2. Take a walk around the town.  Kep was one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge regime.  My colleague, who is my age, weaves tales of growing up in the town, hiding amongst gun battles, and surviving on a meal of rice and potatoes.  These days, the town is undergoing a wave of tourism, though it remains largely rustic.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Kep in the upcoming years.   Still, evidence of its  war-ravaged history remains: in between swaying palm trees, on verdant hills, you'll glimpse French colonial mansions, decrepit and often bombed and riddled with bullet holes.

3. Watch the sunset from the beach, glass of kir in hand.  Even on cloudy days, the sunset boasts wonderful gradations of purple, blue, and pink. Sunsets in Kep are one of my favorite things about Cambodia.

a smattering of thoughts and images

Life. Right now.

Images 1-2: Homemade tortillas with vegetable fajita filling (random veggies sauteed with a dash of red wine and adobo chipotle peppers imported from Los Angeles)

Image 3: Shoes sitting in my closet. I must remember to wear them.

Image 4: "Cookie" - the feral kitten who has taken over our terrace.  He looks harmless, but he is a terror.

Image 5:  For the past few days, the sky has hung heavy with clouds. Rainy season is here, I suppose: green and flowers everywhere. The trailing vine on our staircase is out of control!
Image 6: I crave dim sum.

Back

Back in Cambodia after the diplomat-dance in Manila all last week. There's a lot to process, but I am glad to be "home" in the sweltering heat of Phnom Penh, where my mornings are greeted by little notes and waiting cups of  coffee.

Weekend favorites

There are two sights in the city that always make me smile. One of those sights is the Royal Palace at dusk: all the streams of color set against the gold, birds perched high above, the quiet river at your side. (I'll write about the other sight another day.)

What is it about a simple breakfast, including coffee from my french press, on a Saturday or Sunday morning that makes the day seem so yours for the taking?

Afternoon tea!  This time inside the brightly-lit Conservatory of Raffles Hotel Le Royal.  I chose a black toffee tea.

The ritual of shopping for produce at Natural Garden, after an afternoon of reading and coffee-sipping at a cafe, is the perfect way to face a new week.