Tom Kha Gai

I am becoming a huge fan of coconut soup and all things coconut in general. On my visit to the Asian supermarket I bought all the fresh leaves, herbs and roots to make quite an authentic version of Thai coconut soup--Tom Kha Gai. If you can get a hold of fresh Kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and lemongrass then you're good to go. Everything else can be found in a regular grocery store.

To make the most delicious soup on earth you will need:

For the broth:
- a can of coconut milk
-a can of water
- a one inch piece of galangal
-a long stalk of lemongrass, chopped into 1 inch pieces
-ten Kaffir lime leaves, torn in half

Put these ingredients in a soup pot and simmer for 25-40 minutes, depending on how fragrant a broth you want, and how much time you have. Strain the herbs out of the broth. You're almost there.

To put in the soup:
-a protein...shrimp, chicken, tofu...
-veggies: mushrooms, celery, carrot, tomato...whatever's in your fridge.
Put these things in the broth and let them cook until slightly tender.

Throw these in at the end before serving and simmer for about a minute"
-a couple spoons of sweetener, such as Agave syrup
-the juice of a lime
-a squeeze of Bragg amino liquid, or fish sauce

That's it, enjoy! Be warned that you might want to eat this every day...



Here's some more of those awesome snow pea greens stirfried with garlic, ginger and spring onion.

Asian Inspiration

There has been a lot of Asian style cooking going on in my kitchen these days...This inspiration came after a visit to the Asian supermarket on the south shore...it was all very exciting because I had a knowledgeable companion with me and as a result I bought a lot of stuff I've never tried before.
I made mung bean noodle salad twice in one week...so good I had to have it again!

The noodle package in question.

Noodles: soak them in cold water for 10 minutes, then simmer them in miso broth...

Probably talking about food...

While drinking some beer...

These oyster mushrooms changed my life.

Stirfried pea greens and choi sum with mushrooms in oyster sauce.

To top it all off...we even went out for Chinese in CDN. Check it out, it's called Lao Beijing. 7$ for a lunch special!
Chinese eggplant stirfry with sweet and spicy sauce.

Ma Po tofu...ate around the meat chunks...

Decided to soak some beans around 3am after a big night...woke up to find the beans soaking unexpectedly...and discovered I even captured this in a photo at the time...in sepia no less. A late night moment of lucidity.

Lookout view.
Oratoire St-Joseph through the trees at Lac aux Castors.


Skating at my local park.

inspired by banana loaf

I rarely follow recipes. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love browsing recipes on the internet but I'll take them as inspiration and then jazz them up. In baking, I will never put the right kind/amount of sugar a recipe calls for, as I usually find them too sweet. Also, I often eat my baking for breakfast the next day, so a lesser quantity of sugar somehow makes me feel virtuous and healthy.

Inspiration for this recipe came from the Coconut Lover's Cookbook. Originally called Orange Coconut Banana Bread, I didn't add any oranges (didn't have any) and so I substituted with chopped dried black cherries and a couple of squares of 70% dark chocolate, also chopped. Decadent!

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c grated coconut
1/2 chopped nuts (I used almonds--recipe says walnuts)
1/4 t baking powder
3/4 c sweetener (I used 1/4 c of agave syrup and 1/4 c raw cane sugar)
pinch of salt
1/4 c coconut milk ( I used almond milk)
2 large eggs (I used 1 egg and 1 egg replacement)
1 1/2 c mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 1/2 T grated orange rind
1/4 c orange juice concentrate (I added butter instead!!!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all dry ingredients. Add all the wet ingredients and fruit. Mix until just moist. Pour batter into 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch greased loaf pan. Bake for 55 -60 minutes or until knife inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

Chopped almonds. Nutty goodness.

This is the part where a fine line is drawn between virtue and decadence.


Banana turd and dry ingredients.

About to get baked. Oh yeah.

Closeup at breakfast the morning after.

Orange got thrown into the equation finally. I adore blood oranges.

Beautiful Borscht

I was inspired to try making borscht when I was served some at the People's Potato the other week. If you live in Montreal and you haven't been for a cheap (or free) meal at Concordia's vegan soup kitchen, then I suggest you go there immediately. Hall building, 7th floor. Bring your own tupperware and you'll get served even faster.

So the borscht was so lovely, flavourful and delicious that I attempted my own version.

These guys got thinly chopped.

Ginger is not a typical ingredient in borscht but what the hell, it can't hurt.

Beet blood knife residue turned my garlic all pink.

I threw some cabbage in for fun.

Here it is, frying in olive oil.

I added half a can of leftover crushed tomatoes...again not typically included in borscht but they are red and yummy so they might blend in? Don't forget copious amounts of chopped fresh dill. That makes it real borscht-like. I used vegetarian beef broth, and a dash of red wine vinegar for tang.

Voila! Borscht time! It got redder and deeper in colour as the days went by.

Potluck!

A few weeks ago we had our first potluck of 2010. It was varied, delicious and warming for the body and soul as all potlucks should be. It was so warm in fact, that we had to open the window in the kitchen what with all the body heat and oven used in re-warming all the hot dishes everyone brought.


I decided to break out the enameled cast- iron roaster santa (mom) brought me for xmas. There's something extremely comforting in knowing I will own and use this roasting pan for years to come and it's so durable I will probably be able to hand it down to my progeny, if I so choose to reproduce and am lucky enough to create a mini cooking aide.

I contributed baked beans to the potluck. They are super super easy to make, but the reason I guess most people buy canned baked beans is because they don't have time to stick around while they cook for 3 hours. I have to admit felt a bit imprisoned by the beans...but it forced me to stay home and study.



What you do is the night before, soak a pound (450g) of navy beans in water. When you wake up the next day, rinse them while making coffee and cover with fresh water. Boil those suckers for 5 minutes and rinse again. Stick them in a casserole, pan, or anything oven proof--you don't even need a lid. Add a 1/2 cup of sweet stuff (honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, agave, whatever you like), 1/4 cup of ketchup, a small can of tomatoes, 3 gloves of chopped garlic, a chopped onion, some bay leaves, a splash of tamari, a couple big plops of mustard and salt and pepper. Cover with an inch of water over the beans and stick in a 350 degree oven for 3 hours. That's it, just don't let them dry out...just add more water. These babies went mighty quickly, they were a hit!


Here's what they looked like after a few hours of just marinating in their own beany goodness.

Rocky contributed an amazing dish of baked trout in coconut milk, ginger, garlic, and veggies...amazing! I overheard lots of people asking who made this, everyone really enjoyed it.


Jen brought bread and cheese and olives and tomatoes...mmmmm. What's great about potluck is you also get lots of leftovers the next day. I love that people bring things I wouldn't necessarily buy...like delicious melting camembert.


Prashant brought a beautiful leek and tomato quiche. Store bought but tasted home made.


Dominic brought home made pizza! I ate like 3 pieces. Pure joy I tell you.



This salad was an impressive hit, by Rosemary. I specifically requested this salad because she made it the first time I met her. Spelt udon noodles, aduki beans, chopped veggies and toasted black sesame and pumpkin seeds with a lime and sesame dressing. Winner.


Here she is, working on dish #2, apple crisp. Did you know you can toast the flour and oats in the frying pan to help with digestion and to bring out the flavours? So good.


Rosemary also brought us a 3rd dish, some mini spanikopita we re-toasted in the oven. Mmmmm.


Happy leftover transformations are great to add to the mix. I blended leftover spicy chili with a can of refried black beans and some chopped tomatoes and voila! Spicy bean dip.


Here's the spread! It was really nice to have everyone over, and the best part was that random people I had only met once way back when I first moved here came over. Thanks for coming and I hope you'll be here for the next potluck fiesta!