pao de queijo II.

So, it seems like this is a great tasting recipe but possibly has too much liquid as written below, or at least we need to look at the tips for how to get things to rise and remain ball-shaped. 

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pão de queijo II.

1 cup milk
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup peanut or corn oil
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste, possibly up to 1 tsp

2 cups tapioca flour
2 eggs, beaten

1 and 1/2 cup cheese, grated (we used a mix of 50% pecorino and 50% dry mozzarella...the important thing is that it should be mostly hard dry cheese)

Preheat oven to 175C. In a sauce pan, combine milk, salt, oil, and butter and bring to the boil. Remove from heat, stir in tapioca flour, then stir in eggs and cheese. Let cool for 15 minutes or until handleable. With floured hands, shape dough into golfball-sized spheres and bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed up and golden. Serve warm, and I dare you to not eat them all. Makes 9 or 10. Maybe 12.

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complicated fries.

Ethan Chlebowski's recipe for oven fries that feel a bit like fryer fries. The secrets are parboiling, vinegar, steam, and high heat. 

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oven fries. 

10-12 small potatoes, cut into 1cm fries, your goal is to fill one baking tray in one layer
2 liters water
1 tbsp table salt
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp neutralish oil

Turn on oven to 232C, convection. Boil water. Add salt and vinegar to water until salt dissolves and bring to a boil again. Add potatoes and boil for 8 minutes. Drain and let steam for 5 minutes in a colander. Add fries to baking sheet in one layer and toss with olive or peanut oil. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip each fry and cook another 8-15 minutes, depending on brown/burntness. 

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oranje.

 Adapted from the wildly successful NYT recipe. 

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carrot risotto. 

600g carrots, peeled
1 and 1/2 tbsp store-bought or homemade chile crisp, plus more for serving

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 tsp ground coriander
½ cup dry white wine

1 cup short grain rice

Parmesan, for serving

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rice cakes.

Not the styrofoamy ones.  Tteokbokki.

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doenjang jjigae.

I haven't enjoyed many of The Korean Vegan's recipes to date, but maybe my expectations were too high, you know how that can go. Yesterday I made an adapted version of her doenjang jjigae and it's great. 

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doenjang jjigae. 

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp gochugaru

1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, greens and whites separate
5 large shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 substantial sweet potato, peeled and cubed
3 tbsp doenjang
2 tbsp soy sauce

500ml vegetable stock, I used mushroom
400-500g firm tofu, Nguyen-d and cubed

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pacific, terrific.

I've owned two or three copies of this cookbook over the years, and today I decided that it just might have aged better than almost any other multiple-cuisine cookbook I own. 

Hear me out: I'm not comparing it against bibles like Marcella or Madhur Jaffrey; I'm saying that for a 1990s "Asian fusion" cookbook, most of the recipes are still pretty viable. Here's one: 

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mushroom risotto with snow peas, shiitakes, and cispy ginger. 

7 dried shitake mushrooms
½ cup cold sake
¼ cup light olive oil (do not use virgin or extra-virgin)
1 cup chopped onions
¼ cup chopped shallots
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons best-quality curry powder
1½ cups Arborio rice
6 cups mushroom stock

Peanut oil, for deep frying the ginger
2 heaping tablespoons julienned fresh ginger
4 ounces snow peas, trimmed

NOTE: this recipe originally called for 250g shrimp, am rewriting. 

1. Soak the dried shiitakes in the cold sake for 1 hour. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid. Remove and discard the stems and cut the caps into thin slices.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions, shitakes, shallots, and minced ginger and cook, stir-ring, for 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and stir for 1 minute. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes. Add the reserved mushroom-soaking liquid, then raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring continuously, until the liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes.

3. Slowly stir ½ cup of the simmering stock into the rice. Reduce the heat to low and keep at a simmer. Cook the rice, stirring frequently to keep it from sticking to the pan, until the stock is absorbed. Continue adding more stock, ½ cup at a time and stirring frequently until it is absorbed and there is 1 cup of stock remaining, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. While the risotto is cooking, prepare the fried ginger. Pour peanut oil to a depth of 1 inch into a small skillet and heat to 375° F.

Add the ginger and cook until crisp, about 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels to drain.

5. Stir the shrimp into the risotto, and continue adding the remaining 1 cup stock, ¼ cup at a time, for 10 minutes. Stir in the snow peas and salt to taste. Cook until the shrimp is cooked through and the rice is creamy, but still slightly al dente, about 5 minutes more. Divide among 6 serving bowls and garnish with the fried ginger.

SERVES 6

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celiac notes.

It looks like we're going to be conducting our first gluten-free experiment in a while, here are some targets. 

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OTTOLENGHI
Baked mint rice with pomegranate and olive salsa. 
Ginger egg-fried rice. 
Pasta with yogurt, peas, and chile. 
Pasta with feta, tomato, and fennel seed.
Allspice rice with caramelized onions, dill and yoghurt.
Baked rice with garlic confit, tomatoes and cinnamon. 
Baked rice with garlic, curry leaf, and saffron. 

MEERA
Workers' curry. 

ANNA JONES
Corn risotto.
Brown butter new potatoes. 

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