MKMW: Cambodia

My Kitchen, My World underwent a change recently. Susan handed over responsibilities to Lauren of I’ll Eat You. Being in charge of several blogging events is very time-consuming, so it’s understandable.

For Lauren’s first event, she chose Cambodia, rather a mysterious country with lots of history. While there are many Asian-themed restaurants in most communities, it’s difficult to find one that showcases Cambodian, or Khmer, food. I had to do some searching in various places, and finally found a recipe for which I had all the ingredients on hand: Khmer Coconut Pork Skewers (Saik Chrouk Ch’ranouitk). I won’t even begin to pronounce that.

I made one major change. Because I don’t have a grill, I just marinated the meat and stir-fried it. It was still delicious. I also dug into my stash of unsweetened coconut, although I can be somewhat generous with it now. When I was in Nebraska in September, the local HyVee grocery store had a whole shelf full of unsweetened coconut, both grated and shredded. I stocked up.

I’m not sure how many of the MKMW bloggers “went” to Cambodia this week, but it’s certainly worth a visit to find out.

Khmer Coconut Pork Skewers (Saik Chrouk Ch'ranouitk)

• 1 stalk Lemon Grass, thinly sliced
• 1 large Onion, chopped
• 5 Garlic Cloves, chopped
• The grated Zest of 1 Lime
• 1/2 teasp Ground Turmeric
• 90ml/3fl.oz. Water
• 25g/2oz freshly grated Coconut or unsweetened Desiccated Coconut
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 teasp Salt 400g/14oz Lean Pork, cut into 2.5cm/1-inch cubes

1. Place the lemon grass, onion, garlic, lime zest, turmeric and water in a food processor and process to a paste.

2. Transfer the lemon grass paste to a mixing bowl

together with the coconut, sugar and salt and mix well.

3. Add the pork and mix to coat well. Cover and marinate for at least an hour at room temperature. (If longer, refrigerate.)

4. Preheat the grill to hot. Thread the pork cubes onto skewers and cook for 15-20 minutes, turning frequently and basting with the marinade. Serve immediately.

Also very good on the barbecue.

Serves 4.

BBB Buddy: Challah

About one year ago I made the challah bread from Reinhart's Bread Bakers Apprentice. It's such a stunning bread, and a delicious one at that. So when the Bread Baking Babes presented challah as their October challenge, I was ready for the task, both for baking and comparing recipes. As I recall, I made two loaves from the BBA recipe; Reinhart calls the double-stranded loaf a Celebration Challah, with good reason. Also, the BBA recipe doesn't use saffron. I'm not sure it added anything to the bread, certainly not flavor or color, so I'd be inclined to omit it in the future.



My lucky neighbor has been visiting family in Las Vegas all week, but she did arrive home late yesterday afternoon, just in time to receive one of my fresh-out-of-the-oven loaves of challah. She terms it Comfort Food and gladly accepted. I suspect that's what she had for dinner last night.



I love playing around, even on the peripery, with the Bread Baking Babes, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the next challenge will be. This month's bread recipe was selected by Sara of i like to cook, so you can check out the challah recipe and the breads of the other BBBs at her site.

Barefoot Bloggers: Vegetable Pot Pie

So, I'm a bit late in preparing and posting this week's Vegetable Pot Pie from the Barefoot Bloggers. Truth is, I'm still trying to recover from the cold-like illness I've been fighting for nearly three weeks. Over all I'm getting better, but every few days I have a "set back" day. Yesterday was a set back day where the mere thought of food was difficult. Therefore, I postponed my baking by one day in the hopes I would feel better.

This morning I had arranged an outing with one of my friends. We drove to Santa Barbara to view an art quilt show, stopping for lunch along the way. I love art quilts, and many of these were very inspiring.

When I returned home, I knew my appetite had returned, so rather than go to work (tsk tsk), I decided to take my time and prepare the pot pie for dinner.

I'm very glad I did.



I really loved this pot pie. It came together nicely, and I only made a few minor changes. First, I cut the recipe in thirds, giving me just enough for two meals. Next, although I had no licorice-flavored liqueur, I did have anise oil, so I substituted a few drops of that. Finally, I used Brussels sprouts instead of asparagus. I love asparagus, and I'm sure that butternut squash and asparagus make a tasty combination, but really, one is a fall/winter vegetable and one is a spring vegetable. I try to eat seasonally, hence the switch to Brussels sprouts.



The end result was delicious, with a great pot pie feel to it. I suspect that it would be equally tasty by adding chicken or sausage or tuna to create more variations. Please check out the other Barefoot Bloggers to see their takes on this pot pie, and a big thanks to Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for a good recipe choice.

(Joke's on me: I just realized as I typed this up that I forgot the cream. Shoot. Well, it was still delicious!)



Oh, and that's a carrot-shaped cutout on the top of the crust. Not a slug.

SHF: Spicy Desserts

After many years of searching for the perfect gingerbread recipe, I finally found one, although technically it was the result of combining the best parts of two different recipes. I like my gingerbread spicy and dark. (I like my pumpkin pie spicy and dark, too, but that’s a different post.) This recipe fits the bill, and I’ve served it many times for fall and winter dinner parties.

As a result of a recent bread challenge, I had a small jar of homemade crystallized ginger and I used it all in this recipe. It certainly added a spicy punch because of the freshness.

As a special addition, I’ve included a recipe I used for a spicy pumpkin custard. I make this when I have leftover pumpkin and don’t want to waste it.

I’ve decided to enter both of these desserts in this month’s Sugar High Friday event, created by Jennifer, The Domestic Goddess, and hosted by Anita, of Dessert First. If you choose to make them, I hope you enjoy them.

Gingerbread with crystallized ginger

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup packed, dark brown sugar

½ cup dark molasses

1 large egg

½ cup pear nectar

¼ cup chopped crystallized ginger

Powdered sugar

Whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour either an 8x8x2-inch baking pan or a 9-inch round cake pan. Mix the first seven ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add molasses and egg and beat to blend. Beat in pear nectar, then the dry ingredients and chopped ginger. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 15 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the cake. Cut into serving pieces. Serve warm or at room temperature, with or without whipped cream.

Serves up to 16.

Spicy Pumpkin Custard

½ cup mashed cooked or canned pumpkin

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk (evaporated milk, regular milk, heavy cream, half&half, etc.)

1 egg

2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoons butter

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch each of ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice

Heat oven to 350°F. Beat all ingredients together. Pour into two custard cups. Place in a pan of water 1-inch deep. Bake 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the custard comes out clean. (This may take longer than 45 minutes depending on the size of the custard cups.) Cool at least 20 minutes. Invert on dessert plates or serve from custard cup. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 2.

TWD: Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is definitely here. You can tell by all the pumpkin recipes swirling around the blogiverse. For the Tuesday with Dorie bakers, pumpkin muffins were on order, chosen by Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp.

I love any pumpkin and spice combination, so I was looking forward to baking these, with only slight modifications. Again with the raisins! Not for me. I substituted currants instead because they add the fruitiness but are low key. For the topping, I sprinkled on chopped pecans instead of the pumpkin seeds which I don’t stock in the pantry. I also only made half a batch, but did end up with 9 muffins, some of which I will freeze for future enjoyment.

Judging from the other TWD bakers’ comments, these muffins can be dressed up in many ways. The ones containing chocolate sound fine to me, so that is definitely a possibility for the next batch. I’ll be checking out what others have done over the next few days.

MKMW: Two for the price of One

Today I gave myself permission to take the day off and do whatever I felt like. Most of the time I work every day of the week, which is what happens when you run your own business, but my brain was fried from trying to comprehend chemometrics, so decided enough was enough. One of my tasks is to catch up on some blogging, so here goes.

My Kitchen, My World

There was a change afoot at MKMW this week when Susan handed over the responsibilities for this event to Lauren. So, a big welcome to Lauren, and a thanks to Susan for getting us going. Keep baking those cookies!!

Part One: Argentina

This week, Teresa of I’m Running to Eat chose Argentina as our target country. While I’ve never been there myself, two of my close friends lived in Buenos Aires for several years on assignment. Through their eyes and letters, I received many colorful impressions of the country, the people, and the food. It’s not uncommon, even nowadays when I visit them, that they will grill steaks and serve them with chimichurri sauce. (I must get that recipe from them!)

So, in honor of Argentina and my friends, I chose to pan-grill some small steaks and smother them with chimichurri sauce. It beats steak sauce any day!

Argentinian Chimichurri Sauce:

1 cup lightly packed chopped parsley (ideally, flat leaf "Italian" parsley)
3 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves (optional)
2 tablespoons shallot or onion, minced
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Place all chimichurri sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until well chopped, but not pureed. Reserve.

Part Two: Morocco Revisited

Last week, when I was searching for the right recipe for Morocco, I completely overlooked one of my favorites that I cook from time to time. It works especially well for potlucks and it utilizes the wonderful slow cooker. I decided to include it this week as sort of a bonus recipe.

Moroccan Chicken (Slow Cooker)

(from Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely)

2 16-oz cans garbanzo beans, drained

1 12-oz can diced tomatoes

1 small red bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1” squares

1 small red onion, chopped

½ cup golden raisins

2 tablespoons tomato paste

¼ cup chicken broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1” cubes

2 tablespoons peanut butter

Place garbanzo beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, raisins, tomato paste, broth, garlic, and cumin in slow cooker. Mix until well combined.

Place chicken on top of bean mixture. Cover. Cook on low heat setting 6 to 7 hours, or until chicken is tender. Stir in peanut butter, blending well.

Serves 4-6.

This coming week we get to visit Cambodia, so I’m off to do some research (which is a heck of lot more fun than working!)

Weekend Cookbook Challenge 33: Fall Vegetables

After making last week’s butternut squash risotto with the Barefoot Bloggers, I still had half a squash left, prepped and ready to be used. I decided to search through some less-frequently used cookbooks, hoping to find a good recipe for the squash and to locate other potential recipes for future use. I have a collection of Best of Gourmet’s, and, as luck would have it, found a likely candidate in the 2000 edition. In the chapter on Vegetables and Beans, there was a recipe for Lentils with Butternut Squash and Walnuts. Perfect.

So, for lunch today, that is what I made, roasting the squash with shallots and curry powder, and tossing in the walnuts towards the end. I did use fresh parsley rather than cilantro, but that’s a personal choice. It did make a tasty lunch, a nice change from the usual sandwich or leftover.

Lentils with Butternut Squash and Walnuts

(adapted from Best of Gourmet 2000, p. 166)

1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound)

1 large shallot

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons curry powder

½ cup walnuts

1/3 cup lentils (any color will do)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)

fresh lime juice to taste

Halve, peel, and seed the squash and cut into ½-inch pieces. Mince the shallot. In a bowl, toss together the squash, shallot, oil, curry powder, and salt & pepper to taste until combined well. Pour into a shallow baking pan and roast in a 425°F oven for about 15 minutes, or until the squash is barely tender.

Chop the walnuts and sprinkle over the squash mixture. Continue baking for about 10 more minutes, or until the walnuts are lightly toasted and the squash is tender.

While the squash is baking, cook the lentils until just tender but not too mushy, about 15 minutes. Drain lentils and transfer to a bowl.

When the squash mixture is finished roasting, remove from oven and add to lentils along with the cilantro or parsley, lime juice, and salt & pepper to taste.

Makes 2 large servings.

This is great as a side dish or a main dish, and because there no animal or wheat-based products in it, people on non-meat or gluten-free diets can enjoy it as well.

I’m going to use this dish as my entry for this month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge #33, Fall Vegetables. October’s hostess is Lisa at Confessions of an Apron Queen, and Sara at I like to cook is the WCC creator.