Sunday, August 21, 2011

An early birthday gift from A+D!

A+D were in town for a wedding this weekend, and surprised me with an early birthday gift! The neatly wrapped package was rectangular, and fairly heavy, but bendy. The bendiness threw me off of the trail...usually books of this size and weight are hardcover. So I didn't immediately think "book" (note: I tend to get inordinately excited about books of any kind :P).

But, voila!! THE FOOD OF THAILAND: A JOURNEY FOR FOOD LOVERS. These two could not have selected a better book for me!

This book is a party for the senses!
First of all, the photography is GORGEOUS. I may love books, pictures or no, but cook books without photos?? Well, this one has it in spades -- every recipe is paired w/ at least 1 glorious full-page photo. The photographer traveled to Thailand to capture each dish in its authentic clime. Also, the recipes are given w/ both UK and US measurements (the author is Thai but lives in England), which is great -- no conversions necessary. The food selections are fantastic -- from standards to street fare to regional dishes -- "I love this dish. And this dish. And this one. Wait, I love all of them!" There's additionally background about regional differences in Thai food, which is where I'll start. AND the book stays open on its own.

Reviewers have applauded the book as inspirational, and I quite agree. Can't wait to try some recipes out and compare w/ my dad! Thanks A+D!!! My future taste testers :P

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The poached eggsperiment!

I used to eat poached eggs w/ Maggi seasoning pretty often for breakfast, but we made them in the microwave with a plastic egg poacher. They had an unfortunate tendency to explode if you didn't do it just right.

The authentic way of cooking poached eggs is on the stove, over boiling water. Today's turned out much better than my last attempt a few years ago. I used this recipe:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/PoachEgg.htm

Unfortunately, I ate my serving before I remembered to take a photo, but here are more eggs sans toast (waiting on the toast bc the eater is still asleep!):

3 poached eggs and some turkey sausage, getting cold on the counter.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Carb city: inarizushi & onigiri


I should probably also make a vegetable and a chicken dish to go with this...but I'm too lazy. 

The 2 onigiri w/ gomashio are filled w/ Momoya gohan desu yo, which went directly into my belly. The 3 onigiri w/ umeboshi in the center were wrapped and put into the freezer. The inarizushi will be headed into M's maw!