Smoked Gouda and Chorizo Mac and Cheese

This is my riff on the mac and cheese from Modernist Cuisine at Home, and one of my first forays into what is often called molecular gastronomy.  You'll probably have to get the sodium citrate online, but using it means this is actually less work than the typical roux based version while giving a more pronounced cheese flavor.  What the sodium citrate is doing here is preventing the protein in the cheese from aggregating, so it keeps the cheese sauce from breaking into fat and clumps of protein.  It also helps emulsify the milk with the cheese.  The basic idea can be used with other flavors, just change the type of cheese and change out the chorizo for some other flavoring.

1 1/8 C skim milk
11 g sodium citrate

1/4 lb smoked gouda, grated
1/4 lb white cheddar
1 inch piece of Spanish chorizo, in 1/8" cube, or crisped bacon
2 C (1/2 lb) dried pasta

Over medium low heat cook the chorizo to render the fat and crisp it up, remove from heat.
Cook pasta in salted water until al dente, drain and reserve.
Combine the milk with the sodium citrate and bring to a bare simmer.  Add the smoked gouda a handful at a time and whisk in or use an immersion blender.  Add in the reserved chorizo and the rendered fat, whisk to combine then adjust seasoning; you may also want to whisk in a little water if the cheese sauce is too thick.
Combine the cheese sauce and the pasta and serve.

Pad Prik King

1/2 lb pork loin, trimmed and sliced
4 T vegetable oil
1/2 lb Chinese long beans (or green beans, but those need to be cooked longer)
2-3 T fish sauce
1-2 T grated ginger
6-8 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
handful of Thai basil, torn (optional)
4 oz can of prik king (khing) curry paste

Heat the oil in a wok and cook the curry paste thoroughly, until very fragrant and somewhat dried out.  Add the meat, followed a minute or two later by the long beans (you may want to start the beans first if using green beans).  When the meat is about done add the fish sauce, lime leaves, and basil, then taste.  Add sugar or fish sauce if necessary.

Chimichurri Steak

An Argentinian preparation of steak with an herb vinaigrette.

1.5 lbs of flank steak
1 C olive oil
1/3 C sherry vinegar
2 T lemon juice
1 C Italian parsley leaves
1 t dried oregano
dash crushed red pepper
1/2 t black pepper
3 T garlic
2 T shallot
2 1/2 t salt

Mix together everything but the beef and run it through a food processor.  Measure out a cup of the sauce and reserve, put the rest of it into a container to marinate the beef.

Slice the beef across the grain into 1/4 inch slices and toss in the sauce.  Marinate for 2-4 hours. 

Heat a skillet with a little vegetable oil in it until smoking hot, then cook the beef in batches.  You want to get some sear on the beef while leaving the inside pink; serve with the reserved sauce.

Thai Peanut Sauce

Thai peanut sauce as you would eat with satay (recipe to come).

3/4 C coconut milk (this is actually one of the cases where I take a can of chaokoh and shake it to mix the cream and thinner water)
1 T nam prik pao
1 T red curry paste
1-2 T sugar (start with one, add more if needed)
1 T fish sauce
1 t white vinegar
3 T peanut butter
3 T peanuts, ground
Cayenne to taste


Heat the coconut milk with the curry paste and the nam prik pao until mixed and fragrant (the oil will also start to separate out).  Add the rest and mix.  At this point the sauce is likely to be too thick, so you'll want to thin it with some water, and adjust the seasoning as needed.  You want it rich, sweet, a little spicy, and a little tangy.

Curry Potato Salad

This recipe is extremely approximate, as I was just playing it by ear, but this should be the basics.  I'd suggest increasing the green onion and thinning things out with a little vinegar.

3 lbs yukon gold potatoes, cleaned, diced, and boiled with salt until just tender (but not peeled)
4 T madras curry powder
3 C mayo
1/2 C whole milk
6 stalks celery
6 T mustard oil
2 T black mustard seeds
one bunch green onions
4 T dijon mustard
Salt to taste


Crackle the mustard seeds in the oil, then add in the celery and the white parts of the green onion.  Saute briefly, then add the curry powder, and saute for another couple of minutes.  Kill the heat, then add in the mayo, milk, green parts of the green onions, and dijon mustard. Stir to combine, taste it and adjust the salt, realizing that potatoes need A LOT of salt.  Mix everything, chill, then taste again.

Caesar Salad

The salad itself for this is nothing special, just shredded romaine lettuce (two heads works well for this much dressing), grated romano or parmesan cheese, and croutons (preferably homemade, I may post a recipe for those at some point, but it's not hard to figure out how to make them), but the dressing is something special and requires a little work.

4 anchovies, minced and crushed with the flat of the knife
the juice of half a lemon
1 T minced and crushed garlic
1 t worchestershire sauce
1 t dijon mustard
1 egg yolk

Beat these ingredients together in a large bowl, then start to slow drizzle in olive oil, forming an emulsion.  You'll have to add it very slowly at first, then you can add a little more in.  Beat the oil in until the sauce is smooth, thickened, and creamy.  Taste it for both balance of flavor and salt (if it's still aggressively fishy you probably need more oil).

Twice Cooked Pork

The Sichuan style of twice cooked pork, adapted slightly for western tastes - this uses lean pork loin instead of the more typical skin on pork belly.  Using loin the double cooking isn't actually necessary; it can just be stir fried, but I include the whole double cooking method as a note if you want to try it with pork belly.  The amounts given here are for a single half pound pork chop, but you may well want to double that if cooking for two (make even more, the leftovers are great).  See Chinese Ingredients for pictures and substitutions of ingredients.

First cooking:
1/2 lb pork loin, trimmed and in fairly thin slices

Other ingredients:
2-3 green onions, finely sliced
2-3 cabbage leaves, de-stemmed and chopped in roughly 1 inch squares, or other veggies, zucchini is good
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
oil
several dried chiles, de-seeded

Sauce:
2 T Chili bean paste
1 T Soybean paste
1-2 t sugar
2 T soy sauce
1-2 t fermented black beans (optional)


Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat oil in the wok with the dried chiles and blacken them over high heat.  Add the pork and the garlic and stir fry briefly to slightly brown the pork and the garlic, remove both to a plate.   Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry until fragrant.  Add the cabbage leaves and stir fry briefly to wilt.  Add the green onions, then add in the reserved pork and garlic.  Toss briefly to coat then serve with rice.

Note:  If you want to cook this with pork belly instead of loin, you'll use this as the first step:

Combine the pork with
2 pieces ginger, smashed with the flat of a knife
2 green onions, chopped into 1 inch pieces
2-3 t shaohsing rice wine
enough water to cover

Simmer the pork for half an hour or until it's starting to become tender.  Move the pork into the fridge to cool down.  Once it's cooled slice into relatively thin bite-sized pieces; discard the other simmering ingredients.

Beef Panang Curry

A rich hearty coconut curry made easier by the use of canned curry paste.

2.5 lbs of beef, preferably a lean tough cut like top round, sliced thinly across the grain
1 can coconut milk (I prefer Chaokoh), NOT shaken
1 4-oz can panang curry paste (this can be cut down to 1/2 can if 4 oz is too hot)
Thai chiles to taste
3-4 T peanut butter
3 T roasted peanuts, ground
Fish sauce to taste
3-4 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced

When you open the can (assuming you haven't shaken it), you'll find that the top layer of the can is a thick solid, while the bottom will be a thin liquid; this is fine, it's just the coconut milk separating.  Transfer the solid top to a pot or wok and heat on medium, reserving the liquid in the can.  When the solid has melted and started to bubble add the curry paste and the chiles and saute for a minute or two until fragrant and well mixed.  Add the beef and a 1/4 C of fish sauce along with the the reserved liquid from the coconut milk.  If necessary add a little water to cover the beef, and simmer, covered, until the beef is tender, ~ an hour.  Uncover, add the peanut butter, roasted peanuts, and kaffir lime, and reduce the liquid until it's a thick sauce.  Add fish sauce and/or sugar if necessary to adjust the seasoning.

Serve with jasmine rice.

Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)

A simple and healthy Thai salad.

Salad:
1 3-lb green papaya
12 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 C roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
2/3 C small dried shrimp

Dressing:
10 T fresh lime juice
6 T palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
6 T fish sauce (this will vary some depending on how salty your fish sauce is)
8 cloves garlic, crushed or very finely minced
Thai chiles to taste, finely chopped

At least half an hour before making the salad combine the dressing ingredients to allow the sugar to dissolve and the flavors to blend.

Peel the papaya then shred it (this is most easily done using a julienne peeler); the resulting shreds should then be lightly bruised.  You can do this with a mortar and pestle, or by laying them out and giving them a few hits with a rolling pin.  Toss the papaya shreds in a bowl, then lightly bruise the tomatoes and add to the bowl.

Add the dressing and toss to coat, then sprinkle the peanuts and dried shrimp onto each portion as you serve.

Notes: Traditionally this would also include some cut and bruised long beans as well, but I'm not a giant fan of them un-cooked.

Fried Brie with Anchovy and Capers

A simple tapas dish; the amounts given are per piece.

1 wonton wrapper
2 t brie
1/2 an anchovy filet, minced
2 capers

Place everything in the wonton wrapper and seal.  Fry at 350 until golden brown.