Extra Schmaltz!

Accompanied by my illustrious photographer and culinary muse, JiJY, I present to you: Tom Kha. This fragrant soup is made with chicken and is bursting with flavor from the aromatic spices (and no curry powder/paste at all), and brought together with coconut milk and lime. Finished product, garnished with Thai basil and an egg. Photo by JiJY Thanwalee. Broth 1 chicken 4-5 quarts water 1 chicken boullion cube 3-4 stalks lemon grass 1 galangal root 6-8 kaffir lime leaves 4 large shallots or 1 red onion 4 cloves garlic 3 Thai chilies Simmering the broth. Scoop off the scummy bits so you get a nice clear broth. I accelerated the process by using a pressure cooker. Photo by JiJY Thanwalee. Place the chicken, aromatics, and water together in a large pot or pressure cooker. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 1 hour (or 35 min in pressure cooker). Drain the broth for use in the soup and discard the aromatics. Remove the chicken and when it is cool enough to handle, stri

Sometimes you just want a pile of hot beef, and you don't want to chew. This is the recipe for you. It can be made in the pressure cooker or slow cooked. The onions, carrot, and celery cook down and make a delicious gravy, which you could blend if you want it to be smooth. Fortunately, my cooking is much better than my photography. This is the short ribs served over potato gnocchi, with a side of turnip greens. I kept the onion/meat juice mixture chunky and used it as a sauce for the gnocchi. 3 lbs short ribs 1 large onion, minced 3 stalks celery, minced 2 carrots, grated 3-5 shallots, minced 2 Tbsp. tomato paste 1/3 c. dry sherry or 1 c. dry red wine 1 large bundle fresh thyme, or 1 tbsp. dried 1 pkg French onion soup mix Salt and fresh ground black pepper 1/4 c. cooking oil ~3 c. water Sprinkle the short ribs with salt and black pepper. Heat the oil until very hot and brown the short ribs in a few batches, to avoid overcrowding the pot. Do this in the base of

I was invited to a dinner party with rather short notice, and asked to make dessert, which isn't really my specialty. Luckily, I got this ginormous, very British cookbook "1000 Classic Recipes" for $2 at a book sale. Being British, probably half the recipes are for cakes, pies or tarts, and flipping through I found this recipe which was ludicrously easy and required very few ingredients. It's low fat (for the gallbladderless among us), it could probably be made with gluten free flour, it takes maybe half an hour to make from start to finish, and it's really tasty - a nice, light summer dessert. The one caveat is that it's best to serve fairly soon after making, otherwise it gets a bit mushy from the berry juice. Also, it doesn't make a huge amount - I'm not sure how amenable it would be to doubling, though it sufficed for six people for a light dessert.  It's best served with vanilla ice cream. 2 c. worth of berries (I used raspberries, stra

Hot dogs and lentils are a match made in heaven and are also extremely cheap! You can keep it basic and use regular hot-dots, or get fancy ones from Kramarczuk's or another meat market. I used their coarse-ground weiners with great results. Use green or brown lentils, not the red ones. I added orzo pasta to thicken it up, but you could also use rice or potatoes and adjust cooking time accordingly. 4 weiner links 1 c. green lentils 1 c. orzo pasta 1 qt. beef or ham broth 2 qt. water 1 large onion, diced 3 stalks celery, sliced 2 medium carrots, diced 3 Tbsp. tomato paste 3 sage leaves, sliced (or 2 tsp. dried) 2 bay leaves 2 tsp. whole cumin seeds 1 tsp. dried coriander 2 Tbps. Crystal or Tobasco hot sauce 2 Tbsp. oil 1 Tbsp. black pepper handful of fresh parsley, chopped (optional) salt to taste Slice up the weiners and saute them in the oil in a heavy soup pot until they brown slightly on the edges. Add the onion and half of the celery and saute until the oni

Dan claims this is an original recipe, but I think it's just a variation of Pasta Fazool and Pesto Sausage Desperation . He absolutely loved it and insisted that I post it on the blog. It is indeed delicious. The basic idea is protein (could be leftover meat) + pasta + miscellaneous color/flavor agents that do not require a trip to the grocery store = dinner. 1 package pappardelle or fettuccine (long wide noodles) 1-1.5 lb chicken breast 2 medium onions 1/2 c. roasted red pepper, chopped (i.e. from a jar) 1/2 bag/block frozen spinach 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tsp. red pepper flakes 2 glugs dry vermouth 3 Tbsp. cooking oil + a dash olive oil A few sprigs of basil and parsley from the garden, chopped OR 2 tsp. pesto 2 tsp. oregano salt and pepper 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese Boil the noodles in plenty of salted water until just tender (they will cook more in the pan). Drain, reserving 1 c. of the cooking liquid. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into cubes and toss them with