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Post by Solana on Aug 12, 2022 4:06:26 GMT -5
Congratulations! That's always wonderful when an old favorite is available again. (I felt the same way when Celestial Seasonings brought back their white pear tea. All of the others are spiced, but this one has only hints of vanilla.)
This week I finished off my supply of forbidden rice ramen. It's really odd seeing purple rice noodles in my bowl, but they taste fantastic.
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Post by Solana on Sept 16, 2022 16:09:34 GMT -5
More unusual rice- I picked up a package of Jade Pearl rice. White rice bits that have been infused with bamboo. It goes wonderfully with lemongrass and cilantro, but I had to add a bit of orange sauce to the dish so it wasn't too light.
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Post by Solana on Sept 17, 2022 16:26:48 GMT -5
The latest issue of 'Enchanted Living' has a recipe for jasmine chocolate cake. I adore jasmine tea and also heard about places making jasmine truffles. Today at the RenFaire, I swung by 'The Alchemist' and bought some jasmine blossoms to play with. (Last time I got rose petals, which I love in tea.)
I also see a lot of my SE Asian recipes calling for birds eye chilis, so bought some dried ones today. We'll see how that goes...
Aryn- It'll be awesome!
(Solana silently hands out cups of milk and pieces of bread.)
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Post by Solana on Sept 22, 2022 15:37:57 GMT -5
Half of a dried, crushed birds eye pepper worked wonderfully in a batch of curry puffs. (We had a rabbit spay to do today, so I made some for a quick, easy lunch.) It had more of a nibble than a bite of heat. I also had fresh lemongrass and garlic that were amazing.
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Post by Solana on Oct 4, 2022 7:15:16 GMT -5
Pro tip- wear gloves when handling the peppers if you wear contact lenses! I had to switch my monthly pair out a few days early. Ow....
On the plus side, the curry puffs are becoming my signature dish. I went to a friend's wedding last weekend that was potluck and made a big batch of the vegan version. The bride wanted the recipe and everyone loved them.
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Post by Solana on Nov 20, 2022 8:40:32 GMT -5
Now I understand why sesame oil is so highly touted for stir-fries. I bought a small bottle and made my finest stir-fry yet. Honestly, it tasted like it came from a restaurant.
One of the (many) things I dislike about living where I do is getting access to my weird ingredients like fresh lemongrass. I ended up buying a lemongrass paste to use in the meantime. I love lemongrass so much I even bought a sample tube of lemongrass scented perfume.
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Post by Solana on Dec 27, 2022 16:18:15 GMT -5
Woo-hoo, mortar and pestle is ready to go! Now I can buy fresh cilantro for stir-fries whenever I want and use the rest in a pesto! (We found out last year that my mom is very, very allergic to basil.)
My dad found bags of stir-fry vegetables with a sesame sauce that's actually low enough in sugar that I can eat it. I haven't had sesame chicken in YEARS and now I can make my own. We had leftover chicken from Christmas and I had one more batch of jasmine rice. It. Was. Awesome.
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Post by Solana on Feb 19, 2023 12:44:54 GMT -5
I tried the steamer on my rice cooker with some asparagus. (Yay for half off asparagus before Valentine's Day.) I steamed it with some fresh lemongrass, leaving the tough outer layers of it in there is a lot of oil in them, then took them out before eating.
YUM!
Now that I have lemongrass and cilantro, I'm going to try the freezing cubes of pesto trick TODAY instead of waiting and having a discolored mess. Lemongrass, cilantro, garlic, birds eye chili, turmeric, maybe some onion.
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Post by Solana on Sept 21, 2023 3:57:23 GMT -5
The cubes of pesto work perfectly, and are very good when tossed in a rice cooker.
I also modified a tomato sambal recipe in a SE Asian cookbook and now have my mom hooked on it. We got a ton of tomatoes from a neighbor. We cut up green onions and fry them with turmeric and coriander, then added the peeled tomatoes and mash them and cook it all together. Amazing on meatloaf and rice dishes.
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Post by Solana on Oct 1, 2023 13:21:52 GMT -5
The Renfaire had a little shop that sold infused oils, balsamic vinegar, and lots of odd teas. I picked up a bottle of blood orange infused olive oil and lots of tea- cinnamon apricot, three gingers and a carrot, herbal orange, and banana cupcake.
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Post by Solana on Feb 5, 2024 17:31:14 GMT -5
I'm going to try taking at least one Indonesian cooking class when I'm in Bali. I'll share what I can here! Also, fresh turmeric and ginger freeze very well, then are amazing in a stir-fry.
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Post by Solana on Mar 14, 2024 15:08:22 GMT -5
There's a spice shop in Ubud. I'm going to see if I can find dried kaffir lime leaves to bring back. I tried ho mok, a type of curry, at a Thai place and the lime leaves and lemongrass together were dancing on my tongue.
I'm also going to try to find fresh durian to try in Bali, and hopefully record my reaction for laughs. If anyone needs a pick me up, look up 'cats trying durian' on youtube.
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Post by Solana on Apr 8, 2024 16:21:08 GMT -5
I didn't make it to Bali, so I ran to the Asian mall to check out their grocery area. To my delight, they had not only the lime leaves I wanted but also frozen galangal root. There was also plenty of tea, so I grabbed some osmanthus oolong (soooo gooooood) and mango black.
They did have frozen durian, but I figured that would be a bad idea to bring into work and cut up in the breakroom. We get enough noxious smells in there (especially from my biohazard) as it is.
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Post by Solana on Apr 16, 2024 15:11:39 GMT -5
I'll have to pick up kukui nuts in Hawaii. I had no idea that they're the same thing as candlenuts and are called for often in Indonesian recipes.
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