LTHforum Tailgate Picnic 2008 Recipes

I'll start the head of this list off with the feet:

Patitas de cerdo al estilo de Abuelita Elena
Pig's feet

You can also use lamb's feet (patitas de cordero)

12 pigs' feet, cleaned
Water to cover pigs feet
2 whole roasted red peppers (canned is OK)
3 garlic cloves (peeled and cut in half the long way)
1 tbsp. of ground chili powder
pepper and salt to taste
1 cup of wine vinegar
1cup of EVOO

Simmer feet in a large pot of water seasoned with salt, peppers and garlic until very tender. Combine
In the meantime, combine remaining ingredients to form a dressing. Drain the legs well, add dressing and refrigerate. Serve with dressing and additional chopped red pepper, or, add the following: reduce the cooking liquids - sautee 2 thinly sliced onions and add to the hot stock with 2 tbsp. of paprika. Simmer for a few minutes, cool and then pour over the feet.

Mhays wrote:Patitas de cerdo al estilo de Abuelita Elena
Pig's feet

Is this an Argentinian recipe?

I'm not sure, LAZ - however, certainly it came from my mother's background, because eating pigs' feet was unheard of in the social circle I grew up in. Vinegary sauces seem to be a theme of my Mother's Argentine recipes, though - but because Buenos Aires is such a melting pot, the dish's origins could be almost anywhere.

I'll see what more I can find out...

Spicy sausage cheese balls (a guilty pleasure)

These appeal especially to the male segment for some reason...

1 lb hot italian sausage
1 lb cheddar cheese (I use 1/2 plain, 1/2 mexican spiced)
2 cups Bisquick
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder

Pulse it all together in the processor
(you may need to do this in two batches depending on the size of your processor)
It also may work best if the ingredients are warmed up a bit in the microwave.

Roll or scoop into small balls
Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Food of Love Best-Ever Jambalaya

(As adapted from the Frugal Gourmet's 1st Cookbook)

About 5-6 hours start to finish

While this recipe does involve a substantial amount of time, there’s plenty of opportunity between steps to kick back, relax and pop a cold one. The end result is worth the time, this is real cooking.

3 smoked ham hocks
1 med yellow onion, cut in 4 pieces
3 stalks celery, cut in half
4 carrots, cut in chunks

Place above ingredients in a large pot, cover and simmer for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, add

1 chicken, about 3 lbs, cut up
2 bay leaves

Simmer , covered, for another hour, then take the pot off the heat and let it cool a bit. Take the chicken off the bones, and put it aside in a dish. Take the ham hocks, throw away the skin, and bones, and chop the meat and put it in another dish. Take the rest of the pot, and pour the “soup” through a strainer, saving the broth or stock, and throw away the mushy vegetables. Now you can rinse the pot, and you’re ready for the next step. You’ll need….

2 med yellow onions, chopped
2 large stalks celery chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
a few Tbl oil, corn, peanut, whatever
6 green onions, chopped
1 28 oz can tomatoes chopped (save the liquid) or you can use fresh
one tiny can of tomato paste
4 cloves garlic
¼ cup FRESH chopped parsley
(skip it if you don’t have fresh, do NOT add dried)
a couple of bay leaves
basil, thyme, pepper, about 1 tsp of each
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

Add the oil to the pot and and heat. Toss in the onion and pepper, cook until soft. Add the celery, green onions, and tomatoes, and cook until they are soft. Now add the ham pieces, along with the tomato paste, and stir it around until it starts to brown just a little bit. Add the garlic, parsley, spices, the tomato liquid, and 3 cups of the ham/chicken stock, cover it and simmer for an hour.
Then take

1 lb smoked sausage, preferably spicy and pork
2 dry cups Uncle Ben’s converted rice (do NOT use standard rice)
1 ½ lbs shrimp, preferably without shells

Slice the sausage, and brown it well in a fry pan. Add it to the gravy, and rinse out your fry pan with another cup of stock. (Fancy cooks call this “de-glazing”). Add the stock to the gravy, followed by the rice. Cook it all for 15 min, then add in the shrimp, and cook for 10 more min.

Serve with crusty bread and your favorite frosty libation.

Serves at least 10.

Baylor Watermelon

1 Mississippi Watermelon

Procure watermelon at one of the Baylor stands. Chill if desired. Cut into pieces sized for eating out of hand. Discard pith.

Terrific! Now can I get your recipe for water, Steve?

Your Pal Will's Award Winning Office Chili

2 Sam Adams beers
2 1/2 pounds skirt steak cut into 1 inch chunks
2 1/2 lbs "meat loaf mix" ground pork, ground beef, ground veal
1 lb coarsely ground chuck
1 lb chorizo, skin removed
1/2 lb Beef Garlic Summer Sausage ala Hickory Farms
1 tbsp dried mexican oregano
6 tbsp Spice House Hot Chili Powder
6 tbsp Spice House Mild Chili Powder
2 tbsp Spice House Chili Con Carne Base Spice Mix
2 Large Onions diced
8 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 Can Chipotles in Adobo chopped with adobo reserved
1 Red Bell Pepper diced
1 4oz can mild chopped green chilis with juice
2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/3 cu Masa Harina
1/3 cu water
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil

To a heavy hot stock pot add a three count of Olive Oil. Season all of the meat with 1 Tbsp of each of the chili seasonings. Brown off all of the meat in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan. While the meat browns, in a separate large pan, begin carmelizing the onions, bell peppers, chipotles, and canned canned mild peppers in a two count of olive oil.

Drain the meat of excess fat leaving 1/3 cup for flavor and return it to the heavy stcok pot. Add garlic to meat mixture letting it cook for 2-4 minutes until softened. Ad the remainig sauteed vegetables to the meat mixture folding it in. Add the remaining chili spice mixes, cumin and paprika to the meat and vegetables. Add two bottle of beer allowing it to reduce by half over medium high heat.

When the beer has reduced add the two cans tomato puree, black beans, brown sugar, balsamic and the remaing adobo from the chipotles to the mixture.

Simmer gently for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Serve with shredded cheddar and sour cream.

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I would love to see recipes for the following:

Mike G's Vanilla Ginger Ice Cream and Peach Sorbet
Just Joan's Orange Cake Squares and Raspberry Cake (both just wonderful, Joan)
Homemade Smores
Kenyan Iced Tea
Mexican Style Black bean and Corn Salad
Thai Melon Salad

Excellent chili, Will

YourPalWill wrote:1 lb chorizo, skin removed

I'm assuming Mexican chorizo here, not Spanish. Correcto?

Our food this year wasn't originals, the recipes are copyrighted.
So I can't post them, but thankfully someone else has for one of them.

Thai Cucumber Relish (scroll down about 2/3 of the way). The recipe was tripled for the coconut vinegar, sugar, salt, water, but five cukes were used -- there's usually more dressing than needed, and the shallots cut down by a third (I think I'm using bigger shallots, since it looked like an awful lot).

eatchicago wrote:Excellent chili, Will

YourPalWill wrote:1 lb chorizo, skin removed

I'm assuming Mexican chorizo here, not Spanish. Correcto?

Correct

Chickpea panelle with goat cheese and salsa rustica

Judging from the amount eaten, this was not one of the most popular dishes at the picnic. Still, and here I'm not blowing smoke because she doesn't read this board (or any board), I was proud of Mrs Ramon for making this. Salsa is easy enough, but she made her own crackers, even crisped them on site for service. Even bought heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market. I'd marry her again.

-ramon

Ramon wrote:Chickpea panelle with goat cheese and salsa rustica

Judging from the amount eaten, this was not one of the most popular dishes at the picnic. Still, and here I'm not blowing smoke because she doesn't read this board (or any board), I was proud of Mrs Ramon for making this. Salsa is easy enough, but she made her own crackers, even crisped them on site for service. Even bought heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market. I'd marry her again.

-ramon

Perhaps the lack of popularity was poor product placement rather than poor preparation. I never even saw the dish, but my fiancee tells me this morning that it was her second favorite bite the day. So, kudos to Mrs Ramon for keeping the bride happy a week before the big day

I was happy to be asked by Mhays to make base for the ice cream-making balls because I owe my ice cream-making prowess, such as it is, to this thread, and in fact I often make vanilla using no more of a recipe than simply calling up this post of Gleam's to confirm quantities. Here's how I make a basic vanilla base:

7 egg yolks
2-1/2 C cream
1-1/2 C milk
9 oz. (a little over 1C sugar)
1 or 2 vanilla beans, scraped of their actual beans (which, of course, go in the mix too)

Mix all and place in medium-sized heavy pot. Clip thermometer to side of pot. Stir constantly until it reaches 160F, then remove from heat. You're done; yields 2 quarts. Just before putting in ice cream maker, add a shot of vodka. To the base, not the chef.

I read other, more elaborate ways of making a custard but what could be simpler than stirring as the numbers rise? Works great for me.

To make the ginger ice cream, I took about a 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled it, and sliced into thin slices. I blanched them for about two minutes, then added them to the base above as I made the custard. When it was done, I let it sit with the ginger and the vanilla beans for about an hour, then strained into a container and chilled. The result has a wonderful taste of fresh ginger and vanilla, very light and floral. (I got the idea from a meal at Shikago, where the dessert was the only thing I was particularly impressed by.)

To make the white chocolate ginger ice cream, I simply shaved about 6 oz. of white chocolate with a knife, put it in the container, then poured 1 Q of the hot vanilla-ginger base over that and stirred till it melted the chocolate. I got some guidance from this recipe by David Lebovitz, but did it my way. A very easy way to get two flavors out of one batch of base; I really liked this, it's kind of like mint chocolate chip, but crossed with a lemongrass-ginger sort of flavor.

* * *

The peach-mint-moscato sorbet was something I made for my Spanish party last summer, adapted from a recipe in The New Spanish Table for peach ice cream with minted peach compote. I took the basic flavor combination of that recipe and condensed it down to a single light, palate-cleansing sorbet. The secret of the subtlety of this sorbet is that the mint doesn't end up in the final product; it's just steeped in the moscato beforehand.

Take a few springs of mint, and muddle them in about 1C of an inexpensive sweet sparkling wine like moscato. Let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes. Meanwhile, puree about 5 large peaches or equivalent, skins removed, with:

1 C sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of one lemon

Add sugar if needed by taste. Strain moscato into the mix-- the goal here is to have no little green bits at all-- and add whites of 1 or 2 eggs (depends how creamy you want it to be). Mix thoroughly and chill, then make according to ice cream-maker's instructions.

I was not originally happy with my choice of food to bring this year. But I had no time for fancy preparations. Having made this dish some 15+ years I’m sick of it and only keep making it at the demands of friends and family. It’s hard to object when it’s so simple and inexpensive. Judging by the way it flew off the table, even faster the second time, seems y’all liked it.

I’m not sure of the origins of this recipe. It’s certainly not really Thai. I call it “Thai Steak” in a kind of Cheech and Chong way. I “developed” this in order to introduce people to fish sauce, which is off-putting to most at first. You only need to read the recipe once and you should have it memorized. Just remember you are trying to hit five notes: salty (fish sauce), sweet (sugar), sour (lime juice), spicy (jalepeños), and pungent (umami?) (garlic). I never measure anything, so the quantification is a guesstimate. Besides it all matters on the size of the steak to begin with.

"Thai" Steak ala Ramon

1 flank steak (1)
½C of fish sauce (2)
2-3 limes, juiced (3)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
3-4 large jalepeños (4)
¼C sugar (probably more) (7)

Mince the smaller ends of the jalepeños. Cut the fatter centers into rings. Lightly score the flank steak on both sides against the grain. Rub the steak with the minced jalepeños and minced garlic, working it into the scores. Combine the rest of the ingredients, including the jalepeño rings, and marinade for whatever time you have (I shoot for 24 hours) (8). Grill steak (9) and pepper rings. I always served with grilled scallions and tortillas. Voila.

The endless notes section:

1. I hate when I buy flank steak and it has a line of fat / gristle running through the center. Apart from bringing a mass spectrometer or x-ray machine to the supermarket, this is impossible to detect. I’ve had best luck with flank steak from Sam’s Club.

2. I prefer the Three Crabs brand of fish sauce.

3. I find that nuking citrus fruits for about 10 seconds aids in juicing.

4. Buy jalepeños that are large as in diameter so that the rings have a large enough radius to hopefully not fall through the grates of the grill.

5. There is no note number five. (6)

6. Please refer to note number five.

7. I usually add about as much sugar as can be dissolved. Don’t worry about making the steak too sweet. The sugar will help carmelize the outside of the meat, hopefully creating some bark-like areas.

8. I have marinated much longer than 24 hours to no ill effect. When I go camping I will throw the steak and marinade in a Ziploc bag and freeze the whole thing. Also to no ill effect.

9. I don’t shoot for rare in this instance. I think it more important to get some char on the outside of the meat. Make vitally sure that you cut the flank against the grain or your meat will be inedible.

10. This note is a lie.

Once again, this is damn near as easy as a recipe can get. You can’t really mess it up in anyway (well I suppose you could burn the meat to charcoal). And, once again, if you just remember you are trying to hit five flavor notes, you should never have to consult this recipe, or its annoying notes again.

Good day!

-ramon

Ramon wrote:3. I find that nuking citrus fruits for about 10 seconds aids in juicing.

I picked this tip from Bob S who read it in Cooks Illustrated: When you buy citrus for juicing, you will get more juice from a softer relatively squishy lemon/lime than a stiff as a board lemon/lime. I probably buy what people feel and put back on the stack, though I do get more juice.

Thanks for the recipe and overriding your tedium to treat us to that great steak.

Regards,

Multiple compliments (two) over on the other picnic thread have brought me here to post the ridiculously simple elotes "casserole" recipe I created. Taking my cues from the many and varied street vendors around town, I used their basic ingredients, upgrading occasionally to suit my personal tastes. Using fresh corn stripped from the cob, for instance, as opposed to the almost tasteless, over-boiled frozen corn used by the street vendors being the most obvious change.

This is the recipe I used to make yesterday's large quantity, needed to feed the dozens of hungry LTHers in attendance. You can adjust things pretty easily to suit the size of your (I would assume) smaller gathering. Here is, in very unconventional presentation, my recipe for...

Elotes Casserole
Corn, 16 ears, shucked, cleaned and stripped from the cob, including the "milk".
Butter, enough to saute the corn.
Cotija Cheese, 1 block, grated (available at ALDI at a more reasonable price than you will probably find anywhere else).
Mayonnaise, just enough to coat and moisten the corn, not unlike the way you would use salad dressing. I used about 1/3 of a jar for the 16 ears of corn. In retrospect I might have used a bit less. I felt it was just a bit too soupy, resulting in the need for...
Unseasoned Bread Crumbs or finely crushed Crackers (optional) I used these to thicken up the dish when I felt there was too much mayonnaise. Cut back on the mayo; eliminate the breadcrumbs. I also used them as a topping, mixed with the cheese. Next time I might just use the straight cotija cheese.
Lime Juice, just enough to give a little tang to counterpoint the sweetness of the corn. None of the street vendors I've encountered use the lime juice. It is a trick taught to me by my buddy Ralph Walls, owner of Rafav's Mexican Restaurant in Grand Rapids.

Ralph is an old west side Chicago boy who moved to Grand Rapids and started his restaurant in the East Town neighborhood, ironically located on the west side of Grand Rapids. On Friday nights throughout the summer, Ralph sets up a big ol' smoker out in his parking lot and cooks up a mess o' ribs, chicken, pork shoulder, and occasionally, brisket. He leaves the running of the indoor restaurant to his employees while he sits outside in the warm summer air, tending to his smoker and hanging out with his customers as they eat the fruits of his labor at the handful of tables scattered around the parking lot.

In addition to the smoked meats, Ralph also serves up home made potato salad, cole slaw, and his own version of elotes, which includes the lime juice and also our next ingredient...

Pico Piquin, just a light dusting of this hot chile & salt mixture over the top of the casserole to add a little bite and color. In addition to the Pico, I also use a little...
Chile Powder, same use as the Pico.
Salt & Sugar to taste

So, strip the corn from the cob, make sure you get the milk too (my favorite part). Saute the corn in the butter (for 16 ears worth, I had to do it in four batches). Add the salt and sugar to taste. If you are lucky enough to get really fresh corn, or a variety that is particularly sweet, skip the sugar. I used a minimal amount in yesterday's batch.

Put all the sauteed corn in your casserole dish, add in the fresh lime juice to taste. Add in the mayonnaise until you reach the desired consistency; very thick, not too soupy. If you get into the soupy range this is when you'll decide if you want the bread crumbs or not.

Add in most of the grated cheese, reserving enough to cover the top of the finished casserole for browning. Stir it all together in the casserole dish. Cover with the remaining cotija cheese, or, if desired, a mixture of the cheese and bread crumbs.

Add a light dusting of the pico piquin and/or chile powder. I used both in my version.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese on top has formed a nice crust.

Like I said, ridiculously simple, once you take out all my unnecessary prose and overstated instructions.

Thanks to all who enjoyed and commented on this dish. Hope you are successful in recreating it for yourselves.

Buddy

Rafav's Mexican and More Restaurant
1441 Wealthy St. S.E.
Grand Rapids MI
(616) 458-1457

That elote casserole was great and we will sure to be making some soon. I'm actually eating some right now!

-ramon

YourPalWill wrote:I would love to see recipes for the following:
Homemade Smores

Your wish is my command. For the graham crackers, I followed Nancy Silverton's recipe, which was posted on this blog. I used this tutorial for Thomas Keller's marshmallows. The marshmallow recipe was really easy. (I did mix some rice flour w/the confectioner sugar to cut the sweetness when I was dusting them. There is a LONG thread about marshmallows on the egullet forum, and a lot of people have tinkered with flavorings. I think I might try strawberry next.

Moderators - please let me know if I am violating any rules by posting the links to these recipes.

Pucca wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:I would love to see recipes for the following:
Homemade Smores

Your wish is my command. For the graham crackers, I followed Nancy Silverton's recipe, which was posted on this blog. I used this tutorial for Thomas Keller's marshmallows. The marshmallow recipe was really easy. There is a LONG thread about marshmallows on the egullet forum, and a lot of people have tinkered with flavorings. I think I might try strawberry next.

Moderators - please let me know if I am violating any rules by posting the links to these recipes.

Pucca,

I want to give you a special shout out for those marshmallows. I didn't eat them as smores, but enjoyed more than a few straight up and/or toasted over the coals.

I also enjoyed them as non-smores, you'd mentioned the graham crackers were a lot of work, but they really were worth it, and the homemade marshmallows lacked the unpleasant chemical flavors of bagged and were light as air - but, as I predicted, Sparky really enjoyed making the smores!

I'm not a moderator, but I don't think there is any problem posting a link to a recipe.

Links are absolutely okay, copying copyrighted material in its entirety is the issue.

I brought the Thai coleslaw and bartered with aruzin to make the blueberry cardamom cake she brought. I mentioned this on the main picnic post, but I want to say again that this was my first event and I had a really wonderful time. The people were even more enjoyable than the food and the food was pretty damn good.

Thai coleslaw

I make no claims that the Thai coleslaw is in any way authentic Thai, but the ingredients and flavor profile seemed rather Thai the first time I made it, and I needed a name for it.

The chiles I used came from my dad's garden. He gave me the Hungarian chiles and said they were "much spicier than a jalepeno". I started with one and couldn't really taste the spice at all, so I added another and still only a very mild spice. Luckily he also gave me some fresh cayenne, so I chopped one up, seeds and all and added it. I've made this before with one seeded jalepeno and had the spice level turn out just a bit spicier than it was yesterday.

All the amounts here are estimates; I didn't actually measure anything

1 small head red cabbage, shredded (regular cabbage also works)
1 cup each green beans and yellow wax beans, sliced thinly
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup basil, chiffonade (or chopped)
1 1/2 cups Spanish peanuts
2 Hungarian chiles, seeded and minced
1 fresh cayenne, minced
1″ piece of ginger, minced
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp salt

In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage, beans, green onions, tomatoes, basil and peanuts.

Mix together the jalapeno, ginger, lime juice, sugar and salt. Pour over the vegetables and mix together.

Blueberry Cardamom Cake

The blueberry cardamom cake was based on a recipe I saw on Smitten Kitchen, which she adapted from The Barefoot Contessa. I'm not sure if that falls under the ban on posting copyrighted material, so I'll play it safe.

Original Recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon ... hing-cake/

My changes:
I skipped the lemon juice/sugar syrup altogether and replaced the lemon zest with 1 tsp freshly ground cardamom (mostly green with a bit of black.)

Here's a pictorial of a trial-run of making my Pork Roulade. Since I made a number of changes since making it then, I'll post the full recipe here.

Garlic-sage pork roast with brioche toasts and cider sabayon:

Brine:
4 cups of water
1/4 cup of kosher salt
1/4 cup of honey
4 sage leaves
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Pork:
3 pound pork loin roast, double butterflied.
15-20 cloves of garlic, peeled and blanched for 30 seconds in boiling water
20 or so sage leaves
probably 1/4 cup decent olive oil
6 slices of prosciutto
black pepper
1/4 cup of apple cider mixed with 3 tbs honey

Brioche Toasts:
brioche slices
melted butter

Cider sabayon:
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup full fat buttermilk
7 egg yolks
4 TBS sugar

Simmer brine ingredients for 20 minutes, cool completely. Brine pork for 6 hours, then rinse and dry thoroughly. Place garlic, sage, and oil in food processor and process into a paste. Season pork with black pepper (no salt - the brine has provided plenty already). Spread paste evenly across pork loin, then top with overlapping strips of prosciutto. Roll the whole thing up jelly-roll style, and secure well with butcher string. It's important to tie it pretty tight. Rub olive oil and black pepper all over the outside, then brush with the cider mixture. Roast on a rack at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 and roast about another hour. Brush with more cider mix every 20 minutes or so. After about an hour total cooking time, start taking the temperature with a thermometer. Remove the meat when the thermometer measures 145 degrees. Let rest at least 30 minutes before slicing. Overnight resting is even better.

Brush melted butter on both sides of brioche and griddle for 2 minutes per side until golden. Cool on a rack and store, if necessary, for several hours in airtight container.

Boil apple cider until reduced by half. Cool thoroughly. In a large metal bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick, then mix in cider and buttermilk. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water, and beat constantly until it is thickened, fairly hot to the touch, and large air bubbles have turned to small ones. If you're into thermometers, go for about 150 degrees. Remove bowl to another, larger bowl filled with ice water, and continue beating until sabayon has cooled.

Slice pork, place atop brioche toast, and top with cider sabayon.

stevez wrote:Pucca,

I want to give you a special shout out for those marshmallows. I didn't eat them as smores, but enjoyed more than a few straight up and/or toasted over the coals.

Thanks, that means a lot! I'm glad so many people enjoyed them! I am still salivating over thoughts of your burnt ends. I only wish I ate more. My b/f was too full when they made their appearance, and he deeply regrets not sampling any. Too bad for him!

Here are recipes for two of the dishes:


Bombay Potatoes
Potatoes
Curry leaves (any Indian store should carry these)
Ground cumin
red chili powder
tamarind (buy the slab, not the paste in a jar)
Serrano or any other fresh medium-hot pepper - sliced lenghthwise
green onions- chopped
cilantro - chopped
tomatoes - chopped

1. Peel the potatoes, cut into fairly large chunks, boil until tender and cool.
2. Soak a piece of the tamarind - a piece about the size of a lemon in hot water. After a while, it will become a thick sauce. To this, add some brown sugar, salt, and cumin powder.
(You can do Steps 1 and 2 the night before)
3. Heat some oil in a large pan. When oil is hot, add the serranos and the curry leaves. After a few minutes, add all the potatoes and the red chili powder. Cook for a few minutes, then add enough of the tamarind sauce to coat the potatoes. Use sparingly, you can add more later. Cook for a few minutes. Let mixture cool.
4. When cool, add chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, and chopped tomatoes.

Goi Ga (inspired by Ramon)
Shredded Napa cabbage
Shredded red cabbage
Shredded carrots
Sliced red onion
Chicken (poached, cooled, and shredded)
chopped cilantro
chopped mint
chopped Thai basil
chopped roasted peanuts

Dressing
2 parts fish sauce (I used 3-squid brand - makes a big difference)
2 parts lime juice
1 part rice vinegar
turbinado sugar
chopped Thai chiles
minced garlic
minced red onion


Jyoti

Ramon wrote:Chickpea panelle with goat cheese and salsa rustica

Judging from the amount eaten, this was not one of the most popular dishes at the picnic. Still, and here I'm not blowing smoke because she doesn't read this board (or any board), I was proud of Mrs Ramon for making this. Salsa is easy enough, but she made her own crackers, even crisped them on site for service. Even bought heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market. I'd marry her again.

-ramon

I didn't even see this dish. It sounds wonderful and I'm sad I did not get to try it

Jyoti

Ramon wrote:Chickpea panelle with goat cheese and salsa rustica

Judging from the amount eaten, this was not one of the most popular dishes at the picnic. Still, and here I'm not blowing smoke because she doesn't read this board (or any board), I was proud of Mrs Ramon for making this. Salsa is easy enough, but she made her own crackers, even crisped them on site for service. Even bought heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market. I'd marry her again.

-ramon

I thought the crackers were delicious! I ate them later in the day just before I left so I recalled it being like a flatbread. My b/f and I loved your Thai steak btw. I'd never seen such a intense look on his face as he savored each and every bite.

Thai Melon Salad

6 cups melon cubes or balls (honeydew, cantaloupe, crenshaw, etc)
2 cucumbers halved lengthwise and sliced
dressing:
6 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup honey
grated zest of one lime
1/4 tsp. salt
1 red Thai chili, diced with seeds
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

The recipe above is supposed to serve 4. I doubled it, so that ended up being one canteloupe and one (largish) honeydew, but I only used 3 cucumbers because that seemed like enough. I can never find thai chiles when I want them, so I used a couple of serranos instead. To my taste, it could have been a little hotter.

Source: "Totally Chile Pepper Cookbook"

Doom Bars aka Karen's Birthday Brownie Bars
Reprinted with permission from King Arthur Flour, originally appeared in the Winter 2005 (vol. VXI no. 1) issue of The Baking Sheet.

According to the notes, this bar was going to be in the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, and ended up there in pieces, but not as the whole: It's the "Go-Anywhere Shortbread" (p112), the "On-the-Fence Brownies" (p158), plus melted caramel and pecans.

We named them Doom Bars because of their enormous mass: A 9x13 pan feels like it's full of bricks. My comments in (italics)

Shortbread Layer
1C (2 sticks) unsalted butter (wait, there's more below)
1tsp salt
3/4C (5 1/4 oz) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (they say optional, that's crazy talk)
2 1/3C (9 3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

Brownie Layer
1C (2 sticks) unsalted butter (we're up to a pound)
2 1/4C (15 3/4 oz) sugar
1 1/4C (3 3/4 oz) Dutch-process cocoa (the darker the better)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2C (6 1/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1C (4 oz) chopped pecans
1C (6 oz) chocolate chips

Topping
2/3C (6 1/4 oz) vanilla caramel, melted and mixed with (use more like 8 oz)
1 Tbs cream
1C (4 oz) toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

Instructions

For the shortbread layer:
Preheat oven to 300F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan.
In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the butter, salt, sugar and vanilla, then beat in the flour.
Press the dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface. Prick the dough all over with a fork.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until it's golden brown around the edges. Remove it from the oven, and set it aside to cool as you prepare the brownie batter.

Brownie layer:
Preheat oven to 350F
In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (about 110-120F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it.
Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, to make a shiny top crust.
Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth; then add the flour, nuts and chips, stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter atop the baked shortbread in the 9x13-inch pan.
Bake 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (Sue always likes her brownies a little wetter than this)
(Towards the end of the baking time) melt the caramel over very low heat on the stovetop, or in a microwave. When it's soft, stir in the cream or milk. When the brownies feel set in the center, remove them from the oven, and top with melted caramel, then the nuts.

Yield: 24 bars (For giants! More like 48)