What's "Cooking" in Tiki Central?

A very good Mole is one of those Holy Grail recipes, I have been trying for years to make a good one,but I have
only made it to an O.K. Mole.

I think the great Moles are all secret,that little old Mexican ladies only share with their daughters on their death beds.

Last night I made Tahitian Chicken (Fafa Poulet), and Tahitian Shrimp (Chevrettes a la Vanille et Coco) served with rice and sauteed spinach.

The Chicken is slow cooked in chicken stock and chopped taro leaves, which gives it an unusual but homey sort of flavor. The shrimp was excellent; they're just pan-seared and added back to a vanilla-coconut cream sauce to finish. The vanilla coconut sauce was really good; just a reduction of rum (I used Coruba), Tahitian Vanilla bean and coconut milk with a little salt and pepper to taste.

Spinach is good when sauteed, but I had to make sure to dry the leaves well first so they stayed crispy and didn't turn into slimy mush.

I'll have to remember to take pictures for my next venture, next weekend.

Welcome Ekomomai,Yes we need pictures! your last meal sounds very picture worthy.

Coconut & Vanilla - Yummy!!! No shrimp for me :( but it would be good with chicken or pork. I was just reading about coconut jam or coconut spread, anyone ever tried it? (not the curd type of coconut spread made with sugar, coconut milk, and ten eggs. That sounds NASTY!)

On 2010-06-26 23:59, amybean wrote:
PEPPERJACK. instant win.

I have a theory about Pepper Jack Cheese on the "What did you make for dinner?" thread. I have a friend who has developed the Matt Jones Principle (named after himself) He says if you are telling a story to a group of friends and they start to lose interest in your story, you say "...and then I found twenty bucks!" and all of the sudden you have everyone's attention again.

So what does this have to do with dinner? If you list PEPPER JACK CHEESE as one of the key ingredients, it catches everyone's eye and everyone comments "ummmm, pepper jack". :lol: :D :lol:

PEPPERJACK! JACK!

It's Asian Night!
The movie is Jet Li in "Fist of Legend"

Dinner: Vietnamese BBQ Sweet Chili Chicken, Pineapple & Ginger Fried Rice,Thai Noodle salad with Chili Lime dressing.

Beautiful. Love those plates too!

Looks great, Thai Noodle salad with Chili Lime dressing sounds interesting - served cold like a pasta salad?

Thank's you guys, Mike it is a cold noodle salad (Rice Noodles), lots of fresh Veggies,Peanuts and home made dressing,a Thai Peanut dressing is great with it too.

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2010-06-30 02:35 ]

Musubi dogs!!
I have two versions but, the simple version is Spam Dogs and what the helluva you like on them. :)

http://www.greyhoundog.org

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-07-02 07:50 ]

Erik, SPAM DOGS???? I hope you're kidding! :lol:

Spam!Spam!Spam!

Don's the Beachcombers makes a pretty good Spam Roll,yea! I know!

They exist Mike!!! And tasty. I was gonna make musubi rolls but, was too hungry to wait for the rice.

Making Indian Food tonight, I will post pictures a bit later....

On 2010-07-01 20:09, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
Musubi dogs!!
I have two versions but, the simple version is Spam Dogs and what the helluva you like on them. :)

---

http://www.greyhoundog.org

---

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-07-02 07:50 ]

Helluva? is that one of those scandinavian mustards? maybe a kind of Pâté?
Sorry Mr. NoNaMe I could not resist!

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2010-07-03 22:14 ]

Skål Atomic, skål!

No SpamDogs at my local WalMart, I'll have to check Von's :)

A shot of Aquavit and a skål! to you also!

Tonight's Dinner.....
Chicken Karahi with Biryani Rice, Cucumber Raita & Naan

On 2010-07-03 23:08, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Tonight's Dinner.....
Chicken Karahi with Biryani Rice, Cucumber Raita & Naan

good job! when's your party?

This fall Diwali at ATP's house! Namaste!

Sweet & Pungent Chicken from a 1950s recipe given to my parents by Joyce Chen.

Welcome to the thread GentleHangman, thanks for posting a great looking meal.

I picked up some Hog Island "sweetwater" oysters at the Berkeley Farmers Market over the weekend... and made some "hog wash" to go along with it... mmm

-Trad'r Bill

I ACTUALLY MADE SOMETHING!

Fried Rice a la Kona (Taboo Table p.64).
Damn.

Oh how I wish I liked to cook. That Chicken Karahi looks incredible. Love Indian food. I'm lucky I didn't kill myself just making rice....

[ Edited by: twitch 2010-07-06 17:04 ]

Lots o' good stuff here past few days. Congrats Twitch, that wasn't so bad was it? :D

Someone gifted Mrs MadDog with the flu a couple of days ago and she re-gifted it to me :( So tonight we're having some fresh veggie chicken soup

Nice one twitch - looks pretty damn good from here!

Hey GentleHangman,
Would you mind sharing the recipe for the Sweet & Pungent Chicken? I'm into retro recipes, and that looks really good. Cool story about Joyce Chen too!

-Trad'r Bill

I'll gladly share the recipe:

SAUCE:
1/2 Cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 Cup cider vinegar (I use slightly less)
2 TBS molasses
1 Cup water
1 green pepper cut into bite-sized pieces
1 firm tomato cut into bite-sized wedges - Italian plum or "Roma" tomatoes work best-for the ones in the picture I used 'grape' tomatoes sliced length-wise 'cause I had them on hand. I even threw in some sliced water chestnuts, but I usually don't use them.
1 small can pineapple chunks in own juice
3 slices of garlic.
2-3 thin slices of fresh ginger root
3 TBS corn starch (dissolved in 1/4 cup of water)
1 tsp of Canola Oil
3 Slices of fresh ginger root

PREPARATION:
Cut up green peppers and tomatoes
Drain pineapple chunks reserving the juice.
In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, heat the garlic and ginger slices in the tablespoon of canola oil just enough to release their flavor and aroma - be careful not to burn the garlic.
Add the brown sugar, water vinegar and molasses blending until smooth.
Add the green pepper pieces and the pineapple chunks and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
At the boil, stir in the cornstarch/water mixture and continue stirring until the caramel-colored sauce is clear and the desired consistancy- add water if necessary.

The reserved pineapple juice can be used to increase the sweetness, if desired.

Add the tomato wedges at the last minute - just before serving

Serve over batter-fried chicken or pork pieces for "Sweet & Pungant Chicken or Pork"

As far as I can tell this recipe is NOTHING like so-called "Sweet & Sour" sauces as served in American Chinese restaurants. It is not pink or red as no food coloring is used. It is natural.

As a child of the 50's our family used to frequent Joyce Chen's "Small Eating Place" in Cambridge, Mass. and my mother and Mrs. Chen became friends. Joyce always came out to our table to talk with my parents and make suggestions. The food was served "Family Style" on a lazy susan in the center of the table. There were large strips of rice paper banners hanging down from the ceiling with Chinese writing on them - those were the menus for the large group of Chinese patrons who frequented her establishment. At the restaurant, they always recommended beer as a beverage - but my father had to go across the street to a liquor store to buy it, as the restaurant had no liquor license.

Joyce Chen gave this recipe to my mother saying this is what she served at her home - not in the restaurant.

Enjoy!

I bet you feel more like you do now now than you did when you came in.

GH

[ Edited by: gentlehangman 2010-07-08 02:55 ]

Thanks GH for the recipe and the story!

Did not cook tonight so I will leave you with the picture of the day.
Another Earthquake & spared any damages,time for a Mai Tai!

Flu gone, bought all kinds of crap at the grocery store today so you may have to put up with several of my dinners this week :D

Tonight; New York Strip Steaks, Dilled Red Potatoes, Garlic Bread Twists, Salad, Yellow & Green Squash.

Yeah- a steak dinner to get things back on track!

This is a ginger-lime chicken with a pineapple/coconut/macadamia nut crust.

I went a little insane with the flavors, though, and it was not delicious. It was edible, and my wife and mother-in-law were very kind with their comments... but it needs a lot of work to make it yummy.

The sides are taro leaves simmered in coconut milk, taro and sweet potato fries and of course a tropical fruit salad.

I pan seared the chicken, braised it in coconut milk for two hours and then finished under the broiler. The lime flavor on the chicken was way too intense, and the crust wasn't what it could have been. Next time I'm going to tone down the marinade a bit, dredge and roll in coconut cream and then coat with macadamia nuts and shredded coconut - and bake it in the oven.

The taro root and sweet potato fries weren't bad, but I cooked them too hot and without enough oil in the pan. These I seasoned with a ginger and turmeric spice blend.

"Go bold or go home!" :D I like ther turmeric and ginger combo.

Great ideas and beautiful presentation Ekomomai, it'll be better next time. I didn't realize taro leaves were edible, hmmmm.

Potato Galette from the Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way cookbook along with some bbq leftovers like sausages and hamburgs.

Fettucini Alfredo with grilled Chicken Pesto Sausage, Steamed Veggies, and my very first Kraken Dark & Stormy.

Sounds good MDM! so how is the Kraken Rum?

Well, I'm afraid I have no point of reference - I never really drank any rum before :blush: But the Dark & Stormy tasted mighty fine :D

Mrs MadDog cooked Porkchops with Cream Sauce and Couscous. Delicious!

Dessert was Kraken Balls! :lol:

They were OK but not outstanding, neither the Kraken nor the gingersnaps really gave it much punch.

Kraken balls!!!

My wife did that to me after I went off my knob and bought a mess of Smith and Cross
from Astor Wines yesterday! (It was worth it though) :)

Chris

http://www.westadad.blogspot.com

[ Edited by: WestADad 2010-07-17 18:43 ]

MDM you can paint, sculpt, bake and cook...who are you Martha Stewart's twin brother?

Everyone's food looks so yummy on this thread that I am happy to skip over it.

Then the Kraken balls pulled me :)

The bonus to posting on this thread is that you can determine the age of your leftovers - let's see, when did I cook those New York Strip Steaks? Nine days ago! I had better pitch those leftovers or I'll end up with botulism!!! :lol:

This reminds me- thanks again all of ya for the peeks inside your meals!
Sometimes I remember to take photos, but haven't had a chance to post em lately...

I would also love to see a peek inside your fridge. HAHAHA

Be careful what you wish for Amy (ask ATP about that), OK, here it is :lol:

My fridge nook is so small, I can't even take a picture with the door wide open!

The orange tray below is a popsicle mold freezing up some limeade with orgeat and coconut flakes.
Will let you know how they turn out.

My sad,sad 15 year old fridge is not picture worthy, it's an assisted living Fridge,soon to depart this mortal coil.
Mike is refering to my comment about his Kraken Dish,He now is magnanimously sending it to me, How cool is that!
Thank's Mike & best wishes to your Wife, please tell her to feel better from us.

WHAT A MINUTE ATP! We aired our dirty laundry, what makes you think you can just post some cleverly written metephor and not post a pic of your fridge???!!! :lol:

Pork lau lau and poi with grilled pineapple and white rice.

Poi is definitely an acquired taste. One of my buddies says he has to have sugar on it to make it palatable. I'm thinking next time I try this I'll blend in some fruit and/or coconut cream.

The lau laus were excellent! I marinated the meat in a blend of teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, passion fruit syrup, liquid smoke and salt. After two hours of marinating I wrapped them in taro and ti leaves and steamed them for four hours. Delicious!

[ Edited by: Ekomomai 2010-07-20 07:07 ]