Grilled Tamarind Prawns

Grilled Tamarind Prawns with Nam Pla Prik

One of my all time favorite food experiences occurred during a trip to Thailand a few years back. We were staying on the island of Koh Samui and spending a day wandering along some of the beaches when we came across a small restaurant with incredible fresh seafood. The standout dish was tamarind prawns - large head on prawns with a delicious sweet-sour tamarind sauce and garnish of cilantro and fried shallot.

After our trip I searched long and hard for a "tamarind prawn" recipe in an attempt to recreate the dish at home. After a couple years of searching and experimentation I developed the following recipe for delicious Grilled Tamarind Prawns. The recipe below includes insights gathered from a few recipes I found scattered across the web. Which websites and what insights came from each has been lost to time, since I apparently never bookmarked any of them! In any case, these prawns definitely remind me of the ones we had in Thailand that day on the beach.

My version of Grilled Tamarind prawns marinates and glazes the prawns with a sweet-sour tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce based sauce, accented with a little garlic and a healthy punch of ginger. Cooked over very high heat, preferably on a charcoal grill, the prawns pick up smoky flavors before a sprinkling of cilantro and fried shallot and a squeeze of lime adds crunch and brightness. Serve the prawns with Nam Pla Prik on the side to counterbalance the sour-sweet glaze with the irresistible spicy-sour of the famous Thai condiment and you will have a showstopping appetizer that is hard to beat. These prawns are the "chicken wings of the sea" - tender, saucy, and just messy enough to require finger-licking!

For those who might be hesitant to work with head on prawns, here is some advice: buy the freshest you can from a reputable supplier. If you have access to fresh spot prawns, I highly recommend them for this dish. Despite the head being attached, you don't need to go all "Anthony Bourdain" on them and suck on it if you don't want to. If the prawn heads still have you avoiding this recipe, feel free to use shell on, headless large prawns.

Servings: 4 or more as an appetizer

Time: 60 minutes

Equipment:

• wood skewers (one per shrimp)
• 9"x13" or 8"x10" dish with sides for marinating prawns
• a very hot grill, preferably charcoal

Ingredients:

• 8 large fresh prawns with heads on (U-15 to U-12 size)
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup palm sugar, grated
• ¼ cup tamarind juice (2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate plus 2 Tbsp water)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, julienned thinly
• a pinch of white pepper
• 2 Tbsp cilantro, leaves and tender stems, rough chopped
• 2 Tbsp fried shallot
• 1 lime
• Nam Pla Prik
• 1 small shallot is about 1 Tbsp shallot. I minced the shallot.
• use at least 4 Thai chiles and as many as you like

Directions:

Prepare the prawns:

1. Devein each prawn using kitchen shears and the tip of a skewer. Using shears, make a cut along the back of the prawn from just below the head down to the tail to split the shell and expose the dark colored digestive tract of the prawn. Pull or scrape the tract out using a knife, scissor tip, or the tip of a skewer.
   
   
2. Skewer each prawn from tail to head with a single wood skewer. The skewer is inserted through the back of the tail until the tip is just into the head of the prawn. This prevents the prawn from curling during cooking. Place skewered prawns into the marinating dish.
   
   
3. If using headless prawns, the tip of the skewer should just stick out the head end of the prawn's body.

Prepare the marinade and glaze:

1. Mix the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Pour half of the marinade on the prawns and set the other half aside. Rotate the prawn skewers to coat each prawn with marinade. Marinate prawns for 30 to 60 minutes, rotating prawns to recoat a couple times.
   
   
2. Make the glaze. Add a little neutral oil to a small saucepot over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger then cook until fragrant, a minute or two. Add reserved half of marinade to pot along with a pinch of ground white pepper then simmer to create a sticky glaze. The glaze should be thickened but still easily pourable.

After prawns start marinating, prepare your grill:

1. Prepare a grill for very high heat cooking. On a charcoal grill this means that you should barely (or not) be able to hold your hand a few inches over the grate above the coals for one second.
   
   
2. Exactly when you start preheating your grill will depend on what type of grill you have! The marinating time does not need to be exact, but I recommend no more than 60 minutes if possible.

Grill and garnish:

1. Grill the prawns over direct, very high heat for 30 seconds per side until just done. The prawns should just be opaque, although this will be hard to see until they are peeled. I suggest cooking one or two at a time first until you are comfortable judging when they are perfectly cooked.
   
   
2. Transfer prawns to a serving platter and pour the glaze over top. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro, fried shallot, and lime wedges on the side. Serve with Nam Pla Prik as a dipping sauce.

Enjoy! (aka, how to eat):

1. For each prawn, wiggle the skewer while pulling the prawn to slide it off. Twist the head off the body to remove, and give it a suck if desired. You can also give the prawn legs a suck as they tend to trap the glaze and garnishes.
   
   
2. Peel the shell off the prawn body, give the meat a dip into the Nam Pla Prik, a swipe through the glaze on the plate, or both and enjoy!
   
   
3. Rinse (lick your fingers) and repeat!

Top row: tamarind glaze and Nam Pla Prik Bottom row: prawns on the grill

Notes:

• 1 to 2 prawns makes a great appetizer. 3 to 4 (or more...I ate all 8) is enough for an entrée portion. Perhaps serve with sticky rice and some of your other favorite Thai dishes. 
• This recipe can easily be doubled (or beyond). Simply skewer more prawns and make more marinade.
• Overcooked prawns are tough, chewy, and kind of rubbery, and must be avoided at all costs. Thus, to get both a little charred and smoky flavor without overcooking your grill needs to be very hot.

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Oysters with Brown Sugar-Chipotle Butter

Oysters with Brown Sugar-Chipotle-Bourbon Butter

Oysters! Bourbon! Chipotle! Butter! Garlic! What's not to love?

The Pacific Northwest has a bounty of delicious seafood that is readily available. A perennial favorite among seafood lovers are the oysters found throughout the bays and tidal waters of the greater Puget Sound area. Oysters range from the small and delicate Olympias, to the plump Kumamoto, and the ruffle-shelled Pacific. For this recipe, search out medium or medium-small sized oysters such as smaller Pacific oysters, as the oysters release juice and shrink in size when grilled or broiled.

Fresh Pacific oysters from Johnson & Gunstone Shellfish

Over the past 6 months or so we have participated in a Community Supported Shellfish (CSS) program from Johnson & Gunstone Shellfish. Similar to a CSA (Community Support Agriculture), a CSS program provides regular deliveries of fresh shellfish to the subscriber directly from the producer. The particular CSS we belong to supplies fresh Manila clams (stay tuned for a recipe!) and premium Pacific oysters. Overall, we have been extremely pleased with the J&G CSS both in terms of price and, more importantly, quality.

Another favorite shellfish company of ours is Hama Hama, a 5th generation family-run oyster farm located on the waters of Hood Canal. The folks at Hama Hama not only produce exceptional oysters, they very well may have perfected the grilled oyster. Lucky for us, they also shared their outstanding recipe for grilled oysters, or "Grillers" as they are know at the Hama Hama Oyster Saloon, with Bon Appetit a few years back.

This post is our reproduction of Hama Hama Grillers using J&G Shellfish Pacific oysters. We typically broil the oysters in the oven by placing them on a baking sheet with small squares of foil under each oyster to hold them level.

These oysters make a fantastic appetizer or afternoon snack. Enjoy them with chunks of fresh bread for dipping in the grilling juices and brown sugar-chipotle-bourbon butter. We often have them as an appetizer before scarfing down a couple pounds of steamed clams; our typical J&G CSS order is a dozen Pacific oysters and two pounds Manila clams.

Ingredients

Ingredients!

• one dozen Pacific oysters (or other medium sized), freshly shucked, on the half shell, with liquor
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ of one canned chipotle chile in adobo, finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, or softened/melted in microwave
• 1 ½ teaspoons bourbon
• 1 ½ teaspoons light brown sugar
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Estimated time: 5 minutes prep, oyster shucking (time may vary), 10 minutes cooking plus cooling

1. Preheat the oven to 500° F. Before saucing the oysters, switch oven to broil (high) and let it preheat for a minute or two before broiling the oysters.
   
   

   

   Brown Sugar-Chipotle-Bourbon Butter
   

   
   
2. Mix garlic, chipotle chile, bourbon, and brown sugar in a small bowl until well mixed (smooth if butter is not melted). Season lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper.
   
   

   

   Oysters on foil cups

   
   
3. Shuck oysters and arrange on a baking sheet, using a small square of aluminum foil under each to create a "cup" that supports the oyster and holds it level.
4. Spoon about ½ teaspoon of the butter mixture onto each oyster.
5. Broil oysters until butter is melted, sugar begins to caramelize, and light charring appears on the lips of the shells, about 3 to 6 minutes.
   
   

   

   Broiled Oysters - hot!

   
   
6. Enjoy! Make sure to let the oysters cool first, as they liquid will be boiling hot when they come out of the oven. Fresh bread or baguette is a great addition for soaking up any remaining juices and sauce.

Notes

• Careful! Oysters and sauce will be boiling hot after cooking. Let cool slightly before enjoying.
• The original recipe calls for two dozen oysters. We enjoy our oysters generously sauced, so we often use most of a single batch of sauce for a single dozen oysters.
• Oysters release liquid during cooking so we usually pour off some of the oyster liquid as we shuck them.
• Finished oysters will have released liquid and shrunk in size, losing around a third or half of their body volume.
• Place a small square of foil beneath each oyster, place the oyster on top and hold level, then scrunch the foil up around the sides to create a "cup" of foil to support each oyster on the baking sheet. This keeps the oysters level while cooking to hold the juices and sauce in the oyster shell. 
• The oyster juices poured off during shucking could be saved to for another use (seafood broth? a soup?)

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Poppy Seed Rolls ("Poppyseed")

 

Poppy Seed Roll

Poppy Seed Rolls, or simply "Poppyseed" as I have always known them, are a sweet dough baked good made from a potato dough that is filled with a thick and bitter-sweet ground poppy seed paste and then rolled up into a log and baked. The perfect roll is light, fluffy, and bursting with poppy seed filling.

As far as I know, poppy seed rolls have their roots in Central and Eastern Europe communities. In particular, this delicious delicacy has origins in communities and peoples that immigrated to the United States from present day Ukraine and Switzerland. A bit of internet searching reveals that this treat is often baked for holiday celebrations with Easter and Christmas being two of the commonly mentioned ones. In my family, we often had poppy seed rolls at Christmas time, whether they were freshly made or out of the freezer. My grandmother would always make or have rolls on hand whenever we visited, and if we were good (lucky?) we would get to take a frozen roll home to enjoy later.

A number of years ago, as my interest in cooking flourished, I set out to learn how to make Poppyseed on my own. I have had a lot of help from both my mother and grandmother, and every year my mother and I have a "baking day" where we make a few rolls of Poppyseed and a few pans of cinnamon rolls. We then divide the rolls up among the immediate family to enjoy immediately or to freeze for a special occasion like Christmas brunch. Learning to make poppy seed rolls has been a year long adventure. They take time, patience, and practice to make well, and we had a number of years where we simply couldn't seem to create the same thing that grandma did!

The recipes we use come from two sources, both hailing from the Mennonite community. The dough is Edna Ruth Byler's Potato Dough from More with Less by Doris Janzen Longacre and the filling is from The Centennial Treasury of Recipes: Swiss (Volhynian) Mennonites by Alice Kaufman. The dough recipe is great in both these rolls and other sweet goods like cinnamon rolls or sticky buns.

Poppyseed is meant to be shared, which often happens for a special occasion, but there is no wrong time to make a few rolls and share them with friends and family. Enjoy!

Required Equiment

• Jelly Roll Pan
• Parchment paper

Ingredients - Dough

• 1 ½ packages of dry instant yeast
• ½ cup warm water (100° F to 110° F)
• 2 cups scalded milk
• 1 cup mashed potatoes (russet potatoes, peeled, no milk or seasonings added)
• ½ cup butter, melted
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ Tbsp salt
• 5 cups flour (maybe less or more)

Ingredients - Poppy Seed Filling

• 2 cups ground poppy seed
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ½ to 1 cup of marshmallows (approximately 10-12 large)

Instructions - Dough

Yeast bubbling away in warm water

1. Dissolve yeast in the warm water and set aside for a few minutes.
2. Combine scalded milk, mashed potatoes, butter, and sugar in a large bowl, stirring well to combine and completely dissolve the potatoes into the mixture. Any clumps of potato can be smashed using the back of a wooden spoon or other utensil.
3. Let mixture cool to lukewarm (below 110° F) and then add yeast mixture. Stir to combine and then add 3 cups of flour. Mix well to the dough sponge.
   
   

   

   Sponge after standing for 20 minutes

   
   
4. Let sponge stand for about 20 minutes until it foams up.
5. Add beaten egg, salt, and about 4 of the remaining cups of flour, mixing well to combine. Add remaining flour until a soft dough is formed, then turn out on a floured counter and knead until dough is smooth and satiny.
   
   

   

   Dough after rising to doubled in size

   
   
6. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
7. When ready, very lightly deflate before dividing into the 5 portions for assembly (see Instructions - Assembly)

Instructions - Poppy Seed Filling

Making the poppy seed filling

1. Combine ground poppy seed, sugar, and milk in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes or longer to thicken, stirring constantly.
2. Remove from heat and add the marshmallows. Stir until dissolved.
3. Let cool before spreading on dough.

Instructions - Assembly

1. Fit a piece of parchment paper to the jelly roll pan so the paper hangs about an inch over all sides.
2. Divide the dough into five equal portions. Three will be used for the poppy seed rolls. We often make cinnamon rolls with the other two, but any sweet dough treat can be made!
   
3. Take one piece of dough and roll into a thin rectangle with the side closest to you (and the counter edge) having the same length as the long side of the jelly roll pan. Dough should be about 1/8" thick. Don't roll the dough too thin or it will be prone to ripping or tearing.
   
   

   

   Rolled out dough with poppy seed filling spread on it

   
   
4. Spread 1/3rd of the cooled poppy seed filling onto the rolled out dough using a spatula, leaving a border of about 1". You need enough of a plain border so that when you roll the dough up it can be sealed without any filling leaking into the seal. Filling should be thick and sticky but still spreadable (without tearing the dough).
   
   

   

   Roll dough on long side to create a log

   
   
5. Starting from the side away from you, roll the dough with filling into a log. Tightly pinch the seam and ends shut.
6. Carefully place the roll lengthwise and seem side down on the parchment paper lined jelly roll pan. Three rolls will fit lengthwise in the pan.
   
   

   

   Three rolls in the lined jelly roll pan

   
   
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for all three poppy seed rolls.
   
   

   

   Rolls after rising to fill pan

   
   
8. Cover with plastic and let rolls rise until they nicely fill out the pan. Be careful not to let them over rise.
9. Bake at 350° F for 33-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out fairly clean. (a little moisture from the poppy seed is expected, but it should not have dough on it)
   
   

   

   Rolls after baking

   
   
10. Remove from oven and brush rolls with melted butter. Let rolls cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing rolls to a cooling rack by sliding the rolls and parchment paper onto the cooling rack.
    
    

    

    Poppy Seed Roll - cut crosswise. Look at those swirls!
    
    

11. Once cooled to just above room temperature, slice rolls crosswise into ½" thick slices and enjoy!

Notes

• You must use a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper, and you must make three rolls together. This setup ensures that the rolls are not too large (and thus have too much filling to allow a proper rise) and that each roll is well contained to prevent them from flattening and spreading out horizontally. The parchment paper helps contain the inevitable leakage and makes it simple to transfer the rolls out after baking. The jelly roll pan construction is also perfect for ensuring a proper bake - we tried using a glass baking dish once and the result was very disappointing. Learn from our mistake and use the setup described!
• All three rolls do not need to be filled with poppy seed; try sweet fruit fillings or a cinnamon roll style filling - recipes are all over the internet.
• It is typical to have some of the filling leak out around the sides or the ends. A thick filling will leak less than a thinner one, and a slightly thicker dough is less likely to split open than a thicker dough. If you get large amounts of leakage, try making the filling thicker and rolling out the dough a bit thicker next time.
• 1 cup of poppy seed equals about 2 cups of ground poppy seed.
  
  

  

  Grinding poppy seed

  
  
• Grinding poppy seed can be challenging. Use a dedicated poppy seed grinder (pictured above, example here) or a clean(!) electric spice grinder. I have an "antique" grinder that has been passed down in the family from my great-grandmother to my great-aunt and now to me.
• The mashed potatoes should be plain (no seasonings added). If a little liquid is needed for mashing, use the cooking liquid from boiling the potatoes.
• If the poppy seed filling does not thicken up enough, add one or two tablespoons of cornstarch and mix in well.
• The bread proofing setting on your oven (if it has one) can help speed along the rising steps!
• Baking time will vary depending on your oven. The original recipe we have says bake for 30 minutes, but in the current oven it takes at least 35 minutes. If the top is getting too dark but you think the roll needs more time, cover it with foil to prevent further browning. It is better to slightly overbake the roll than it is to under bake, as an under baked roll really cannot be salvaged.

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Oven-Fried Old Bay Chicken Wings (with Buffalo Sauce)

 

Oven-Fried Old Bay Chicken Wings

There are few foods more satisfying or popular than chicken wings. However, for the home cook chicken wings can seem like a daunting task. Why is such a seemingly simple dish so challenging to make well at home? The main reason is that most chicken wings we are accustomed to eating at bars and restaurants are deep-fried, which provides the crispy-crunchy texture we love. Unfortunately, deep frying at home is not exactly a mess-free activity, especially if you don't own specialized equipment. Thus, the question becomes how to recreate a some of the crispiness of industrial-fried wings within the confines of the home, and specifically using the oven?

Fortunately, the chefs and writers over at Serious Eats figured out a great way to make wings at home! Their technique for oven-frying wings is our standard at-home wing approach. Feel free to check out their article at this link, but keep reading below for our take and notes.

In the rest of this post, we hope to inspire your at-home chicken wing adventures by describing this oven-frying or roasting technique for wings. This approach creates wings that are extremely tender inside with a pleasing crispy-chewy texture. Our current standard (favorite) seasoning is a somewhat uncommon combination of an Old Bay Seasoning-based dry rub with a Buffalo-style hot sauce offered by the original Serious Eats article. However, the technique described here can easily adapted to your favorite flavorings. Experiment away!

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp fine sea salt)
• 2 pounds chicken wings
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot (original)
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Crudité and blue-cheese dressing for serving 

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together Old Bay, baking powder, and salt.
2. If using whole wings, cut into drumettes and flats. Optionally, remove the wingtip from the flats, however we leave it attached. The wing tip breaks down really nicely in the oven and creates a crunchy, chewy treat attached to each flat! (Just watch out for the larger tip bone and knuckle bones)
   
   
   
   
   
3. Pat wings dry using paper towels and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle on the Old Bay mixture and toss well to coat wings evenly.
   
   

   

   Seasoned wings ready for the oven. Note the layout of pairs of flats (with tips) sections.

   
   
   
4. Line a baking sheet with foil and place an oven-safe wire rack in the sheet. Stainless steel, oven-safe racks are great for all sorts of things (roasting meat, cooling cookies or bread, etc.)
   
   
5. Place wing pieces, skin side up, in a single layer on the wire rack, leaving a little space between each wing. See picture for our typical layout - pairing flats plus tips makes for an efficient use of the space!
6. Optionally, place the baking sheet with wings into the refrigerator, uncovered, for 8 hours or overnight. This step supposedly helps to dry out the wing skin through a process known as dry-brining. (We have never actually done this and still love the results!)
   
   

   

   Oven-fried wings ready for saucing!

   
   
7. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Move baking sheet to oven and cook until browned and crisp, about 40 to 60 minutes. We typically flip the wings over after 25 minutes and then flip them back to skin side up after another 10-15 minutes (or 35-40 minutes total cook time). Our typical cook time is in the 45-55 minute range. Flipping the wings over provides an even, tender cook, but reduces the amount of time the skin is face up where it can more easily crisp up.
8.  Optionally, finish the wings under the broiler set to the Low setting. Watch the wings carefully so they don't burn! This step helps put a final crisp on the wings' skin.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Melt butter on the stove top in a small sauce pan. Add hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce to pot and whisk together over low heat.
10. Transfer wings to a large bowl then pour sauce mixture over wings. Toss wings and sauce to thoroughly coat wings. Move wings to a platter and serve immediately with crudité and blue-cheese dressing.

Oven-Fried Old Bay Chicken Wings

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Khao Soi (Northern Thai Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken)

Overview

Khao Soi is a Northern Thai specialty that is both exceptionally flavorful and filling. This dish is found throughout Northern Thailand, but is incredibly difficult to find at any restaurant in the United States. However, for those of you who have had the privilege of having it once in Thailand, you will crave it for the rest of your life.

Khao Soi is a curried noodle soup featuring egg noodles, a boiled or simmered chicken drumstick, a uniquely spiced curry paste, and a coconut milk infused broth. The noodle soup is then topped with fried noodles, pickled mustard greens, shallot, and Thai roasted chile paste.

The key to making Khao Soi is the curry paste. Imitation recipes often call for a mix of store-bought yellow and red curry pastes, but nothing can replace a true Khao Soi curry pasted. It is a unique blend of spices (black cardamom, coriander, cumin, turmeric), aromatics (ginger, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, shallot, and cilantro stem or roots),  and chile peppers. All of these ingredients, and a few others, are pounded together in a large granite mortar and pestle to create the unbelievable, yellow-red curry paste.

The following recipe is our best recreation of Khao Soi as enjoyed in Thailand. The recipe draws from a few sources, including a cooking class taken in Thailand (Cooking with Ann), Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook, Erin's personal experience of living in Thailand, and a few other recipes from blogs and food magazines. With the abundance of global ingredients at both conventional and specialty grocery stores, this dish is within reach for the home cook. The only special tool required is a large Thai-style granite mortar and pestle.

Ingredients

Khao Soi Curry Paste

• 6 whole cloves
• 6 allspice berries
• 1/2 Tbsp black cardamom seeds
• 1 1/2 Tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1" piece of turmeric, fresh, cut into a few pieces
• 1 1/2" piece of ginger, fresh, cut into a few pieces
• 3" piece of lemongrass (from 1 stalk), cut into small rounds
• 4 rounds of galangal, 1" diameter, no more than 1/8" thick, sliced against the grain
• 12 coriander (cilantro) stems (or roots if you have them)
• 4 oz shallot, sliced against the grain
• 1 oz garlic cloves, halved
• 4 red thai chile peppers, fresh, stems removed
• 4 dried red chile peppers, seeded and de-veined
• 1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp fine sea salt)

Khao Soi Curry

• 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp Khao Soi curry paste
• 14oz can coconut milk (unshaken)
• 2-3 Tbsp coconut cream (from top of unshaken coconut milk can)
• 1 Tbsp palm sugar, grated
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 4 small skin-on chicken drumsticks
• 1 cup water

For the dish

• 1 package egg noodles (Chinese egg noodles work well)
• vegetable oil for frying noodles
• drained and chopped pickled mustard greens (Thai preferably, but Chinese work, too)
• 1/2 cup small shallots, cut into pieces
• a few small lime wedges
• Thai roasted chile paste
• Thai fish sauce
• [optional] coarsely chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)

Instructions - Curry Paste

1. Combine cloves, allspice, cardamom, coriander, and cumin to a small pan and dry roast over low heat until spices are fragrant, stirring and tossing often. Remove from heat and let spices cool slightly.
2. Add spices to granite mortar and pestle then pound/grind them to a medium-coarse powder. Scoop spices out and set aside.
3. Combine dried and fresh chiles in mortar and pestle with the salt and pound firmly until chiles are broken down into a paste.
4. In order, add one at a time then pound to incorporate into existing ingredients, the cilantro roots or stems, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, ginger, garlic, and half of the shallots.
5. Add the reserved spice powder and pound to combine, then the remaining half of shallots, pounding to combine.
6. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week or the freezer for up to 6 months.

Instructions - Khao Soi Curry

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot (such as a dutch oven) or wok over medium-low heat until it shimmers.
2. Add the curry paste and fry, breaking up the paste and stirring frequently, until the paste is very fragrant and loses the smell of raw garlic and shallot.
3. Add the coconut cream, increase heat to medium, and fry for about a minute, then add the chicken drumsticks, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Stir to coat chicken and fry another minute or two, stirring and turning the chicken a handful of times.
4. Lastly, add the coconut milk and water, stir to incorporate, bring to a simmer, then simmer covered for 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Instructions - Serving

1. After the curry and chicken has simmered, reduce heat to warm (or turn off) and cover to keep warm.
2. Heat about 3/4" to 1" of oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium-high heat. Heat the oil to 350F. You can use a thermometer or drop a piece of noodle into the oil, which should turn golden brown in about 20 seconds.
3. When the oil is at temperature, put a small bundle of noodles in. They will expand quite a bit while frying, so start small and see how many will fit in your pot. Let the noodles fry for about 10-15 seconds then flip over once and let fry another 10-15 seconds. Noodles will take about 20-60 seconds per batch. Once golden brown, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add remaining noodles and cook, stirring occasionally until noodles are fully cooked. Drain and divide into serving bowls.
5. To each bowl, add a chicken drumstick, ladle in about 1 cup of the curry, and top with a small bundle of fried noodles.
6. Serve bowls with a plate of pickled mustard greens, shallots, lime wedges, cilantro, if using, fish sauce, and roasted chile paste on the side for everyone to garnish as desired.

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No-knead Bread

A lovely boule!

Like seemingly everyone else, we ventured into bread making over the past year. Despite its chart-topping popularity, it took us a long time to come across the No-Knead Bread recipe by Jim Lahey and Mark Bittman. But, eventually, thanks to some good friends, we discovered the wonders of the overnight rising, no-knead loaf. The recipe can also be found freely available on Epicurious. The rest of this post contains our adaptation and method, which is a cross between the NYT and Epicurious recipes. Whether you make this bread using our recipe, the NYT one, or the Epicurious one, we highly suggest watching this YouTube video from the NYT. Not only is it a great throwback to the days before high-definition video, it is a great visual aid for the process.

The premise of this recipe is simple: four ingredients and a minimal amount of effort leads to an excellent loaf of bread. All you need is flour (ideally bread, but AP works great, too), a little bit of salt, a tiny amount of yeast, water, and time. Our current favorite flour to use is King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour, and we typically use fine ground sea salt instead of kosher or table salt. The yeast comes from a packet of instant yeast (you know the ones - they come in a three pack) from the grocery store baking aisle. Each standard 1/4 oz packet, which is approximately 2 1/4 tsp, is good for 8 or 9 loafs bread.

Tools

• your hands
• a large bowl or container for mixing and rising
• plastic wrap or similar to cover bowl
• 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot with lid (we use an enameled cast-iron dutch oven)
• cotton or linen tea towel (not terry cloth)

Ingredients

• 430g bread flour (or AP flour), plus more for dusting
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups water

Instructions

• Combine bread flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Mix with your hand to combine.
• Add 1 1/2 cups water and mix together dough with your hand or a wooden spoon. Dough will be wet and sticky.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise on the counter for at least 12 hours, but ideally 18 to 24 hours. We like to mix the dough around dinner time and let rise overnight. Dough is ready when the surface is dotted with bubbles.
• Lightly flour a work surface then lightly flour your hands and turn out the dough onto the surface. The dough will be sticky and loose, clinging to the bowl in long strands. Don't add more flour, even though you will be tempted!
• Using lightly floured hands, form a dough ball by grabbing the edge of the dough, lightly stretching it out a little, then folding it into the center. Repeat this action around all sides of the ball. You can give the dough a few pinches in the center where all the edges have been gathered in if desired.
• Place your cotton or linen tea towel on the work surface and generously dust with flour. With your lightly floured hands, gently lift the dough ball onto the towel, placing it seem side down. Dust the top of the dough ball with flour and fold the towel over the dough. Let rise for 2 hours.
• After 1 1/2 hours, preheat your oven, with your heavy pot inside it on a rack in the lower third of the oven, to 450F.
• After the 2 hour rise, carefully remove the pot from the oven (using oven mitts - it is hot!) and remove the lid. Rip off a piece of parchment paper large enough for the dough ball and so that some will come up the sides when it is in the pot. Unfold the towel covering the bread, lightly dust the top if needed, then carefully flip the dough onto the parchment paper so the seem side is up. Carefully lower the dough (now on the parchment paper) into the heavy pot and cover the pot with its lid.
• Bake, covered, for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. The bread should be a pleasant pale golden after the initial 30 minutes, and it will be finished when it is a deep chestnut color, but not burnt.
• Remove pot from oven and place bread onto a wire rack to cool. Let cool for at least 1 hour.
• Enjoy! We particularly enjoy dipping these loaves into infused olive oil mixtures or olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sliced 1/4" thick it makes outstanding sandwiches.

Notes

• This recipe is incredibly forgiving. No bread flour? Not a problem. Only 12 hour rise? No problem!
• Placing the dough ball onto parchment paper before placing into the pot for baking makes easy work of both inserting the dough and removing the baked loaf.
• After uncovering during the bake, the loaf will take anywhere from 15 to 30 more minutes. Our oven usually takes only 15 more minutes to produce a crusty, but not overly hard crust, that creates an excellent dipping or sandwich bread. The crust is there but it won't impale the top of your mouth if you bite it the wrong way.
• You must let the loaf cool for at least an hour! This might be the most painful experience of your day, but it is totally worth it to create that perfect bread texture.

Dough after mixing - wet and shaggy

Dough after rising overnight (~18 hours)

Dough ball before baking

The finished product - sliced and ready to eat!

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