Thai Basil Pork with Coconut Rice

THAI BASIL PORK // with COCONUT RICE

Between the months of August and September my life usually involves a significant amount of limbo, caught between one travel cycle and the next.  There are school years and fiscal cycles, business quarters and one's standard Gregorian calendar year (or lunar calendar, if you prefer), but I measure my time in journeys and the time spent waiting in between.  But, August and September I spend wondering, with some anxiety, if another year will be measured out in global distances.  Only this year, I was nearly quite certain it would not.  For one, Bree (my travel sidekick) is having a baby!  Garrett (my backup travel sidekick) has a new job!  And, I had settled on retiring my days of travel with students.  It was looking like my Labor Day weekend in Milwaukee would be the last summer excursion for a while.  What a way to end a era.

I knew this day would come.  When travel happened, as for most, as a vacation instead of a lifestyle.  For most, travel as a lifestyle is unsustainable.

But then I sort of came to my senses, remembered my priorities, and broadened my perspective a bit.  For one, I have a little getaway to Mexico scheduled this winter for a wedding.  Two, I'm likely New York City bound for spring break to meet Bree's little person.  And, three, I pulled a Michael Jordan and came out of my briefly self-imposed student travel retirement, deciding to go for another AP Euro trip.  Our planned itinerary won't be taking me anywhere new, but at least I can get my Paris fix for a 7th year in a row (obnoxiously fortunate, as I am) and give London another fair shot.  None of it is quite the same as living out of a dirty backpack and walking the world until your feet bleed, but it's closer to the road than home.

Of course, I haven't yet written on my experience traveling solo last summer.  For now, I'll sum it up by saying that it's definitely on the table.

And, of course, Thai Basil Pork is also on the table this week.  First school year cold came earlier than usual this year, and luckily passed quicker than usual, requiring some good sinus-clearing spice.  I've also become obsessed with cooking rice in coconut milk - a great pairing for any spicy topping and a good alternative if you like coconut milk-based soups.  If you're harvesting your home gardens before the first big chill, it's a great opportunity to use up that basil (Italian would probably work just fine, as well).

Vegan and Gluten Free Sweet Potato Pie

I went to a little dinner gathering with some of my favorite friends/colleagues last weekend, and it was another opportunity to test some twists on classic comfort foods for fall.  Our host is a new momma that has gone dairy-free because the little one was having bad reactions to that component of her diet, so this is challenging for desserts.  That being said, I just decided to go all out and combine a few clever vegan and gluten free pie components.  I would happily substitute a standard pie crust for this nut crust any day.

There were some logistical challenges to removing both gluten from the crust and dairy/eggs from the custard filling of a sweet potato pie.  While neither challenge compromised flavor at all, it does require some patience to remove the pies from the baking pan (the crust really needs to cool and set to be durable, and the filling will remain soft after baking).  Those challenges could certainly be eliminated by making one whole pie in a standard pie dish, but the individual portions made in a cupcake pan were pretty adorable.

If you are not bound to keeping the pies vegan, they were also very tasty with a homemade marshmallow topping browned under the broiler (great recipe that I halved found here; and by the way, baking soda will work to substitute for cream of tartar).  

I very rarely make a recipe twice, just because I'm always more excited to try something new, but in this case my family will definitely be getting some sweet potato pies for Thanksgivvukah.  They were that good.

Three Squash Soup

 

This is officially the easiest recipe I have ever posted on the blog.  It's so easy, that it shouldn't really taste this good, but it does.  It's so easy that I feel a little guilty taking blogger credit for it...like I should be working harder for you, or something.

As you know from last weekend's post, I turned my kitchen into a squash laboratory.  Making careful charts, graphs, and figures that evaluated squash variables like texture and sweetness, I concluded that your standard acorn squash is best for mid-range sweetness and texture integrity (it will hold up well tossed in a salad).  The other three squash under the microscope were gold acorn, white acorn, and butternut.  The remaining three were roasted and put into this soup.  The butternut was by far the sweetest, and the white acorn by far the "breadiest," so those two went in to combine a sweet flavor with a rich and creamy texture.  The gold acorn was pretty bland, but yielded valuable meat to add bulk to the soup.

Combined, the three squashes were really tasty.  Of course, you could work with one squash (and I suppose I'd go with the tried-and-true butternut).  Just that, some stock, and coconut milk will get you some delicious fall soup.  If you want a recipe for spicing and toasting the seeds for garnish, check out the last post for Roasted Acorn Squash and Pomegranate Farro Salad. 

Chai Spiced Pumpkin Barley Pudding (vegan)

I trust the creative process is different for many people, but for me it's a pretty haphazard and frenzied ordeal.  While I might come off as very Type A because I work very very hard, and because - let's be honest - it's more socially acceptable, my mind is hardly organized or linear in any capacity (and the disorganization of my private environment mirrors this).  People often ask me what I have planned for future posts, and with some exceptions the answer is usually "absolutely nothing."  Once in a while this concerns me, and I wonder what might happen if another idea doesn't come along.  Then, I remember that the whole point is just to post what I actually cook, so as long as I'm eating we're all good.  While for brief moments I might lose faith in the fact that ideas will come, they always do.

In this case, to some extent, everyone is having the same idea - pumpkin.  I'm sure on some subliminal level I choose to feature pumpkin now because it's really been out there in the food blogosphere.  I've also been meaning to make one my absolute favorite desserts, kheer, or a Indian-spiced rice pudding.  So maybe all that was wafting around in my brain and it all clicked on Sunday when I was writing up the last post for coconut curry barley risotto.  Surely the sweet notes of the coconut curry activated some memory of kheer and expressed itself in fall flavors of pumpkin and chai.  Whatever, it happened, and it's good.

No doubt this recipe can be modified for more traditional palates (because this one is a pretty strong dose of Eastern spice).  You can certainly play with the spice combination to go with a more "pumpkin pie" result, or just tone down the chai to something more similar to a pumpkin chai latte by eliminating the garam masala (since it has curry).  If you aren't vegan, using cream instead of coconut milk would definitely get a more chai latte effect.  Or, leave out the pumpkin and just go for a straight up chai pudding.  If rice suits you more than barley, so be it.  Experiment and see what happens.

Coconut Curry Barley Risotto

Prior to this instance, I've never once re-made a recipe for the blog because I didn't think it came out well enough the first time.  In most cases, I'll note how to make the recipe better for the next time (although I hardly make anything twice anymore) and post whatever results from the first attempt.

Risotto is tricky; so even though my first attempt with this idea last Wednesday was delicious tasting, I knew I could achieve a better risotto consistency after learning a few lessons.  And, mostly, it didn't look like risotto in the photographs.  While in real life the barley was still thick and creamy, it read in the images as more of a barley pilaf.  I've seen enough food programming on reality TV to know that when you call something a risotto, it better look and feel like risotto.  

Like I said, in most cases I would either just post what I got the first time or discard the idea for the post all together, but the flavor of this dish was so good that I had to give it another go.  If you like Thai curry soup, or Southeast Asian flavors in general, then this is right up your alley.  If you love creamy risotto as well, then I think this is your jackpot.  If you've become a vegan and miss creamy, cheesy things, I hope you can add this to your recipe box.

Like a true risotto, the dish is very rich.  As a savory meal, the edamame and shitake mushrooms are obviously a Southeast Asian play on the traditional Italian peas and crimini mushrooms, but I most definitely plan on making a sweet version with honey, raisins, and almonds for a future dessert (especially if it was pumpkin & chai spiced!).

coconut toffee

COCONUT TOFFEE 

(BURNT CARAMEL, COCOA, SEA SALT)

We've known each other a few months now, viewers*, so let's start getting real with one another.  Let's discuss things like late-night cravings and our dirty snacking habits. 

We all get pangs and cravings that toss us off the wagon (or is it "on the wagon?") from time to time.  Anyways, we're being bounced around some wagon in Dostoyevsky's Russia and its not comfortable.  We find ourselves halfway through a bag of chocolate chips at 11pm and sink into a dark hole of self-loathing and self-pity.  To combat all this bouncing and stay on a healthy track, I need to create a highly controlled environment at all times, especially in the kitchen.  Unless it is for a specific purpose, I don't buy sweets or ingredients to make sweets.  Sure, I'll always have flour, sugar, cocoa powder, etc. around, but the effort required to make something from scratch is a significant enough deterrent to pose any immediate danger to my health in those volatile evening hours...right?  right?

But I'm too clever for my own good.  Last week the cards were seemingly stacked against me: it was Passover (no eating flour), no eggs in fridge, no butter to be found.  No possibility of even an flourless mug cake (damn the inventor of the mug cake).  And then: sugar...coconut...cocoa...sea salt...toffee...

Thai Red Curry Soup

THAI 
RED CURRY SOUP  
(VEGAN)

So you tried the recipe from the Chicken Pozole Rojo post and, just as I suspected,  you loved it. 

What now?  You want more of these spicy, hearty meal-in-a-bowl soups?  Yes, yes, I know it's officially Spring and still freezing in Chicago.  That makes sense.  You're on a vegan-paleo-gf diet?  Since when?  Is that even possible?  No, I haven't seen that documentary exposé about the cavemen who ate only wooly mammoth and chia seeds.  No, no, its not problem.  Really, I can make it work.  Yes, of course, it will use all those vegetables sitting around in your fridge.  Sure, any will probably work just fine.  Run out of chili pastes?  Ha, me?  Never. 

Alright: Thai Red Curry

Thought a recipe like this would be laborious and time-consuming since the flavors seem so developed and layered.  Turns out, pairing a good spice combination with something sweet and milky kind of opens up the spectrum of flavors throughout the dish.  The only hard thing about the recipe is deciding from your fridge won't make it into the pot (sorry spinach and carrots, you didn't make the cut).