I’ve noticed that ever since I’ve started cooking more and more, I’m starting to collect cookbooks. Usually nothing fancy, but the bargain section of the bookstore almost never fails to tempt me with a $3 cookbook that looks like it would offer the kind of recipes that I don’t get online. I find myself collecting ethnic cookbooks, mostly; I think that mainly it’s to get the kinds of recipes that you don’t find as often on blogs, or at least the blogs I read. I mentioned in a previous post that I had recently picked up another in the Culinaria series, which I like. But the other day I found a book that was clearly published by the same people that published my The Taste of Africa cookbook. I haven’t posted any recipes from that book yet, but everything I’ve tried out of it has been fantastic. Not just good, but pretty amazing. It has a very particular layout, with a particular typesetting and a large main picture of the dish and a few smaller pictures interspersed throughout the recipe; when I opened up a book called Thai and South-East Asian Cooking and Far Eastern Classics (how’s that for a catch-all title) and found the same layout, I had to pick it up (it helped that it was basically free with my rewards credits).

Last weekend I cracked it open and flipped through a few recipes. The thing is quite huge, so I decided I wanted to make some fried rice, and then had to narrow it down to one of a dozen recipes. The one I settled on, Thai Fried Rice, did not disappoint. I’d be lying if I said I followed the recipe exactly – there were just some ingredients I didn’t have – but I think it was the basic of this recipe that led to its success, and It certainly came out delicious.

I think one of the key things that made this recipe so good was it’s first step: cooking the jasmine rice in coconut milk. I had to add more water toward the end to finish the rice off, but otherwise it cooked up fine. After the rice cooks it has to cool completely, spread out on a cookie sheet, so I cooked it earlier in the day to give it plenty of time.

Onions, garlic and ginger all get fried in a large skillet, or better yet, a wok. I do not have a wok, and everything just barely fits in this rather large skillet of mine.

I used pork in this recipe even though the original recipe called for chicken, because it’s fried rice and the point is you can add anything, right? I cooked the fairly small pork chunks most of the way through before the next step.

The pork and rice stir fries for a while. I cooked it as long as I could before I had to add some oil to the mixture to keep the rice from sticking to the pan. The recipe called for a teaspoon of chili oil, which I did not have, so I used some Thai chili sauce and added some more vegetable oil to the pan. I added probably a tablespoon of each to the pan mainly because I felt like it needed a little more juice to keep things moving easier in the pan.

The recipe called for red bell pepper and corn, and I threw in some more fresh green beans from the garden. This only got cooked for a few minutes before the adding the final touch: two beaten eggs, seen here glistening at the end of the spatula and quickly seeping into the rice. The final stir frying happens just long enough to cook up the egg.

Like I mentioned before, this turned out awesome. The jasmine rice and the coconut milk lent a creamy texture to the dish, with two great mellow flavors. Combine that with the kick of the chili sauce and curry powder and the crispness of the quick-cooked veggies, and the egg bringing it all together… it was fantastic. So far this series of books not disappointed, and I look forward to trying more recipes from this and the African book.

Thai Stir Fry (from Thai and South-East Asian Cooking and Far Eastern Classics)

Ingredients

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 3/4 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 pound of pork or chicken, cut into small chunks
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon chili oil
• 1 teaspoon hot curry powder
• 2 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add the rice. Bring to a boil, the reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 12 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Add water if needed throughout the cooking. Spread the rice on a baking sheet and leave until cold.
2. Heat the oil in a wok, add the garlic, onion and ginger and stir-fry over medium heat for 2 minutes.
3. Add the meat to the center of the pan and stir fry for 2 minutes, until meat is mostly cooked through. Add the rice and toss well. Stir fry over high heat for about 3 minutes more, until the meat is cooked through.
4. Stir in the red pepper, corn, chili oil and curry powder. Toss over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the beaten eggs and cook for 1 minute more.

Corn bread is one of those ridiculously tasty foods that’s ridiculously easy to make. This recipe comes down from the boyfriend’s grandmother.

All the dry ingredients—flour, corn meal, sugar, salt—get mixed together.

Then the liquids get whisked in thoroughly to make what amounts to a thick liquid.

Corn bread often gets baked in a cast iron frying pan, but as lack one I baked my corn bread in a 9×9″ baking dish.

Perfect: a bit sweet, a nice crumb with an even browned “crust”. Who says good things have to be complicated?

Old Fashioned Corn Bread (courtesy the McCartney family)

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup corn meal
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Grease a cast iron skillet or a 9×9″ baking pan and place it in the oven.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt thoroughly.
3. Combine egg, milk and oil in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk to combine thoroughly.
4. Pour into heated pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

A few weeks ago we bought a couple of steaks from a butcher that stocks some unusual and exotic meats. We decided on two New York Strip cuts, one of bison and one of elk. This past weekend we finally got a grill to cook them on.

I rubbed each steak with a different spice mix that I picked up at the Spice House in Chicago the last time I was there. The bison got the Old World Central Street Seasoning, and the elk got the Hyde Park Seasoning.

To go along with the steak, we grilled corn cobs in their husks and roasted a mix of red potatoes and radishes…

I tossed them with some olive oil, basil, oregano, paprika and salt and pepper, and roasted them at 350ºF for 45 minutes.

A successful first grill of the season. The meat was juicy, flavorful and tender. The elk and the bison were distinct, but in a way that is not really describable. They were both very tasty, though.