Stuffed white zucchini in yoghurt sauce

It has been ages since I last participated in Weekend Herb Blogging. This week, I've joined the fun again with those small white zucchini. The current host is Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at least once

“Buy locally” is what people say these days. Sometimes I wonder what it really means. In the suburb where I live, all we have is small supermarkets with inflated prices on sad-looking vegetables. So, we do take the effort to drive at least 30 mins to get to Preston market to get our dosage of seasonal vegs and fruits at least once per fortnight. It’s just better.

But it pays to look around, locally. Recently, I’ve been able to locate a really nice butcher, a large deli and a small decent vegetable shop which cater for the dominant Middle Eastern presence in the area. I have access to cheese sold in 1kg block, yoghurt sold in 2kg tube (smallest!), different kinds of flours in at least 5kg bag, spices in large containers, pre-made pastries of various forms. It’s like going through a new food maze! If only I could get my tofu fix a bit easier.

And of course, vegetables, like those little white zucchini. I’ve seen them in the past at farmers market, but this is the first time I try to do something with them. And to add a bit of “local” flair, I’ve decided to stuff them with meat and rice before cooking them slowly in a large amount of yoghurt sauce. (Well, I do need to find a way to use up that 2kg tube of yoghurt. What was I thinking?)

To do stuff these zucchini properly, I have bought a handy tool. Ping @herbalGill, this is it! The secret to get that nice “hole” instead of the “boat style”. If you are in Melbourne and get a chance to hang around Sydney Rd, Brunswick, drop by a $2 shop there. You’ll find it.

The recipe is adapted from the excellent Arabesque by Claudia Roden. Serve the stuffed zucchini with rich rice pilaf (not photograph). It’s nice, warming and refreshing at the same time.

Of course, this recipe is for the smaller zucchini kind. With the bigger ones, you can use Faith’s @ An edible Mosaic tip – cut them into smaller chunks.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI IN YOGHURT SAUCE

I've been thinking of a vegetarian version of this dish. Couscous or lentil will be nice here. Right?

Ingredients
1kg small zucchini (10-12 cm long)
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves - crushed
2 tsp dried mint
Salt + pepper + sugar to taste

1kg full-fat yoghurt
1 tbp corn flour
Some butter to fry

Filling:

150g minced beef
50g aborio rice
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice

Method

Wash the zucchini, slice off the stem end and shave off the brown skin on the other end. With a corer (photo above - an apple corer will also work?), make a hole at the stem end of each veg and scoop out the flesh. Be careful - don't break the skin or the other end.

Prepare the filling by putting all the ingredients together in a bowl. Knead well by hand unil thoroughly blended. Fill each zucchini, packing in the filling into 1cm of the end (to allow for expansion of the rice)

Arrange the stuffed veg in a large saucepan, cover with enough chicken stock and simmer gently, covered, for 25 mins or so (until the water is absorbed and the zucchini is nearly done)

In another saucepan, beat yoghurt with little salt until it's liquid. Mix 1 tablespoon cornflour and 2-3 tbp water, add to the yogurt and beat well. Bring the mixture to the boil slowly, stir constantly in one direction. Once boiled, reduce the heat to as low as possible. Let the mixture barely simmer, uncovered for 10 mins or until thickened.

Pour the yoghurt over the zucchini. Simmer for about 20 mins.

Just before serving, quickly fry the garlic with butter and little salt. Add the dried mint and mix well. Pour into the yoghurt mixture, stir.

Serve the zucchini with plenty of source with some rich pilaf.

*

{I didn’t plan to photograph them but decided to feature this dish after my tweets with @herbalgill. It was done at night with minimum styling after dinner. I was too hungry, tired and sleepy to set up proper lighting. Also, can I say that this dish is not the easiest to style and photograph?}

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Green Inspiration. Recipe: Two-color pandan cubic milk bread

Uhm, not quite ‘cubic’ actually, but I’m happy with the look of this bread

I like pretty and cute things (who doesn’t?) And here are some of the favourite items I loved or spotted lately. (Which essentially means that I will be somewhat poorer after the online shopping spree).

Cute skirt (10x10) – Apple&Pear Notepad – Audrey Kawasaki’s painting called Overlap {This, I have a print of – lucky!}

Green is perhaps not one of my 'to-go' colors. I’m more attracted to other neutral, greyish and bluish tones in general. But I like to play with it, so I do have occasional clothing and accessories pieces with green shade.

Foodwise, unlike this unusual blue cake, green color appears quite often - vegetables, matcha cake and desserts. And don't forget the ever popular pandan chiffon cake. So I guess playing with green dessert is nothing out of the ordinary.

Today, though, I'm playing with an idea I have had in mind for the longest time - a two tone cubic bread. I've come across the photo of a similar bread somewhere in the past. Not sure where, I just keep a photo of it in my "Inspiration" folder. Whoever you are, thank you for being my inspiration!

Not having a recipe, I figured my way out to create the cubic-effect. For flavours, I have opted to use pandan paste since that beautiful sweet vanilla fragrance pairs particularly well with milk bread. I like the look of it. The texture of the bread is soft and cake-like, the way most Asians like their bread.

Two-color pandan cubic milk bread (aka checkerboard milk bread)

Bread recipe adapted from here.

Note: I think the sugar here is nice for milk bread (to eat with jam and butter). But next time I'll increase the sugar amount slightly to make a sweeter bread. The dough is quite sticky but try to resist adding too much additional flour. Just keep on kneading, it will come together (I knead by hands)

Ingredient
260g fresh milk
1 egg
50g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
500g bread flour (and a bit more to knead)
2tsp Instant yeast
70g butter (unsalted) - at room temperature
1.5-2 tsp pandan paste (available from Asian store)

Method

1. Mix together all the ingredients (except for the pandan paste) in a bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined.

2. Divide the dough into two portions. Add the pandan paste into one portion, knead well floured surface until the dough is elastic and the color distribute evenly (around 10 mins). Use more flour if the dough is too sticky, but try not to add too much. Repeat with the other dough.

3. Put the dough in two separated bowl. Cover and let it ferment until doubled in size.

4. Divide each dough into 8 portions each. Cover and rest for 10 mins.

5. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease the normal loaf pan.

6. Put the the pieces of dough in alternate color layers (see pic).

7. Cover and let the dough rest until doubled in size (40-60 mins).

8. Bake in the preheated oven until done (around 30-40 mins). The bread is cooked through if there is a hollow sound when knocking at the bottom of the bread.

*

I'll submit this recipe to Yeastspotting.

If you like Asian bread, try this lovely Japanese-style chocolate multi-layer marble bread. It's good and looks impressive.

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Delicious Vietnam #2 – Announcement

I hope you all enjoyed the first edition of Delicious Vietnam. In case you’ve missed it, here is the recap. There are great recipes and food writing pieces to discover. The plus point? Everything is really healthy and fresh.

Delicious Vietnam #2, June 2010 edition is hosted by Ravenous Couple. The team behind this blog is Hong and Kim, who are “crazy about Vietnamese food”. A truthfully wonderful resource for any of us. (In other words, go and read their blog!)

To participate to Delicious Vietnam, it’s simple.

If you are new to Delicious Vietnam, here’s a summary of the event along side with some rules and recap of past edition.

You have until the second Sunday of June (US time) to post about anything related to Vietnamese cuisine – recipes, food writing, review or reflection.

In your post, please include the phrase “Delicious Vietnam” with the link to your host.

Please submit to your post by the deadline June 13th 2010, which is:
+) 12 noon, Monday, June 14th – Melbourne (Australia) time
+) 7 pm, Sunday, June 13th – Los Angeles time
+) 3 am, Monday, June 14th – London time
+) 9am, Monday, June 14th – Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city time
+) To convert the date and time to your part of the world, see here.

Send your entries to
ravenouscouple[at]gmail[dot]com

with Delicious Vietnam #2 in the subject with the following details:

• Your Name
• Your Blog Name/URL
• Your Post URL
• Your Location
• A photo (optional): 300px wide

Looking forward to next month round up!

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IIP – Dumplings! Recipe: pan-fried savoury 'sticky' dumplings

The word ‘dumplings’ brings back the memories of my uni days. It was fun and wild. I was living in a small but bright flat, sharing with two other girls. We hardly cooked at home and relied almost entirely on cheap takeaway food, the kind that I will not touch nowadays. (I didn’t really cook and learn how to bake until dating my husband. The power of love or what?)

Of course, there were days that we decided to put the kitchen into use. Normally, it was to impress someone special. Or sometimes, it was simply because we didn’t bother to go out, preferred to be in our PJs for the whole day. But the best occasion was when friends came over and fed us!

On one of such “best occasions”, I learned how to make these particular pan-fried dumplings from a Beijing girl, whose name I forgot (she was dating a friend of a friend, you know the normal story). The dough consists of only water and flour. Fillings? The usual suspects - meat, vegs and seasoning. The better Chinese cooks, according to that Beijing girl, would know how to pleat the dumplings properly. But hey, we were spoiled young girls who hardly knew any cooking skills. So no pleating for us (and the dumplings looked more like a pie than anything). After all, pretty food was only a bonus feature of a tasty meal.

I still make this kind of dumpling to this day. Lately, however, I have experimented with the dough a little by changing the flour ingredients. With the memory of my grandmother’s fried sticky rice “cake” (banh ran man) in mind, I opt to use a bit of glutinous rice in the dough. And to make the “skin” a bit lighter, a tiny bit of yeast is added.

I like this version no less than the original one. The final product is the cross between pan-fried dumplings and soft mochi bread. It is crispy outside, and soft-chewy at the same time. It’s also relatively easy to make, too. I’m thinking of substitute white flour with whole-wheat flour while keeping the glutinous rice four. Will it be a bit too westernised?

The dumplings (or bread/pies, whichever you choose to call them. They are known as “the dumpling bun thing” in our house) are on the heavy and rustic side. Better served as snack or breakfast with a cup of hot tea.

pan-fried savoury “sticky” dumplings

The dough recipe has been tested a few times so it’s good to use. As for the filling, I never follow a correct measurement. Lately, we have a vegetarian guest so I always do both meat and vegetarian versions. Use whatever you have!

Dough – for around 8-12 dumplings, depending on size

250g plain four, 50g sticky flour (aka glutinous/mochi/sweet flour), 1 tsp dried yeast, a pinch of salt, around 1 cup of warm water

Filling

If you like meat: 150g chicken fillet, 1 small carrot (peeled and grated), a few frozen water chestnut (defrosted), 1 small spring onion, a few drop of toasted sesame oil. Oil to fry. Salt + soy sauce + white pepper to taste.

Veg option: peas, corn, water chestnuts (defrosted). Soy sauce + pepper for seasoning.

Other: Oil to pan-fry

Method

Prepare the dough first: combine the flours, salt together with yeast. Gradually add in the warm water. You have to watch and feel the dough here. Use enough water so the dough just comes together. Knead briefly (the dough is elastic because of glutinous flour). Put in an oiled bowl, cover with damp towel. Let it rest about 40’-60’.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling: coarsely mince the chicken with water chestnut. Add in grated carrot, chopped spring onio, and seasoning. I like to stir-fry my fillings to get the seasoning right before wrapping. You can just marinade the meat mixture with seasoning and use it raw if preferred. Make sure your filling is cooled down before wrapping.

Wrapping: Divide the dough into 8-12 portions. Use a rolling pin, roll out the each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface. Make sure that the middle part is slightly thicker. Add in the filling, twist and put the seam side down. Repeat until you have finished the dough. Cover and set aside for 10 mins.

Frying: Heat up a non-stick frying pan and heat up 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Make sure the oil is hot, put the dumplings into the pan. Immediately lower the heat, cover the pan, and cook gently until the dumpling skin is golden (around 8-10 mins each side) and cooked through. (Be mindful if your filling is not pre-cooked).

Serve hot/warm with a dipping of chilli and soy sauce. Make it for parties or gathering, like poker nights. Enjoy!

**

This post is prepared for the IPP, hosted by a fellow Melbourne blog friend Penny of Jeroxie.

Very important part of this party is to be able to come together to celebrate the birthday of fellow food bloggers globally. Here is the list of the May babies:

• Mardi of ELTW big 40! What a milestone and you go GIRL
• Divina Pe of Sense & Serendipity – She will not be joining us this time as she is making a big move to a new job! Good luck and well wishes to her
• Shirley of Enriching your kid
• Pam of My Man’s Belly
• Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz

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Delicious Vietnam #1 – The round up

Rice paper is the star ingredient in this roundup. But we also have lots of grilled meat and a dessert, review and reflection on Vietnamese cuisine and restaurants! What a fabulous recap we have for the first edition of Delicious Vietnam!

Without further delay, let’s take a look at all the entries. For ease of navigation, I’ve separated entries into three categories: {Recipes} + {Review & Reflection} + {Surf & Spot}

{RECIPES}

Bo La Lot (Beef in Betel Leaf) by Cynthia from Kitchen Slave, Vancouver, BC Canada



Cynthia has done a great job making Bo La Lot, one of the most popular Vietnamese dishes in the West. In her words, “the lemongrass and curry powder gives an underlying fragrance” … “and the betel leaves lend an herbal and floral aroma to the meat.” The recipe is simple enough for everyone to try

Steamed vegetable rolls by Gattina from Kitchen Unplugged, Barcelona, Spain



Here is an unusual recipe using rice paper rolls! Instead of serving it fresh or deep-frying, Gattina chose to steam these beautiful rolls. This is such an excellent way to serve vegetables rolls when the weather gets colder.

Juicy rice paper pork rolls by Radha from The Dancing Kitchen, Hongkong



Another great use of rice paper rolls! Here, juicy meat patties, herbs and walnut are wrapped and steamed. The two entries have convinced me to attempt steaming my rice paper rolls next time!


Banh my thit (pork rolls) by Amy from Cookbook Maniac, Sydney, Australia



From the land of down under, Amy joins us with a fabulous dish – mini banh mi thit (pork rolls). The size is just right (so cute!). And the fillings of meat and sween-sour pickles are just perfect.

Nem Nuong (Vietnamese grilled pork skewer) by Yen from Food for Four, Sydney, Australia



The Vietnamese answer for BBQ! Yen from Food for four has managed to recreate these lovely skewers at home. And they are so versatile! Eat them with noodles, served with bread or used as fillings for rice paper rolls.

Vietnamese Chicken Cabbage Salad (Goi Ga Bap Cai) on Sesame Rice Cracker (Banh Trang Me) by TS and JS, Eating Club Vancouver, Canada



I can say so proudly that recipes for Delicious Vietnam are so healthy (and delicious!). Take a look at this refreshing chicken salad and you will understand. I really like the fact that TS and JS choose to serve their salad on rice cracker. Great idea!

Shaking beef (Bo Luc Lac) a` la ‘Slanted Door’ by Lauren Trinh from Besides Pho, California, USA



I have eaten a fair share of Bo Luc Lac (Shaking beef) but haven’t tried to make my own just yet. So I’m totally thrilled to see the recipe for this dish from Lauren. Instead of serving the 'shaking beef' with the traditional watercress salad and salt and pepper dip, Lauren served it on a bed of mache and a lovely vinaigrette. A great way to introduce Vietnamese food to even the most difficult eater (trust me, I know a few).

Mochi Dumpling in Ginger Sauce (Che Xoi Nuoc) by Hong & Kim, from Ravenous Couple, Los Angeles/ Arizona



Gorgeous entry from my partners in crime, Hong & Kim. (Oh, this is, by the way, the only dessert dish of the whole round up, so savour it people!)

While mochi dumplings in syrup is popular all over Asian countries, this version has the perfect balance of “sweet and savory flavors and textures”. The filling for a dessert dish has green onion in it! Strange? Indeed. But it’s equally delicious, too.

Smoked Duck Rice Papper Rolls by Penny from jeroxie (addictive & consuming), Melbourne, Australia



I think I have said it before, Vietnamese food is incredibly versatile. Keep your ingredients fresh and simple, it is easy to recreate a Viet dish with new ingredient. In this case, Penny has sone a fabulous job pairing smoked duck with rice paper rolls, salad and noodles. Love it!

Vietnamese grilled pork chops, Suong Nuong by Christine from Kits Chow, Vancouver, Canada



For those who are lucky enough to have summer coming, here is another great BBQ recipe for you! Tender and juicy pork chops, which is nicely caramelized. Served with simple sweet-sour salad, you can’t go wrong.

{REVIEW & REFLECTION}

“On Vietnamese Food” by Gretchen from Culinaria Libris, Greater London (Kent), England




Beautiful piece of writing reflecting Grechen’s thought on Vietnamese cuisine. I love her description “Here is how I would sum up Vietnamese food: it has depth like a George Gershwin rhapsody combined with intensity like a Gene Kelly dance number. In other words, Vietnamese food is a showstopper!” It really is! Included in Grechen’s post is her favourite Viet cookbook and local restaurants.

http://missadventureathome.blogspot.com/2010/05/nem-nuong-ninh-hoa-rosemead-ca.html



Review of a popular Viet restayrant in CA, USA. (There's a photo of empty plates of banh beo as the strongest proof!)

Dreaming of pho – Food writing by Tammy from La Vie Cevenole, France

An excellent piece of food writing on pho! So glad to see that pho has become comfort food not only for the Vietnamese but almost everyone. This piece of writing is a proof, and also the constant call for pho appeared in my tweets.

Vietnam on a plate – review of a cuisine tour by ms Baklover from Foodscray Food Blog, Melbourne, Australia



I recently met Lauren, a Viet food lover, who is lucky enough to love in the “Vietnamese hub” in Melbourne. To join us, she documents a food tour called “Vietnam on a plate”, run by Maribyrnong City Council. Do take a look at this entry! Lauren has taken the time and effort to take photos and write up information on a lot of Asian vegetables. (We are quite lucky in Australia, aren’t we?)

Thoughts on a basic home-cooked Vietnamese meal by Thy Thy from Cooking Practice, Italy



If you want to know what the Vietnamese eat at home (not the restaurant food), do read this entry. We love our vegs and rice! And yeap, the normal everyday meal almost always have rice, vegetable broth and a meat (or seafood) dish. I just love Thy Thy’s description “Somehow, since the day i left Vietnam, i preferred something much more simple, something that i know for sure my mom, my friends, and my loved ones in Vietnam are eating everyday in their daily meals.”

Vietnamese cookbooks review – Anh from A food lover’s journey, Melbourne, Australia

Cookbooks are essential part of learning about a cuisine. In recent years, there are a lot more excellent cookbooks on Vietnamese food. I did a mini review of my favourite Vietnamese cookbooks for those who are interested.

{SURF & SPOT}

Some interesting Viet food related links that I spotted.

Pikelet and Pie – food blog of an Aussie now living in Hanoi

Post on food experience in Vietnam by a food writer


{Delicious Vienam #2}

.. is hosted by Ravenous Couple! I’ll update the information once they post the details for next month Delicious Vietnam.

I hope you enjoy the first roundup, and will join the fun for the months to come!

(If you are interested in hosting this event, please do not hesitate to contact me!)

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Delicious Vietnam #1 - My favourite Vietnamese cookbooks.

{Sword Lake - Hanoi}

For my contribution to Delicious Vietnam – May edition, I have decided towrite about my favourite Viet cookbooks. For a cookbook addict like myself, surprisingly, I don’t own a lot of Viet cookbooks (in either English or Vietnamese). Only the best books stay on my shelf. And these serve as inspirations and ways of connecting myself to my root.

Up until 2006-2007, Viet cookbooks were so few and hard to understand. I guess before Asian cuisines become popular in the western world, describing native Vietnamese ingredients was not easy. Now, things have changed for the better! There are more ingredients available, and some excellent cookbooks on Vietnamese cuisine have been published.

Before proceeding, it’s worth noting that most of the following cookbooks are written in a way so that you can cook a good Vietnamese meal using readily available ingredients in the West. While some of the dishes may not be 100% authentic, they still capture the soul of the cuisine.

My major complaint is those books focus mostly on Southern Vietnamese cooking. The need for a more complete work on Central and Northern Viet cuisines is still there. And I’m patiently waiting.

It’s not easy to pick out which books are the best. But these are my personal favourites. You may spot the obvious Australian bias. After all, I live in the country!

In no particular order,

Into the Vietnamese Kitchen - Andrea Nguyen

I dare say this is a classic book on modern Vietnamese cuisine. A milestone and a must have. Author Andrea Nguyen put much care into writing the recipes and techniques, which is fantastic for novice home cooks. Recipes include those popular ones at Viet restaurants and other home-cooking favourites.

The Songs of Sapa - Luke Nguyen

Adorable and gorgeous! Sapa is a fantastic travel-cookbook, which detail Luke Nguyen’s experience in his home country. Compared to other Viet cookbooks, Sapa is more adventurous. The recipes are those Luke learned during his journey, so they carry a bit more authentic and local sense. I haven’t tried any recipes in the book, but the photos alone make me really homesick.

(My MIL said that Luke Nguyen was the most handsome young chef in Oz TV. Ha! Asian bias!! You, go, mom!)


Secrets of the Red Lantern – Pauline Nguyen, Luke Nguyen, Mark Jensen

(The name sounds more like a novel than a cookbook, doesn't it?)

An interesting read, accompanied by fantastic and solid recipes for modern Viet cooking.

I love Red Lantern restaurant. I do. To this date, it remains one of the best Viet restaurants in Australia. It is not pretentious but focuses on the vibrancy of South Vietnamese cooking – fresh, lots of herbs and undeniably sweet.

This book, for me, is more than a cookbook though. It tells the story of Australian immigrant family, from the first generation arrived after the war until now. I enjoy the book immensely since it gives me much deeper understanding about the life and struggle of those Vietnamese living overseas. Another point of view, and I do feel moved.

Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table – Mai Pham

Quite a basic book, full of familiar recipes. Published before ‘Into the Vietnamese kitchen’. No glossy photos, just plain text and illustration. The explanation was inadequate at points, but the recipes were good and solid.

This is my first ever Vietnamese cookbook in English and I love it still. The chicken pho is a must-try.

Wild, Wild East - Bobby Chinn

Bobby Chin is quite a character, isn’t he? A highly respected chef in Asia, true. But for some reasons his restaurant is not very popular among the local in Hanoi. (Oh, because it's expensive. First reason!)

Regardless, I LOVE his cookbook (and it’s not because he shares the same name as my husband). Of all the cookbooks I have seen, this cookbook has the most Northern influenced dishes, the kind of food I grew up with. There are some lovely Hanoi-style recipes there with some local knowledge. What’s more? Some personal Bobby Chinn’s style twist on the dishes, which I totally approve. The photography is stunning, too.

Authentic Recipes from Vietnam - Trieu Thi Choi and others

A few years back Trieu Thi Choi (with Trieu being the surname) was like the Martha Stewart of Vietnam. She wrote a lot of books on cooking, sewing and flowers arrangement (Basically, how to be a Vietamese domestic goddess?) I don’t like her recipes much since they fall into the ‘formal’ Viet cooking category, which is heavily Chinese-influenced.

That’s said, this cookbook is a gem. There are a lot of good and authentic recipes. Not much insight and detailed explanation to the cuisine, ingredients and techniques though. It is more suitable for those who are already familiar with South East Asian cooking. Side note: the beef stew recipe is a winner!

Honourable mention Vietnam chapter in “Fire” by Christine Manfield

The secret is out. I adore Ms. Manfield’s cookbooks. I have all of her books, back to the Paramount era. Every single one of them is fascinating to read.

Anyway, Fire is also a travel-cookbook with C. Manfield’s personal touch. She displays an insightful knowledge about Vietnamese cuisines, with some advice on travelling and where to eat. The recipes are no where near traditional. Rather, these dishes are C. Manfield’s interpretation of Vietnamese flavours. C. Manfield's book requires some basic cooking knowledge and the recipes are more complicated.

***

I hope this small Viet cookbook review will be of help for those who loves this cuisine. There are a few days left for Delicious Vietnam (deadline is May 10th). So join us if to celebrate the love for Viet cuisine!

Information about Delicious Vietnam - May edition can be found here.

Note: Photos of cookbooks are from fishpond.com.au

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