Some Changes

In an effort to consolidate our blogs we started posting our recipes on our lifestyle blog The Royal Excursion. Hope you continue to check in to see what we are cooking! Lately we have made homemade granola, an open face tahini and veggie sandwich and baked split banana.

The Royals

Healthy Low-Fat Cornbread

We have been experimenting with cornbread for a while, trying to create a healthy recipe (butter free and not overly sweet). After many trials we think we found it.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of whole wheat flour
3 tbs. brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk (you can use soy milk or regular milk)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Lightly grease a 9 inch round spring-form pan.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. It's ready when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Pasteles de Carne, Salonika Meat-Filled Pies

The recipe for these meat pies comes from the traditions of the Sefaradi Jewish community in Salonika, Greece. Our job last weekend required us to plan a Shabbat meal for 16 teenagers and we were sure these pies would be a success. Like many other recipes we've been trying lately this one was adapted from the excellent Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden. The recipe requires some work, but is well worth the effort.

Ingredients (makes 15-18 pieces):

(for the dough)

125ml sunflower oil

125ml warm water

1/2 tsp salt

about 350 gr flour

(for the filling)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 tbs sunflower oil

250 gr minced beef

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper

1 hard boil egg, chopped

1 egg lightly beaten

4 tbs finely chopped parsley

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

The Recipe

The dough 

To make the dough mix the oil, water and salt with a fork in a large bowl. Gradually add the flour, first mixing with a fork and then continuing with your hands. Continue to add flour until the dough feels soft and springy, like the lobe of your ear. Leave aside covered in saran-wrap at room temperature (do not refridgerate).

The filling

To make the filling fry the onion in oil until golden. Add the beef, salt and plenty of pepper. Stir occasionally until the meat changes color. Mix in the sugar, cumin and cinnamon. Also add the pine nuts if you choose to use them. Add about 4 tbs water and cook for 5 minutes more. Let it cool, then add the rest of the ingredients.

To make the pies

Take lumps of dough the size of a small egg and shape into a ball. Hollow them out with your fingers and shape into little pots with straight sides. Make the walls as thin as possible. Fill with the mixture. Cover each pie with a flat lid made by flattening a tiny ball of dough. Pinch the edges together all around to seal the pies.

Arrange on trays and brush the top with a beaten egg. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes or until golden. 

Bitter Lemon Jam

A few weeks ago, we came back from a weekend brunch at E+D's overloaded with lemons straight from their lemon tree.

We sat staring at a huge pile of lemons and decided: we will make a lemon jam experiment. We asked ourselves: lemon jam?
The result turned out to be a bit bitter since we threw the lemons in with the peel intact. It goes very well with meat or on bread with sesame paste.

We ended up making a very large amount of jam (since we dragged home so many), storing it in glass bottles in the refrigerator.
This recipe should be enough for one jar.

Ingredients:
1 cup lemons, cut into four and then sliced, with the peel
1 parsimon, cut into four and then sliced
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cloves
3 tbs white wine

The Recipe:
Place the ingredients in a pot on medium heat, stirring often.
When it starts to thicken remove from heat and pour into a sterilized jar. Close well, and store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

In order to store the jam for a longer period of time we followed Dorie Greenspan's advice on canning.
Another great canning information source is Saving the Season.

Olive Oil Muffins

We tried a recipe from "The Smitten Kitchen", a food blog with spectacular pictures we follow. It's an easy recipe which turns out good and simple.

 

Khao Mun Kai, Chinese Chicken

Khao Mun Kai is one of our favorite lunch options in Bangkok, so learning how to make it (and discovering how easy it is) was a big treat. Simply a boiled chicken, it is served with steamed rice and a small bowl of chicken broth. But what makes the whole dish worth your search for the stall is the extraordinary sweet - sour - salty - spicy sauce. Yikes.

To make the chicken and rice just boil 2 cups of water with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. sugar. When the water starts to boil add one chicken breast with skin and let cook for 15 minutes. That's it. The chicken is done, but leave the remaining stock as it will be used for the rice.

For the rice, first saute 1 tbsp. chopped garlic in 1 tbsp. vegetable oil. Then add 1 cup of long grain rice mixed with 1/4 cup of sticky round rice and continue to saute for a few more minutes. Add 1 1/4 cups of the remaining chicken stock and cover on low heat for 15 minutes or until done.

The broth is minimal. Two coriander roots, a garlic head, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. of white pepper and chicken neck and bones boiled in 3 cups of water for 15 minutes over low heat. Make sure to skim the fat off the top while cooking.

And now for the sauce:
In a wok over low heat, pour 3 tsp. of sweet black soy sauce, 4 tsp. white vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp. soy bean paste. Mash the soybeans while stirring. When it comes to a boil, remove from the wok and into a small bowl.
Add 2 birds eye chilies (one red and one green), 1 clove of garlic and 1 1/2 tbsp. ginger, all finely chopped. Then add 1 tbsp. of lime juice and mix. Add more ginger and sugar to taste.

To serve the dish cut thin slices of chicken breast and spread them a little with the knife.


Pour the sauce and serve with the rice, sliced cucumber and chicken broth.

The Shop, Phnom Penh

Our first choice for brunch in the capital, The Shop serves good sandwiches and coffees to a hungry expat clientele.


The Shop Bakery. 39, 240 street, Phnom Penh
tel: 023 88 60 12/023 986 964

Bread, Kashgar

Every place in Central Asia has its unique form of Nan, simple, round flat bread. It's a staple that made its way even to Western China. The dough (a mixture of flour and water) is pounded into a flat disc and stamped with a pattern. It is then baked on the inner walls of an outdoor tandur oven. The Kashgar nan is particularly large and flat making it crispy in the middle.


A bread stall in Kashgar

Bread stamps.


Another treat from the tandur is a baked roll, bagel shaped filled with a mutton-onion mixture. This one is sprinkled with white and black sesame seeds.