Fun With Your Food

Admittedly, I am not a great thai chef. I usually am unimpressed with the curries I’ve prepared at home; which is why I go out to eat thai quite often. Although this is not a homemade blend of spices, it tastes comparable to restaurant quality. YAY

You have no idea how excited I was to taste this and think “hmmm NOT BAD”. Then I proceeded to dance around the house a bit giving myself high-fives for my accomplishment haha.


I used a canned Masaman curry paste that contained no shrimp paste or fish sauce and I decided to mix it up with squash instead of potatoes. Squash is sweeter and better for me so it seemed like a win-win addition to the dish.

I roasted it in the oven for about 30 mins.

Then I added it to my onions, carrots, curry paste and coconut milk to simmer and soak up all the flavors. What made this dish better than the normal curries I make? I think I was the fact that I grated one clove of garlic and a teaspoon of fresh galanga into the sauce. Those two ingredients revitalized the canned paste. To add more spice I shook a dash of red pepper flakes in as well.

The result was AMAZING. I repeat- YAY. It’s good to know I can make ONE type of curry at home now and enjoy it.

I’ve officially found a Thai place! Thank goodness, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand life without thai haha. Unfortunately, I was so excited about eating the Thai that I completely forgot to take pictures. It looks like I’ll be doing an official review later.

Other happenings this weekend included:



Going to MT Market! Back home in OC, CA I was about 5 miles away from Little Saigon and I very much took advantage of that fact. Foods like coconut milk are always cheaper there and I would go about 1-3 times a month to stock my pantry and get new ideas for meals. MT Market reminds me so much of home. It is a bit further than I’m used to traveling 15 miles as opposed to my normal 5miles but definitely worth the trek.

I bought an array of fake meats, snacks and veggies. Although I was out of the house for a large portion of the day I felt as if I had been inside far too much and I needed some outside time. Cara, Mike, and I packed up the pups and went to the Greenbelt for a hike. It was beautiful and exactly want I needed.

Food was the thing I could think of the last ¼ of the hike though. I planned a meal out in my head using some of the goodies from my supermarket trip.

Thai polenta with vegan shrimp.

I really wanted to try my vegan shrimp. Basically, I made polenta in veggie broth with some galanga root, cilantro and a handful of my new vegan shrimp. I enjoyed it however, I always feel like I can improve on my first attempt at a dish.

Improvements: citrus or some other acidic ingredient would give more depth to this dish.

Has anyone ever cooked with vegan seafood? It’s new to me and I think it will be something I’ll eat on those rare occasions I still crave fish.

Teddy

Thai and Teddy go together like beans and rice, almond butter b and jelly… Quite some time ago I started my quest for Thai in Austin by trying out the place closet to me- Madam Mam’s. I haven’t heard fantastic reviews to start with but it’s close and I’m lazy.

Most importantly, if you’re vegan or vegetarian you need to talk to them about what has fish sauce and what doesn’t. As with most Thai places, fish sauce is in everything. This isn’t a negative in my book simply because authentic Thai requires those ingredients. It only becomes a problem when you can’t get them removed from your meal.

Moving on, I ordered Panag curry. I don’t want to stay that it was the worst I’ve had but panag curry isn’t usually this soup-like and it lacked the veggies and mounds of basil that I love. The fried tofu was exactly like the pre-fried tofu I could buy in little Saigon back home and I mean exactly. It made me wonder if they get it shipped to the restaurant because they probably don’t make it there. The soup-like curry also tasted too close too the canned version of panag curry I would buy at little Saigon. It was vegan canned curry but it was less than stellar.

Overall, I left feeling like, quite literally, I could have made this myself, which is never how I want to feel leaving a Thai place because I do not consider myself a great Thai chef at all. I’m hoping to try another Thai place soon; one that is rated much better than Madam Mam’s and has been recommended by at least 2 Austinites that I’ve met.

Austin City Limits (ACL) is taking over downtown this weekend. 100’s of fantastic artists will be a stones throw away from my door and I can’t see any of them. Wah wah wah. Haha. Hopefully I can stand in the park and hear some of my favorite bands since I could not afford the tickets this year.

Have a good weekend!
Teddy

Nope I didn’t make this. It’s actually leftovers from the Clay Pit. Last Sunday there was a Vegan Rock Austin! meet up there and I decided to join in on the delicious fun. I have to say both the food and the company were great.
Since I’m still getting accustomed to Austin life I’ve been trying to go out more in hopes of meeting more people. It seems like these guys get together pretty often and it’s always food centric- YAY.

If you’re a fan of Indian food and are vegan I recommend the Clay Pit because it’s vegan items are clearly marked on the menu. I’m not a connoisseur of Indian cuisine by any means but the Clay Pits menu was impressive and there were so many items to choose from it was hard for me to decide. It’s probably a give-in that I found the food to be amazing but I must warn if you are adverse to spicy, order MILD every time.
The price isn’t outrageous (about 10 bucks a plate) and the curries are served in little individual pots which I find adorable.
I hope to go back and get pictures of the little adorable pots!

This weekend is the Austin City Limits festival which I am sad to report I will not be able to attend (200 bucks for tix and I just cannot afford that right now). I’m hoping I may be able to see some nice super secret shows though. Not sure how likely that is. Wish me luck in finding them!

Teddy

Last week I mentioned that I wanted to try new cooking grains and I bought some corn grits (aka polenta). Don’t get me wrong I’ve cooked and eaten polenta quite a few times before but that was usually with prepackaged/flavored ready-to-eat polentas, never made from scratch. To add flavor the to the polenta, I boiled it in veggie broth and dried shitake mushrooms. A meal without a little green in it seems wrong to me so I sautéed some onion and zucchini and added it at the end.



The dish turned out appetizing and I think it would be even better with some fresh herbs. Considering a bought a mini tub of corn grits, I’ll have some time to experience. Lentils were filled me up better though; I wasn’t hungry for hours, which is odd for me.

Last night was the LAST of my desserts class. I’m pretty sad that it’s over and I didn’t realize it was the last class until walking to my car. We made healing desserts and the entire room smelled of autumn. I think I’ll make some poached pears this week. I’ve made them before and they are just naturally decadent.

Teddy

What a fantastic weekend!
Friday night was very low profile, just watching movies and hanging out with. Saturday I was able to go to my first ever longhorns game (and for FREE no less)! After the game we hit the streets in our burnt orange attire. Quite a few people honked upon seeing us or asked up how the game went. With a score of 52 UT -10 Rice there was plenty to celebrate; although I will admit that my favorite 2 parts of the game were 1) the Led Zeppelin half time show 2) finally getting the guy in front of us turn around and have high 5 fest 2008. Perhaps you had to be there to understand how great those were.

Oh yea FOOD. I’ll admit I had some game day food and my stomach did NOT appreciate it but when in Rome…


In our last desserts class week we made some almond butter and fruit preserve bars (an delish homage to the pb&j). Upon seeing the recipe I knew I had to give them a go asap. Knowing me, I can’t follow the recipe to the T and I am of the firm belief that everything is made better when it is mini. Thus these muffin-sized AB&J bars are born.

The only notes I have for improvement on these is to reduce the cooking time a little because they came out a little firmer than I wanted, though no one else seemed to mind that. I am my worst critic but in the best way possible. haha

Oh if anyone ever wants recipes feel free to email me!

Teddy

It’s occurred to me that I never posted about desserts and it’s now Friday. Unacceptable.
We must have made a million and 3 desserts that night too. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to upload all the pictures. There’s obviously one photo to wet your food porn whistle

Cranberry Scones

It’s what I’m eating for breakfast right now actually. I’ve already started to experiment with the recipes that we were given. However it’s become painfully clear that perhaps baking is not my forte.
Not that what I’ve made hasn’t turned out well. Simply put, I cannot strictly follow a recipe. Even my own recipes are not strictly measured but just eye balled until it “looks right”. Either this makes me a fantastically insightful baker or I just get really lucky haha. I’m 99% I’ve been pretty lucky in the baking arena but I think I have some inherent cooking ability (and where that comes from I’m not sure. Sorry mom, you know you never considered yourself a cook! Haha)

I don’t have much planned for the weekend. There is a vegan meet up on Sunday that I’m hoping to go to, there are a bunch of movies dying to be watched and I’ll be cooking it up as well. Perhaps I’ll make some new “game day” snacks- UT is playing at home Saturday which means the whole city stops and watches. I’ll be watching as well. Sport watching and deliciously terrible food goes hand in hand right??

Teddy

I can’t say I’ve had many lentils in my life, which is odd because I know they’re great for you and I’m vegetarian. I decided that needed to change. I bought a mess of red lentils last time I was at the store. Seeing as I’ve never really cooked with lentils before, I kind of just winged it. There are base flavors that you can’t go wrong with for me.

Curry, coconut milk, cilantro=something edible.

Red lentil curry made with coconut milk and Punjab curry.

Although they tasted alright I may need some help on this one.
What the best way to cook lentils?

I have plenty of time to experiment with this one and I’m pretty excited. Oh, and I have a new motivation to get my own place. It’s odd, I woke up at 3am last night and had a strong urge to start cooking. That would be rude seeing as I live with 2 other people. They would definitely both be awakened by my cooking but, once I have my own place random 3am cook-fests may ensue!! haha
The next culinary adventure will be more new grains.

Teddy

Ok. I am tired. Wait no, I’m not tired I’m T- I- R- E- D.

Healthier desserts went a little late last night, then I came home and shared my goodies from class, then I got to watching some tv to turn off my brain/relax and before I know it, it’s 2am. Now it feels like the wee hours of the morning and I am actually drinking coffee today.

Normally coffee is a no-go for me because I hate the crash later in the day but today a cafinated beverage is required to get me even half way through the day! Good thing there’s no class tonight.

Moving on, last Saturday the Natural Epicurean had a potluck/tea party. I was in a tizzy trying to figure out what to bring. Thank god for google eh?


These sweet treats consist of toasted brown rice, sesame seeds, sun flower seeds, oats and brown rice syrup. At first I was sure they turned out terribly. While making the recipe I thought there was entirely too much brown rice syrup and I cut the amount by half a cup. There was still WAY too much syrup in my opinion but I kind of salvaged them by rolling them in coarsely chopped almonds.

Everyone seemed to like them- YAY! People were asking what was in them and for the recipe- which I was hesitant to give because it definitely needs to be reworked.

I forgot to take pictures until practically everyone left. All the food had been devoured at this point but that just means it was a very successful potluck.

Towards the end of the party Christina came and brought 2 delicious desserts.

Her love bites- aka raspberry chocolate heaven

Coconut cream mini cakes(I don’t know the name)

Did I mention this was my first fully vegan potluck? I know that they have them in the community here too. I’ll probably be attending one of those. I’d love to make some new acquaintances that way

Alright, what I really need to be focusing on right now is my half caf coffee (does anyone else think of Will Ferrell in Kicking and Screaming when they hear “half caf”? I’ve never even seen the movie but I remember that scene from the commercials. Odd how I remember the most random things)

See you all soon!

Teddy

Since we keep talking about brown rice in school I’ve been craving it like crazy. My new favorite flavor combination is brown rice and some sort of toasted nut topped with green onion and nori. The saltiness that nori provides is amazing.

Also, I’ve been soaking my brown rice too and it’s made a huge difference. The rice is much more soft and fluffy. I always wash my grains but soaking is them overnight is a new thing for me.

What’s your favorite way to eat brown rice?

Teddy

P.S. This weekend the Natural Epicurean had a tea party/potluck. It was a great time complete with even better food. I had brown rice in a new way! I’ll be posting pictures from that tomorrow.