MENU I (which I plan to cook this coming Wednesday)

beef & jícama rolls
shrimp toasts

asparagus and crab soup

rabbit simmered with ginger and caramel sauce
crunchy pickled bean sprout salad
jasmine rice

lemongrass ice cream



MENU II (which I plan to cook sometime in late May, when wild salmon is
available)

egg, shrimp, and scallion pancakes
salad rolls

squash soup[1]

wild salmon and galangal simmered in caramel sauce
buckwheat noodles with chives and perilla/mint/cilantro/basil[1]
spinach or chard[1] stir-fried with shrimp sauce and lime

almond jelly with fresh fruit[1]

[1] The actual ingredient used will depend on what's in my CSA box.

Bob

On Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:48:28 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>lemongrass ice cream
>
Recipe, please.
>
>
>MENU II (which I plan to cook sometime in late May, when wild salmon is
>available)
>
>egg, shrimp, and scallion pancakes
>salad rolls
>
>squash soup[1]
>
>wild salmon and galangal simmered in caramel sauce
>buckwheat noodles with chives and perilla/mint/cilantro/basil[1]
>spinach or chard[1] stir-fried with shrimp sauce and lime
>
If you have a yard where you live, perilla/shiso is a hoot to grow. I
planted some a few years ago at the edge of our yard and let it go to
seed at summer's end. Next spring we had a gazillion shiso volunteers
out back. Mowing shiso is a fragrant affair.

Nice menus, BTW.
--

modom

modom wrote:

>>lemongrass ice cream
>>
> Recipe, please.

Adapted from _Into the Vietnamese Kitchen_, by Andrea Nguyen

3 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped lemongrass (3 to 4 stalks)
3/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1. In a saucepan, combine 2 cups of the milk and the lemongrass and bring to
a simmer over medium heat. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep for 30
minutes.

2. In a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, whisk together the
sugar and the cornstarch. Add the remaining 1 cup milk a tablespoon at a
time, whisking until you have a smooth paste. Once you're at the "paste"
stage, you can add the rest of that cup of milk and whisk to combine.[1]
Position a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl and pour in the lemongrass-infused
milk, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid and flavor as
possible. Discard the remaining lemongrass solids.

3. Rinse and dry the saucepan, pour in the milk mixture, and place over
medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden
spoon, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of the
spoon; it should leave a trail that does not fill in.

4. Strain the liquid (which I guess would be a lemongrass pudding at this
stage) through the sieve one more time to remove any remaining lemongrass
bits or cornstarch lumps, then set aside to cool completely. Cover with
plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours to chill well and develop
the flavor.

5. Freeze the mixture in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's
instructions.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups, which the author equates to six servings. Let the
ice cream stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes to soften before
serving (or place in the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving).

[1] This is a departure from the recipe in the book where it just tells you
to whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and milk together. My experience has been
that cornstarch is prone to clumping if you do it like that, and making a
slurry as described is a much more foolproof method.


> If you have a yard where you live, perilla/shiso is a hoot to grow. I
> planted some a few years ago at the edge of our yard and let it go to
> seed at summer's end. Next spring we had a gazillion shiso volunteers
> out back. Mowing shiso is a fragrant affair.

I *do* have a side yard which could use ground cover like that. I'll give it
a try!


> Nice menus, BTW.

Thanks!

Bob

I wrote:

> beef & jícama rolls
> shrimp toasts
>
> asparagus and crab soup
>
> rabbit simmered with ginger and caramel sauce
> crunchy pickled bean sprout salad
> jasmine rice
>
> lemongrass ice cream

Neither Lin nor I felt much like eating, since we'd just had our dog
euthanized. So we just had the soup, the rabbit, and the rice. As I
mentioned in another thread, the rabbit was excellent, and I'm definitely
going to try that method again. We've got plenty of leftover rabbit and
rice, and I have yet to make the shrimp toasts or the beef & jícama rolls,
so there's another Vietnamese meal in the offing sometime soon. I had a
couple bites of the lemongrass ice cream today, and thought it was very
good.

I'm into my work-week now, so I won't have much time for cooking until next
Sunday. But tomorrow night I've asked Lin to assemble a sandwich with some
of the leftover rabbit and the pickled bean sprouts on a demi-baguette for
me to bring in to work for lunch. (Our local Costco has demi-baguettes and
ciabatta sandwich rolls from the La Brea Bakery, and I just happened to pick
some up last weekend.)

Bob