Instructional Video for Clay Pot Fish

For her blog, Chopstick Cinema, my friend and colleague Celeste Heiter made this terrific instructional video for cooking my clay pot fish recipe from Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam. The recipe and further information can be found at the bottom of this post here at Serve It Forth---or in Communion!

To read more about the book (including a description, reviews and another recipes), click here go to my website.

Instructional Video for Clay Pot Fish

I was so thrilled when my friend and colleague, Celeste Heiter (editor of To Japan With Love and author of The Sushi Book and more) told me that she had made an instructional video for my clay pot fish recipe from Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam.

(photograph by Julie Fay Ashborn)

While traveling and learning to cook for the book, my sister and I made this dish three times: in Nha Trang, in Dalat, and in Saigon. Based on all three experiences, I came up with this recipe, which we have served in intimate dinner party settings as well as at a party for twenty-five foodies and winemakers. Every time it was a hit!

Celeste’s video is clear and simple, and makes this recipe for clay pot fish accessible for American kitchens. If you don’t have a clay pot, use a heavy-bottom saucepan. Celeste also includes a link to the recipe in her blog post. Check it out here, and give it a try.

The recipe is also given at this Serve It Forth blog post:

SERVE IT FORTH: INDEX OF RECIPES

Cambodia and North India Join the To Asia With Love Guidebook Series

I just learned that To Cambodia With Love and To North India With Love have hit American shores. Very exciting! This brings the To Asia With Love guidebook series up to five volumes---Vietnam, Myanmar, Japan, Cambodia, and North India.

I've posted excerpts from the Cambodia and North India books at ThingsAsian.com. For foodies, every volume in the To Asia With Love series has a chapter on unique culinary experiences, and each set of excerpts on ThingsAsian.com includes a few tantalizing essays to give you a taste of the recommendations each book contains. Great for armchair reading! Great for holiday giving!

Banana Flower Salad with the BrookeWorms Book Club

Last week I had the privilege of attending my first book club discussion for Communion. My mom’s book club, The SaddleBrooke BrookeWorms, gathered at my parents' home in the SaddleBrooke community in Tucson, to talk about Communion, make fresh spring rolls, and nibble on a few Vietnamese dishes.

In writing Communion, my hope was to start a conversation not only about Vietnam, but about how we eat reflects who we are as individuals and as communities. Being able to have that conversation with a group of smart, interesting women was the best part of the night. It was so much fun to hear the comments and answer questions about everything from Communism to font size. I was most struck by how much everyone enjoyed reading about my relationship with my sister, who took the book’s culinary journey with me, as well as all the photos. While Communion is about Vietnam, it cannot help but be personal, because of my love for the country and because of the meaning food has for me—I associate eating with the best times spent with my parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

The BrookeWorms

After the talk, we got down to business in the kitchen. It was clear that most of these women are cooking pros, since there were a lot of perfect first-time spring rolls. (After years of practice, mine are still inconsistent and often floppy!) Ingredients for the night were purchased at Lee Lee Market in Tucson, an incredible supermarket that even had banana flowers. Except for Thai basil, which the store was out of, I found everything needed for lemongrass chicken, spring rolls, and banana flower salad.

Making spring rolls

As requested, the name of the sauce everyone enjoyed is “Mae Ploy sweet chilli sauce.” The ingredients that went into our spring rolls were rice paper, rice sticks (vermicelli), red bell peppers, shitake mushrooms, shrimp, mint, a Vietnamese cinnamon-flavored herb whose name I can’t remember, and baked tofu. Since I left the cookbook with the lemongrass chicken recipe at my mom’s house, I can’t share that yet (but will soon, I promise). In the meantime, I’m posting the recipe for banana flower salad.

But before I do … a thousand thanks to my mom for shopping, prepping, hosting, and bragging. To Ann, Dee, Dot, Judy D., Judy H., Marilyn, Marsha, Nancy, Pat, and Sue for not only supporting Communion, but for reading it so thoughtfully. To special guests Marilyn, Sharla, Paula, and Gail for adding to the discussion. And to Bette, the editor of the SaddleBag Notes, who will be writing about the night and Communion for the newspaper. Lastly, to illustrate what a lovely group this is, book club member Elizabeth, who was out of town, called the next day to tell me how much she enjoyed the book. This is exactly the kind of readership I hoped Communion would find.

Julie’s Banana Flower Salad

Serving: 4 as a side or 2 as a main dish for lunch.

Salad ingredients:- 2 banana flowers, thinly sliced (see directions)
- 2 tbsp. peanut oil
- Scant 1/4 cup shallot, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh Thai basil, coarsely chopped
- 3 tbsp. lime juice + 1 lime for the bowl of water
- Large bowl of room temperature water

Dressing ingredients:

- 3 tbsp. lime juice
- 2 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 red Thai chili, chopped
- 2 tsp. fish sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet. Sauté the shallots until golden brown. Leave them in the oil, and set aside to cool.

2. Squeeze fresh lime juice into the bowl of water. This will be used to prevent the banana flower slices from turning brown.

3. Peel back the dark purple layers of the banana flower until you reach layers with just a hint of purple. Using a mandoline, slice the banana flower into thin rings, beginning at the point and slicing about three-quarters of the way down. The rings will look similar to onion rings. Immediately soak the rings in the lime water until ready to use. Set aside.

4. Once the oil is cool, mix in half of the mint leaves and half of the Thai basil with the sautéed shallots.

5. Mix the dressing ingredients in a separate bowl. Heat lovers will want to add more chili.

6. When you slice the banana flower, you will end up with small bits from the center of the flower. Strain these out using a spoon. Don’t worry if you don’t get all of them. Remove the banana flower from the water, and combine with the shallot/mint/basil mixture, chopped peanuts, and remainder of the fresh mint and basil.

7. Toss in the dressing, and serve.

SERVE IT FORTH: INDEX OF RECIPES

Honey Oat Muffins

Finishing my novel. Getting into the swing of my new (old) job as the hotel editor at Gayot.com. With the hours of each day being consumed at the speed of light, there’s not much in the way of creative cooking going on around here. Instead I’m relying on old favorites: turkey soup, chicken artichoke soup, the black bean enchiladas that became a staple in my culinary repertoire more than twenty years ago (recipe to come soon), and pork chops with red onion marmalade. (I’ve also been relaxing at night by making applesauce for my mom and dad). But I did decide to start making muffins every Sunday, so that I can have an easy breakfast food to nibble on throughout the week.

My first attempt was honey oat muffins. They’re good as is, (the first batch I made at my sister's house quickly disappeared), but I want to play around next time I make them. I will 1) add more cinnamon, 2) use only whole wheat flour instead of white, 3) exchange some of that whole wheat flour for bran, and 4) trade out a little more of that whole wheat flour for more oatmeal—I like my muffins with grit to them.

(Photo: Julie Fay Ashborn)

 
White House Honey Oat Muffins
from Food & Wine

Makes: 12 muffins

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup wheat or oat bran
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.

2. In a large bowl, mix the oats with the whole-wheat flour, bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, coriander and salt.

3. In another bowl, whisk the honey with the buttermilk, canola oil and eggs. Pour the honey mixture into the dry ingredients; mix just until combined.

4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 18 minutes, until they're golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

5. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SERVE IT FORTH: INDEX OF RECIPES