Photos on Fine Fettle Kettle are originals taken by Miriam Latour and under copyright protection.
Recipes are the creation of Miriam Latour, unless otherwise indicated.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Adara's Pad Thai


My Daughter worked for the summer in Thailand in a refugee orphanage for ISV. While she was there she took a cooking class with Asian Scenic Thai Cooking School in Chiang Mai. I am the one who was privileged to eat the dish in the photo... and it was fabulous! Absolutely delicious.

For each serving:
2 tbs cooking oil
5 chunky pieces chopped garlic
several pieces tofu
several pieces sliced chicken breast
1 egg
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
dry rice noodles
1 cup chicken broth
chopped chives (1 inch)
bean sprouts
chopped roasted peanuts
chili powder





You want to prepare and lay out the ingredients in the portions you are going to use. Working quickly, add oil to the wok, then add garlic, chicken & tofu, and cook, stirring, for a few seconds until chicken is almost cooked through. Pour in the egg and scramble. Sprinkle in the sugar. Add the sauces and then the noodles, covering with the chicken broth. Allow the broth to be absorbed by the noodles until noodles are tender. Finally add the bean sprouts and chives, cooking for only a few more seconds. Serve immediately, topped with peanuts and chili powder to taste.







Adara at the Asian Scenic Thai Cooking School in Chiang Mai:

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Whole Wheat Crackers


I'm convinced that I should have been baking crackers all my life. These are so delicious with cheese or alone, and made of all natural ingredients without the additives in store-bought crackers. If you want, you can sprinkle them with course salt before baking, but they taste just fine the way they are.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tblsp Molasses
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg

Mix the salt with the flour. In a another bowl, combine the milk, molasses and oil. Combine wet and dry ingredients until the dough forms a ball. Kneads the dough on a floured surface until it feels soft, but not sticky. Don't overwork the dough.

Line two baking pans with baking parchment or a silicone baking pad. Divide the dough into three pieces and form each into a ball. Roll out each ball separately, using a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick. If the dough has not been overworked, this is very easy. If the dough is too elastic, allow it to sit for 15 minutes and come back and try again. (An old bread dough trick)

Make an egg wash with egg. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash. Cut the dough into squares and place on prepared pans. Bake at 350ºF for about 20 - 25 minutes until browned. Allow them to cool (they will become more crispy as they cool).




















Sunday, August 9, 2009

Dave's Indian Rogan Josh


Dave does a bang-up job adapting Indian dishes and playing with Indian spices. This is a traditional Indian lamb dish with a bit of added flare by Dave. In other words, it's Dave's own recipe and my vote is: delicious.

2 cups plain yogurt
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 cup cashews
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2 onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 Tblsp olive oil
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2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Kashmiri pepper
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1 lb of cut up chunks of leg of lamb
20 oz tomatoes, diced
chopped cilantro


Blend yogurt, cornstarch and cashews in food processor and set aside. (Cashews are not traditionally in Rogan Josh, but Dave had a hankering for them anyway!)

In food processor, blend the onions, garlic and ginger. Add this mixture to olive oil in a frying pan and brown over medium-high heat. Add the next six ingredients (spices & salt) and continue frying for 3 -5 minutes. Add lamb and cook until browned. Add tomatoes. Quickly add the yogurt mixture before the tomatoes get too hot! This will keep the yogurt from curdling. Once it is mixed and smooth, bring it to a boil. Cover with a lid, turn heat to low and allow to simmer for 2 hours or until lamb is tender. You may want to uncover for the last 15 minutes to thicken sauce.

Turn off heat and add cilantro to taste. Serve with rice. Use more cilantro as garnish.











Sunday, August 2, 2009

Whole Wheat Walnut Bread


A common event in the evenings at our house is the fabulous olfactory pleasure of Dave's bread baking. He makes all types of bread from sweet breads to multi-grain yeast breads. He highly recommends using King Arthur Flour... and frequently tries the various recipes from their website.

This beautiful Whole Wheat Walnut Bread came from this link.




Here is another loaf that Dave made the other night of Cinnamon Swirl Bread :




Dave making bread at my Dad's cabin while we were camping in the mountains a couple weeks ago: