Friday, June 10, 2016

What I Want to Cook

Well, here I am back in my own kitchen, after three long trips in around 6 weeks. I've eaten fabulous meals in Provence and Paris; surprising meals at ethnic restaurants in Provo, Utah; and delightful and typical Israeli foods. I'm definitely thinking of learning some new dishes from the various cuisines that I've tried on my travels. In fact, on Wednesday I already made Ottolenghi's Israeli-style lamb meatballs -- which I've blogged about before. But I also crave food from other cuisines that I haven't had lately or foods I tried on other trips.

Here are some recipes that I've found around the web and in my cookbooks that I hope to make some time in the not-too-distant future:

New York Times Key Lime Pie. For some reason my Facebook page has been directing me to this recipe. It reminds me of trips to Florida. In fact, this recipe is very old-style: made with raw egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice in a graham-cracker crust. So it's different than the pie I made when I came back from Florida. Question: do I have the nerve to use raw eggs?


Sunset Asian Soups. I have had the famous Pho chicken-noodle soup in Asian restaurants various times, as well as many other Asian soups such as Chinese hot-sour soup, Vietnamese beef Pho, and others. This Sunset magazine article points me to several very simple ways to prepare these. The portion size of such soups at restaurants is always totally overwhelming to me: there are so many noodles that I can never finish. So I'd like to put these soups in my repertoire. Alas! hot summer weather is on the way, and this might wait until another season. Again, my Facebook feed made me think of these.


A Banh Mi sandwich. My first one ever was at a Vietnamese diner in Provo, though I meant to try it long ago. The combination of flavors -- especially pickles & cilantro -- was really appealing. In an article titled "Expert tips for building the perfect Banh Mi sandwich" I found a list of Banh Mi components instead of a single recipe. Clearly, the pickles are something you should make at home, yourself. Other ingredients aren't that hard to find: roast meat, fresh vegetables, cilantro, chiles, Maggi seasoning sauce, mayo, and good bread. I've read elsewhere that Vietnamese bread was influenced by the French occupation (which ended over 50 years ago). The tips in the article are from a book titled The Banh Mi Handbook, which sounds so good that I ordered it from amazon.com.

Rhubarb! This photo is from my own blog a few years ago. I think I have all the rhubarb recipes I need, which are the ones I included in that post. I really want to cook some rhubarb-strawberry sauce like I did in this photo. I also want to make some rhubarb crumble. 

Beebop-a-reebop Rhubarb Pie! 


Julia Child. I noticed on the shelves of Janet's kitchen in Kiryat Ono (photo at left) very new copies of both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her old copies were worn out, she said, so her daughter bought her new ones. However, each time she cooks from them, she needs to consult her notes from the worn-out volumes.

I realize this: I need to try some new Julia Child recipes!

Finally: my new Moroccan cookbook! I bought it in Paris, but I have been traveling almost nonstop since that trip. Now I have time to try some recipes from this book. We had a great Moroccan dinner at a restaurant in Avignon, and I'd love to experiment with their delicious spice blends.

Maybe it's also time to try some recipes from my other Moroccan and Mediterranean cookbooks. I've never made as many recipes from these books as I would like to try.

12 comments:

Debra Eliotseats said...

You go girl! I hope to see all of these posted up soon!

Beth F said...

We've been enjoying all things rhubarb (and strawberry) lately -- it's what's fresh right now. We eat soup all year rounds. Good luck with trying your new dishes.

Tina said...

Oh my gosh, my husband and I still sing Be Boop. Re-Boop Rhubarb pie, that brings back memories. Love to see some of those recipes posted soon

Jackie McGuinness said...

I love Asian soups and have wanted to try Banh for ever. I'm off to check out your links and do some pinning.

Jeanie said...

I need to get back to Julia, too. I've done a few of hers I love and they usually work very well. She was nothing if not specific and I love that!

Let me know how the Key Lime Pie goes. I'm not sure if I still have that one, but I saved it for a long time!

I'm getting itchy to cook too! Must be extra fun when you've been traveling so long!

Katherine P said...

I'll have to try the Banh Mi sandwich link. The Vietnamese sandwich place near me closed recently and I've been searching for another place to get my Banh Mi fix ever since. Making it at home sounds like a pretty good way! The only Key Lime Pie recipe I've made that involves raw eggs is baked so it doesn't bother me but it was unbaked I think I'd be a little nervous as well! Key lime pie is a delicious treat though!

Esme said...

What a great trip. I am a huge fan of rhubarb and key lime pie.

jama said...

Yum on the rhubarb crumble and key lime pie! That Moroccan cookbook looks so interesting, and now I want a Banh Mi sandwich.

Laurie C said...

Yummy! Everything sounds delicious. I've been wanting to try more Vietnamese cooking, but it seems very time consuming!

Carole said...

I would like to try a banh mi sandwich. Have a great week. Cheers from Carole's Chatter

(Diane) bookchickdi said...

i really enjoyed your post this week. Banh mi sandwiches are very big in NYC, everyone loves them.

Claudia said...

All those meal ideas sound really worth trying. I want to myself. Go for it!