A Change of Eatery

In case you haven’t heard, it’s time for Hartford’s restaurant week!

Here’s the plan:

From now until Sunday, August 8th, many of Hartford’s top restaurants will be participating in Taste of Hartford’s summertime promotion, offering special 3-course gourmet dinners for only $20.10.  Last time around, I got a great meal at Agave- and now, months later, I have high hopes to try every restaurant on the list. Maybe it’ll happen by the end of the year…

Before you plan your outing, take a look at the restaurant menu offerings here: http://tastehartford.com/

And, of course, if you have any recommendations, definitely let me know.

One final word (ok, a few last words) about my vacation, and then I’ll get back to my love for Connecticut restaurants.

In Southeast Asia, I ate very, very, very well.

Here are the highlights:

Pad Thai

curry, curry, curry

Mango Sticky Rice

Snapper with plum sauce

Roast Crab with Veggies

Fruit, fruit, fruit

Delicious street food from night markets

And…

Tasted (and enjoyed) some little treats I didn’t expect to try…

Turns out, I’ll try nearly anything once.

T

Roasted/Salted Crickets, Beetles, Grasshoppers...

Being adventurous.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I have a good excuse. I spent the first two weeks of July traveling with my sisters in Thailand and Cambodia, which was an incredible experience on so many levels. Culinarily speaking, it was life changing.

Khmer food is generally less spicy than Thai, and- in my opinion, just as flavorful (even more so…I’m biased). Cambodians normally eat meals in several separate dishes with sweet, sour, salty and bitter flavors to get the best of all worlds and satisfy every millimeter of their palates. Not a bad concept.

Cooking up a storm with sisters in Siem Reap

I was able to take a Khmer cooking class in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I fell in love with Khmer Amok, a flavorful dish made up of fish, coconut milk, lemongrass, and lots of spices- to mention just a few ingredients. I ate this meal at least once a day while staying in Siem Reap. Additional food adventures abroad will require a follow-up post. Stay tuned.

So, in my class, I got to create my beloved Amok from scratch. My sisters and I made plenty of other fabulous dishes, including fresh and fried spring rolls, mango salad, Khmer curry, and several desserts with banana, pumpkin, green bean, and lots of coconut.

Fresh spring rolls

The final spread

If you can find the ingredients (I’ve been told that Adong Market in West Hartford is a good start) below is the recipe for Khmer Amok. I haven’t typed up the recipe from my cooking class, but found a very similar recipe online at Phnomenon.

Delicious Khmer Amok

• Ingredients : 1 lb fish fillets
  * 1/2 cup coconut cream
  * 2 cups coconut milk
  * 1 tbsp fish sauce to taste

  Kroeung (the spice paste):

  * 2 red chilies
  * 2 cloves garlic
  * 2 tbsp galangal, cut small
  * 3 tbsp lemon grass stalk
  * zest of ¼ kaffir lime
  * 1 tsp salt
  * 1 tbsp kapi (or any shrimp paste)

  Garnish
  * 3 tbsp kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
  * 3 cayenne peppers or red capsicum

  Make the kroeung by pounding the ingredients in a mortar and pestle, working from driest ingredient to wettest. Slice the fish thinly and set aside. Slice the kaffir lime leaves and cayenne peppers thinly.

  Stir the kroeung into 1 cup of coconut milk, and when it has dissolved, add the fish sauce to taste and sliced fish. Then add the remaining coconut milk and mix well.

  Place fish mixture in a small bowl. Steam for about 20 minutes or until the coconut milk is solid, but still moist. Before serving, top each bowl with a little coconut cream and garnish with kaffir leaf and cayenne peppers.

  Serve with steamed rice.

…Is filming TODAY at Catsup & Mustard, one of my fave spots in Manchester. Go downtown and check it out!!

Check out this great post by Amy Kundrat from CT Bites:

Connecticut bloggers (myself included) share recipes for their favorite summer cocktails- and there’s no shortage of creative concoctions here. Cucumber gin fizz, watermelon cucumber saketini, minty vodka lemonade, and much more, including my personal preference- white peach sangria. Click here for the full post, including photos & recipes.

Here’s my white sangria recipe, perfect for picnics & other warm weather gatherings. The list of ingredients from the original recipe yields 32 servings; party-sized proportions are necessary since no one refuses a refill. :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup peach schnapps
• 1/2 cup cognac
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 4 oranges, sliced into rounds
• 2 mangos, peeled and sliced (sliced peaches are a good addition or substitute)
• 4 (750 milliliter) bottles dry white wine, chilled
• 1 liter ginger ale, chilled

Directions

1. In a pitcher, combine wine, peach schnapps, cognac and sugar; Stir gently and add sliced oranges and sliced mangos. Chill for at least an hour.
2. Add ginger ale or club soda to top off drinks just before serving. If you’d like to serve your Sangria right away, use chilled white wine and ginger ale and serve over ice.
3. I also toss in a handful of fresh raspberries or sliced strawberries for extra color and flavor. (I often substitute the mango for sliced peaches as well)

Last week, I met up with a group of fellow CT bloggers and foodies for an amazing meal at Miya’s Sushi in New Haven- one of the few sustainable sushi restaurants in the country, with, get this, the largest vegetarian sushi menu in the world. This much anticipated foodie gathering featured countless mouthwatering dishes created by Miya’s very talented Bun Lai for the restaurant’s Wednesday Night Special. The evening even led to my very first sake bomb. Firecracker sake, no less. And oh, what an experience that was…

Roll with Lobster, Asparagus, Brie and Apricots. Photo by Nick Caito

Instead of continuing with a recap, I’m going to redirect you to two great posts by Leeanne Griffin of Fun With Carbs and Amy Kundrat of CT Bites, featuring some fantastic photography by Nick Caito. They definitely captured the spirit of the evening, in both words and image.

Enjoy! And make your way to Miya’s Sushi ASAP!