"Thaidig": a Thai variation on Persian crunchy rice

We really enjoyed Samin Nosrat's Tahdig, a foolproof way of getting crunchy Persian rice. We wanted to see if we could take it somewhere untraditional, with Thai flavors and asian rice. It worked really well, the flavor combination and the additions to the rice made for a fun and satisfying meal. 

Our first question was whether Jasmine rice would crunchify like Persian Basmati rice; with Samin's yogurt hack, this was a definite "yes".  For the Thai flavor, we started with coconut milk, then added chilis, galangal, and some salmon we had.  This made plenty for four people as a complete dinner.

Crunchy top conceals coconutty rice with salmon and squash

  2 C      Jasmine Rice
  4 Quart  Water
1/3 C      Kosher Salt

  1 C      Coconut Milk
  1 Tbs    Thai Shrimp Paste
  1 piece  Galangal root, thumb-size, sliced thin
  3 whole  Thai Chilis, de-seeded, cut thin

  1 whole  Kaffir Lime leaf, bruised

  3 Tbs    Oil, neutral flavored

  3 Tbs    Butter

  3 Tbs    Yogurt

 10 ounces Wild Salmon, cut into 1-inch bitesized pieces

 10 ounces Butternut Squash, cubed and cooked
  2 Tbs    Thai Fish Sauce
  2 Tbs    Lime Juice

Rinse the Jasmine Rice in cold water in a fine sieve several times.

Bring the Water and Salt to boil, then drain and add the Rice; cook 6-7 minutes until al dente (Jasmine seems to take a bit less time than Basmati, don't overcook). Drain in sieve and run under cold water to stop cooking, then drain again.

While Rice is boiling, heat the Coconut Milk, add and dissolve Shrimp Paste, and add Galangal, Chilis, Kaffir Lime Leaf, and cook to coax out the flavors.

Heat the Oil and Butter until melted and frothy in a 12-inch non-stick skillet. 

Remove 1 1/2 C par-cooked Rice and gently mix with the Yoghurt, then add to hot skillet and line the bottom of the pan.

Gently fold the Salmon, Squash, and Flavored Cocount Milk into the remaining Rice. Add to the base layer of rice in the skillet, trying not to disturb it as it forms a crust; spread evenly, then poke 6 holes to the bottom of the skillet to let moisture escape and the rice to crisp up. Splash the Fish Sauce and Lime Juice over the top.

White base on the bottom, flavored and stuffed rice on top

Cook 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes to heat evenly.

Check the edges for browning; add a bit of oil around the outside if needed. Cook another 15-20 minutes until the crust is formed and well-browned. 

Edges browned, white foam shows salmon is cooked

Invert a serving platter over the skillet, and with confidence and gusto, invert quickly; the finished dish should easily fall onto the platter. 

Look at that crust! Brown spots are where we punched holes for steam

Serve.

Adjustments

The intensity of the Coconut Milk was just right -- noticeable but not over-powering. The proportion of Salmon and Squash seemed good. We couldn't detect any heat from the Chilis, though they were plenty fierce before cooking, so add more.  The Fish Sauce and Lime Juice were barely noticeable, so bump these up too.

Future directions...

With this under our belt, we're interested in trying even more silly variations, like Gumbo-inspired (roux for flavor, with andouille sausage and okra), middle eastern, etc. Will regular American short-grain rice work? We don't think Italian arborio (risotto) would work as it's designed to get creamy; asian sticky rice might be fun; Spanish bomba rice could but its virtues are probably best expressed as paella.

Do we need the yogurt? Would unflavored coconut milk also provide coherence and browning? Would the butter and oil be enough by themselves?

We'd also like to scale down the recipe for two people. For 1 Cup Rice, my math says an 8-inch pan provides the proportionate area.

Samin Nosrat's Tahdig (Persian-ish crispy rice)

Samin cooked Iranian/Persian basmati rice to develop the crunchy bottom, the coveted "tahdig", on the cooking show Salt Fat Acid Heat. I love that stuff, so was happy to find her adaptation which is so easy. It uses Yogurt to help bind and brown the crunchy layer, and parboiling so you can finish cooking -- and develop the crust -- in a low non-stick skillet instead of deep pot. I've adjusted it a bit for our pans, over-sizing the crusty rice base a little. It makes enough for four, but we found the leftovers heated up OK, but were not quite as fragrant. (David Lebovitz borrows from Samin and several others, but uses less water and salt in the parboiling stage; he mixes yoghurt and butter, and adds saffron which sounds excellent).

We mixed in some small cubes of cooked squash to the second Rice addition and it was a fine complement to the rice. 

Crunchy rice!

  2 C   Basmati Rice
1/3 C   Kosher Salt (depending on saltiness)
1/3 C   Yogurt
  3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
  3 Tbs Butter

Rinse the Rice several times until the water runs clear; easiest to do this in a fine mesh sieve in a bowl.

Bring 4 Qt Water to boil with salt, it seems like too much Salt, but it doesn't cook long and most of the water is discarded. Boil the Rice 6-8 minutes until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Heat a 12-inch non-stick skillet, add Oil and Butter, and melt; it'll turn frothy.

Remove 1 1/2 C Rice and mix with Yogurt. Add to skillet and flatten to cover the bottom: this will become the crust.

Add the rest of the Rice on top, mounding slightly to the center. (Poke 6 holes through the rice to the bottom of the skillet to allow steam to escape so the rice dries out.

Cook 20 minutes over medium heat, turning a quarter turn ever 5 minutes for even browning.

Check the edges to ensure they're browning, if not, add a bit more oil around the edges. 

Edges starting to brown; we added some cubed squash

Cook on low heat another 15-20 minutes until the rice is done, crunchy on the bottom.

Place a platter over the skillet and bravely invert: the rice should detach easily and form a beautiful display. Serve.

Deconstructed Fruit Cake Ice Cream

We received a Grandma's Gourmet No Sugar Added Fruitcake which was loaded with fruit, but tooth-achingly sweet. We decided to take it apart and make an ice cream from its components. I started with my Saffron Ice Cream, which is a standard custard-style, proportioned to fit in our cheap churn. I reduced the sugar since the cake has a lot, and reduced the egg, because the cake in the cream mixture helped thicken it.

Ice cream tastes like fruit cake, fruit and nuts mixed through

 17 ounces Fruit Cake
1.5 C      Whole Milk
  2 C      Heavy Cream
1/2 C      Sugar (down from 1 C)
  2 whole  Eggs (down from 3)

  2 Tbs    Brandy

Add Milk and Cream to pot; break apart Fruit Cake, trying to keep fruit and nuts intact, and add to the pot.  Warm pot and allow cake to dissolve into cream, stirring gently to separate fruit and nuts.

Strain through coarse strainer.

Separate nuts from fruit, reserving fruit; bake nuts until toasted (it's OK if some of the cream sticks to the nuts).

Whiz the cakey cream in Vitamax blender; add in Sugar and blend; add in Eggs and blend until smooth. 

Heat gently in the pot to 170-175F, stirring frequently so the Eggs start to set but do not overheat and curdle them.

Pour into bowl, cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, pour base into spinning chilled ice cream maker churn; when it starts setting up, add Brandy to loosen a bit, so it doesn't tax the motor too much. If you've got room (and motor), add fruit and nuts; otherwise, stir them in before adding to freezer tray. Churn 20 minutes, it should swell as air is introduced.

Add churned ice cream to one or more flat-ish freezer containers and freeze overnight.

Buttermilk Scalloped Potatoes

I wanted rich Scalloped potatoes without cheese, not a gratin, and wanted the potatoes to "gel" instead of slip-sliding past each other. This uses the brine from the buttermilk marinated chicken. You could use regular Milk, too. This recipe is similar but uses a half the Milk and no Cream. It does take a long time to bake, so plan ahead. 

  1 L      3-4 Cups    Buttermilk marinade from chicken (or Milk)

                       Salt

                       Pepper
    pinch      pinch   Nutmeg

  2 clove    2 clove   Garlic, minced

  1 Kg       2 Pounds  Yukon Gold Potatoes

 30 g        2 Tbs     Butter

200 ml     2/3 C       Heavy Cream (may not be necessary)

Heat the Buttermilk in a pot until simmering, taste for Salt and adjust; add Pepper, Nutmeg, Garlic.

The buttermilk will start separating, but once the potatoes start cooking in it, the starch will bring it together again.

Optionally, peel the Potatoes; don't rinse, the starch will help gel the Milk.

Slice Potatoes 1-2mm thick on a mandolin and add to the hot Buttermilk.

Cook at a gentle simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally,  until slightly tender but not in danger of falling apart.

Butter a casserole or baking dish to prevent sticking; toss any remaining Butter in the pot.

With a slotted spoon, layer the cooked Potatoes casually into the casserole.

Pour over with remaining Buttermilk, then Cream.

Bake 80-90 minutes at 180C/350F; you can probably go higher so it can bake at the same time as the Chicken.

Let sit 10 minutes to "gel".

If you do this in advance of the Chicken, you can reheat after gelling and cooling.

Buttermilk-Marinated Roast Chicken

This comes from Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (video) -- the chicken roasts up an appealing burnished brown, with moist flesh; it's surprisingly easy to make. You can make Scalloped Potatoes at the same time with the used Buttermilk, but they take longer to bake than the chicken.

Chicken on rack over cast iron pan: save those juices!

3-4 pound Whole Chicken
  2 Tbs   Salt
  4 Cups  Buttermilk

Generously salt the Chicken, inside and out; let sit an hour to absorb.
Put in a large bag and add 4 Cups Buttermilk; seal and fridge overnight.
Drain and save the Buttermilk for Scalloped Potatoes.
Put chicken on a rack, breast-side up, over a pan and let come to room temperature for an hour.

Heat oven to 425F/220C, non-convection.

Point the chicken legs to the corner, bake 20 minutes, reduce heat to 400, bake 10 minutes, point the legs to the other corner, and bake another 30 minutes.

Let sit 15 minutes before carving.

Save the pan juices! Pour out, scraping all the bits, let cool and separate. The fat has good flavor, but OMG, the concentrated juices firm up like precious demi-glace and is super tasty!

Zucchini Carpaccio

A refreshing and rather fancy-looking light appetizer for two. This recipe is unusual in that it provides different textures with the grilled slices versus the raw ones. The quantities here make a light side dish, but can be scaled to 3 Zucchini for a full meal for two people.

1         Zucchini (we used green)
1 tsp     Salt, Kosher

          Lemon Zest from 1/2 Lemon
          Lemon Juice from 1/2 Lemon
2 Tbs     Olive Oil, excellent quality (we once used smoked EVOO)
2 Tbs     Pine Nuts

1 Tbs     Mint leaves, torn

1 Tbs     Basil leaves, torn

6 pieces  Parmesan Cheese, shaved

On a mandolin, slice 3 slices from each side of the Zucchini, about 2mm thick; these will be seared so they need a bit more substance than the rest, and searing will make the skin more interesting. Slice the rest thinner on the mandolin. If you don't have a mandolin, you can cut the thick slices with a knife, and the thin ones with a vegetable peeler.

Using separate bowls or storage containers to simplify assembly, toss the thick and thin zucchini with Salt in bowls, and let sit for 30 minutes or so to draw off excess moisture. Drain then dry on kitchen towels.

In each of the separate bowls, whisk half of the Lemon Juice and Olive Oil, and return the thick and thin Zucchini. Combine gently and let marinate in the fridge for an hour or longer -- overnight is fine.

Pull out the 6 thickest pieces of Zucchini and sear until you've got some appealing black spots and it's heated through.

Meanwhile, toast the Pine Nuts and tear the Mint and Basil into strips.

Arrange the seared Zucchini on plate as a base.
Gently mix the Mint and Basil with the remaining uncooked Zucchini strips to combine.
Top the seared strips with a loose mound of the remaining, seasoned Zucchini.
Garnish with Pine Nuts, Lemon Zest, and shavings of Parmesan.

Fresh Pasta: Dried vs Just-Rolled

We make our own pasta dough and roll it out with a manual pasta roller and cutter; it's  easy enough we can do it on a weekday evening, and good therapy after a busy day. The dough can be made ahead and frozen in dinner portions, then thawed fairly quickly. 

One time we rolled it with a rolling pin, then floured it, rolled it into a loose jelly roll, and cut the noodles with a knife. We happened to let it air dry on the top of a warm fridge for a few hours while we prepped the rest of the meal. This turned out to be some of the best pasta we've made, with an excellent "bite".

Is there a difference between pasta that's been left to dry, versus just rolled and cut before boiling? We tried it out.

We cut the same lump of dough (equal parts AP flour and coarse semolina, and egg) into two pieces. I rolled one out and cut it into Fettuccine, dosed it with flour, and arranged it in a loose nest on a kitchen towel. We let it dry out for about 7 hours. 

We got two pots of salted water boiling, then repeated the rolling and cutting with the second lump. 

We then put both sets of noodles in separate pots, cooked until done, and served. We sauced some of it with pesto from our garden's basil, but left plenty exposed to try "naked".

The air-dried pasta was more toothsome, and seemed a bit more golden (possibly oxidized?); the freshly cut pasta had a softer texture.  They both seemed to taste the same. Interestingly, as the meal progressed, sauced with the pesto, the dried pasta retained it's firm texture, while the just-cut pasta became a bit too soft -- at least in comparison.

Our take-away is that both are good -- we eat the just-cut frequently -- but if you have the time, it's worth air-drying. This also opens opportunities for pre-making pasta before friends come over, and letting it dry until they arrive, then just boil: you don't have to be throwing flour around on your friends as you make last-minute pasta.  

Larb Kai: Thai Chicken Salad

This Thai dish is refreshing, especially on a hot day; we serve it cool to room temperature. The toasted rice is important -- without it there's a big exotic aroma you'll be missing. Have some extra lime juice and fish sauce to adjust the taste when done. Serve over lettuce leaves and rice like Jasmine or sticky rice. Other variations of the spelling use Laab and Gai. 

Serves 2 as a dinner, 4 as an appetizer.

80 ml     Lime Juice

50 ml     Fish Sauce

15 g      Brown Sugar

40 g      Toasted Rice Powder (see below)

 2        Kaffir Lime Leaves, julienned thin

10 g      Galangal, julienned fine

 2        Spring Onions, sliced, including green parts

 6        Thai Red Chilis, sliced

 3 sprigs Mint leaves, chopped

handful   Coriander, chopped

370 g     Chicken breast, chopped fine with a knife

500 ml    Chicken Stock (reuse previous batch of cooking liquid)

Mix Lime Juice,  Fish Sauce, and Sugar to dissolve; set the dressing aside.

To make toasted ("parched") rice, "dry fry" rice (preferably sticky/glutenous) in a skillet until it starts turning an attractive toasty color and releasing a nutty aroma. Grind in spice grinder. You can make extra and save it for the next time. 

Julienne very finely the chewy Kaffir Lime Leaves and fibrous Galangal.

Slice the Chilis and chop the Mint and Coriander.

Slice and chop the Chicken Breast by hand -- it doesn't take more than a few minutes, and a machine turns it to mush. You're looking for a size maybe a bit smaller than a pea, but consistency isn't important.

Cook the Chicken gently in the Chicken Stock; it doesn't take long, since it's so fine -- don't overcook it.

Drain through a sieve and collect the turbocharged stock, save for the next time.

Combine the cooked chicken, liquid dressing, vegetables and toasted rice;

you may want to hold back some of the chilis, depending on your pain tolerance :-)

Stir well, the toasted rice will absorb some of the dressing. 

Adjust flavors with Lime Juice and Fish Sauce.

Arrange Lettuce Leaves on a plate, top with cooked Rice, then mound the Larb Kai.

Eat while the flavors are fresh and zesty.

Wendy's Cherry Pickles

1 C Pickling Salt
5 Quarts Water

Boil 5 Quarts Water, add 1 C Pickling Salt

(This may go after "2 heads dill": plus handful [dried ...?] over jar.)

Put whole pickles, 2 heads dill to 1 Qt and cherry leaves into crock.

Pour brine over, let stand for 2 weeks, skimming and occasionally.

Take pickles out, discard soft ones, cut into chunks, put in jars, turn jars upside down to drain.

Boil 2 C Sugar and 1 C Vinegar.
Pour over pickles after adding 1 tsp pickling spice to each Quart of pickles.

Pita Bread

We're trying to get nice chew, but with a pocket. The oil in this makes it more tender than a bread (or our pizza dough) without any fat.

The Smitten Kitchen blog has a thoroughly tested version, which we tried on cast iron in the BBQ, and they almost puffed. I'll start from hers, show bakers percentage to compare with my usual 66-70% hydrations, and maybe try some  based on Mallmann's "chapa bread" variations like we've been doing with left-over pizza dough, because they don't require rolling.

455 g Flour, All Purpose
295 g Water, at room temperature (65% hydration)
 30 g Olive Oil (7%)
 13 g Kosher salt (2.9%)
  5 g Yeast (1.3%)

Knead in a stand mixer 10 minutes.
Rise in the fridge overnight in a covered container.
Split into 6 or 8 pieces and let warm and rise;
you can freeze these in zippy bags, and let warm a bubble 30 minutes before cooking.
Cook on hot cast iron on one side, flip, finish the other side.
It should puff up nicely.

Licorice Ice Cream

The flavor of Fernet reminded me of licorice, and that made me think of a Chocolate Fernet gelato I made. So why not Licorice ice cream? I'd never seen it, but the interwebs say it exists and there are recipes like this one from Epicurious.

I used licorice by Wiley Wallaby, as it seemed less like synthetic candy than Twizzlers. I also got some Pontefract Cakes from the UK which are more intense and less sweet, so I'll try that next. I've got some Brewers Licorice which I'd also like to try but need to understand how much to dilute it, as it's definitely not a candy: "will burn your mouth... wear gloves"!

Here's our first take on licorice ice cream; sorry, no pictures this time.

140 g       5 oz   Licorice
360 ml  1 1/2 C    Milk
360 ml  1 1/2 C    Heavy Cream
175 g     3/4 C    Sugar
pinch              Salt
  4         4      Egg Yolks
2.5 ml    1/2 tsp  Vanilla

Melt the Licorice in the Milk, slowly, stirring frequently; I got impatient and blitzed it with an immersion blender.
The licorice contains flour so it thickened the Milk quite a bit.
The licorice dye turns the Milk a ghastly gray-green color somewhere between camo and radically overcooked peas; if you have it, a few drops of Black Food Coloring would help.
Add Cream, Sugar, Salt, Vanilla and heat to dissolve.
Adjust heat to under 82C/180F -- higher than 85C/185F will curdle the Eggs.
Whisk the Egg Yolks.
Temper the Yolks by adding some of the hot liquid to them while whisking, then add this back to the hot Cream mixture.
Heat to 82-85C, 180-185F so the Yolks will thicken the Cream.
Pour into a container; it has a disturbingly gelatinous texture, like wallpaper paste, but should be fine once churned. The taste is good, like very sweet licorice; serving cold should balance out the sugar.
Cool overnight.
Process in an ice cream churn, put in a container and freeze overnight.
The thickness caused our churn to really struggle, but the finished texture came out fine.
Taste was good, not as intense as I'd like, but definitely a decent and slightly unusual dessert with an uncommon flavor profile.

Pizza Dough for a Crowd

We built a clay pizza oven in the back yard; it gets hot enough for Neapolitan pizza which by law needs to be 430-480C (800-900F), and results in beautiful pillowy crusts. Since it needs a lot of wood and a couple hours heating time, we need a large crowd to justify firing it up.

This recipe makes enough for 12 140g pizzas, which is about enough for 6 sedentary adults, or 4 hungry younger folks. The volume pretty much maxes out my Kitchenaid stand mixer. The international regulations specify a hydration percent between 55.5 and 62.5%, but I tend to go a bit higher, 66-70% hydration; here, I'll go with 66%, as wetter dough more difficult for inexperienced pizza makers to handle.

Before: 6 buckets each wit about 1.7Kg dough

After: 6 buckets risen to about 3L each

It's worth finding the proper pizza flour from Italy: the 00 grind is very fine and makes for a better result. We have found it at a very good price at a restaurant supply store, and at Literi's Italian market, and also bought it from a Neapolitan-certified pizza restaurant. It comes in 55-pound bags. Caputo is a fairly common brand, and it has 12.5% protein.

About 55 pounds of 00 pizza flour

1000 g Italian 00 Pizza Flour (2.2 pounds)
 660 g Water (2 3/4 C)
  30 g Kosher Salt (2 1/2 Tbs)
   5 g Yeast (2 tsp)

Knead 10 minutes.
Place in covered 2L container.
Let rise in the fridge 1-3 days.
The day of the pizza fest, pull the dough out about two hours before eating time and let warm up.
Divide into 12 pieces and roll into tight balls.
Let rise a while, covered; we do this in an inverted under-bed box.
Shape, put on cornmeal-dusted peel, sauce and top, then fire: they should be done in couple minutes if the oven is hot enough.

Pizza just put in the oven

Mallmann's Mustard Lamb

Lusty flavors and a a deep char give this a great taste on the BBQ; quick and easy. Adapted from Francis Mallmann's "Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way". Serves 2.

 16 oz  450 g     Lamb Leg
                  Salt
                  Pepper
1/4 cup  60 ml    Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup  handful  Fresh Oregano, fresh (omit if you only have dried)
  1       1       Lemon
                  Oil

Cut one or two inch-thick slices from the Lamb, across the grain; if you end up cutting more small pieces, that's fine.
Remove any obvious gristle and excess fat.
Cover with cling film and pound flat to an even 1/2 inch thickness.
Season both sides generously with Salt and Pepper.
Brush both sides evenly with Mustard.
Press chopped Oregano onto one side only, and press a thin Lemon slice on each piece.

On the BBQ, get a cast iron griddle or pan ripping hot.
Drizzle with oil and when smoking, slap on the Lamb, Lemon/Oregano-side down.
It will smoke a lot.

Let cook undisturbed until the Lemon and Oregano are charred (you'll have to peek carefully).
Flip and finish cooking to your desired internal temperature, about 135F is good: it should retain a bit of pink.
Serve with a rich Malbec, and vegetables grilled on the griddle.