Skip to main content

Cookbook du Jour

In today's Cookbook du Jour, I wanted discuss Portland based chef Andy Ricker. Andy is a true Thai expert. He studied in Thailand under local masters and learned the authentic cuisine and he makes no compromises. 

 His renowned restaurant Pok Pok, located in Portland, is a gem. When you get people like David Chang of Momofuku fame singing your praises, you are definitely doing something right.


If you were to own only one Thai cookbook, I say this is it. It's the sort of cookbook that you want to sit down and read, as it is packed with so many stories and really reveals the people of Thailand as well as the wonderful cuisine. 

 For meat eaters, I think his Laap, minced meat salads are particularly good and his Som Tam is off the charts. His chili dips are so good, you can eat them just spooned over jasmine rice.


Since Andy has now opened locations in NYC and LA, so many more people will get a chance to try his amazing food. In the meantime, get this cook book and have some fun.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Norfolk Style Seafood

This is such a good recipe and so simple to make. The story behind this recipe is interesting. When I was a young boy, we used to go to a seafood restaurant in Washington DC called O'Donnell's. They had wonderful food, and most importantly, they had Buck.


Buck was a gentle giant at 6' 2" and was always talking to me about his recipe. He had invented this style of cooking seafood and had even developed special pans which could be used over open flame and then it could be delivered to the tables still sizzling. He was rightfully very proud of this. 


After being there quite a few times, Buck shared his recipe with me and told me to keep it a secret. Since this was over 40 years ago, I guess I can reveal it now. 


Ingredients

1/2 lb Shrimp, Jumbo Lump Crab or Langoustines, raw and shelled
2 Tbsp Butter
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
Dash of Old Bay Seasoning
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Few dashes of Tabasco
Splash of White Wine
Salt and Black Pepper


Heat your pan until fairly hot, then add butter an…
1 comment
Read more

Turbot Poached In Puttanesca Sauce

I wanted to build on the puttanesca sauce I posted yesterday to show how a versatile sauce can be used to prepare multiple dishes.


I got the idea to poach some fish in the puttanesca sauce, as I found some really nice turbot at the market.




Ingredients
1 large finely chopped Onion 4 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped 2- 28 oz. cans of crushed or diced Tomatoes, or whole tomatoes that are lightly chopped in the processor.
3 Tbsp Olive Oil 3 tsp. Red Pepper flakes or a few whole red peppers
4 to 6 Anchovy filets ¼ cup of Capers, (Try to get the salted capers and prepare them by rinsing and then soaking for 30 minutes. it's worth the extra effort, as the flavor is vastly superior to the brined capers). ½ cup pitted Kalamata Olives Freshly ground Black Pepper
1 lb Turbot, cut into four pieces. You could substitute Cod, Hake or Monkfish.
Note: You will notice that there is no salt in this recipe. When you consider the olives, anchovies and capers, you really don't need additional salt. If you omit…
Post a Comment
Read more

French Seafood Stew aka Bouillabaisse

I've always enjoyed bouillabaisse, but I've never tried making it. I assumed (wrongly) that it was very complicated. 

It is really simple to make and I have minimized the ingredients below, to make it even easier than a classical preparation. However, if you want a classic Bouillabaisse, just add in the optional ingredients listed below
Bouillabaisse is basically a fisherman's stew and reflects what seafood was caught fresh that day. There are many variations of this classic dish from Marseille.

I like to start with the classic preparations and then branch off from there. If you find a set of common ingredients, then you can start to craft your own recipe and make it your own. 
I love cookbooks and read them like novels. I always basically know the recipe I want to prepare, but I find that looking at multiple recipes and sources, gives me the best results. This is loosely based on Ina Garten’s Seafood Stew. 
Ingredients 
4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 large Onion, chopped  1 teas…
Post a Comment
Read more