World Cuisine

Today I spent an hour at Barnes and Noble browsing through the cookbooks. The ones that seemed most interesting to me featured cooking from Asia. Nobu and Masahara Morimoto have incredibly beautiful books about Japanese cooking. But it was James Oseland's Cradle of Flavor, with his account of cooking in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, that was most appealing. What I liked was his description of street-vendor food, full of flavor and easy to eat.

Years ago when I was experimenting with Vietnamese food, I planted lemongrass in the garden. I didn't use it very much, so the plant grew undisturbed until it had taken over most of the garden. Looking through the Asian cookbooks reminded me about all that lemongrass in the back yard. When I got home I cut off a stalk and came up with an incredibly easy to make shrimp dish.

I would love to take a moment to review The Sriracha Cookbook that arrived last January. I would also like to take a moment to tell you how much I love the book. But I can’t. I won’t. Why? Because I’m too busy stuffing my face with this recipe.

Let’s say this will be the shortest book review in Mattbites’ history. I’m going to be lazy and point you to what others have said about Randy Clemons’ book appropriately titled The Sriracha Cookbook from Ten Speed Press.

(It’s a fantastic cookbook, and if you’re crazy for the flavors of that certain chili sauce then you really need the book. Really. It’s wonderful.)

But about this pork. Oh damn, this pork. Forget calling this  “slow-cooked”: you’ll need an overnight brine plus an additional 12 hours of cooking time. Let’s try “half-a-day-cooked-but-well-worth-the-time-invested”, ok?  But Randy lets us know there are no shortcuts to these types of flavors and he’s right–it’s worth it. 

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, these recipes - one each for the meat lover, seafood lover and vegetarian - were created by Chef Eduardo Garcia, co-founder of Montana Mex seasoning salts, which are used in each recipe (and available online). What's better than melted cheese mixed with mexican spices?

Lamb And Mint Fundido
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 lb of ground lamb
6 Tablespoons of chopped fresh mint
2 Tablespoons minced fresh garlic
6 Tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme, woody stems removed
3 teaspoons Montana Mex Picante Salt
4 oz Oaxaca Cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Method:
Pre-heat oven on Low Broil

1. Large saute pan, on medium heat, add olive oil and lamb, saute and break as you would ground beef for tacos, about 4 minutes.

2. Add thyme, garlic, Montana Mex picante salt and saute until garlic is cooked, about 2 minutes.

3. Turn off heat, add all the mint and stir to combine well.

4. In a shallow oven-proof dish/casserole dish, spread meat mixture evenly on the bottom, and cover with all the grated Oaxaca Cheese.

5. Broil on Low in the oven until cheese is melted and golden brown, about 2 minutes.

Serve warm with warm corn tortillas/favorite tortilla chips.

Any fans of Lisa Fain’s first cookbook, Homesick Texan or her blog, Homesick Texan, will surely enjoy The Homesick Texan's Family Table, her latest cookbook of recipes inspired by family favorites. Fain always manages to put her own twist on the recipes, updating them, making them even better than you might remember and her stories of growing up in Texas will charm even those who have never been to the Lone Star state.

There are plenty of guilty pleasure recipes like Bacon and Chipotle Corn Pudding, Stacked Jalapeño Cheese Enchiladas and Potato Chorizo Breakfast Tacos, but also more modern fare like Blueberry Granola, Turkey Enchiladas with Sweet Potato Chipotle Sauce and Tuna with Avocado and Red Pepper Baked in Parchment. 

I tend to shy away from self-published books, but I was intrigued by Taste of Tanzania. I’ve not seen very many African cookbooks and even fewer designed for a Western audience. There are many indigenous ingredients that you won’t be able to find, and author Miriam Kinunda has made substations and focused on recipes that are more practical.

The recipes show a wide range of influences, Persian, Portuguese, Indian and also some Asian and European and has a lot of soup, stew and vegetable dishes. Some particularly appealing recipes include Swahili Beans, red beans cooked with coconut milk, onions, ginger, tomatoes and cilantro, Fish in Peanut Sauce and Ginger Tea.