Spiced Moroccan Chicken Wrap with Eggplant Tomato Jam

I know, I know... long time, no cook.  But it's not that I haven't been cooking, it's just that what I have been cooking hasn't been new or particularly blog-worthy.  And, yes, since moving to Bangkok I have definitely been cooking a little bit less frequently.  Food is so delicious and cheap here, whether on the street, in a restaurant or at the market!

Anyway, this spiced Moroccan chicken wrap is a recipe from The Cozy Apron that I have cooked twice now, once in Jakarta and once in Bangkok, and both times I failed to get a good photo because it was dark and also because the dish was so tasty we snarfed it down immediately.  But please do check out The Cozy Apron for some mouthwatering pics.

The dish is full of spices and garlic and pretty healthy: awesome.  It consists of 3 parts (hummus, spiced and grilled chicken, eggplant and tomato "jam"), which seems like a lot, but none of the steps is particularly taxing or time-consuming.  You can make the hummus in advance (although we liked it to be room temp on the sandwiches, not cold), which helps the flavors meld and the chicken can be marinated overnight (I started marinating mine in the morning and that was sufficient, too).  We thought the sandwiches were good with a little lettuce for crunch, too.  Mmmm.

Eggplant Jeow

As I said, I've been hankering to make one of Laos' iconic jeows (dips) since we got back from Vientiane.

Jeow is served with basically every Lao meal... there are many different varieties and takes on jeow from around the country, but most recipes share the fact that the ingredients are grilled and imbued with a smoky flavor.  Typically, jeow is served with sticky rice, which is eaten by hand, picked out of the dish and rolled into little balls for dipping in the jeow (thusly).

Last night I finally had at it (i.e. remembered to soak the sticky rice 3 hours in advance) and made an eggplant jeow... kinda like a Lao baba ganoush, I'd say.  Smoky, salty, garlicky, a little spicy.  Good stuff.  Tim and I ate it with the traditional sticky rice accompaniment, but this stuff is multi-purpose; I could see it as an appetizer at a party, served with raw veggies, or better yet on toasted baguette slices rubbed with garlic. Next on my list: tomato jeow, which is like Lao salsa.

I used the recipe from the beautiful cookbook that I bought at the lovely Vientiane training restaurant, Makphet, called "From Honeybees to Pepperwood: Creative Lao Cooking with Friends."   I modified it somewhat as I went along, so below is the recipe with my changes noted in parentheses:

Grilled Eggplant Dip

Jeow Mak Kena

Adapted from "From Honeybees to Pepperwood: Creative Lao Cooking with Friends"

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

- 500 grams of Japanenese eggplant 

(I used 4 of the long skinny purple ones)

- 6 shallots 

(skin on... also, I used 6 of the tiny Asian shallots- if you're using the big French shallots, made only use 3)

- 10 garlic cloves (skin on)

- 10 chilies 

(I used 10 of the cabe merah besar, big, red, fairly mild chilies... maybe the U.S. equivalent is Serrano?)

- 4 tbsp fish sauce 

(this seemed like a lot of fish sauce to me- a little fish sauce goes a long way- so I added it to taste and ended up with more like 2 tbsp)

- 1 tsp lime juice

- handful of cilantro leaves, minced

- salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Grill the eggplants, chilies, shallots and garlic until the skins are charred.  Remove from the grill and cool.

2. Peel eggplants, shallots and garlic and roughly chop (I also peeled the chilies).  Do not use water for peeling, as it will bog down the jeow.

3. Using a mortar and pestle (you could probably lightly pulse in the food processor, too), pound the chilies and (a pinch of) salt.  Add the shallots and garlic and grind until ingredients are crushed.

4. Add eggplants, lime juice and fish sauce, pound until well combined.

5. Finish by mixing in the cilantro.

6. Serve with sticky rice!

Roasted Shiitake and Eggplant Pasta

I bought eggplant to make this great grilled eggplant dip that you eat with sticky rice (we had it in Laos), but was struggling to figure out what to cook to go with it.  Similarly, I had purchased mushrooms to make this creamy mushroom soup I saw via Pinterest.  Somehow neither of these dishes have yet to materialize (don't count them out yet, though, they're still on the list), but their ingredients ended up in this tasty pasta dish.

Doesn't look like much, but this dish has a really great rich, meaty flavor from the roasted mushrooms and a hint of spice from the sambal (PS: I used Sriracha because the only sambal I had in the house was called "Heboh Pedassssssnya," which translates to "Excited Spiiiiiiiiiciness!" and it will burn your face off).  Good stuff! 

I used thyme instead of oregano (although not 2 TBS of it- more like a couple sprigs), plus I topped the whole mess with fresh cilantro at the end.

Grilled Veggie and Rice Salad with Fish Sauce Dressing

Omg.  This salad is so good.  Even Tim liked it, lamenting the lack of meat only somewhat, stating that, "maybe it would make a really good side... you know... to some meat."  I liked it on its own, but agree that it would also make a kick-ass side dish and/or bed for some Vietnamese-style grilled chicken (we made a recipe quite similar to this one at our Hoi An cooking class in June.)  

I had lots of fresh herbs left over from our Vietnamese pomelo salad last week and saw this herb-heavy, Vietnamese-esque recipe in my July 2012 Bon Appetit magazine... I am so glad I made it.  It's got a lot of ingredients, but don't be intimidated, as it's really quite easy once you light up the grill and is a great way to utilize all your summer veggies and herbs- corn, eggplant, zucchini, okra, mint, basil, cilantro.  Mmm.

I made only a couple small changes to the recipe- the dressing is supposed to have grilled Holland or Anaheim chilis, but here there are just cabe rawit (the little ones) and cabe besar (the big ones).  All are blow-your-face off hot and not really the equivalent of an Anaheim.  Thus, I decided to substitute with some Sriracha to taste.  Also, rather than plain white jasmine rice, I bought some whole-grain Javanese brownish/reddish rice and cooked it coconut milk substituting for 1/3 of the liquid.  I think the hearty, nutty rice and extra coconut flavor really put the finishing touch on the recipe.

Slow-Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Pasta

Indonesia does a lot of things well... batik, tropical fruits, apples... but one thing I have found to be sub-par are the tomatoes.  Unripe or overly-ripe, but still tasteless. Boo. But occasionally you can find reasonably priced grape tomatoes, which are ok, but do not live up to the amazing heirloom tomatoes I was getting from my CSA back in DC.

One way to ameliorate the bland tomatoes is to slow-roast them like I did last summer... it intensifies the flavor big time.  I used my slow-roasted tomatoes to make an eggplant pasta dish similar to the one I made last summer, but with a pesto made from both basil and mint.  Quite tasty!

Homemade Sausage and Spinach Ravioli with Chunky Vegetable Sauce

This weekend was Chuck's 28th birthday (look at her, she's so old!)... in honor of her, I made an attempt to recreate a favorite dish of hers that she frequently orders at Vapiano: ravioli con carne with fresh vegetables and a creamy tomato sauce.

My interpretation is very loose, of course. I did fresh homemade pasta with my Kitchenaid roller, and filled it with spinach and Italian sausage per this recipe (although I used half a bag of frozen spinach rather than fresh). Tim helped in the assembly line by making the filling and fork-pressing the edges of the ravioli (and he served as clean-up crew). Good work, Tim! I was proud that only one of 32 raviolis spewed its innards into the cooking water...

My sauce was a simple, chunky, and veggie-filled- chopped onion, minced garlic, cubed eggplant, carrot matchsticks, diced Roma tomato, a tablespoon of pesto, a splash of cream.

We following up the meal with a chocolate pudding cake as the birthday cake. Chuck threw it together while I finished the sauce. Yes, I forced her to make her own birthday cake, but at least it was the world's easiest birthday cake. It was delicious, just like last time. However, one cautionary note: do not attempt to insert birthday candles into a pudding cake recently retrieved from the oven. Waxy puddles will ensue. Not my sharpest moment.

Mini Farfalle with Eggplant, Cherry Tomatos, Almond Pesto and Feta

Kate passed on this recipe for labor-inducing eggplant Parmesan so I could share it with Jamie, who was nearing her due-date... it made me hungry for eggplant, which I had conveniently bought from the CSA this week. I didn't have all the ingredients for the parm, but I did have the world's biggest bag of basil, also care of Star Hollow Farm, so I decided to merge the eggplant with some basil pesto and serve it over pasta.Using this recipe from Giada "Boobs and Teeth" De Laurentiis as a general guideline for cooking the eggplant, I chopped it up, sauteed it until brown, and threw it all together with fresh basil pesto (basil, parm, olive oil, almonds, garlic), cute mini farfalle, a pint of halved sweet orange cherry tomatoes, and salty feta. Awesome warm, and also delicious cold the next day.

PS: Yes, the eggplant parmesan apparently did work for Jamie- she went into labor the day after eating it! Introducing my beautiful brand-new baby niece, Zoe:

Eggplant Feta Salad Toasts

Sometimes I feel like Deb from Smitten Kitchen has a secret view into my refrigerator. She always seems to put together dishes that use exactly what I have that week from the CSA. Maybe she gets a photo of my fridge contents every week, a la Mark Menjivar's 'You Are What You Eat'? I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since that's the nature of eating seasonally, but still... mind reader! Refrigerator looker! Anywho... this roasted eggplant salad with feta and green onion is super easy and pretty delicious. Try it!

Eggplant/Tomato/Mozzarella Panini with Artichoke Caper Spread

Got a mixture of different types of eggplant from the CSA this week and was craving something cheesy and melty. Eggplant panini it was!

My first attempt was somewhat of a FAIL, as I cut the bread (a cheapie ciabatta from the Giant bakery... Columbia Heights needs a legit bread bakery like crazy... I heard rumors of one thinking of opening in the area, but it's not set in stone by any means) horizontally rather than vertically, and it was waaaaay too fat... too big to fit in one's mouth (that's what she said!). The second time I cut vertical slices from the bread and it was much easier to manage.

The artichoke/caper/parsley spread was awesome, though. Hearty, a little salty, fresh, a hint of creaminess from the mayo. Based on this recipe, but with the addition of fresh parsley to brighten it up.

The eggplant was sliced thinly, salted for 20 minutes or so, then grilled. Thrown on the bread with some yellow heirloom tomato, the artichoke spread, grated mozzarella, squished and grilled.

Eggplant, Tomato and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

I got some eggplants, Roma tomatoes, garlic, and goat cheese at the farmers market this week. Along with some basil from the Aerogarden, we threw together these easy grilled veggie sandwiches. They were pretty good- not the most amazing sandwich ever, but easy and good enough for government work!

Please excuse the terrible photo- it's a camera phone shot. I was too lazy and hungry to go upstairs to retrieve my camera.