Looked back at the January 31st, 2023 Thai Tomato Salad and made the dressing again, so let’s log the basic formula:
For the salad, can use tomatoes, Napa cabbage, or cucumbers. Optional garlic flakes and Chile flakes, or fresh chilies to taste. Depending on your rice vinegar you might want a little sugar. Fish sauce saltiness varies wildly too. Whisk everything together and then pour over vegetables and let them sit for a while.
I made with some Napa cabbage this time, and crumbled in some dried Sichuan Facing Heaven chiles I have. Accidentally doubled the fish sauce so ended up just tossing in more Napa cabbage to balance it. Diced up a red bell pepper for colour and sweetness.
Then Rachael and I went over to Main Street. Stopped in at Welk’s General Store and picked up a few things.
They had Prosyro Yuzu Syrup this time! Yay, love the yuzu flavour.
Picked up some Favuzzi Italian Stallion Espresso. I tried the Favuzzi Dolce Vita Espresso last time.
Went into Coco et Olive for a coffee and a pastry with Monique who joined us. Three people = three pastries to try.
- Orange Olive Oil Cake
- Pistachio Orange Semolina Cake
- Apple Frangipane Tart
Stopped in at Balance Botanicals — the whole shop is filled with glass jars of teas, herbs, and spices.
I bought some sweet paprika, tried out if their Szechuan peppercorn are any good, and some new to me black seeds, which are apparently like a mix of black sesame and cumin.
Black cumin can refer to the seeds of either of two quite different plants, both of which are used as spices: Elwendia persica, black cumin is considered similar to caraway, but they are two distinctly different plants. The seeds differ dramatically in shape, color and size. Caraway seeds appear brown in color, while Black Cumin is mostly black with a slight curve shape. This seed may be used in rice water to bring a slight flavor to the rice. Nigella sativa, black caraway is also called kalonji or nigella, and more common in the Far East, Mideast, Bangladesh, India and Africa. Nigella sati a is multi-shaped seed, pure dark black, with no other visible colors on it. This seed is used at the beginning of Indian Subcontinent cuisine to flavor the oil, onions, other spices, meats and vegetables.
Dinner tonight was Fresh Prep Steak Diane. Fun to research Steak Diane and learn that it’s now retro.