A while back, I wrote about this great rub I found on FoodNetwork.com.  It was for London broil, but I’ve used it on a lot of different cuts of beef since then.  I used it on a tri-tip roast recently and before that was a t-bone steak.  I marinate the meat for an hour before throwing it under my broiler and it comes out so moist, juicy and spicy.  It’s such a simple wet rub that I find myself making it with everything now:

A beautiful spicy and sweet rub

Today, I decided to use a modified version of the rub on some pork ribs.  Instead of paprika, I used a liberal amount of cayenne pepper.  After an hour, I heated up my outdoor electric grill and started cooking the meat. The air started to smell like cayenne and I sneezed a few times.

Marinated ribs just placed on the grill

I kept the cover on most of the time to trap in the  moisture and spice. There was a fan nearby for whenever I lifted the cover (away from me) to make sure I didn’t blow any smoke or steam inside my apartment.

Here are my ribs flipped with pseudo grill marks.

I made a huge pot of jasmine rice to go with the ribs and I’m trying very hard right now to keep myself from having more than I’ve already devoured; they came out so delicious!

Poor Penny gets none of these delicious, spicy ribs.

The grill I have is a George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor grill. It’s basically a giant, round George Foreman grill. I know I’m not really “grilling” because I’m cooking with electricity, but I love this little thing. It’s great for apartments—instead of my entire apartment potentially getting smokey and setting off the alarms, any smoke produced is carried off in the breeze. The grill is around $70 and available at Walmart and Amazon: George Foreman GGR200RDDS Round Indoor/Outdoor Electric Grill I highly recommend it!

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Quite some time ago, I bought a cookbook on clearance at Borders: Vietnamese Food & Cooking by Ghillie Basan.  The blurb on the cover goes on to say “Discover the exotic culture, traditions and ingredients of Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine with over 150 authentic step-by-step recipes and over 750 photographs.”

Like most things I buy on impulse, it sat for a long time collecting dust.  A few weeks ago I finally thumbed through it and saw a lot of familiar recipes from my childhood.  The step-by-step photos and full-page color photographs made my mouth water.

Today, I decided to make Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon Grass (p. 84). From the book:

Shnor chrook is Cambodia’s answer to the chicken noodle soup that is popular in the West. Light and refreshing, it is the perfect choice for a hot day, as well as a great pick-me-up when you are feeling low or tired.

It seemed simple enough to make, requiring only a few ingredients and little preparation.  The only issue, if you consider it one, is that the soup requires nearly 3 hours to cook so I got started early.

Just add water and simmer for 2 hours

As I was simmering the stock, the fragrance of lemon grass filled my apartment.  Combined with the ginger, garlic and onions, my place smelled absolutely delicious!

With today being the first day of summer, I was looking forward to enjoying this “invigorating” soup.  Today was also pretty hot so I opened my balcony door to cool down the apartment.  At some point, as the soup was simmering, I noticed a bee hovering around my ceiling! A bee! I wanted to close the balcony to prevent any other insects from flying in, but I knew that if I did so, the bee would be trapped in here with me.  I made the decision to leave the door opened, figuring the bee would be smart enough to find his way back out.

A few minutes later, I saw the bee crawling on the floor near me.  I had a sneaker near by and was *this close* to whacking it but stopped when I noticed that it was crawling towards the opened balcony door. Why was it crawling so slowly?  I watched it lumber across the floor and realized that it seemed disoriented. Was it hurt? How did that happen? With the help of a magazine, I was able to shoo it in the right direction and got it outside.  It stumbled around for a few seconds then all of a sudden darted up and flew away.  I thought it was weird but quickly forgot about it and went back to what I was doing.

About 10 minutes later, I went to the kitchen and gasped. Not only was there another bee in here, but it was swimming around in a glass of water.  The poor guy was drowning!  I picked up the glass of water, walked over to my balcony and gently poured him out.  He crawled out of the water and stood around drying himself.  I quickly closed the balcony door and realized there was something weird going on.

Then I remembered reading a long time ago that lemon grass (and other citronella) repelled mosquitoes.  I had assumed that this meant it repelled other insects too but it seemed to be having the opposite effect. I decided that I better close all my windows before I attracted more bees with the scent.  I was about to shut the one in the kitchen when I noticed another bee hanging on the inside of the screen!  I froze for a second and then yanked opened the screen so the bee would have an “out.”  I watched it for a moment and noticed that it was acting strangely too, stumbling around and having a hard time staying on the screen.

And then I noticed the rest of them.

There were a total of 5 bees hanging out around my kitchen windowsill.  They must have gotten in earlier through the opened balcony door, were attracted to the simmering pot in the kitchen, and now were trying futilely to get out through the kitchen window.  All of them were acting oddly; they were not flying and seemed to be having a hard time walking.

A quick Google search revealed what was going on: bees are attracted to the scent of lemon grass!  In fact, bee keepers even use lemon grass oil to attract swarms of bees. Yes, swarms.  And here I was in an apartment fragrant with the scent they love so much.  I also learned that lemon grass contains geraniol, a form of plant alcohol.  No wonder they were acting strangely—they were drunk!

Even though I have a slight bee allergy (and never, ever want to get stung again) I didn’t want to kill these bees.  They were just confused and trying to find their way home.  After a few minutes, a couple of the bees were able to find the opening in the kitchen screen I had made and zipped away.  Two of them were walking circles around the rim of a bowl and I was able to take the bowl outside and shake them off.  It was amazing to watch them “wake up” once they were exposed to the fresh air.  After a few seconds, their energy came back and they darted off.

There was one bee, however, that was giving me a hard time.  He was just hanging onto the screen, barely moving and not trying at all to find a way out.  I think he was probably freaking out and was going “Oh god oh god oh god I’m so f’ed up! Wasted!”

This bee is so wasted off the grass, man.

After building up the courage, I used a Tupperware container to slide him off, trapped him and then released him on the balcony. Like his brethren, he quickly “sobered up” and flew away.

I was quite relieved when all the bees were gone and I was able  to focus on the soup again.  After simmering for 2 hours, I strained the stock and stripped the chicken meat.

Remnants after 2 hours of simmering

The chicken literally fell off the bones and I hand shredded the big chunks

After adding a fresh batch of lemon grass (and making sure all windows/doors were closed), I cooked the strained broth with rice for another 40 minutes.  When it was ready, I added the chicken and garnished with chopped cilantro, sliced Thai chilies, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon Grass

The soup was amazing!  I had 3 big bowls and Tim had 2.  The addition of cilantro and lime juice were perfect complements to the citrusy and herbal broth and I will definitely be making this again.  Of course, I’ll make sure the bees stay outside next time.

This recipe is owned by Anness Publishing Ltd. so I will not reprinting it here.  However, if you really want it I highly recommend picking up the book—it’s so worth it!

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Thanks to a recent question on my blog, I am putting up this long overdue post.

This past Thanksgiving, for a bit of ethnic flair to our traditional holiday dinner, I decided to make a Cambodian dish consisting of steamed pumpkin filled with a coconut custard.  My mother would make it often but she would use a buttercup squash instead.

The ingredients are very simple: a buttercup squash or sugar pumpkin, eggs, coconut milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt (optional).

I had a recipe in my Cambodian cookbook, The Elephant Walk Cookbook, but I also found a recipe online. Both were very similar but I combined elements from each.  From the cookbook, I wrapped my sugar pumpkin with aluminum foil during steaming to better hold the shape together.  Make sure not to fold the foil over and to leave it open at the top.  I also heated up the coconut milk before mixing in the other ingredients along with a pinch of salt.  Besides these changes, you can follow the steps outlined by the recipe halfway down here at Asian Grandmothers Cookbook.

I love the simplicity and deliciousness of this dish and am looking for an opportunity where I can show it off and bring it to a party of some sort.  Enjoy!

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Garlic Sautéed Cauliflower with Sweet and Spicy London Broil

I’ve been cooking a lot more often lately. The other day, I bought a London broil on sale from Ralphs. Well, it was labeled “London Broil” but I’ve since learned that what I actually bought was a flank stank. A London broil is not a cut of meat but a dish; according to Wikipedia:

“London broil is a North American beef-based food dish usually made by broiling or grilling marinated flank or round steak and then cutting it against the grain into thin strips.”

I didn’t want to just broil it plain and found a recipe on the the Food Network’s website for Sweet and Spicy London Broil. I followed the recipe almost exactly with the addition of a squeeze of lime juice and a dash of garlic powder. The paste/rub had such a rich, dark red color and I slathered it on generously.

Additionally, I made super sure that, after letting it rest, my slices were against the grain. This is uber important, especially for this cut of steak, to ensure tenderness. I even looked up an article to make sure I would do it correctly.

I am thrilled with how it came out.  It was so delicious: juicy, spicy, a bit sweet and tangy.  Even Tim, who usually doesn’t eat red meat, gobbled it up. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

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A calorie is a calorie is a calorie right?

Not really.

Now that I’m working on the treadmill again, I’m paying more attention to not only what I eat, but when I eat it.

Some may argue that a 500-calorie meal of steak and veggies is the same as a 500-calorie meal of white rice and fish, but that’s not true, especially when you’re working out.

It’s important to consider where those calories are coming from: fats, protein, carbs and even alcohol should be considered in your caloric makeup.  This is because the body has preferences on what it uses for fuel during certain activities.

If I’m going to do low-intensity, high endurance cardio with the goal of losing body fat, I’m going to avoid eating carbs before hand.  The body prefers to use carbs for fuel.  Without it, the body switches to breaking down body fat (this is the basic concept of the low-carb Atkins diet).  However, if I was running a marathon or something, I would load up on the carbs to make sure I have enough fuel to last for such a long regime.

You have to be careful with the above scenario because the body can also start breaking down muscle for energy and that’s not something you want.  You’ll notice how many of the lead runners in marathons are slender with both little body fat and smaller muscles.

Before weight training or HIIT, I make sure I have some carbs in me. It’s a quicker and better source of fuel for the intense, powerful movements required by lifting weights or high-intensity cardio.  You definitely do not want to get too weak and not be able to complete your reps in good form.  Your main goal here is to build muscle and you need the fuel from carbs to be able to do that.

Alcohol is another thing to look at in terms of fuel because once alcohol is in your system, it is the #1 source of fuel preferred by your body. What this means is that your body will focus on using up the alcohol for energy before it goes to the carbs and stored body fat.  If it never gets a chance to switch to the carbs, the carbs will be converted to fat and stored.

My general guideline is to avoid combining fat and carbs. I still eat the foods I love, like bacon and rice, just not necessarily together. I let my activity dictate what I eat and when.  For example, today I haven’t been very active yet so I don’t need the quick fuel from carbs. I haven’t had much carbs but have eaten sausages, veggies, bacon, eggs, salsa, milk, and cheese.  I’m putting more fat and protein into my body without putting in carbs.  So without carbs and sugars for energy, my body is using the stored fat (and the newly introduced fat that’s being stored) to keep me going.

Later on today, I will be doing my callanetics routine and I will probably eat some rice and fruit so I can ensure I complete my reps in good form without feeling week.

I am definitely starting to see results and my body fat is decreasing - finally!

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This past year has been big for me when it comes to food. There are several items that I used to avoid that I now really enjoy such as bell peppers, bean sprouts and coconut. I’ve also tried new things and have discovered that I really like butternut squash and radishes.

I guess it’s true that our tastes in food changes as we get older. What kid likes vegetables? Yet, as an adult, I am a big fan of tomatoes.

There are 3 things that I still don’t like; this confuses my friends because we have similar tastes in foods and yet I don’t like these items which they all seem to think are awesome: beans, tomatoes and olives. I once saw tomato on a list of umami foods and found that surprising since I’m a big fan of umami flavors. However, I just don’t like tomatoes. Also, I concede that beans are very tasty, but I can’t get over the texture. As for olives, both the flavor and strange texture give me the heebie jeebies.

What about you? Are there foods that you are surprised to now like? On the flip side, are there things that you feel like you should enjoy but don’t?

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