nam tok: another beef salad

As the weather is getting warmer and as the mint in the garden is going wild, I thought I would post another beef salad recipe. It is actually the same as Larb, the minced meat salad I posted last year when mint was going wild. So, as an alternative, you can grill your beef, any cut of steak will do. I like to make it with sirloin. You can also pan sear your steak. Then, you just thinly slice the meat and throw in the same ingredients as Larb. There you go, another wonderful way to use up those mint leaves.

food blogger potluck party

thank you Addie for organizing and thank you Penny for hosting. Thank you everyone for bringing out the best food. I will be at the next potluck. You all impressed me. Thank you Addie for bringing this community together. This is why I love Austin.

coconut mango ice cream

I bought a bunch of leftover mangoes that there was no way we will sell them before they go bad. "Make some ice cream", my employee said. I searched and searched for a recipe. My ideal is to make it dairy free, less sweet and with chunks of mango in there. I just came up with my own recipe and here we go (make 2 qt)



6 cups of coconut cream (you can use coconut milk if you can't find coconut cream)
2 cups of sugar
3 mangoes, cut into small pieces
a pinch of salt
3 tbsp of lime juice

Put everything in a pot, bring it to a boil and let simmer for a few minutes.



Blend in a blender or food processor ( keep some full pieces of mango so there are pieces in the ice cream too). Then just follow your ice cream maker directions. Put it on some sweet stick rice and enjoy.

uchi recreated: Thai ceviche

A while back, I went to a food blogger event at Uchi. I went to Uchi a long time ago when they first opened. I wasn't hooked and I don't remember much of it. May be because I went with the wrong group of people, may be I had a bad day, but I never made it back there until the party. I really do admire Chef Cole for his creativity and how he takes care of his foods. I just wasn't too into little foods back then. But these little foods at the party? I was sold. Genius. They were delicious and I was very familiar with the ingredients, Thai chillies, lime juice and fish sauce. So, I recreated this dish and it was the best little foods I have had in a long long time. This is a quick appetizer you can just prep in advance and throw in the sauce when the guest arrive. Pretty and satisfying. The sauce I used is the same sauce in beef salad. I got my tuna from Central Market. Just tell the seafood guys you are looking for sushi grade tuna and they will bring it out from the freezer. Put pieces of tuna over watermelon or other fruits that you might like. But seriously, I have tried to come up with some other fruits but I couldn't possibly replace something that is already perfect, I mean it, the juice, the texture, the color, it was a perfect match. My friend suggested that kiwi might work well. I think I will try that next time. The color will be fun, red and green with little black seeds.