September Review
Recipes from France 🇫🇷 , Thailand 🇹🇭 , Belgium 🇧🇪 & More!
In September we hit some major global cuisine destinations and cooked up recipes that would make you feel like you were traveling but without any of the jetlag. ✈️ 🙌 🤤
Good food has that effect on us… it can transport us to other parts of the globe or even back in time.
In case you missed it here’s a review with some additional notes and also the coffee details for October orders of Octopod Premium Coffee ☕️ shipping out in ~1 week.
Thailand 🇹🇭
This recipe for grilled pork skewers (akak Moo Ping) is one of my favorite direct heat grilling dishes. It’s no secret that I love Thai cuisine for the explosive and expressive flavors… and this recipe along the with accompanying dipping sauce will rival and legit/authentic Thai spot.
So much so, that I rarely order this dish out anymore… I’d rather make myself. 😂
The marinade comes together quickly and does not need to sit long, since we now know all about the myths of marinades.
A couple of notes, I wrote this recipe to use pork tenderloin because it’s lean and cooks quickly… whilst being very tender.
You can use pork collar, which is traditional, and if don’t want to use pork substitute boneless skinless chicken thighs.
This dish is really fun to make for groups, like dinner parties or grill outs… and can be done quickly during the week.
Moo Ping… Certified Dynamite 🧨 Flavor 💣
Spicy Secrets
I’ll be doing these more often, but in this Substack I highlighted 6 of my favorite 🌶 spicy ingredients or condiments that might be lesser known… and then gave cooking/flavor ideas for each one.
This was really fun and should give you some delicious ideas
Also linked in the Substack is one of my favorite Okra recipes that I dropped on Twitter.
Steak & Eggs 🥩 🥚
For all the steak lovers, I dropped a tasty af thread on Steak & Eggs… these aren’t the usual “steak & eggs” … you’ll want to check this out and I also drop alpha on how to properly sear and baste your steak. Enjoy!
Fried Eggs in Cream
Speaking of eggs… if you’re tired of eggs the same way over and over.. guaranteed you have “fried” your eggs in cream.
You’ll want to try this… it’s quick, easy and taste amazing.
All of the instructions are in the thread 🧵 but TLDR: by cooking the eggs in simmering cream, the whites will “souffle” from the steam released, and the milk solids in the cream will brown on the bottom giving you luxurious and delicious eggs. 🙌
Provence 🇫🇷
As Fall is here it made sense to start diving into some hearty stews and braises.
The best part about these dishes is that most of the cooking time is hands off. This means maximum flavor with minimal effort…. for anyone needing to save time but wants delicious flavors, this is the avenue to explore.
We took a trip to Provence, France. This is one of my favorite stews because it takes bold and bright flavors like fennel, orange, tomato, olives and pairs them with lamb. (You can also use beef or goat)
Lamb is severely underappreciated in the West. However, these flavors really all compliment and amplify one another… no marinade or searing necessary… using a a delicious liquid base… you can use a pressure cooker and the cooking time is just 35 minutes… 🙌
Cooking with Kids
This was off the beaten path, but I did a collab with BowtiedTuna on cooking at home with your kids. BowtiedTuna has a substack for families that homeschool. i was homeschooled for a large part of my childhood so this was very near-and-dear to my heart. Anyone working from home or just wanting to introduce cooking to your kids should give this a read. Also check out his wonderful Substack. 🙌
Belgian Beef Stew 🇧🇪
Taking another angle at braises, we went from France to Belgium… one of the beer capitals of the world. I wrote up a good intro to Belgian beers and recommended specifics for the making of this wonderful beef stew.
This recipe was developed based on some older style stews with ingredients that aren’t used much these days… definitely work checking out. You can braise in the oven (set it and forget it!) or use a pressure cooker and it’s done in 35 mins.
This should be a workhorse for meal preps. Perfect for Fall & Winter.
Mushroom Madness 🍄
In this guide we hit over 12 types of mushrooms… flavor profiles, suggested cooking methods and flavors to incorporate.
There is extreme variation in taste and texture with different mushrooms… this guide will be indispensable to getting you out the box and exploring new mushroom varieties.
October Coffee
Last month’s coffees were a hit. One of them was from a micro-lot in Colombia from the famed Del Agua property.
Keep getting dm’s and 5 star reviews which is wonderful to see.
This month the lineup is awesome… featuring a Natural-process Brazilian coffee… super cool 😎 ☕️
You don’t want to miss these ⬇️
Brazil 🇧🇷 (Natural Process):
Tasting Notes: Cocoa Nib, Cashew, Strawberry
Nicaragua 🇳🇮 (Washed Process):
Tasting Notes: Honey, Plum, Cocoa Nibs
Stay tuned for another recipe drop coming soon!