As I round the corner on finishing the Asian Tofu manuscript for submission next week, there is little time for complicated cooking. Nevertheless, a girl has to eat and I’m not one to give up good food just because I have a deadline to meet. I just figure out some simple things to make. Once in a while a friend invites us over and I don’t have to cook and clean!
A couple weekends ago, winemaker Randall Grahm and his wife Chinshu invited us to dinner. You can’t bring wine to a winemaker’s home, so I called and asked what I could contribute in terms of food. A fine cook, Randall had things covered, though he said that if I had time, I could bring an appetizer.
That afternoon, Rory and I went out for our daily walk and when we got home, we had exactly 1 hour to make some snacks and drive to Randall’s house, about 10 minutes away. I fell back on the notion of a spreads and dips as they’re easy and fast. I knew that Chinshu appreciated little Asian twists on things so I pulled out an old stalwart from back pocket – avocado and mint chutney. Then I came with a no-brainer new one – togarashi goat cheese.
As I readied those appetizers, Rory baked toast points and Vietnamese rice crackers (banh trang nuong/banh da) for guests to scoop and spread to their heart’s delight. We arrived at Randall and Chinshu’s home right on time!
Here they are the recipes for you to try out and tinker with:
Avocado and Mint Chutney
This is basically guacamole but with ginger, garlic, green chile, cumin, and mint. I borrowed the idea from Neelam Batra’s The Indian Vegetarian (1994) and adapted to my regular guacamole recipe. If you have some green or mint chutney on hand (recipes are in Asian Dumplings), mash the avocado and stir in the chutney and yoghurt.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon chopped yellow onion1 clove garlic, chopped
½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 Thai or Serrano chile, chopped
Salt
1 large ripe avocado, pitted and roughly chopped
Fresh lemon or lime juice
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped mint leaves
2 tablespoons plain yoghurt
1. Use a mortar and pestle to pound the onion, garlic, ginger, chile and a pinch of salt into a coarse texture. You want the ingredients to shed their liquid. Add the avocado and a few good squeezes of lemon or lime juice. Lightly pound to mash and mix the ingredients together. Stir in the cumin, cilantro, mint and yoghurt.
2. Transfer to a serving bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then taste and adjust the flavor.
Togarashi Goat Cheese
Instead of buying expensive goat cheese already coated with herbs or spices, do it yourself! I put a peppery Japanese coating on a little log of goat cheese. The hardest part was figuring out how to do it without making a mess. You can come up with your own spice blend, perhaps with Sichuan peppercorn for a numbing effect.
Yield depends on the size of the goat cheese
1 log or round goat cheese, any size
Japanese 7-spice pepper blend (nanami/shimichi togarashi)
1. Chill the goat cheese to make it easier to handle. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on your work surface. Sprinkle on some Japanese 7-spice pepper blend (nanami/shimichi togarashi) so that you can set the log atop of it so the cheese does not stick to the plastic.
Put the goat cheese on top of the area covered by the spices, then sprinkle and roll on more of the spices. Use the plastic wrap to efficiently coat the cheese. When you’re satisfied, transfer the goat cheese to a serving plate or wrap it up and you’re ready to go!
2. To serve, slice the cheese into a few rounds to reveal what you have, or else it may look awkward or mysterious to your guests.
With the chutney and cheese, offer toast points, crackers, pita, or tortilla chips! Randall served some amazing Rieslings that paired perfectly with the zesty flavors.
Jenny @ Musings and Morsels says
Ingenious ideas - I love your creativity. I'm in awe that you seem to so easily glide from authentic recipes to modern twists at the drop of a hat. Cannot wait for 'Asian Tofu'. Will there be tofu-based desserts also? Would be interesting to see.
Plumbing pipe says
Look very delicious and refreshing. Perfect to try this summer.I really love eating and I guess i will love this recipe.
Andrea Nguyen says
Jenny: Thanks. Food doesn't stand still and these are simple things I do in my kitchen. I see it as modern food that gets made as we become more global. "Asian Tofu" does have a remarkable little sweets chapter. Thanks for your interest!
ShashaCatering says
Thanks for the exciting dip 😉
business loan says
looks very delicious, besides i love the mint chutney..thanks for the share..
website design says
Hmm very yummy Dish and my mouth is watering by seeing it as i like the Mint chutney the most and i am very crazy about it.I like your Recipe too much.Nice sharing.
Ivy Manning says
Oh goodie! I went nuts and bought a bunch of different types of togarashi while developing rice cracker recipes and now the little jars are taking up too much room in the cupboard. Time for a log of goat cheese to blot it all up. Thanks A!
grow lights says
I like Chutney the most and its with Mint and the Avocado which i like the most.you have added one more dish in my cooking list.Good to see it.
sports injuries in Knutsford says
I like to Togarashi Goat Cheese and it is very testy and best recipe. I like to eating it so much and it is very best recipe of cheese.
Sulfamic acid says
This is a very good point, one I have never really taken the time to think about. I will definitely have to test this out to see if I can benefit from this technique
Thanks
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Mr. Cooking Grill says
I totally loved it! This is my favorite recipe. You have done mind blowing.
marlon says
This is basically guacamole but with ginger, garlic, green chile, cumin, and mint.
cheapnbajerseyssale says
Awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!