The folks at Sundog Books in Seaside, FL were lovely to invite me to sign copies of TRAIL OF CRUMBS this Thursday June 25th starting at 10:30 a.m. Please come by and say hello.

I woke up dreaming of Gulab Jamun, a delicious North Indian sweet of fried dough soaked in condensed milk and flavored with rosewater from Rasika, my new favorite Indian restaurant, where gulab jamun is served with cardamom-spiced ice cream. Lesson learned: When the maitre d’hotel lovingly offers a dessert sampler, say yes, even if you’ve already had the tandoori chicken with black garlic, spinach palak paneer, minced lamb kebab, and English peas with Cabbage (which I wrote about in a recent post). Relax and order a glass of the house-candied ginger Champagne cocktail and make sure to make a note to ask for Farhad, the graceful old-school server who will treat you like a queen.

After a quick call to the restaurant, it seems that Rasika’s chef uses condensed milk and rosewater. The restaurant confirmed their gulab jamun is “like a doughnut, flavored in cardamom and rosewater and soaked with cardamom. It’s North Indian. The chef, Vikram Sunderam from Mumbai, worked at the famed Bombay brasserie in London for 14 years.” A 2009 James Beard nominee, we’re fortunate to have him on this side of the ocean. Rasika is the place to come for full-mouth flavor.

dessert sampler

I usually take my own photos, but the restaurant was too dark for a great shot. I love the abundance in this image from wikipedia:

Gulab Jamun

Now, I’m searching for a recipe so I can try my hand at making these beautiful and satisfyingly sweet treats. Has anyone out there made them?

Hachette Book Giveaway

Choosing only 5 winners for the Hachette Book Giveaway for Asian Heritage Month was a really difficult decision since the food memories were at turns funny, poignant, and heartfelt. The judges at kimsunee.com finally decided on 5 winners (see entries below).

And a few runners-up who will receive a signed paperback edition of Trail of Crumbs: Margaret Arndt, Olga Granda-Scott, Sally Belk King, Milli Choi, Melissa Morin, Mercedes Castillo Hanvey, Amie Kim, and Erin Walsh. To read all the entries, click here

WINNERS in order of date entered:

1. Deb Miller
May 6th, 2009

“Although my mom is a great cook in her own right I think my favorite food memory has got to be remembering the cooking going on around me at my grandparent’s house. Every time I walked in the door it always smelled wonderful. It could be my Grama’s sweedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and green salad with carambola (which for some reason none of my friends had ever seen or heard of), or Papi’s “the best you NEVER had sesame almond” cookies. (My grandparents came to the US from Estonia and had their own way with the english language, which I loved of course) And for dessert ice cold lychee nuts (again for some reason my friends never saw this delicous fruit before eating with us at Grama’s) and Sayah (sp?) a traditional Estonian sweet bread.
My grama passed away last year at 90 and Papi passed away back in 1996. Every time I make sweedish meatballs I think of Grama. This past year at Christmas I made Papi’s “best you NEVER had” cookies and passed them out to friends with a note about Papi and the title of the cookies. I plan to make them every year for Christmas. I am also going to attempt to do Easter eggs with my kids like Grama would make every year. She would dye the eggs the “Estonian way” which is by wrapping them in onion skins. It makes a beautiful marbled yellow gold pattern on the eggs. I just have to research exactly how to do it. Hopefully I will pass on some great food memories to my own kids.”

2. Deborah R
May 6th, 2009

My favorite food memory is of the first time I was allowed to help prepare a family holiday dinner. Mom said no, I was too young, but Aunt Jean waved me into the kitchen when Mom was taking a break and let me prepare…cream cheese stuffed celery. I thought I was so grown up and was so proud of my culinary success. I think I was all of 7 years old lol.

3. Caroline G.
May 9th, 2009

“My favorite food memory is when I was living in Beijing and teaching English back in the 1980s. My English students took me under their wing and cooked for me, a clueless foreigner. I especially loved the dumpling parties, where we would “bao jiaozi” (wrap dumplings). The dinner guests prepared the meal: we would sit around tables: one would mix the flour&water; one would roll out the dough “logs”; one would cut the logs with a cleaver; one would roll out small dough rounds; the rest of us would then fill up the rounds with ground pork seasoned with garlic and Chinese chives, and then squeeze them into dumplings. Mine were always the “ugliest” dumplings, I just couldn’t get the look right. But it wasn’t about the meal itself, it was gathering together to prepare it and enjoy each other, that was the gift. Oh, and the “jiaozi” were heavenly-tasting, too! And I got to practice my Chinese, and they got to practice their English and we enjoyed countless hours this way….good food, laughter, friendship and understanding. They made China my second home. It still is, for I ended up marrying one of them (a student, not a dumpling).”

4. Yashira Laurent
May 10th, 2009

“My grandmother raised me and taught me how to cook at an early age. She used to make this soup dish called “Sanchocho”-we are from the Dominican Republic. I remember watching her as she cut up all the vegetables and herbs, prepared all the different types of meats. The aroma of all of the flavors coming together was something that filled the house. Oftentimes, you would be able to smell it from outside and follow the scent to our house. It was truly a dish that she put her heart and soul into making. Whenever family knew she was making this dish, they would come over to enjoy some of it. A couple of years ago, my grandmother passed away. My aunt and uncle were visiting from out of town a couple of months ago and my aunt asked if I remembered how my grandmother made Sancocho and the ingredients. I invited them over for dinner and was able to recreate the same dish my grandmother used to make and put the same amount of love, if not more to make sure it turned out as I remembered. This was a bittersweet day because the dish turned out just like she used to make it but we all missed her. I remember sitting down at the table knowing had she been there, she would have been proud. She introduced me to my love & passion for cooking.”

5. Elena España
May 10th, 2009

“I always enjoyed food, but in an effort to establish my own identity shunned the ways of my talented mother. I watched my mom growing up, but never wanted to be that woman, the woman that came home from work and cooked for her husband. I was to be an independent woman.
My freshman year of college I met a friend with a passion for cooking. He and I shared tater tots in the dorm cafeteria, doused in lemon, salt and Tabasco when there was nothing else edible to eat and he shared his desires to create wonderfully elaborate meals. One day he got the idea to use the oven that was located in the common area of our dorm. We bought aluminum pans, cut rosemary from plants nearby, went to a local butcher to buy lamb, and bribed some older friends to buy us some red wine. We invited friends to join us in our dorm room; we snuck chairs and tables from the common areas, and set to work. We set the lamb to cook and meanwhile prepared a colorful salad, poured wine, sliced bread all the while in a very cramped space. When we returned downstairs to check our meat a dorm activity was underway – a hypnotist. The smells of our lamb roasting in wine and rosemary filled the room. Embarrassed and hysterical with laughter, we crept by eight students under hypnosis to retrieve our dinner. In fits of laughter we took our meal upstairs, joined our friends and enjoyed what was quite possibly the best meal of our lives; because, after all, we lived in the dorm and ate two dollar meals at the food court whenever we didn’t want to eat in the cafeteria.
This moment changed my relationship with food and my mother. She became something to aspire to, rather than shun. Food with friends and family has become central to my life. It is gift that I share with treasured friends and family. I love to experiment with food, share new finds with those I love, and most of all, with every meal I prepare and savor, I honor my mother.”

Meet the hardest working man in the bagel business. At St. Viateur’s in Montreal, Sergio shows me how he makes bagels, boiling the dough in honey water so the sesame seeds will stick. “We make up to 500,000 a day.” Watch the video

Sergio making bagels at St. Viateur's in Montreal, Canada

St. Viateur's Bagels, Montréal, Canada

pain au chocolat

See more photos and become a fan on the Trail of Crumbs Facebook fan page

Free Summer Reading. My publisher, Hachette Book Group, is celebrating Asian Heritage Month by offering numerous book giveaways.

Here, at kimsunee.com, 5 winners will receive a package of all 5 books. Contest rules below.

Winners receive:

Hachette Book Giveaway

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Trail of Crumbs By Kim Sunée
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles By Jennifer Lee
Transparency By Frances Hwang
Strangers from a Different Shore By Ronald Takaki

CONTEST RULES:

1. At the end of this post, write in the comments section (NO email addresses or links) about why you would like this pack OR tell me your favorite food memory.
2. Email me – kim@kimsunee.com with your complete Name and Address (NO Post Office Boxes) Canada and US ONLY
3. Giveaway will end on May 31, 2009
4. One entry per IP address, home.
5. Winner will be notified by email, and will need to respond before books are sent. Books will be sent within 14 days of confirmation.

Also, please sign up for the Trail of Crumbs Facebook Fan Page.

I started out this morning craving the flavors of India. Maybe I was still dreaming of a recent meal at Rasika in Washington, DC. From the house-candied ginger Champagne Cocktails to the English Peas and Cabbage with mustard seeds to the last fragrant bite of saffron panna cotta, my palate was alive and happy.

English Peas, Rasika Restaurant Washington, DC

In my saffron-induced haze, I gathered spices from my cabinet–smoked paprika, turmeric, saffron salt, sesame seeds, cinnamon, etc.–and came up with this recipe:

Spicy Grilled Chicken photo by Beau Gustafson

SPICY GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS AND LEGS
If you love thighs as much as I do, you’ll enjoy Jim Harrison’s essay Where Have All The Thighs Gone in one of my favorite books, THE RAW AND THE COOKED (see recommended reading on this blog).

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
4 garlic cloves
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
1 serrano chili, stemmed
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (pimenton ahumado)
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
½ tablespoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
juice of 1 fresh lemon
2 pounds bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
2 pounds chicken legs

Purée first 11 ingredients in food processor or blender. With machine running, gradually add oil through feed tube and process until blended. Add yogurt and lemon juice to processor and mix until just blended.

Score thighs and legs with a sharp knife and place chicken in a large glass (or other non-reactive) bowl. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken; rubbing mixture into the meat. Cover and refrigerate minimum 1 hour or overnight.

Prepare grill (medium heat). Place chicken on grill. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning every 10 minutes, about 25 to 30 minutes total. Serve hot or at room temperature. Garnish with fresh lemons and chopped fresh cilantro and mint, maybe a some toasted sesame seeds or nigella.

Serve with grilled Naan and steamed Basmati rice.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER CHICKEN RECIPE or INDIAN RESTAURANT AND WHY?

Is it too early to test cocktails? It’s 5 p.m. in Paris…
I brought back this confit of rose petals–subtly sweet and fragrant–from Montreal. Stir a tablespoon or two into a glass of chilled bubbly…and garnish with a rose petal.

Prosecco with rose petal confit

What’s your favorite summer cocktail?

A few of my favorite things…and some new flavors: chocolate sea salt tart and honeysuckle cream tart…

Market Bounty

Durham, NC market: Scratch's tarts: Chocolate Sea Salt and Honeysuckle Cream

After several days of foie gras and more foie gras, I stopped in at Jun I, a beautiful, simple bar a sushi. Chef Jun Ichi from Kyoto sliced up Salmon with Japanese plum and maple syrup, Kampachi with yuzu miso (a favorite), Artic Char with fresh wasabi and soy, Striped sea bass with ginger, Pernod, and honey and Scallop with Matcha green tea powder and Hawaiian sea salt…Rolls and maki (funny and lucky maki) were also on the menu. Jun I, a Jazz lover, recommended the upcoming Montreal Jazz Fest while we imagined flavor combinations for happy maki, blues maki, and melancholy maki.

Chef Jun Ichi (right)

Uni and Tasmanian trout were my favorites…

Before you leave the neighborhood, stop in next door at Les Touilleurs to sign up for cooking classes or to drool over the selection of Le Creuset cookware, beautiful linens, and more…

Les Touilleurs, Montreal

I couldn’t help myself…yes, there are so many wonderful restaurants in Montréal, but the giddiness and pure joy that emanates from diners and staff at Au Pied de Cochon is addictive (see previous post). The charming Denis greeted us again and suggested asparagus, and another small portion of poutine (see previous post) as well as the impossibly sweet Plogue.

les asperges au restaurant Au Pied de Cochon, Montreal

More poutine:

More Poutine, a small portion, Au Pied de Cochon, Montréal

PLOGUE….this is a dish that is basically a breakfast all-in-one, North American style. A thin buckwheat pancake topped with sliced boiled potatoes, topped with a layer of melted cheese studded with pork, topped with seared foie gras and diced scrambled egg. The whole stack is drenched with maple syrup. I was a little skeptical when Denis suggested the dish–it is achingly sweet but you really can’t stop at one bite. Perhaps a little mince of green apple on top would have been nice to balance the sweetness.

Plogue at Au Pied de Cochon, Montreal

Plogue Au Pied de Cochon, Montreal

When I first asked friends where to eat in Montreal, I was told, ordered in fact, to go to Au Pied de Cochon and report back with every drool-worthy detail. The space is abuzz with beautiful people, but, unlike in certain hot spots in Manhattan or L.A., the only ogling was of other people’s plates–foie gras hamburgers, foie gras with boudin, large portions of braised lamb shanks, and, of course, lots of pig.
I had received a tweet from 2 friends, one from Shaun, a health food editor saying, “order the ‘bite of sin’,” the other from my friend, Dorie: “eat a cromesquis for me…”
So, I started with a coupe de Champagne and these beautiful foie gras explosions. The former food editor in me wanted to cut one open for this photo, but the waiter gently yet firmly commanded: “First you must wait 1 or 2 minutes, zen you put zee whole thing in the zee mouth and close your lips or you spray on zee neighbor.” I did not want to spray hot melted foie gras on zee neighbor, so I took the whole bite. I hadn’t eaten anything like this since my first cromesquis years ago at Marc Meneau’s restaurant in Burgundy. I was in my twenties and still remember the good bites. Here, at au pied, I knew that this was a taste memory in the making. Rich, explosive, and heartbreakingly fleeting…

cromesquis de foie gras, Au Pied de Cochon, Montreal

Poutine. Just the sound of it–Poo-Teen–seems a little naughty. At Au Pied de Cochon, Denis, the lovely man taking our order suggested he make us a half portion (so we could also taste the special of bacon-studded mashed potato pancake topped with sauteed first-of-the-season fiddlehead ferns–violin heads in French–and a soft oozing egg. For those of you poutine virgins (which I was before last night), it’s basically French fries topped with fresh cheese curds and some type of meat gravy. At Au Pied, it’s French fries with fresh seared foie gras, foie gras gravy, and fresh cheddar cheese curds, a bit of salt and parsley. Who needs chili cheese fries when you can have this?
In fact, I would go to sports bars if they served snacks like cromesquis and foie gras poutine…I would even consider tailgating if I could have a foie gras burger.

poutine au foie gras

Terrine de foie gras