Okay, so my MoFo theme has been South East Asian inspired and I've thus far been pretty much cooking nothing but meals from, or based on recipes from, the region. A great big thank you to my partner, who I'm sure is looking forward one day to a meal without chili. Too bad, suckaaaaaah.
Seriously though, this MoFo business is hard. Well, not hard, but it's certainly a commitment to post every day. This is coming from someone who works full time from home, a job which partly entails blogging whilst wearing one of my multiple combinations of tatty t-shirts (my favourite? a hand painted gray tank with a pig that says "bring on the cakes") and pyjama bottoms (the other part of the job entails pretending I'm actually achieving something). You see, I'm the sort of person who multi-tasks to the such extremes that I often don't finish anyth.*
If you're wondering what any of this has to do with MoFo, and if I'm ever actually going to get to the point, then allow me to give you a breakdown of my average day. Anything that takes logical skills happens in the morning, my most productive time of day. This is when websites get coded, paperwork gets dealt with (my S.O. will laugh when he reads this), designs are completed, and plans get made.
Somewhere in the ballpark of 11:00-12:00 I crave foodstuffs and engage in a quite vocal argument with myself over whether or not I should make something quick so I can get back to work, or whether I should work on that recipe idea I came up with the other week while the light's still good enough to photograph the end result. The latter is the decision I've come to most days of MoFo.
So I have a hoard of ideas and stacks of pictures to back them up, mainly of concoctions that aren't yet quite ready to share. Here are a few of those [arguably somewhat half-arsed] images, all of which have been born out of ideas for MoFo posts. At least a couple will become recipe posts here eventually. Sometime this century, I expect.
Sticky Black Rice and Banana
This is a win, and super easy; a real starting point for sticky rice virgins.
Sometimes I think I use semicolons too much.
A medly of sweet potatoes with coconut mushroom spread and salty fried tofu in Tom Kha
That's with two types of steamed sweet potato and this coconut mushroom dip, plus ultra thin pressed firm tofu fried in flaky salt. The base is similar to that used in these green curry duchesse potatoes.
Vegan Tofu Amok
It's going to be dreamy once I get it right. I consumed a few great amoks in Cambodia and I just have to get it right here at home.
Shiitake mushrooms in pandanus leaf with sweet garlic chili sauce
Based on a dish I had in a restaurant in Nothern Thailand, this is mushroom pieces with toasted sesame wrapped in screwpine (pandanus) leaves. They impart a fabulous flavour.
*Didja get it? Good job, buddy. But really, I work in design. Jokes aren't my forte.