Shopping, shopping, shopping to turn up an ex-pat kitchen

[ChiFlyer]

I went a little off script tonight and lucked into something that was both healthy and very tasty.

I usually make some kind of sandwiches on Saturday Night. This is because these are usually not big time commitments and Friday and Sunday are usually my more serious cooking nights.

I had Avocado Tuna Sandwiches on the schedule.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/recipes/this-avocado-tuna-sandwich-is-a-creamy-crunchy-dream/ar-BB1fzeC8?li=BBnb7Kz

Late in the day I thought a little carb reduction might be called for after pigging out on Latin Fried Chicken and Fried Bananas the night before. 

I decided to change this over to an Avocado Tuna Salad. It worked out amazingly well. There were a few recipe modifications in addition to losing the bread and buying a bag of mixed salad at Tops.

• One of my avocados was not quite ready to be eaten, so I only used 1 instead of 2.
• The prior night's dinner was a little heavy with cumin, so I eliminated it from the salad. I doubled the amounts of garlic powder and red pepper flakes to compensate for this.

I have to say that it turned out really well and I have replaced the sandwich with the salad in my rotation. The sandwich was pretty good in it's own right, but I like the salad that much better and I am certainly not running at a carb deficiency by any means.

A pic

 

[ChiFlyer]

A while back I made a series of posts about Italian Sausage offerings that are available in the Pattaya area. I have found a new one that I like better than any of the others. @expatdude you might be interested in this.

What I have been looking for is something that is similar to the Johnsville Sweet Italian Sausage (some would say Chicago style) that is available in the US. I did not find that, but I found something that I think is just as good and maybe better.

I made a small order from Jet Italian. They are located in Bangkok and there is a flat 250 delivery fee to the Pattaya area. I bought 3 sausages for 179 and obviously the 250 delivery fee. I overpaid in total for a first try in order to gauge their product.

https://jetitaliandeli.com/products/salsiccia

The sausages were excellent. I will order them again, but look to build a larger order to leverage the flat delivery fee farther. The sausages were delivered chilled, but not frozen. In looking over their menu they have many other items that I would be interested in.

Because I was a first time customer they gifted me a 1 oz jar of white truffle sauce and some bread to spread it on. Very tasty. I should have taken a pic,  but it was gobbled down before I thought to do so. 

What got me to thinking about this is I had a taste for a previously posted recipe for Roasted Italian Sausages and Bell Peppers. I had found a new version of that dish that I wanted to try.

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/275499/sheet-pan-sausage-peppers/

I like this version better, as it eliminated the potatoes and makes better use of the cheese and garlic. I have never seen a fennel bulb in the Pattaya area, so I substituted 1/2 tsp of ground fennel seeds.

The sausage

Out of the oven

 

Also, as a note -> I temp pork sausages at 165 F. It took 18 minutes for the sausages to come up to temp. I have left my self a note to give the veggies a 7 minute head start on the 18 minute sausages and garlic time. I also turn the sausage at their half way point and rotate the baking sheet as well. 

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

In case anyone is interested, one of the US Summer fruits that I miss living here in Thailand are fresh peaches. I have seen frozen ones available, but not the same thing IMO.

We were shopping at Villa Market today and they had some fresh peaches. Do not get too excited. They are the white flesh donut variety. They are almost prohibitively expensive. They sell 4 in a plastic container for 320. Not exactly a Georgia Melba. Still they were decent enough and I got to scratch an itch a little. 

[ChiFlyer]

Pene, Fish, and Summer (USA) Vegetables

There was a recipe that I enjoyed making in the US. It was Pene, Swordfish, Eggplant, and Tomatoes.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/sicilian-penne-with-swordfish-and-eggplant-recipe-1946952

It comes together quickly and IMO is very tasty. While still in he US, I changed the recipe from Eggplant to Zucchini, as I found the eggplant was a little too chewy for my tastes. I liked the zucchini version better. I had been looking for a substitute for the swordfish here in Thailand. I was going to go out to the Naklua Fish Market and try and find a fillet of a firmer fish (mahi mahi, parrot, grouper). With the current Covid outbreak showing no signs of abating, I decided a trip to a usually crowded market might not be wise at this time. I went over to Makro on Sukhumvit to see what was available. 

This Makro has a huge seafood section, but most of the fish are large whole fish which was more than I wanted to deal with. I did find a decent Tuna fillet and decided to go with that. It turned out reasonably well. Although the pics do not show it, I found that if I reduced the size of the fish cubes into 3 or 4 smaller pieces that the dish was tastier. The reason for this is that compared to swordfish, tuna is dryer. This has less of an impact if the tuna is cut into smaller pieces. I would still sear them as cubes before cutting the cubes up.

Anyway a few pics.

 

     

Edited June 29, 2021 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Home Made American Corned Beef

I had not been able to find a corned beef that I like here in the Pattaya area. I decided to give it a try to make my own. This is a 10 to 17 day process (depending on how long one cures the brisket) and requires sufficient refrigerator space for the curing (pickling) process.

I used the following recipe.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/home_cured_corned_beef/

This recipe requires quite a few spices that one may not have on hand. Lazada and Makro in combination had all of them. I already had many of them but had to buy a few. Also, please note that the pink pickling salt (described in the recipe) is not Himalayan Salt. The Pickling Salt can be seriously toxic if not properly handled. This is a pic of the pickling salt that I bought from Lazada. This is what makes the corned beef red. I am told that grey corned beef tastes the same, but IMO it does not taste the same. We eat secondly with our eyes. Number 1 is the nose.

Pic of pickling salt

Also of note, the recipe specifies using a mortar and pestle to lightly crush the toasted spices. I put the toasted spices in a small pie pan and crushed them lightly with the back of a large serving spoon. You do not want to pulverize the spices in a spice grinder. The objective is to lightly crush them to better release their flavors. The flavors from many of these spices (black peppercorns, allspice, …) comes from oils that can be damaged by a vigorous machine grinding process. 

I bought a 6 kg brisket at Makro. The cost was 290 per kg. I gave half to the GF so that she could use that to prepare an Isan dish that she wanted to make. It was not bad at all. I would say that it was the Thai version of Beef Jerky.

I also cut off 1 kilo to use in a Cuban style Ropa Vieja dish that I was preparing later that week. That left me with 2 kilos to use in the pickling process for the Corned Beef.

Pic of the brisket

Pic of the cut up brisket sections

 

Creating the brine is a full day affair as the recipe indicates. There is not much labor involved, just hours of simmering and then cooling. Good day to catch-up on a few movies that one has been wanting to watch.

Pic of toasting the spices

Pic of the spice mix

Pic of making the cure

I then stored the brisket in the brine in the fridge for 10 days, turning it over every day. If your brisket floats in the brine, put a plate on it as the recipe describes.

Pics of the curing process

Day 1 pic

Day 4 pic

Cooking the cured brisket is a half day affair, but again not at all laborious. More movies. I added 3 crushed garlic cloves and a TBSP of the spice mix to the water and brisket.  I brought that to a boil and then simmered for 3 to 4 hours. Here is a pic of the end product.

Pic of cooked brisket

This is overall obviously a long process, but again not all that laborious. The result was very good and much better than any other alternative that I have seen available here in Pattaya.

The GF tried a small piece and said “oh you make good plo”. I guess I should look into what plo is.

Also, I am freezing 1/2 of the corned beef. One has to be a little careful about how they wrap frozen corned beef. Here are the instructions. I use heavy duty aluminum foil instead of a plastic bag for the final layer.

https://www.diys.com/corned-beef/

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

On 01/07/2021 at 00:57, ChiFlyer said:

Home Made American Corned Beef

I had not been able to find a corned beef that I like here in the Pattaya area. I decided to give it a try to make my own. This is a 10 to 17 day process (depending on how long one cures the brisket) and requires sufficient refrigerator space for the curing (pickling) process.

 

I used the following recipe.

 

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/home_cured_corned_beef/

 

I used some of the Corned Beef to make Rueben Sandwiches the other night. They turned out well.

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a23872214/classic-reuben-sandwich-recipe/

A few pics

 

[ChiFlyer]

Chicken Provencial

When I was in London for a few weeks about 20 years ago, I became fond of Mediterranean Food. I came across a new recipe of this type that I thought was worth a try. It is healthy, low-cal, and pretty easy to throw together at about 1 hour.

https://www.eatthis.com/chicken-provencal-recipe/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=msn-feed

The recipe as written produces a result that I consider to be a little dull. Still the base taste is interesting to the point that I will attempt this again with some modifications.

• I will add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes with the onion
• The end result needs salt and pepper to taste. The recipe does not state this, but still this is mainly on me. One should always taste before serving and add as need be.
• The dish needs a side, probably a grain of some kind. Neither rice nor couscous feels right. I think something lighter is called for. I will look into this.

A few pics - oh the little black things used to finish are chopped Kalamata Olives. They set everything else off nicely.

In the pot

Finished to serve

Plated

 

[ChiFlyer]

Pene in Vodka Sauce and Homemade Garlic Bread

About 30 years ago, I worked in the heart of the Chicago Loop for 5 years. There was a small take out place a couple of blocks from work that had some really good inexpensive (by Chicago Loop standards) food. I can not remember the name of the place right now. Maybe it was the comely Mexican lady server that I liked. She had black eyes and full lips. I tried. The Gringo was appropriately shut down.

One of their dishes that I liked (and tried to avoid because of the carb count) was Pene in Vodka Sauce.

I had not thought about this in quite some time. I noticed a recipe for this dish recently and decided to give it a try. I wanted to serve garlic bread with it. I was going to buy a heat it up frozen package, but Villa Market was out of it. I had a recipe for homemade garlic bread on hand, so I gave that a go as well.

This combo keeps one hustling in the kitchen. Overall it only takes one hour, but getting things to time well hot to the table requires non-stop attention. Given that this was a first try for both recipes, I will give myself an overall A-. The Thai GF liked the food as well.

The Pene in Vodka Sauce turned out really well I thought and the GF agreed.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/penne-with-vodka-sauce-recipe-1973607

The Homemade Garlic bread was good, but a lesser success. First time out on this, I pulled it about 2 minutes too early and it was not as crispy as it should have been. Also, the bread was not quite right. It should have been a French or Italian thin crusted white bread. Still the taste was very good.

Garlic Bread.pdf

A few pics

The pene in vodka sauce

The garlic bread

Plated

 

[ChiFlyer]

Homemade Cornbread

I had been thinking to make a side of cornbread the next time I made chili. I have been looking around the web for recipes to consider. I found the following one.

https://www.blessthismessplease.com/the-best-cornbread-recipe/

I had never made cornbread before and this one sounded pretty straight forward. I added a diced jalapeno to give it a little zip. It turned out decent. The GF is not enthusiastic about this one so far. I will make the following changes for a second attempt some day.

• Dice two jalapenos
• Cut the sugar in half to 2 TBSP

A pic

 

[ChiFlyer]

Picadillo - Cuban Hamburger Stew

I initially watched this dish being made by Dan Souza on ATK. The man is very talented so I gave it a try.

I made this dish in the US a few times and tried it here in Thailand recently.

Picadillo.pdf

This dish is quite savory, but I will add some heat to it the next time I make it. Probably 1 tsp of cayenne at the same time as the oregano.

I used ground sirloin (in my food processor) instead of the 85% ground beef. I prefer leaner dishes.

I used sherry vinegar instead of red wine vinegar as I thought that would be a better taste.

All in all this dish turned out very well, but both the GF and I thought it could use some heat.

Some pics.

Ingredients

 

 

Cooking

 

 

Plated with Jasmine Rice and Fried Bananas

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Beef and Onion Ragu with Rigatoni

I had prepared this dish a couple of times in the US, but this was the first time I tried it here in Thailand. This is another ATK recipe. It has a deep meaty flavor. On the downside it takes about 4 hours to prepare, requires a decent food processor, and requires a couple of what some might consider specialty Italian ingredients (pancetta and a good salami). I bought the pancetta and salami at Stile Italiano on Jomtien Second Road near soi 5.

https://www.facebook.com/italianodeli/

A lot of the 4 hours cooking time is letting it cook low and slow in the oven with only an occasional glance, so this is another good recipe for catching up on your movie list. The GF liked it a lot, saying it had a very good taste. I used dried marjoram, as I have never seen fresh marjoram in any store here in Thailand. A crusty bread would have been good with this, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead.

The recipe - with a good explanation as to why this works

Rigatoni with Beef and Onion Ragu.pdf

Some pics

The base ragu coming out of the oven

In the pot ready to be served

Plated - dusted with freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Edited August 22, 2021 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Korean Beef Bulgogi

I worked on the East Coast of the US for 7 years. One of my co-workers (for about 2 years) was a US vet with time in Korea. With regard to IT road projects you get to know each other. He was needless to say a big fan of Korean food and always spoke well of Beef Bulgogi. I went with him several times to a few different Korean restaurants. I was ok with what we sere served, but not wow'd. 

More recently, I had noticed some recipes for the dish while going through Asian food recipes on the net. I decided to try preparing the dish fresh at home. Big difference. I used the following recipe.

https://damndelicious.net/2019/04/21/korean-beef-bulgogi/

Both the GF and myself really liked it. I served it over Jasmine rice. The recipe suggests a side of Kimchi. I did not do that. The key ingredient to this dish is Gochujang Sauce. It is my favorite discovery since Sambal Olek. It does have a kick

Anyway a few pics

A small package of Gochujang that I bought at VM

Served

Plated

 

[ChiFlyer]

Linguine with Shrimp in Lemon Oil

This is the first time I made this recipe in Thailand. It was a couple of times a year favorite of mine in the US. It is relatively quick to make (under 1 hour) and has a good lemony taste.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/linguine-with-shrimp-and-lemon-oil-recipe-1947480

I made a few changes here in Thailand:

• I use fresh shrimp instead of frozen, so only cook them for one minute per side.
• I use baby spinach instead of arugula. This also increases your cooking time, so another reason for the shorter initial shrimp cooking time.

A few pics:

In the pan

Plated

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken (slightly pimped up)

I have not done one of these posts in a while, mainly because I have pretty much cycled through most of my recipe lineup. 

I have always liked a good Caesar Salad, so I decided to make one. It turned out really good. The Thai GF was wowed. I was actually a little impressed with myself on this one.

I used this recipe as a starting point, but added a few things.

https://iambaker.net/chicken-caesar-salad/

I grilled the chicken breasts myself. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. 4 minutes per side on a cast iron grill pan and check for 165 F with a thermometer.

I prepared 6 slices of bacon in the oven. I prefer to cook bacon this way, as it is less oily.

https://www.popsugar.com/food/How-Bake-Bacon-7525584

I bought a bag of garlic flavored croutons on Lazada.

A pic

 

[ChiFlyer]

Italian Wedding Soup

I tried something new this weekend and it turned out well. I have been trying to lose a few kilos, once again, so I have been making a pot of soup each weekend and using this for lunches during the week. This weekend I made Italian Wedding Soup for the first time.

https://www.eatthis.com/italian-meatball-soup/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=msn-feed

This recipe alone and by itself is rather bland IMO. I added 1/2 tsp dry basil, 1/4 tsp dry oregano, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. I also seasoned the veg with salt and pepper as I cooked them. I used De Cecco pastina for the pasta. I reduced the chicken broth to 5 cups and cut back the pasta accordingly. I will add some garlic early on the next time I make this. oh - I could not find endive, so I substituted baby spinach. 

I used ground pork for the meatballs. They were a little too firm. I will likely use a pork and beef mixture next time

Anyway a few pics

The meatballs - mix the ingredients with your fingers extended and do not squeeze the meat mixture. Rinse your hands with cold water before rolling the balls lightly. hmmm - that sounds a little weird.

The soup prior to adding the meatballs

A bowl of soup

 

[ChiFlyer]

Basque-Style Chicken.

Had a success with a new recipe tonight. I noticed this recipe while putzing around one night and decided to give it a try. It turned out very well IMO. The GF agreed.

https://www.lovefood.com/recipes/78807/michel-roux-jr-basquestyle-chicken-recipe

A few changes were necessary because a few ingredients are not readily available in Thailand.

• I have never seen New Potatoes anywhere in the Banglamung area. I did find red potatoes at Villa Market. I peeled those (GF does not like the skin) and cut them into pieces approximating what the New Potatoe ingredient would have looked like.
• There is no way that anyone is going to find piment d’espelette in the Banglamung area. I substituted the recommended 50-50 combination of Cayenne Pepper and Smoked Paprika.
• I cut all ingredients by 50%. Otherwise, I would have had enough food for a small battalion. As part of this, I used 4 bone-in chicken thighs.

Like I said I was very happy with the way it turned out.

A few pics.

Ready to serve.

Plated

[ChiFlyer]

I have been reading up on one baking sheet recipes. These are usually about an hour to prepare and pretty easy on the cleanup, providing you cover the baking sheet with either aluminum foil or parchment paper. The GF appreciates the effort to reduce the cleanup effort.

Roasted Salmon with Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli.

This recipe caught my interest, as I am looking to up the percentage of Salmon in my diet.

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/281181/sheet-pan-salmon-with-sweet-potatoes-broccoli/

The GF and I agreed that this was pretty good and worth repeating. The only disappointment was that Makro (where I like to buy salmon) only had purple sweet potatoes on this particular day. I find these to be bland compared to the orange flesh ones. Looking forward to a second attempt with the orange flesh sweet potatoes.

A few pics

Roasted Salmon

Roasted Veg

Plated

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

I made another single sheet recipe the following night. Actually, because of my smaller oven, I have to use two small baking sheets. 

Gnocchi with roasted Summer vegetables

https://www.simplyscratch.com/sheet-pan-gnocchi-with-summer-vegetables

You can tailor this recipe to whatever vegetables you prefer. I would strongly advise using both the cherry tomatoes and the zucchini, as they both go very well with the gnocchi, especially the roasted tomatoes. Various choices are listed in the recipe.

The GF and I both liked this one as well. I will likely experiment with it a little. Both asparagus and sweet corn sound like good alternative options.

A few pics

Roasted Gnocchi and cherry tomatoes

Roasted Yellow Bell Peppers and Zucchini

Plated

[ChiFlyer]

Korean Rice Bowl

I spend some time flipping through recipe recommendations on foodie internet sites. This one caught my eye for ease of preparation and melding of flavors.

https://ifoodreal.com/korean-ground-beef-and-rice-bowls/

With that said, I also felt that the recipe as stated was an American housewife version of pretend Korean food. I changed it considerably. The results were pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The GF very much likes this one.

I do thank the original recipe author for the inspiration, although I strongly suspect that she is not reading this site.

The changes:

• Season the ground beef (I use sirloin - less fat and oil) with salt, pepper, and a touch of red pepper flakes
• For the sauce
  • Reduce soy sauce by 1 TBSP down to 4 TBSP
  • Add 1 TBSP Fish Sauce
  • Use 2 TBSP Honey not 3 TBSP Maple Syrup (I use local honey from Isan)
  • Add 1 TBSP Korean Chili Paste (Gochujang) to sauce
• Cut Veggies into 1/4 inch cubes and take off eggplant skin. Japanese Eggplant works better for this recommendation.
• Double the garlic
• Change Veg order with regard to adding to the pot
  • Eggplant (for 3 mins)
  • Peppers and Zuccinni (for 6 mins more)
  • Tomatoes near the end of veg cooking

Pics

Finished in the pot

Plated over rice

Edited April 25, 2022 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Sloane's - Online Food Delivery

Up front I will agree that this is an expensive solution. I am a fairly serious home cook, who does put a lot of time and effort into meal planning and preparation. This is probably my number 1 hobby at this point, so I am willing to pay up a little to get what I want. Usually, I can find with confidence the items I want at places like Villa Market and Makro. 

One exception to this has been the less expensive cuts of beef that I use such as Skirt Steak, Flat Iron, and Flank. Granted I have seen these at the stores I frequent, but it is often hit or miss. I have tried substituting other cheaper beef cuts (Top Round for one), but that has been disappointing at best.

I was poking around the internet and I stumbled onto Sloane's in Bangkok.

https://www.sloanes.co.th/product-category/beef/

They appear to go out of stock on these items at times, but based on my recent experiences that seems to be remedied quickly. I am guessing that they keep a small inventory on hand and I think that may well speak to the freshness of what they are doing.

As you will see at the link, their items are nowhere near being inexpensive, but this approach could address a shortcoming that I want to address. Also, this is a Bangkok to Pattaya delivery, so the delivery charge is 500 THB. The items are delivered frozen, whereas I would prefer fresh, but this is still an improvement for me.

I just put in my first order last night for one each of Flat Iron and Skirt Steak. Despite the holiday weekend Sloane's has committed to a Tuesday delivery. I will report back about how happy I am with the quality of the products.  

I am hoping that a couple of times a year I can order several of these items and then use them over say a 6 week period.

I am aware that I could have probably dug some of these items out of Makro's frozen beef bins, but I did no really like that idea. Ok, I am fussy and lazy.

oh - and I have had some success at times for harder to find items at the following site, but not for these particular items.

https://passiondelivery.com/en/catalogsearch/result/?q=beef

hmm - at this time Passion does carry a few of these items, but they see to be sourcing many of them from Sloane's. Passion is also a Bangkok business with a hefty delivery fee to Pattaya.

Again, this is not my usual shopping method (too bloody expensive), but it is nice to scratch an itch a few times a year.

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Coarse Salt

In the US I was very fond of Morton's Coarse Kosher Salt. The larger grains really adhere to hot food better and IMO just has a cleaner healthier flavor than standard smaller grained iodized salt. Lazada does carry Morton's salt, but not the coarse kosher variety. I was a bit obsessed with this and paid some heavy fees to have my preferred product imported into Thailand once a year. I got tired of being exploited, so I started doing searches and trials for locally available alternatives.

As a side note I do use the smaller grain iodized salt for a brine. It is cheaper and it gets the osmosis part of the job done without negatively affecting flavor IMO.

Anyway, I have recently found an item on Lazada that I am happy with. It is a coarse iodized sea salt. From what I am understanding from my readings this is healthier and more sustainable than the Kosher variety that I was so enamored with. I have been using the Coarse Sea Salt variety that I found on Lazada for the last week and I like it better than the Morton's product.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/500-la-baleine-coarse-sea-salt-iodized-500-g-i3670239991-s13832671670.html?search=1&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.i40.3e876a2eTJuaR5

IMO the type of salt that one uses greatly impacts the quality of the food being prepared.

More on salt than you probably would ever want to know.

https://www.jessicagavin.com/types-of-salt/

 

[taylor1975]

Great food pics! 

...could i ask what red wine you drink in thailand. And a rough price/volume. Cheers.

[ChiFlyer]

20 hours ago, taylor1975 said:

Great food pics! 

...could i ask what red wine you drink in thailand. And a rough price/volume. Cheers.

Sure - in the US I tended to drink Oregon Pinot Noirs. I prefer red wines and as I have gotten older (73 now) Cabs and later on Merlots became a little too harsh for my no longer 19 year old body.

As I am pretty sure that you are already aware, taxes and import fees make wines ridiculously expensive in Thailand. Regularly scheduled US imported bottles of Pinot Noirs from Oregon would require a significant budget program rewrite.

I discovered, after a while, that French wines are a little more reasonably priced here. I noticed that my two favorite French restaurants (L'Aubergie and Au bon Coin) served very nice varieties of "Cotes du Rhone" that approximated the Oregon Reds that I preferred.

These wines are still nowhere near being economical, but hey one needs to provide for the bear necessities.

I tend to buy my reds at "The Wine Connection". This is a chain store in Thailand. There is one on Pattaya Beach Road in the "Royal Garden Plazza". There is also one on Thappraya in Jomtien just South of Phratamanak. The later is where I tend to go.

A bottle of the "Cotes du Rhone" that I prefer currently goes for 750.

For cooking I do use White Wines more frequently than Reds. I usually find pretty decent Sauvignon Blancs in Villa Market for about 900. I am sure that one could do better than this, but I like getting the White Wine shopping done with the grocery shopping. In the US I tended to use Pinot Griegos, but in Thailand I find the Sauvignon Blancs to be more dependable with regard to quality.

Oh, and since we are talking about alcohol, if anyone notices where I can buy Monte Alban Mescal, please let me know. Yes, this is the one with the worm in the bottle. It was a ritual in my post-college years that I much enjoyed.

https://www.google.com/search?q=monte+alban+mezcal&source=hp&ei=-kGBYqzhBPPA3LUPtZWF2Ac&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAYoFQCjyztc17F6SGeON3hx-jz0NtnLK1&oq=monte+alba&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYAjIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQ6BAguEEM6BAgAEEM6CAgAELEDEIMBOg4ILhCABBCxAxCDARDUAjoICAAQgAQQsQM6DgguELEDEIMBEMcBEKMCOgsILhCABBCxAxCDAToKCC4QxwEQ0QMQQzoHCC4Q1AIQQzoFCC4QgAQ6CwguEIAEEMcBEK8BOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToLCC4QsQMQgwEQ1AI6BQgAELEDOggILhCABBDUAjoFCAAQkQI6CAguEIAEELEDOgsILhCABBCxAxDUAlAAWIYaYMQ0aABwAHgAgAF4iAGtB5IBAzcuM5gBAKABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by ChiFlyer

[taylor1975]

Brilliant ...thanks!

[ChiFlyer]

Seared Scallop Pasta

Tried a new recipe tonight. Actually, I merged two recipes to come up with a version that I liked. In reading the main pasta recipe I noticed that the scallop searing part was at odds with a seared scallop recipe that I had faith in. The searing times in the pasta recipe were just too long.

I instead seared the scallops with Alton Brown's recipe. I went a little longer than Mr. Brown's recommended 90 seconds per side and regretted doing so. The scallops were a little over cooked. Still decent enough, but could could have been better.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/seared-scallops-recipe-1916984

I then switched over to the pasta recipe, making one significant change. Instead of adding 1/4 cup of pasta water, I added 1/2 cup of white wine. I also increased the garlic and hit the finished product with a decent shot of freshly ground black peppercorns. I liked the result.

https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/pan-seared-scallops-pasta/#wprm-recipe-container-5826

 

Coming off of the stove.

 

Plated

 

Mr. Brown differentiates between Dry and Wet scallops. I think I had the dry ones, as they fit the description. One wants to use dry if possible

https://fishex.com/scallops/wet-vs-dry

Scallops are hard to find around Bang Lamung. I found some Japanese ones on Lazada. I have also seen some in the frozen seafood area in Central Festival. The Lazada package only had 7 scallops, so you might want to order 2 packages.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/190-210-g-natural-coast-japanese-scallop-sashimi-grade-fooddeehub-i2114294445-s7101582479.html?clickTrackInfo=query%3Ascallops%3Bnid%3A2114294445%3Bsrc%3ALazadaMainSrp%3Brn%3A0bd093cd969045e40cc5a26ad05e8b3a%3Bregion%3Ath%3Bsku%3A2114294445_TH%3Bprice%3A495.00%3Bclient%3Adesktop%3Bsupplier_id%3A100183992064%3Basc_category_id%3A14127%3Bitem_id%3A2114294445%3Bsku_id%3A7101582479%3Bshop_id%3A1582169&search=1&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.i40.5b982412vsvNvc

The somewhat humorous thing about this adventure, is that I made this dish because the GF likes scallops. She came down with a bit of a stomach problem (too much papaya salad the day before I suspect) and could not even sit at a table smelling cooked seafood.