Chiang Mai- A Foodie's Vacation

“What? You’re not stopping over at Bangkok?” My friends asked, quite surprised when I told them that I was flying out to Chiang Mai for five days from Singapore the second week of my vacation. I’ve been to Bangkok about 4 or 5 times before and I think I’ve out grown it. I remember my first trip to Bangkok; I must have been about 13. I was waiting outside an Arts and Crafts shop in the Night Bazaar while my parents were trying to get the best price (i.e. HAGGLING) for some items when this Sleazy and Greasy European Old Fart approached me and tried to push some Baht notes into the palm of my right hand. I was overcome by surprise at first; I couldn’t make out what he was saying to me. I glanced around for help and that was when I put two and two together. There were ‘Street Walkers’ soliciting at every few metres and this idiot had mistaken me for one of them. I’ve been told many times by Thais that I look like a local, but hang on, I was 13! Sure, I had too much make up on for a 13 year old but I was dressed decently, a little too mature maybe, but decent. We’ve all been there, we want to look as grown-up as possible when we’re teenagers, and as young as we possibly can when we’re my age. SIGH!

Anyhow, the last few trips to Bangkok with my family were, I felt, not very suitable for the girls. Bangkok is too ‘worldly’ for them, I mean the sex industry isn’t exactly low key and there’s too much reality for them to handle at their age. At my age on the other hand, I don’t like too much of a hustle and bustle type place anymore, I’m too laid back these days and prefer a serene countryside with simultaneous mountain and river views like Chiang Mai for a holiday destination. So, are you ready to share the glimpses of my Chiang Mai vacation? Here we go..

Kaohom Cooking School – A Thai Culinary Treasure




When I was planning this holiday, I did a bit of research via the Internet on the Cooking Classes offered in Chiang Mai. I read some really funny comments by tourists who took cooking classes in the kitchens of local’s homes. There was also the very famous Cooking School in Four Seasons Hotel where in the midst of the class, an elephant is ushered by. I didn’t want frills, that’s for sure, and nothing too commercialised. When I came upon the Kaohom website, I knew I had found the cooking school I wanted. It is highly recommended by ‘Lonely Planet’ and I must say I was impressed with what I saw. Still, I had some reservations with what to expect as from past experiences I have found that photos on websites are highly edited and can be really deceiving.
On the scheduled day, we were picked up from our hotel at 10am and chauffeured to Kaohom. It was a pleasant 30-minute drive out of the city. When we finally arrived, we were all “Ooooh and Arhhhs!” – Kaohom was every bit as beautiful as what I saw on the Internet! The cooking school is set in the middle of a lush estate with manicured lawns and gorgeous landscaping. Kanchana (our cooking instructor) and her assistants were there to welcome us as we got out of the car, and what a warm welcome it was. At that moment, I felt like I was on the set of ‘Fantasy Island’. It was almost surreal.


This photo collage is made up of pictures we took of the surrounds of the cooking school. Isn't the caterpillar a beauty?

Kanhana gave us a tour of the cooking school – the place was so immaculate and beautifully organized. There was an indoor cooking class and an outdoor cooking class set under a gazebo. The weather was exceptionally cool that day, perfect for cooking outdoors. Kanchana or ‘Tim’ as she introduced herself as, made us feel as though we were in the company of an old friend, we felt really at home.


This is me, with my head cut off, doing the prep work for our dishes.


Ming, all pleased with himself for completing the prep work before me. Paige in the background.


We were shown how to make beautiful garnishes out of chillies and carrot as part of our 'Botannical Delights' class. Isn't it fantastic!!??


Our lovely cooking Instructor, Tim, showing Chloe how to put the ingredients together for the Fried Corn Cakes.


Cucumber Relish - the accompaniment for the Fried Corn Cakes


Paige enjoying the experience.. and me, looking on.


Fried Corn Cakes - They were soooooooooooooo yummy! After we cooked each dish, we sat down together alfresco style and ate together while the food was piping hot!


Ooooooooo, Green Mango Salad! I'm salivating just thinking of the sweet and sour flavours!


Deep Fried Talipia Fillet - beautifully crisp eaten with the green mango salad, truly a match made in food heaven!


This is the point of difference that Tim offers in her cooking school, trade secrets! No cook book is going to tell you how to get the freshest, best tasting peanuts for your Pad-Thai!


Ming, stir-frying the Pad-Thai like a pro!


Yay! I can make Pad-Thai!


This is the Best Pad-Thai that I've ever tasted - and I made it myself! Tim uses the freshest and best quality ingredients.


Ms Kanchana Ubolsootvanich, 'Tim', our lovely hostess and cooking instructor. I have so much respect for this lady- she runs the school professionally with her carefully orchestrated teaching powered by her passion for Thai cuisine culture. Tim is a single mom who raised her two sons and put them through College and continued studies abroad single handedly. Hard work and long hours continue for Tim as she manages the school and does the prep work for her restaurant, the renowned 'Wanlamoon' which is accredited by Thailand's most prestigious gourmet critique every single day. Tim has no culinary training but learned her cooking skills from watching her own mother cook as a little girl. We had a teary-eyed moment as she shared her inspiring story with us.


After the tears, we need dessert! This is the pumkin custard we made - it was nothing short of AMAZING!


We chattered more over an aromatic cup of coffee...


We really had an excellent time together. Here's Kanchana laughing at one of Ming's Jokes...


Another shot of Tim - she sure is petite!


We all had such a fantastic time with Tim- the girls made us promise that we would return to see Tim again in the near future. Are you planning a trip to Chiang Mai? This is one experience you dont want to miss! Here's how you can contact Tim;

www.kaohom.com
E-mail: kanchana@kaohom.com
180/1 Chiang Mai - Mae Rim Rd.,
Donkaew, Mae Rim, Chiang Mai
50180 Thailand
Tel: 66 5386 2967, Fax 66 5386 2968
Mobile 08 1993 5320

Stay tuned for the 2nd part of our Chiang Mai Foodie Vacation!

Cupcakes Galore!

Hi fellow foodies and bloggers! I’m back from my 3-week holiday to Singapore and Chiang Mai and shall put up a post on that as soon as I have all the photos organized. Thank you all for all the sweet well wishes and kind words you left on my last post. While I was away, Nora B. of Life’s Smorgasbord awarded me the ‘Thoughtful Blogger’ Award. Thank you Nora, I’m honoured. I’m not very familiar with how this award goes but I think I’m supposed to pass the award on to 5 other bloggers. These bloggers are not necessarily food bloggers, though..

Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen
Mandy of Fresh from the Oven
Joy of The Goddess in You
Daniel of Messy Pastor
Belinda of Bel’s Fish Bowl

The Cupcakes on today’s post are the ones I made for Paige’s Birthday. You probably can’t tell by looking at them, but they are the mini sized ones so you don’t feel soooooo bad if you have more than one. To get a bigger and clearer view of them, just click on the photos. The recipe is pretty simple and the décor, well.. it’s really up to you what you want to top it with. I used jelly lollies, some sugar paste flowers I piped and lots and lots of different colored hundreds and thousands. So, which is your favourite?

PAIGE’S (MINI) ORANGE CUPCAKES
Makes 50

250g salted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
4 eggs, lightly beaten
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp orange juice


Orange butter Icing

100g salted butter, softened
2 cups Icing sugar
Enough orange juice to achieve a spreadable consistency
Food colors of your choice
Lollies and hundreds and thousands

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line your mini cupcake trays with mini paper cups. Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the orange zest, then gradually add the egg, beating thoroughly after each addition. Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder as well as the orange juice. Stir until just combined and almost smooth. Spoon the mixture into the paper cups ¾ full and bake for 10 minutes or until the little cakes look golden. Remove the trays from the oven and wait 10 minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, simply beat the softened butter and the icing sugar until combined, and then gradually add the orange juice until you get the right consistency. Decorate the cupcakes as you please!

Strawberry Pavlova

The last few days have been absolutely Chockers! On Saturday, my daughter Paige had 8 of her giggling- and- screaming- all-at once girlfriends over for a movie marathon-sleepover Birthday Party to celebrate her turning 11. So, essentially, the day before was dedicated to party food preparation and the highlight: making 50 mini orange butter cupcakes and individually decorating them.



The next morning, I took advantage of the beautiful light coming in the dining area window and snapped something like 300 over photos of the cupcakes using my new Nikon DSLR. I have blisters on my elbows to show for it! I must admit that when the camera first arrived, I felt really intimidated with all the different settings and functions. I’m one of those people who ABHOR reading instruction manuals, so that wasn’t going to help. I secretly thought of putting the camera away and going back to using my Pentax Optio. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. I want to thank Greg Winning, Photographer Extraordinaire and Business Partner to my husband Ming at Brando for offering to ‘take me under his wing’, and our very wise and generous friend, Jeff Miles for presenting me with my very first Tripod! My elbows thank you gratefully, Jeff!




Although the cupcake photos were shamelessly taken on the ‘auto’ function, I was quite happy with them and will do a post on them when I return from my Vacation. Yes, foodies, I’m taking a long awaited Holiday to Singapore and Chiang Mai! YAY! This is my last post until I return on the 10th of September. This holiday is a little different from the ones I’ve had in the past because this time around, I’ll be meeting up with a couple of Food Bloggers. I will also be doing a baking class with Patissier Blogger Lynn Chen who has so kindly fit me in her busy schedule despite the fact that she’s shooting for a cookbook.






Over in Chiang Mai , I’ve booked Ming and myself for a 4 course Thai Cooking Class and Lunch at the Lush Kaohom Cooking School. Apart from this, we will of course be doing the glutton thing and will be eating non-stop. Mind you shopping , massages, spas and delicious foot reflexology is on the agenda too! I am SO looking forward to all this! I promise to document my eating and learning adventures and shall deliver when I return. Foodies’ Pledge! I leave you with a recipe for Strawberry Pavlova, a delectable yet simple dessert .












STRAWBERRY PAVLOVA
Serves 10

4 egg whites
2 cups caster sugar
2 tsp white vinegar
4 tbsp boiling water
4 tsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla essence

CUSTARD

To save time, I used my favourite store-bought custard


FRESH WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

1 600ml carton of thickened whipping cream
Icing sugar to taste


STRAWBERRIES

500g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1 tsp caster sugar sprinkled onto strawberries and lightly tossed

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 30cm (12in) baking tray with baking paper and draw a 20cm circle on the paper. Place the caster sugar, boiling water, vinegar and egg whites into a large bowl. Beat until mixture is stiff enough to hold it’s own peaks. Sift the cornflour and baking powder into the bowl, then add the vanilla and fold in lightly.


Pile the meringue onto the baking tray within the circle, flatten the top and smooth the sides. Place into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 150C for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat further to 100C for an hour longer. After that, turn off the oven and leave the pavlova in the oven overnight to dry out.

To serve, top the pavlova with some custard, then with the whipped cream and the strawberries.

Gateau Suprise Chocolat Pistache

First of all, I want to say thank you to those of you who take the time to go through my previous posts and leave comments. I don’t know about all you other food bloggers out there, but once I put up a new post,
the old one is hiistory, and I rarely go back there. So, please do not think that I’m ignoring your comments; I just am unaware that you’ve left me one. I found out about those new comments as I was looking up a recipe from a previous post.






About a week ago, I received an e-mail from Dr Joy Barredo, a Life Coach in the UK, inviting me to write in the ‘Kitchen Goddess’ page of her website. Joy's website is a ‘home’ for us women to share our dreams and fears, a place in which we can discuss issues concerning our everyday lives, may it be love, finances, personal development etc. I totally LOVE this website and recommend that you pay a visit. My posts and recipes will now be published in Joy’s website too.




The girls are home today, both slightly unwell, and quite happy that I’ve given them the ‘green light’ to stay home. I overheard them talking just then, something about the Antartica, and then the conversation went like this..
Paige: it’s (referring to the antartica) isolated!
Chloe: No it’s not!
Paige: Yes it is!
Chloe: Do you even know what “isolated” means?!
Paige: It means it’s covered in ice!

Today’s recipe for Gateau Surprise Chocolat Pistache is from JenJen's beautiful blog. I made these about a month ago and will definitely be making them again. This recipe originated from Clotilde'sblog, then Heidi made it, and then JenJen, and then me. And I’m pretty sure it won’t stop here.












GATEAU SUPRISE CHOCOLAT PISTACHE

270g plain all-purpose flour, divided in half
2 tsp baking powder, divided in half
1 tsp baking soda, divided in half
150g unsalted butter, room temperature, divided in half
250g caster sugar, divided in half
4 eggs
1½ cups plain yoghurt or sour cream, divided in half
1½ tsp vanilla extract, divided in half
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup shelled pistachio, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 25cm springform cake pan, or alternatively prepare 12 small paper cake cases.

Prepare the chocolate batter first. In a food processor mix together half of the sugar, butter until fluffy.
Add in two eggs one at a time, pulsing in between each addition.
Add in half of the yoghurt and the vanilla extract, pulse again.
In a medium bowl, combine half of the flour, baking powder, baking soda and all of the cocoa powder.
Add the flour mixture into the food processor and mix again until the flour is just incorporated.
Pour the batter into the cake pan, or if you are using the paper cake cases, then using an ice cream scoop, place one scoop of batter into each paper case.
Place the chocolate batter into the fridge.

Rinse the bowl of the food processor and prepare the pistachio batter.
Mix together the rest of the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the last two eggs one at a time, pulsing in between each addition.
Add the remaining yoghurt and pulse again.
In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the flour, baking powder, baking soda and all of the chopped pistachios.
Add this flour mixture into the batter and process again until the flour is just combined.

Remove the chocolate batter from the fridge and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly and liberally over the surface of the batter.
Gently pour over the pistachio batter on top of the chocolate chips, or alternatively if you are using the paper cases, then use an ice scoop to place the pistachio batter on top.
Smooth out the surface using a spatula.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or if you are making the individual cakes, then for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to rest for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Hellooooooooooo! Anybody out there?

Hi Fellow Bloggers! I have currently exceeded our wireless internet quota for the month and am unable to load my blog page,much less publish a new post. I am able to do this bit now because it's 7am and it's not the peak internet usage time , not for another 20 minutes or so! Hopefully, I'll be able to post and look at yours on the 5th of Aug when our quota is reset for the month.

I would like to leave you with this poster to ponder a little bit.. I love sharing moments of my life and my recipes with you, but what I should really be sharing with you is why I have such a beautiful life, family etc. You are all so important to me, I have made so many wonderful friendships through this blog. I owe all the Joy, Peace, and comfort in my life to Jesus, and I hope you will do the best possible thing for your lives and seek him. If you have any questions about Christianity, I invite you to visit Daniel's blog. He is happy to try to answer any questions you may have. I know that the topic of Christianity can be very daunting, but the answer is simple really, if you just give yourself the chance.
Thanks for listening!

Carol

Gordon Ramsey's Perfect Creme Brulee

The girls are back at school after the two week school break, the apartment is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I suddenly feel very tired. Despite this, I have a lot of housework to catch up on, so there’s no time to sit down and feel sorry for myself. These two weeks have been great, I tried my best to keep up with my 13 and 11 year olds during the day, and when they finally get to bed at 9pm, I relax on my couch and ‘attempt’ to catch up with my Hong Kong and Korean serials, I am told however, that 10 minutes later, I am snoring, mouth wide open, and salivating. Hardly adorable looking and much less, sexy.






Ming and I have been married for 15 years this April, so, in case you’re wondering.. I’ve gone past being ‘worried’ about being caught in unattractive situations. There are much worse situations, let me tell you, but we shall not delve into them just yet, after all, I’ve only known you guys for barely six months!



On the 12th of this month, I celebrated my 39th birthday with family and a handful of close friends – it was nice, we had a ten-course banquet dinner at Golden Century, an up-market Chinese restaurant in Northbridge. My favourite dish was the ‘Lobster Noodles in Superior Stock’. Sorry, I had intended to post some photos; unfortunately half of them were blurred for some reason. Maybe it was the bad lighting, or it could be that my hands were shaky from being too hungry!





After the dinner, we came back to my place and had coffee and Birthday cake, a chocolate truffle cake from Francois’- the ONLY cake I ever bother to buy. My Birthday present from Ming and the girls will be arriving shortly, the Nikon SLR- don’t ask me the model, I’m really bad at remembering these things.
Today, I’m posting Gordon Ramsey’s ‘Perfect Crème Brulee’- I made this a couple or so weeks back for dessert when we had some friends visiting from Bali. The only thing I would add is that the dessert needed half an hour in the oven instead of the 10-15 minutes specified. A ‘misprint’ maybe? You be the judge.













GORDON RAMSEY’S PERFECT CRÈME BRULEE
Serves 4

300ml double cream
130ml milk
40g vanilla sugar
4 egg yolks
Vanilla sugar to sprinkle for caramel topping

Heat the milk and cream until just about to boil, stirring in I dessertspoon of vanilla sugar and allow to cool. Lightly whisk together the remaining sugar and the yolks. Reheat the cream until about to boil then pour into the egg and sugar and whisk. Strain into a jug and pour into the ramekin dishes.

Fill a large roasting tin half full of boiling water, put the ramekins in and bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes until just set. Allow to cool and place in the fridge until required. Dust the top of the crème brulee with a little vanilla sugar and then use a blowtorch to caramelise the sugar.