Amazing Cambodian Food at Elephant Walk in Boston's South End

My wife and I have been working on a project with our niece to have a meal from each country alphabetically. You can check out our progress on Instagram with the hashtag #a2zdinners. We usually cook the meals ourselves. Cambodian meals are characterized by having a variety of contrasting textures, flavors and temperatures. We decided that if we wanted the authentic experience we would do better to eat out for a change,so we went to lunch at Elephant Walk in Boston's South End. It was a highlight of the project so far, which is saying a lot, since we have made some outstanding meals.

Our niece is gluten free. You would think that would make the project difficult. For most countries it hasn't been a burden at all. In most countries their starch is based on rice, not wheat. This is also true for Cambodia. Elephant Walk was notably careful to label the menu with the items that were gluten free or could be made gluten free. There was good range of choice with more choices on the dinner menu.

The staff was very friendly. If you are a beer fan, they have an outstanding beer menu. We were surprised to see that there was only one other group in the whole place. We can't see why this place wouldn't be packed.

We started out with an appetizer called Nataing. It was ground pork simmered in a thin sauce of coconut milk, garlic, peanuts and probably fish sauce. The gluten free version was served with rice cakes for dipping. The flavor pallet was like a savory Thai iced tea.

There were three soups on the menu that all looked good, so we ordered one of each. Each was excellent, and we all preferred one of the three. There was B'baw Mouan, listed as "the essential Cambodian rice soup." It had a thick rice base, like a potato soup and had chicken, fried garlic, and lime. It also came with cilantro, so if you don't like that, ask them to leave it off. The second soup was Somlah Machou with big shrimp and tomato slices. It was like a Thai Tom Yum soup, but tangier. It was delicious, but even better with a dollop of the red hot sauce our waiter recommended. Finally was the Soupe Phnom-Penh "Kuy Tieu." Our waiter called it the healthiest of soups. It had a slice of pork cutlet, rice noodles and bean sprouts.

 

That might have been enough for lunch, but we had came for variety, so we got two entrees: A chicken dish with a lemon curry sauce called Poulet À La Citronnelle, and a beef dish called Loc Lac. The chicken was served with sautéed vegetables and the beef with a bed of greens. Both were amazing with meat that was melt-in-your-mouth tender. It's hard to imagine better dishes, but our waiter said the non-gluten free version of the Loc Lac was even better.

Since everything was so good, we splurged on dessert. We got a traditional coconut custard and a flourless chocolate cake. Both were rich and tasty. The chocolate tasted like fudge and we tore through it. The custard was notably not overpowered by coconut flavor like we prefer and also had the right silky texture that is so hard to get in restaurant custard.

Overall, Elephant Walk gets five stars from us for both the food and the friendly attentiveness they showed to our gluten free needs. It is a place that deserves to be busier.

Rockin' Cupcakes in Rockport

On our day-trip to Rockport today, Gail had penuche from the Rockport Fudgery for a treat. My treat was a pastry called a Bone from Rockin' Cupcakes. Look at this thing: chocolate cake with creamy icing covered in soft chocolate. It reminded me of the Hostess Ding Dongs of my childhood. The cake was moist and firm covered with a sugar-rush of smooth frosting. It satisfied every urge for chocolate cake a guy could have.

Rockin' prides themselves on their cupcakes, though. You can see in their picture how they get a balance of frosting and cake while still getting the beautiful, high-topping of frosting. First, they cut a divot out of the middle of the cake and fill the hole with frosting.











Then the bakers take the remaining cake piece and invert it on top of the frosting. This makes a base for the frosting mound that tops the creation off. They cut each cupcake in half when they serve them, which makes them the easiest cupcakes to eat ever. At home, we usually cut the bottoms off our cupcakes and spread half the frosting over the cut-off bottoms to get a more consistent ratio of cake to frosting. Rockin's method does that job and makes for a dramatic presentation, too.

           

I'm hoping that Adam Richman from Man v. Food tries their contest. They said nobody has won the challenge yet. I think the four minute limit might be insurmountable since I couldn't eat a single cupcake and scoop of ice cream in one minute. But given how delicious the cakes are ... and a full hour, I might try.

Chocolate Cola Cake

We stopped at a Cracker Barrel on our trip home from New York. Cracker Barrel is always a fun stop, but we didn't have room for the chocolate cola cake on the menu that intrigued us. Gail found a recipe on food.com that she baked for me tonight. The cake was fluffy and light with a subtle cola flavor. The frosting was a good glaze of moist chocolate.

Even though the picture shows cupcakes, we think they would be better in a pan. The cupcakes were just too messy with the glaze. The recipe below is for a 9x13 cake.

We think there is a delicious variant to try by substituting rum for the vanilla in the cake or the glaze.

Chocolate Cola Cake

Cake:
1 c cola
½ c oil
½ c butter
3 T cocoa powder
2 c sugar
2 c flour
½ t salt
2 eggs
½ c buttermilk
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla

Frosting:
¼ lb butter
3 T cocoa powder
6 T cream or milk
1 t vanilla
½ c chopped pecans
1 lb powdered sugar

Sheet cake pan or 9x13” Pyrex pan

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour cake pan.
2. In large saucepan, bring cola, oil, butter and cocoa to boil. Mix sugar, flour and salt; pour in boiling liquid; beat to remove all lumps.
3. Add eggs, buttermilk, soda and vanilla; beat well.
4. Pour into pan; bake 20-25 min.
5. While cake bakes, prepare frosting: In saucepan, combine butter, cocoa and cream; heat until butter melts. Beat in remaining ingredients, and spread on hot cake. Cool and cut.

Yule Log

For each Sunday of Advent Gail and I have been making traditional Christmas desserts. This week we made a yule log. The end result is impressive, and it's fun to roll up the log. Don't be intimidated. You can cover up your mess with the frosting. Next time, I think we'll add meringue mushrooms.

Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake from A Passion for Baking

Dorthea came over last night for our Nova Scotia Hot Lobster. She brought a delicious apple pastry she made from this recipe. It's from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman. More pie than cake, this is a deep apple pastry held together with a vanilla custard. I love an apple custard pie. This recipe takes that to the extreme, and adds a stunning presentation. Thank you Dorthea.

Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake
A Passion for Baking
Marcy Goldman

Crust
2 c flour
1 T sugar
½ t salt
¾ c unsalted butter, cut in chunks
4-6 T ice water or half-and-half

Filling
10-12 large apples, peeled, cored, and cut in ¼-inch slices
¼ c sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 t cinnamon
½ c raisins, plumped
1 T lemon juice

Vanilla Custard
½ c unsalted butter, melted
1 c sugar
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
2 T flour
1 t cinnamon

1. Brush bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan with butter and place on a baking sheet.
2. Mix pastry ingredients in a food processing, adding water until the dough forms. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
3. While chilling dough, cut apples and mix with filling ingredients.
4. Roll dough and fit in springform all the way up the sides.
5. Preheat oven to 350°.
6. Arrange apples to fill pastry, neatly arranging the final layer.
7. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
8. While baking, mix the custard.
9. Uncover and continue baking for 40-55 minutes until apples are soft and brown.
10. Pour the custard over the hot apples and bake another 20 minutes.
11. Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate at least 6 hours.