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.

Discovered Pig Rock Sausages

We went to Wilson Farm today where Art Welch, the owner of Pig Rock Sausages was grilling up samples with help from his son. We liked them so much we took home three packages; chicken & maple, chicken & apple, and chicken & spinach. Pig Rock does have pork sausages with a bratwurst, chorizo and both hot and sweet Italian sausage, strange that I just tasted the chicken.

The chicken was not the typically dry, healthy tasting sausages we are used to. They had the same richness and naughty flavor of any good pork sausage. My favorite was the chicken & spinach, which tasted like you might hope a mixture of good sausage and creamed spinach would taste. Yum.

Pig Rock Sausages are made in Boston, and it's always nice to find a new local product to support. These are going to taste delicious from our grill.

2014 Olympics: Iceland

Today's Olympics honoree is Iceland. Gail made an Icelandic dish she found on Food.com: Andreas Viestad's chicken with saffron and cinnamon. The cinnamon flavors were mild, but given that roast chicken is such a favorite of mine, this dish was a wonderful melding of international and familiar flavors. The drippings made a great sauce for the potatoes.

I poured Garún Nr. 19, an Icelandic stout from Borg Brugghús. I'm not sure I've poured a darker stout. I thought it tasted like a beer version of coffee ice cream, very rich and creamy.

Pies 'n' Thighs in Brooklyn

After dropping off Noele, we went out to dinner with Anna to Pies 'n' Thighs in Brooklyn. What a vibe: Formica tables, red gingham, and chalkboard menus. The food was straight from a '50s diner, and we all had fried chicken, although Anna had hers on a sandwich with bacon. Yes, I do highlight the bacon. The chicken was delicious but otherwise simply fried chicken. For dessert, we shared a slice of their "bluebarb" pie. I don't think I need to explain that. That was a delicious piece of pie. If we go again, I'll still have the fried chicken, but I'll eat less of it and save more room for pie.

Olympics Day 10: Nepalese Bojan at Annapurna in Cambridge

We thought we were done with Olympics feasting when we went for our Formaggio Kitchen cheese cave tour. On the way home, we stopped at Annapurna, a little Himalayan restaurant on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge. We were served by the owner, a delightful man who we learned used to be a climbing guide in Nepal. He had climbed the mountain Annapurna twice, and was looking forward to going back to do it again as soon as he could.

Gail and I had a Nepalese dish called bojan. The dish included rice, a cup of lentils, cauliflower, okra, spinach and a dish of chicken in a sauce. The owner explained that in Nepal all these things would be mixed together by hand and eaten with bread served on the side. We decided to mix ours with our forks.

All mixed, the dish had a flavor we haven't experienced before. I'd guess it was a mix of cardamom, cinnamon and the lentils, but there was another spice I just couldn't place. There was not a bit of sweetness to it. I think that's what made it so unusual. Most other dishes we've had like this have some sweetness. This was a nice change. We would definitely go back for more.

Olympics Day 6: Jamaican Jerk Chicken

It's early still, but we haven't seen a bit of Olympics. That doesn't mean that it hasn't been an Olympic day. We started it off with our last international coffee, Starbucks Brazil Peaberry Yellow Bourbon. Finally, a coffee that was better than what we usually get in the grocery store, although probably not better enough to be worth the extra price. The beans were smaller than normal, note the "peaberry" in the name. There was a noticeable aroma, and a full, but not burnt coffee flavor. It was a nice, rich coffee.

We made Jamaican Jerk Chicken for dinner, which was quite an adventure. The Simply Recipes recipe called for a habenero pepper, which freaked both of us out more than a little. I cut the pepper, carefully holding it with a paper towel to not get the capsaicin on me. I decided to pick out the seeds to moderate the heat.

After adding the chopped pepper to the marinade, I was careful to wash everything that touched pepper very well. I scrubbed the knife a few times, and then tested if I got it clean by licking the side of the blade. I was surprised that it made my tongue tingle, so I washed it a few more times.

Gail and I both admitted that we were a bit afraid to eat the resulting chicken. I took the first bite, and while it was slightly spicy, there was no problem. I would call it mild. I think we were wise to be careful, but after cooking it and discarding the extra sauce, I would have liked a bit more heat.

The chicken had strong flavors of the lime and cinnamon, and we both enjoyed it. Neither of us thought the flavor was worth all the fuss.

To extend the Jamaican theme, I poured a Red Stripe lager. It's been a long time since I drank a Red Stripe. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this easy-to-drink beer. It had a simple, malty flavor with very little sweetness. I particularly noted the full mouth feel with no lingering aftertaste.

Olympics Day 3: Paella

Gail made paella tonight in honor of Spain. We used oysters instead of the clams and a wild boar sausage instead of the traditional chorizo. Gail did a great job paring down the recipe for just the two of us. I love how the saffron ties the seafood and chicken flavors together.

Paella
Serves 8

For stock:
2-lb broiler-fryer chicken, whole or cut up
1 sm onion, peeled
1 carrot, scrubbed
1 stalk celery, scrubbed
1 bay leaf
1 sprig parsley
1 t salt
2 black peppercorns

¼ c oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
4 c chopped bell pepper
1 ½ c chopped onion
¼ c parsley
1 t saffron
1 ½ t paprika
½ t oregano
1/16 t ground black pepper
2 c white rice, uncooked
6 oz canned whole clams or 4 fresh clams in shells
8 oz raw shrimp
8 oz chorizo or hard Spanish sausage

1. Carve raw chicken; refrigerate breasts, wings, thighs, and drumsticks.
2. With remaining chicken bones, make stock in large soup pot: Cover bones with 2 qt water. Add peeled onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, parsley sprig, salt and whole black peppers; simmer until meat falls off bone and liquid is reduced to 1 qt, about 2 hr. Strain stock; discard solids. Return stock to pot.
3. Meanwhile, in large frying pan, brown chicken pieces in oil.
4. Add garlic, peppers and chopped onion; cook until tender.
5. Stir in spices; set aside.
6. When stock is finished, preheat oven to 350 F; bring stock to boil; add rice. Boil 10 min to start rice cooking (it will finish in oven).
7. Transfer contents of soup pot to a large, deep roasting pan. Place hot chicken and vegetables on top of rice and bake until rice is tender, about 1 hr. Check after 30 min and add more liquid (clam juice, on-hand broth) if all is absorbed and rice is not soft.
8. Meanwhile, scrub the clams, shell and devein the shrimp, and thinly slice the chorizo.
9. When rice is tender, place clams, shrimp, and chorizo on top of mixture. Cover with a dome of foil and return to oven to steam for 15-20 min, until clams open and shrimp is fully cooked. Remove foil and serve immediately with a salad.

My Spanish beer pairing was Estrella Damm Inedit. The flavors were delicious, although somewhat confusing. It had a low-hops, sweet-sour flavor like the ReAle Extra from yesterday, but not quite the same. I see from their website that those flavors come from orange peel, coriander and licorice. Overall a decent beer. The sour flavors make it more of a sipper.

Olympics Day 2: Chicken Piccata

This afternoon we went on an excursion to extend the international beer selection. From left-to-right you'll see another British beer as well as beers from Scotland, Spain, France, Holland, Czech Republic and Jamaica.

For tonight's dinner Gail made chicken piccata in honor of Italy. I love how the flavors of the lemon and capers complement each other. The chicken was as tender as the butter it was sauteed in.

Chicken Piccata

amounts per serving

½ T olive oil

1 ½ T flour

4 oz boneless skinless chicken breast

¼ t salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 t dry white wine

2 t fresh lemon juice

3 T low-salt chicken broth

1 T drained capers

½ T butter

1 T chopped fresh parsley

Fresh lemon slice or wedge for garnish

1. Heat oil in heavy skillet (preferably not a non-stick variety) over med low heat. Meanwhile, measure flour into shallow bowl; set aside.
2. Pound chicken to ¼” thickness; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Dip chicken pieces in flour to coat; reserve excess for thickening pan sauce.
4. Cook coated chicken in skillet until golden, about 3 min per side. Meanwhile, combine wine, lemon juice and chicken broth, set aside; measure capers into small bowl.
5. Transfer cooked chicken to platter; cover to keep warm.
6. Melt butter in skillet; remove from heat; whisk in reserved flour until completely smooth. Add wine mixture; bring to boil in skillet over med-hi heat; boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 min.
7. Stir in capers and parsley; pour sauce over chicken; serve immediately. 

Tonight's beer was also from Italy: Birra del Borgo's ReAle Extra. I brewed a beer once and forgot to add the hops. The resulting beer had a sour, lemon flavor that was pleasant but overwhelming. The ReAle had that same pleasant sour flavor balanced with an appropriate, but subtle hops. In fact, they triple the hops in this beer, but don't add them until the flavoring phase, totally skipping the bittering phase. This makes it a rather sophisticated alternative to my normal fare. This was piccata in a bottle. It was a perfect complement to the capers and lemon.

Four-M Chicken

Gail and I saw someone selling pre-made Three-M Chicken that sounded so good, we had to try it. We remembered it as mushrooms, mascarpone and Marsala wine. Looking it up on-line we found all the recipes were for mustard instead of mushrooms. We decided on Four-M Chicken adapted from a recipe on foodnetwork.com and came up with something rich and wonderful. You can't see the beautiful sear on the chicken in the picture. It tasted delicious, but the chicken could just as well be left out of the dish for a vegetarian version.

The side dish of rainbow chard blended perfectly with the Four-M sauce.  The acidity and sweetness of the Austrian Huber Wines Gruner Veltliner 2010 Hugo nicely cut through the thick sauce. The wine was wonderfully crisp. This was my second gruner veltliner and I think I will seek out this varietal as a character filled alternative to savignon blanc.

Four-M Chicken, with Mushrooms, Marsala, Mascarpone and Mustard
Serves 2

4 t olive oil, divided
½ lb boneless skinless chicken breast or thigh
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 t butter
¼ c chopped onion
⅓ lb cremini mushrooms
4 t minced garlic
4 oz tri-color fettucini
1 bunch Swiss chard
⅓ c dry Marsala wine
⅓ c mascarpone cheese
2 t Dijon mustard
2 t chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus whole sprigs for garnish

1. Heat half of oil in large heavy skillet over high heat; season chicken with salt and pepper while oil heats. Cook chicken just until brown, about 2 min per side for thighs and 4 min per side for breasts; remove from skillet; tent with foil.
2. While chicken cooks, chop onion and mushrooms.
3. When chicken is out of pan, reduce heat to med-high; melt butter in same skillet. Saute onion until tender, 2 min. Add mushrooms and half of garlic; sauté until tender and juices evaporate, 12 min.
4. While mushrooms cook, boil water for pasta; cook according to package directions. Rinse and chop chard across bunch into 1”-thick slices; pat dry; heat remaining oil with remaining garlic in second skillet over med-low heat.
5. When mushrooms are tender, add wine; simmer until reduced by half, 2 min. Meanwhile, increase heat of second skillet to med-high; saute chard.
6. When wine is reduced in mushroom mixture, stir in mascarpone and mustard.
7. Cut chicken pieces crosswise into ⅓”-thick slices. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to mushroom skillet; simmer, uncovered, over med-low heat until chicken is just cooked through and sauce thickens slightly, about 2 min.
8. Stir in chopped parsley; season to taste with salt and pepper. Drain pasta.
9. To serve: place sautéed chard on one half of plate and pasta on the other. Top with chicken, mushrooms and sauce.

Roasted Chicken Technique

My favorite meal as a kid was roasted chicken parts with mashed potatoes, peas and corn. Yes, that is three starches. For my birthday, Gail made my favorite meal for me. I said I didn't want the peas. She made me homemade stuffing instead. Yes, still three starches.

In the past, I just threw the chicken parts on a rack in the oven. This time, Gail pre-browned the chicken on the stove in butter. It came out particularly brown, crispy and delicious. I had a nice birthday.

Proportion of Meat in a Chicken

Last week I posted about the proportion of meat in a lobster. We also made my family's traditional Christmas Eve dish of chicken and noodles. Since I had meat to purchased weight proportions on the brain, I couldn't resist weighing the chicken too. These numbers come from two whole fryers that were stewed for two hours. Here's the breakdown:

Raw weight for 2 chickens: 11.59 lbs
Raw weight for 2 giblet bags: 0.75 lbs
Raw chicken w/o giblets: 10.84 lbs
Stewed weight of meat and bones: 6.77 lbs
Stewed weight of bones: 2.55 lbs
Stewed weight of chicken: 4.22 lbs

Raw to stewed weight ratio: 62%
Stewed meat to purchased weight: 36%
Stewed meat to total stewed weight: 62%
Raw giblets to purchased weight: 6%

First thing I noticed was how much weight loss there was from the cooking process. The cooked bird was less than two-thirds the weight of the raw bird.  With the meat representing less than two-thirds of that, we were left with just over one-third cooked meat to purchased weight.  Remarkably, that is just about the same ratio as the meaty lobsters we measured.

Working backwards, I estimate 6.75 lbs of raw meat.  So including the giblets, the ratio of raw meat to purchased whole fryer weight (including the giblets) is 58%.

Mimi's Christmas Eve Chicken and Noodles

We call my grandmother Mimi.  When I was young, Mimi made chicken and noodles every Christmas Eve. We had a large group of people, and it fed us all economically. Why else would you put noodles on mashed potatoes?

Now, Gail makes them for us every Christmas Eve. That morning, I come down stairs to the smell of Christmas, a mixture of stewing chicken and baking cookies. We share the chicken and noodles at Gail's mom's Christmas Eve party. By the way, she wanted a good grandmother name, too. We call her Gumma.

Mimi's Christmas Eve Chicken and Noodles
Serves 6
3¼ to 3½ lb whole fryer (not a stewing hen or oven-stuffer roaster, which are tough when stewed and make a less flavorful broth)
3¾ cu (9 oz package) of fresh pasta uncooked
6 small all-purpose potatoes for mashing (Russet or Yukon Gold, about 4 oz each)
3 t Salt divided
About 2 qt water
2 Peppercorns
6 T Butter
6 T Milk
6 T Flour
Extra chicken stock on-hand if needed

1. Remove giblets from bird. Rinse inside and out; drain.
2. Place bird, 1 t salt and peppercorns in large stockpot. Add water, until bird covered.
3. Bring to boil. Reduce heat just enough so pot doesn’t boil over; skim foam as it forms.
4. Cook, uncovered, until meat falls off bone and carcass collapses (about 2 hr).
5. When chicken falls apart, place large colander into even larger heat-tolerant bowl. Spoon solids into colander, then pour stock through colander to strain.
6. Let colander finish dripping, then place over soup pot and re-strain stock into pot. Let colander finish dripping again; set aside into bowl. Pull chicken apart to allow steam to escape and speed cooling.
7. Return stock to boil. Cut pasta into bite-sized pieces; add to stock with another 1 t salt; cook according to package or recipe directions.
8. When pasta is tender, double strain as before. Set noodles aside.
9. When chicken is cool enough to handle, pick meat off chicken bones, tearing into bite-sized pieces.
10. No earlier than 1 hr before serving, peel and cut potatoes.
11. Return stock to boil. Add potatoes, remaining salt, and water as needed to cover; boil, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 15-20 min.
12. When potatoes are tender, double strain as before.
13. While potatoes are draining, heat cream and butter. Transfer potatoes to mixer bowl, add heated cream and butter. Whip until fluffy; cover and set aside.
14. Measure stock. If less than 3 c, add extra to make 3 c.
15. To thicken stock, use 2 T flour for each c liquid. Transfer 1 c stock to blender or food processor, add flour 1 T at a time, pureeing with each addition. Add more stock from the pot, as necessary, to form smooth, thin paste.
16. Add flour paste to pot, stirring constantly to combine and prevent lumps. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, 5 min.
17. Stir in meat and noodles, heat through. Re-heat mashed potatoes if necessary.
18. Serve chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes.

This dish says Christmas to me like no other.