butterisbetter

With all this talk of Kalamata olives, I thought I'd pass along a recipe I use for an delicious treat to spread on crusty peasant bread.

I make it with a mix of Kalamata (for the strong flavor) and ordinary black olives (to help keep the price down.)

There are enough bakeries now in Chiang Mai that are making really good breads for this. Do NOT use ordinary white bread!

Tepenade

Ingredients

1/2 pound pitted mixed olives

1-2 anchovy fillets, rinsed

1 small clove garlic, minced ( I prefer 2-3)

2 tablespoons capers

2 to 3 fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Put them all together in a food processor or mortor, and process until a thick, chunky paste. Spread on warm bread. Perfect with wine or beer!

Another way to eat olives is a muffuletta sandwich. Basically its a blend of a green and black olive salad with giardiniera (pickled vegetables) and lots of other things.

Here's a list of the ingredients: Green Olives Black Olives Pickled Cauliflower, Pickled Red Pepper, Pickled Green Pepper, Pickled Celery, Pickled Carrots, Capers, Garlic, Celery,Italian Parsley,oregano,Red Wine Vinegar,Roasted red peppers, Green Onions (scallions)black pepper,

I'd try the new Central Festival they had a wide range of gourmet food there, as for Thai olives, what do they do to them to make them taste so bad? Is is it just the natural crop or do they do something to make them taste so disgusting?

I wasn't aware that olives even grew in Thailand. But if they do, are you referring to fresh olives or cured olives?

Yes, in Hang Dong market they are fresh green olives.

Well, if they're fresh, it's no wonder they taste awful. Olives have to be cured to make them edible. That goes for olives from anywhere.

Haiter Bleach at Tesco Lotus Express. Here's a photo of the bottle, with printing reversed.

I think Haiter has perfumes and foaming agents added. If you go to a chemical supply house, you can buy sodium hypochlorite solutions. I think it's 20%. That you can dilute down with water to whatever percentage of sodium hypochlorite solution you want. I think Chlorox bleach is currently 8% sodium hypochlorite. It used to be 6%.

I'd try the new Central Festival they had a wide range of gourmet food there, as for Thai olives, what do they do to them to make them taste so bad? Is is it just the natural crop or do they do something to make them taste so disgusting?

I wasn't aware that olives even grew in Thailand. But if they do, are you referring to fresh olives or cured olives?

You might try Buonissimo's located off Chang Klan Rd. They might just offer it in wholesale quantities but it can't hurt to ask. According to internet, this is their phone number: 053 275 924

Actually, it turns out that the original Caesar's salad recipe did not include anchovies. Whatever anchovy flavor there was came from the Worcestershire sauce. I'm never going to trust again the author of post #15.

At my house.

Same here and it's super easy to make:

fresh kos lettuce, coat leaves in egg white and combine with grated Parmesan in a shake bag - shake (the bag fool, not you) and refrigerate for 30 minutes (one for Nancy), add freshly made croutons and add anchovies if you like such things, do NOT add bottled sauce no matter what it's called, job done.

Now that seems toooo easy - but no dressing at all?

No Oil, no lemon/vinegar, and the egg white uncooked of course? No garlic, onion, worcester sauce??

So if you dont add anchovy in your household,the only flavour is from Parmesan???

I know I said I wasnt fussed about genuine, but lettuce,raw egg and parmesan, croutons doesnt seem like it would taste like a caesar.

Sorry, forgot the garlic and Worcester no onion however and of course anchovy is optional, per taste.

No anchovies? Your recipe may be delicious, but without anchovies I don't think you would call it a Caesar. Also, egg whites? Did you mean egg yolks? I never heard of a Caesar with egg whites. And I think the parmesan croutons are pretty much always included. I like to use ciabatta croutons.

Here's a link to The New Yorker article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/11/04/131104fa_fact_collins

Sometimes they have them at Tops with the Royal Project veggies and I always buy them, just to show there's a market demand for them . I wish they'd pick them a little earlier, when the skin is still smooth, rather than waiting until it starts to crack, but oh well, at least they're fresh.

Actually, I'd like to get some red jalapenos. Very occasionally, some partially ripe ones will be on offer.

If she likes hot you should try to get some Habeneros. They're rated #1 on the Scoville heat index, and much hotter than the birdseyes, if you can believe it! I've seen them occasionally at Rimping Meechock.

http://phoenix.about.com/od/foodanddrink/ss/chilepepper_4.htm

For what it's worth, which isn't much, habaneros are no longer rated #1 on the Scoville index. In fact, the URL you linked to says exactly that. I recently read an article, I think it was in the New Yorker, about how competitive the world of chile pepper growing has become. That said, munching on a habanero is not a stunt I could pull off. A jalapeno is the most I could manage. And that's without the seeds. But I used to live in the Yucatan and the locals told me that when times were tough, they would subsist on tortillas and habaneros. I did see kids there munching on them without any evident pain.

As I understand it,this current system was set up expressly to stop rampant corruption. Instead of pocketing payoffs, the police actually get a commission for each ticket they write out. I've been stopped a few times and since my Thai license was valid and my car had insurance i was allowed to go without paying anything. So, as far as i can see, they weren't abusing their ticketing powers. And the police do stop unhelmeted motorcyclists, mostly Thais, and fine them. In fact, most of the people I see stopped are unhelmeted Thais.

With granite, you're taking a gamble. Some pieces have flaws and will crack in pretty short order. So you should be prepared to purchase a few before you find one that holds up. I now use thick, 1 foot square unglazed terracotta tiles in my home. Ocassionally one cracks but they're so cheap it doesn't matter.

My big disappointment with the place was the cookware section of the central department store. It's pretty close to identical to what Central KSK offers (maybe slightly few items) and doesn't come close to matching the selection offered by central in Bangkok.

Apropos the "Chinese" place, I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but ขนมจีน does mean Chinese style noodles, not Thai; thus the จีน part.

No it does not! http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ขนมจีน_(อาหารไทย)

Several years ago Suthon Sukphisit, who writes a weekly article about Thai food, had a piece about kanom jin. The "jin" does not mean chinese. Apparently, the dish comes from Mon cuisine, the people who were here before the Thais and still populate a few neighborhoods in Bangkok.

At the airport is a shop that carries teas from a Chinese grower in Mae Salong. They do offer white tea. It's in the domestic departures section on the ground floor.

"only in Thailand"

Really?

Maybe you should amend that to only in Thailand, the USA, and Australia. And at least these people survived. The ones in Australia weren't so lucky.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045393/2-scuba-divers-left-die-Miami-Beach-charter-boat-Key-Biscayne.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Eileen_Lonergan

One way to easily check the general quality/purity of honey is to simply turn the clear glass bottle upside down and watch the air bubble rise again to the top. It should move slowly upward. If sugar water was added to the honey the air bubble will rise quicker. It is interesting to compare the viscosity of honey from vendor to vendor. If enough buyers did this the sellers would be hesitant to thin their honey.

...Ken

This is from Wikipedia

"The viscosity of honey is affected greatly by both temperature and water content. The higher the humidity, the easier honey will flow. Above its melting point, however, water has little effect on viscosity. Aside from water content, the composition of honey also has little effect on viscosity, with the exception of a few types. At 25 °C (77 °F), honey with 14% humidity will generally have a viscosity of around 400 poise, while a honey containing 20% humidity will have a viscosity of around 20 poise. Viscosity increase due to temperature occurs very slowly at first. A honey containing 16% humidity, at 70 °C (158 °F), will have a viscosity of around 2 poise, while at 30 °C (86 °F), the viscosity will be around 70 poise. As cooling progresses, honey will become more viscous at an increasingly rapid rate, reaching 600 poise around 14 °C (57 °F). However, while honey is very viscous, it has rather low surface tension.^[16][17]

A few types of honey have unusual viscous properties. Honey from heather or manuka display thixotropic properties. These types of honey enter a gel-like state when motionless, but then liquify when stirred.^[18]"

A friend of ours from San Francisco suggested it. Apparently, it's a popular dish over there. He tried it and loved it. His only suggestion was to use less clams. He thought we were being too generous with them. We're going to stick with the recipe as is.

Do you have any plans on opening another "Butter is Better" near the Nimanahimin area? :-)

We've thought about it. Parking is an issue. Another is what we are afraid will be the traffic congestion from the Maya.

Strawberries Shmawberries...

What about raspberries?

I bought some yesterday at Villa but they weren't half pricey but so mighty fine....

I thought that Raspberries are deciduous and first require cool to cold weather during the dormant period.

Actually, the Royal Project grew some last year. I don't know if they are going to continue with them or not.

A friend of ours from San Francisco suggested it. Apparently, it's a popular dish over there. He tried it and loved it. His only suggestion was to use less clams. He thought we were being too generous with them. We're going to stick with the recipe as is.

Butter is Better now has New England Clam Chowder served in a bowl made from San Francisco sourdough bread. The chowder is more of stew than a soup and has lots and lots of clams. The only liquids that we put into it are clam broth and fresh cream. The chowder is gluten-free so you can order it in a standard bowl with a side of gluten-free bread. Price is 140 baht.

I visited it once to return some disks. I believe I can recall the directions. If you exit the road it used to be on, take a right on Suthep. Go to the next traffic light after the one at the Nimmanheiman - Suthep intersection. Take a right there and it will somewhere down that road on your left. If, it has, in fact, survived.

Butter is Better

Art Cafe

Bake and Bite

All good IMO.

I've not been to Butter is Better yet but agree about the other 2. Would like to try them though; I love EB in all its variations - when does BIB open for breakfast?

We open at 8:00 AM every day. We're now making our English muffins with added sourdough. We also offer Eggs Florentine (eggs benedict with spinach substituted for Canadian Bacon)

That sounds like a Dutch version of pumpkin bread. The Dutch like lots of spices in their pastries. For Americans. it's a bit over the top. Ours is American style. So cinnamon and allspice only.

Are you making mince tarts again this Christmas? I thought they were great.

I guess it depends on energy levels. The crust is made with almond flour which is kind of hard to work with. We should do it.

It sounds like gingerbread with pumpkin - which sounds pretty good! Anyone know of any bakers making gingerbread for Christmas?

Everything except the cardamom which for me, at least, is more of a savory spice. And gingerbread is great. But it's intense in flavor and meant to be nibbled at. Except for the cardamom all theses spices are also commonly found in pumpkin pie but there the high fat content softens the spices' flavor. For a nice thick slice of pumpkin bread, I think less is more. But obviously, this is all a matter of taste and, in most cases, largely determined by what you grew up with.