Summary
Over her thirty-year food career--from being one of the original Food Network stars and opening Border Grill to appearing on Top Chef Masters and creating STREET--celebrity chef Susan Feniger has continually found inspiration for her renowned cooking in street food carts around the world. In Susan Feniger's Street Food, she shares 83 of her favorite recipes with home cooks, giving them a taste of these unexpected, tantalizing dishes.
On her globe-trotting adventures, with cooking and eating as the only shared language, Susan has forged friendships with rice farmers in Vietnam, women baking flatbread in Turkey, and nomadic cheesemakers in Mongolia. She's become an expert on combining spices and ingredients to re-create authentic mind-blowing flavors back home. One bite of Artichokes with Lemon Za'atar Dipping Sauce confirms that they should never be eaten another way, and dinner should always be as enticing as crunchy and refreshing Saigon Chicken Salad, delicious Thai Drunken Shrimp with Rice Noodles, or sweet-savory Korean Glazed Short Ribs with Sesame and Asian Pear. Drinks, condiments, and sweets--such as indulgent and alluring Turkish Doughnuts with Rose Hip Jam--round out the recipe collection.
Susan's personal travel stories and vacation snapshots inspire at every turn. Her expert tips on ingredients and easy substitutions, along with more than 100 color photographs, make Susan Feniger's Street Food the perfect guide for home cooks looking to shake up their cooking repertoires with exciting new flavors.
Author Notes
SUSAN FENIGER is well-known for her three Border Grill restaurants and Too Hot Tamales Food Network show (all with business partner Mary Sue Milliken). She opened her first solo restaurant, Susan Feniger's STREET, in Los Angeles in 2009. She helped start Cool Comedy-Hot Cuisine, the major annual fund-raising event for the Scleroderma Research Foundation, and is on the board of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. Visit her at www.SusanFenigerSite.com.
Library Journal Review
Here, with restaurant partner and executive chef Kajsa Alger and writer/director Liz Lachman, Los Angeles cooking legend Feniger showcases the spicy tastes of STREET restaurant, her first solo venture in an illustrious career that's included numerous books (e.g., Cooking with Too Hot Tamales: Recipes & Tips From TV Food's Spiciest Cooking Duo), television appearances (e.g., Top Chef Masters, Cooking with Master Chefs), and restaurants (e.g., Border Grill). Shopping for these recipes-which call for shiso leaves, cactus paddles, black garlic, carob molasses, kokum plums, and other uncommon ingredients-is a major undertaking, but preparing them is well within reach of proficient amateurs. VERDICT A diverse collection of global street food. Highly recommended. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Susan Feniger's Street Food: Irresistibly Crispy, Creamy, Crunchy, Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Recipes By Susan Feniger, Kajsa Alger, Liz Lachman Crown Publishing Group ISBN: 9780307952585 Coconut Curry Caramel Corn This is the recipe to think about if you are going to a party--it would make a great gift instead of a bottle of wine. I recently prepared this as a party favor for a luncheon of 750 women, and they loved it. Even more note-worthy: I still loved it after making such a huge batch! That says a lot. The combination of sweet and spicy in the popcorn is what makes it different from anything else you've tasted. Olive oil spray 1½ cups shredded unsweetened coconut 3 tablespoons canola oil ¾ cup popcorn kernels 2 cups Candied Peanuts (page 21) 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter 2 cups packed dark brown sugar ½ cup light corn syrup 1½ teaspoons kosher salt ½ teaspoon baking soda 3 tablespoons chopped fresh curry leaf (see page 20; optional) 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (see page 78) 1 teaspoon ground turmeric ½ teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg (optional) ½ teaspoon paprika ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon Makes 18 cups 1. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Liberally spray an extra-large mixing bowl (not plastic) with olive oil spray. 2. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast it in the oven, stirring it once or twice, until it is golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool, leaving the oven on. 3. Put the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot, add the corn kernels, and set over medium-high heat. Cover, and shake the pot occasionally until the popping begins, about 5 minutes. Once the popping starts, shake the pot continuously until the popping slows down dramatically, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, but continue shaking it until the popping stops entirely. Dump the popcorn into the prepared mixing bowl, trying not to let any unpopped kernels fall into the bowl. Add the toasted coconut and the candied peanuts. 4. Before beginning the caramel process, spray a rubber spatula, a wooden spoon, and 2 cookie sheets liberally with olive oil spray. 5. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with the oil-sprayed spatula, until the butter is melted. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and being careful not to splatter the hot caramel, until the mixture thickens and a candy thermometer registers 255°F, about 7 minutes. (If you do not have a candy thermometer, you will know it is ready when the bubbles of the mixture get noticeably larger and slower.) Remove from the heat. Add the salt, baking soda, curry leaf, cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, turmeric, mace, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon. Stir quickly to incorporate, and then immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn mixture. Stir with the wooden spoon until all of the popcorn is well coated. 6. Pour the mixture onto the oiled cookie sheets and spread it out evenly. Bake for 1 hour, stirring it every 20 minutes to keep it from burning. 7. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let the popcorn cool to room temperature. The popcorn will crisp as it cools. 8. When it is cool, you can serve the popcorn immediately or package it in airtight bags for storage. It will keep well for 4 days. Curry Leaf Used in curries in India and Sri Lanka, curry leaf is fried along with chopped onion in the first stage of cooking. Usually called "curry leaves," they are also called "neem leaves" or "curry neem leaves."Curry leaf is what they call the "mystery ingredient" in India. Used everywhere but hard to describe, curry leaf has a slight nuttiness that adds backbone to the flavor of a dish. There really is no substitute, so if you can't find the leaves, simply omit them from the recipe. Excerpted from Susan Feniger's Street Food: Irresistibly Crispy, Creamy, Crunchy, Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Recipes by Susan Feniger, Kajsa Alger, Liz Lachman All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher. Excerpted from Susan Feniger's Street Food: Irresistibly Crispy, Creamy, Crunchy, Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Recipes by Susan Feniger, Kajsa Alger, Liz Lachman All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
