Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Today the #OurFamilyTable is sharing summer salad recipes! Christie of  A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures  encouraged the bloggers: "The produce is starting to roll in! May is salad month, so let's share some hearty salads to chow down on this month." Broccoli Waldorf Salad by Art of Natural Living Easy Cucumber Onion Salad by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks Fresh Summer Corn Salad by Home Sweet Homestead Layered Salad with Green Goddess Dressing by Delaware Girl Eats Lephet Thoke (Burmese Fermented Tea Leaf Salad) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Salmon Salad by A Day in the Life on the Farm Salatet Fool Akhdar - Libyan Bean and Artichoke Salad by Pandemonium Noshery Tex-Mex Steak Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures We share  Recipes From Our Dinner Table ! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, join our  Pinterest board , too! Lephet Thoke  Burmese Fermented Tea Leaf Salad ...

Back in the Bs (March 2012), I actually debated on whether or not this menu should be cooked and blogged with the letter 'b' as Burma is now Myanmar and has been since 1989. But, going with Sasha of Global Table Adventure's list...I went with 'b'! Apparently the United Nations recognizes the name change as do a few other countries, but it is  not  recognized by the United States or the United Kingdom. Interesting to note, when the boys tried to look up the country in their atlases, 'Burma' did not exist. It was listed, in the index, as 'Myanmar. However, when they went to the correct page, the country was labeled 'Myanmar (Burma)' on the map. Burmese cuisine is an amalgam of Indian, Chinese, and Thai cuisines. But what they do that really intrigued me: salads. So I came up with a trio of Burmese salads that take a vegetable - or fruit - and really make it pop with flavor. I should say that I really wanted to make a squid and dandelion di...

Jake is home and we are back on track with a tabletop travel adventure to Burma tonight. I actually debated on whether or not this menu should be cooked and blogged with the letter 'b' as Burma is now Myanmar and has been since 1989. But, going with Sasha of Global Table Adventure's list...'b' it is! Apparently the United Nations recognizes the name change as do a few other countries, but it is not recognized by the United States or the United Kingdom. Interesting to note, when the boys tried to look up the country in their atlases, 'Burma' did not exist. It was listed, in the index, as 'Myanmar. However, when they went to the correct page, the country was labeled 'Myanmar (Burma)' on the map. Burmese cuisine is an amalgam of Indian, Chinese, and Thai cuisines. But what they do that really intrigued me: salads. So I came up with a trio of Burmese salads that take a vegetable - or fruit - and really make it pop with flavor. I should say ...

"Mom, they must really have a lot of banana trees in Burma!" Dylan exclaimed as he wrapped our dessert in banana leaves, having just made banana leaf pouches for the main dish. Again, this isn't a real Burmese recipe that I could find, just a creation that used the ingredients I had been reading about as common in Burma. First: make coconut rice (rice cooked in a mixture of coconut cream and water). Let that cool till you're able to touch it with your hands. Blend in some organic granulated sugar to taste. Second, lay a mound of rice in the middle of a banana leaf. Place a plantain piece on top. I sliced the plantain in half and, then, halved it lengthwise. Sprinkle with dried coconut. Create a banana leaf roll. Place the rolls in a baking dish, drizzle them with water, and cover the pan with foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour.

One thing that is apparent from looking through dozens and dozens of recipes for Burmese salads: they have mastered the art of making salads, from choosing the vegetables to adding extra ingredients for saltiness, texture, fragrance and acidity. This cabbage salad was delicious! Forgive the lack of measurements and significant liberties taken from a traditional cabbage salad. I didn't measure. I simply combined, tasted, and adjusted as needed. I also didn't make this as spicy as it usually is. Chop a head of cabbage into bite-sized pieces, cover in salted water, and place in the fridge for an hour. In the meantime, saute dried shrimp and shallots in a splash of olive until they they are beginning to crisp. Drain the soaked cabbage thoroughly, then put into a bowl. Add the shallots and shrimp mixture, 2 tablespoons lime juice (I used Bearss limes), and a generous drizzling of oil. Mix thoroughly by hand, squeezing the cabbage slightly to bruise it. Taste and add more salt...

When I began researching food for our Burmese feast, I was intrigued by recipes for Lephet Thoke , a fermented tea leaves salad. But when I began to delve into where to find these fermented tea leaves, I came up empty...and not just me. There are numerous discussion boards dedicated to fermented tea leaves and banned Burmese exports. Apparently there is an ingredient, or noxious chemical, that the tea leaves have when produced in Burma; that makes them un-importable into the United States. Okay, I can understand that. Thankfully I found a recipe to approximate the fermented tea leaves at Absolutely Monica's blog . I changed a couple of things, but I think the flavors will be accurate nonetheless. 1 C unfiltered apple cider vinegar 1 C water 1/4 C green tea leaves, crushed 1/4 C sesame oil 1/4 C olive oil 1 T soy sauce 1 T fish sauce Crush the tea leaves with a mortar and a pestle. In a medium pot, bring the vinegar and water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the crushed t...