Saturday Dinner Party

Posted on 20 August 2012 by christao408

This past Saturday, Tawn and I had two couples over for dinner. All four of them are foodies, so I made a special effort to cook an elegant meal but something that wouldn’t require a great deal of last-minute attention. There are few things worse for a dinner party than having to be in the kitchen while your guests are sitting at the table.

Amuse-bouche: To wake up the taste buds, I served a tomato water gelée topped with a tomato coulis. The tomato water, which is a bit cloudy because I rushed it along rather than waiting the twelve hours called for in the recipe, is made by blending fresh tomatoes and then straining them through cheesecloth. What happens is that the water in the tomato slowly drips out, full of tomato flavor but without any color. Of course, by squeezing the cheesecloth, I extracted a bit of the red coloring, clouding the water.

I added some gelatin to the tomato water and let it set in colorful shot glasses. I passed the remaining tomato pulp through a sieve to make coulis, flavoring it with some salt, sugar, and a little bit of balsamic vinegar. Not sure if it was the most exciting amuse-bouche ever, but I was pleased with it.

I made two salads, both of which were based on dishes I had at Orris, a Los Angeles small plates restaurant that I’ve been to a few times. The first dish was thinly sliced roast beets topped with cheese and dressed with balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and dill. The original version of the dish is supposed to have manchego or another similar Spanish cheese. I ran out of time while shopping and had to settle for edam, which wasn’t nearly as good.

Another Orris-inspired dish was an asparagus salad with a tarragon dressing, tomatoes, and pecans. I assembled it a bit differently than the original dish, but it came out very nicely. Visually, it is very appealing, and the taste was nice, too.

To accompany the meal, I prepared a loaf of rosemary and black olive bread. This is one of my favorites and always turns out well.

The pasta course (which I didn’t get a picture of!) was a roasted vegetable lasagna with homemade pesto sauce. If I had had my way, I would have made individual servings of this. In the interest of minimizing time spent in the kitchen, I made a single batch and just served it at the table, family style. This dish was so tasty – the roasted veggies had lots of flavor – and I think I will make it my new standard lasagna recipe.

For the main course, I prepared basil marinated snow fish en papillote. Steaming the fish and vegetables in their own individual parchment paper packets is easy, convenient, fancy, and produces excellent results. In this case, I marinated the snow fish in an olive oil, white wine vinegar, and basil mixture for 30 minutes, then steamed the fish with carrots, turnips, zucchini, and bell peppers. The fish was seasoned with a small bit of butter, a strip of lemon peel, and a kaffir lime leaf.

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I was able to cook the packets while we were eating the lasagna, so the fish was hot out of the oven when served. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, but it turned out very nicely. Snow fish has a high oil content, so it stays moist. Next time, I think I would cut the turnips a bit thicker and instead of including zucchini and peppers in the packet, I would serve them on the side.

To celebrate the end of summer, I prepared a duo of cherry desserts. In the larger ramekin is a cherry clafoutis, which is a pancake like batter baked with a dish of fresh cherries. The smaller ramekin has cherries covered with a chilled sabayon, a frothy mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and amaretto liqueur. The sabayon is heated in a bowl placed over a steaming pot of water. It is whipped continuously, cooking the eggs and incorporating air. Once the mixture has cooled, I folded in some whipped cream. Finally, before serving the dessert I used a butane torch to brûlée the top. On the side is some more whipped cream and a cherry reduction sauce.

What I liked about these desserts is that I did not make them too sweet. Instead, they were satisfying without being sickeningly sweet. All in all, a meal well done.

While cleaning the dishes afterwards, I was struck by the pattern the beets had left on the serving plate, so had to take a picture.

Back to the Future of Phones

Posted on 15 August 2012 by christao408

Sometimes the universe throws things your way that can be attributed only to remarkable serendipity. As I had just exchanged of comments with another Xangan about how technology has rapidly changed in the past few decades (in this case, in the context of how to meet people – you remember when people placed personal ads in a newspaper and would receive responses to their post office box?), I came across this funny smartphone accessory:

The Broconi Retro iPhone Handset. Using a form that will be familiar to anyone over the age of about 30 (or who has watched Mad Men), the handset plugs into the audio jack or 30-pin connector on your smart phone. Sure, it is wildly impractical, but with all the concern over smart phone radiation frying your brain each time you make a call, maybe it’s a forward-thinking idea to keep your phone away from your ear. I can’t think of a more stylish way to accomplish that.

Making S’Mores from Scratch

Posted on 14 August 2012 by christao408

My big project the past few weeks has been trying to make s’mores from scratch. S’mores, an American campfire classic, is a sandwich of graham crackers filled with a square of chocolate and a fire-roasted marshmallow. My goal was to understand the mechanics of each of the components, to make each from scratch. All three parts have been added.

Click here to go to Part 2.

Click here to go to Part 3.

Part 1: Making the Marshmallows

The first question I had to answer is, What is a marshmallow? It is one of those questions that I had never considered. Turns out, marshmallows are a whipped mixture of gelatine and sugar syrup.

I started by hydrating powdered gelatine in a mixture of water and coconut cream. A previous attempt used passion fruit juice, although the flavor became a bit sour as it cooked. In the future, I would add the juice near the end of the process. This time, I decided to try some coconut cream to see how it impacts the flavor. In the end, I couldn’t really detect the coconut flavor. Will have to play more with flavors in the future.

On the stove, I boiled a mixture of water, granulated sugar, and corn syrup. Once it boils, you keep heating it until it reaches the “soft ball” stage – 240 F / 115 C. You have to be super careful as sugar syrup can burn you something fierce.

As soon as the syrup hits the target temperature, you drizzle it into the hydrated gelatine as the mixer stirs at slow speed. As soon as the syrup is incorporated, you increase the mixer’s speed to full and whip, whip, whip for about ten minutes. As you whip, the sugar mixture cools and, with the gelatine, starts to stiffen, trapping the air in millions of small bubbles. The more and the faster you whip, the lighter the marshmallow should be. The end result was like a jar of marshmallow creme.

Most recipes call for spreading the marshmallow onto a baking sheet prepared with butter and a powdered sugar / corn starch mixture. I tried that the first time and you wind up with rectangular marshmallows. For this attempt, I used metal rings (also prepared with butter and the powdered sugar / corn starch) and used a pastry bag to pipe the marshmallow creme into the rings. Three words: big sticky mess.

I tried to pipe some of the marshmallow into what I hoped with be small “puffs” but the mixture was too loose and spread into puddles. Lessons learned…

Afterwards, I dusted the tops with more of the powdered sugar / corn starch mixture so the marshmallows’ surface wouldn’t dry. Then I set the marshmallows aside to firm up at room temperature. It can take between six and twelve hours for the marshmallows to finish setting.

Part Two: Making the Graham Crackers

To serve a roasted marshmallow without making a total mess, you need something to hold it. The perfect tool: a pair of graham crackers. Graham flour is a course whole wheat flour and graham crackers were originally created as a health product, which they are to some extent – if you ignore the butter and sugar!

The results of an initial test batch of graham crackers, cut into a traditional square shape. I used molasses as the sweetener, which resulted in a darker dough. The second batch was made with honey, giving them a lighter color. Flavor is really good, especially since I put a good bit of cardamom in.

Here’s the video… hope you enjoy!

Part 3: Putting it All Together

The following morning, it was time to remove the marshmallows from their rings, let them dry a bit more, and then take them to my friend Chow’s house where they would be dessert.

The process of cutting them out of the rings was easier than I anticipated. A sharp knife, cleaned after each marshmallow, freed them from their metal cages. I dusted the freshly-exposed edges in the powdered sugar and corn starch mixture, to prevent them from drying out.

The finished marshmallows, just a little ragged around the edges, and the round graham crackers in the background. They had a really pleasing, spongy texture. Just wanted to keep squeezing them!

That evening at Chow’s, the dishes were cleared, the graham crackers were put in an oven for a few minutes to warm them, and the chocolate ganache was put into a piping bag. Then the assembly process began! Since we had no campfire, I used a small butane torch to roast the marshmallows. The very high heat makes quick work of it, with the exteriors bubbling and caramelized long before the centers.

The end result was every bit as sweet and messy to eat as you might imagine. But for folks who grew up eating s’mores after a grilled dinner or while camping, they brought back memories. I’d classify this experiment as a success. I’ll definitely make marshmallows again – probably with my nieces – and homemade graham crackers are super easy to make, especially when you don’t cut them into circles.

Thanks for your patience watching this series and for your feedback and comments.

Lessons Learned from Resumes

Posted on 11 August 2012 by christao408

No doubt, there are many lessons that can be learned by perusing dozens of resumes. Most of those lessons are of the “don’t do that” sort, although there are a few tips and tricks worth adopting. The most significant of the “don’t do that” lessons:

When you send your resume to someone as a file attachment, the file name should be your name, not something generic like “Resume” or the name of the company to which you are applying.

Seriously, how is your resume going to stand out when I save it to a folder that contains a dozen other files with the same generic name?

The good news is, Tawn and I performed second interviews on the four finalists for the Operations Assistant / Personal Assistant position at Tawn’s company. Of the four, one person stood out as being particularly well-qualified, having room to grow with the position, and having passion for the industry. He starts works Tuesday.

View from Centara Grand Hotel

Posted on 9 August 2012 by christao408

While my sister and brother-in-law were in town, we had sunset drinks at Red Sky, the rooftop bar and restaurant at Centara Grand hotel at CentralWorld. In the past few years, the number of rooftop dining and drinking facilities has exploded from just a pair – the Banyan Tree hotel and Scirocco – to dozens.

What I particularly like about Red Sky is that it is located amidst many tall buildings. Unlike several of the more popular rooftop locations where you feel set apart from the skyline, at Red Sky you are right in the midst of it. Here are some photos:

Looking north, you see the Baiyoke 2 tower, the tallest building between Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur; the Amari Watergate hotel, the new Novotel Bangkok Platinum hotel, and the golden domes at Platinum Shopping Center, all of which are located in the Pratunam (“water gate”) district.

Looking southwest, you can see the Siam Paragon shopping center in the lower right, Siam Square in the center, and the Silom/Sathorn busines district in the distance. The golden chedi of Wat Saket (“Golden Mount”) is on the far right side of the horizon.

Looking southeast, you see the rest of CentralWorld, the Ratchaprasong intersection (the one closed for 40 days by red shirt protesters two years ago), the Intercontinental and Hyatt Erawan hotels, the Gaysorn shopping center, and, in the distance, the high-rise districts of Ratchadamri in the center and Witthayu (Wireless) Road to the left.

Hello Kitty, Meet the Playboy Bunny

Posted on 8 August 2012 by christao408

The other day while in a Bangkok department store, I noticed this odd pairing of shops: Playboy Intimates is located adjacent to the Hello Kitty boutique. In face, about half of this floor sells lingerie and a quarter of it is the children’s toy department. I’m certainly not a prude but at the same time I have to wonder what messages are received by young children, especially girls, about self-image.

Chulalongkorn University’s Virtual TV Studio

Posted on 7 August 2012 by christao408

An American journalist friend of mine is teaching a television documentary production class at the Faculty of Communication Arts at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand’s premier secondary school. Since I graduated as a Communication major with a TV production emphasis, I tagged along on a visit to the university, curious to see how a modern production facility compares to what I learned in nearly twenty years ago.

Other than the monitors being large flat-screens instead of smaller tube monitors, the control room looked familiar. I have fond memories of sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with my classmates as we would produce mock newscasts and other projects. “Cue camera one… standby to fade in…”

One cool thing that didn’t exist back in my day is the virtual studio. Using the principle of the chroma key (often called the “green screen effect”), the background of the image is created digitally. There is nothing on the studio walls other than a grid that can be used to ensure the effects’ perspective is lined up correctly.

Within the control room, you can see how I’ve been placed “on set” for a Thai TV show. The most interesting thing is how there is ostensibly a raised platform behind me with a mirrored front surface. Of course, that platform doesn’t really exist. What happens if I walk back there and try to step onto it?

Of course, my own career hasn’t followed my TV emphasis that closely (except for my youtube channel!), but other aspects of my Communication degree have proved helpful. Still, it is hard not to visit Chula’s studio and not feel the desire to reengage with TV production, an art I really enjoyed.

Putting on my Recruiter Hat

Posted on 6 August 2012 by christao408

Tawn’s first shop opened nearly a month ago. His first personal assistant quit two days after the opening, unable to cope with the job’s demands. After watching Tawn struggle with the volume of work for two weeks, I stepped in, appointed myself HR Director for Tawn C Designs, and started sourcing candidates for the PA role. What an experience!

While I’m experienced in matters of recruiting, training, and Human Resources (that is my professional background), recruiting here in Thailand is different in several ways from what I’ve experienced in the US.

The first step was to locate applicants. Similar to in the US, online recruiting is that standard, so I turned to JobsDB.com. This required setting up a company account and paying several hundred dollars for a 30-day ad.

Next, I had to post the job description. This took more time than you might imagine, because if you are going to get qualified applicants you need to know what qualities you are seeking, right? I settled on the following:

Operations Assistant / Personal Assistant
Seeking a qualified person to assist at a fashion design company specializing in up-market women’s clothing. The role’s responsibilities, listed in the order of how you will spend your time, include:
Represent the designer to business partners and vendors. This includes visiting vendors, placing orders, sourcing materials, conducting deliveries and pick-ups, inspecting product quality, coordinating payment, and negotiating deadlines.
Establish and maintain operational procedures. This includes creating spreadsheets and forms, basic bookkeeping and reporting, and doing other administrative tasks.
Inspect retail locations to check inventory, liaise with employees, and ensure procedures are followed. Includes pre- and post-sales activities for custom-made outfits.
Assist the designer during daily business. This includes accompanying him to meetings, taking notes, and following up on action items. It may also include driving him to meetings or errands.
Manage tasks and projects in the designer’s personal and home life. This includes identifying, negotiating with, and supervising vendors for repairs and home-improvement projects.

Within minutes of posting the ad two Friday nights ago, resumes (or, “CVs” as they are often called here) started to arrive. In a week, we received more than three dozen applicants.

The first interesting thing is the amount of information a Thai CV contains that would be unacceptable in the US: age, height, weight, religion, and a picture, for starters. These are factors that, as US Human Resources training will tell you, are generally irrelevant to job performance and so cannot be requested or used in evaluating applicants. Here in Thailand, that information is usually included on the CV.

Being conscientious, I emailed all applicants to confirm we had received their CV. I invited qualified applicants to schedule a telephone interview. Interestingly, of a dozen qualified applicants to whom I offered telephone interviews, six never responded to the request. Not a “thanks for your interest, but I’ve decided to accept another offer,” or something like that. Nothing at all. Tawn told me that such a lack of response is common here, although it confuses me. Twenty-four hours ago, you were eager to work at my company. Now you won’t acknowledge my email?

By week’s end, I conducted six telephone interviews. The candidates were a mixed bunch, ranging from two to a dozen years of experience. Candidates included men and women, a Christian, a Muslim, and four Buddhists, and ranged in age from 24 to 36. During the interviews, I asked questions about their work experience, focusing on a technique called “behavioral interviewing”. Sample questions include:

Tell me about an important project you managed or were responsible for. What was the scope of the project? What did you have to do to manage it? What challenges did you encounter and how did you respond? How did the project turn out in the end?
Tell me about a time when you had to make an important decision because your manager (or the normal decision maker) was not there. What was the situation? What decision did you make and how did you make it? What were the results of the decision? What lessons did you learn?
Tell me about a time when your manager wanted to do things one way, but you thought there was a better approach. What was the situation? Why did you think your approach was better? How did you go about trying to convince your manager to try things your way? What were the results of that attempt?

The theory behind behavioral interviewing is that candidates will generally answer these types of questions honestly (it is difficult to concoct an elaborate answer that withstands follow-up questions on the fly) and the answers will give you more insight into how they respond to real-life situations.

The interviews went well and I felt that all six candidates were people who preferred a higher level of independence than the average office job provides. They seemed self-motivated and interested in taking on new tasks and challenges. I also learned that three of the six were very interested in fashion, including one person who already designs and makes her own clothes. (Red flag: this could mean she wants the job in order to obtain contacts and connections rather that for the job itself!)

Interestingly, of the six candidates, only two – the men – sent any sort of follow-up communication to thank me for my time. Another example of what seems to be basic courtesy being absent. Since Tawn mentioned that it isn’t unusual here in Thailand, I didn’t let the lack of thanks influence my evaluation of the candidates.

Reviewing the candidates with Tawn, we have selected four finalists for in-person interviews, which we will hold Monday and Tuesday evenings. With any luck, one of these four will be a clear-cut winner and we can offer her or him a job by week’s end.

Given the history of supposedly interested job applicants suddenly vanishing incommunicado, we will not send any rejections until we have a signed employment contract, though.

Hospital Snack Box

Posted on 5 August 2012 by christao408

A few weeks ago I spent the first half of the day at Bangkok Hospital taking care of a few odds and ends. I had an eye appointment in the early part of the morning because my right eye was inflamed (thankfully, not infected – doctor said just too much time working on the computer). An hour later, I had an appointment with another doctor about my back, which had a bad muscle spasm that had lasted a week. He proscribed some physical therapy, which was available elsewhere in the hospital complex.

When I arrived at the physical thearapy center, though, they were quite busy and the service manager told me I’d have to wait an hour. Since I had my iPod with me, I didn’t mind waiting. Nonetheless, she came over a few minutes later and apologized for the wait and gave me this snack box. I guess they prepare these for patients who have long waits.

While I wasn’t hungry (I brought the box home to photograph!), the gesture was appreciated. Service in Thailand is generally very good, especially at the hospitals. What do you think of the contents of the snack box, though? Juice and cookies – seems more appropriate for someone who has just donated blood.

Cooking Mexican Food in Bangkok

Posted on 2 August 2012 by christao408

A few months ago, a group of our friends gathered to cook dinner. Being mostly from the United States (or having lived there), we were missing Mexican food, something that is difficult to find in Bangkok – at least if you want decent quality Mexican food and not something akin to Taco Bell. Thought I would share some pictures with you.

The final spread, a mishmash of sauces, condiments, and dishes, all of which were very tasty.

Home made black beans and rice with a soffrito – onion and pepper mixture.

Put them all together and we wind up with a wonderful soft taco and side of black beans and rice.

I also served homemade horchata, the traditional Mexican rice milk beverage. I followed a recipe on the internet which is based on one from the book “Paletas” by Fany Gerson. Can’t say if it is the authentic process, but the end result tasted familiar.

From left to right, blend the uncooked rice. The result is a rough, sandy powder. Put the powdered rice and cinnamon stick in a container and add warm water, letting it soak overnight. The next day you remove the cinnamon stick, puree the rice and water mixture, strain it to remove any solids, and then add sugar and rice milk (or cow milk) and mix until dissolved. Of course, adding rice milk at the end seems a bit redundant but as I said, the flavor turned out as I remembered from the taquerias of San Francisco.

Candice shows us a baby lychee, the runt of a large batch of lychees we ate our way through.

For dessert, I served mangoes on home made cornmeal pound cake. I brought my panini grill along and was going to grill the pieces. Unfortunately, I forgot that the waffle plates were in the grill instead of the panini plates. Undaunted, I used the waffle plates instead, which produced this interesting toasting pattern.

End result of the dessert: curiously toasted cornmeal pound cake with mangoes and fresh whipped cream spiked with a touch of almond liqueur and a sprinkle of cinnamon.