On Sun 16 Nov 2008 10:13:07a, koko told us...

>
> This Wed. we are having a Thanksgiving day pot luck at work. I'm to
> bring a side dish.
> I would like my dish to be something different and maybe a bit out of
> the ordinary, and that can be served at room temperature. I know,
> picky huh! ;-)
> The kitchen gets crowded and busy with everyone needing to get their
> dish warmed up.
>
> Here's what I thought I'd do.
> In this month's issue of Saveur magazine is a beautiful article on
> Laos. In that article is a recipe for Jaew Mak Len, a tomato dip for
> vegetables. It's shown served with steamed long bean segments, steamed
> wedges of cabbage and raw quartered Thai eggplants.
> I thought I'd make a platter of crisp steamed green beans, carrots,
> cauliflower and potatoes or what ever other veggies look good.
> I also was thinking about tucking in around the veggies some deviled
> eggs using some of the Jaew Mak Len in the yolks.
>
> Open for suggestions.
>
> Here's the recipe.
> @@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format
>
> Lao Tomato Dip (Jaew Mak Len)
>
> sauces/dips
>
> 3/4 pound cherry tomatoes
> 8 cloves garlic; halved
> 6 Thai chiles; stemmed
> 2 shallots; halved
> 1/2 red bell pepper; stemmed and seeded
> 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
> 2 tablespoons fish sauce
> 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
>
> Charring the vegetables for this dip is the secret to it's smoky
> flavor.
>
> Heat broiler; place a rack 4" from heat source. (Alternately, prepare
> a medium-hot charcoal fire; place a vegetable grate over the grill
> top.)
>
> Put the tomatoes, garlic, chiles, shallots and red bell pepper on a
> foil lined baking sheet (or on grill top if grilling.) broil or grill
> vegetables, turning once, until charred, about 8 minutes. Let cool.
> Transfer garlic, chiles, shallots and bell pepper to a food processor;
> pulse until chopped. Add tomatoes; pulse until just chunky. Transfer
> dip to a bowl; stir in chopped cilantro, fish sauce and salt.
>
> Notes: Saveur Magazine Nov 2008 #115
>
> Yield: 4 servings
>
This sounds delicious, but when it comes to Thanksgiving I really like
dishes that are more related/expected for that holiday. I guess I’m too
traditional when it comes to that.

We have a Thanksgiving potluck at my office that I usually participate in,
but will miss this year because of the scheduled date. We have nearly 300
people in our building, most of whom participate. Luckily, we have 3
different kitchens in the building, minimizing the confusion of organizing
and reheating the food. People planning to bring hot dishes are encouraged
to bring them in crockpots.

The officers supply fully roasted turkeys and hams from one of our
specialty markets that arrive still hot from the oven, but they’re carved
on site. We seem to have an endless array of side dishes that include
stuffing/dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, candied sweet
potatoes, other hot vegetable side dishes, fruit salads, vegetables salads,
various holiday dips with either chips or vegetables, and a wide assortment
of desserts. Due to our large Hispanic community, there are also
frequently tamales, refried beans, etc. Due to the large number of people
involved (and it’s specified if you bring something it must be homemade),
there is a huge variety of food. For a number of years I have taken a
crockpot containing a corn casserole that contains whole kernel corn, cream
style corn, green chilis, cream cheese, butter, and various seasonings.
Repeating this year after year has been because it was requested by many.
I don’t consider it unusual, but it is very popular. My crockpot is always
empty by the end of the meal.

Having said that, I’d say go forth with your plan. It does sound
delicious, and I’m sure there will also be ample traditional dishes at the
potluck.


--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
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