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[Jun. 24th, 2007|11:42 pm] |
dearest friends,
i am currently in the process of moving this blog to a new home, over on blogger. i've had such a good run here on livejournal, but because of some Very Big Changes in our household, i stopped posting recipes, and then, when i felt up to posting again, decided i wanted a fresh start. blogger houses something of a more vibrant foodblog community than lj does, so it just feels appropriate. not to mention this new home allowed me to set up a really lovely index (at least, i think it's lovely) which is quite exciting to a list-maker like myself. i've only moved part of my recipe archive over so far, but in the coming weeks expect to have the move complete.
i hope you'll all continue to peek in and check out what i'm up to in the kitchen. for those of you who would like a syndicate for your friendslist, you can find it (courtesy of the lovely supercarrott) here.
thanks so much!
xxb |
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| sometimes we rock and roll / i'd rather stay at home |
[Feb. 27th, 2007|10:01 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | wolf parade, "this heart's on fire" | ] |
it was about a year ago now that i first started this blog, and -- i know, i know! -- after the first few months i really fell off the wagon in terms of updating it. what's perhaps amusing, is that i religiously punch out my recipes into the blog but only as "private" entries, and only in a type of shorthand that no one would be able to read. they then stagnate, for want of pictures and narrative, with that little private eye icon hovering over them for all time. a sad fate, it's true; but take it up with my decision to try to get myself a phd.
however, recalling that i posted this post-valentine's-day-fondue picture on my very first entry here, i decided nothing would keep me from posting our valentine's day dinner this year. we usually do the fondue thing on valentine's day, which is easy and inevitably fun, but this year i concocted a surprise which was, if i do say so myself not only quite delightful, but quite clever: i surprised andy with foods reminiscent of our wedding. all the dishes i decided to make were variations on the dishes at the wedding, and i certainly didn't make even near half of the unbelievable food that our lovely chef created for our guests (much of which caused the most meat-and-potatoes of all the meat-and-potatoes folk i know to exclaim, "if i could eat like this every day, i'd be vegetarian, too!). but it was just reminiscent enough that andy got it (maybe the birds that had adorned our cupcake tower sitting on our plate of cupcakes was a giveaway). and it was just delicious enough that if he hadn't gotten it, it still would have been a hell of a treat. everything was beyond fantastic.
portabello "steak" sandwiches with gorgonzola butter
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds sliced fresh Portobello mushrooms
2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese (about 1/4 cup) at room temperature
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup chopped, drained bottled roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons olive oil
crusty bread, cut diagonally into slices (i used whole wheat baguette)
* in a small bowl whisk together balsamic vinegar, garlic, thyme leaves, and olive oil. put half of the sliced mushrooms and half of marinade in each of 2 large sealable plastic bags. shake the bag well so that the marinade is coating all mushrooms. marinate mushrooms at room temperature, turning bags over several times, at least 1 and up to 2 hours.
* while the mushrooms are marinating, make the gorgonzola butter and red pepper vinegarette (and prep any other courses you are making):
* in a small bowl, mash the goronzola and butter together until blended well. you're done with the gorgonzola butter!
* in a blender blend roasted red pepper, white wine vinegar, water, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. blend until smooth.
* turn oven broiler onto high. take slices of bread and carefully spoon some of the mushroom marinade onto the inside of each. broil until desired crispiness, about 3-5 minutes. spread inside of each slice of bread with gorgonzola butter.
* remove mushrooms from marinade and broil 3 or so minutes on each side, or until tender.
* arrange warm mushrooms on bread and spoon vinaigrette over each open-faced sandwich.
adapted from gourmet
saffron-spiced rice with peas
1 1/2 cups brown and wild rice (or other long-grain brown rice), rinsed well
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
a 3-inch cinnamon stick
7 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 1/4 cups vegetable stock
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, preferably fresh
1 teaspoon salt
7 oz frozen peas, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
2 tablespoons milk, rice milk, or soy milk (i used unsweetened rice milk)
* in a large saucepan, heat the oil over moderately high heat. add the cinnamon stick, cloves and ground cardamom, stirring and frying the spices until the cloves are a bit puffy (about 30 seconds).
* add rice and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute, or until the rice is opaque. add stock, lemon juice, salt and frozen peas, stirring to disperse the peas. bring the mixture to a boil, and cook the rice, covered, over low heat for 15 minutes.
* about 5-7 minutes before the rice is done, place a heatproof bowl over a small pan of simmering water. heat the saffrom for 4-5 minutes until saffron is brittle and fragrant. add milk or milk substitute, heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it is hot, and remove the pan from the heat. drizzle the saffron mixture over the rice and continue to cook the rice, covered, for 5 minutes. remove the pan from the heat and let the rice stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
adpated from gourmet
pumpkin cupcakes with white-chocolate truffle frosting
at our wedding, we had three different kinds of cupcake from the amazing sugar sweet sunshine bakery, but both andy and i were partial to the pumpkin ones with cream cheese frosting. i played with this a bit by using a white chocolate truffle frosting instead, which was truly decadent.
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup whole barley flour (if you can't find barley flour, you can grind pearled barley in a coffee grinder. i did so in two batches. just make sure it grinds completely smooth.)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1.5 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (or buttery spread such as earth balance), softened
1/2 canola oil
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin puree
* preheat the oven to 350F. grease or paper muffin tin.
* whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
* mix together the brown sugar, butter, and oil in a large bowl until thick and mayonnaise-like in consistency. beat in the eggs, one at a time. stir in the pumpkin, then the dry ingredients. mix well. transfer the batter to the pans.
* bake 30-35 minutes, or until top spring backs when lightly touched and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
* remove muffins and cool on a rack before frosting with recipe below.
adapted from the king arthur flour book of whole grain baking
white chocolate truffle frosting
2 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream (make sure this is extremely cold)
3/8 cup unsalted butter or buttery spread, cut into pieces
1 1/2 3.5oz bars good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt), finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
* bring 1 cup cream and butter to simmer in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. remove from heat.
* add white chocolate and stir until smooth. whisk in vanilla.
* let remaining white chocolate mixture in saucepan stand at room temperature until lukewarm, about 20 minutes.
* using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 1/4 cups cream and almond extract in large bowl until peaks form. this will take a while, so be patient. it will help if the bowl is chilled, as well. working in 3 batches, fold in lukewarm white chocolate mixture. refrigerate whipped cream frosting just until medium peaks hold, folding occasionally, about 3 hours.
adapted from bon appetit
one valentine's day older, one valentine's day fuller. cheers! |
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| so blow, november, blow, my sweetheart home |
[Nov. 25th, 2006|07:03 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | justin rutledge, "don't be so mean, jellybean" | ] |
vegetable chowder and quick brown bread! (vegan)
i fretted my way through this soup, i must admit. i've never been one for corn chowder, though i've had many a friend who love it. but when i happened across thisrecipe and was faced with the prospects of a 65-degree day in late november -- thus necessitating something at once fallish and...springish? -- plus some green beans that needed to be used, i thought the fates were dictating i try my hand at corn chowder. so i did. and i must say, the recipe as given was horribly, horribly bland. so i jazzed it up a bit. and then i jazzed it up some more. and some more. eventually it seemed like i had gotten it right, though i was still a tad frustrated, now by the fact that the recipe called for way too much water, thus leaving me with something way more soup-y than chowder-y, and much less fulfilling as far as i was concerned. in the end, i tried to boil some of the water off, then stirred in a teeny bit of some corn starch begrudgingly, and called it a wash.
luckily for me, i didn't eat the soup for another 1.5 hours, because we had planned to combine forces with my my lovely sister and her lovely boyfriend, thus producing a veritable feast that night. they were trying their hands at homemade, whole-wheat spinach ravioli, and it took much longer than they had anticipated. "i'm glad you guys are bringing over something so delicious," i said mournfully when saadia called to tell me they'd be late. i then added, perhaps a bit dramatically, "i just hope my soup is edible." hanging up the phone, i sat and read while andy and i waited for them to come over. somehow, in that time, the chowder both developed its flavours andthickened, and you would never know that i had fretted over it for even a second by the way i downed it today for lunch.
the brown bread was much less of an emotional ride. i threw it together, and loved it unabashedly, eating slice after slice with my dinner. this is an amazing, easy-breezy quick bread that is sweet enough that one could add, say, cranberries into the batter and have them be right at home, but savoury enough that it would work equally well for sandwiches. it's a nice, dense (but not too heavy), flavourful, healthy loaf. take my advice and try it.
vegetable chowdwer
3 tbs buttery spread, such as earth balance or soy garden
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 medium yellow bell peppers, diced
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried marjoram
about 1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper, depending on your taste
3 cups milk or soy milk
4 medium baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 cans kernel corn
Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
* in a large pot, melt "butter" over medium-low heat. add onion, bell peppers, carrots, thyme, marjarom and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
* add milk or soymilk, potatoes, and 5 cups water (according to the recipe; i would recommend no more than 3). bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, about 8-10 minutes.
* stir in corn, salt, and pepper. simmer a few more minutes.
* with a slotted spoon, transfer 3 cups of the solids to a blender; purée until smooth. Return to pot; add green beans. bring to a simmer; cook until beans are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. season again with salt.
quick brown bread
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup ground flax seed
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups soy "buttermilk" (see directions below)
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
* preheat oven to 350 degrees.
* in a small bowl, pour in 2 cups of soymilk (i used vanilla because that's what i had around, but i generally prefer plain for baking. however, the vanilla worked quite well in this particular bread). remove 2 tbs of the soymilk. stir in 2tbs white vinegar. let sit for five minutes.
* combine, in a medium bowl, the bran, the flour, the salt, the baking soda, and the sugar.
* after the "buttermilk" has sat for five minutes, stir in the molasses.
* stir wet ingredients into dry. don't overmix!
* spoon the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake it for approximately 1 hr, or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped. let the bread cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, invert it onto the rack, and let it cool completely. that is, if you can take the anticipation. |
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| knock me down I'll get right back up again / come back stronger than a powered-up pacman |
[Nov. 7th, 2006|05:56 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | kaiser chiefs, "oh my god" | ] |
brown rice "risotto" with kale and sweet potatoes (vegan!)
every now and again, people ask me what to do with kale. i always immediately recommend this recipe, which was inspired by the cookbook the ultimate healthy eating plan...that still leaves room for chocolate. this book isn't actually a vegetarian one -- it was passed along to me by my lovely friend alison, who thought i would get more use out of it than she was getting. she was quite prescient, actually, and i've gotten quite a lot of ideas from it. heck, any book that comes up with a really great, almost universally loved kale recipe is a good book in my eyes. i've fed this to a number of friends, and all have enjoyed it. i personally love kale, but i know others find it bitter, which is why this is a good recipe to win people over: paired with these ingredients it becomes quite mellow. overall, this is much more comforting dish than its ingredients would suggest. the sweet potatoes make it rich and creamy, so make this when you want something stick-to-your ribs without, ahem, something actually sticking to your ribs.
while i haven't made this in quite a while, the call for kale recipes has been sent out once again, this time over at the veg_recipes community here on livejournal. because i only sometimes manage to live up to my promise of typing up this recipe when people need it, i thought i'd bang it into the archive before i got distracted once again. oddly enough, i do have a photo of this dish handy, despite the fact that i haven't made it since april. now there's one more way to justify "dinner's photo shoots" to andy.
2 tbs vegan buttery spread, such as soy garden or earth balance
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (you can also use 3 cups of butternut squash, which is or approximately half a squash, also cubed)
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup brown rice (the original recipe specifies short-grain rice, but i've used brown basmati and it has worked well as well)
4 cups kale, stems removed and leaves finely chopped
pecorino romano or soy parmesan, to taste
* in medium pot over medium-high heat, melt buttery spread. when hot, add onion and garlic and saute til tender, about 5 minutes.
* add sweet potatoes, vegetable stock, rice, and bring to a boil. stir, cover, and reduce to low. simmer for 40 minutes/
* add the chopped kale. this will take some muscle, but it be persistent!
* simmer for ten more minutes, stirring occasionally.
* sprinkle with pecorino romano or soy parmesan to taste! |
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| clouds, moving inside / clutter my mind / trying to drive / look to the sky |
[Nov. 6th, 2006|04:51 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | the inner banks, "glittering sky" | ] |
black bean and winter squash chili with swiss chard (vegan)
recently i joined an organic food coop. this is exciting on a number of levels, not least of which is the notable presence of dirt and the utter lack of plastic bags in the box of veggies and fruit that appears at my house every monday. enamoured of the coop almost immediately, i quickly convinced my friend claudia to join as well. both claudia and i are particularly excited by the challenge a random box of veggies presents to a weekly menu, and claudia sent me an email shortly after deciding to join, joking that we would soon be asking each other questions like ""so what are you doing with swiss chard this week?"
notwithstanding the rather tangential train of thought this led me on -- it involved a bewildered curiosity about who would compose a wikipedia entry about swiss chard, and why they would do so -- i am partially posting this recipe to say to claudia, "well, then, here's what i did with the swiss chard this week."
but the plot thickens, my friends. today at the gym claudia mused that she would like to make a chili tonight. "EUREKA!" i nearly screamed from the ellipticals "i have just the recipe for you!"
so here, then, a recipe, for claudia.
2tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbs ancho chili powder (though i'm sure regular would work as well)
2 tsps. cumin powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne, or to taste
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 12 oz package frozen winter squash
3 15. oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1 bunch (approx. 3 cups) finely chopped swiss chard leaves
* heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. add onions and garlic and saute until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
* stir in chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and nutmeg and saute about 2 minutes.
* add beans, tomatoes (with juice), and frozen squash. keep an eye on this as the squash melts (alternatively, you can defrost the squash in the microwave or a separate pan first). when it is fully melted, bring the chili to a boil, then reduce and simmer for as long as you'd like, although i'd say 15-20 minutes will do it.
* stir in chard; simmer until chard is tender but not wilted, about 5 minutes. season to taste with salt, if you so desire.
* serve with whatever you like in chili! we did monterey jack cheese to start and then ended up adding some sour cream as well. i bet some lime would be delicious. eta: the last time i made this, i ate it with brown rice and no sour cream or cheese and it was delicious as well.
(adapted from gourmet)
rating: this was really delicious. the spices were right on the money, if i do say so myself. the smoky, sweet quality of ancho chili powder and nutmeg complements the sweetness of the squash and adds a real complexity a fairly basic black bean chili. i can't say i was wild about the chard, but i think that was mainly because i didn't chop it as well as i should have (hence my new directions of "finely chopped" up on the ingredients list). still, i think spinach would have been better. that might just be personal preference, however. three point five stars, i'd say, although claudia may beg to differ. |
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| this is all i know / sitting still to watch the engines come and go |
[Oct. 13th, 2006|12:33 am] |
| [ | music |
| | the notwist, "off the rails" | ] |
fall samplings from some of my favourite fellow food-bloggers
well, it's definitively fall in new york these days, and i have the pressed leaves aplenty to prove it. if you need such proof, keep in mind it can usually be found flying out of my dog-eared copy of hope leslie during orals exam preparation meetings, leading friends to politely shrug their shoulders and say, "that's fitting." generally, autumn not only results in my picking leaves up off the street every four blocks, rendering me a frustrating traveling companion indeed, but also in a obsessive baking of the bread variety, which tends to redeem me. however, my usual fall plans have been foiled by a rather unexpected bout of invalidism, which leaves me more like a character from hope leslie than i'd ever hoped i'd be: unable to do things like, oh, knead without smelling salts nearby, and having the many cautionary, feverish dreams about libertines one would expect from such a character. but here are some wonderful recipes i tried out before i found myself in the hospital with a fantastical ailment, courtesy of some of my favourite food blogs. if you need me, you'll find me on the couch, attempting to not swoon from the exertion of reading five pages.
butternut squash soup with pear, cider, and vanilla bean and hashed brussels sprouts with poppy seeds and lemon, from Orangette
molly's blog is a really comforting place for me to go when i procrastinate: she's passionate about her food, which is always elegant, but there's something really soft and inviting about her prose style, which makes her blog the internet equivalent, for me, of drinking a cup of tea in a big farmhouse with a fire lit inside. maybe it's her ever-so-romantic engagement story, which might as well be from one of the nineteenth-century novels i study...if the nineteenth century had the internet.
both the soup and the brussel sprouts, which i served with whole wheat baguette garlic bread, were phenomenal. i highly recommend you go out and try both right away. and be reassured: i did not have actual vanilla bean, so i substituted with top-quality pure vanilla extract, and it was still delicious. unfortunately i did NOT measure out how much i put in -- just add a bit, and taste to see! also, because i was lazy, i used pre-cut butternut squash from my vegetable market, and i think frozen chunks would work equally well.
i also think this could definitely work with silken tofu instead of the half-and-half, if you'd like to make this vegan. i may try to do so the next time i make it, which will be soon.
( butternut squash soup with pear, cider, and vanilla bean, plus brussies under the cut! )
apple spice muffins, adapted from pinch my salt
this is a foodblog i was introduced to only fairly recently, but i am already a huge fan of the experiments with whole grain baking, not to mention nicole's beautiful food photography! i altered this recipe a bit, to add some blueberries i needed to use, and because i was out of oat bran. i also took out the ginger and cloves, to account for the blueberries, but i will certainly be trying this recipe as nicole posted it, as i've been craving these ever since i made them! but first i have to try her pumpkin ones...
( autumnal apple-blueberry muffins, under the cut )
whole wheat bread, courtesy of poco-cocoa
actually, this isn't crystal's recipe, but because i found it via her blog i'm going to give her credit -- especially because i purposefully went looking through her archive to see if she had a tried-and-true whole wheat bread recipe. that's how much i trust crystal's taste. i think it's because the pictures she posts of her house are so darn pretty. or perhaps it's her ability to post healthy recipes while also recognizing the medicinal properties of chocolate chip bars. or maybe it's because she has the best homemade sloppy joe recipe i've ever tried. heck, maybe it's because she just seems like a genuinely kind person. either way, this bread recipe rocks.
( laurel's kitchen recipe right under this here cut ) |
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| i apologize / but i don't know what i love more / you next to me there / or the receding shore |
[Sep. 28th, 2006|10:59 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | the mountain goats, "going home" | ] |
a return, and tales of two friends
well, hello! it's fall, and after a long summer spent on the indian subcontinent, i've decided to dust off this old foodblog. many folks have been asking when i'd start updating again and so the pressure's been quite high. so for my first new entry, i decided it would be best to summon up my support network, at least in spirit, by posting recipes i associate with friends. enjoy!
jim's signature dish: take one
chickpea tart with cauliflower and green beans (vegan!)
one of my very dearest friends is a beautiful girl with freckles on her nose and a caravel on her arm named helena. helena is married to a decidedly charming boy named jim, and since helena is a very dear friend of mine, jim is very dear to me as well. are you following so far, dear reader? now, upon my return to the north american continent about a month ago, jim requested a favor of me. being quite an obliging friend indeed, i not only agreed to this favor but got to work on it right away. what was the favor, you ask?
to come up with a "signature dish", for a beginner-level cook, that is indian-inspired (the key being spicy), involves cauliflower, and doesn't include fennel. thinking it over, i asked jim if he liked chick peas. "are those the hummus beans?" he asked. when i answered in the affirmative, so did he.
behold my first attempt, which didn't photograph all that well:
what i did here was made what is essentially a polenta out of chickpea flour, which can be found at any indian supermarket (or likely, any supermarket with a decent international aisle or natural food store). actually, cooking the chickpea flour is almost easier than working with cornmeal, because it's not *as* big a deal if there are lumps.
chickpea tart
(inspired by myra kornfeld's voluptuous vegan)
1.5 tbs. canola oil
2 1/4 cups cold water
3/4 cup chickpea flour
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. coriander
1.5 tsp. lemon juice
* oil a tart pan or pie dish (i've used both successfully) with a bit of canola oil and set aside. preheat oven to 350F, if you plan on serving the tart the same day.
* place the chickpea flour, cold water, and 1.5 tbs canola oil in a blender and blend til smooth. pour into a medium pot and cook over medium heat (uncovered), stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches a boil. now, keep an eye on this. the boiling is not quite as obvious as one might expect, as the flour is also thickening. what will essentially happen is that the mixture will begin to resemble a volcano, but the bubbling will be sporadic rather than constant. take care not to get burned!
* add salt, turmeric, allspice, cumin, coriander, and lemon juice. mix in well. turn heat down to medium-low.
* keep the polenta cooking for 20-30 minutes, stirring often. the mixture should be bubbling a bit but not as heavily. you want to stir to prevent sticking and major lumps, but there's really no way to keep this mixture lump-free so don't fret too much over this point. taste at 15, 20, 25 minutes. you want to cook until the mixture tastes fully cooked. (you'll be able to tell; it tastes raw when it's not.)
* pour polenta into tart pan or pie dish, and spread evenly. let sit in fridge for no less than an hour and no more than two days.
cauliflower and green bean filling
4 tsp. and 1 tbs. of canola oil (i've also used olive here and both work just fine -- use your preference.)
2 tbs. chickpea flour
1/2 cup water
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1" chunk of ginger root, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. fenugreek
pinch (about 1/8 tsp.) cayenne pepper
about 1/2 of a large head of cauliflower
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
* warm 1 tbs. of oil in a saute pan over medium heat. add onion, garlic, and ginger, and saute until onion begins to brown, about 10 minutes.
* lower heat to medium-low and add cumin, coriander, fenugreek, and cayenne pepper. stir in and saute for about 2 minutes. keep stirring to make sure the spices don't stick. add a tsp. of water to prevent sticking, if need be.
* add cauliflower, green beans, salt and lemon juice and mix well. saute, stirring occasionally to make sure all the veggies are being cooked equally.
* while the veggies are sauteing, warm 4 tsp. oil in a small saucepan over low heat. add the chickpea flour and stir in. cook for about 5 minutes, stirring to keep the roux smooth, until mixture is thickened and a dark golden color. add 1/2 cup of water, stir in, and cook about 1 minute more (once the water is added, the roux will re-thicken quickly).
* at this point the veggies should have been cooking for about 10 minutes. add the roux, stir in, and continue sauteing the veggies, for about 10 minutes more or until they have reach the desired crunchiness: i like them softened, but still with a bit of a bite.
* when the veggies have finished cooking, pour them on top of the now-firm tart. place in the oven for about 25 minutes, until veggies and crust are browned. both times i've made this, i've sliced the tart before adding the veggies, and before cooking, but i have to say i'm unconvinced this is necessary.
rating: though i haven't been posting much, i have been experimenting the kitchen a lot, and this is one of my most favourite experiments thus far. i've actually made it twice in the past month. the second time, i had helena over for a taste-testing. she was really enthusiastic about it, proclaiming to be the perfect mix of comfort food (thanks to the creaminess of the tart and the gravy-like feel of the chickpea roux) and spice. i hadn't thought of it that way, but i now have come to the light and realize this would be phenomenal on a thanksgiving menu. she also seemed to think jim would be able to handle such a recipe, especially if i wrote it out very carefully. i asked if i should draw pictures as well, before realizing i have next to no artistic talent when it comes to drawing.
in any event, i'm not totally convinced this is simple enough (though it's much more simple than it appears on paper). of course whatever i come up with cannot be too easy, if it is to be worthy of the title "signature dish." i'll keep experimenting. in terms of the dish itself, independently of jim, i think it's quite quite delicious. even andy, who can't stand cauliflower, had seconds both times i made it. the spices for the tart itself (borrowed from the blend i use for my quinoa pilaf) are really fitting; but i do think the veggies could be a bit spicier. i think the fenugreek here does add a special bite, though. four stars, at least.
my take on claudia's take on madhur jaffrey's lentils with rice!
(vegan, if you choose to eliminate the cheese at the end)
one of the other things i returned home to find was that another darling friend of mine, claudia, had also created a foodblog: the things we eat. actually, i found out about claudia's foodblog in an internet cafe in bombay, the day before my birthday, in soaking wet jeans because it was monsoon season, after playing with a litter of kittens in the hallway of said internet cafe. but, suffice it to say, it wasn't until i returned that i actually got to appreciate it.
claudia and i became friends a few years ago, when we met in the middle of our comprehensive exams. and when i say middle, i mean middle: she was friends with some of the members of my study group, and we all had lunch together during the one hour break we received in the middle of this six-hour (essay...written by hand) exam. i vaguely remember being flushed and giddy, overstimulated, overexhausted, and with a thoroughly cramped hand. i less vaguely remember claudia being an exceptionally good sport about my giggly, nonsensical chatter about postcolonial poetry throughout lunch, especially considering we had just met. not only did she laugh at all my bad jokes and pretended to follow my disconnected thoughts with a smile on her face, she also engaged me in a long discussion about whether i should buy a mint-flavoured chocolate-covered graham cracker as desert, or whether it would result in a severe sugar crash halfway through the next three hours of the exam.
you can imagine, then, my glee when a few weeks later, i discovered that my new friend was in my introduction to american studies class! we became good friends over the course of that semester, taking the train together back to brooklyn at night, and reading each others' papers for conferences and such. over winter break, claudia had me over for lunch one afternooon so we could watch a film i had netflixed, the saddest music in the world. the film was extremely odd, in much the same way our conversation was that first time we met, and as i wolfed down the lentils claudia had prepared, i remember thinking that, as if i didn't know it already, any girl who could prepare a mean bowl of lentils and rice was alright with me. the lentils really sealed the deal that claudia was a keeper. the fact that she totally indulged my ruminations over whether i could pull off furry white hats a la maria de medeiros in the film was just a bonus.
i adapted this by adding carrots, which i thought would add a wonderful sweet quality to the dish, and zucchini. here is the recipe, which is consequently a funny amalgamation of claudia's words and my own:
1 cup lentils (rinsed)
3.5 cups water
1/2 cup long-grain brown rice (i used brown basmati)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
7 tbs. olive oil (i, like claudia, refused to actually measure this out. i suspect i added a good deal less than 7 -- probably about 5 -- while still being generous.)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 vidalia onion, peeled, cut in half length-wise, and then cut into fine half rings
1 zucchini
2 large carrots, washed, peeled, and cut into matchsticks
* combine the lentils and 3 1/2 cups of water in a wide pan. bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat down to very low, and cook 25 minutes.
* add rice and salt. bring to a boil again, cover, turn the heat down to very low, and cook another 25 minutes.
* while the lentils and rice are cooking, wash and grate your zucchini. place zucchini in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 5 minutes. then squeeze out excess water.
* about 15 minutes before the rice/lentils are done, you want to start sauteeing your veggies. so heat your olive oil in a saute pan over high heat, get the oil good and hot, and add your onions, garlic, and carrot. lower heat to medium. cook for about ten minutes, then add zucchini. cook another 5-10 minutes, until carrots are softened and onions are a nice golden-brown.
* at this point, the rice and lentils should be done. take off the heat (it should have a risotto-like consistency, maybe a little more or less depending on how much water/how high the heat was/etc). gently stir in lemon juice, cover again and keep warm if the veggies aren't yet ready.
* when the veggies are ready, stir them into the rice.
we also added a bit of pecorino romano, but it's not certainly necessary.
rating: this is just a perfect, perfect cold-weather meal, especially if it's rainy out. of course i love all things that involve lentils and rice, having been brought up on such things, so this was a no-brainer for me, but andy also adored it. he even requested i give it 4.5 stars. i'd lean more toward four, but who am i to question his rating system, especially when it works in my favor. ha!
note: i would suggest doubling this recipe if you want to serve two people and have leftovers. i suppose andy and i are more piggish than claudia and mat, but we gobbled down this entire pot -- with the exception of a very, very small portion -- in one sitting. |
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| too old / not to get excited / about rain and roads / egyptian ruins / our first kiss |
[May. 4th, 2006|11:21 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | jawbreaker, "jinx removing" | ] |
soba noodles with miso pesto! (vegan!)
the best i can do in terms of background story for tonight's meal:
a. this soba noodle dish is a quick weeknight meal that makes our bellies insanely happy with minimal effort (and if you doubt the "insane" part, see the ratings section below).
b. the nuttiness of the buckwheat with the saltiness of the pesto is seriously yummy. miso pesto sounds like a weird combination but is truly delicious;
c. the recipe is adpated from a recipe on nava atlas' blog;
d. soba noodles are awesome and summery and today is awesome and summery.
e. i danced around the kitchen while listening to jawbreaker and crass, with a broccoli stalk in my hand, as i cooked this.
f. i really did just admit that.
1 pound fresh spinach, washed and stemmed
1/2 cup firmly packed fresh basil
1/4 cup walnuts
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons miso
5 cloves garlic
1 lb bunch of broccoli, chopped into florets
12 oz. soba noodles
* steam the spinach just until it is wilted.
* heat 2 tbs of the olive oil in a sautee pan over medium heat. slice 3 cloves of the garlic and add to the oil. saute til fragrant and golden.
* add broccoli to the garlic, and lower heat a bit to medium-low. cook for 10 minutes or until the broccoli is bright green and tender but still with a slight bite.
* when the spinach is steamed, squeeze out as much moisture as possible, then place in a food processor along with basil, walnuts, 2 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs miso, and 2 cloves garlic. process until the mixture is a coarse puree. taste! add more miso if desired.
* meanwhile, cook the soba noodles until al dente. drain and transfer to a serving container. toss with the pesto and broccoli.
rating: i spent most of the evening nagging my sister and andy to rate this dish, but they were too busy having conversations that involved sentences like:
"okay, but what if some freak of nature trapped you in a titanium box? THEN how would you get out?" (saadia to andy)
and
"how about you just come over for dinner whenever you want, but without the weird dressing up in my clothes part?" (andy to saadia)
at some point, i joined the insanity, and andy and i had conversations like this one:
robina: "ohmygod, you sound like the worst high school stoner EVER."
andy (looking affronted): that's an awful thing to say. why did you say that?
robina: "because you just said that you loved saadia's ringtone because it reminded you of flying past mars."
andy: (cracks up and concedes the point)
regardless of whatever weird affects the food had on our ability to have normal conversations, we were very contented after consuming it, as evidenced by this picture (courtesy of saadia):
and i finally did get a conversation about ratings to commence. it went a little something like this:
r: okay, but really guys, REALLY what would you rate this?
s: i don't know, four stars? cos it's like, delicious, but not spectacular. it's just comfort food.
a: (affronted again) saadia, what the fuck? you obviously don't understand the value of such delicious food. you can't come over to dinner anymore.
s: whatever, andy, just go and eat your fried-starch-on-starch-sandwiches.* clearly your taste is not exactly discerning.
a: (becoming more affronted) WHATEVER! comfort food is exactly what food is supposed to be. because it makes you happy.
r: awwww....
s: WHATEVER. say that idiotic andy gave this recipe five stars, but brilliant saadia gave it four.
...to which andy, hours later, retorted, "say that andy, who knows what he's talking about, gave this five stars, and saadia, who's trying to seem clever, gave it four."
...meanwhile, i'm thinking that, in comparison to the other recipes i've posted, this is really only a 3.5
so the rating? i don't freakin' know. you make it and tell me what you think.
(* andy has a bewildering habit of eating bread with his pasta -- or rice, or any starch. we constantly joke about his "pasta sandwiches" and the fact that he'd be at home in the uk, what with chip sandwiches -- aka "fried starch on starch" -- and all.) |
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| let me know, babe, about my fortune / down along my restless palms |
[Apr. 26th, 2006|09:52 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | bob dylan, "spanish harlem incident" | ] |
burek!
(vegan if you choose not to use the optional dairy at the end)
well, hello, dears. here i am back from my jaunt in bosnia. it's been a hectic few weeks, to say the least. but along with my sarajevo hoodie and "survival guide" (those bosnians have a wicked sense of humor), i've brought back a recipe for a traditional bosnian dish: burek.
actually i'm sure all of you have eaten something similar to burek at some point, either in a greek or turkish restaurant, or -- as in the case of my friend, nicky -- in linda mccartney's brand of frozen british vegetarian cuisine (?!). i guess the comforting blend of pastry and meat is a universal phenomenon.
it's actually quite hard, though, to find a bosnian recipe for this dish, so i've compiled this from the very few odds and ends on the internet and a hopelessly vague recipe the friend i visited had procured and translated for me (thanks anna!!). interestingly, i actually didn't eat burek while in bosnia (because, um, veggie meat burek is not exactly popular there). instead, i ate sirnica, the cheese-filled version of this dish. i tried to eat a zucchini-filled version, too, but the shop we went to was out of it at the time. in any event, when i got home, i decided to try my hand at burek instead of sirnica, because the dinner was my welcome-home present to andy, who is a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. because we are the worst couple ever, his vacation to maine started on the day before my vacation to bosnia ended. we hadn't seen each other for two weeks. my little jet-lagged brain figured burek would be very romantic.
2 onions, chopped
5 yukon gold potatoes (small-medium), chopped (i threw both the onions and potatoes in a food processor, actually)
2 tbs. olive oil
12oz veggie meat "crumbles" (ie fake ground beef)
1 tsp. hungarian paprika
2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup vegan buttery spread, melted (though likely you will not use ALL of it, you'll probably use about 3/4 cup. this is not a healthy meal.)
1lb whole wheat phyllo dough sheets, defrosted
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream, miced with a few tbs. low fat milk (optional)
yogurt (optional)
1. preheat oven to 400F.
2. heat oil over med-high heat and when oil is hot, saute onions for about 2 minutes.
3. add potatoes, saute another 2-3 minutes.
4. add meat crumbles, paprika, salt, and pepper, and saute until crumbles are heated through.
5. grease a round cake pan.
6. take about 3-4 sheets of phyllo. brush (either with a pastry brush, your hands, a spoon, whatever floats your boat) one side with butter (i did this whole process on a cookie sheet so as to keep the mess under control). be generous! flip, brush with butter again. add a few tbs. of meat mixture. roll up dough like a snake, and curl into cake pan.
7. repeat this process, continuing to embed the "snakes" around the pan and within each other. this sounds more complicated than it is. basically, roll up the filling in the phyllo and smoosh it into the pan.
8. brush on some more butter for good measure. do not attempt to make this healthy. it's not worth it. just use one of the spreads without trans fat, and at least you'll feel slightly better about it.
9. place the pan in the oven for about 35 minutes.
10. at this point, you may pour the sour cream mixture over and bake for another 15 minutes. or you can just let it cook for the 40-50 minutes without the mixture. the sour cream makes the burek a lot less pretty, because the pastry doesn't end up as beautifully golden. i think next time i won't even bother.
11. serve with yogurt!
rating: so, my burek didn't end up as pretty as the sirnica i ate in bosnia, BUT i think i came pretty darn close. what do you think?
(at the spite house in sarajevo, demonstrating that i was about to devour something the size of my head)
andy LOVED this, as was to be expected i guess. he demanded i give it five stars, but i can't bring myself to do it! so i'll give it 4.5. i don't think i needed the paprika OR the sour cream. the paprika was totally an addition on my part because i couldn't believe something could only be spiced by salt, pepper, and onion. and butter. a lot of butter. but it can. and it will make people love you. okay, maybe only the partner you haven't seen for two weeks. okay, maybe that had nothing to do with the burek. either way, i'll be making this again. you should too. |
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| you -- you look a bit like coffee / and you taste a little like me |
[Apr. 6th, 2006|11:15 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | clap your hands say yeah, "skin of my yellow country teeth" | ] |
vaguely tropical chocolate cholate chip oatmeal cookies! (vegan)
on andy's birthday last year, i made an insanely decadent chocolate raspberry birthday cake. it wasn't vegan, but we were having a few vegan friends over so my bestest friend rayna offered to make a vegan desert rather than have me go further out of my wits. she brought these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies . as she carried them from her apartment in two giant ziploc freezer bags during the middle of the summer, they started to melt together. by the time she got to our bbq, the cookies were in a million, chewy, melty pieces.
HOWEVER.
they were so unbelievably delicious that we all ate the crumbs straight out of the bag with no complaints. we ended the night high on sugar. it was a good night.
since then, those cookies have been a classic in our house, and we make them often...with some alterations.
then, just a few weeks ago, i brought them in to my (decidedly non-vegan) class to try to bribe them into being kind during my paper critique. interestingly, i also carried the cookies in two giant ziploc bags, because i had to stuff them in my bag with all my books for teaching, etc. unsurprisingly, by the time i got to class, some of the cookies, smashed around by baldwin's another country and assata shakur's autobiography, were in crumb-form. i placed the whole cookies on a plate, and handed the crumb-filled bags to my pals justin and debarati. by the end of the class i noticed that not only my friends, but a relative newcomer to the class who i barely know, were eating the crumbs by the handful. in fact deb then took the leftover crumbs home and shared them with her husband. it was the first time i've ever brought food to a classroom and not had a single leftover.
that's how good these cookies are.
so why improve on something so good?
well, backtrack a few weeks now. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) onegirldown posted some goodlooking double chocolate oatmeal cookies on her journal. i made them for my sister nani and friend nicky, and we all agreed they would have been even more delicious with coconut.
so, on monday night, as i watched andy go into breakdown midterm study mode, i figured it was time to experiment with not only both recipes, but the added aspect of coconut: three great tastes that taste great together, as it turns out. the banana and coconut is where the "tropical" of the title comes in, but those flavours are hardly overbearing. these cookies are incredibly yummy and sort of ridiculously healthy -- though you'd never be able to tell -- so you definitely need to try them.
note: this recipe only makes about 12-16 cookies, depending on how big you make them. you may want to double it.
1/2 cup buttery spread (earth balance, etc)
1/3 cup turbinado sugar (feel free to up the sugar a bit if you like a sugary cookie. personally i felt this was more than enough.)
1/2 banana, ripe
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. vanilla or plain soy milk
3/4 whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 ground flaxseed
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup rolled (quick) oats
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips (vegan, of course, if you so desire)
* preheat the oven to 350F.
* beat together the margarine and sugar. i use an electric mixer because i am lazy but this probably isn't necessary. add the banana, vanilla, and soymilk, and beat well.
* in a small bowl, sift together flour, powder, flaxseed, and cocoa powder. then add oats and coconut and mix together.
* add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well-mixed.
* add chocolate chips.
* drop cookies by the tablespoon-full onto a cookie sheet. bake for about 20 minutes. remove from heat, let cool for five minutes, or as long as you can resist.
* try not to eat all of them at once. or go for it. whatever.
rating: definitely a solid four stars. i have been craving these every day since i made them earlier this week. |
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| totally cool that your hair is blue / i totally drool when i think about you |
[Mar. 31st, 2006|10:40 am] |
| [ | music |
| | screeching weasel, "totally" | ] |
"green" pasta
(a vegan recipe that is not vegan in this photo!)
so springlike weather has approached, perhaps tentatively and certainly inconsistently, but this year that has translated into two things for me:
1. a desire to listen to all the punk (silly and non-) that i listened to as a teenager;
2. a desire to eat only those foods i ate as a child and teenager;
the second has meant an inordinate amount of homemade veggie burgers. last night we ate sloppy joes. and last week i made a variation on my childhood food par excellance: "broccoli and macaroni." this was a quick and easy one-pot meal my grandmother used to make for my mother, as any good first-generation new york italian would, and in turn my mother made it for little b, who would gobble it down eagerly. actually, my mother once told me she was always concerned about the fact that her five year old could eat broccoli by the pound but would scrunch up her nose when presented with chocolate and pronounce: "TOO SWEET." i was, and remain, something of a freak.
this endured as one of my favourite meals after i became a vegetarian at eleven, and honestly if my mother made it for me tomorrow i would consume it with equal enthusiasm. but when i try to make it, it just doesn't come out right. it's an absurdly simple recipe, but it doesn't taste the same when my own hands produce it. so at some point last spring, i concocted a recipe that was both slightly healthier (more greens, whole wheat pasta) and also less healthy (i cooked it all in a light cream sauce). andy and i ate it once a week for months, and this spring when the craving hit, i decided i would try my hand at a healthier vegan version. this is the first iteration of that process. (note: if anyone wants the non-vegan recipe, i'd be happy as pie to share that as well. just let me know.)
3 tbs. buttery spread (ie earth balance or soy garden)
1 bunch broccoli (about 1lb.), cut into small florets
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut in 3" pieces
1 8oz. package button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup plain soymilk
9oz silken tofu (ie 3/4 of a 12oz pkg)
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tbs. nutritional yeast
dash nutmeg
dash crushed red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
13.25 oz box whole wheat penne
soy parmesean
* put on a medium-large pot of water to boil. when water has reached a rolling boil, blanch broccoli and asparagus for 2-3 minutes, until vibrantly green and tender but not too soft.
* put on water to boil for the pasta.* cook pasta according to directions on box.
* heat the butter over medium heat in a saute pan. add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes. then add mushrooms and saute until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
* while the mushrooms are cooking, blend together (in a blender, although i imagine you could also do this all directly in a pot with an immersion blender) the soymilk, silken tofu, and veggie broth until smooth.
* now add the tofu mixture to the pot and heat through over medium-low flame, stirring constantly.
* whisk in nutritional yeast until thickened. add salt, pepper, nutmeg and red pepper flakes.
* add veggies and now-cooked pasta, and toss until everything is equally sauced (okay there's certainly a more elegant phrase than that but i like the idea of drunken broccoli so i'm gonna leave it), and heated through.
* serve topped with veggie parmesan cheese (though i admit that in the picture we used some pecorino romano we had lying around because it looked prettier and we wanted to get rid of it anyway).
* note: here's what i do because i am lazy and hate doing dishes: i put on the water to boil, blanch the veggies, and take them out with a slotted spoon. i then bring the water back up to a boil and boil the pasta in the same pot. but you can also just have several pots of boiling water on your stove if that's what suits you!
( by popular request, the non-vegan version can be found here )
rating: this was pretty good! my testers (andy and rayna) had the following conversation when i asked them what they thought:
rayna: it's good! it doesn't taste like cream. [pause] but it doesn't taste like not-cream. i mean, it doesn't taste like tofu.
andy: it's good. (which, without fail, is ALWAYS his reaction to EVERYTHING i make.)
rayna: it needs more sauce.
andy: definitely more sauce.
rayna: and it needs to be saltier, i think.
andy: definitely saltier.
rayna: and more mushrooms, because i like mushrooms.
andy: ...
rayna: ...
andy: i definitely want more sauce.
so, there you have it. more sauce, more salt, and more mushrooms. i think that next time i will play with the consistency of the sauce a bit, perhaps starting off with a roux rather than plain butter in order to get a thicker result. overall this was enjoyable.
says inner-child b:
okay, okay, so i wasn't actually listening to seven seconds' "the crew" in that picture (from what i can tell, the record i'm holding has rudolph the red-nosed reindeer on it). but check out that fly record player!
in any event, i suggest YOU eat some green pasta. then whip out that old collared shirt, short skirt and knee socks (don't forget the boots), go out listening to crass on your headphones and channel back your high school hormones into finding someone to make googly eyes at. cos that's what i'm gonna do all weekend. alternatively, you can track down the lead singer of the bouncing souls for me, because i would probably still make out with him. how wrong is THAT?
three stars on the green pasta, -100 stars on never losing your totally bizarre (and much older) high school crush. |
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| you and me / we've seen everything to see / from bangkok to calgary |
[Mar. 29th, 2006|11:35 am] |
| [ | music |
| | death cab for cutie, "i will follow you into the dark" | ] |
everything-but-the-kitchen-sink nasi goreng with coconut rice!
(not vegan, but could easily be vegan)
well, hullo m'dears. as of monday, i've finally finished the paper that was keeping me from all of you. so that's a relief! (although we'll see how relieving it is when i have to defend it in class tomorrow. meep!)
i definitely have to plug away at some of my back recipes from the last week or so soon. today i'm going to start with this recipe for a bastardized nasi goreng i made on friday. i'm starting here because i'm feeling melancholic. my plans to visit a very dear friend in bosnia over spring break seem to be falling through (damn you, airfare!) and nasi goreng reminds me of traveling...to panama.
no, the vapours haven't gotten to my brain. nasi goreng, or indonesian fried rice, does in fact remind me of panama because, even though i'd had it a few times before we went to panama last winter, panama was the first place andy experienced it. when we stayed at mono feliz ("the happy monkey"), an ecological preserve on the pacific coast of panama, our incredibly lovely new friend allegra made us insanely delicious vegetarian food every night, and nasi goreng was on the menu the second night we were there. andy loved it, so i've been making it a lot since we've been back.
before you yell at me, i know this is terribly inauthentic. hence the "everything but the kitchen sink" title. but let's not go there. i never claimed to be indonesian, i just claimed to have lovely memories of my boy eating nasi goreng by candlelight in the jungle, while a monkey fell asleep in my lap.
coconut rice
for this dish, i made the rice ahead of time and then cooled it fully before frying with the veggies. my aunties always saute rice this way and the smell of dry rice being fried up is one of the most comforting smells in the world to me, for some reason.
1 onion, sliced
1" slice ginger, peeled and grated
2tbs. canola oil
1/4 shredded, unsweetened coconut
1.5 cups brown basmati rice
1.5 cups lite coconut milk
1 1/4 cups water
1/4tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
* heat oil in small-medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
* when oil is hot, add onion, ginger, and red pepper. saute until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes.
* add dry rice and shredded coconut. saute til fragrant, another 2-3 minutes.
* add coconut milk, water, and turermic. stir, bring in a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover.
* simmer approx. 30 minutes or until rice is cooked (try not to lift the lid too often to check, though!).
eta! a friend of mine recently made this rice and it turned out too soggy because brown basmati requires more liquid than "standard" brown rice. if you make this with different rice, here's what i suggest: check the cooking directions on the packet. then use 1/2 coconut milk and 1/2 water, depending on how much total liquid you need for that grain of rice. got it? good. also, i'd highly recommend you seek out a long-grain brown rice, as i can't guarantee this won't come out weirdly and overly creamy with your standard short-grain brown rice.
veggies
1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut in half:
1 red pepper, chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup baby carrots, sliced
handful of brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
1lb seitan (note: i promise promise to do a seitan tutorial one of these days. there is seriously NO point in wasting 3+ dollars on it when you can make it at home with about .50C worth of flour!)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs. canola oil
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
red chili sauce, for topping
fried eggs, for topping
* heat canola oil in wok or saute pan over medium heat.
* add garlic and red pepper and saute til fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
* add seitan and fry up til slightly browned. (don't let it get too browned, as it will cook a little more afer the veggies are added.)
* add veggies, coriander seed, soy sauce, and sesame oil. saute until veggies are tender but not too soft.
* while you're waiting for the veggies to be cooked, feed your dog some leftover vegetable scraps. allow her to sniff green bean suspiciously, as she always does, and then settle for it because there is no broccoli or red pepper left:
* don't get too alarmed when a ghost walks past your lovely bright veggies and makes everything misty. capture it on your camera instead:
* when the veggies are cooked, add the rice. stir fry until rice has gotten a little crispy, about 5 minutes.
* meanwhile, if you so desire, fry up an egg.
* assemble rice on plate, with fried egg and chili sauce on top:
fin!
rating: this is the favourite meal i've made recently since the butternut lasagna. i've played with the coconut rice a couple of times this winter, and so far this is the best version of it, though i think it still needs more crushed red pepper. and i may add a bit more coconut. otherwise, an easy 4.5 stars. mickey the monkey would be proud. |
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| can i get control / do you like me vulnerable / i'm armed and i'm equal / more fun for the people |
[Mar. 22nd, 2006|11:49 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | m.i.a., "bucky done gone" | ] |
fruit chaat (vegan)
i have not one, not two, but three dinners to update on this here site but what i'd rather share right now is the best snack recipe ever...or a reasonable facsimile of the best snack recipe ever.
all day today, i've been plagued by an insane need for chaat. aside from a bit of fretiing about the overwhelming craving = pregnancy stereotype, this desire presented some logistical issues. first, i don't have chat masala, the blend of spices one would normally put on fruit to make fruit chat. second, i was out of asafetida, one of the major ingredients in chat masala. third, i've never actually owned amchoor, or mango powder, which is another huge ingredient in chat masala. and there is no grocery in my neighborhood to buy any of these things.
but when life doesn't hand you amchoor, go with mangoes themselves. i have to admit i am impressed by myself on this one. i thought it'd be impossible to replicate without the above ingredients, but my craving is fulfilled. andy's belly is three-chaat-filled-bowls fuller, and neeley got her fill of rejected mango. the household is happy.
if you think savoury, spicy fruit is weird, you are in for a pleasant awakening. for reals, this is the best way to eat fruit. and i'm not biased at all.
now, when it comes to fruit chaat, anything goes when it comes to the fruit itself. apples, bananas, honeydew, grapes, pomegranate, pears...whatever you want. some people throw in chick peas, too!
here's the fruit i used for this batch:
2 large bananas (my favourite in chaat)
2 small mangoes
about 10 strawberries
a few handfuls of grapes
as for the masala:
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tbs. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch cayenne (and i mean like a tiny beebee pinch)
1 cup orange juice
* cut up all of the fruit into slices and cubes, depending on the fruit. amass in a bowl.
* in another bowl, sift together all spices. add orange juice and dissolve.
* pour oj/spices over fruit and mix thoroughly.
* let sit -- the longer the better! |
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| well, winter's gonna end / i'm gonna clean these veins again |
[Mar. 20th, 2006|11:41 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | bright eyes, "an attempt to tip the scales" | ] |
happy spring, friends. i am a little backed up here because i'm sort of in a paper-writing/paper-grading nightmare these days, but here's a special "but it doesn't feel like spring!" recipe for you all. because i love you that much. and i know that a day without a recipe cramming up your friends-list is no day at all.
winter and summer squash vindaloo (vegan!)
now, i don't ever really know what to answer when people ask me what "type" of curry i like. the differences between korma and vindaloo and tikka masala were not something ever articulated in my house growing up. perhaps this is because curries like "vindaloo" are portugese/goan in origin and "tikka masala" is arguably a colonial invention anyway so the only time i ever needed to use such language was in a setting where i was buying food. this, of course, is not something that happened until i had moved out of my parents' house to go to college anyway (why eat the restaurant food when you can have the homemade food for free?). for me, the word curry itself was foreign and all tomato-based pakistani sauces were described by an undifferentiated "shorba:" "aloo and shorba. no boti*" was a particular refrain for me.
now, okay. with that said, based on some research i did on the internet after cooking tonight, what we ate for dinner would be a vindaloo of sorts, but a terribly bastardized one at that. what can i say, i've recently discovered frozen butternut squash and i'm still getting over my excitement about eating it without having to wrestle with cutting and seeding it. so i'm finding a use for the lovely butternut in everything. bastardized or not, this, ahem, CURRY, is delicious, so i recommend you try it. also the merging of summer and winter squash is a big metaphor for how i feel right now. i like to infuse my cooking with my emotional state. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM...SQUASHES?
* "potato and sauce. no meat!"
1.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled
1 tsp whole mustard seeds
1/2 tsp whole coriander seeds
1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
2 tbs. red wine vinegar
3 small onions
4 cloves garlic
3 tbs. canola oil
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp. cayenne
2 cinnamon sticks, or 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
14.5 oz. crushed tomatoes
12oz. package frozen winter squash
1/2 tsp. salt
3 green zucchini, cubed
1/2lb. green beans, trimmed and cut in half
8 oz. package "chicken" strips (i used morningstar farms for this recipe)
* make a paste of the ginger, garlic, onions, and red wine vinegar in a food processor.
* heat canola oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. when hot, add onion/ginger/garlic paste and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
* while the onions are cooking, combine the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds in a mortar and pestle, or do as i do -- add to a coffee grinder! grind together to a fine powder. (again, as with the lentil recipe here, you can use already-ground spices in this recipe, but you may have to play with measurements.)
* when onions are soft, lower the flame and add cumin-coriander-mustard seed mixture, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon (sticks or ground), cayenne and turmeric. this is tricky and you'll want to be stirring continuously to ensure the spices don't burn or stick to the pot. you can add another tbs. of water or oil if necessary. fry for about two minutes.
* now add the crushed tomatoes and frozen squash, which will likely be frozen solid into a block. you can up the heat to medium at this point and let the squash defrost into the tomatoes. keep an eye out to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
* as the squash is defrosting, i take the opportunity to chop the zucchini (you can do slices, but i prefer little cubes for this recipe) and trim and cut the green beans. once the squash is done defrosting and you have an aromatic tomato-spice-squash thing going, add the zucchini and green beans, along with the salt. lower the heat to a low boil, cover, and cook for 35 minutes.
* after 35 minutes, i added the chicken strips solely because the particular brand i was working with (morningstar farms) has a tendency to go a little too mushy. if you are using a different brand that doesn't have this issue, you can add the strips with the zucchini and green beans. cook another 15-20 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
serve with brown basmati, or roti, or nan!
rating: the only suggestion i could get from andy was "it would be better with nan." and "um, i think nan would make it better." he was really into this dish and loved the consistency and spice combination of the...dare i say shorba? and maybe i'm braindead, but i can't think of anything i would change either. i was also pretty psyched on the creative use of frozen winter squash, which gave the sauce a nice sweetness and creaminess. eh, four stars (andy's decision). |
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| since there's no one else around / we let our hair grow long / and forget all we used to know |
[Mar. 19th, 2006|11:49 am] |
| [ | music |
| | the arcade fire, "neighborhood #1 (tunnels)" | ] |
"fish" sticks, sweet potato fries, and the best brussies! (vegan)
it's about halfway through the semester in the andy-robina residence, so these days haven't involved a lot of social engagements. since our lives seem to be as exciting as a five year old's lately, i figured i'd make the quinntessential five-year old meal: tofu fish sticks, fries, and of course every five year olds' nemesis: the brussel sprout.
actually, i don't think i ever encountered the brussel sprout as a five year old. so i came to the sprout table completely trauma-free a few months ago, and now i'm hooked. i truly love them. andy is less enthused, and wrinkles up his nose every time he sees them...but somehow they all magically disappear off of his plate anyway. "at least they have vinegar on them..." he'll grumble theatrically while simultaneously stuffing his mouth full of them.
the first time i attempted either tofu fish sticks or these best brussies was a few weeks ago, when my most excellent friend alice (of vivalavinyl fame) came over for dinner. i figured i should ask her first if she was down with such a meal, so upon calling her, i said:
"hey, i was thinking about making this stuff for dinner...[pause]...wait, you don't read the blog vegan lunch box, do you?"
[pause]
"YES OH MY GOD I LOVE IT!" she replied enthusiastically.
her enthusiasm was certainly warranted; vegan lunch box is probably the singlemost endearing blog i've ever read. i'm just waiting for the cookbook to come out! so far, only a few recipes have been posted on its recipe site, shmooedfood and two of them are this one, for vegan fish sticks, and this one, for the brussel sprouts. alice mentioned she had been meaning to try them anyway so that's what i made for dinner that night, along with some vegan mashed potatoes.
needless to say our night was spectacular.
this time around, i wanted to play a bit with the topping of the fish sticks. i thought they could be a bit crispier and bit more flavourful. i also decided on sweet potato fries, since they are a healthier alternative to mashed potatoes (okay, i really used YAMS. don't go all technical on me now. the two are totally exchangable when it comes to fries). and, of course, i had to make the best brussel sprouts, without any variation, because they really do live up to their name.
b's variation on jennifershmoo's tofu fish sticks
1 (14oz) package extra firm tofu, drained
1/3 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs (i like panko bread crumbs, which are japanese in origin, because they're coarse but really light and fresh tasting. i think they make an especially delicious crispy topping in this recipe, but feel free to use regular bread crumbs. you can always make your own as well, which is tedious but can be really worthwhile and could mimic panko quite nicely.)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tsp. sweet paprika
2 tsp. kelp granules
1 tsp. old bay seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2/3 cup plain soymilk
1 lemon
olive oil
* preheat the oven to 425F. grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
* combine dry ingredients (cornmeal through black pepper) in a large shallow bowl or baking dish.
* pour soymilk into a bowl and set next to dry mixture.
* after draining tofu, slice into strips about 1/2-inch wide.
* carefully dip tofu into the soymilk, toss gently in the dry mixture, and place on baking sheet.
* when all sticks have been breaded and placed on the sheet, sprinkle them with olive oil.
* bake for 15 minutes, turn, bake for 15 minutes on the other side, or until crispy and golden.
* remove and sprinkle with lemon juice. serve with ketchup or vegan tarter sauce!
sweet and tangy sweet potato fries
usually i make sweet potato fries with a honey-lime juice-olive oil mixture, but i wanted to experiment here with some vegan alternatives.
3 yams, scrubbed but not peeled (the skin is the most nutritious part! cmon guys.)
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. dark brown sugar
2 limes, juiced
1 tsp. cumin
pinch cayenne
salt to taste
* preheat oven to 425F.
* wash yams and cut into fries. i aimed for strips that were about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches long, but don't worry if they're not all perfectly even. they'll still taste good!
* mix together olive oil, sugar, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl. stir well and dissolve all the sugar.
* toss the sweet potatoes evenly in the mixture. this will take some getting dirty.
(i prepped the fries first and then let them sit in the mixture while i did the fish sticks).
* place the fries on a baking sheet and put in the oven. cook for 15-20 minutes on each side, or until desired crispiness. voila!
(again, you can find the brussel sprouts recipe here.)
rating: okay, as for the fish sticks. i definitely am really into this topping. i thought the sesame seed/panko topping really tasted A LOT like the fish sticks i ate growing up. andy was sort of wow-ed by that aspect of them as well. one thing is that i really do need to play with the measurements, because i am always left with way too much topping and that's wasteful. another thing i'd like to do is up the old bay seasonings (and maybe the kelp flakes) because i think the sticks could mimic fish a bit better. and i'm not sure the paprika is necessary at all.
lastly, i do want to think about a different "sticking" substance. the soy milk is serviceable but doesn't mimic egg at all. i'm thinking about ground flax seed (since we all know i'm obsessed with it anyway!) dissolved in boiling water...i've heard that does good work as an egg replacer. i'm working on it, in any case.
as far as the sweet potato fries. i think this combo is pretty excellent, though i do think next time i will cut down the lime juice a bit and up the sugar and cayenne. they were a little blander than the ones i make with honey. still, we enjoyed the meal tremendously overall.
( andy was a member of the clean-plate club... )
okay, so overall i give this meal three stars though i am tempted to give it four only because i am a big fan of nostalgic finger foods. but i do want to play with all these recipes a bit more AND andy says i need to make sure i don't inflate my own grades here, so i'll err on the side of caution. |
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| i'm shaking at your touch / i like you way too much |
[Mar. 15th, 2006|12:54 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | weezer, "falling for you" | ] |
winter squash and spinach lasagna
a few weeks ago, rayna and i decided to make a butternut lasgana we found in vegetarian times. it was pretty basic: butternut squash, parmesan, and ricotta were the major ingredients. it was fine, but not terribly exciting. there were WAY too many lasagna noodles and far too little butternut squash. so i decided to put together my own recipe, which is quite a departure actually.
as andy ate this, he asked, "where did you find this recipe?"
"i made it up," i responded.
he eyed me suspiciously. "you just made it up?"
"yeah."
"i don't believe you. this is way too fancy to have been made up."
ah-ha. i guess i am fancy after all.
despite its perceived fanciness, and while it requires some amount of multitasking, this lasagna is quite easy. don't be scared off by the long list of ingredients.
in conclusion: i am surly because my cold has deteriorated and i am out of ginger. without my miracle tea to get me through typing this up, that's all the commentary you'll get from me today.
10oz. bag of spinach, chopped
2 tbs olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2.5 tbs buttery spread (such as earth balance or soy garden. though of course you can use real butter if you choose.)
3 tbs. whole wheat flour
1/2 cup water (you could probably use milk or vegetable stock here but i didn't feel like adding more dairy to this already-cheesy dish, and i also didn't think i needed to added saltiness of stock)
2 12 oz. packages frozen winter squash (of course you can always use fresh squash, but i didn't feel like that kind of production on a monday night. remember: frozen vegetables are pretty much equivalent, nutrition-wise, to fresh ones, surprisingly!)
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1.5 tsp. dried basil
1.5 tsp. salt, or to taste
2/3 cup pecorino romano cheese, shredded
1 egg
6 oz. part-skim mozarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 handfuls sliced almonds
box no-boil whole wheat lasagna noodles
a note: this recipe sort of begs for sage, but i don't like sage. sage leaves me with a bad smell in my head. can't stand the stuff. but feel free to integrate it if you like it.
* preheat oven to 350F. grease a lasagna pan (or a baking dish, or whatever you're using that seems the most appropriate for lasagna).
* melt 2 1/2 tbs. butter in a small-medium saucepan, over low heat. when it is melted completely, stir or whisk in the 3tbs. of whole wheat flour until it is thick and smooth. whisk in 1/2 cup water gradually, until creamy. add frozen squash. cover and let this cook completely. take care to check it and stir often.
* while the squash is cooking, heat 2 tbs. olive oil in a saute pan or wok over medium heat. add minced garlic and fry up til softened and fragrant. add chopped spinach and a pinch of salt. cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until spinach is tender. remove from heat.
* mix ricotta, dried basil, 1/3 cup of the pecorino romano, egg, 1 tsp. salt, and spinach in a bowl.
* when the squash is done cooking, stir in 1/2 tsp of the nutmeg, red pepper, and 1/2 tsp. salt.
* now it's time for the layering. spread 1/4 of the sauce in the pan. then layer lasagna noodles, another 1/4 of the sauce, 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, and about 1/3 of the mozarella. layer again: lasgana noodles, sauce, ricotta, mozarella, lasgana noodles. on top of this last layer of lasgna noodles, add the last 1/4 of the sauce, the last 1/3 off the mozarella, and 1/3 cup pecorino romano.
* mix brown sugar with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg in a small measuring cup. you probably won't use ALL of this topping, but most of it.
* top the lasagna with 2 handfuls of sliced almonds, crushing them a bit in your hand as you spread them, and the spice/sugar mixture.
* cover the lasagna with aluminum foil for 40 minutes.
* uncover lasagna and cook for another 20 minutes.
rating: i let andy rate this one, and he gave it 4.5 stars. it was pretty phenomenally delicious if i do say so myself. my one concern is that the top didn't get as crispy as i wanted it to. i think i have to play with the oven temperature and times. also i probably should've toasted the almonds first, which i knew at the time, but was being lazy. otherwise i have no complaints.
eta: a friend (who will remain anonymous for privacy's sake!) just posted an entry in which she made this lasagna and said it was not only delicious, but romantical. so attn all you wooing types: go out and buy these ingredients stat. (this may be as surefire a way toward making out as a james bond movie would have been when you were fourteen. try it and let me know.) |
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| i don't want to straight-face you / race or chase you / track or trace you |
[Mar. 13th, 2006|10:55 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | bob dylan, "all i really wanna do" | ] |
miracle ginger tea
while i made an absolutely lovely butternut squash and spinach lasagne tonight, i am postponing posting the recipe. this is because i am loathe to do anything tonight but finish grading my students' papers and get into bed as soon as possible, thanks to a little menacing tickle in my throat that has gotten progressively worse over the course of the evening. so you'll have to hold onto your hats and wait for that recipe. i can offer you this small consolation, however.
this ginger tea has downright saved me from a full-blown cold on many occasions. i swear by it. indeed, i am drinking it as i type. yes, it's strong, but hey, drinking cayenne will build character. and you can't build character while you're sick, right? right.
(one stuffy-nosed b and one cup ginger tea, coming right up!)
2 cups cold water
1" piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 tbs. honey
pinch cayenne (and by pinch, i mean a substantial pinch, not a microscopic one)
* put all ingredients in a small saucepan over high heat. bring to a boil. lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
* strain into a mug.
* drink up. the more you can drink this during the day, the better.
i have heard that adding garlic to this adds even more homeopathic power. garlic has about a bazillion positive affects on your body and immune system, but i can't take it in this tea. i'd rather eat some whole roasted cloves any given day than add it to this concotion. if you're a braver man than i, go for it. |
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| but oh the smell of burnt cocaine / the dollor and decay / it only makes me cranky |
[Mar. 13th, 2006|11:34 am] |
| [ | music |
| | the decemberists, "los angeles" | ] |
robina's version of tempeh fricassee, with THIRTY-ONE cloves of garlic (vegan!)
as you may have guessed, i am something of a cookbook obsessive. my amazon wishlist is 1/2 cookbooks, some of which i now own and have forgotten to delete from my list. i have an entire shelf of my pantry dedicated to them. if i have a few dollars to spare at the end of the month, i'll collect another. it's a bad habit, especially because i've never tried all the recipes i like in one before i'm on to another -- not the smartest way to allocate money when you're a poor graduate student like myself. so at some point last winter, i decided that it might be wise to take some cookbooks out of the library. "eureka!" i thought, "a way to read new cookbooks without paying for them? i'm brilliant!"
well, clearly that brilliance is debateable -- it's not exactly visionary to realize one can borrow books from a library. and, as you may have guessed, the brooklyn public library is not exactly vegetarian cookbook central. despite the fact that the catalogue lists over 35+ entries for "vegetarian cookery," only 3 or 4 stared at me from the shelf when i arrived. the only one which looked useful was peter berley's modern vegetarian kitchen, though i must admit i, studying the cover as i stood there in the stacks, wrinkled my nose and thought "too fancy." yes, it's true: i do get scared off by things i perceive as "fancy." i'm just not a fancy girl. but my other alternatives were "the student's vegetarian cookbook" and "the teen's vegetarian cookbook" and, alas, i am more fancy than teen.
i only made a few things out of the cookbook, despite the fact that i held onto it long past the due date, even after renewing it. but what i did cook was excellent, so i'd recommend the book overall. however, i never copied any of the recipes out of it.
planning our dinners for this week, i remembered one of the recipes i had tried: mushroom and tempeh fricassee. i couldn't remember anything except the fact that it had 40 cloves of garlic in it, but i decided to give it a go.
approx. 3 tbs olive oil
8 oz tempeh, sliced
8 oz cremini mushrooms (although white button mushrooms would be just fine), sliced
1 tbs. whole wheat flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4lb. green beans, trimmed and cut in half
3 medium-large yukon gold potatoes, cubed
31 cloves of garlic (why 31? i don't know. i was feeling contrary. also, 31 just felt right.)
4 cups vegetable broth (either store-bought or vegetable bouillion in 4 cups boiling water, which is what i tend to use)
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp. cloves
salt to taste
* heat a saute pan* over medium-high heat and add about a tbs. of olive oil. when oil is hot, add the slices of tempeh and cook til golden brown. flip, and cook til both sides are golden brown. this will take about 10-12 minutes. remove tempeh from heat. (cooking the tempeh mellows its flavour a bit, so while you don't have to do this step, i would highly recommend it.)
* add remaining two tbs. of olive oil to the pan, and heat. add mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes. stir in the flour and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly. don't let the flour burn or stick to the pan.
* add white wine; reduce. you can use the wine to loosen any of the flour that is stuck to the pan.
* add green beans, potatoes, garlic, vegetable broth, soy sauce, and herbs/spices. stir well. bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
* add tempeh. cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.
* uncover and cook for five minutes or until a bit thickened. taste. it should be salty enough, between the broth and the soy sauce, but if not, add salt to taste.
* serve in bowls with crusty bread!
rating: well, i must say i enjoyed the addition of the green beans and potatoes immensely. and i think i hit the spices right on the money. rayna and andy agreed. the cloves in particular add a nice spiciness to the herbs. and the heat of the red pepper flakes was definitely necessary. overall, this was delicious, but i'll only give it three stars because my personal preference is to tofu or seitan as a meat substitute. try as i might, i can't get into tempeh as much.
* i used a 3.5qt saute pan for this dish. if you don't have one, you could easily use a saucepan for the fricassee itself and a skillet or frying pan for the tempeh. |
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| tell your friends / i am a visitor here, / i am not permanent |
[Mar. 12th, 2006|11:38 am] |
| [ | music |
| | the postal service, "the district sleeps alone tonight" | ] |
spicy lentils with spinach and potatoes (vegan!)
lentils and rice was one of my favourite meals growing up (though i constantly complained about the zeera, or cumin seeds, with which my aunties liberally cooked). my aunties are not ones to write down recipes, so all of my pakistani-style cooking has been a process of trial and error based on what i observed over the years. i think this comes pretty close, though there are slight variations because of my eternal desire to incorporate something green in most meals paired with another desire, on friday night, to get rid of same baby yukon gold potatoes i had lying around.
unsurprisingly, perhaps, i too have grown to love cumin, so you'll find much of it in this recipe. when my youngest sister tahira walked into the house, she exclaimed, "it smells like upstairs!" (all of my aunties and uncles used to live above my parents, and a few still do). mission accomplished?
(note: all of the spices in this recipe seem readily available these days, even in the "international" aisle of supermarkets. otherwise you should scout out to see if there are any asian/indian markets near you. you can also substitute ground spices for the whole ones i have listed below, but you'll have to play a bit with the measurements.)
this is a huge recipe that served four people (some of whom had two servings), and still created leftovers. you may want to halve it.
2 medium onions
3 cloves garlic
1" piece fresh ginger root, peeled
3 tbs canola oil*
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. whole coriander seeds
1/4 tsp. whole mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. whole cloves
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on your taste
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. garam masala
2 cups lentils
5 1/2 cups water
1/2 lb baby yukon gold potatoes, cubed (or any other potato you prefer. i like the creamy aspect of yukon golds.)
5oz (one bag) baby spinach, or to your preference (i have to say i used a little less than one bag this time around, but i definitely could have used the whole bag)
salt to taste
1. chop onions, garlic, and ginger. because i am lazy, i often just dump everything in my food processor. saves time and tears.
2. put two tbs. canola oil in a medium-large pot. heat over medium-high heat and add chopped onions/garlic/ginger. saute until soft and browned (approx. 8-10 minutes).
3. while the onions are cooking, i often toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan, but this won't make or break the dish.
4. also while the onions are cooking, combine the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds in a mortar and pestle, or do as i do -- add to a coffee grinder! we have two in our house and one is exclusively for things like spices, flax seeds, etc. it's very useful! grind the seeds together.
5. once the onions are cooked, lower the flame. at this point i tend to add a third tbs. of oil, but you may also use water. then add the cumin/coriander/mustard mixture, the cloves, the cayenne, the turmeric, and the garam masala to the onions. this is tricky and you'll want to be stirring continuously to ensure the spices don't burn or stick to the pot. you can add another tbs. of water if necessary. fry for about two minutes.
6. add water, lentils, potatoes, and salt to taste. bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until lentils are tender. check on the pot a few times, as you may want or need to add another 1/2cup or so of water.
7. in the last ten minutes of cooking, add baby spinch and stir in.
serve with nan, roti, or brown basmati rice!
rating: well, based on the reactions of my testers (andy, nicky, and my sister tahira), i'll give this one four stars. nicky reaffirmed my hunch that the recipe needed a more powerful onion presence. next time i make this, i'll have to add a third SLICED (rather than minced) onion, either at the beginning with the rest of the base, or fried up toward the end of the recipe and served on top of the lentils. either way, this was quite delicious. let me know what you think if you try it!
* it would perhaps be more authentic to use ghee, or clarified butter, here, but as my aunties often use various oils here in the u.s. as well, i figure it's okay. you could also use vegetable oil if you prefer. |
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| i love you baby / won't you bring / all the flowers you find out in the garden |
[Mar. 10th, 2006|12:21 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | mirah, "the garden" | ] |
quinoa for breakfast! (vegan!)
so i'm a hot cereal freak. i really like it all. there's something about its stick-to-your ribs warmth that always reminds me of my grandmother. of course, i used to eat farina with my grandmother. and while i, truth be told, do keep farina in my cupboard (in my estimation, a house is not a home without the little farina boy) i rarely eat it, as it has next to no nutritional value. so i keep steady on my quest for the grain that will remind me the most of farina (and, by extension, my grandmother) while providing me with actual nutrients. at this stage in the game, i have to say i'm partial to oat bran, with millet following in a close second.
enter quinoa which, with its high protein count, is pretty much the superstar of grains. the quinoa i made for breakfast on thursday morning is nothing like the hot cereal i ate with my grandma, but i'm sure she'd enjoy it! between the omega-3s of the flax, the protein and fiber of the quinoa, and the melty sweetness of the banana paired with the tarter sweetness of the pomegranate, this will leave you incredibly psyched to the start the day. even if it's 7am and you are facing a 1 1/2 hour-long subway commute and a classroom full of college freshman. thank goodness for my dear friend alison, who put this pomegranate-hot cereal idea in my goofy little head.
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed in a mesh strainer
1 cup water
1 tsp turbinado or brown sugar
1 tbs ground flax seed
spash vanilla soy milk
1/2-3/4 siced banana
handful of pomegranate seeds*
* put quinoa and water in a small saucepan. bring in boil, lower to simmer, and cover. let cook for 20 minutes.
* add now-cooked quinoa to a bowl. you may want to fluff with a fork. add soymilk, stir in, and top with sugar, flax seed, and fruit. easy peasy!
* there are fruit and vegetable stores in my neighborhood that sell pomegranate seeds. i would highly recommend buying them this way if you can, as no one wants to start their day battling with a whole pomegranate.
rating: four stars, easily. this is a highly nutritious breakfast that sacrifices nothing in the way of taste. try it, you'll like it. |
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