Channa Masala--creamy tomato sauce, spices, and garbanzos--rich and mild.
Potato-green pea Samosas--steamed potatoes, peas, different spices, wrapped in a crispy-fried wrapper.
Tamarind Chutney--made with tamarind pods bought at JR Produce
Dal--made with lentils, spices, butter, and lime juice--hot!
Cucumber Raita--yogurt with spices and cukes--very cool!
Nuts and Raisins
All homemade, and soooo vewy, vewy good!
Recipes coming soon...
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Fried chicken in a dutch oven
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbl. paprika
1 Tbl. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
Fryer, cut up
Dredge the chicken. Allow to dry for 10-15 minutes. Fry in oil or oil combined with bacon grease (yum!). 1/3 inch, nice and hot. Brown all sides, about 15 minutes. Then cover with a tight fitting lid and cook another 20-25 minutes over low heat. Crisp for another few minutes without the lid. Drain on a rack. Great served cold.
1 Tbl. paprika
1 Tbl. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
Fryer, cut up
Dredge the chicken. Allow to dry for 10-15 minutes. Fry in oil or oil combined with bacon grease (yum!). 1/3 inch, nice and hot. Brown all sides, about 15 minutes. Then cover with a tight fitting lid and cook another 20-25 minutes over low heat. Crisp for another few minutes without the lid. Drain on a rack. Great served cold.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
After a Long, Long Time..
Something scrumptious came my way...
Shrimp Enchiladas
Preheat oven to 350 F
Filling
1 1/2 cups parboiled shrimp, cut into 1/2 inch bits
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 rib celery, finely chopped, with a few bits of fresh leaf in the mix
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
fresh corn chopped off the cob
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp fish sauce (yep!)
a pinch of ground cumin
Heat 1-2 tbs olive oil in a large skillet, until shimmering. Saute the aromatics until moist, then add the shrimp and corn. Saute further until the corn is mostly cooked--it should hold together slightly.
Execution
12-14 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups warm red enchilada sauce--Hatch is good, homemade is better.
6-8 ounces grated jack cheese
More olive oil.
Saute all the corn tortillas in olive oil, just until warmed through--they will be too hot to handle, so use tongs. Stack the tortillas in an 8x14 inch baking dish--ceramic is best, but metal will do. Let the tortillas cool just a bit.
Fill each tortilla with 2-3 tbs filling, and 1 tsp (just a pinch) of cheese. Roll the tortillas loosely around the filling and line the enchilada side by side, right up next to each other. Smear with enchilada sauce, adding just a little water if you feel like it. Cover with the remainder of the cheese, and bake 15-20 minutes.
Serve hot with refried beans, salad, and a cold beer, if you like.
Shrimp Enchiladas
Preheat oven to 350 F
Filling
1 1/2 cups parboiled shrimp, cut into 1/2 inch bits
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 rib celery, finely chopped, with a few bits of fresh leaf in the mix
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
fresh corn chopped off the cob
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp fish sauce (yep!)
a pinch of ground cumin
Heat 1-2 tbs olive oil in a large skillet, until shimmering. Saute the aromatics until moist, then add the shrimp and corn. Saute further until the corn is mostly cooked--it should hold together slightly.
Execution
12-14 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups warm red enchilada sauce--Hatch is good, homemade is better.
6-8 ounces grated jack cheese
More olive oil.
Saute all the corn tortillas in olive oil, just until warmed through--they will be too hot to handle, so use tongs. Stack the tortillas in an 8x14 inch baking dish--ceramic is best, but metal will do. Let the tortillas cool just a bit.
Fill each tortilla with 2-3 tbs filling, and 1 tsp (just a pinch) of cheese. Roll the tortillas loosely around the filling and line the enchilada side by side, right up next to each other. Smear with enchilada sauce, adding just a little water if you feel like it. Cover with the remainder of the cheese, and bake 15-20 minutes.
Serve hot with refried beans, salad, and a cold beer, if you like.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Multicolor tastes better!
Multicolored plates are not only prettier, they're better eating. Think hash-browned sweet potatoes, mushrooms, purple cabbage, bright green peas, yellow squash, eggplant, beets. Don't forget tomatoes, either.
We had smoked baby back ribs with potato salad, sauteed onions and Swiss chard, pickled beets and jalapeno salsa. Was that ever good!
I am going to vow to eat every (natural) color I can each day.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Hash
I live on hash. I live for hash. Unchallenging, plain-jane, anything works. The best thing about hash, in my opinion, is you can add vegetables to it. Fennel, chard, spinach, celery, carrots, beets and so on. Then the protein--leftover roast beef, leftover chicken, turkey, tofu, tempeh, ground lamb, ground pork. You can even add dried fruit. Raisins, cranberry, dates, prune. And seasonings--think, now how your protein would go with the seasonings and the adjunct vegetables. Hash is a lovely vegetarian dish--use any meat substitute you like, and carry on the same as for meat. I like the mushroom protein stuff a lot.
How do you use hash? For taco and burrito filling, a platform for eggs, in sandwiches, on a pizza, in salad, and best of all, on a plate with mayonnaise. Or as a curry! Yay!
Tonight we had pork hash with braised fennel. Harissa mayonnaise. (wow.)
Serves 2 hungry individuals.
1 russet potato, diced in 1/2 inch pieces--peel if you must, but I don't. I just scrub the heck out of it.
2 ribs celery, diced finely
1/2 large onion, diced finely
1 large clove garlic (or more if you like), diced finely
1 lb ground pork
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil, just to cover the bottom of a 10-12 inch skillet--cast iron is the best for this dish.
Saute the aromatics in the olive oil just until shiny and slightly moist. Add the potatoes and meat, stir to blend and get the meat distributed throughout, over medium high heat. Cover and lower the heat, and check on it frequently. Allow the bottom to get really brown and crispy, then turn. Takes about 20 minutes to get it just right.
Flavored Mayo-- 1 tbsp mayo, 1 tsp ( or to taste) harissa.
You can add a sauce to this--the above mentioned curry, leftover gravy, or a little broth. I always serve this with the vegetables of virtue--chard, kale, fennel.
How do you use hash? For taco and burrito filling, a platform for eggs, in sandwiches, on a pizza, in salad, and best of all, on a plate with mayonnaise. Or as a curry! Yay!
Tonight we had pork hash with braised fennel. Harissa mayonnaise. (wow.)
Serves 2 hungry individuals.
1 russet potato, diced in 1/2 inch pieces--peel if you must, but I don't. I just scrub the heck out of it.
2 ribs celery, diced finely
1/2 large onion, diced finely
1 large clove garlic (or more if you like), diced finely
1 lb ground pork
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil, just to cover the bottom of a 10-12 inch skillet--cast iron is the best for this dish.
Saute the aromatics in the olive oil just until shiny and slightly moist. Add the potatoes and meat, stir to blend and get the meat distributed throughout, over medium high heat. Cover and lower the heat, and check on it frequently. Allow the bottom to get really brown and crispy, then turn. Takes about 20 minutes to get it just right.
Flavored Mayo-- 1 tbsp mayo, 1 tsp ( or to taste) harissa.
You can add a sauce to this--the above mentioned curry, leftover gravy, or a little broth. I always serve this with the vegetables of virtue--chard, kale, fennel.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Pizza
Basic Pizza Dough
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup water
2 tbl olive oil
2-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
Combine yeast and water allowing to stand about 5 minutes.
Stir in olive oil.
In a large bowl combine the flour and salt and add the yeast mixture, stirring until it just comes together.
Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
Cover in an oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place, until doubled.
Punch the dough down and shape into a 12 inch round--I use a pizza pan with holes in it.
The technique I like is to stretch it a bit and then use the fingertips to poke the dough just firmly enough to move it around--I find I have better control over the thickness of the crust that way.
Filling
1 large fennel bulb, sliced in 1/2 inch slices lengthwise
Fennel fronds
1 tsp sugar
1 tbl Lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
Pinch of ground anise (optional)
1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise
1 lb ground pork
Oregano
Basil
Paprika
8 oz brown mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup (or more) of pasta sauce
8 oz grated mozzarella
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Saute the fennel slices in a little olive oil over medium heat until just turning brown around the edges. Add sugar and anise and cook just a little longer. Pour 1/2 cup water in the pan and braise until the fennel is nearly tender. Add the lemon peel and lemon juice and allow to cook down, until no liquid remains. (Expect to cook the fennel for 10-12 minutes.)
Saute the onions in a little olive oil until moist and set aside. (do not brown)
Saute the mushrooms until just cooked and set aside.
Cook the ground pork, breaking it up into little bits and season to taste with oregano, basil, paprika, salt and pepper.
Shape the pizza crust and spread the pasta sauce over it to the ends of the crust. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella over the pie. Mix the meat, onions and mushrooms together and spread over the pie. Spread the braised fennel over it and finally cover with the rest of the cheese. Scatter a few fennel fronds over all. Bake for 18-20 minutes and serve hot.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Comfort Food
Comfort food is also something I hope to explore in both theory and practice.
My mother and sisters--when we get together, always talk about food. And the conversation invariably turns to foods we ate while growing up. The remembrances--colored no doubt by the rosy nostalgia that is a part of this kind of discourse--show that our family always ate well, thanks to the efforts of my dear Mom. We have all turned out to be foodies of some sort or another. And Mother, at 89 years of age, still has the chops to make those dishes very well, although she rarely fries anything anymore. The "comfort" in comfort food, then is in part what we remember as having been comfortable in some indefinable past, that we try to recapture by talking about it. The cooking is maybe a different matter, since one might acquire culinary sophistication (at least in some areas); this impels us to revisit, rethink, and refine. This is not always a good thing, in my humble opinion. But then, again, sometimes it is!
I think the list of comfort foods we carry around in our heads largely depends on the family culture--who cooked, who cleaned up, the conditions of work and school, and the availability of various foods. In my childhood, the emphasis was on "balanced meals," which usually included at least two vegetables, one starch, and a meat dish. Vegetables were usually canned, except for cabbage or squash. Each main dish had a predictable set of accompaniments, e.g. pork chops went with gravy and rice, unless there was sauerkraut; then it would be fried potatoes. We always had bread on the table, which we slathered with cold margarine. Each day, my mother prepared enough food for the seven of us, with the occasional leftover. It would have been simple, but prepared carefully. Mom never burned or undercooked anything. If memory serves, I remember:
Meatloaf
Fried fish
Navy beans with ham hocks
Country fried steak
Liver and onions with bacon
Salmon cakes
Spaghetti and meatballs
Tacos
Pork chops with sauerkraut
Breakfast--waffles and bacon for dinner!
Creamed beef
Creamed tuna
Weekends
The foods we ate on weekends was a little different, since my dad would take part in the preparation. He was the master of pinto beans--on most weekends he would put beans on the stove and cook them all afternoon. Onions, salt pork, and seasoned salt were his favorite seasonings.
During the winter, we would have pot roast on Sunday, which Mom cooked in her electric skillet--a chuck roast with bone in, with lots of onion, carrot, and potato. After dredging the meat in flour, she would brown it quite aggressively in the skillet, and then simmer it with water with the onions. Then, about an hour before dinner, she would add the carrots and potatoes. Yum.
Desserts
Maybe a quarter of the time, we would have a dessert. Oh boy! Somehow, having a dessert made everything right with me, as if we were resolving the events of the day. My sisters and I would sometimes make the desserts. We had:
Warm Chocolate Pudding
Jello
Tapioca with pineapple or cherries
Peach or apple cobbler
Lemon or lime mousse pie with graham cracker crust
Brownies
Ice cream
Lemon Pudding cake
But my favorite was Swiss Steak, which will be the recipe for this post. We had this last night with our friend Mark Gorman. Mom always made this with beef top round steak. Sauteed chard and leeks, along with my famous home made bread and mashed potatoes were the companions. We had cherry pie a la mode for dessert. Lucky for me, we have leftovers!
VENISON SWISS STEAK
Serves 4
1 lb venison steak, trimmed of fat and gristle and pounded into 1/4 inch thickness OR
1 lb lean top round steak as above
1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped coarsely
1 large bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 good-sized tomatoes, seeded
2 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped into 1/2 inch slices
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 package baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
2-3 cups water or broth
Olive Oil.
Salt and pepper the meat, then dredge in flour. Brown the meat on one side, turn it over, then add the onions, garlic, mushrooms and celery. Turn the heat down to medium low, cover, and allow the veggies to sweat a bit. Then add the broth, seasonings and tomatoes, cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes, until the the meat is tender.
Serve with mashed potatoes.
My mother and sisters--when we get together, always talk about food. And the conversation invariably turns to foods we ate while growing up. The remembrances--colored no doubt by the rosy nostalgia that is a part of this kind of discourse--show that our family always ate well, thanks to the efforts of my dear Mom. We have all turned out to be foodies of some sort or another. And Mother, at 89 years of age, still has the chops to make those dishes very well, although she rarely fries anything anymore. The "comfort" in comfort food, then is in part what we remember as having been comfortable in some indefinable past, that we try to recapture by talking about it. The cooking is maybe a different matter, since one might acquire culinary sophistication (at least in some areas); this impels us to revisit, rethink, and refine. This is not always a good thing, in my humble opinion. But then, again, sometimes it is!
I think the list of comfort foods we carry around in our heads largely depends on the family culture--who cooked, who cleaned up, the conditions of work and school, and the availability of various foods. In my childhood, the emphasis was on "balanced meals," which usually included at least two vegetables, one starch, and a meat dish. Vegetables were usually canned, except for cabbage or squash. Each main dish had a predictable set of accompaniments, e.g. pork chops went with gravy and rice, unless there was sauerkraut; then it would be fried potatoes. We always had bread on the table, which we slathered with cold margarine. Each day, my mother prepared enough food for the seven of us, with the occasional leftover. It would have been simple, but prepared carefully. Mom never burned or undercooked anything. If memory serves, I remember:
Meatloaf
Fried fish
Navy beans with ham hocks
Country fried steak
Liver and onions with bacon
Salmon cakes
Spaghetti and meatballs
Tacos
Pork chops with sauerkraut
Breakfast--waffles and bacon for dinner!
Creamed beef
Creamed tuna
Weekends
The foods we ate on weekends was a little different, since my dad would take part in the preparation. He was the master of pinto beans--on most weekends he would put beans on the stove and cook them all afternoon. Onions, salt pork, and seasoned salt were his favorite seasonings.
During the winter, we would have pot roast on Sunday, which Mom cooked in her electric skillet--a chuck roast with bone in, with lots of onion, carrot, and potato. After dredging the meat in flour, she would brown it quite aggressively in the skillet, and then simmer it with water with the onions. Then, about an hour before dinner, she would add the carrots and potatoes. Yum.
Desserts
Maybe a quarter of the time, we would have a dessert. Oh boy! Somehow, having a dessert made everything right with me, as if we were resolving the events of the day. My sisters and I would sometimes make the desserts. We had:
Warm Chocolate Pudding
Jello
Tapioca with pineapple or cherries
Peach or apple cobbler
Lemon or lime mousse pie with graham cracker crust
Brownies
Ice cream
Lemon Pudding cake
But my favorite was Swiss Steak, which will be the recipe for this post. We had this last night with our friend Mark Gorman. Mom always made this with beef top round steak. Sauteed chard and leeks, along with my famous home made bread and mashed potatoes were the companions. We had cherry pie a la mode for dessert. Lucky for me, we have leftovers!
VENISON SWISS STEAK
Serves 4
1 lb venison steak, trimmed of fat and gristle and pounded into 1/4 inch thickness OR
1 lb lean top round steak as above
1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped coarsely
1 large bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 good-sized tomatoes, seeded
2 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped into 1/2 inch slices
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 package baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
2-3 cups water or broth
Olive Oil.
Salt and pepper the meat, then dredge in flour. Brown the meat on one side, turn it over, then add the onions, garlic, mushrooms and celery. Turn the heat down to medium low, cover, and allow the veggies to sweat a bit. Then add the broth, seasonings and tomatoes, cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes, until the the meat is tender.
Serve with mashed potatoes.
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