Can't concentrate. There is a fly (A FLY! In February?) buzzing around my head. Buzzing.....buzzing.... mocking me, making me crazy! Will try to continue typing but urge to kill is very high.
I've been trying to be more consistent about making more of our meals at home; breakfast, lunch, but in particular dinner, because I am starting to see firsthand how easy it can be to fall into that vicious trap of convenience/fast food consuming. I need to remember to slow down and make it a point to make time for the important things like home cooked meals and family meal time. Fly still mocking me, working my last nerve. Must. Resist. Urge. To. Scream. grrrr!
I don't want to fall into one of those traps where mealtime becomes that thing you grab in-between shuffling your kid from one play group to another, from one activity to the next. I almost let that happen this past summer. Well, not with Ellie, I made all of her own food but I did it with Tom and myself and I am fighting the urge to let that happen with the girl now that she has made the transition from baby food to our food. During the summer and well into the fall, the urge to be outside everyday doing things with Ellie was constant, I would even say nonstop. I HAD to take her to the park, I HAD to take her for walks, I HAD to get her in play groups, I was a little over the top I think. I made myself too neurotic about being out all the time and became too busy too cook. Tom and I ate take-away for far too many meals and then, because we were out ALL day I spent most of my nights rushing to meet Tom so that he could take the baby home while I went to work, and as a result, take-away again and too many meals spent apart. This is not what I want for my family, so I'm working very hard to fix that, especially now that the weather will be turning soon. I'm trying to limit some of the play activites we attend, trying to find the right groove for the girl that balances fun time and family time, AND also allows me time to prepare those meals I long to make and share with them. I’m trying to be better and more organized about planning meals ahead, although I’ll probably still go to the shops everyday, that’s just a part of my daily routine and I can’t help but not want to change that. As for the baking, I'd like to keep that up too, but we can't just eat cake all the time, we'd be buzzing around the apt. like this damn fly!
I feel good, I'm ready, I think this plan should work, it’s up to me I know, but if I can be diligent about it then it just might happen. Cooking has gotten a little easier to do now that the girl baby is more independent. I bring a bag of toys into the kitchen, hiding some so she can find them and I also let her wander and explore the lower kitchen cabinets. She loves standing in front of the open fridge and so I let her for a few lingering seconds while I place things on the counters, on more that one occasion I’ve found a toy or two in there, hee. I've become very good at holding the child on my hip while stirring the pot and once I even chopped a carrot while holding her! So with all those thoughts swirling in my head I decided that rather than fall into the eating out trap again this weekend, I would make more effort to cook dinner for at least 2 of the three weekend nights. Friday night was Saag Gosht from a really wonderful cookbook “The Food of India” by Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah.
This meal turned out even better than expected, it was an easy to follow recipe, and I had most of the ingredients on hand (although I had to substitute the thick yoghurt with sour cream, but it worked!) AND, it was done in no time, well, ok, under 3 hours--it had to simmer for 2 hours on the stove but how hard is that? Oh yeah, I did opt for the frozen spinach because I had some on hand and it also seemed easier and it was FINE. I served the meal with basmati rice that I had cooked with 2 teaspoons of ghee, a few saffron threads and about a half cup of peas. Simple, flavorful, and filling, it was dinner for all three of us for 2 nights and we sat down together to eat it. Oh yeah!
I made the conversions from metric to U.S. and added them in parenthesis. can you feel the love?
From “The Food of India” by Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah.
This is a richly flavoured, traditional dish from the northern part of India. It is cooked until the sauce is very thick. It can be served with either rice or breads. If you can't buy fresh spinach, you can use defrosted, drained frozen spinach instead.
Place a small frying pan over low heat and dry-roast the coriander seeds until aromatic. Remove them and dry-roast the cumin seeds. Grind the roasted seeds to a fine powder using a spice grinder or pestle and mortar.
Heat the oil in a Karhai or casserole over low heat and fry a few pieces of meat at a time until browned. Remove from the pan. Add more oil to the pan, if necessary, and fry the onion, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, and bay leaves until the onion is slightly browned. Add the cumin and coriander, garam masala, turmeric, and paprika and fry for 30 seconds. Add the meat, ginger, garlic, yoghurt, and water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 1-1/2-2 hours, or until the meat is very tender. at this stage, most of the water should have evaporated, if it hasn't, remove the lid, increase the heat and fry until the moisture has evaporated. Season with salt to taste.
cook the spinach briefly in a little simmering water until it is just wilted, then refresh in cold water. Drain thoroughly, then finely chop. Squeeze out any extra water by putting the spinach between tow plates and pushing them together,
Add the spinach to the lamb and cook for 3 minutes, ir until the spinach and lamb are well mixed and any extra liquid has evaporated.
Serves 6
The Little Girl and I went on a mission Monday. It was such a beautiful day, we decided a trip to the Farmer's Market was in order. getting out of the apt. is an adventure in itself these days...why do babies require so much stuff? I had some gorgeous beef shanks just chillin' out in the fridge and I wanted to make them for dinner, I needed to pick up cabbage, turnips, (turnips are such wonderful vegetables, don't you think?), carrots, apple cider and chervil. The chervil is for a recipe I'll be making for the Is my Blog Burning? event this coming Sunday March 7th started by the wonderful Alberto and being hosted this time around by the ever fabulous Clotilde.
The farmers market was a little bit of a let down, it was still not quite bustling with vendors because the growing season hasn't really gotten into full swing. Normally I take my time, going from table to table, looking, touching, sampling, and just taking it all in, but since there were only a handful of vendors we were in and out pretty quickly. We purchased the cabbage, turnips and carrots and Ellie saw her first primrose...ok, it was actually my first primrose too (what a beautiful flower). I forgot the chervil though, we got distracted by a pleasant gentleman who struck up a conversation with me about Ellie and the weather, his parting advice...enjoy Ellie while she is still little because once they start talking, they ask too many questions and give you headaches. umm...thanks for the advice, I think
I wanted to prepare the beef shanks a little differently from the more classic osso buco (which traditionally uses veal shanks). Meg made lamb shanks this week, braising them with olives tomatoes and winter vegetables and I almost followed her lead, but then I found a recipe at Epicurious, (my old standby) that caught my eye.
I've been having a run of bad luck with the recipes I've been getting off the site recently and I was a little skeptical about using this recipe for fear that I'd ruin everything and end up having to throw out expensive meat. I was further thrown off by having to buy “lite" soy because the supermarket was out of regular soy sauce. I followed the recipe to the letter, although I did simmer the meat for closer to 3 hours rather than the suggested two. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome, the "lite" stuff ended up working out really well, I think if I had used the regular soy sauce the dish would have been too salty. I decided not to serve the braised shanks with the noodles as the recipe suggests but with cabbage that had been braised in apple cider. The cabbage recipe is bland; it definitely needed a hearty pinch of salt to bring out the flavor of the cabbage and the apple cider. I'm pretty sure my cabbage was larger than the 2 pounds the recipe asked for but that's cool, I like leftovers for lunch. I ended up using 2 tablespoons more apple cider vinegar and a full cup of cider to bring out the flavor of this dish. I had sliced the cabbage more like the way you see it in slaw rather than the way the recipe suggested of just quartering it, this made it a lot easier to sauté. The final result was a sweet/salty tangy/buttery cabbage that was quite yummy and went really, really well with the beef shanks. I was happy with both recipes, they were pretty straightforward and easy, so my faith in Epicurious has been restored…for now.
Garnish:fresh coriander leaves
*available at Asian markets
In a 9-quart kettle combine water, soy sauce, Scotch, sugar, gingerroot, scallions, cinnamon, zest, and star anise and simmer mixture 10 minutes. Add beef shanks and cook, partially covered with lid 1/2 inch ajar, at a bare simmer 2 hours, or until meat is very tender.
About 15 minutes before meat is done, in a large bowl soak noodles in warm water to cover 5 minutes and bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Drain noodles in a colander and boil them 5 minutes. In colander drain noodles and rinse under cold water. Drain noodles well and transfer to large bowl.
Transfer meat with a slotted spoon to cutting board. With slotted spoon remove gingerroot, scallions, cinnamon sticks, zest, and star anise from broth and discard. Add carrots and turnips to broth and simmer until just tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer vegetables with slotted spoon to noodles. Boil broth until reduced to about 7 cups. While broth is reducing, discard bones and gristle and cut meat across grain into thin slices.
Divide noodles, vegetables, and meat among 8 bowls and ladle broth over them. Sprinkle mixture with coriander.
Serves 8 as a main course.
Gourmet
February 1996
Braising the cabbage in cider gives it a light but distinct apple flavor
Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add cabbage; sauté until slightly wilted, tossing frequently, about 6 minutes. Stir in apple cider. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook until cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Uncover; simmer until almost all liquid in pot evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.
Makes 4 servings.
Bon Appétit
November 1999
Flavors of the World
On Friday night I made Kheema Matar, a North Indian dry minced curry of lamb and peas to accompany the chapati I was making. The recipe came from the food of India, a recently purchased cookbook and quickly becoming one of my favorites. The recipe itself was quite easy and rather enjoyable to make. I loved the layering of the spices and other ingredients, rather than dumping them all in at once and creating a big mush, each spice and ingredient went in at a certain time, and was cooked for a certain amount before the next item was added. It’s an interesting way to create a dish, one that’s built upon gradually so that all the individual flavors and textures stand out on their own yet blend to create a complex and wonderful meal. I was reminded of the ragu I made recently and how that too was a layered and complex dish.
Before I cook I always read through a recipe to make sure I have all the ingredients on hand, and if not, then a list is made so that I can pick up what I’ll need. I also like to read through to make sure there are no surprises somewhere in the middle of cooking, like suddenly finding out that you need to wrap your meal in cacao leaves and bury it in nutrient rich red soil 2 feet under the ground for two days or something. Reading through the recipe on Friday I remember being a little confused by one thing. The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of ground coriander during the main cooking and then 5 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander at the end of the cooking, for the life of me I wasn’t understanding what the difference was and so I made up in my mind what that might be. I set off to the store and bought coriander seeds thinking that once ground in my spice grinder it would equal the finely chopped stuff called for in the recipe. OH! How wrong I was! I should assure you that I didn’t ruin the dish at all, it was quite tasty, but I did use the wrong ingredient. I found this out quite by accident on Saturday after watching the movie Bend it like Beckham. The dvd contains extra material, one thing being a short film of the Director making Aloo Gobi while her mother and aunt look on. Towards the end of the recipe the director starts to chop some fresh coriander and add it to the dish. My mouth dropped open and I shouted at Tom “OMG! Fresh coriander is…CILANTRO!” Pretty funny to think that I had mistaken coriander seeds for fresh cilantro, which I had plenty of in the house too and could have saved myself a trip to the store! Oh well, it’s all part of the learning.
A couple of notes before I give the recipe; The recipe called for the use of 4 chillies, but made it optional depending on how spicy one wanted the dish. I decided to only use one chili because even if I wasn’t preggers, gone are the days when my friend R. and I used to order vindaloo so hot and so spicy that we had hoarse voices for days afterwards. Asafetida when stored in a glass jar will not release its strong odor until you open that jar. Then LOOK OUT because you can knock yourself across the room with that stink. It was never specified what type of oil to use so I used corn oil, which I've noticed is used a lot in Indian cooking. The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of tomato puree but I was pretty sure that being such a small amount, tomato paste was the equivalent, so I used that. The book is in metrics so you have to convert everything and sometimes I am not too precise, then again I’m never exactly precise when following a recipe unless I really force myself to be.
Roughly chop 2 onions, 4 cloves of garlic, a 2-1/2 inch piece of ginger and 1 chile. Throw them into a food processor and process until everything is very finely chopped. Heat about ¼ cup of corn oil in a large heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat and add the onion mixture and 2 Indian bay leaves (cassia leaves) and fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Add about 1.5 lbs of minced lamb and fry for 15 minutes stirring occasionally and breaking up the large clumps. Add a pinch of asafetida and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, stir, then lower the heat to a simmer.
After 15 minutes, add 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric, ½ teaspoon chili powder, 2 tablespoons ground coriander and 2 tablespoons of ground cumin, stirring well and cooking for about a minute. Then, add 2 tablespoons of good thick yogurt, 3 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper and continue stirring and frying for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water, a little at a time, stirring after each addition to make sure it has been absorbed by the meat, then add one package of frozen peas and the remaining chillies (if you desire a spicy dish), stir well and cover. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the peas are cooked through. Actually the recipe says if you’re using frozen peas to add them 5 minutes before the cooking is done but I goofed and added them earlier, cooking them for the full 20 minutes. They were fine, not mushy at all, so all was well. Add ¼ teaspoon of garam masala and 5 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander (which is also cilantro) stir until well incorporated, remove from the heat and serve.
I recently purchased a beautiful and interesting cookbook called the food of India. The book is published by Murdoch Books and is the collaborative work of many people, with credit given for the beautiful location photography to Jason Lowe, the incredible food/recipe photography to Alan Benson, and the delightful recipes to Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah. This is one of those books that I would call a “hybrid”, part cookbook, part travelogue, part history… a little something for everyone. What I like most about the book is that it’s not in the least bit intimidating. All the recipes are pretty straightforward and with the help of a conversion table (everything is metric) one can whip out pretty authentic Indian fare as if they had been doing it for years.
With so many delicious recipes to choose from I finally settled on a recipe from the North of India called Pork with Peppers and Potatoes. In order to make it, I first had to run to my favorite Indian grocery store to pick up some supplies. I needed Nigella seeds, which are also known as black onion seeds and Cassia leaves which, as I was told by a very stern-faced but helpful man at the store, were also known as Indian bay leaves and were just like regular bay leaves, only better.
Once I was back at home, I took out my wok and heated some vegetable oil over medium heat, then stir-fried half a chopped onion, 2 cassia leaves, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and a one inch piece of chopped ginger until the onion became soft, about 2 minutes. I then turned up the heat and added 2 pounds of cubed pork that had been removed from the bone (they were originally bone-in center cut chops) and a dash of asafetida. OMG! When I opened the glass jar that now houses the jar of asafetida I almost knocked myself out. I guess being trapped under glass had concentrated all the fumes and made for one very potent stink. So, with the pork inside the wok, I stir-fried until the meat was browned on all sides, then reduced the heat and cooked for an additional 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I used a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the wok and placed it into a bowl to which I then added, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, ½ teaspoon of ground turmeric, 11/4 teaspoons of ground cumin, 2 teaspoons ground coriander, ½ teaspoon of garam masala and 11/2 tablespoons of lemon juice. I stirred everything around making sure the meat was well coated, then covered with plastic wrap and set aside.
In the same wok, I heated more vegetable oil over medium heat and stir-fried the other half of the onion, 2 more cloves of crushed garlic and another one inch piece of chopped ginger until the onion was soft. I then added 2 dried chilies that had been chopped, (the recipe asked for 4, but I like having sensation on my tongue) 1 teaspoon of nigella seeds, a teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon of ground coriander and ¼ teaspoon of ground cumin. I fried that until the nigella and mustard seeds just started to pop, and then added 2 chopped tomatoes and continued stir-frying for an additional minute. I then reduced the heat to a simmer and cooked the tomatoes until the liquid had been reduced, about 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes I cranked up the heat to medium again then stirred in 2 green chilies (the recipe called for 4 but what can I say, I’m chicken), 2 teaspoons of paprika, and the meat that I had prepared earlier. I stirred for 2 minutes so that all the sauce could be absorbed by the meat, then I added 2 diced green peppers and 2 diced red peppers, reduced the heat to simmer and covered the pan. The Authors noted that the bell peppers release their own liquid, so no additional liquid was needed at that stage. 10 minutes later I added salt and pepper to taste, 4 Idaho potatoes that I had cubed, and 1 cup of water. I covered the pot again and let everything cooked for about an hour, stirring occasionally. After an hour, I added 10 dried curry leaves and cooked covered for another 15 minutes, then added an additional teaspoon of garam masala, more salt and pepper to taste and voila dinner was ready.
OH MY! This was really really good. The potatoes were fork tender and had absorbed all the flavors of the liquids and spices. The meat melted in the mouth with just enough kick from the hot spices to be pleasant but not cause any sort of gastric distress. I served with some plain cooked brown basmati rice and some Lebne which is a thick flavorful Middle Eastern yogurt that went surprisingly well with the dish.
I romped, I frolicked, I was blown around by the wind and I helped shovel 19.5 inches of snow and I am content.
After a day spent pushing myself physically in a way that I don't do often enough, the Blizzard of 2003 offered me a chance to experience the kind of real hunger you get after extended physical exertion, and the kind of real satisfaction you can have after eating a hearty meal with (guilt free) gusto.
I had something very important to attend to in Brooklyn on Monday morning, but since Mother Nature had other plans, it was cancelled. I was dressed and fully awake at 7 am hanging out my window taking pictures instead. I found that trying to take pictures from the dizzying heights of my apartment building... cough... the 4th floor... to be a lesson in futility, I wasn't quite capturing the mood of the storm in the way I wanted to. Hanging partially upside down from my window does not count as being outside and so, outside I went...and OH! what a pleasure that was.
No traffic, no horns blowing, no angry commuters, no CONSTRUCTION NOISE, just snow, and wind and lots of it! I grabbed a shovel and joined my building Super in what would end up being a day spent shoveling snow, at times almost overwhelming in the ferocity of which the snow was falling and the wind was blowing. In between shoveling I was taking breaks to get warm then going out again to wander around and take pictures. Sometime in the later part of the afternoon, after successfully finding a fresh loaf of French bread, I went home to get warm, change my clothes, and pop the beef stew I made on Sunday back into the oven in preparation for dinner and Tom, who had to go in and work on Monday.
Dinner was fabulous, even if it was day old stew, it was enthusiastically eaten with thick crusty French bread slathered with Double Devon cream butter and a glass of red wine. I think Craig Claiborne would have approved of the slight yet intense flavor modification I added to the classic French stew known as Boeuf En Daube.
According to Claiborne, this stew is traditionally cooked in a Daubière, or earthenware pot. If you don't happen to have one on hand then a heavy casserole pot would suffice. I just so happen to have recently snuck in brought home an earthenware pot, yay! and so it was the chance to use my fabulous new pot and the really nice looking beef on sale at the Butcher that locked in my decision to make this recipe.
Twenty four hours prior to using it, I immersed my earthenware pot completely in water and let it stay like that overnight. That's what the instructions told me to do and because I have a great fear of clay pots filled with hot beef and vegetables exploding in my oven, I listened. The stew needs to be started the night before and so after soaking the pot in water, I began the stew. I put 3 pounds worth of 2 inch-cubed stewing beef into a large bowl and added 1 and 1/2 cups of red wine. I do not pretend to know anything about wine so I used what was on hand, which was the remainder of a bottle of Rosso Di Montalcino. It was on sale near the counter the day the cashier carded me at the liquor store and so in my moment of glee I impulsively added it to my basket. I thought it tasted pretty nice when I was drinking it which led me to think it would taste pretty good in the stew, so into the bowl it went with 1/4 cup of cognac, 2 tablespoons of peanut oil, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon thyme, a bay leaf, a large onion coarsely chopped, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 cups of thinly sliced, carrots and 1 cup of diced celery, tossed until well coated, then covered and refrigerated overnight.
Sunday morning, after some high intensity snuggling with the cats, which ended in some high intensity pain on my part because cats do not like to be squeezed repeatedly Deb I began preparing the stew which was going to need 4 hours of slow simmering in the oven.
I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees and in a saucepan that had about 1/3 of a cup of water in it I simmered 1/2 pound of thick bacon sliced into large peices for 5 minutes before taking it off the heat, draining and letting it cool. I removed my earthenware pot from the bucket of water it had been immersed in overnight, washed and dried it then, lined the bottom of it with a layer of cooled bacon. I drained the beef and put the marinating liquid and vegetables aside, then dredged the beef in flour that I had seasoned with kosher salt and pepper and a lot of paprika. (I really groove on paprika, you'll notice I use it a lot). I arranged a layer of beef on top of a layer of bacon, then a layer of vegetables on top of the beef, then a layer of sliced cremini and porcini mushrooms, having pre-soaked the porcini in warm water for 30 minutes then removing, reserving the liquid and chopping, ( Paul has some really nice home-grown mushrooms if you scroll down a bit) then a layer of canned plum tomatoes which I had drained seeded and chopped, from now on I will follow Meg's lead and use Pomi Chopped Tomatoes because I cannot deal with the mess that draining and chopping canned tomatoes makes, hopefully I'll remember that for next time. Do this layering step over and over making sure your last layer is comprised of vegetables but don't rush through it, there's something really calming and soothing about layering vegetables and beef on a Sunday afternoon, a task so mundane and yet so satisfying at the same time. SO! Salt and pepper to taste, 2 cups of beef stock, the porcini liquid and as much marinade as you can pour in. Cover, bring to a slow boil on top of the stove, then place in the 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the heat to 300 degrees and let the pot slowly simmer in the oven for about 4 hours, the meat should be fork tender.
Hopefully you're still with me because at this point I went loco! with the flavor ideas. Into a pot I put the reserved juice from the tomatoes (all seeds strained), a tablespoon of port, 5 cloves of garlic that I had mashed into a paste with capers, kosher salt and 1 anchovy, then flash sauteed it quickly we are after all, going loco here in truffle and porcini infused oil. A very healthy grind of black pepper, and the rest of the wine/cognac marinade from the beef. I brought all this to a boil, tasted it and decided it need something sweet to even out the acid taste of the tomatoes. I didn't want to use the old standby of sugar and so after looking around in my fridge for a while I added 1 tablespoon of Hoisin Sauce and believe it or not this added the right balance of sweetness I was looking for plus a touch of spicey tangy heat that was nice. I let this all boil down until it became a very concentrated liquid, almost 2/3 less than the amount I started with seen here with the container that was almost filled with reserved tomato liquid when I began. I stirred this intense tomato based reduction that was hot and sweet and tangy and spicey into the stew and continued simmering it in the oven, until dinnertime.
My thoughts on adding the Tomato-Hoisin Infusion are that it took an otherwise slightly unimpressive tasting stew to new flavor heights, actually salvaging the stew, which was somehow and for reasons I'm not sure of on the bland side. While not traditionally a classic French recipe I don't mind, to me the kitchen is the place to learn and experiment, I'll win some and I'll lose some but I'll learn either way, part of the fun is the process of getting there. Craig Claiborne wanted me to serve this stew with noodles or rice, but for Sunday I chose puff pastry simply because I'm trying to take things to new levels and be less predictable with our meals. It was a good choice. This was quite frankly the best beef stew I ever had.
I've made a few observations since I've been posting my cooking up on the web. I'm slowly improving in skill and in my knowledge of cooking. This is in part because I'm doing more cooking and partly because of all the wonderful people out there who are also keeping food blogs (I'm planning on doing a big entry about each of their wonderful sites, but until I get a chance please see my side bars-it would be a shame to miss those sites.) All of them have been so willing to share their knowledge and I have been an eager student. I've also noticed that Tom and I take more care when eating our food now, because I photograph almost every meal these days I'm more aware of presentation, this has made us slow down and appreciate all that we're eating. It gives us a feeling like we're dining out every night rather than just plopping food onto a plate and sucking it down like slobs. It's so much nicer this way, if you have the time, and can spend a few minutes on presentation before you eat your meals, then I recommend it, it's well worth the effort.
This dish was what we had for dinner on Monday night, but because it took me so long to write the pirogi/pierogi entry I decided to leave writing about this meal for another day.
This was another one of those dishes in which I took a few elements from several different recipes and put them together to make up my own version of how I wanted the dish to turn out. It worked...really well, we were happy!
I'm very lucky to live near one of my favorite stores-Kalustyans, they are a wonderful source for Indian and other Asian spices as well as condiments, cookbooks, breads, dried fruits and so much more. I find the prices to be very reasonable and the staff friendly and always helpful. So, after spending half the day about an hour shopping for fresh spices I went home ready to prepare a lamb curry dinner.
Flipping through the February 2003 issue of Bon Appetit magazine I came across a recipe for "Spicy Toasted Garbanzo Beans and Pistachios". The recipe was interesting, it remined me a little of ciceri. You may recall that I recently wrote about ciceri the dry-roasted chick peas my Grandparents used to eat. I haven't had ciceri in years, and so with high hopes I set out to try the Bon Appetit version, but being that we're talking about me and how I can't simply follow a recipe the way it's written, I added my own little touches. Here is my adapted version:
I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees then opened 3-15 ounce cans of garbanzo beans, dumped them in a colander and rinsed them under cold water until the water ran clear. I then put them in a bowl and drizzled vegetable oil over them tossing until well coated. The Bon Appetit recipe had asked for sea salt but loser that I am I had none, so I added a teaspoon of kosher salt, a heaping teaspoon of chili spice, a heaping teaspoon of coriander powder, a large pinch of red pepper flakes, a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of chili powder (not the same as the chili spice mix above) and a teaspoon of Garam Masala, mixed it all together and spread the chick peas onto a baking sheet and then into the oven for 20 minutes, tossing them frequently for even baking. After 20 minutes, sprinkle liberally with thyme and parsley then add 2 cups of shelled pistachios and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
While the chick peas were baking in the oven I was busy cubing a butterflied leg of lamb that I had rinsed in cold water and then patted dry with paper towels. Placing the cubed lamb into a large bowl, I threw in a teaspoon of black pepper powder, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 2 teaspoons of coriander, and 2 teaspoons of chili powder, seen here, then I tossed everything around to mix it. To this I added 1 large diced onion, a tomato that I had seeded and diced, (a neat trick to seed a tomato is to use a spoon to scoop out the pulp), a small piece of ginger that I had peeled and grated, it probably equaled 2 teaspoons, three large cloves of garlic minced, lots of chopped fresh cilantro and tossed until everything was well coated. I let that sit for 1 hour.
While the meat was resting, I wandered off...no no no- I put a cup of brown basmati rice into a colander and rinsed until the water ran clear, placed it into a pot into which I added a tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon each of parsley, thyme, sage and tumeric, then 2 cups of chicken stock¹ covered it, set it on low low heat and let simmer it until all the water was absorbed.
In another pot set on medium high heat I added a 1/4 cup of peanut oil, 1 small diced onion, 5 cloves, 1 large cinnamon stick, a large pinch of whole coriander seeds, about 3 tablespoons of madras curry powder, a large pinch of mustard seeds, and a few black peppercorns (seen here). I stirred until everything turned a nice golden color, then I added the meat and adjusted the spices stirred in 2 cups of water and let it all simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes of cooking I checked to see what more it needed for spices and adjusted, then added 1 can of unsweetened coconut milk and 1 cup of plain full fat yogurt. I do not like aspartame and so I avoid products that use it that's why I used full fat over low or no fat yogurt. I stirred everything and cooked for 30 minutes more. I served the curry with the rice and the chick pea/pistachio mix which I didn't like too much on its own but with the curry it rocked. The whole dish got the Tom and Deb seal of approval.
¹I'm no saint in the kitchen, gasp chicken stock is one of those things that's so easy to make but I'm REALLY lazy about making. I also just don't have the room in my NYC apt. sized freezer for all kinds of extra parts for making stock. So I use commercial a lot. Appalled by the amount of chemicals in the leading commercial stocks I found a pretty good one that I swear by called Kitchen Basics, and here's a picture of the one I used.
There are times when I just don't know what it is I want to cook. I don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about it, I don't want to spend a lot of time reading about it , but I do just want to putter in the kitchen and do some cooking. Sometimes I burn-out from cooking, or life gets too busy and I can't cook. When that happens, one of my friends always says, "it's time for take-out". I would tend to agree...but, we ate takeout everyday for 4 months when our gas was turned off because there was a leak in our building, take-out loses it's charm...fast. I like knowing that in my freezer there are little plastic wrapped bundles that can easily be defrosted and heated and enjoyed without the hassle that planning, preparing, and serving a meal can sometimes be.
This coming week is going to be pretty busy for me, I won't get too many chances to cook. I wanted to cook something today that could be made in a big batch, eaten for a few meals, and served in slightly different ways. I didn't want to spend a lot of time preparing a big elaborate thing, or reading and following recipes for hours and hours, so meatloaf seemed like the perfect solution. Meatloaf is just one of the many things that can be made in large quantities, freezes well and can be enjoyed months after it was originally prepared.
Ah...the power of meatloaf (how I do love thee)
I make my meatloaf a little different every time and it's something I do by "feel" rather than from a followed recipe. I tried to write it down today...just in case someone out there, somewhere, wanted to give it a try. (I suppose I flatter myself).
I start by cooking 4 thick-cut slices of bacon until crisp,...mmm bacon then I let drain it on a paper towel until cool. I minced 4 shallots, and sauteed them in a tablespoon of the bacon fat until the shallots just began to start turning color, then off the heat and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, I mixed together 1/2 pound of chopped veal and 1/2 pound of chopped pork with 1 pound of ground round. I use ground round because I find chuck to be too fatty and sirloin too lean...(there's a nursery rhyme in there somewhere isn't there?) I crumbled the cooled bacon on top of the meat, then added a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, the cooled shallots, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of worstershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of champagne wine mustard, several large dashes of dried oregano, marjoram, basil and parsley, and 2 eggs beaten with a tablespoon of water. Hands (washed of course) into the bowl, mushing and squishing things around until well mixed. I do it this way because I think this allows me to gauge how "wet" the mixture is. Once I get an idea of how "wet" the mixture feels, I start adding breadcrumb and cheese. I use plain breadcrumbs because I don't want the flavored kind competing with all the different spices in the meatloaf. I use a little Parmesan cheese too and to tell you the truth I forgot why I add it. I guess it's a holdover kind of thing from making meatballs...maybe. I use the breadcrumb sparingly, I'm just trying to reduce the wetness of the mixture and give the meatloaf a little extra help when binding, not make it a major part of the taste or texture. A little salt, then some fresh ground pepper, then I take a teeny weeny pinch of the raw goop, and taste it, adjusting the flavoring accordingly. Everytime I taste the raw stuff I'm reminded how unsafe doing that is-but so are a lot of things-heck, when I was a kid I used to eat spoonfuls of raw meatball mix-it's kind of like steak tartare...right (big smile). I was feeling spunky today (mama hold me back!) and actually buttered the loaf pan and coated it with breadcrumb before piling in the meat and covering it with a layer of onion. Into a 350 degree preheated oven, for at least an hour, probably longer, during which time I basted the meat with it's own juices. About 20 minutes before removing from the oven I started draining the juices out of the pan and used them to make a gravy. The gravy consisted of 2 tablespoons of butter melted and hot, to which I added 4 tablespoons of flour, stirring until the flour paste started to brown. I added 1 chopped onion, all the juices from the loaf and 2 cups of hot beef stock and stirred until well heated. Removed from the heat and into a blender, blending until smooth. Once the meat was done I removed it from the oven, turned it out onto a board and let it rest for 20 minutes before slicing. I served the meatloaf and gravy with mashed potatoes made from Yukon Gold potatoes, heavy cream, butter, salt and pepper and baby spinach sauteed and wilted in olive oil and garlic. It was very tasty, and I'm looking forward to a meatloaf sandwich for lunch tomorrow.
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