recipes

ICC: Khara Biscuit

June 14, 2011

It’s June 15th and time for another foray into the Indian Cooking Challenge! This month we have a spicy, savory shortbread called a Khara Biscuit from the recipe files of Champa. Unlike the fluffy, leavened biscuits we’re familiar with, this unleavened biscuit is more of a cookie. Studded with chiles and cilantro they make a nice snack or accompaniment to a meal. Iyengar Bakery-style Khara Biscuit Ingredients: 2 cups All-Purpose Flour 1 tsp Salt 6 Green Chiles, finely diced 3 Tbsp chopped Cilantro 6 Tbsp Butter, softened 4 tsp Sugar 3 Tbsp Plain Yogurt, plus more as needed (I used a total of 6 Tbsp, I think) Putting it all together: Preheat your oven to 325Â° Fahrenheit and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Toss in the chopped chiles and cilantro until both are coated with a fine layer of flour and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the yogurt and continue to beat until fully incorporated. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and mix slowly, adding more yogurt as needed to get a dry [...]

MCC: A Tarte of Proines (aka Spiced Plum Spread)

May 26, 2011

It’s the second month of the Medieval Cooking Challenge, an experiment where we take real Medieval recipes and prepare them in our modern kitchens, bringing the past into the present. After last month’s Andalusian Lamb (which was a little complex), weâ€™re going later within the Medieval period and a bit simpler in method of preparation. This recipe for a dried plum (aka prune–but donâ€™t let the connotations of the word scare you off!) spread that is great on slices of baguette as an appetizer or an afternoon snack or used, as the name would suggest, as a tart filling or topping. The original recipe is from 1587 England, from a book known as The Good Huswifes Jewell, 1587 To make a Tarte of Prunes [alternately spelled Proines] Put your Prunes into a pot, and put in red wine or claret wine, and a little faire water, and stirre them now and then, and when they be boyled enough, put them into a bowle, and straine them with sugar, synamon and ginger. Gotta love that creative spelling from back then! The redacted recipe quantities Iâ€™ve taken (and adjusted ever so slightly) from a fabulous modern book: Shakespeare’s Kitchenby Francine Segan. [...]

ICC: Pudachi Wadi

May 15, 2011

It’s time for another installment of the Indian Cooking Challenge! And this month the authentic recipe I bumble my way through is the traditional Maharastrian Pudachi Wadi (aka Coriander Rolls). Now, for those who don’t know, in the United States coriander refers to the seeds (whole or ground) of the plant we call–in it’s leafy state–cilantro. Since we’re using the leaves, they’d be called Cilantro Rolls in our neck of the woods. For many years I was not a huge fan of cilantro, and I’m not alone. The flavor was too pronounced, almost soapy in some instances and really was not my cup of tea. But the more worldly one eats, the more one is likely to encounter different flavors and, in time, I became more tolerant of the herb. Good thing, too! Because these rolls are delicious and it would have been a shame to miss out on them if I’d never been willing to try cilantro again. Pudachi Wadi from Archana of Tried & Tested Recipes Dough: 1 cup Gram Flour 1 cup Wheat flour 3/4 tsp Chilli Powder heaping 1/4 tsp Turmeric Salt, to taste 4.5 Tbsp warm Oil Water, as needed Paste: 3 tsp Oil 1.5 [...]

ICC: Suruttai Poli

March 15, 2011

Another month, another installment of the Indian Cooking Challenge when I gamely attempt a cuisine quite different from my own, usually blunder somewhere along the way but still manage to come up with something tasty. This month’s suggestion came from Nithya andÂ we madeÂ Suruttai Poli–a rolled dough with a sweet nut center. As usual, I had to adjust some of the measurements but this time absolutely no ingredient substitutions were needed. Technically, at least. Suruttai Poli For Dough 1.25 c All-Purpose Flour a pinch Salt Water Frying Oil For Filling 1.25 c Roasted chickpeas 1.25 c Sugar 1.5 tsp Ghee 20 Cashews, chopped 1.5 Tbsp shredded Coconut 1.5 tsp ground Cardamom Please don’t turn away at the thought of sweet chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). I was a bit skeptical, myself, but it makes an amazing base for the filling. Trust me and try it for yourself. This is also where the not-technically-a-substitution occurs and where my results end up vastly different from the original. More will be revealed. Making the Dough Combine the flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl and mix together. Add water, about a teaspoon or two at a time, and stir until a shaggy dough starts to [...]

It All Started With Some Asparagus

March 7, 2011

I had picked up some beautiful asparagus at the farmers market and was trying to decide what to do with it. As great as it is steamed with a little salt, olive oil and lemon juice, sometimes you want to step out of your own little rut. That’s when I remembered Marengo. There are many things I remember from my 2 years at CCI, many excellent recipes, chefs and fellow students that I cherish. French Classical may not have been my favorite class, but at least it wasn’t at the bottom of the list (that honor goes to Garde Manger, in case you were wondering). One recipe in particular, though, does stand out from that class: Poulet SautÃ© Marengo. And it used asparagus. At least, that’s how I remember it from class (the book says nothing about it, but that’s beside the point). So I decided that it was a perfect mid-week dinner. Next time I decide to relive French Classical, it will be on a weekend. Poulet SautÃ© Marengo (a la Scraps), with Duchesse-style Potatoes Again, Escoffier doesn’t write recipes like we’re used to. Here’s his version of the dish: 3225 Poulet SautÃ© Marengo Season the pieces of chicken [...]

The Lost Art of… Marmalade?

January 31, 2011

On our second trip to the farmers’ market (Todd came with, this time), I spotted kumquats and thought making marmalade would be a good way to use the fruit and have it available for more than just one meal. Now, I’d made marmalade in the past, but it had been maybe 10 years since, so I wanted to check what I thought I remembered (namely that it didn’t require added pectin) and how much sugar per pound of citrus and so forth. Would you believe that I went through 6 cookbooks before finding marmalade instructions? We have an entire bookcase of cookbooks and not all of them are general-use, so it’s not like I was looking in the specialty books and striking out, these were the massive tomes of all-purpose food knowledge. And while my “textbook” from Culinary School did have a definition and basic method listed, it still wasn’t telling me what I needed to know. Even Joy of Cooking only had a Red Onion Marmalade (which, by the way, is stretching the definition just a bit). It’s no wonder, then, that the one book to finally come to my rescue was Forgotten Skills of Cooking. It had a [...]

A Tasty Experiment of Strawberry Proportions

January 24, 2011

I don’t usually post recipes, here, but today I’m making an exception. Strawberries have started to appear in stores and, while it’s still early in the season, the temptation is there to make something of them. This recipe would be a nice in-between step between now and when spring and summer shortcakes come around. ~~~oOo~~~ Company was coming for dinner and we’d picked up some early-season (but so fresh you could smell their sweetness as you walked past the flats) strawberries with a vague plan that they would comprise dessert. But a vague plan only gets you to a few hours before dinner. What to do with them? Sure, there’s the usual pie, shortcake or cobbler but I wanted something more cake-like. For Christmas Eve I’d made the Caramel Apple Cake from Food Network Magazine, which was similar in concept to a pineapple upside-down cake and we really enjoyed the combo of dense cake and moist fruit. To make a strawberry-friendly version, I headed to Joy of Cooking for a basic Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe (skipping the streusel) and added in a layer of strawberries between each half of the dough. The addition of the strawberries and the change [...]

“Todd’s” Turkey

November 23, 2010

There is some concern in my family about the fact that I only purchased a 17.22 lb turkey for Thursday. Now, we’re 6 people. Even discounting bones that’s a LOT of turkey per person. Last year’s bird was just over 21 pounds and we had turkey coming out of our ears. Even after my brother took some home. And we froze some for gumbo, later. Not to mention that it barely fit in our large roasting pan. So 17.22 lbs seemed quite adequate to me. “But Jason’s already salivating over Todd’s turkey,” Mom informs me. This same Jason who already went to 3 other Thanksgiving dinners before mine but who still ate a plate full and was moaning in misery on my living room floor afterward. This same Jason who has to go to FOUR dinners before mine this year. I’m not exactly worried. But let’s get to the heart of the matter, here. Todd’s turkey. Last year was the first year we hosted Thanksgiving and, therefore, roasted the bird. Usually Mom’s job, it just didn’t make sense for her to have to cart a turkey across town (or, even, around the corner of town as it actually is from [...]

ICC: Punjabi Kadi Pakoras

October 15, 2010

It’s that time again–time for us to go tripping over ourselves in the pursuit of success in the Indian Cooking Challenge! And it’s finally something I recognize… sorta. When we go out to our favorite Indian restaurant we generally order the sampler appetizer to split, so we’ve had pakoras before–several versions of them, too. Granted, they usually come without the Kadi (yogurt sauce) and, at leas the onion variety, resemble more of a hush puppy, but at least we knew what we were shooting for this time around. My version of the recipe below is based upon the recipe provided by Simran of Bombay Foodie, though the main changes are adjustments required to the measurements. (US cups and British/Imperial cups are NOT the same thing–only took meÂ a few rounds to remember that little fact!) Ingredients Pakoras: 1 medium Onion, sliced lengthwise 5/8 c Besan/Gram Flour 2 t Salt 3/4 tsp Chili Powder 1/3-1/2 c Water Oil for deep frying Kadi: 1 1/2 c Plain Yogurt 1/3 (heaping) cups Besan/Gram Flour 3-4 cups Water 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds 1 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds 1 1/2 tsp Ajwain (Carom or Oregano) Seeds 1 1/2 tsp Methi [...]

Country-Fried Procedural

October 11, 2010

Chances are you’ve heard of chicken-fried steak. You may have even heard of it’s cousin, chicken-friend chicken. Or maybe you know the thin, breaded and pan-friend delicacy as country-fried. It’s all the same thing, really, and if you’ve ever wanted to make your own here’s the good news: you don’t need a recipe. It’s more a technique than an absolute science. The Meat You want it thin. End of story. Except it’s never that simple–you probably want to know why you want it thin. There are a two reasons: Thin meat cooks quickly, meaning the coating won’t burn before the center of the meat is cooked. Traditionally this is done with tougher cuts of beef and pounding it thin breaks up a bunch of those tough muscle fibers, meaning you can eat it without your jaw getting tired. You can use a mallet or one of those gadgets with all the sharp needles and make a pincushion out of the protein, but I like to place whatever I’m smashing between two sheets of wax paper (the deli-style pop-up packs are great for this) and go to town with my stainless steel omelet pan. 1/4-inch is your goal–thinner and it’ll start [...]

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