Dal

Dal.  You've surely heard of it, no?  It's not usually the kind of dish you order at an Indian restaurant, unless of course it's a Punjabi restaurant like Indique whose dal makhani is to die for.  Dal is the dish that you find in the homes, it's a staple.  Most vegetarians in India have dal with every meal.  Some drink it.  It's incredibly nutritious and healthy.  Some people serve it as a side.  I like it by itself.  It's a great detox meal.  Just boil some rice and you've got yourself dinner. My husband was hinting the other day that we haven't had Indian food in a while, and then he mentioned how much he would love it if I made dal. We get our fair share of dal in our diet but it always comes from my mother or my mother in-law.  There are endless ways of making dal (and spelling it), and I wanted to create my own.  If there is one thing I have learned about dal over the years it's that everyone's is different.  I followed my mother's directions but got a bit lost along the way but everything turned out great.  The colors of dal can vary, I wanted mine not a pale yellow, but a rich orange (then why does it look brown up there?), and I wanted it thicker and not as watery as it often is.  It can also be prepared extremely simple.  When you get sick in India all they let you eat is dal and rice, with some yogurt.  Dal and rice, dal and rice, and I never get sick of it. Sometimes when I would be so sick of eating heavy meals I'd pretend my stomach hurt so I had an excuse to eat dal and rice. This recipe is for moong dal, a great variety that cooks the fastest of most lentils.  You can even cook dal with the rice, but that's another time and place. I decided to put squash in mine, as I love Indian squash.  It was called Long Squash at the Korean market, and I've also seen it called Indian Squash.  I'll include it with these instructions, but you can easily leave it out.  Lots of vegetables can be added, like spinach.       

1 cup moong dal (this will be enough for at least 4 servings)
1 long squash, seeds removed, peeled, cubed, soak in bowl of water
1 white onion
1 green chili (optional)
2 garlic cloves
t fresh grated ginger
1/2 c crush tomatoes, or a fresh chopped tomato, or you could add a T of tomato paste
t cumin seeds
1 t each of Indian spices: turmeric, red chili powder, ground cumin and ground cilantro

Sautee half a white onion in a pot or dutch oven.  Add a spoon of turmeric, then dal, sprinkle with salt.  Toss in a fresh green chili, sliced (seeds removed if you like).  Cover with water.  You want the dal swimming in the water, and you can add as it cooks and absorbs it depending on how thick you want it.  Let simmer for about 20 minutes or so.  I like my dal very tender and soft so I let it cook for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a large sautee pan, heat some oil and cumin seeds together and cover.  Wait for them to pop, then add half a chopped white onion and let brown.  Then add fresh garlic and ginger.  Next spoon in the spices and let roast in the center of the pan.  Add tomatoes, let cook down.  Toss in squash if you are using, and let cook for several minutes.  Back to the pot with the dal.  If you want a smoother dal, place immersion blender in the pot and puree for a bit.  I pureed a bit but still wanted the texture of most of the dal.  Now slide in everything from the sautee pan into the pot with the dal and let cook together, until squash is tender.  I added some chopped fresh cilantro at the end but this is optional.  You can also add a bit of butter for a little indulgence.  

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

This chocolate chip recipe is the best.  Trust me, it is.  That's the only way to describe them, the best chocolate chip cookies ever!  The brown butter combined with the dark brown sugar gives the cookies a rich, almost caramel-like taste to it.  They are delicious.  My cousin in-law makes these cookies and I finally snagged the recipe and made some over the weekend.  The recipe is from Cook's Illustrated (they always seem to know what they are doing, don't they?).   

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda

14 T unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 t table salt

2 t vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks (I used dark)

3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Whisk flour, baking soda together and set aside.  Heat 10 tablespoons of butter in skillet. Cook while swirling pan constantly until butter is dark brown and nutty. You'll see little brown specks throughout. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl, Add remaining 4 T of butter and stir untill completely melted.  Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk untill fully incorporated. Add whole egg and 1 egg yolk. Whisk until mixture is smooth with no lumps remaining. Let mixture stand for 3 mins, then whisk for 30 secs. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times untill mixture is thick, smooth and shiney. Using spatula or wood spoon add flours mix until just combined, about 1 min. Add choco chips and nuts.  This recipe makes 16 large cookies.  With ice cream scoop, scoop 8 mounds of dough on to baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone pad.  Bake at 350 for 10-14 minutes.

Almond, Cinnamon, Coconut Granola

I have been wanting to make homemade granola for a while now.  I've perused a lot of recipes, gotten some from friends but was feeling unmotivated because the recipes always seemed to call for grape seed this and wheat germ that and I had no idea where to find them. This is all the more sad since I've wanted to make some to send to one of my very best friends who is serving in Afghanistan with the Special Forces.  I mean could I call myself any more pathetic and lazy compared to what he is doing?  He's pretty much the most remarkable person I know; he came to the U.S. from Vietnam as a young boy, went on to succeed at West Point, Georgetown Law, worked at a top D.C. law firm, became a White House Attorney and then a Federal Prosecutor.  He's incredible.  I've sent him a few care packages and some things tend to hold up better than others.  I felt that granola would hold up pretty well in an airtight container, and he once wrote me "little things from home go a long way".  I can't wait for him to return so I can spoil him with home cooked food. 

I caught a few minutes of Barefoot Contessa the other day and I saw her make just about the tastiest and easiest looking granola I've seen.  I loved that it had coconut in it, and I had almost all the ingredients in my pantry.  I changed it up a bit as I had raisins instead of dried cranberries (though some of the raisins became too dark so I plucked them out), and I added just a pinch of garam masala that my parents had brought back from Morocco (this gave a deep warmth to it that I absolutely love).  I also cut the recipe down, but it still made quite a lot.  Here is the original recipe for your reference.  I am pretty sure I may never buy granola again as this was a lot of fun, and it's delicious (if it weren't getting shipped out today I would finish it all myself in a matter of days!).  It also made my kitchen smell incredible.  I can't wait to make more.    

Almond, Cinnamon and Coconut Granola

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup dried fruit
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
spoon of ground cinnamon
pinch of garam masala (optional)

Mix everything in a bowl and pour onto sheet pan (lined with silicone pad if you want) bake at 350, tossing throughout, until golden brown and toasty, 20-30 minutes.

Potato and Leek Soup

I was really excited to make some soup this week so I could add my homemade chicken stock to it. I decided to go for potato and leek as I've never made it before.  I followed this food blogger's recipe, and though I cut back on the number of potatoes, it still came out a bit too potatoey for me, but still delicious.  I suspect a lb measurement of potatoes would be more helpful.  It also came out quite thick but I had already frozen the remaining chicken stock so I left it as it was.  I had never before cooked with leeks, they smell so lovely as they sautee - the kitchen smelled as I imagine a French woman's would as she prepares dinner.  I served this soup with this recipe for baked cod with truffled panko and it was delicious.

Potato and Leek Soup

3 tbsp butter

3 leeks, cleaned, green parts discarded, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

4 russet potatoes, thinly sliced and peeled if you desire (I left some of the skin on)

3-4 cups chicken broth (or stock)

1 cup heavy cream

salt, pepper to taste

drizzle of truffle oil if you so desire

Melt butter in a saucepan (or dutch oven) and sautee onion and leeks until they are cooked down and tender.  Add potatoes and pour in chicken stock, cook on medium until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Turn off heat and with an immersion blender, puree until it's the consistency you want.  Add cream and heat back up for a few minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Cauliflower Alfredo

Cool concept, no?  I had zero inspiration for dinner last night so I looked to some of my favorite food blogs for ideas.  This cauliflower alfredo recipe sparked my interest so I decided to go for it (I really like Food Wishes because of his videos), and all I needed to grab from the grocery store was a head of cauliflower. Jackpot!  I could eat pasta every day, so when I come across a pasta dish that is a bit healthy I'm all over it.  Plus, with the incorporation of vegetables into the pasta it turns into a nice one dish vegetarian meal, kind of like that spinach and asparagus pesto I made.  I highly recommend following that link and watching the video if you are interested in making this.  Though I have an immersion blender, the pot just wasn't deep enough for it to get in there and blend - it started splattering a bit so I decided to put the cauliflower into a blender.  That worked well, and then I poured it back into the pot.  I didn't feel like using cream, but instead I just used a bit of half and half I had on hand.  Basically, mine did not appear to come out as smooth and creamy as his looked, but it was still delicious.  Instead of adding dry herbs, I added a spoon of fresh pesto that I wanted to finish, and I added some black truffle shavings and a bit of white truffle oil.  I must say, I'm pretty sure that truffle oil made quite a difference.  

Pasta with Cauliflower Alfredo (and a hint of pesto and truffles)

1/2 lb pasta (though you will have enough sauce for 1lb)
1 head cauliflower, chopped into medium pieces
2 or 3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup cream or half and half
dry herbs or spoon of pesto (optional)
some shavings of black truffle (optional)
tbsp truffle oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus a bit more
juice of half a lemon
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt, pepper
fresh bread crumbs

Toast bread crumbs in a pan over medium heat for a few minutes, add a drizzle of olive oil, some salt and some parmesan.  Set aside. Heat some oil in a large pot, let heat up with crushed garlic cloves. Add cauliflower pieces and about 3-4 cups of water, dry herbs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  When cauliflower is tender, turn off heat and blend with immersion blender until smooth, or, scoop cauliflower out into blender and blend until smooth, pouring back into pot.  Add cream, fresh herbs or pesto, truffle oil and shavings and parmesan cheese and let simmer for a few minutes.  Boil pasta, drain, toss with lemon juice, sauce, sprinkle with parmesan and bread crumbs.  

Spinach and Arti Dip

I could eat a giant vat of this stuff.  I had some appallingly bad spinach and artichoke dip at Blackfinn in D.C. recently.  Yes, you heard me, Blackfinn, your spinach and artichoke dip is very bad.  It motivated me to make some myself.  I wanted to bring an appetizer to share at a friend's holiday party over the weekend so I decided to whip up a batch.  The recipe made a lot so I put a bit aside for our brunch.  What you see there is what was left of it because it's always hard to snap a photo before we entertain.  I was inspired by this food blogger's recipe, and I essentially followed it closely, with a substitution and a small addition.  If you've ever had it, you know just how addictive it is. It's great with water crakers, melba toasts, sliced bagette, anything, really.

1 10 oz package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
4 oz cream cheese 
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp chili sauce
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or mozzarella
plus some additional mozzarella or provolone for the top
a few pinches of paprika
salt, pepper

Combine all ingredients and scoop into baking dish, top with some provolone or mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 350 until top is bubbly and brown, about 25 minutes.  

Lettuce Wraps

After all the carb loading that was done over the weekend I figured we could use some lean protein without any carbs, so I decided to make chicken lettuce wraps earlier this week.  I had made lettuce wraps once before, though it was before I began this food blog so I somewhat forgot what I did (I could wax poetic as a librarian about how I love the archival purposes of this blog), but I figured I could throw it together reasonably well.  This was the first time I've cooked with ground chicken, which seems really crazy but in my defense I've only been cooking for a little over a year (oops, you thought I was some kind of authority?!  sorry!).  Ground turkey or pork would work well too, and you could use any kind of lettuce - I like boston bibb or a dark romaine.  This is really the kind of dish you need to just season as you go, tasting it along the way and adding a little of this and a little of that. But I will share with you a template.


1 lb ground chicken
1/2 white onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp freshly grated or chopped ginger
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 green chili chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp lemongrass powder
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp red chili paste 


Heat some oil in a large sautee pan, sautee onion and then add garlic and ginger.  Add meat and brown.  Season with salt and pepper, add green chili, add red cabbage and allow to cook down.  Sprinkle in lemongrass  powder and add soy sauce, sriracha, hoisin sauce and red chili paste.  If you don't want all the heat, skip the sriracha or the fresh green chili.  You can also add some moisture at this point as it continues to simmer - I added some chicken broth but I think water works fine.  Add sesame oil and sesame seeds.  If you want it sweeter, sprinkle in some brown sugar.  I also added a bit of corn starch to thicken it up and make it a bit stickier and less runny as I tested the filling with a piece of lettuce and wasn't happy with the way the sauce was leaking out onto my hand.  Lastly, fold in chopped cilantro and scallions and let simmer for a few more minutes.    

Lobster Mac and Cheese with Truffles

Mmmm, mmm, good.  This was good.  I will admit that I will make a few changes next time.  I decided to follow Ina Garten's lobster mac and cheese recipe and add some truffle oil and some black truffle shavings because as she would say "how bad could that be?"  I actually could have done without the lobster as the truffles were the real star of the dish. I also think the recipe calls for too much nutmeg.  I think a pinch is fine, not 1/2 tsp.  The earthy flavor combined well with the flavor of the truffles, but I felt the nutmeg lingered a bit longer than I would have liked.  There are some things to consider when making this dish - it took a prep bowl, three pots, a strainer and a casserole dish for it to come together.  The other thing to consider is while it does make enough to feed an army, it isn't a cheap dish, especially with the lobster.  Imported Gruyere cheese isn't cheap but I'd discourage substituting with any flavorless domestic cheese.  It is a delicious, comforting dish and so filling a salad of mixed greens is all you would want to go with it.  Don't be scared of buying truffles, or truffle oil.  I highly recommend ordering some if you're a fan. You can order them through this site and the summer black truffles are actually incredibly reasonable and affordable.  I've been using them in all kinds of things, like shavings in scrambled eggs to oil drizzled in a panino.

Lobster mac and cheese with truffles

Kosher salt
1 lb cavatappi pasta (you can use elbow as well)
1 quart milk (whole)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 lb cooked lobster meat, chopped (I think that 1 lb is also perfectly fine for the dish.  I bought cooked tails from a seafood market and removed the meat)
1 1/2 cup fresh white bread crumbs
1 tbsp of white truffle oil
about 1 tsp (or more) of black truffle shavings (I shaved it through a microplane suited for ginger)

Add pasta to large pot of boiling, salted water.  Cook until aldente and drain.  Heat milk in a small saucepan.  In a large pot melt 6 tbsp of butter and add flour, whisk for a few minutes.  Add the hot milk and continue whisking, cooking for a few minutes until sauce has thickened.  Turn heat off, add cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Add truffle oil and truffle shavings.  Stir in pasta, pour into large casserole dish.  Combine 2 tbsp melted butter with bread crumbs, sprinkle this on top of dish and then bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes.           

Spanakopita

Growing up, my mother's spanakopita was always one of my favorite dishes.  It always seemed special to me because it was often part of her menu for dinner parties.  She would bake it last and the smell of it would hug me tightly in our warm kitchen [insert pangs of nostalgia].  Layers of warm, flavorful, cheesy spinach with buttery, crunchy flakes of pastry.  Oh my, is there anything better?  I didn't have any Greek friends when I was young and I basically had nothing else to compare it to.  As a result, my mother's spanakopita became standard to which no other spanakopita could ever compare.   I will say, I've served Trader Joe's frozen spanakopita triangles at parties and they are pretty good, but I wanted a big pie of it, not cocktail sizes.  I never really order it at restaurants because I think I'll be disappointed.  I knew I must have had quite a hankering for it when I found myself ordering it while Zaytinya last week.  It was a decent little log, but a bit watery and nothing like my mother's.  I kind of wanted to tell Mike Isabella when he walked by our table that his isn't as good as my mom's.  I'm pretty sure I could imagine his response.  It wouldn't be nice.  Anyway, I figured it was about time I tried to make it myself.  I looked up a few recipes and most of them called for fresh spinach (which I'd imagine could result in it being watery).  I knew I used to see my mother use the frozen so I opted to follow her recipe instead.  It's a bit adapted.  

2 packets of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
1 medium white onion, chopped
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
4 cloves garlic, chopped
juice from 1 lemon
salt, pepper 
dash of oregano
dash of nutmeg
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1 stick butter, melted
1 packet filo dough (two rolls)

Heat some oil in a large pan, sautee onion and then add garlic.  Add spinach and allow to cook for a minute, season with salt and pepper, nutmeg, oregano.  Add lemon juice.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for several minutes.  Meanwhile, break up egg yolks and combine this with the feta cheese.  Fold this into the spinach.  Beat egg whites with an electric beater.  You don't want beat it until it forms thick peaks, but until it turns into a white, frothy consistency.  Carefully fold this into the spinach.  Now for the assembly.  You'll need a pastry or silicone brush (I love Le Creuset's silicone brushes).  I used this rectangular casserole/lasagna dish (I think a 13 x 9 pan would work).  It was a bit smaller than the size of the filo dough so I cut a stack of them down with kitchen shears.  You you easily just fold it up the sizes - it does not need to be an exact science at all.  You can also assemble it as you want.  I used a roll plus several sheets from the second roll.  Next time I'll use more layers as the inside layers just disappear.  Place several down on the bottom of the dish, brush with melted butter, spread spinach evenly, add more layers, brush with butter, spread spinach, etc, etc.  I did three layers of spinach (with four layers of filo, about 4 sheets per layer) and then for the top layer of filo dough I added extra layers.  Brush the top layer with butter, and then score the pie into serving sizes.  I sprinkled the top with sea salt.  Bake at 350 for.....I can't remember how long, I think it was about 45 minutes but don't hold me to it.  Until golden brown.

Gyoza, Dumplings, Potstickers?

What do I call these?  I didn't look up a recipe for this one because I refused to pick up any additional ingredients, so I just used my instincts to try and create an Asian inspired filling. This makes a good 'day after Aushak' dish because I was able to use the leftover wonton wrappers as well as the remaining ground beef I had, fresh ginger and garlic and the white parts of the scallions.  The filling was really delicious, and nice and moist and salty so you don't really need a dipping sauce - you can just pop a bunch in your mouth.  The filling reminded me a bit of the taste of beef with broccoli, or minced meat samosas my grandmother used to make (though I didn't use any Indian spices).  I did used a secret ingredient of sorts that I am not sure most of you all will be able to find: lemongrass powder.  It added a nice fresh lemony earthy layer (duh).  My mother in-law had told me about lemongrass powder as she uses it in chicken dishes and even tea.  I had gone to Grand Mart - the Washington area international grocery store, but when I asked if they had it they looked at my like I was crazy.  So last time we were in LA I picked some bottles up from the Korean markets there.  OK, I just googled it and you can buy some online at Amazon here.  

So back to these gyoza/potstickers/dumplings.  I pan seared one batch on both sides until golden and slightly crispy.  The second batch I seared on one side, and then flipped, added water to the pan, covered and allowed it to steam a bit (so they were more moist). Either way is equally good.  I believe this made about 22 dumplings. They were really addictive and I am most definitely making these again sometime soon - I have a feeling guests would really enjoy snacking on them.  I also really enjoyed working with wonton wrappers and am glad they are no longer a mystery to me.  I was doing the whole "a little of this, a little of that" but I believe I can share a reasonably proper recipe:

1/4 of an onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
fresh green chili to taste, or some red pepper flakes 
1/2 lb ground beef (I have a feeling ground chicken or pork would work well)
~ 1/2 cup chopped scallions (white parts or entire scallion)
1 spoon lemongrass powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
squeeze of sriracha
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 spoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
1 spoon hoisin sauce 
1/2 cup water
juice of 1/2 lime or lemon
salt, pepper

Heat some oil in a pan and saute onion and scallions, then add garlic, ginger and chilis. Add sesame oil.  Add meat and brown.  Add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sriracha, lime juice, water and then sesame seeds. Sprinkle with lemongrass powder.  Allow to cook down and reduce.  Season with salt and pepper.  Allow to cool.

Lay out wonton wrappers and spoon filling into each one, tracing the outer edge with water, folding in a half circle and pressing firmly.  I had a bit of filling leftover after I ran out of wonton wrappers.  Heat large non stick skillet with some oil, sear dumplings on either each side until golden (about 3 minutes) or sear on one side and steam after flipping.       

Aushak

I absolutely love Afghan food, LOVE.  My husband is pretty neutral on it overall, I think he finds it bland but I could not disagree more.  I often find Indian food too spicy and instead prefer most Middle Eastern dishes for their perfect balance of flavors.  I've been to a few Afghani weddings and completely devour the food.  I was delighted when I read a recipe for Aushak in the book I just finished (Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl).  This Afghan pasta dish has always been a favorite of mine - it's a combination of dumplings, meat sauce and yogurt.  The recipe looked easy enough so I gave it a go.  I bought wonton wrappers from our local international grocery store.  Everything came out perfectly, though my only critique would be the scallion filling was a bit strong.  I read a few recipes that called for leeks instead, which would be a much more mild taste, and I also read a review of the recipe that suggested sautéing the scallions first.  I added more heat to both the filling and the meat sauce and I also added some lime juice to the yogurt sauce.  I also combined plain Greek yogurt with some Middle Eastern dill and cilantro yogurt dip from Trader Joe's I had lying around.  I would recommend jazzing up the yogurt with some dill if you want as it adds a nice touch.  I also doubled the amount of liquid to the meat sauce and added some red wine as it still seemed thirsty.  While not at all tedious, assembling the dumplings takes some time, so pull up a chair to your counter.  I was able to make 18 dumplings, so I have a lot of wonton wrappers left.  It was so much fun I think I'll make some pan seared dumplings tonight.  

Recipe adapted from Garlic and Sapphires, Ruth Reichl

Meat sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp diced ginger
1 cup water
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
2 tbsp tomato paste
fresh green chilis (to taste)
salt, pepper

Yogurt sauce
1 cup full fat yogurt (I used Greek)
1 clove garlic, pressed
salt, to taste
juice of 1/2 a lime or lemon

Dumplings
2 scallion bunches, green tops finely chopped (leave out the white part)
salt, pepper
pinch of red chili powder or red chili flakes
fresh green chilis (to taste)
1 tsp minced garlic
~20 or so round wonton or gyoza wrappers

Garnish
chopped fresh mint

Mix the yogurt sauce and allow to sit out and come to room temperature.  Make the meat sauce: heat oil and sautee onion for a few minutes, then add ginger and garlic, and ground coriander and fresh green chili.  Add beef and allow to brown.  Add water and wine until it is reduced.  Add tomato paste and allow to continue reducing for several minutes.  Make dumplings: combine chopped scallions, garlic, salt, pepper, chili in a bowl.  Spoon a small amount of mixture in the center of each wonton wrapper, dip finger in bowl of water and trace outer edge of wrapper, fold in half circle and press firmly.  Heat a pot of water, salt, boil dumplings for about 5 minutes, drain.  Assemble each plate by spooning some yogurt mixture, then some dumplings, then a generous spoon of the meat sauce followed by a dollop of yogurt.  Garnish with mint (optional).

Shrimp and Grits

My friend, Tricia (a true Southern gal), often reminds me that I seem to love all things Southern and would therefore love shrimp and grits. I had never had it before but was up for the challenge.  It's a really easy and fast dish to make and would be another perfect weeknight meal.  The grits are insanely creamy (and good) and the shrimp combined with chicken broth and scallions had an almost Asian flavor to it, in my opinion.  I essentially followed this recipe for the shrimp and this recipe for the grits.  The changes I made were 1) skipping the bacon and 2) adding some heat - fresh green chilis as well as some cayenne pepper.  My husband also drizzled a little truffle oil over his grits which was....really good.  Here is the original recipe for your reference:    

Cheese Grits

1  (14-oz.) can chicken broth
1  cup  milk
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1  cup  grits (I used old fashioned)
3/4  cup  cheddar cheese
1/4  cup  freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2  teaspoon  hot sauce
1/4  teaspoon  black pepper

Bring first 3 ingredients and 1 1/3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; gradually whisk in grits. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until thickened. Stir in Cheddar cheese and next 3 ingredients.

Shrimp
2  bacon slices
1  pound  unpeeled, medium-size raw shrimp
1/8  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  pepper
1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
1  cup  sliced fresh mushrooms
2  teaspoons  canola oil
1/2  cup  chopped green onions
2  garlic cloves, minced
1  cup chicken broth
2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
1/4  teaspoon  hot sauce

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat 10 minutes or until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 1 tsp. drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon. Peel shrimp. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and pepper; dredge in flour. Sauté mushrooms in hot drippings with oil in skillet 5 minutes or until tender. Add green onions, and sauté 2 minutes. Add shrimp and garlic, and sauté 2 minutes or until shrimp are lightly browned. Stir in chicken broth, lemon juice, and hot sauce, and cook 2 more minutes, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet. Spoon shrimp mixture over hot Cheese Grits; sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

Shrimp Scampi

This makes a great weeknight meal because there isn't too much prep involved and it's done in minutes.  My father makes the most amazing shrimp scampi and I had yet to try making it myself.  Harris Teeter had 2 lb easy peel shrimp on sale last week buy one get TWO free.  So, we have a lot of shrimp in the freezer right now.  I had all the ingredients in my fridge so I whipped this up last night.  It isn't an exact science, here is generally what I did (this makes 2 healthy servings).

~ 1 lb shrimp, defrosted and peeled

4 tbsp butter

dash of olive oil

salt, pepper

fresh green chilis (to taste)

10 cloves chopped garlic (yes, 10, we love garlic and it's great for fighting off colds this time of year)

1/4 cup chopped coriander

juice from 1/2 lemon plus some lemon zest

1/2 lb thin linguini

This is actually one of those dishes where you can make the sauce while the pasta boils.  Heat butter and olive oil in a wide pan, add garlic and allow the flavor to release but don't let it brown, toss in fresh chilis if you want the heat, toss in shrimp, salt, pepper, coriander and lemon juice and zest.  Drain pasta and toss with shrimp.  Garnish generously with parmesan.   

Gougères

These are a really easy and delightful French snack - they are cheesy and eggy and fluffy and addictive right out of the oven.  They only ask for a few ingredients and are actually very simple to make.  The book I am reading mentioned these, and then I came across a recipe on a blog I love, so something was tugging at me to make them.  Beyond the basic dough you can add black pepper and thyme, or leave them plain.  I'm sure you can think of other things to add.  I made mine pretty large because I didn't want to bake a second sheet, but you can make them very small and they'd be perfect for a cocktail party.  I will say they are delicious right out of the oven but not as delicious at room temperature.  The size I made would be great sliced open and stuffed with a salad (they are hollow and airy inside).  I watched and followed this recipe.  I love that guy over at Food Wishes because if I haven't made something before, I really love a video.  These are traditionally made with gruyere cheese but I followed his lead and used very sharp cheddar (and it was far less expensive than imported gruyere).  

Here is what you need:
1/2 water
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1 tsp thyme
1tsp black pepper

Heat the butter and water in a saucepan until simmering, throw in flour and whisk until cooked through.  Remove from heat and let cool in bowl.  Whisk in two eggs, salt, pepper, thyme.  Fold in cheese (you can leave a bit to sprinkle on top).  Scoop out onto baking sheet lined with silicone pad and bake for 15 minutes at 425.  I sprinkled a bit of black sea salt on each one as well.

Rice Krispies Treats

For some odd reason I was craving Rice Krispies treats.  No alternate ending, just the original.  I'm not exactly sure why; I think I saw a TV commercial and then spotted a sad looking packaged one in a cafe and just knew I needed to craft the sticky squares myself.  I also think the whole Halloween time of year always gets me reminiscing of my youth and fun treats.  I think the last time I made these I was probably staring up at my mom as she stirred the melted marshmallows.  Well, there may have been one night in college at 2am. I forgot how incredibly gooey the mixture gets.  It was so fun.  I was longing for my nieces who would have reveled in the assembly.  Upon closer reflection these really are perfect treats for kids because there is no baking required and you don't even really need to wait for them to cool.  And uh, 3 ingredients?  I'm bringing a big container of these to my students tonight and I'm sure they'll love them.  I've eaten more than a few myself. Forget fancy madelines, these paired perfectly with some herbal tea this afternoon.  

Here is the recipe, which you can also find here.  Apparently the recipe is no longer worthy of being printed on the Rice Krispies box, so I actually had to look it up!   

Rice Krispies Treats

3 tbsp butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies   

In a large sauce pan (or dutch oven) melt butter over low-medium heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted.  Remove from heat and stir in Rice Krispies.  Pour and press into 13 x 9 pan coated with cooking spray.  Spray a little cooking spray on your hand and press down mixture evenly.  Cool for about 2 minutes and then you can cut right into them. 

Dulce de Leche Apple (and pear) Crisp

The filling for this apple crisp was delicious.  The topping I found a bit dry, but that was because I was trying not to get all Paula Dean on everyone and put in more than a stick of butter, but I think it would have been exceptionally good with, um, more butter.  I was inspired by this food blogger who added dulce de leche to her apple crisp.  Instead of making mine from scratch, I bought Nestle's Dulce de Leche (which comes in a small can).  I eyeballed the entire thing, but here is what I basically did.  The topping is a combination of flour, oats, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and butter.  I peeled and chopped about 6 apples and 2 pears, tossed them with a spoon of flour, some sugar and some cinnamon.  I then topped the fruit mixture with dollops of dulce de leche, and then pressed the topping on, baked at 350 for about 40 minutes.  The dulce de leche adds a creamy caramel gooeyness to the crisp.  I loved it, and it was really good with pumpkin pie gelato.  Shocking, huh?

Magic Cookie Bars

Baking is not one of my favorite past times, but I love a good cookie recipe where I don't need a lot of baking accessories and I can just layer a few ingredients down, throw it in the oven, and cut it up squares. Eagle Brand debuted this recipe in the 60's.  I wonder if Betty Draper would make this?  This recipe is an oldie, but a goodie. 

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
sweetened condensed milk (most recipes call for one 14 oz can, but I used about 2/3 of a can. I love using leftover condensed milk with my coffee, one spoon in place of milk and sugar. Oh, and grocery store brand works fine)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup sweet flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of pan (I used a 9 inch square baking pan). Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over mixture.
Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars.

I covered the baking pan with some parchment paper before layering everything in, with the ends sticking out so that I could lift the entire square out and cut them up on my counter, without scratching my baking dish. I've seen this done on cooking shows, but for some reason a lot of graham cracker crumbs crumbled off while I was cutting up the squares, so I'm not sure if the parchment paper prohibited the crust from setting or not.  Anyway, these are delicious, as I think you can imagine. 

Tomato Soup

Yay, I made homemade tomato soup!  It was very good, but so is Trader Joe's.  I love the roasted red pepper kind.  But this one is delicious and simple and comes with the added satisfaction that you made it.  I found inspiration from my friend over at Salt, Sour, Spicy, Sweet.  She had served some delicious tomato soup at our friend's bridal shower earlier this year and I've actually been wanting to make it since then (if you are entertaining with this soup, serving it in mugs works well).  Since fall has arrived and I'm trying to make healthier meals when I can I thought this was perfect.  I served it with warm, savory cheddar dill scones my father made and they really compliment the soup.  In fact, I can't imagine anything going better with the soup than the scones, they were delicious (yes, my mother still brings me food, a lot, and we happily accept it).  He followed this Barefoot Contessa recipe.  

Tomato Soup
1 15 oz can tomato puree
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
rosemary
salt, pepper
bay leaf
fresh basil or a spoon of pesto
2 tablespoons sour cream

Heat some olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a dutch oven.  Sautee onions, celery and carrots for a good 20 minutes or so, until softened.  Sprinkle a pinch of rosemary (I think I overdid the rosemary, so be careful with this herb), salt, pepper and toss in garlic.  Then add chicken broth and tomatoes (you could easily use 1 28 oz can of puree or crushed tomatoes), bay leaf.  Let simmer for a while.  Add some freshly chopped basil or a spoon of pesto if you want the flavor.  I then added two spoons of sour cream (you could also add cream).  I used a hand blender to puree some of the chunks up, but I left it quite chunky.  

Butternut Squash Risotto with Morels

This came out really well, and it was the first time I've roasted butternut squash.  I had wanted to add saffron, and I completely forgot.  Drat.  The morels were dried and I rehydrated them in the warm chicken broth that was added to the arborio rice.  This was my first time cooking with dried morels and the flavor is definitely muted when compared to fresh morels.  I think that may be the last and only time I buy the dried stuff and instead I'll stick to buying them locally when in season.  I served this with seared scallops which makes a great pairing (Chef Geoff's gave me the idea).  I made the risotto as I've made it before, sautee onion and garlic, add some fresh herbs (sage and thyme), add white wine, and then pour warm chicken broth and stir as the rice slowly cooks, then season.  I used 4 cups broth for 1 cup rice.  I chopped up the rehydrated morels, tossed them in, as well as the chopped up butternut squash.  I don't have a heavy duty peeler, so I roasted the squash with the skin, just cut it in half, removed the seeds and baked at 400 for about 40 minutes with salt, pepper and olive oil.  When it was tender I sliced off the skin and cubed it.  This really makes a great fall dish, but next time I'll skip the morels and remember to add saffron!

Fish Curry

It isn't much to look at, but it's silky and creamy and delicious.

Nearly all of my Indian/Pakistani food pictures get rejected from Tastespotting, and I joke with my husband that I think I am the victim of discrimination, but I suspect it may be because Indian/Pakistani food isn't all that photogenic.  I suppose it's because you have no idea what it is you are looking at until someone tells you what is in the dish.  I mean, is that fish curry, or butternut squash soup?  Anyway, this is a delicious dish, and you can make it thick enough to eat with naan, or thin it out and have it over basmati rice.  You can use any fish you like, orange roughy and tilapia works well.

1 lb fish (3 tilapia fillets)

turmeric

red chili powder

cumin

coriander

mustard seeds

curry leaves (you can find these fresh at any Indian grocery store)    

fresh green chilis, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 lemon

1/4 cup freshly chopped coriander

salt

The first step is to sear the fish, if you so desire.  It's an extra step that isn't essential.  I did it because my mother does it, but you could also simply allow the fish to cook in the curry as it simmers.  I sprinkled each filet with a few pinches of turmeric, red chili powder and salt.  Sear it for just a minute on each side in a pan with hot oil.  Remove the fish and cut into serving sizes.  In a medium, wide, pan heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium.  Toss in about a teaspoon of mustard seeds and about 8 curry leaves, torn.  Cover the pan and wait to hear everything pop.  Then add your spices in the middle of the pan, 1/2 spoon of turmeric, 2 spoons of ground coriander, 1 spoon of cumin, 1 spoon red chili powder. Allow the spices to mold together, roasting, as their oils are released.  When the spices have finished roasting, add your fresh chilis (as much as you want, with or without seeds), garlic and tomato paste.  Allow this to cook for a minute.  Then pour in coconut milk.  My mother prefers her curry thin, I like mine creamy and heavy on the coconut milk, so I poured in a little over 1/2 cup.  You want to thin it out with water so the coconut milk isn't overpowering.  I added about 1/2 cup of water.  Squeeze in juice from 1 lemon.  Slip fish into the curry, salt, simmer, and then toss in freshly chopped coriander.          

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (with walnuts)

Sometimes I get in the mood to bake. I have no idea why considering I'm terrible at it. No, I really am. I'm so bad at following recipes because I skim through the lines and get them jumbled in my head and pretend I'm intelligent enough that one glance is enough and then all of a sudden wouldn't you know it I added 1 cup of flour instead of 1/2. And there is no going back with baking, I stare down at the bowl, frozen, knowing it's thinking "oh geesh, this girl can't get anything right". I keep trying though, so I'll give myself some credit. I still had all these oats in my pantry from the last time I made oatmeal raisin cookies and I wanted to make some again, but I wanted to make them with chocolate this time. The semi disaster was for some reason I told myself one stick of butter was a cup, and when I was mixing in the flour I thought "my, this batter is dry oh no way I need TWO sticks of butter oh man but it needs to soften oh to heck with it I'll microwave it, beat and toss it in now". So that's what I did. They came out great. The cookies are really tasty, though I was envisioning a Potbelly cookie sweetness, but they aren't quite as sweet. Instead of using semi-sweet chocolate chips I may use sweeter milk chocolate chips next time - do those exist? Do people bake with anything other than semi sweet?

The recipe I followed (or, tried to) can be found here.

1 cup butter, softened (this means two sticks)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugars together until smooth, beat in eggs, then add vanilla.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt and stir into creamed mixture.  Mix in the oats, walnuts and chocolate chips.  Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

Braised Kale with Pasta

This was delicious, delicious!  I want to scream out the window "kale is delicious!!"  Who knew such hard core looking roughage could be so sweet, so tender, so savory and so satisfying.  I was completely inspired by the oh so lovely Molly Wizenberg (she's a mini celebrity among food bloggers).  Her column on kale in Bon Appetit's October issue totally enticed me and it was the recipe I had been waiting to make.  You can find the piece here.  She specifies the variety of kale but I'm a newbie to kale so I only know one kind - uh, the kind I found at the farmer's market.

Special thanks to my cousin in-law who gave me the idea to throw in some Italian turkey sausage - I just happened to have two sausages in the freezer and was wondering what on earth I was going to do with them.  I do think the sausage is optional as the kale is really the show stopper, for me at least.  I highly recommend braising some kale and tossing it with pasta, it was absolutely delicious and it's so pleasant to truly enjoy eating a mound of dark greens that are incredibly good for you.

1/2 lb thin spaghetti
1/2 white onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb kale leaves, washed, center ribs removed, loosely chopped
olive oil
salt, pepper to taste
juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan (use high quality parmigiano reggiano as considering it's one of only a few ingredients, it should taste great)
2 Italian turkey sausages (optional)

Heat some olive oil in a dutch oven, sautee onions, then toss in garlic.  Squeeze meat out of sausage casings and allow to brown, breaking up meat into small rounds.  Add kale (it will fill up an entire large pot but will drastically shrink).  Drizzle with some olive oil and stir, letting the leaves wilt.  Pour about 1/2 cup of water, cover and allow to cook down for about 20 minutes on medium low. Salt, pepper and add lemon juice. Toss in freshly grated parmesan. Boil pasta, throw in aldente spaghetti into the pot and toss with the kale, allowing to finish cooking (you may want to pour in a ladle of the pasta water).  Garish with parmesan when serving and a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.    

Asparagus and Spinach Pesto

I see pesto made all the time with things other than basil, but I had yet to try this myself. Asparagus was on sale and I decided I wanted to mix things up a bit, so I threw together this pesto with pasta, which turned out marvelously. This seems like a perfect way to get your kids to eat their vegetables because it doesn't have a strong taste of asparagus and everyone loves a big bowl of pasta (and you could use whole wheat pasta for an even healthier dish). The pesto comes out a bit nutty and really creamy, much more creamy than I had imagined (and need I remind you how healthy it is!). The pesto coats the pasta really well, turning each strand bright green, and unlike fresh basil pesto that turns a near brown when tossed with hot pasta, this retains its color. I served this with seared scallops but you could enjoy it by itself or with shrimp, chicken, anything really. I found inspiration through this recipe on epicurious and this talented food blogger (I followed her recipe almost exactly, I just skipped the parsley and spring onions).

1/2 lb thin spaghetti or linguini

1 lb green asparagus

a few handfuls of baby spinach

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

juice of half a lemon

salt, pepper, to taste

olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

Wash and trim the asparagus and cut into 1 inch pieces, cutting the tips together. Boil in salted water for a few minutes, strain and reserve some of the cooking water (you'll use a bit for the pesto, and I ended up leaving some in the pot, adding fresh water and then boiling the pasta in the light green water). In food processor, toss in garlic, pine nuts (you can leave a tablespoon aside to toss with pasta), lemon juice, spinach, salt, pepper and asparagus, keeping a handful of the tips aside. Pulse until combined, then pour in olive oil while smoothing out mixture. Add 1/4 cup or less of cooking water if the pesto is too thick. Spoon out pesto from food processor and fold in parmesan cheese. Boil pasta, drain nearly all of the water, keeping a tablespoon or so in the pot, fold in desired amount of pesto, toss in pine nuts and asparagus tips, serve with freshly grated parmesan.

Chopped Salad with Coconut and Peanuts

I made this salad/salsa last night and served it over some halibut. I adapted the recipe from a modern Indian cookbook I have titled Indian Food Made Easy. In hindsight, it would have made a fabulous fish taco. I was thinking that those shrimp tacos I had made would be really great with this chopped salad as the "salsa". The salad is also delicious on its own, give it a try!

I substituted a bell pepper for a tomato and I think the vinaigrette is optional, you could easily make a simple olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing for the salad, or have it without any dressing.

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 tbsp minced cucumber (use a persian or english)

1 green chili, seeded, chopped

1 tbsp minced red onion

1 handful cilantro leaves, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

2 tsp shredded coconut (can be found in the freezer section of an Indian or international grocery store)

3 tbsp salted peanuts, chopped

1/4 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

a few curry leaves

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Mix together bell pepper, cucumber, chili, cilantro, coconut, peanuts and ginger paste.

In small sauce pan heat the oil, add mustard seeds and once they pop, toss in torn curry leaves and remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and toss with salad.

My Husband's Homemade Chili

I absolutely love my husband's chili. When we met boiling pasta was about the extent of my culinary habits so throughout our courtship he was the one that blessed me with his amazing home cooking. His chili was always one of my favorites (he taught me to eat it the Cincinnati style: over pasta) and this past Sunday I specially requested it because it's fall, it's football season and chili sounded like a darn good idea. It was and I'll share with you his recipe.

2 lbs ground meat (beef or combo of beef and veal or beef and pork)

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup chili powder mixture (combination of equal parts cumin and paprika, 1/2 that amount of chili powder and cayenne, garlic powder, salt, black pepper)

1 large can tomato paste

2 cans beans, rinsed (dark and red kidney beans)

1 cup beef broth

1/2 bottle of beer

1 tsp cocoa powder

Saute onions until translucent and then add garlic. Add meat and brown, then add chili mixture and let cook for a few minutes. Toss in 1 or 2 bay leaves and then 1 large can tomato paste. Add beans, let cook, then add beef broth. Finally, add beer and cocoa powder. Let cook for at least 2 hours. Serve over thin linguini, cover with shredded cheese, sour cream and freshly chopped cilantro, green chilis to taste. This recipe makes an obscene amount of chili so you could easily cut back to 1 lb of meat and adjust your seasonings.

Easy Orzo Salad

This is my go-to salad to make when we host brunch and it's always a crowd pleaser. It's ridiculously easy and really, really good. It's simply orzo pasta, drained and at room temperature, tossed with handfuls of fresh baby arugula, pesto and a handful of toasted pine nuts. You season with salt, pepper and olive oil to taste. You could also shred some fresh parmesan over top. If I have homemade pesto I'll use that but I also use store-bought with this salad and it still tastes great.