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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Stuffed Whole Fried Baby Indian Bittergourd

Stuffed Whole Fried Baby Indian Bittergourd delectable victuals vegetarian sweet-sour spicy


Bittergourd is usually an acquired taste. I wasn't particularly fond of it when I was young, but, over the years, having tried it in several different cooked forms, I like it enough now to make it part of my regular diet.

I prefer the Chinese bittermelon Fu-gwa to the Indian bittergourd as it is cooks faster - especially the light green waxy kind I can find easily at the local Asian stores. But, certain dishes are best with the Indian bittergourd - like this fried baby bittergourd recipe. The flavors are absorbed better in the Indian bitter gourd, especially the tamarind.

Bittergourd sambar, bittergourd pitlay, bittergourd curry are a few easy ways in which I relish this vegetable, and Chinese bittermelon is a good substitute in these dishes.

Every once in a while, if I manage to find tender, young Indian bittergourd, I like to cook it up as in this recipe, and serve it as an appetizer, snack or side.

The recipe is very simple: slit them, salt the insides and outsides, leave it on a paper towel for about 15-20 minutes to release the bitter juices and then pat dry; stuff it with favorite spice mix; deep fry; serve with favorite chutney.

Alternately, instead of deep frying,  pan-fry in a cast iron skillet, covered. To ensure that bittergourd is cooked through, I usually par-cook in the microwave before pan-frying in the cast iron skillet. If the slit is too open, tie a piece of string across to hold the stuffing in while cooking; remove the string before serving.



Stuffed Whole Fried Baby Indian Bittergourd delectable victuals vegetarian sweet-sour spicy


Baby Indian bittergourd usually doesn't have a lot of seeds, and the innards are spongy and soft. They are usually about 4 inches long. It takes a bit of trial and error to figure out how to buy the best tender baby bittergourd.

The masala paste I used for this recipe is very simple - just a blend of tamarind-date chutney, brown sugar, cumin powder and coriander powder, chilli powder and a pinch of salt. But, any other favorite stuffing like mashed potatoes, or potatoes and peas or any other flavoring spices can be used.

Keep the stuffed bitter gourd fairly dry before deep frying to avoid explosions - I usually just pat dry with paper towel, wipe off any excess masala paste, and use a splatter-proof lid while deep frying. Also, tie with twine if the stuffing makes the bitter gourds not close up tight again.

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Friday, December 14, 2007

L'Escalade

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A few days ago, D decided that we should celebrate L'Escalade. Just like that. And it gave me an excuse to make these adorable marzipan vegetables, while D made the chocolate pot which will hold these vegetables until we sit together and break the pot!
L'Escalade, or Fête de l'Escalade (from escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls) is an annual festival held in December in Geneva, Switzerland, celebrating the defeat of the surprise attack by troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy during the night of 11–12 December 1602. The celebrations and other commemorative activities are usually held on 11 December or the closest weekend.

Celebrations include a large marmite (cauldron) made of chocolate filled with marzipan vegetables and candies wrapped in the Geneva colours of red and gold. It's customary for the eldest and youngest in the room to smash the marmite, while reciting, "Ainsi périssent les ennemis de la République! " (Thus perish the enemies of the Republic).
-- Wikipedia

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Recipe is simple: either use almond paste with sugar, or premade marzipan, with appropriate added food colors to make the "vegetables" - we made some eggplant, corn, radish, peas, even some bitter gourds and snake gourds, some tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers, turnips and such - just let the imagination and creativity flow :)

D used dark chocolate to make the chocolate pot. There are a few methods on the web - like using an inflated balloon, or even using a chocolate mold... But I think he just lined a plastic container we have with layers of plastic wrap, and then brushed the inside with melted, tempered chocolate, using a clean pastry brush. When it cools, lift the bowl out by the plastic wrap that extended over the lid of the bowl. I think he allowed it to set in the freezer after cooling a bit at room temperature.

The pot was not a masterpiece, it did develop cracks and needed special handling, but, it held up well, with good structural integrity till D and Ana broke it on purpose while reciting, "Ainsi périssent les ennemis de la République!". Of course, Ana just squealed "sweet vejj-abus", "sweet eggplant" while D said the actual words and I fiddled with the camera to capture it in video.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

rosemary potato bread

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I have some starter that I have been feeding and using over a few months now. I wanted to make a simple rosemary potato loaf. The rosemary in our garden is still fine and thriving and so I decided the make this rosemary potato bread using a recipe I found at recipezaar.

Ingredients:
as listed in the recipezaar recipe, except:
instead of melted butter, I used canola oil
and about 4-6 Tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary

The dough does need to be left alone to rise overnight, per the recipe. And, spraying with water every 15 minutes while baking just like the recipe says was quite a bit of fun and I think it also gave a nice crust.

Toasting a few slices with some herbed garlic butter made this a good accompaniment to a simple pasta meal. And, it was great with soups as well... plus the bread made a good earthy bruschetta snack.

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Sunday, December 09, 2007

green beans and marinated goat cheese salad

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Green beans with goat cheese is a favorite with D and me. We don't have it too often, though. And usually, it is a filling meal by itself, depending on portion size. Sometimes, I like to serve a soup or sandwich along to round out the meal.

Any favorite marinade for the goat cheese would work. This time I used whatever was handy at home. Goat cheese doesn't have to marinate for long - just as long as it takes to get the beans ready - start marinating the goat cheese before getting the green beans ready.

I used frozen petite green beans for this recipe as we usually have it handy year-round. Ever since Ana started solids, we always have a large bag of frozen green beans and peas handy in the freezer. Ana seems to like steamed or sautéed peas and green beans, and of course corn.

Ingredients
2-3 handfuls frozen whole green beans
½ medium onion sliced thin (optional)
4-5 oz goat cheese
some chopped walnuts
some dried cranberries
1 tsp olive oil

marinade for goat cheese:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
½ tsp coarse salt (adjust to taste)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp dried marjoram or parsley
vinaigrette for green beans:
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
some salt and any dried herbs handy


Preparation
  1. marinate the goat cheese, slice it first if preferred
  2. heat olive oil in a pan, sauté the onions with a pinch of salt till almost caramelized
  3. add the green beans and a tiny pinch of salt and sauté till beans are tender
  4. off heat, allow the green beans to cool a little and drizzle some vinaigrette
  5. top with sliced or crumbled goat cheese, walnuts and cranberries
  6. serve at room temperature


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Monday, December 03, 2007

Pumpkin Risotto

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I have been making my usual favorites like rasam, wholewheat pasta, injera, dosai, idlee and such but nothing new and exciting as Baby and I are just recovering from some sort of viral influenza thing... So, I casually started sifting through some old photos that I might have missed posting and found this pumpkin risotto one.

Risotto is a versatile rice dish open to variations - almost any combination of vegetables would work. This here is not quite the pumpkin risotto - Asian sweet potatoes and acorn squash stood in for pumpkin in this recipe.

Unless I use seafood/poultry explicitly (we don't care for red meat), my usual recipes are primarily vegetarian, and many of them actually turn out to be vegan. In that sense this pumpkin risotto can be classified as vegan, I guess...

For a non-vegan version, add some grated parmesan or pecorino-romano cheese, if preferred.

Ingredients
2 cups arboreo rice
6 cups vegetable stock (low sodium)
1 medium onion diced
4-5 garlic cloves crushed, minced or sliced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 medium acorn (or butternut) squash, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 medium Asian sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
salt to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil

spices/herbs:

2 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (reserve some for garnish)
2 Tbsp ground black pepper or cayenne pepper powder
1 Tbsp paprika powder
1 tsp nutmeg powder

Preparation
  1. heat oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic and ginger, sauté till onions turn translucent
  2. add the squash and sweet potato chunks, rice, stock, some salt, cook over medium heat till all water is absorbed, stirring occasionally
  3. i like the creamy consistency - not too thick, sort of like porridge - so, i smash some of the squash and sweet potatoes into the rice to give it some body
  4. adjust salt to taste, stir in the spices and herbs


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