Luffa, Snake Beans, Baby Bok Choy

When D brought home Cee Gwa or Chinese Sponge Gourd from the Asian store nearby, I was excited about pairing it with some other favorites and cooking it.

Luffa aka Cee Gwa is much like Ridge Gourd except with no ridged skin, but just smooth greenish skin that can be bitter, and spongy insides which cook up fast.

Snake beans or Long Green Beans has been a favorite since childhood when my mom used to make paruppusili with it.

Some fresh green baby Bok Choy, Luffa, and Snake Beans came together for this simple dish, served with rice.

Ingredients
1 large Luffa/Cee Gwa, skinned and cut into chunks on a bias
20 or so Long Green Beans (more if preferred), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
a few heads of baby bok choy, cleaned and leaves separated
green bell pepper (optional)
a few cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp grated ginger

1 Tbsp Sesame oil
1 Tbsp Mongolian Hot Chili Oil
Salt to taste
Black pepper

Preparation

1. Heat the Sesame oil in a pan or wok, add the garlic and ginger, add the long green beans, some water or stock and salt, cover and simmer till beans are almost cooked
2. Add the Luffa and Baby Bok Choy, Chili oil, a few turns of black pepper from the pepper mill and allow to cook till Luffa turns translucent (which only takes a few minutes)
3. Adjust flavors and serve warm with jasmine or basmati rice

Home-garden Zucchini Bread

It seems like among the annual staples, peas, green beans, eggplant, spinach, lettuce, chards, tomatoes, chilies, zucchini and various kinds of assorted summer and winter squashes have been the most successful in terms of minimal effort with maximum yield in our home garden.

Raised beds would be nice to have as it gives better control over the soil and growing conditions, and requires very little maintenance once established. Many of my friends here have raised beds and successfully manage perennials like blueberries and raspberries in them as easily as radishes and arugula and garlic.

As it happens we just use native soil in its own condition and battle with the vagaries of nature each year. I think the main reason for this has been just my laziness to get down and build the raised beds. Maybe next year...

We've had huge zucchinis from the garden so far. After the usual zucchini recipes like soups, fritters and curries, there was still plenty to make zucchini breads, many loaves of them.

As I look back at my early recipes, it seems like the photographs were so terrible. I always tell myself I should take a fresh picture when I make that recipe next and update it, but, end up forgetting and moving on to the latest recipe I am excited about sharing. And, at times, I forget to add a little extra item in the photograph to give a perspective - to indicate the size more intuitively. A cropped close-up of a 2-inch chilli is probably not going to tell much about its actual size.

I like these types of breads not-too-sweet, but still moist, almost cake-like. In that sense, this Zucchini Bread is not very different from Banana Blueberry Bread, Apple Walnut Bread and Lemon Fruit Bread shared here before.

Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
2 cups fresh grated Zucchini
1½ cups brown sugar (a little more if preferred)
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla essence
1 Tbsp lemon juice (optional)

Dry ingredients:
3 cups flour (more or less)
1 tsp sat
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup dried cranberries (optional)

Prepration

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325°F
2. Grease two 9x5x2½ inch loaf pans and keep handy
3. Sift the flout and rest of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
4. Combine the wet ingredients in another bow, beat the eggs well
5. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients till well incorporated, no lumps
6. Pour up to about an inch in each of the loaf pans and bake in 325°F oven for about 35-45 minutes
7. Check mid-way and rotate pans, bake till toothpick inserted comes out clean
8. Remove from oven, allow to cool a bit, gently dislodge it from the loaf pans, slice and enjoy!

Hong Kong Bitter Melon Stuffed and Braised

Now that we've found an Asian market that sells Hong Kong Bitter Melon on and off, I've been favoring them to the usual Fu Gwa and Indian Bittergourd. Its milder flavor and thick flesh makes it more versatile than its other two cousins in my book.

The Braised and Stuffed Bitter Melon recipe here is based on the popular Chinese version which uses minced pork for stuffing. I went with a vegetarian stuffing of fragrant Jasmine rice cooked with rich flavors coming from onions, garlic, chilies, tamarind, mint, with a hint of brown sugar.

Ingredients
2 Hong Kong Bitter Melons, cleaned and cut as before into 2-inch rings

3 to 4 cups Tamarind Sauce as shared in the Hong Kong Bitter Melon 65 recipe

2 Tbsp canola oil

For the Stuffing:
2 cups cooked Jasmine rice
1 medium onion finely diced
4-6 cloves of garlic minced
3-6 mint leaves finely chopped
1 Tbsp brown sugar (optional)
½ cup rich Tamarind Sauce
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Stuffing: heat the oil in a pan, sauté the onions and garlic, add the chopped mint, cooked rice, some salt, about ½ cup water and the tamarind sauce; allow to simmer together at medium-low heat, stirring frequently; The rice gets gooey and thick, light brownish anf flavorful; taste and adjust salt; add a hint brown sugar if preferred
2. Bitter Melon: Blanch the 2-inch rings of cleaned bitter melon, pat dry and keep handy for stuffing
3. Stuffing and Braising: Heat oil in a pan; fill each blanched bitter melon ring with the stuffing; place it in the hot pan; sear the bottom and allow to sit for a few minutes; add a little of the tamarind sauce, cover, allow to cook at low heat; when most of the tamarind sauce is gone, add a little more, cover and continue cooking; repeat till bitter melon is softer but not mushy and still holds shape when lifted out of the pan
4. Serving: Arrange them in a plate, spoon some of the Tamarind sauce over and serve warm or cold

Marion berry + Black berry Pie

After freezing most of the berries we picked recently, there was just enough Marion berries and Black berries for a week-long celebration of fresh berry smoothies, short-breads and pies.

The pie crust is the standard Double-Crust Pie pastry I've used before. The filling is simple as well. It turned out pretty delicious, needless to say. It is hard to go wrong with fresh berry pies.

With a scoop of Double Vanilla Ice Cream, the fresh warm pie just felt like heaven.

Ingredients
Double-Crust Pie pastry
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening/butter
6-7 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
1 cup sugar
½ all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups fresh Marion + Black berries

Preparation

1. Double-Crust Pie Pastry: Mix together flour and salt; cut in the shortening; sprinkle a Tbsp of water at a time, toss with fork, push aside and add another Tbsp and so on till all the flour is moistened; form the dough into 2 balls; roll one ball into a 12-inch flat circle; do not overwork the dough; save the other ball for the top crust
2. Place the rolled out pastry on a pie plate carefully, without stretching, allow to fall over the edge and trim around the edge
3. Filling: Combine the sugar, flour and salt; toss the fresh berries in. Pour the filling into the pastry-lined pie plate
4. Top Crust: Roll out the second ball of dough and drape it on as the top crust; brush top of pastry with some milk and sprinkle with sugar; flute the edges - i.e., pinch them into a zig-zag shape, or simply press down with tines of fork like for single-crust banana cream pie
5. Bake in 375°F oven for about 25 to 30 minutes till golden

Hong Kong Bitter Melon Gourd 65

Studies over the years record the anti-diabetic and other wonderful properties of bitter gourd/bitter melon (Momordica charantia) and yet it remains one of the not-so-easily-incorporated foods in daily diet. Possibly its strong bitter taste and lack of versatility are the reasons, along with not-easily-available.

So far I've primarily cooked with two varieties of bitter gourd/bitter melon - the dark skinned, pronouncedly ridged, smaller Indian variety, and the larger, lighter green, smoother-skinned Chinese Fu Gwa. They each have their distinct taste and lend themselves to many dishes that I have shared here.

This time, a third variety - Hong Kong Bitter Melon - was available at the nearby Asian market, inspiring me to cook it in a not-before-cooked way - at least not-before-cooked in my kitchen.

Hong Kong Bitter Melon has beautiful light green skin, smooth with gentle ridges, thick flesh and very mild bitter flavor. Which makes it more versatile in my book.

Inspired by the Cauliflower 65 recipe shared a while back, this Hong Kong Bitter Melon 65 recipe turned out to be a delicious new way to enjoy the benefits of this fruit.

The general theory is that 'Anything tastes good when battered and deep-fried'. And, while I am not much for deep-fried foods, the light non-greasy batter-coated fried Hong Kong Bitter Melon 65 turned out to be quite a snack treat one weekend afternoon. Especially when served with the sweet-and-sour Tamarind Sauce.

Ingredients
2 Hong Kong Bitter Melon
1 tsp red chili powder
a few drops of red food color (optional)
1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 cups rice flour
salt to taste

Canola or vegetable oil for deep frying

For the Tamarind Sauce:
1 tsp Tamicon™ tamarind paste
2 Tbsp brown sugar
salt to taste
optional: finely diced home-garden pearl onions and onion sprouts, home-garden green chilies
5 cups of water

Preparation

1. Tamarind Sauce: Combine the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, lower heat to medium high and continue to simmer till sauce reduces to about 1 cup; it takes quite a long time to get the most delicious flavor and texture for it so I prefer to start cooking the sauce first; taste and adjust flavors for the sweet-sour balance
2. Hong Kong Bitter Melon: Remove the spongy insides of the bitter melon, slice into rings, salt it an allow to sweat; then drain, pat dry and dust lightly with some rice flour and set aside
3. Heat the oil in a pan for deep frying
4. Batter: Combine the ginger-garlic paste, rice four, salt, chilli powder, food color if using, and any other preferred spices, add a little water at a time to make a smooth batter
5. Dunk the bitter melon rings in the batter and deep fry
6. Serve hot off the frying pan with the richly flavored Tamarind Sauce

Home-Garden Summer Squash, Chards, and Pearl Onions Curry

It would be nice if I had the help of a gardener, somebody who knows what they are doing when it comes to growing plants. As it happens, I am an urban farmer at heart with nothing other than passion to support this fantasy. I lack the stamina or the knowledge to sustain vegetable gardening, even if the weather permits. Which it doesn't where I live. So, I make the most of the few months from April to September, knowing that a greenhouse is out of my limits for now.

Thanks to wonderful nurseries around town (one just around the corner from my house), I do get to plant some favorite vegetables and watch them grow. If harvesting the weed-like oregano and mint and fennel and rosemary and lavender from the garden gives me pleasure, it makes me ecstatic to get the squashes and green beans and eggplants and chards and lettuce and onions from the home garden.

Over the years, many simple and surprising recipes have come out of the home-garden harvest. I cannot imagine life without composting. Kids, thanks to support from their school, are well aware of organic waste and remember to dispose of it in the compost bin in the kitchen, which dutifully gets emptied into the Earth Machine in the backyard.

A big question I was asked when I was a newbie home gardener was whether it was worth it? It is hard to answer that question. Obviously depends on what we mean by "worth it". The effort vs. the cost is probably the topmost factor people like to weigh. And, home gardening is a lot of work, especially if doing it yourself.

Over the years, considering what it has offered in terms of intangible lessons and returns, I'd emphatically say it is well worth it. Knowing how plants grow, where our food comes from, how to care for the earth - composting, recycling - plant diseases, interdependence of nature's creatures, soil nutrition, harvesting, bugs and their role in the garden are at some level hands-on for the kids, allowing me to learn a lot in the process.

We still have to buy vegetables from the markets as we are not entirely sustained by our garden and we do visit the local farms for fresh produce on and off, so it is not like we are self-sufficient with a teeny patch of backyard garden.

I am rambling... back to the recipe. It came about as I went into the garden one evening and noticed the few vegetables that were more than ready to be harvested - summer squash, about 3 dozen little pearl onions and several large leaves of chards.

Mint, fennel and rosemary fresh from the garden gave the herbal base for this recipe. Some store-bought Rogan Josh Curry paste and Kashmiri Masala Paste gave the rich, spicy sauce base for the curry. Serve with brown rice, roti or naan.

Simply simmer together till vegetables are just cooked, adjust flavors to taste. Serve warm.

Easy Breaded Pan-fried Chicken Breasts

So, what's special about chicken breasts, right? Marinate, then pan-cook or oven-bake or deep-fry, breaded or plain, serve with a salad and a possibly some sort of bread/starch and there you have it - a simple well-rounded delicious meal.

This recipe was inspired by a recent grocery shopping trip when I casually (and quickly) browse the packaging for meal ideas. Some old non-crispy crackers and unfrosted shredded wheat cereal came together for the breading.

The sauce is optional. Kids don't care for it. Just some rosemary and oregano leaves from the garden ground up with tomatoes, basil and garlic, cooked down to reduce a bit so the flavors meld.

And, the garden lettuce was ready to be harvested, with hopefully plenty more to come for the rest of the summer. We had gone berry-picking, our usual summer favorite. Marion berries are my favorite, next only to raspberries and blackberries. So I had picked some, while kids and D were picking blueberries and raspberries. The thorns are nasty so nobody else wanted to pick the Marion berries with me...

That's how this simple salad came about - just home garden lettuce with some ripe juicy Marion berries and almonds with a simple lemon juice and olive oil vinaigrette.

Ingredients
2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced up if too thick
1 cup unfrosted shredded wheat cereal
1 cup cheddar-flavored crackers
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
2 to 3 Tbsp Olive oil

marinade: red wine vinegar, soy sauce, Patak's™ Kashmiri masala paste(optional)

Preparation

1. Marinate the ½ inch thick chicken breasts in enough marinade for about 2 or 3 hrs. If making on a weekend, I marinate right after brunch/lunch to cook it for dinner (refrigerate on warm days)
2. Grind the shredded wheat cereal and crackers to breadcrumbs texture, keep handy
3. Heat the oil in a pan, coat each chicken breast piece with the breading mixture, arrange on the pan, allow to cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or so till the crust is formed
4. Flip and cook the other side, adding more oil if needed
5. Check to see that the chicken is cooked through (I am happy if internal temperature is 170°F off the pan)