pan pizza

The other adult likes to to throw a BYOP - Build Your Own Pizza - party where we have the dough ready - stretched to about 5-inch circle, 2 or 3 different sauces, many different toppings... and a really sizzling grill. Assemble as you please and he will throw it in the grill and cook it for you!

Pizza is a favorite at home, especially because we don't have it every day. None of the store pizzas really manage to satisfy us as the home-made ones - Boboli® crust seems to come close, but only if we are in a real rush... and even then we like to make our own sauce and add toppings.

My favorite is the Neopolitan pizza dough that came with one of my Italian recipes book. But, every once in a while, I like to use the recipe that came with the bread machine - with some modification, of course. I simply throw the ingredients together in the bread machine, set to dough-only cycle, and when it beeps, the dough is ready to be stretched, sauced, topped and baked.

Now the sauce varies depending on the mood and ingredients handy (so what's new, right?). Sometimes it is pesto, sometimes it is garlic sauce, but, usually tomato sauce.

What I like about this recipe is that the cast-iron skillet makes the crust really tasty - crisp on the outside, soft, fluffy and chewy on the inside. Also, the gluten gives the texture we like so much... of course, this recipe is not for all - especially people who are restricted to gluten-free diets - in which case, simply substitute gluten with the flour of your choice.

Ingredients:
for the dough:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup water
½ cup vital wheat gluten
2 cups flour (I like a mixture of unbleached all-purpose and wheat flours)
2½ tsp rapid rise dry yeast
optional: stir in some grated Parmesan and dry herbs

for the tomato sauce:
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp dry oregano leaves
1 tsp dry marjoram leaves
1 tsp dry basil leaves
2 garlic cloves minced
salt to taste
(or, any other favorite herbs and spices)

for the toppings:
sun dried tomatoes, capers, pineapple, pickled jalapeño rings, pepperoncini, artichoke hearts, olives - anything is fine - maybe some soy sausage chunks, some spinach, feta, mozarella or even brie...

Preparation

Combine the ingredients in the bread machine and follow directions to set it to dough-only cycle.

Heat oven or grill to 400°F; grease one or two cast-iron skillet(s) and keep handy

combine the sauce ingredients with a little water at a time and simmer over medium-low till desired thick consistency

when dough is ready divide it into two portions - freeze one portion for later use, or, if two cast-iron skillets are handy simply stretch the dough into the skillet and leave it to rest for about 15 minutes

spread some sauce, add your favorite toppings; I prefer very little cheese so I just add a little crumbled feta, or little chunks of mozarella or brie that just melts and "seals" the toppings

bake in 400° oven/grill for about 20 mins, check about 15 minutes in

Stuffed Baby Eggplant

Eggplant, Brinjal, Aubergine, Vazhuthananga, Kathrikkai... whatever name it goes by, it has been one of my favorites since childhood.

I think a number of recipes I have collected here feature eggplant as the primary ingredient - be it Japanese, Malaysian, Indian or Italian recipes :-)

Original eggplants were white and about the size of a hen-egg apparently, hence the name... Then hybrids started defaulting to deep purple as they don't look as bad as the white ones when bruised ;-)

The lovely purple flowers the plant puts out early in the season in our garden is a sight to behold. And, as many would know by now, eggplant is a fruit, a berry in fact.

While calliopes, ichiban, black beauty and a few other varieties are just as good, my favorite has been what are called "baby eggplants" - what I call Indian eggplant or brinjal - that are a gorgeous purple, with smooth tender flesh, not too many seeds, about the size of a large hen-egg.

The best way to enjoy these "baby" eggplants in my opinion is to slit and stuff them with favorite spices and pan cook them as in this recipe :-)

And this is my post for JFI's Eggplant event hosted by Sangeeta at Ghar ka Khana

Ingredients
8-10 baby/Indian eggplant
3-4 Tbsp oil

for the stuffing:
4 Tbsp dry grated coconut
3 Tbsp chana dal
2 Tbsp urad dal
1-2 dry red chilies
1 Tbsp brown sugar
salt to taste

plus, 4-6 tbsp tamarind concentrate/juice


Tempering: 1 tsp coconut oil or canola oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp urad dal, 1 tsp chana dal, 2 Tbsp dry grated coconut

Preparation

tempering: heat oil in a pan, when shimmering add the chana dal, when it turns golden brown add the urad dal, when it turns golden brown add the mustard seeds, and when they pop add the cumin seeds and dry grated coconut; sauté till coconut turns golden brown; turn off heat and keep handy for garnish

stuffing: dry roast the stuffing ingredients, then coarsely grind them to powdery consistency, then add a little tamarind concentrate at at time to make a thick paste

slit the eggplants in quarters, taking care not to cut all the way to the stem - leave them attached at the stem

stuff each eggplant with the prepared stuffing, taking care not to break them apart

heat oil in a pan, place the stuffed eggplants gently on the pan, add any remaining stuffing, sprinkle a dash of salt and a tablespoon or two of water (not too much), cover and cook on medium low till eggplant is cooked and the skin develops a slight crispness, turning once or twice to get the skin crisped all over

take care not to break the eggplant, try to keep them whole when handling :-)

Garnish with the tempering and serve warm with rice or roti.

Vazhakkai Mezhukku Varatti

Vazhakkai is the Tamil word for Plantain. Green unripe plantain is something I grew up with - it was pretty much year round item and very common in Palakkad (Palghat) cuisine. It is usually cooked as a vegetable in mor-kozhambu and south Indian style curries.

One of my favorite curries is mezhukku varatti or upperi that my mom makes with plantain. The others include vazhakkai podimas (which is streamed and grated with coconut), vazhakkai pulikari (with tamarind), and as a prominent ingredient in avial (vegetable medley).

This recipe here is an adaptation of the mezhukku varatti and pulikari.

The specialty about this recipe that gives the texture i like is powdered par-boiled rice that has been lightly toasted first before powdering. And of course, the tang from the tamarind. Plus, I like to add coarse crumbled toasted peanuts, and some dry grated coconut...

Ingredients:
2 plantains
2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate (adjust to taste)
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp dry grated coconut
3 Tbsp coarsely ground toasted peanuts
2 Tbsp par-boiled rice (or jasmine rice), dry toasted and coarsely ground
water as needed
salt to taste

Tempering: 1 tsp coconut oil or canola oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp urad dal, 1 tsp chana dal, 4-6 curry leaves (optional)

Preparation:

peel the plantain with a vegetable peeler, and dice it; keep it in a bowl of water till ready to throw in the pan for cooking

mix the coarsely ground dry roasted rice, dry grated coconut and coarsely ground toasted peanuts and keep handy

tempering: heat oil in a pan, when shimmering add the chana dal, when it turns golden brown add the urad dal, when it turns golden brown add the mustard seeds, and when they pop add the cumin seeds and curry leaves

then add the plantain some salt, turmeric, chili powder, tamarind concentrate, brown sugar, some water, stir well, cover and cook till plantain is tender and cooked; adjust flavors to taste

stir in the rice+peanuts+coconut powder mix and stir it in; the cool thing about this is it absorbs any extra water and makes the dish come together with a wonderful texture - not too dry, not too runny

I had some spring onions in the garden that I used for garnish, but, curry leaves, or cilantro leaves or even sliced green chilies is a good garnish for this recipe.

Serve warm with rice and rasam or sambar. I like it better with hot rotis :-)

This Vazhakkai mezhukku varatti style recipe is my 'V' dish for lovely Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables event.

penne with fennel and chives

Fennel seeds were an integral part of my mom's cooking when I was growing up. We had toasted fennel seeds mixed with little "rice" candy after a sumptuous and spicy meal to act a a digestive aid and a breath freshener. Even these days, I chew a spoonful of lightly toasted fennel seeds after meals, and have gotten D hooked on it as well.

And Fennel is my post for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Astrid from Paulchen's Food Blog.

Fennel in my garden

Fennel has a very subtle, distinct aroma and flavor - close to licorice and aniseed - that goes well in Indian cuisine. Common Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare) plant resembles Dill - with spiky-thin yet soft and feathery leaves. Almost all parts of the perennial fennel plant are edible - including the leaves, the stalks, the seeds.

It is easy to grow in kitchen/herb garden where there is plenty of sun and once established they are quite sturdy; and being perennial, they come back each year to cast their magical spell :-)

Fennel leaves can be used in bouquet garnis, in salads, minced and infused in aromatic cooking oils, chopped up stirred into salad dressings and vinaigrettes, or even made into herbal tea. I have used weak tea made with dry fennel seeds or fresh fennel leaves as a digestive tonic for my baby anytime it feels like she might be having a tummy issue like gas or indigestion.

The simple pasta recipe here uses fresh fennel leaves and chive flowers as seasoning.

Ingredients:
whole wheat penne pasta, cooked per package directions, rinsed and drained
spring onions, sliced into 2-inch pieces
steamed broccoli florets
pepperoncini, sliced (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup finely chopped fennel leaves
1 garlic clove finely minced
2 Tbsp finely chopped chives
3-4 chive fresh flowers, if handy
1 Tbsp sweet paprika
salt to taste
optional: toasted pine nuts for garnish

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the fennel leaves, garlic and chives, sauté till aromatic; add the rest of the ingredients, stir well, adjust flavors to taste.

Serve cool or at room temperature garnished with fennel leaves and chive flowers.

spicy corn griddle cakes

Weekends are great as D, Baby and I sit together and have breakfast in a leisurely way, usually warm and fresh breakfast (as opposed to dry fruits and toasted oats cereal in cold milk).

These corn griddle cakes can be spiced up, or served mellow. They feel wholesome, savory and more filling than pancakes somehow.

And, spicy corn griddle cakes recipe is my post for June's Weekend Breakfast Blogging (WBB#12), started by lovely and famous Nadita of SaffronTrail, and hosted graciously this month by Trupti at one of my usual blog-stops: The Spice Who Loved Me. The theme is Spice It Up! and that's exactly what the spice-mix-1 does to this recipe.



Ingredients:
for the batter:
1 small can creamed corn
1 cup cake* flour (or all-purpose flour)
½ cup corn masa flour
¼ cup fine cornmeal
½ cup finely diced onions
½ tsp baking soda
1½ cup buttermilk
1-2 generous Tbsp of spice-mix-1
salt to taste
*cake flour is soft wheat flour that gives a fluffy texture; can substitute 1 cup of cake flour with 3/4cup all-purpose flour + 2 Tbsp cornstarch

for salsa fresca:
1 tomato, finely diced
½ onion finely diced
a few sprigs offresh cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp spice-mix-1
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste

for spice-mix-1: (make ahead and save for later use)
1 Tbsp dry red chili powder
1 Tbsp celery seeds
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp dry minced onions

Preparation

combine the salsa fresca ingredients and stir well, keep aside to develop flavors

combine the dry batter ingredients, add a little buttermilk at a time, stirring gently to break down lumps; the batter consistency is just like pancake batter; make the batter right before ready to cook

in a griddle or pan spoon just enough batter to make about 3-inch-diameter "cakes" that are about ½-inch thick or maybe thinner; flip and cook both sides just like pancakes or dosai

Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve hot off the griddle with the salsa fresca, or your favorite chutney.

Chocolate-bran cupcake with cream cheese frosting

What's Father's Day without pampering the Dad-in-the-house with some pastries, right?

So, I baked a batch of cupcakes inspired by a recipe from the Cupcakes book by Susanna Tee. As usual, I didn't follow the recipe closely and threw in some of my favorite ingredients in an attempt to make it "healthy" and it turned out quite surprisingly good.

I made a batch of mini muffins for the wee one and myself, and a smaller batch of regular-size muffins for the Dad.

D sort of protests when I bake anything with sugar and butter in it: he does love them so, and thinks if he kicks up a fuss none of the fat calories will stick to him ;-)

Ingredients:
for cupcake:
6 Tbsp softened butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 Tbsp evaporated milk
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup wheat bran
2 Tbsp Hershey's Special Dark™ Cocoa powder
2 Tbsp Chocolate Ovaltine®

for frosting:
½ cup light cream cheese
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp cinnamon powder

Preparation

heat the oven to 400°F; either grease the muffin tins or place paper baking cases; I greased the mini muffin pan, and put baking cases in the regular muffin pan

combine all the cupcake ingredients in a bowl and beat till light and fluffy

spoon into muffin pans and bake in 400°F oven for about 15-20 mins, or until well risen and springy to the touch - insert a toothpick when in doubt - it should come out clean

allow to cool on a rack and get the frosting ready; simply beat the frosting ingredients together; keep chilled till ready to frost; if not serving the cupcake right away, chill in the fridge

Grilled Vegetables

Roasted or grilled vegetables, especially if they have been marinated in some yummy marinade first, is quite a treat, don't you think? Fresh from the oven or grill, slightly charred or smoky depending on how the vegetables were treated, just a touch of fresh herbs and olive oil...

D offered to make a meal as I had a nasty migraine and my work week was horribly stressful. So, I naturally felt obligated to chop up the vegetables and marinate them :-)

I know, I agree, it is odd that rather than resting and awaiting the meal to be served, I *had* to get it "ready" first...

Now, ordinarily, D is fully capable of chopping, marinating and grilling the vegetables all by himself. But, when he throws a trap like, "Oh, your marinade is very good and you get them all neat and pretty", I fall for it completely and end up doing all the "prep" work. Despite the nasty headache...

Anyway, I guess it was worth it as the vegetables turned out just perfect and we had a nice meal... and my headache? well, it lingered overnight and reluctantly left me the next day.

Marinade is simple this time: some kecap manis (or soy sauce + brown sugar), Tabasco® sauce (or chili powder), coriander powder, canola oil - adjust to taste. (alternately, just throw together your favorite herbs and spices for the marinade).

Vegetables: this time we had asparagus handy, plus bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant.

I prefer to par cook the vegetables before marinating, so they don't take too long to cook up on the grill.

Marinate for about 30 minutes while the grill is getting hot. Throw them in the grill basket, in batches if preferred, at high heat and let them char a bit... the brown sugar helps carmelize.

Calzones

Call it folded pizza, call it savory turnover, either way, calzones are a wonderful and filling meal-to-go. I like making a few and freezing them for easy and quick lunches. They taste best when they are fresh out of the oven, though.

The filling usually depends on my mood and things that are handy. Almost always I stuff it with some part-skim mozarella or ricotta, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, onions, pickled jalapenos, pineapple, olives, pepperoncinis and maybe some soy sausage chunks.

Any regular pizza dough recipe would work - I like the Neopolitan pizza dough recipe I found in one of my cook books with Italian favorites.

But, many times, for a quicker version, I just use the one that came with my bread machine. I use the dough-only cycle in the bread machine to get the dough ready and then roll it out, fill it, fold and seal it and bake it. The recipe here makes about 6 calzones.

Ingredients:
Dough:
2½ cup all-purpose flour
2¼ tsp active dry yeast
1 cup water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

some milk for brushing

Filling:
anything goes really, any pizza toppings - sometimes I throw in some broccoli or even spinach - typically, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, onions, olives, pineapple, soy sausage chunks, and
freshly grated mozarella, or ricotta
thick tomato sauce or pesto

Preparation

Activate the yeast in some lukewarm water; combine the dry ingredients on a work surface and make a well in the center, pour the active yeast; add a little water at a time and knead into a smooth elastic dough; place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, set aside in a warm place for about an hour to rise; punch down and let it rise again

Heat the oven to 375°F; grease a cookie sheet and keep handy

Divide the dough into 6 equal portions or more if you make a smaller calzone; roll it out to about ¼-inch thick rounds; spread some sauce or pesto, add the filling on one half, fold it over and pinch the edges with a fork or fingers; brush with milk (some prefer brushing with egg-wash, but, i prefer milk - for a nice glaze)

Bake in 375°F oven for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on the outside and the dough is cooked through

I usually sacrifice one to make sure they are ready to come out of the oven :-)

Salad Greens with Spicy Peanut-Sesame Dressing

We harvested the first bunch of salad greens from our garden this year. I wanted to make a spicy version of sesame dressing for the salad. The dressing is quite rich, so I used just a little to wet the greens before serving.

Ingredients for the dressing:
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
1 tsp soy sauce or ponzu
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Habanero sauce (or any favorite hot sauce)
1 clove of garlic, put through a garlic press
¼ cup hazelnut oil (or olive oil, or just canola oil, if you prefer)

Whisk all the ingredients together. Adjust to taste. Save unused portion in the fridge for up to a week.

Pippali Rasam

I got introduced to Long Pepper (Piper longum) as Thippali/Pippali (alternately, Thippili/Pippili) when I was in my teens. My mom's kitchen is usually well-stocked with peppers of all forms, and now, so is mine.

Long Pepper was not a staple in my mom's kitchen, though. It only made an appearance when my mom was preparing special post-partum diets for my aunts and other relatives. I was terribly curious, naturally, and tasted some of my aunt's post partum diet back in my teens. It consisted of pipplai rasam, vegetable+lentil koottu, some roasted garlic and some sautéed sprouted fenugreek (as a galactagogue). I simply loved the aroma and the distinctive taste of pippali in the rasam.

But of course, there ended my affair with the pippali. Pippali didn't make an appearance in my life again until two years ago, when my mom put me on my very own post-partum diet. And boy did I love it! So much so that even now I make pipplai rasam on and off. And while on the subject, sprouted fenugreek is quite an incredible thing for a lactating mother - it not only stimulates lactation, but, takes care of any nagging digestive issues as well.

To use pippali, I simply crush it in a mortar and pestle, just like I would any black or green whole pepper. Sprinkle it on fresh goat cheese, or over scrambled eggs, or even as part of rub for meats. If used in large quantities it tends to numb the tongue with its intensity. It is not much hotter than black pepper, but, it has a special aroma and pleasant sweet pungency in addition to the medium heat that has to be experienced...

And, Pippali, aka Long Pepper is my post for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Küchenlatein.

Here is a simple recipe to make pippali rasam. This rasam can be had as an appetizing soup, or served with rice and poduthuval as a meal.

Ingredients:
1 ripe medium tomato, finely chopped
4-6 pieces of pippali (start with lesser if preferred)
1-2 clove of garlic
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 cup cooked and mushed toor dal
water as needed
salt to taste

Tempering: 1 tsp home-made ghee or canola oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 4-6 curry leaves (optional)

Preparation

in a mortar and pestle, crush the pippali, cumin seeds and garlic; keep handy

tempering: heat oil in a pan, when shimmering add the mustard seeds and when they pop add the cumin seeds and curry leaves; throw in the crushed pippali+cumin+garlic mixture, a pinch of salt, and sauté till spices bloom a little

add about 5-6 cups of water, chopped tomato, tamarind concentrate (add half the quantity first, stir well, then add more to taste), brown sugar and let it simmer on medium low till tomato is cooked and flavors meld

adjust salt to taste, add the cooked and mushed lentils, chopped cilantro (reserve some for garnish, if preferred), stir well and let it simmer till lentils are well-incorporated

Serve it piping hot as a soup or with South Indian style meal of rice and vegetables.

Taro root: grated and pan-fried

Taro root, while not quite the substitute for potatoes, usually lends itself to be cooked up like potatoes. This is a very simple recipe, similar to my old Chaembu recipe, but, this time I decided to grate it, just like for hashbrowns. Except, I wanted it rather flaky and crispy all over, not lumped inside and crispy outside like hashbrowns ...

Ingredients: taro root, salt, chili powder; tempering: 1-2 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds

Peel the skin and grate the taro root. Heat oil in a pan, add the tempering - when mustard seeds pop, add the cumin seeds, then add the grated taro root and toss it around to coat in oil well. I usually don't add any water as it tends to clump up. Add salt and chili powder. Keep stirring like for scrambled eggs over medium high heat till taro root is cooked and crisped. Serve warm with rasam and rice.


This Taro root, grated and pan-fried, is my 'T' dish for lovely Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables event.

potato "fingerling" gnocchi in cabbage sauce

The Other Half has imposed a ban (read: requested a temporary hold) on desserts, sweets, and fried foods. Not that I make desserts and fried foods often anyway.

Fortunately, I'd like to believe that my recipes are usually hearty, predominantly vegetarian, mostly balanced and nutritious, and typically low-fat. I don't think I can go fat free in the near future... anyway, so, this ban is not quite the bummer, really; I simply continue to cook what I normally cook and everybody is happy.

This potato "fingerlings" in cabbage sauce recipe is inspired by a Bavarian dish I recently sampled during my vacation, and quite surprisingly approximated the taste, even though I don't quite know what the chef put in his original recipe.

Very simple and wholesome dish, easy to prepare: the potato "fingerlings" are not really the heirloom fingerling potatoes but just an adaptation of potato gnocchi, made without eggs.

Gnocchis are fun to do, but the trick is to make sure the dough has just enough flour or the whole thing will either disintegrate in the boiling water, or get pasty and gummy, or even end up like lead shots. Unfortunately I got carried away and didn't measure closely for this recipe (so what's new, right?), but, as a rule of thumb, I use about 1:3 for flour:riced-potato, by volume. The potatoes have to be flaky and dry, not moist and mushy; putting them through a grater or ricer after they are steamed is better than trying to beat/mash them for this recipe.

Ingredients
for gnocchi:
2 potatoes,starchy kind (I use the Idaho or Russet)
about 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (maybe less)
salt
water as needed

for the cabbage sauce:
3 cups finely minced green cabbage
1 cup 2% milk
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried oregano
water as needed

Preparation

start heating a pot of salted water to boil the gnocchis in

steam the potatoes with the skin on, taking care not to overcook and turn them mushy; on a work surface, put the potatoes through a ricer or grate them when still hot (discard skin)

fan out the riced potatoes, season with some salt and pepper, and gradually knead in the flour; just add a little flour at a time, incorporate it well till the dough is no longer sticky and can be shaped

shape the dough into a long rope, about 3/4 to 1 inch thick, and then cut them to even-sized "fingerlings"; i went with fairly big fingerling potato size, but smaller the better as it cooks faster and more evenly

drop the shaped gnocchis into the salted boiling water in small batches; they will drop to the bottom and then rise to the top; fish them out when they rise to the top and keep them handy

cabbage sauce: heat the oil in a sauce pot, sauté the cabbage, season with salt, pepper, marjoram and oregano (or any other herbs/spices), add the water and milk and cook till cabbage is well done; adjust flavors; add more water if the sauce is too dry; this is a fairly thick sauce

warm up your favorite meatless sausage**, or Wiener Würstchen or Frankfurter Würstchen and serve them on the side, or garnished as in the photo.

**home-made wheat-meat sausage or bean sausage would be good too

Swiss Rösti

Kartoffeln (Potatoes) was a common theme for me during my recent vacation while eating out, and the non-vegetarian ones I daringly tried were Huhnbrust (Hen breast), Perlhuhnbrust (Guinea fowl breast) and Lachs-Fisch (Salmon).

Fondue usually springs to mind when thinking about Swiss food, but, I was hooked on Rösti during my brief vacation in Switzerland.

As D jokes, Swiss Rösti is almost a glorified hashbrown dish, served with seasonal vegetables and eggs on the side.

Recipe is fairly simple, I have of course modified it a bit to cut down on fat. The authentic recipe uses a ton of butter apparently...

Procedure is simple: grate the potatoes and cook them (or, cook them and then grate them); heat some oil in a pan, add the grated potatoes, press down, season with salt and pepper, cook till it browns on the underside; use a plate to flip it and cook the other side if desired; serve hot with roasted vegetables and eggs.

simple pasta salad

Summers without cool pasta salad has become unthinkable. It is my favorite picnic and potluck food during the hot summer months. It can be prepared ahead of time, and in fact tastes better that way, and I can throw in fresh vegetables and herbs from my garden - anything goes really, based on personal taste... it feels like the perfect food!

Although it is not officially summer yet this year, I have already made pasta salad quite a few times in the last couple of months. I prefer the tricolor rotini usually, but, whole-wheat penne or farfalle or even ditalini are good too. The dressing varies a lot depending on my mood and the ingredients handy, but, usually I keep it simple.

Procedure is fairly straightforward: cook the pasta al dente; throw in some fresh vegetables (steam them lightly if preferred), add some fresh herbs and seasonings, dress with any favorite vinaigrette, toss well and allow to rest in the fridge overnight.

Ingredients
rotini
broccoli
cauliflower
steamed green peas
carrots
kalamata olives
pepperoncini
sundried tomatoes
pickled capers

3-4 garlic cloves finely minced

toasted walnuts (optional)
toasted pine nuts (optional)

fresh herbs (from my garden, in season):
fennel leaves
basil leaves
oregano leaves
chives and chive flowers

vinaigrette:
olive oil (or canola oil, if preferred)
balsamic vinegar
any favorite hot sauce (like Tabasco™ or Franks Red Hot™)
paprika powder

Preparation

cook the pasta per package directions till al dente; drain, rinse in cold water, set aside

chop the vegetables to bite-size pieces; slit the olives if preferred, coarsely chop the sundried tomatoes; i use small capers so i leave them whole

finely chop the fresh herbs, and sauté the garlic and herbs till they bloom; set aside

combine the vinaigrette ingredients and stir well; i am leaving out the exact amounts as it can be varied to your taste;

combine the pasta, sautéed herbs, chopped vegetables in a large bowl, drizzle in the vinaigrette a little at a time and toss well; add wnough vinaigrette to coat all the ingredients so that they are not dry.

Cover and refrigerate overnight (or up to 12 hrs). Garnish with toasted walnuts and/or pine nuts. Serve cold with some rustic artisan olive bread.

snake gourd and brown lentils

Snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina) intrigued me as a child - its shape and color, its soft spongy core, its hollow inside, its resemblance to bitter gourd... the only other vegetable that intrigued me equally when I was growing up was the Moringa (aka drumstick, murungakai).

My mom usually made koottu, molagoottal, or poduthuval out of snake gourd. It struck me as bland and tasteless, almost watery. And if not picked tender and cooked right away, they tend to become woody/chewy and rather unpalatable. The seeds and pulp inside are bitter. And, many a times, the flesh also happens to be bitter.

If buying fresh snake gourd, I usually try to taste a tiny bit before cooking and serving. They are also available frozen. So far, the frozen ones have turned out better tasting than the fresh ones I have used. Possibly because they are picked tender and frozen right away whereas the fresh ones travel a long way to reach my local produce market...

My preferred way to cook snake gourd so far has been to sauté it with some salt and turmeric powder, add some tempering and some grated coconut, and serve it light and simple with some rice and rasam or sambar. Every once in a while, I like to throw in some lentils to up the nutritional value, as in this recipe.

Ingredients
1 pkt frozen, sliced snake gourd
1 cup brown lentils, soaked overnight
¼ cup grated coconut
1-2 green chilies
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Madras curry powder
salt to taste
Tempering: 1 Tbsp canola oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp urad dal, 3-4 curry leaves

Preparation

cook the brown lentils till soft and tender but not mushy

coarsely blend the coconut and green chilies and keep handy

tempering: heat oil in a pan, when shimmering add the urad dal, when it turns golden brown, add the mustard seeds and when they pop add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, then add the turmeric powder and curry powder, stir a little to let the spices bloom

add the frozen snake gourd, cooked brown lentils, salt to taste, sauté a bit, cover and let the snake gourd cook till tender but not mushy; stir in the coconut-green-chili mixture

This Snake Gourd & Brown Lentils is my 'S' dish for lovely Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables event.

it's good to be home!

After two weeks of wonderful break, it is good to be back at the nest. The trip was very exciting and relaxing at the same time - one big advantage of traveling with a baby - can't rush about too much trying to pack as many activities in a day as we would have liked to :-)

We managed to try some authentic Bavarian and Swiss foods both at restaurants and at wonderfully hospitable friends' homes. Spargel (white asparagus) was in season and my friend A was nice enough to cook some up with butter sauce for us one evening. I had it for the first time and enjoyed it! D enjoyed the typical Schnitzels and Bratwursts, and the popular Turkish Döner Kebabs, plus of course, an assortment of local cheeses and beers and wines...

Usually, I try to put in some extra effort before the trip and cook some favorite meals and freeze them so that comfort food is ready when I get back home. This time was no exception. I had made some cholay, arachu vitta sambar, snake beans & zucchini curry and simple potato curry. We will be enjoying these for the next few days...

I am looking forward to trying out new recipes based on the foods I have recently tasted, and of course, post them here if they turn out fine :-)

on a break!

Hello All!

Am on a much-needed (as if there is any other kind!) break...

Please check back in 10 days... Hope to see you then.

Ciao!

simple bento

Bento "lunch box" is amazingly simple and flexible in concept that I love it. While this is a great lunch, I like it for dinner too...

Bento typically consists of rice, maybe fish or chicken, some marinated vegetables and maybe some steamed vegetables with some sauces on the side. Typically ratio is 4:3:2:1 of rice: main meat or fish: vegetables: sauce. But, anything is fine as long as you like it... It is hard to go wrong with this kind of flexibility :)

If packing for lunch, allow to cool, pack and leave in fridge overnight. In this presentation, I simply assemble and serve it on a dinner plate. It is very easy and quick to throw together - about the time it takes rice to finish cooking. Or, if leftover rice is handy, then it takes just about 10 minutes for the vegetables to marinate or steam a bit. Any vegetable (or meat) is good - sometimes I throw in some steamed broccoli, or home-made pickled eggs, or some peppers, or lettuce...

Ingredients
marinade:
1 tsp white or red miso
4 Tbsp regular plain white vinegar
2 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
vegetables:
red onions, thinly sliced
ginger, julienned
cucumber, thinly sliced
spinach, roughly chopped, steamed, and squeezed dry
pickled asparagus (optional)
plus any other veggies you have handy and like to thrown in...
rice:
1 cup jasmine rice (or sushi rice, if preferred)
2 cups water

Preparation:

combine the marinade ingredients, stir well; pour over the sliced onions, ginger, cucumber, and spinach; preferably, keep the veggies separate, even if they are marinating in the same bowl; allow to marinate till rice is cooked

combine the rice and water and cook till well done; spread the rice on a cookie sheet to cool

Dish up the rice on a plate. I used a pancake heart mould just for fun. Arrange the marinated vegetables on top of the rice, serve cool or at room temperature.

The last time I made bento, I made up a smiley face for my wee one, using a round pancake mould, cucumber and spinach for eyes, ginger for nose, red onions for a smiley mouth and pickled asparagus spears for mustache :)

Pan Fried Pavakkai Bitter gourd

Pavakkai is bitter gourd, in Tamil. It used to be one of my least favorite ones despite my dad extolling its virtues (antido­tal, antipyretic tonic, appetizing, stomachic, antibilious and laxative) in the health department. Not sure when exactly it happened, but around the time I "grew up", I started appreciating pavakkai more, and these days am so glad D loves it too, so I get to make it as often as I want :)

Bitter gourd, or bitter melon, that I have used so far are of two types:
1. small, dark green with pronounced ridges and bitterness
2. larger, light green, relatively smooth skin and mildly bitter

I cook each in different ways - the smaller one is good for stuffing and frying, the bigger one is good in sambar or pan-fried as a side dish in this recipe. The pronounced bitterness doesn't blend well with other vegetables to my liking.

Ingredients
1 - 2 large green bitter melon (Fu Gwa)
2 - 3 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp dry red chili powder
1 Tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

tempering: 1 Tbsp canola oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 3-4 curry leaves

Preparation

chop the ends off, scoop out the innards^* and slice the pavakkai into rings; salt it and let it sit for about 10 minutes; drain, pat dry
^*If it helps, here's how I usually do it: I cut them into roughly 3-inch pieces, and insert my vegetable peeler or a spoon into the central pulp and rotate it like I am juicing a lemon, trying not to tear the flesh apart to scoop out the innards:)

tempering: heat oil in a pan, when shimmering add the mustard seeds and when they pop add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, then add the powdered spices, stir a little to let the spices bloom

add the sliced pavakkai, brown sugar, some salt, a few tablespoons of water, cover and let it sweat and cook a little; then remove the lid, turn up the heat and pan fry till done, adding a little more oil if needed; off heat stir in lemon juice

Serve warm with basmati rice and ghee, or rasam, or mor-kozhambu.

This Pan-fried Pavakkai is my 'P' dish for lovely Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables event.

Creamy Swiss Chard Soup

A lot of the puréed soups I make start off the same - throw them with some flavoring ingredients and pressure cook, then mush it up manually or using a food processor/blender; to thicken it, i either use a simple roux or potato flakes or, as in this case, some heavy cream.

This is same as my usual spinach soup, just substituted spinach with Swiss chard. The main difference is that I added some heavy cream here which I leave out usually. Even though it is subtle, the two greens' - viz., spinach and swiss chards - taste quite different. I happen to like them both :)

Ingredients
1 bunch swiss chards
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 jalapeño or serrano chilies, chopped
1 Tbsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste
1 Tbsp oil
½ cup heavy cream

Preparation

wash the greens and roughly chop them; combine the greens, onions, chilies and garlic with a pinch of salt in a pressure cooker, add just enough water for the pressure cooker to work, cook till mushy

when cool enough to handle, purée the mushed veggies in a blender

heat oil in a soup pot, add the curry powder and let it bloom, then add the purée, adjust salt to taste and let it simmer gently till thickened a little

stir in the heavy cream, adjust flavors as needed

Serve warm with home-made corn bread or rolls.

blueberry waffles

Waffles are a good Sunday morning breakfast. We still have about a gallon bag full of frozen blueberries we picked from a nearby farm last year and I wanted to use them up. Plus, the hyacinth and rhododendron are all blooming in the garden and I wanted to take advantage of the lilacs and purples :)

Any basic waffle recipe would work, but over the years, I've noticed just a few things that make a difference - viz., heat the waffle iron to pretty high temperature before pouring the batter in, not cut back on the butter or oil too much as it compromises the texture, milk or buttermilk work better than plain water, use baking soda if using buttermilk, baking powder if using milk, egg yolks can be left out, just whites alone when well beaten add some nice fluffiness, also, freshness of the baking powder and baking soda matters - if they are a bit stale, I increase the quantity a bit...

My mom being a chemistry teacher taught me about sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and how it reacts, but until I started meddling with baking recipes I didn't quite understand the role baking soda and baking powder play in these recipes. Baking soda is an alkali and likes to react with acid to produce gas (CO₂) which acts as leavening agent in baking. So, usually, recipes that call for baking soda also use yogurt or buttermilk to provide acidity. Baking powder usually has baking soda, plus an acid, plus some starch; most commercial baking powders are double acting - an acidic agent that reacts at room temperature, and another at a higher temperature during baking, thus providing the rise and fluffiness.

Ingredients
2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 Tbsp applesauce (optional)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking soda
2-4 Tbsp brown sugar or molasses
4 Tbsp of cooking oil or butter
1 cup frozen blueberries

Preparation

heat the waffle iron - even after the light goes off, I let mine heat up some more before pouring the batter

thaw the blueberries in the microwave till just ready, not mushy; reserve some for topping, use the rest in the batter

combine all the ingredients and whisk well; if preferred, beat the egg whites separately till fluffy and fold it into the batter; it is best if batter is made right before cooking

cook per instructions on the waffle iron; sometimes I let it sit longer, even after the light goes out :)

Serve warm with just a touch of maple syrup, or home-made berry syrup (just throw in some berries in a pan with a little water, cover, simmer till mushy, add sugar if preferred, serve warm).

walnut orange butterfly cupcakes

This walnut orange butterfly cupcake is inspired by Susanna Tee's Cupcakes book. However, I merged two recipes from the book that caught my fancy to come up with this amalgam - viz., moist walnut cupcake and lemon butterfly cupcake.

I rarely follow any recipe closely (tut-tut, indeed!), but I draw a lot of inspiration from interesting recipes and, usually, I look at recipes as a guideline/technique which I can adapt: I didn't have lemon handy, but had quite a few oranges, plus, we usually have a bag of walnuts in the freezer to throw in salads and such, and so, when I had the compelling urge to try another recipe from the book, I decided to work with what I have handy and this hybrid turned out quite tasty :)

Ingredients
3/4 cup walnuts
4 Tbsp softened butter
½ cup sugar
3 Tbsp orange zest (or lemon zest)
2 eggs
½ cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

for the frosting:
4 Tbsp butter softened
1/2 cup powdered/confectioners' sugar
3 Tbsp orange (or lemon) zest
1 tsp orange (or lemon) juice

Preparation

heat the oven to 375°F ; place about 12 paper baking cases in a regular muffin pan, or, just spray a mini muffin pan with some baking spray, or a combination of both - I made a few regular size and the rest mini size

pulse the walnut in food processor to break it down to a fine powder, but not overgrind as it will get oily

combine the walnut, flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, eggs, orange zest and blend into a smooth batter using a hand whisk or food processor

spoon the batter into the muffin pan and bake for about 20 minutes until well-risen and golden brown, cooked through on the inside; then, allow to cool a little on the wire rack before frosting

frosting: beat the butter in a bowl until fluffy; sift in confectioners' sugar, add orange zest and juice and mix well

when cupcakes are cool enough, slice a thin circular layer off the top to make a flat-top cupcake; cut the sliced piece in half, keep handy; spread a layer of frosting on the cupcake and press the the two cut pieces on top at an angle to suggest butterfly wings (or, kitty ears, or horns as D kept teasing me about it)

I love the bright citrus flavor from the orange zest and the nutty walnut flavor.

Opo Squash Mor-Kozhambu

Opo Squash (Pul Qua, Hu Lu Gua, Woo-Lo-Kua, Peh-Poh, Long Squash/Melon) is mostly bland and watery, so, it works well with a lot of Indian recipes which have interesting spices.

Mor-Kozhambu is a buttermilk/yogurt based dish, usually served with rice, and accompanied by some poduthuval or paruppusili. But, I like to eat a bowlful of cool mor-kozhambu as a summer soup sometimes :)


Ingredients
½ medium opo squash, peeled and diced
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup buttermilk
1½ cups plain yogurt
¼ tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
water as needed

cliantro for garnish

tempering: 1 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 3-4 curry leaves

for the spice paste:
½ cup dry (or fresh) grated coconut
2-3 jalapeños or green chilies
2 Tbsp grated ginger

Preparation

combine the spice paste ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth paste; keep handy

place the opo squash, onions, carrots, some salt, turmeric powder in a pan, add just enough water, cover and cook the vegetables

turn down the heat, add the spice paste, stir well, then fold in the yogurt and the buttermilk, and heat through gently till well combined; turn off heat - buttermilk will separate if cooked for too long; garnish with tempering and cilantro

tempering: heat oil in a pan, when shimmering add the mustard seeds and when they pop add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, turn off heat

Serve warm or at room temperature with rice.

This Opo Squash Mor-Kozhambu is my 'O' dish for lovely Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables event.

molten chocolate cupcake

I am not really a cupcake fan, but, this one was asking to be made...

I found a used copy of Cupcakes by Susanna Tee - just exclusively cupcakes - at my local bookstore pleading, "Take me home, please", and I had to :)

Of course, as with music CDs, I rarely find one book with only the recipes I like and want. Same with this cupcake book. But, there were enough good recipes in there (plus it was under $5) that I decided to get it a week before my baby's birthday: I was planning to make mini cupcakes of various sorts for her birthday, but, decided to make teddy bear cakes instead.

Anyway, the molten center of the cupcake made this appealing. Simply place a little bit of your favorite chocolate into the center of the cupcake batter before baking; bake as usual; and serve warm. The chocolate inside is perfectly melted and just oozes out. I was a bit conservative as seen in picture above, but next time I think I will add more chocolate to the center ;)

And what was more appealing to me was that this was one of the recipes in the book that made up a small batch - just 6 regular cupcakes. Usually, if I try to halve the proportions of the ingredients of a standard baking recipe they don't turn out right.

Of course, as always, I could not help meddling - the recipe here is slightly different from the one in the book :) But it turned out alright...

Ingredients

4 Tbsp butter
½ cup baker's sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder^**
1 Tbsp Hersheys Special Dark™ cocoa powder^*
2 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate
powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

^*or any other cocoa powder you like
^**my baking powder is old, so, if using fresh baking powder, reduce the amount a little

Preparation

Heat the oven to 375°F; place 6 paper baking cases in a muffin pan, or double layered paper cases on a baking sheet

combine all ingredients, (except the chocolate and sugar for dusting), and beat with electric whisk till just smooth, no need to over beat

spoon some batter into the paper case, just half way, add the chocolate, spoon more batter to fill the paper case

bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch

Remove from oven and let it rest for a few minutes before serving. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

teddy bear cakes

Teddy bear cakes seemed like the perfect thing to do for my baby's birthday... and, since my mum-in-law stopped by and was equally excited about the idea, we decided to pool our efforts and make a few instead of buying a giant cake for the birthday festivities...

The nice thing was that D found these little teddy bear silicon moulds and bought about half a dozen of them so we didn't have to bake just one at a time. From there on, it was almost too much fun to stop us... and, even if we didn't quite know how the cakes would turn out, it was just a two-step process, how hard can that be, right?!

Step 1: bake as many teddy bear cakes as needed
Step 2: frost and decorate them, packing as much fun in the process as possible

For Step 1, any simple yellow cake recipe is good - we just looked one up - and got the cakes baked the previous night and allowed it to cool overnight. They turned out soft, fluffy and good.

For Step 2, it had to be chocolate frosting overall as we wanted to make brown bears; and then go crazy with powdered sugar, butter, milk and food coloring to make batches of colored frosting; find all the little cake decorations tucked away in cupboards and keep them handy; then, pick one cool teddy bear cake as the guinea pig before working on the "real" ones...

We almost had it down to assembly line perfection: first the chocolate frosting all over the bear, then, one of gets one color frosting and does the paws and nose; another does the almond sliver claws and cake decoration ears; then, start the second round of decoration, adding details like eyes and pads, the goal being: have as much fun as possible in the process.

And, since one of my little nieces is about 6 years old, I got her crafting food for the party as well and I think she had fun helping out: the little strawberry mice in the slideshow were made by her! I wanted black cake decoration for eyes, chocolate chip nose, and sliced almonds for ears, but, since I didn't plan ahead, we ended up with mutant mice sporting peanut ears and chocolate chip eyes :) The licorice lace tails were the most adorable part for me.

We couldn't help making one little flower cake (again a small silicon mould) specially for the birthday girl, frost it pink, and put her name on it. And since she can recognize the alphabets, if not her name, she liked it I think.

Some home-made vanilla ice cream complemented the cake. It is a basic ice cream, similar to fudgsicle pudding ice cream, except, this time we didn't use the pudding mix, just used regular wholesome ingredients.

All in all, it was a quiet, yet fun day. I am not a cake-baking aficionado with years of decorating experience. I just wanted to do something special for my baby and am glad I could do it this year, even if she doesn't quite understand it all...