South Indian chicken curry

4-day work weeks should be made legal. I'm not particularly politically oriented but any candidate that lobbies this will have my vote, no questions asked. It makes plenty of sense, right? With computers doing a lot of our heavy lifting, we get more done any given day than ever before. Say good bye to Manic Mondays and by the time Wednesday rolls in, its not a hump anymore, the weeks almost 50% over! You can take decent weekend trips with plenty of time to come back, do laundry, make chicken curry and get ready for work first thing Tuesday morning. Perfectly logical...if only I can find a presidential candidate who agrees with me.

We just got back from an awesome trip to the Outer Banks. The south is such a different world, everybody is so nice, warm and laidback. We can't wait to go back again. But I have to admit, after 2 days of fried chicken, fried fish, hush puppies and sweet iced tea we were ready for some good ol' southern cooking-- south Indian cooking, that is.

There's no universal Indian chicken curry recipe, in fact, this is very similar to my mother-in-law's recipe which is completely different from my mom's. My mom's recipe has less gravy and no pepper. This curry is perfect for soaking rice in or for sopping up with chapatis. Although I've split the recipe into sections, it's not that complicated at all and is very quick. Oh and I forgot to mention the added bonus...clean up is a breeze! Sorry the picture looks like crap, my poor camera is still recovering from its shaken-by-toddler syndrome.

You will need:

For gravy:
1 large tomato (quartered or cut into large pieces)
1 large red onion (quartered or cut into large pieces)
2 inch piece of fresh ginger
5 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of dessicated coconut powder

Throw all ingredients into a blender and grind till smooth. Add 1/4 cup of water if needed to blend uniformly. In the mean time make the dry spice powder.

Dry spice powder:

2 tsp fennel powder
2 tsp black peppercorns
1 inch piece of cinnamon
5 cloves
4 cardamom pods

Grind all ingredients in a dry grinder till smooth. Save till its time to make the curry.

For the curry

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 handful curry leaves
2 tsp chili powder (or more to taste, I add about 2 tbsp)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast (cut into medium cubes)
2 medium yukon gold (or similar) potatoes (cut into medium cubes)
Salt to taste
Green chilies, cilantro, curry leaves (Optional, for garnish)

Add vegetable oil to a pressure cooker on medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds. After they finish sputtering, add the curry leaves. Pour in the tomato-onion paste from the blender. Add the ground spice powder from the dry grinder. Next throw in the chili powder, salt and turmeric. Let this mixture cook for a few minutes uncovered till big lava bubbles form and burst. The chicken and potatoes should be added at this point. Cover the pressure cooker, reduce heat to medium and let curry cook for about 20 minutes or till 3 whistles from the cooker. Once done, take off the heat, wait till the pressure cooker cools off completely. Check and add more salt if needed. Garnish with more curry leaves, split green chilies or cilantro.

Crab curry

I did some of my schooling in New England and there was introduced to lobster. My cousin P took me to this place in Boston’s Chinatown called Hong Kong Eatery or Cafe or something like that. It was one of those communal eating places where when things got busy anybody could sit next to you. Yes, I've been there a lot and experienced this way too much. But the very first time we were there, it wasn't crowded and P and I feasted on our own 4 person table, allowing plenty of room for all the food we ordered. We maneuvered juicy, savory chunks of lobster out of their shells, scraping bits of the amazing ginger-scallion batter with our teeth. And just like that I was hooked to lobster! I’ve taken everybody I’ve known to that little shack and they have always loved it. I've since eaten lobster many different ways and it was my most favorite crustacean for the longest time. Was you ask? was.

You see, we moved to Maryland (MD) and some of the world's best crabs come from here. I've had some really nice crab cakes but never manned up to the entire crab. I'd keep remembering the time in Kuwait when my father ordered crab, which according to his chef-friend was fresh caught from the sea surrounding the restaurant. The crab came to our table complete in its shell-y glory and my Andrew-Zimmeran-wannabe father didnt know what the heck to do with it. We tried to help using our butter knives and forks...but nada. Even the chef-friend cowered saying that although trained to cook, he'd never actually eaten it! Finally my father sent back the crab and settled for a dinner of lamb kebabs and fries. In retrospect though, what a waste of good crab!

Back to Maryland, circa 2009. My boss, turns out, is a big crab buff. Every summer he throws a crab fest and everyone working with him is invited. Novice unsuspecting moi, was a little late getting food, so I took a paper plate, got some pasta salad and sat at the only empty spot which turned out (fortunately!) to be next to people from coastal China. To my plate I gingerly added a male and female crab, not really knowing the difference other than that they were in different boxes. And then out of nowhere, I hear stern commands, “No, NO, NOOO plates!” It was the boss. After a quick apology I dumped the crabs onto the paper lined table and… got savage. My very skillful table-mates gave me the lowdown on dismantling a crab and how to even tell the gender by looking at their flip sides. The soft, sweet meat was delicious without being masked by fillers usually found in crabcakes. The flavor was enough to beat lobster, but the work involved in getting to the good stuff was too much. There was absolutely no way I could make it at home, or so I thought. Till I decided to meet my fears head on and made Crab cioppino. It was gone before I even had a chance to take a picture. Last night however, I made an Indian-ized curry version which was perfect for drowning rice. I've got to tell you, there's no point being dainty getting the meat off the shells, the best (and only way) is to get dirty. If you're too tired to crack the shells and scoop out the meat, I found that violently shaking is pretty effective in getting the meat out (with a bonus of curry splatter on your walls). As for the claws, making an indentation with your teeth and using that as a hold to pry out the shell seems the way to go. It really is a labor of love-- a love for food, which is why inspite of having two fingers pierced by the spines of the Alaskan king crab (a completely different beast from the snow crab I first cooked), I know I will make it again!
















Recipe

Dry roast (on shallow pan without oil) and then powder:
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 tsp corriander seeds

Grind in a blender with half a cup of water till the following resemble a paste:
6 small yellow onions, quartered
4 green chillies (thai peppers)
5 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp dessicated coconut

For the curry:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 cups water
2 big clusters of alaskan king crab (about 2.5 lbs) pre-steamed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 tsp tamarind concentrate diluted with 1 cup of water
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a shallow, wide pan. Add ground onion paste, ginger-garlic paste and chilli powder. Cook the mixture till it becomes thick, brown and leaves an oily smear when mixing around. Add the freshly roasted spice mixture. Add 2 cups of water. Check seasoning at this point and add salt, making sure that the gravy is slightly undersalted as the crab is a bit salty by itself. Next arrange the crab pieces in a single layer around the pan and then add the tamarind "water". Cover the pan and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve with rice.

Roasted Turkey tips

With T-day not too far away, here are some Turkey tips I'd learned the hard way, constantly haunted by the first and only time my parents roasted one in Kuwait. After 12 hours in the oven, the poor fowl came out with a charcoal crisp exterior and an icy solid cavity. Promptly tossed, it makes for those recurring kinds of thanksgiving nightmares.


1. If you're using a frozen turkey, buy it at least 10 days before. Anything more than 20lbs should thaw in the refrigerator for about 1 week to 10 days. I like to get the bigger ones because that means more leftovers but usually we dont end up with much.

2. Do yourself a favor and buy a turkey with the pop up thermometer. There's usually a picture of the push-pin like thermometer on the wrapper. And while you're in the section buy a large turkey brining bag.

3. Make sure you thaw the turkey completely 24 hours before you plan to cook. I prefer the slow refrigerator method of thawing but there are many other faster ways described online-- ways I havent tried and cant vouch for.

4. Brine and roast method: I'm not a pro by any standards but this method got me the most approval with the least effort.

5. Brine recipe : For a 20 lb bird:
2 cups of kosher salt
1 cup of sugar (2:1, salt:sugar ratio)
3.5 gallons of water
1 head of garlic, cut into half crosswise (lay garlic head on its side and saw into the entire thing with a sharp knife)
4 bay leaves
4 stalks of thyme
4 rosemary stalks
1 handful of peppercorns
1 handful of allspice
1 handful of juniper berries (optional)

Throw all ingredients into a gigantic stockpot and bring to a boil till sugar and salt dissolve. Cool brine completely. Place turkey (with giblets removed) into the brining bag (look at point 2.). Get someones help to hold the bag while you pour in the brine slowwwwwly. Close the bag, nice and tight and throw it into the fridge for at least 12 hours.

6. Roasting something bigger than your head:

Now you are free to rub anything you want on the bird-- its yours to eat and do with it as you please. But butter, salt and pepper was all I needed to get the right balance of crispy skin and juicy meat. The problem with getting too fancy and using fresh ginger, garlic or herbs is that they get burnt (especially if the bird is huge and its going to be in for 5-6 hours) and you end up fighting with the smoke detector more than cooking. So my suggestion is use logic-- if the ingredient by itself turns into charcoal in 5 hours in the oven it probably will do the same thing on a turkey. Keeping it simple seems to be the best way to go for the turkey. Save your creativity for the gravy!

Also, its absolutely crucial to get a proper roasting pan with a rack. I didnt see the use of a rack at first but its really important so the back of the turkey doesnt get soggy and nasty. My pan is really cool, once the rack with turkey is off, I can just transfer the pan with turkey drippings onto the stove to make gravy. Not possible with disposable alumnium roasting pans!

Recipe

2 sticks of butter softened
Handful of Salt and ground pepper
Cooking time guide (Approx 15 mins/lb)

Get out your roasting pan and rack. Preheat oven to temperature suggested in the cooking guide above. Remove turkey from the brine bag and rinse the bird thoroughly (dont forget the cavity). Spread butter, salt and pepper generously all over the turkey, under skin and cavity too. Place turkey on the rack in the pan. Use aluminium foil to tent the entire pan, making sure there are no openings. Cook the bird covered for 75% of the suggested time, for eg, if the cooking guide suggests to cook your bird for 4 hours-- cook it covered for 3 hrs and uncovered for the last hour or till the thermometer in the bird pops. Once the turkey is done remove the rack, place it on a tray, cover it up with foil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes to let the juices redistribute. In the meantime make gravy.

So thats it, my tips to a perfect roasted turkey! Do let me know how it turns out!

Chechi's one pot Chilli chicken

"This is your room", the watchman said as I rolled my gigantic suitcase to a stop. The room was locked and outside on the ledge of a wall facing the courtyard, two girls sat talking. They spoke and dressed differently from anyone else I'd seen in Madras till then, in fact, they spoke and dressed just like me! All pangs of loneliness and homesickness temporarily fluttered away, quickly replaced by a sense of belonging as I instantly felt the connection with my new roommates-- all part of the brilliant, insightful plan of the hostel management. They figured that by placing all the NRI (non resident Indian) girls together, there would be stronger bonds, fewer arguments and fewer complaints of theft of "foreign" necessities like soap, shampoo or what have you. Thanks to that logic, at one point in time there were 10 of us in a 10X20 ft room, sharing one single bathroom! As it turned out all of us NRI's were from some part of the Middle-east, a majority were from the UAE, one was from Qatar and I was from Kuwait. We were each allotted one sturdy wooden twin bed with the ultimate luxury of a spring mattress but there was simply no room for 10 of those, 2 study tables and an engineering drawing stand. So in a flash of
resourcefulness bordering genius, we reasoned that since the sides of the beds were low we could line 4 beds next to each other against the longest stretch of wall and that (curbing any tendency to sprawl) would allow all 10 of us to sleep and still acommodate all the other necessary furniture.

I still remember the very first morning. We'd been up late the night before talking, getting each other up to speed about our parents, our siblings, friends, pets, schools, countries, everything that really mattered to teenagers. We collectively decided what we would wear for our College orientation the next day. The college had a dress code, only salwar kameezs for girls and since none of us in the room ever wore it (regularly), we were curiously excited about new attire defining the transition from high school uniform to collegebound independence. So imagine our shock when the next morning we found the first day of a lifetime of well dressed professional accomplishment thwarted by no running water. WELCOME TO INDIA!! There was only one tap in the entire hostel that was choking out a feeble stream and it was in the front yard. We grabbed our buckets in a mad dash to the yard, joining all the other hostel residents. Waiting our turn we made friends with other first years, too intimidated yet to talk to the "seniors". Slowly we got to know everybody-- the senior who spoke too long on the phone, the rude one who pushed for 2 bowls of ice cream, the loud one who cursed too much or the one who never wore a slip. We were ofcourse the ones who could be relied on for enough foreign candy to feed a sugar rush anytime of day. We were also the strange ones who were inconsolably homesick. Every night at least one of us would secretly slip out the room, go through a secret entrance to the rooftop and there hidden in the shadows under the most beautiful unadulterated starry sky we wept our lonely tears away.

One christmas break being the only one in the room without a place to go, I stayed back in the hostel. We were allowed one trip a month into the city. The college bus would pick us up at 9am from the hostel and again at 5pm from a couple of stops in the city. This being our only contact with the outside world, we'd buy everything our heart craved the past month, check our email, call our families, watch a movie and eat ice cream sundaes at Shakes 'n Creams. Back from such a trip that Christmas with junk food supplies replenished, I'd skipped lunch and locked myself up in the room for a meal in bed and a nap. Just as I'd cozied myself up in thick, rugged hostel blankets there were loud bangs on the door-- someone was using the handle of the metal bolt to knock URGENTLY. I bounded out of bed thinking I was being informed of an overseas phonecall and prepared to run downstairs to get it. But instead when the door flung open I was face-to-face with a stern senior who barked, "Did you eat yet?? Theres payasam today. Here!", handing me a shallow stainless steel bowl filled with sweet starchy goo. Rashmi, who we called Chechi (meaning big sister in her native tongue, Malayalam), lived one room away and was the cousin of one my roommates. In her 80's style white sports shorts and long, wavy hair tamed either into a half pony or half french braid, she was quite the icon of the hostel hallways. She was known to accost unsuspecting first years and to tackle my roommates for reasons unknown, yelling "Ahdi! Ahdi!". Really much larger in spirit than her pretty, petite, 5 foot something exterior would let on. Too scared, I'd never really spoken to her before and was really surprised to have her deliver dessert to my doorstep. But Chechi had heard that I was alone and took it upon herself to feed me. We got real close after that and when for whatever reason she needed to find a new room we made place on our 4 bed merged creation for her. Although only 4 years older than us, Chechi was the mother that all of us missed and longed for. Her intangible duties were many-- she made sure that the room was clean, everyone was fed, everyone danced and laughed, everyone got along and when we didnt, she solved our problems. And I'm telling you she could even predict the future, she knew the kind of men we would (or should) end up with-- analyzing, understanding and accepting our individuality only as a mother could. There never was a doubt that Chechi would make an amazing mother which fast forwarding a decade she is to two beautiful children who she promises (like us then) fingerprints-on-bums for any mischief!!

When Chechi recently sent me the recipe for her one pot chilli chicken recipe, our favorite Indo-Chinese hostel meal, with step by step pictures I simply HAD to share it with you. I made some slight modifications-- making the chicken crispier and the final outcome more dry but its still a one pot recipe just without the hour long marination-- I can never think ahead long enough but am sure she'll forgive the changes :) In a world where nothing ever stays the same its comforting to have people who are just as if frozen in time. Thanks for the recipe and the pictures, Chechi, love you loads!!

Recipe

(Warning!: This dish is super spicy so feel free to adjust spice levels to your liking. Deseeded Jalapenos can be substituted for Thai chillies)

1. In a large bowl mix 2 lbs chicken (chopped into bite size pieces, for convenience used boneless skinless breast pieces when I tried it) with 2 heaping tbsps of ginger-garlic paste, 6 chopped Thai green chillies, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp soysauce, 2 tbsp pepper powder, 3 tbsp corn starch and 1 lightly beaten egg. Chicken should feel sticky with chilli pieces stuck to them, if not add more corn starch.

2. In a large flat bottomed frying pan add enough oil to completely coat the bottom. Arrange chicken pieces in one layer as much as possible. Cook pieces on high heat till golden brown on side, then flip over to brown the other side. The corn starch and egg give the chicken a crispy coating. Reduce flame to medium and add 2 medium onions chopped and 1 green pepper cut into strips (I used 2 cups of frozen mixed color pepper strips). Stir till onions and peppers soften up.

3. Add 2 tbsp chilli sauce (Sri racha).

4. Dissolve 1 tbsp corn starch into 1 cup of water or chicken broth (for more gravy increase broth quantity) and pour into the pan. Mix vigorously till the liquid thickens (about 3 minutes). Check seasoning. If you want it saltier, add more soy sauce.





5. Take pan off the heat and garnish with chopped spring onions and cilantro (optional).

This is Chechi's final dish which, she says she would have liked a bit more dry:

This is my almost finished dish, its very dry but again you can completely control that with the broth:

Chettinad chicken and Persimmon bread

I've gone on a produce binge (again) this week. I have more cauliflower, kale, broccoli, apples, quince, bananas and tomatoes than I know what do with. An aunt visiting from California brought some Fuyu persimmons to add to the list. But here’s the problem. I was minding my own business and walking by the kitchen the other day when I saw IT. Scurrying from the trash can to the oven...a little brown mouse!! That poor little guy didn’t have a clue but his sight was enough to make my skin crawl. I'm not particularly squeamish-- bugs, spiders and other creepy crawlies don't affect me whatsoever (except snakes, lizards, aligators, ok reptiles in general). I dont care how cute Ratatouille was, there are certain things I just have to draw the line at and this was it. The exterminators were called for an emergency check-in that very afternoon. But heres the other problem, they say that theres no sign of infestation and that he must have just been a stray that crawled through the doggie door and went up the pipes between the walls, apparently very common in Baltimore rowhomes!! The only thing they can do is put mouse traps around the pipes. That thought was enough to keep me away from the stove for a few days. So I’d pack hubby and my little guy to grandmas’ for meals and subsisted on frozen (pretty good) vegan burritos for the rest of the week. It wasn’t that bad really and it gave me a chance to catch up on my reading and (loooong overdue) internet scrabble. But the Californian aunty was to come over for dinner today and I had to make some food! Finally, some incentive to drag my lazy behind back to the stove. Nothing fancy, just a simple Indian meal: Fish curry, chettinad stir fried chicken, sauteed kale and for dessert, Lebovitz’s adaptation of persimmon bread (not very Indian, but oh so delicioso!).

Chettinad stir fried chicken

1 medium onion chopped
1 lb (or 3 large) boneless skinless chicken breast cubed into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
1 medium tomato
1 tbsp dessicated coconut (unsweetened)
1 tbsp white peppercorns
1 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 cardamom pods
½ inch stick of cinnamon
2 cloves
Handful of dried coconut very thinly sliced (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
Coriander leaves chopped (garnish)
Salt to taste

Place a large saute pan on medium heat. Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, onions and chicken. Fry for a few seconds and then add salt, turmeric and chilli powder. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. In the meantime grind tomato and coconut to form a watery paste. Add tomato-coconut paste to chicken. Fry till all the liquid evaporates, stir once in a while. Powder peppercorns, cumin, fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in a dry/spice grinder. Add spice mixture to the chicken when almost dry. Add coconut slices and lemon juice to the chicken, toss to mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.


Persimmon bread
Adapted from David Lebovitz

3½ cups all purpose flour
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground nutmeg (increased from 1tsp)
2 to 2½ cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2/3 cup whiskey
2 cups persimmon puree (Dave says to use 4 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons, but I pureed 4 Fuyu persimmons with ¾ cup of water)
2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped
2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2X9-inch loaf tins by buttering the insides and lining parchment paper (or dust flour instead of parchment). Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and sugar) in a large bowl. Make a depression in the center and mix in the wet ingredients. Then add nuts and raisins. Bake for about 1 hour (but mine took a little longer than that), or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Pizza- rediscovered

Pizza is the best medium to eat just about anything. In fact, theres this little place in Towson called Pasta Mista that even puts different kinds of pasta on their pizza. They have pretty uncommon combinations including a chicken parmesan pizza, chicken ranch pizza and, a favorite that I havent had since leaving Boston, buffalo chicken pizza. Its great! If I could eat there every single day, believe me I would but curbing those cravings is crucial especially because I enjoy having a real waistline.

Somehow though, eating homemade pizza feels less guilty. I know exactly what goes on my pizza and can, on the extremely rare occasion, even cut back on the cheese-- hardly ever happens but options are always nice. I've been, until recently, bit of a pizza snob. I'd never been adventurous enough to try anything other than the usual veggies, chicken, and rarely, shrimp or beef. But this year has been a real eye opener. I'd never understood how people could eat tiny, salty, (in my mind) stinky filets of fish on their pizza till I tried it. There was no smell whatsoever and the saltiness was a beautiful compliment to the sweet caramelized onions, fluffy crust and black olives. And then theres the rosemary potato pizza with gruyere cheese, that vanished before I could take pictures of it. Here's a recipe for an easy-breezy pizza crust and a couple of my new found combination favorites.

For the pizza crust
3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation
Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl. Add yeast, sugar and stir. Let stand until a froth of yeast forms (about 5 mins).
Into the bowl of a stand mixer add flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and 3tbsp of oil. Mix on medium high (with dough hook) for about 7 minutes till a smooth dough forms. If still sticky, add a little flour to the bowl and knead dough by hand (in the bowl itself). Add a little more oil, flip the ball of dough over and add a little more oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or till it doubles. Punch down dough and shape it onto the tray/ stone you plan to bake pizza on. Add toppings of choice and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven. If you want the crust on the crispier side, prebake the crust for about 7 minutes, add the toppings and return back to the oven to finish cooking. Pizza is done when the crust there are tiny golden brown specks and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Topping combinations

Combination 1. Caramelized red onions, anchovies, black olives and fresh mozzarella
For caramelized onions:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large red onions sliced thin
Add olive oil to a saucepan on medium heat and then drop in the onions. Once the onions just start to soften, reduce heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally to avoid onions sticking to the bottom of the pan. About 30 mins later you should have beautifully caramelized onions. I layer the onions on the crust first and then add the other toppings in the order listed below.
Remaining toppings for this combination in order:
Half of a 2 oz tin of flat anchovies, crumble as spreading around pizza (I like the Cento brand)
Handful of Nicoise black olives sliced (or any black olive if you're not a purist)

A nice fist sized ball of fresh mozzarrella, pinching off chunks as you drop around pizza

Combination 2. Rosemary covered potatoes with gruyere cheese
For potatoes:
5 small potatoes or 10 fingerling potatoes
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 sprig of rosemary chopped
2 spring onions chopped fine
Salt to taste
Wrap potatoes in wet paper towel and heat on high in microwave for about 4 minutes or till you begin to smell the potatoes. Peel and let cool. Once cool, slice potatoes into thin rings (if using fingerling potatoes just half them). Mix lemon juice, spring onions, rosemary and salt in a bowl. Toss the potatoes into the lemon dressing to coat well. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
Layer potato mixture over pizza dough. Do NOT pour dressing remaining in the bottom of the bowl over the pizza. Break little chunks off the gruyere cheese and sprinkle over the top.

Pretty fall peppers

Its been one of those weeks. An RNA extraction that should have taken a normal biologist 45 mins takes moi, the bioinformatician, 5 hours by which point the RNA is probably degraded beyond rescue. Ever hopeful (hoping against hope even maybe) by some random twist of fate there will be salvageable RNA.

Then there was the lab journal club presentation. While working on the powerpoint which in my mind was etched to be for tomorrow, I get an email from a friend wondering why the pizza for the presentation was there but not the presenter, yes, I'd missed my presentation by an hour. Why would we need a journal club for just the lab anyway?? I must admit usually those sessions are fun and free food is always a great incentive...presenting in one of these meetings though is a whole 'nother issue. I mean talking isnt hard, usually stopping my babble is the tough part. But representing somebody else's thoughts, trying to figure out what their thinking, trying to decipher their ever so shakespearean writing and what the heck they were thinking when they came up with 50 billion graphs when just one would be enough to show they didnt have the faintest clue. One of my professors loves to share the story of James Watson's response to the question how they managed to describe the groundbreaking interpretation of the structure of DNA in a one page article, he said "It helps to have something [useful] to say". Its rare to find writing like that anymore-- writing without the fluff. You know, writing just like someone was thinking out loud.


But my week will start looking up. Tomorrow will be nice, I just know it. Theres a little cobblestone pathway in school thats pat in between a dorm, the outpatient center and the gym. Every Thursday since the beginning of summer, that leaf strewn pathway gets transformed into a farmers market. Little green tents propped atop white poles shelter stalls of fresh baked bread, pastry, local dairy cheese, ice-cream, preserves, nuts, fresh roasted coffee, and of course, vegetables and fruit to match the season. Every week as I make my trek (just a short walk really) and am struck by the beautiful colors, I have to kick myself for not getting my camera always thinking that the following week it'll be the first thing I pack in the morning. Sadly that never happens.


Going to that little farmers market is the highlight of my week. Theres the chutney guy who never remembers who I am but needs to make me try his samples always asking if they remind me of home (not really, I've never had cranberries in India). The coffee guy always has some neat information on roasting techniques or stories of his triplets (2 identical boys and one fraternal girl). Theres the produce guy, who insists on shucking corn with his grimey, chubby fingers, breaking them in half and challenging people to try it raw. He's so proud of his truckload of corn that you would have to be stonecold-hearted not to and he's rightfully so-- its the sweetest, most tender corn ever. Then theres my weakness, the French bakery stall, for whatever reason my usual order of 3 almond croissants, 1 baguette and the pear tart cost about a third less when theres the friendly moustached guy instead of the lady. I do feel guilty walking in with bags of groceries when I really should be working on experiments but it seems like everybody in school makes the most of that 4 hours of hustle and bustle--people actually work their meetings around the farmers market! Tomorrow will be the last week they're out this year and they will surely be missed. That poor little pathway will go back to its foliage and occasional hypodermic needle strewn self. Another sign of the changing of seasons in Baltimore, I guess. Definitely something that I'll be looking forward to next year.

Heres a recipe I made with the cutest, most beautiful fall colored peppers from the farmers market. I took before and after pictures because I was worried that the purple one would lose its color when baked, rightly so because it did turn green whereas the reddish yellow ones were fine. Wonder what the deal is with purple peppers.


You will need:

6 small colorful peppers (red, yellow, green)
2 medium potatoes
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
1 medium red onion chopped
2 tsp chilli powder
1 lb fresh hot italian chicken sausage (removed from casing)
1 handful of shredded mozzarella cheese (optional but yumm)
Salt to taste


Preheat oven to 350F. Half the peppers, remove seeds and lay them cut side up in an oven proof dish. Wrap potatoes in a wet paper towel and cook in the microwave on high for 3 minutes or till you begin to smell them. Keep aside to cool for a bit. In a medium sauce pan, heat about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, add cumin seeds. When they splutter add the onions, chilli powder and salt. Add the sausage and cook till brown. Add the potatoes and mash while mixing so as to incorporate everything into a mad mush. Check salt. Spoon the stuffing into peppers, sprinkle cheese over peppers and place dish in the oven for about 15 minutes or till cheese just melts. I like a bit of a bite in my peppers but if you don't you can cook for few minutes longer till the cheese gets brown flecks on it and peppers are soft when poked with a fork.

Lamb Biryani

Everybody around me seems to be big on lamb and quite frankly I don't get it. For the longest time I couldn't even tell the difference between that and beef. Even now if you were to put a plate of each in front of me, the only way I could tell them apart is that lamb is just a bit "gamier", read stinkier, than beef. But since eating alone is among the few things I dislike more than a root canal, I had to cater to the lamb crazies around me with this Biryani. Now Biryani quite simply put (and because I'm not a purist) is just curry mixed with some fragrant rice. Hyderabad, the place my mother's from, is known for its special take on Biryani. I never understood the hype about this either till my cousin took me out to try some 3 years ago. Wow! I really don't know what they do differently, but the meat (chicken in my case) is super tender, spicy but not overly and it has just the right amount of heat that adds flavor without searing your tastebuds and clearing your sinuses (searing and clearing, ha, biryani poetry!). My recipe although pretty good, just does not come close to the Hyderabadi yardstick. I don't even bother trying to mimick it, I'll just let the experts do what they do best and hope that someday (if and) when I go back my cousin will take me there.

Now if I'm making this recipe on weeknights I just use an entire pack of the store bought biryani masala (I like Shaan). That really wasn't my plan this time around, but I caved into pressure at the last minute and threw in a tablespoon of the store bought stuff. I don't think it was necessary or made a big difference but I was less nervous that it was there. This biryani is spicy and a definite tear jerker just like my favorite movie of all time, The NoteBook. At the risk of overusing youtube's embed option (this phase too shall pass!), here's a compilation of all the great scenes to Chantal Kreviazuk's perfect song, Feels like home.

Recipe

1.2 lbs of lamb cubed (substitute chicken if you prefer)

2 bay leaves

2- 2 inch sticks of cinnamon

4 star anise

1 tbsp chilli powder

1/4 tbsp corriander powder

1/4 tbsp cumin powder

1 tbsp biryani masala (optional)

2 large onions, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

2 potatoes cubed large

2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp turmeric

1 lime cut into thin slices

Crispy fried onions, raisins, toasted cashew nuts and cilantro for garnish

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp of salt (or to taste)

For rice:

3 cups of Basmati rice (you want specifically Basmati, a different variety could get mushy)

7 cups of water

1 bay leaf

2 inch cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 200F.

Take a large oven proof dish (something like a stock pot or dutch oven). Add bay leaves, cinnamon, anise. Let cook for a few seconds. Add onions and tomatoes and all the spice powders. Let cook for till the onions and tomatoes become this nice brown mush. Add the meat. On another burner and in another big pot (doesnt have to be oven proof) bring rice, bay leaf, cinnamon and star anise to boil with the water. The rice should only partially be cooked, ie, it should have elongated but if you bite into a grain there should still be powdery bits in the middle. The meat in the other pot should turn opaque (this usually happens at the same time as the rice). Add potatoes and lime slices to the meat and stir for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat from the meat. Drain rice and layer over the meat. Cover the pot with aluminium foil, make sure its well sealed before putting on the lid and placing the pot in the oven. Its nice to leave it in the oven for about an hour or longer with a minimum of half an hour. Take pot out of the oven, unseal and garnish with cilantro, fried onions, cashews and raisins (the last two fried in ghee is super!). Gently mix from bottom up to get the curry and rice mixed uniformly (well, semi-uniform is also ok).

Pastrami french dip- the best sandwich EVER

Lately its been pretty cloudy here in Baltimore with the occasional shower here and there. Now, I love the sun, ice cream, swimming and basically all things summer related just as much as the other person. But lately I've found it terribly comforting after a long wet day at work to run inside a nice warm home and snuggle in front of the TV in cozy wooly p.j's. It also helps being kept company with notably the best sandwich ever known to man.

Theres something primal about eating with your hands- you grab onto your food and with great dexterity and skill, shove it into your mouth. Not too different than the average caveman back in the day-- have to say average 'cos those guys on the Geico commercials seem way too refined to fall into this category. Anyways, back to the food...ahh yes the humble sandwich- in all its simple, versatile and portable glory theres nothing quite as satisfying as a warm toasty, oh-so-slightly-spiced, cheesy sandwich dunked in a pool of herby oniony soupy goodness. The latter of course being the "au-jus" or dip part of the creation. Its just the perfect companion to a weekday blockbuster treat, in this case, it was Will Smith's "Seven Pounds". Its a good thing that sandwich was wiped out waaay before the serious part began, the only thing I wanted near me at that point was a box of tissues. Seriously, as if finding that perfect someone that you got along with and loved wasnt hard enough, you have to complicate things by seeing and feeling the presence of that person knowing full well that the mistakes you made would keep you apart forever because it was the right thing to do! SAD, so depressingly sad, I was bawling like no one's business during and after the movie. It was a great movie though, not the kind I would ever want to see again but nice.

Sorry, sorry didnt mean to depress you after that movie review, but maybe I can cheer you up with the recipe for an amazing sandwich and a beautiful, hilarious (look at the 60 yr old guy fake a muscle pull while dancing with a much younger woman) Telugu remixed song.



Here's the recipe:

For dip
1 red onion sliced
1/2 can of beef broth
A stem of fresh thyme

Fry onions and thyme in a little bit of vegetable oil for about 10 minutes on medium heat till soft and light brown. Take out half of the cooked onions and reserve for sandwich. Add beef broth and bring to a boil. Adjust salt and serve hot with sandwich.


For 1 Sandwich
2 slices pumpernickle bread
4 deli slices of pastrami (beef/turkey, your choice)
a handful of arugula
A slice of swiss cheese (I used grated Gruyere, my current fave)
A handful of caramelized onions
1/2 tbsp of horseradish sauce
1/2 tbsp of butter for toasting on pan.

Spread horseradish sauce on both slices of bread, layer on meat, arugula, onion and cheese. Spread butter on the slice of sandwich that faces up, invert that side onto a pan thats on medium high heat. Let it sizzle for about 20 seconds, in the meanwhile butter the other side of the sandwich that should be facing upwards on the pan. Flip sandwich, toast for another 20 seconds and serve with dip.

The perfect no-condiment-necessary Burger

When I used to live in Boston, directions revolved around the different T (metro) lines. You had to take the Red line to Davis Square which had a theater that played Indian movies, a trip there was never complete without ice cream from JP Licks. You would take the Blue line to and from the airport, a trip I'd make every other month or so to visit my parents in Maryland. A house hunting trip once took me on the orange line to Malden, a trip that wasnt worth making again.

I lived for a good portion of time on the Green B line, the Kenmore station stop to be exact, I've actually lived in different areas but for whatever reason this is where I have most memories from. Anyways, every few months (more frequently in the summer) I'd make my way down to Coolidge corner, which in case you're wondering is on the Green C line, to the Indian store to replenish my stock of masala, frozen parathas and such. They always had on display samosas (deep fried short crust pastry with a potato filling), chilli bhajjis (battered and fried chilies), dhoklas, curry puffs and kebabs. Samosas and Maaza (mango) juice were usually the choice of snacks for the weary trip back. On one such trip though, either out of want or necessity dont remember exactly, sad almost stale looking kebabs took the place of samosas as my ride home snack. The guy at the store heated the kebab up, threw that and some chutney into a white styrofoam container before bagging it up with the rest of the groceries. I think I managed only a few steps before stopping at a black metal bench to get a sampling of the kebab. Wow! Talk about surprises. The chicken kebab had a sprinkling of green from cilantro and mint, whole corriander seeds for a spicy crunch, tiny chunks of ginger and garlic and of course the hot POW of green chilies every now and again. That kebab was so good that it has become the base for all my kebab and burger recipes. Its just the kind of recipe to get us invited to BBQ's all over the place now, especially if we're bringing the meat! And since you're putting so much green into the meat already you really dont need anything else except maybe a sprinkling of blue cheese (you can never have too much cheese!).

You will need

1 1/2 lbs of 90% ground turkey/chicken (anything leaner is also fine)

1 slice of bread

1 tbsp of milk

1 inch chunk of ginger, chopped fine (or crush, if you prefer)

3 cloves of garlic chopped fine (or crush)

1 tsp corriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 green chilies (reduce quantity if too hot)

1 nice big bunch of cilantro (chopped)

1 little sprig of mint (chopped)

1/2 small red onion chopped fine

2 tsp salt

Method

On medium-high, heat cumin and corriander seeds on a pan (without oil) tossing constantly till the smell of the spices is intense. Take off heat, cool for about a minute and then grind to a powder. Soak bread in milk and mush to form a paste. Transfer meat to a bowl. Add spice mixture, bread paste and all other ingredients to the meat. If the meat mixture seems too runny, add some breadcrumbs but you usually dont have to. Let rest in the fridge for half an hour (overnight if you can). Form patties with greased hands and throw on grill. We cook ours on medium heat for about 3 minutes on one side and 2 on the other.

Lamb tagine

I'm always fascinated by how the slightest cooking technique variation makes all the difference from one cuisine to the other. Take this recipe for example, the ingredient list is pretty much what one would use for making lamb curry-- Indian ishhhtyle (style) but browning the meat first and cooking everything else in its fat makes it Moroccon and absolutely phenomenal!

So without much ado...Lamb Tagine!

You will need:

2 lbs of lamb meat (into big chunks if possible)

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp chilli powder (I like it hot, but reduce to taste)

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 stick of cinnamon (ground)

6 cloves (ground)

6 cardamom pods (ground)

2 medium onions chopped

1 tsp tomato paste

1 can garbanzo beans (optional, but was delicious)

1 tbsp sliced almonds (optional)

fistful of raisins (optional)

2 cups of beef stock

1 bunch of cilantro/parsley for garnish

1 tbsp of salt (or more as needed)

Method:

Depending on how lean your meat is, heat about 2 tbsp of vegetabl oil on a medium frying pan.

Salt one side of the meat, put that side down into oil. Salt the side that faces up. Flip the meat, browning all sides (I let mine get really really brown, I mean almost burnt brown). Fry the meat in batches. Once all the meat is cooked, add onions to the oil. Add about 1 tsp of salt to help onions soften faster, cook for about 3 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste, tomato paste and all the spice powders. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or till the onions, tomatoes and spices form a brown mass that doesnt stick to the edges. Dump the meat, spice mixture and broth into a slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on high. 1 hour before the end of the cooking cycle add the garbanzo beans. Garnish with almonds, raisins and cilantro/parsley before eating. Serve with pita bread, basmati rice or couscous.

Peanut Chicken Skewers atop spicy rice noodles

Peanuts- I've never quite understood all the hype about them. Don't get me wrong, I eat them. I've eaten them boiled and mixed with onions and chillies, eaten them roasted in their pods, roasted without their pods, ground up in a tangy, spicy chutney, peanut butter and in brittle-- pretty versatile, I'll give them that but still dont get the fuss! My husband on the other hand, can polish off a jar, as in a whole, entire jar of peanut butter in 2 days. He has a thing for peanuts and bananas, I guess its no mystery what he was in his previous life! Just kidding...

I really wouldnt go out of my way to find a way to use peanut butter in my cooking if it werent the item of this month's Jihva. I havent been following it for a while, I think I've probably done one and think its high time for the next one. Jihva for peanuts it is!

Serendipity is a beautiful thing, the goal was to focus on the chicken but the noodles, ooohhh the noodles were so darn delicious! Sweet, spicy, tangy, all in all really good. One of my new favorite things to make. The only thing missing is some green-- garnishing with some green onions or cilantro would have been perfect but I was all out...oh well there's always next time!

[UPDATE: According to Cook's Hideout who is "hosting" this event and taking things a bit too seriously in my opinion, the event this month is VEGETARIAN. So, this "disqualifies" my dish. Its funny that she would remember to include this particular rule after she got my entry. And although I can completely respect ones religious/moral inclinations, how sacrilegious can it be to put a picture and link of food that was made by somebody else?? Radical, more than a little asinine and discriminating in my opinion. If you have such strong feelings about diet then why volunteer "hosting" something that is supposed to compile peoples interpretation/application of natural ingredients. But dont worry, I will not be pulled down, while I recover from this slap on the wrist inflicted by the vegetarian food police, always remember my fellow carnivore bretheren, in the words of the brilliant ad campaignists at Hillshire farm, GO MEAT!! Dramatic? Yeah, don't you love it?]

For the Peanut Chicken Skewers

1.71 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts (3 in my case), cut into cubes

3 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp corriander powder

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp of chilli powder

salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375F. Soak wooden skewers in water (avoids burning of the wood).

Mix all ingredients except chicken in a bowl. If the mixture is too thick, add more oil to thin it out but it shouldnt be runny. Add chicken and make sure all pieces are evenly coated. Skewer the chicken cubes. Line skewers on a well greased cookie tray (I lined mine with foil). And place in oven for about 35-40 mins till done.

For Noodles:

1/2 pack of Rice noodles cooked according to directions (soak in hot water for 5 minutes, and place in cold water till ready to use)

1 onion chopped

1/2 green pepper chopped

2 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp chilli sauce (Sri Racha)

Noodle sauce (Just combine everything):

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

juice of 1 lime

Fry onions and green peppers in a wok. Add ginger-garlic paste. Then add cooked noodles and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the noodle sauce and chilli sauce. Give it a nice thorough stir, check on the salt, add more now if necessary. Serve with chicken skewers. Yummmm.....

Zucchini blossoms-who knew?!

Ahhh summer!! Lovely weather, zero humidity, vacation frame of mind, bright veggies and perfect fruit meaning my canning/jamming duties have to begin, like, right now!

I felt the sudden urgency of stocking up on berries. Yes, I know I'm a tad obsessive, but think of it though, what if blueberry season goes by and I've not made any mildly sweet, utterly delicious, purplish-blue jam?? So I rushed out to the nearest U-PICK by our home, a mammoth of a place called Larriland farms, which was a good 25 mile drive away. 2 hours and 6 lbs of blueberries later I stopped by their "Red barn" to get something to drink, an anise-y, old fashioned soda called sarsaparilla (sp?). Refreshingly delicious. But of course, something else catches my eye in a metallic cooler in their pre-picked veggie section...a lone plastic carton filled with 8 beautiful yellow zucchini flowers. I grabbed the carton before even being logical about it, you know those practical thoughts that I should have been thinking about like I've never really eaten or even seen these dainty beauties, what could I possibly do with them, but $3 ($2.99 to be exact) was not a bad investment for an experiment especially if it turned out well. And besides, I've been away from this blog for so long I wanted my next post (= this one) to be absolutely fabulous. I'd just gotten my fresh pasta rolling and shredding attachments a couple of days before, and hadnt tested it out yet. And just like that, the whole menu fell into place.

Appetizer: Stuffed and fried zucchini blossoms

Main course: Fresh egg pasta with Sicilian-styled eggplant

Dessert: Capuccino brownies

I don't really want to club too many recipes into one post so for starters I thought I'd go with the zucchini blossoms. A lot of googling didnt really help me find anything that I liked which really means that the fridge wasnt stocked up with those particular ingredients. I ended up just winging it, mish-mashing a bunch of different recipes. The result was delicious, light, crispy, faintly sweet coating with smooth, warm, herby, onion cheesy filling oozing out. I found that the spring onions really made the filling shine but feel free to use any combination of fresh herbs you like. So here goes:

Ingredients:

8 zucchini blossoms

For stuffing:

6 tbsps of cream cheese

A few sprigs of basil (chopped fine)

2 spring onions (chopped fine)

A pinch of salt and pepper

Mix all these ingredients together in a bowl. Reserve for later.

For batter:

2 tbsp of Coca-cola (yes the drink! It was great!)
3 tbsp of all-purpose flour

A pinch of salt

Add coke into the flour+salt and mix but dont let the effervescence (little bubbles) die out.

Assembly:

Heat about 3 generous glugs of vegetable oil in a shallow pan, temperature should be about medium-high. Remove the pistil from the flowers (its conical and orangish, move the petals over and you can see it in the middle). Add a little of the cheese stuffing, twist the edges of the petals to seal, dip it into the batter and fry. Make sure one side is pale-golden brown before flipping over.

Bolognese sauce

I found and tried this Oregon times recipe (slightly modified) a good while ago. Whenever I've eaten this in restaurants I had no clue that there were carrots and celery in it...I thought it was the most unlikely combination in pasta sauce but really its not. Carrots and celery get cooked to oblivion and its absolutely delicious and just perfect on a cold winter day with a heaping bowl of pasta.

Bolognese Sauce -
4 tbs olive oil

1 large onion

2 carrots, finely chopped or shredded

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

3 lbs ground chicken

6 spicy chicken sausages (chopped)

2 tbs tomato paste

1 cup good red wine

3 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes with their liquid (I used San Marzano)

Salt and pepper to taste

2-3 bay leaves

Water

1 half pint of heavy cream or half and half

1/4 tsp of fresh ground nutmeg

Method:
Heat olive oil in pan. Gently saute the carrots, onions and celery until translucent, about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the ground meat one at a time, crumbling with your hands and not allowing to ball up into large pieces, brown until most of the moisture is evaporated. Add sausages. Add tomato paste. Heat meat and vegetables with paste. Add red wine, stir throughly, and simmer until most of the wine is absorbed or evaporated. Next add tomatoes, bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Stir completely and reduce heat to simmer once bubbling. Stir about every 15-20 minutes, scraping the bottom with a flat spatula to prevent burning. Transfer to a slow cooker and simmer for 2-3 hours; If you plan on freezing, remove what you won't use and let cool before bagging in quart freezer bags, without the dairy and nutmeg. About five minutes prior to serving, or when you add the pasta to the boiling water, you can start to add some cream or half and half along with a few pinches of fresh nutmeg to taste. Always add the nutmeg a few minutes prior to serving. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese over pasta if you wish.

Maryland Seafood pasta salad

Maybe this recipe is a sign, a sign that I've finally come to peace with Maryland. I've always liked being associated with Boston, you know, its hip, its cool and next to it suburban MD just seemed the frumpy cousin. But crab with Old bay seasoning is as MD as it gets and quite deliciously so! This pasta salad is simple and the use of fully cooked imitation crab meat makes it quick and great for a weekday lunch. Couldnt take pictures of this one unfortunately, but I envision making it again very soon and will update this post then.

Maryland Seafood pasta salad

1 package imitation crab meat
1 small red onion minced
2 med stalks of celery finely chopped
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
3 cups cooked pasta (I like bowtie for this but really its upto you)
11/2 tsp of old bay seafood seasoning (can be found in either seasoning aisle or by seafood in any grocery store)

Method

Saute the onions for just 5 minutes on low to medium heat. This is just to take away the pungent smell, but if you dont mind it just skip the step. Toss onions into a nice big bowl. Add crab, celery pasta to the bowl. Mix old bay seasoning in with mayonnaise in a seperate bowl (to allow uniform distribution). Add the mayo to the big bowl with all the other ingredients. Toss to mix. Old bay seasoning has salt in it, but if you need more feel free to add to taste.

Bangers and Mash

On a recent trip to Bar Harbor, ME, we went to this Irish pub/restaurant-- the only place that would take 15 of us half an hour before closing. This restaurant, McKays, seemed pretty casual and laidback, set in an oldish looking Victorian with a beautiful front garden. The chairs and tables were traditional, almost plain wood, again adding to the oh so casual ambience. But let me tell you the food was anything but plain and casual! Like most places in Maine, seafood- lobster in particular was the highlight but having OD'ed on lobster (never thought that would happen!) over the past couple of days I settled on their version of Bangers and Mash made with duck. Bangers and Mash is basically British slang for sausage links and mashed potatoes, it makes for a simple, delicious yet hardy dinner especially on a particularly cool night on Mt. Desert island. I'd never had duck before and couldnt have asked for a better first. Spicy duck sausage complemented by slightly bitter greens and velvety smooth mashed potatoes topped with a tangy mustard sauce....mmmmm....comfort food glory!

So when I came back home and had a major craving I hit the stores but couldnt find duck sausages anywhere. Grudgingly I had to settle for Whole food's Smokey Andouille Chicken sausage. Although, I must admit they were really good- they paled in comparison to the crumbly texture of duck...oh well, am sure we'll go back to McKays again someday and when we do...Mr. Duck sausage better be ready to get annihilated (have been hanging around nephews too long!)...

Recipe (serves 2)

For "Bangers":

1/2 lb chicken sausage (2 gigantic links)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

In a shallow but wide pan fry the sausages till golden brown. Cut lengthwise through the middle invert and fry again to make sure the insides also get a crispy coating. Take sausages out, drain on paper towels till ready to assemble (should be quick).

For Greens:

4 cups of fresh greens

2 cloves garlic minced

salt to taste

Add garlic to the same pan you fried sausages in. Fry for about a minute on low-medium heat. Add spinach and salt and cook till wilted and dark green (about 4 minutes).

For Mashed potatoes:

5 small-medium cooked and peeled red potatoes (cooked in microwave HIGH for 12 mins)

1 1/2 cups of milk

salt and pepper to taste

I wanted bland mashed potatoes so their taste and smell didn't overwhelm all the other flavors, hence the super simple recipe. Bring milk to a boil in a saucepan. Add cooked potatoes and mash till smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. If potatoes seem to thick, add more milk/water.

For mustard sauce:

1 tbsp coarsely ground mustard

1/4 cup Italian dressing

Whisk the two ingredients thoroughly and heat in a saucepan.

Assembly:

I put a layer of mashed potatoes on the plate, then some greens and then added the sausage. Finally topped it off with mustard sauce.

Pan seared Salmon with Cumin crust

I am a big fan of individually wrapped raw meat- its just convenient, saves room in the freezer (especially a tiny one like ours) without having to touch slimy cold flesh and washing hands a million times after (I get a tad OCD sanitizing after handling meat). So, when we saw this huge pack of individually wrapped wild catch Atlantic salmon fillets at Costco- it was a no brainer. And I had the perfect recipe for it, fragrant, crunchy and absolutely delish, this recipe is great by itself, with your favorite sauce or with a side salad. I served the fish with a parsley- chilli sauce that hubby liked just fine, but I found it masking the lovely flavors of the fish itself.

PS: The two baby tomatoes in the picture are the first from our garden-- had to show them off!

You will need:

1 tbsp each of dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried oregano and red chilli flakes (or mild paprika for less heat)

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp sea salt

4 portions salmon fillet

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

Combine dried herbs, garlic powder, cumin seeds and sea salt in small grinder till fine. Rub generously into the top (not the side with skin) of each salmon fillets.

Heat oil in large skillet and on low- medium heat cook the salmon, spice side down for 3-4 minutes. Turn over and continue cooking till the salmon is cooked to your liking. Avoid overcooking, dried up salmon is no fun.

Tuna-Potato Cutlets with Peanut-ginger sauce

My sister and I have very different food tastes. Shes an only-fish-eating-vegetarian and yours truly will try any animal- be it vegetarian or not ;) at least once. Barring starkly different diet preferences, pleading requests for our favorite school meal (our fifteen minute break around 11am can hardly be considered lunch), tuna-potato cutlets, were competitively fervent. We would eat this for dinner, in-school snack, after-school snack, lunch and then again dinner till all of it was gone! We might have even had them for breakfast, if our mom hadnt made a morning ritual of shoving eggs and corn flakes in HOT milk (YUCKY SHUDDER!) down our throat. There was no way we would trade these decadent pieces of kid heaven for pizza, cookies or ANYTHING, even if they did last till break.
Although, there are a zillion ways to appropriately dress a potato for Jihva, I couldnt think of a better recipe for my very first!

You will need:

For Cutlet:
3 potatoes (boiled/microwaved and peeled)
2 6oz cans solid tuna in water (drained)
1 onion chopped
4 green chillies chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 cup cilantro chopped
2 tsp of cumin seeds (powdered)
2 tsp of corriander seeds (powdered)
2 eggs (well beaten)
2 cups breadcrumbs
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp vegetable oil

For Peanut-ginger sauce:
2 tbsp unsalted, unbleached peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped ginger
3 red chillies
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Method:

Peanut sauce:
Blend all ingredients together till mixture becomes pourable.

Cutlet:
In a medium sauce pan, fry tuna, onions and ginger-garlic paste in 1 tbsp of oil till golden brown. Add cumin and corriander powders. Add potatoes and mash into the tuna. Mix on heat for about 5 minutes. The potato-fish mixture should be of "workable" consistency, ie, you should be able to make homogenous balls that dont crumble. If the mixture seems a crumbly and like it wouldnt hold together, add water till it assumes appropriate consistency. Add cilantro, mix and cool mixture. Once the mixture is cool, make oblong (about 4 cm long and 3 cm wide) balls (cutlet) and press gently to slighly flatten. Dip each cutlet into beaten egg and cover with breadcrumbs. Shallow fry in remaning oil till golden brown. Serve warm with peanut ginger sauce

Grandma's weekend Egg Special

TRRRRING!!
A quick glance at caller id.

Me: Hi ma!
Mamma: Hi baby, how are you?
Me: Good ma, what are you doing?
Mm: I'm at work, just going for lunch.
Me: mmm...what's for lunch?
Mm: I made grandma's egg curry, pappu (lentil gravy) and rice.
Me: Wow! Ma I want some!!
Mm: It's so easy. Just fry 2 big onions and chillies (about 2 slit lengthwise). When onions carmelize add tomato and karam (chilli powder), one tomato for 2 onions. When tomatoes are cooked and you see oil seperating, add boiled eggs, you know, with slits on the sides. Mix well, but be careful with the eggs. In the end add 2-3 more chillies (slit), chopped kothimir (cilantro), and curry leaves. Make some rice in the cooker and eat hot hot.
Me: Oooo. I'll make it as soon as I get home! I'll tell you how it goes.
Mm: Ok baby, I have to go, I'll talk to you later.
Me: Ok ma, bye!

CLICK!
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It's sad the number of posts I throw away because the pictures don't turn out right. In spite of faulty pixels I have to share the recipe for Pappu (Telugu)/Parappu (Tamil)/Dal (Hindi)/Lentil gravy. It is a staple in Indian households irrespective of economic stratification. And for me nothing satiates better than a nice bowl of rice drowning in pappu, with a small mound of pickle or in this case, egg curry. I use my dad's recipe which is different from the traditional in that it has no turmeric or chilli powder but does have a touch of ginger-garlic paste lending a beautiful aroma.




You will need:

1/2 cup of onions (sliced)
1/2 cup of tomatoes (chopped)
1 cup of masoor dal (or any thin disc shaped lentil would do)
6 cups of water
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp each of cumin and mustard seeds (for tempering)
A few curry leaves (optional)
1 tsp vegetable oil
Boil or pressure cook lentil, onion, tomato, ginger-garlic paste with water till lentil is soft and mushy. If using a pressure cooker, cook sealed for about 20 minutes on medium high heat.
In a shallow pan heat oil and add cumin and mustard seeds. Wait till mustard seeds start and stop spluttering. Add curry leaves to pan. Add this "tempering" mixture to cooked lentils. Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

Radiotoni (pasta) tossed with Beef and Red pepper

Hidden under a shroud of modesty or just plain lethargy are my husbands excellent cooking skills. His steak meal, courtesy our humble backyard grill, could put the best of the best to shame. In less than a mere 40 minutes he can put together a couple of perfectly seasoned NY strips (medium well- just the way I like 'em), crusty fluff centered baked potatoes, grilled vegetables, garlic toast AND do the dishes. Yeah, the man is definitely culinarily adept. But he doesnt do it often enough, and when he does he doesnt wait to be asked. This recipe is the outcome of one such event. I was working in the study when I heard all sorts of clanking in the kitchen and on checking, saw pasta in a pot of boiling water and hubby completely absorbed in mashing something in a metal bowl. He has had no formal training in cooking and doubt (very unlike moi) has ever watched a single Food Network show, so his techniques and methods are unique but I can vouch that the outcomes are consistently YUM. If only I can convince him to do it more often :).
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Radiotoni tossed with Beef and Red pepper Ala Selvin!

You will need:
1 lb Radiotoni (or any other non stringy pasta)
1 lb extra lean ground beef (can substitute with turkey)
1 tomato chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1-2 garlic cloves finely minced
1 tsp Lawry's garlic pepper seasoning
1 jar Trader Joe's pasta sauce
Olive oil about 2 tbsp.

-Boil water and cook pasta as per box directions. Ours took almost 25 minutes to cook to dente.
-Meanwhile, mix ground beef with garlic pepper well and let stand for 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes to beef mixture.
-Heat medium nonstick saucepan, add 1 tbsp olive oil and cook beef-tomato mixture. Add garlic and salt to taste. When the meat is no longer pink add pasta sauce and let simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes.
-While this is happening, drain pasta making sure it is cooked.
-In a seperate pan sautee red pepper with olive oil till soft and cooked.
-Add pasta and cooked red pepper to beef-tomato sauce. Drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil and mix together. Let simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Serve hot.