Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Biggest Loser

The "Loser"


The "Winner"








The Jackpot

















In our recent quest to eat more dark green leafy veggies, I decided to try out 
uber-healthy 
collard greens. 
Every recipe I found recommended cooking these greens with a ham hock to flavor the dish. Ham Hock? 
Oooh. 
That sounds quite sophisticated.

Healthy and sophisticated.  
The wheels were turning.
At the meat counter of Whole Foods, I put on my most professional looking visage as I casually requested 
" ahem...one ham hock, please".   
"Yes, ma'am
 "Would you like that hock smoked?"  
After what might have been detected as 
a brief drop in my sure-fired countenance,
 I replied, 
"of course...smoked". 
Well? Smoked sounds tasty.  
That felt satisfying.  
Now, off to the delectable lush produce section of Whole Foods in search of 
dark green leafy finds.  
I felt  like pounds were melting all over the floor of the store as I hoisted the bundle of incredibly earthy-looking collard greens into my basket 
(no plastic bag, of course).  
Geez. Collard greens are huge.   
I walked extra slow around Whole Foods 
just in case people 
wanted to oogle at the veritable garden of vitamin packed goods in my cart.  
Come to think of it, 
I should have worn work out clothes on this day to complete the act.
I mean...
outing.  
Nope.  Scratch that.  
That attire might have tarnished the believability of my basket contents upon closer inspection of the 
"pusher of the basket".   
Fast forward.
Hours later. 
A heaping platter of collard greens 
(a la flaveur de hock de ham) 
greeted my awaiting family.  They are increasingly getting quite euphoric awaiting the arrival of my latest exploits in the kitchen.  
I knew the accolades were going to be questionable with this dish, but it was the required dark - green - and leafy "must-do" for healthiness.  
I warned them. 
Pffft.  
Sooooo...
Some seriously sorry looking signs of shock winced back at me from my adoring brood.  Let me reminisce about some of the conversational comments that ensued.  
"Disgusting", 
"Ew", 
"Yuck", 
and 
"Are we eating grass?"  
Hmmmm....in all honesty,  
it was really bad.  
I definitely humbled myself that night.  Something went wrong-o in the kitchen-o.  
Back to the dark green leafy drawing board of selections.  
Two good things came out of this latest health attempt.  
The ham on the hock was quite delicious. In fact, there was such an ample supply of smoked meat that we diced it up and put it in a lentil stew. 
 A hit.  A real healthy hit 
(meaning the lentil stew, not the ham).  
The grand prize winner,however...
the jackpot of all jackpot recipients, however,
was our 4-legged family member.
who
 got the ham hock bone.  
Was I a winner in this little guy's eyes 
or what?  
Woah.  
He has carried that bone around for 3 days now.  In fact, he is curled up right now next to me all snuggled up with that darn bone.  
Awww. Cook's best friend. 
I have hope 
that with this recent disappointing delivery to the dinner table, 
watching my family's faces slowly droop, 
one after the other, 
that I can rise again to bring sounds culinary delight back to the fold.  
It might take a dessert strategy.  
Should I?  
Remember the chocolate souffle Riley suggested?

Still searching for the elusive Chipotle

Tried Sainsburys this time but still no sign of the elusive Chipotle Chillies which have previously featured on the Giraffe ingreedients list and did so again today in Smoked Haddock & Salmon Fishcakes with Chipotle Veggie Slaw - Page 126.  Not liking the inclusion of difficult/impossible to find things - thats chipotle chilli and mouli that I'm on the hunt for now.  Please let me know if and where you spot them!

So on with the fishcakes...  I was in a bit of a rush to make these which wasn't a good start as it meant the mash and fish were still warm when I was trying to make the cakes.  Would have been much easier to work with if I'd planned ahead a bit and been able to let the mix cool and/or let the formed fishcakes cool before cooking.  Again I used my trusty Burger Maker from Lakeland to form the cakes - I got 9 from the mix. (and have 2 left to have with a poached egg for my breakfast tomorrow!)

Clearly my Chipotle Slaw wasn't ever going to live up to its name given the elusive vital ingreedient.  So I kinda gave up on their whole coleslaw recipie and did my own thang with mayo, cabbage, carrots, iceberg, corriander and bog standard red chilli.  I did add a splash of  the specified Worcestershire Sauce which gave it a nice kick.


The instructions said to saute the cakes until just browned then finish off in the oven for 20 mins to heat through.  I just cooked them completely in the frying pan which worked just fine.  Some did fall apart/crack a wee bit as a result of the lack of cooling. Girl cleared her plate and asked me to make them again - clearly she didn't even contemplate trying the coleslaw but had hers with baked beans and her own special mixture of mayo/ketchup/BBQ sauce!  Boy and Mr made suitably appreciative noises.  I thought they were a bit middle of the road.  Quite heavy on the lemon and sweetcorn but I could be co-erced into making them again.

I feel a wee bit guilty about doing a recipie with both salmon and cod having watched and been shocked by Hugh's Fish Fight last week.  If you watched you'll already know that Half of all the fish caught in the North Sea are thrown back overboard DEAD.  This is an insane waste so please sign up to help try and stop it http://www.fishfight.net/  In my own personal defence I was inspired by HFW to cook Mackerel for the first time ever last night and will definately be doing so again.  Give this recipie a try Devilled Mackerel with Potatoes & Spinach its nicer and less faf than the fishcakes!

Pan-fried Liver with Caramelised Onions and Garlic Mustard-Mashed Cauliflower


This is a classic liver-and-onion recipe, but--slight twist-- with a bit of a balsamic vinegar sharpness, and a much lighter cauliflower mash instead of potato, to balance out the richness of the dish.

The most important thing to remember when cooking liver is: DO NOT OVERCOOK. You either quickly sear it on high heat, or slowly braise it over low heat. For this recipe, I'm quickly frying the slices of liver, then topping it off with sweet caramelised onions.

Pan-fried Liver with Caramelised Onions
serves 2
Ingredients
100g lamb's liver (big slices about 1-2 cm thick, trimmed of the membrane, or a friendly butcher should do it for you)
a little bit of plain flour (just to coat, 1/2 a tbsp should be enough)
sea salt, black pepper (to taste)
1 tbsp of olive oil + 1 tsp butter

For the caramelised onions
1 large onion, sliced
1 tbsp of olive oil/ butter
1 tsp dijon mustard
splash of balsamic vinegar
black pepper (I like to be generous with this)

Method
1. Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat, add the onions to the pan (hot enough such that they sizzle but don't sputter), season with black pepper, then cook until the onions are golden-brown, stirring quite often. Add the mustard and balsamic vinegar, and let it reduce till almost dry. Whole process should take around 20 min.
2. While the onions cook, prep the liver! Season the flour lightly with the salt and pepper. Season the liver too, then coat with the flour.
3. Heat olive oil over high heat in a pan. Add the liver slices and fry till browned and cooked, about 1 min on both sides (but it really depends on thickness and pan etc. just make sure the inside is still slightly pink and the outside is nicely seared). Add that little dab of butter to help caramelise and add flavour.
4. Place liver slices on a plate and scoop the onions and any residual gravy over. Enjoy with cauliflower mash (and deep fried sage leaves if you can)!

Garlic and Mustard- Mashed Cauliflower
serves 2-3
Ingredients
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
2 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp unsalted butter
sea salt (to taste), (generous) pinch of black pepper

Method
1. Fry the chopped garlic till lightly browned. (browning the garlic first makes all the difference!)
2. Add the cauliflower florets and enough water to cover the base of the sauce pan, then cover and cook for about 10 min till soft and till water is gone.
3. Remove from heat, but do not let the cauliflower cool! While it's still warm, mash the cauliflower and garlic till smooth.
4. Add the mustard, butter, salt and black pepper and combine well.

I sometimes add homemade cream cheese/parmesan instead of mustard, or chopped chives/spring onion/any other herbs. It's very flexible! This is a great alternative to mashed potatoes if you feel like having something lighter.

Anyway, here are some closing tips for anyone still scared of trying offal because of "that smell":
1. You can soak your liver in a bowl of milk in the fridge until you're ready to cook, then remove and pat dry.
2. Get fresh liver, from the butcher or farmer. Those in the supermarket are usually old, and I admit, does stink.

For people new to liver, these are the main types of liver:
Chicken liver - small, tender, quick-cooking, least strong flavour
Lamb's liver - tender, quick-cooking, mild flavour
Calves' liver - tender, quick-coking, good flavour (I've not tried this, but my butcher tells me it's got fantastic flavour. He also very kindly told me it's quite a bit more expensive than lamb.)
Pig's liver - slower cooking, good strong flavour
Goose liver - for the lucky 5% of the population who can afford it.



For the Fun and the Challenge: Indian Food for Sixteen

Last Saturday night we gave a dinner party/fundraiser for our church, First Congregational Church of Berkeley. The evening, entitled “Trends in Religion, Culture, and Politics,” included a dinner, to be cooked by me, and a discussion led by Katherine Fulton and our senior minister, Patricia de Jong. Sixteen people had signed up. Whew! So several weeks in advance of the Big Night, I asked myself: What would be the most fun to cook for a group this size?

I found the answer quite easily. Back in December we spent a week at Rancho la Puerta, a beautiful spa and cooking school located in Tecate, Mexico, about an hour from San Diego. The cooking school is connected to the organic garden that I wrote about last year on January 10, 2010. This year’s guest chef was Raghavan Iyer, an Indian from Mumbai (Bombay), who now lives in Minneapolis of all places. Raghavan is a very gifted teacher and also writes splendid cookbooks. His most recent is 660 Curries (2008), following up on Betty Crocker’s Indian Home Cooking (really) and The Turmeric Trail. I loved his class, loved my classmates, and loved the food. So I bought his books and started working my way through 660, relishing the flavors and the exploration of a new cuisine. And decided, with no small amount of hubris, that I would cook an Indian feast for the dinner party. Had I ever been to an Indian feast? Actually, no. But it was a thrill, a challenge, a “what the hell” kind of moment.

Perusing his cookbooks, as well as Veganomicon, a favorite vegan cookbook, I came up with ten dishes that I thought would work—really I found thirteen but quickly realized that ten was plenty. Eight new recipes, two that I’d cooked before. Yellow pad in hand, I started planning.

I made a store list, and on Friday photocopied the recipes and put them in a notebook—so much easier than wrestling with four cookbooks and multiple pages, visited Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley for Indian provisions and finally went to my local supermarket for everything else. I got home around noon and started cooking. Did I mention that first thing in the morning I’d had a crown on a back tooth? It was quite a day. By 10:30pm that evening, I had made seven of the ten dishes, crammed everything into my fridge (no mean feat), and cleaned up the kitchen. Saturday morning, I started on the last three dishes, interspersed with hiding various messes and tidying up the rest of the house. By 5:00pm when the guests started to arrive, I was pretty much ready. And the evening moved on nicely from there.

Curried Carrot Dip, Veganomicon, (see recipe below) with crackers and toasted naan (Indian bread) accompanied the first part of the conversation.






I put the following dishes on my dining room table, buffet style:

Cashew Cheese with a Red Bell Pepper Sauce, 660 Curries








Chickpeas with Mango Powder, 660 Curries (see recipe below)








Chicken in Saffron-Almond Sauce, The Turmeric Trail (see recipe below)







Samosa-Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Veganomicon








Gujarati Cabbage Slaw, Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking








Unripe [and Semi-ripe] Papaya Salad with Chiles, The Turmeric Trail








Spiced Yogurt Sauce, Veganomicon








Golden Raisin Relish, The Turmeric Trail

And finally, warmed naan which I purchased.







We took a break from the second part of the discussion to sample Sweet Potato Halwa, Recipes from an Urban Village, along with little tangerines and dates.






It was quite a feast. You’ll find recipes for three of the dishes below.

Thanks to Veganomicon and to Raghavan’s delicious recipes, the food was a great success. Lots of new flavors and textures: mango powder, asafetida, garam masala, paneer. A beautiful array of colors, lots of oranges and subtle yellows, green garnishes, and red sprinkles. And the conversation was as lively and interesting as the food, just as I had hoped. There were mutterings about a repeat next year. Am I up for it?

It's the Regulations, Stupid, Part 4

Here's a little telltale sign for you.
Housing starts fell 4.3 percent to a 529,000 annual rate, the lowest level since October 2009, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey called for a 550,000 rate. A jump in building permits, a proxy for future construction, may reflect attempts to get approval before changes in building codes took effect at the beginning of this year.
Emphasis mine. That italicized sentence tells you that in the last year, new government regulations have made it harder to build houses.

Awesome.

A Taste of India

The following three recipes aren’t exactly an Indian menu—but could be with a few additions. Like rice and stir-fried spinach with garlic. Better in terms of learning to cook Indian food and helping your dinner companions like the spiciness of it, you might introduce the chicken or the chickpeas into a dinner that is rounded out with more familiar fare. Like rice and a salad. The carrot dip will be a hit under any circumstances.

Curried Carrot Dip

















1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into ½ -inch pieces
¼ cup sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Place the carrots in a pot of salted water and bring it to a boil. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and let cool.
2. Place the sunflower seeds in a blender or food processor and process into crumbs. Add the carrots and all the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor as needed.
3. Taste for salt and adjust the spices and lemon juice. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use. Serve with crackers, toasted naan (Indian bread) or fresh veggies.

Makes 2 cups
Adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

Chickpeas with Mango Powder
This recipe calls for mango powder which you can find at a purveyor of Indian spices in your area. I go to Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley, located on Channing Way at Fourth Street. But don’t hesitate to use lime juice instead. Vary the amount of heat in the dish by starting with a small amount of cayenne, tasting the sauce (and waiting for the heat to build), and adding more to your taste. This dish benefits from sitting for a while after being made. The flavor sneaks into the chickpeas with every passing minute. Just reheat gently before serving.

















2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 black, green or white cardamom pods
1-2 cinnamon sticks, 3 inches long
1 cup canned crushed or diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons mango powder or fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, ground, or 2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
½ teaspoons cayenne pepper [I used about 1/8 teaspoon]
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
3 cups cooked chickpeas, canned or cooked from dried beans
1 cup water or chicken stock
4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup finely chopped red onion

1. Heat the oil in a medium sauté pan over medium high heat. Sprinkle in the cumin seeds, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks and cook until they sizzle and smell aromatic, 10 to 15 seconds.
2. Add the tomatoes, mango powder or lime juice, coriander, ground cumin, salt, cayenne, and turmeric. Lower the heat to medium and simmer the sauce, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the chickpeas, 1 cup water or stock, and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Cover the pan and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally until the chickpeas absorb the flavors, and the sauce thickens, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Sprinkle with the onion and the remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro and serve.

Makes 4 cups
Adapted from Raghavan Iyer’s 660 Curries

Chicken in Saffron-Almond Sauce
This dish is so convenient. Ahead of time you can get the chicken steeping in the cream and saffron, chop up the garlic and ginger, and make the almond paste. When you are ready for dinner, everything is set to go and you can cook it up in 20 to 25 minutes.

















1-2 pinches saffron threads
½ cup heavy cream, warmed (in the microwave)
1¼ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch strips
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper [I used much less.]
½ cup blanched almond slivers
¼ cup water or chicken stock
1 teaspoon Garam Masala (see below)
2 tablespoons ghee, vegetable oil, or butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
5 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1. In a large bowl, steep the saffron in the warm heavy cream for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the chicken, cilantro, salt, and cayenne. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but no more than 8 hours.
3. In a blender, purée the almonds, water or stock, and Garam Masala until smooth.
4. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the ghee, oil or butter over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden.
5. Stir in the chicken mixture and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until partially cooked.
6. Mix in the almond paste and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center.
7. Pour into a warmed serving bowl. Rice or naan (Indian bread) are great for sopping up the delicious sauce.

4 servings
Adapted from Raghavan Iyer’s The Turmeric Trail

Garam Masala
You can find jars of Garam Masala in the spice section of your supermarket or in packets at an Indian spice store. I don’t particularly like the balance of spices in these jars—the one I tried has too much allspice or cloves in it. But if you are really pinched for time, try one out. It won’t ruin your dish, but your own mixture will make it much better.

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (removed from the pods)
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
15 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks, 3 inches in length, broken into pieces

1. In a small heavy skillet, roast all the spices over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the spices turn one shade darker, start to crackle, and become fragrant.
2. Transfer the roasted spices to a plate to cool for 3 to 5 minutes. Grind in a spice grinder until the mixture has the texture of finely ground black pepper.
3. Store in an airtight jar in a cool, dark place for up to a month. Be sure to label the jar so you remember the contents.

Makes about ¼ cup
Adapted from Raghavan Iyer’s The Turmeric Trail

Why we need to learn to eat the "icky" meat

While we're talking about superfoods like kale, I'll take the chance to introduce a superfood that's less widely known/accepted by many people-- organ meats, or offal!

Vegetables and fruits are full of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants, but their micronutrient content pales in comparison to organ meats. Generally, organ meats have 10-100 times more nutrients than muscle meats, and you'll see that traditionally, organ meats were consumed and prized. In TCM for instance, there's a belief that eating the liver is beneficial for your liver, the kidney for your kidney etc. I used to think it's bollocks, but now western medicine is catching up (yes, heh) and scientific research backs up that belief-- the animal's body tends to direct the right nutrients to each organ, so, for e.g. lamb's livers will contain many of the essential nutrients for your liver. 1 serving of liver has well over 100% of the RDA of vitamins B12, A, B2, copper, folate and (easily absorbable) iron.

It's kinder to the earth too, because if you kill an animal, you should make sure you appreciate the sacrifice the animal's made, and make use of the whole animal, not just the nicer/prettier parts.

Note: It's very important to get organ meats from animals that have been pasture-raised and fed naturally, especially because animals tend to store toxins in their fat and liver. Although, frankly, whatever meat you get should ideally be from animals that are raised properly. It really doesn't cost you more (believe me, I'm a stingy student surviving on a budget), as long as you you avoid the usual popular cuts and go for unpopular (but a lot more exciting and flavoursome) cuts or... offal!

FUNNY BLOGS I FOLLOW

Today I wanted to share with you a few of the blogs that I follow that make me laugh. 

The first one is:


Allie is laugh out loud hilarious...she post stories with child-like illustrations. I absolutely love her blog, its so refreshing to follow a blog that is told in this sort of way.

The second one is:


Lydia and Kate write this blog together and are a dynamic duo. The often write about their kids, their lives, and just funny stuff in general that everyone can relate to.  I often find myself snickering with every read.

The last one for today is:


Amy is the author of this lovely blog. She writes about all things pregnancy, and because that is the next step in my life, I can relate. Any mom can relate I think. She is a witty writer and has the same "I don't givva f**k attitude that I have...she cracks me up and she will you too.

Just for Fun

South Indian Egg Curry Recipe


Egg cuury ingredients:

  • 4 boiled eggs
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 cup curd or coconut milk
  • 1 tomato chopped
  • 2 garlic flakes
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tasp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tbsp oil
  • salt to taste
  • 1" fresh ginger root
  • few curry leaves
  • few coriander leaves


Egg curry preparation:

  • Heat a pan with 1/4 tbsp of oil and add sliced onions.
  • Saute till the onions become transparent.
  • Remove from heat and allow it to cool for some time.
  • Then make a paste with onions and keep aside.
  • Now make a paste with ginger, garlic and keep aside.
  • Then boil the eggs and peel off the skin and keep aside.
  • When they start to pop add curry leaves and onion paste.
  • Now heat the same pan with remaining oil and add mustard seeds.
  • Saute till the tomatoes become juicy.
  • Saute for 3-5 mins, then add chopped tomatoes.
  • Then add chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder and saute for a min.
  • Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell disappears.
  • Now add yoghurt and little amount of water and mix well.
  • Cover with a lid and cook for 5 mins.
  • Then add boiled eggs and cook for few more mins till the masala is of your desired consistency.
  • Finally garnish with coriander leaves and sreve with rice, Roti, etc...

South Indian Egg Curry Recipe


Egg cuury ingredients:

  • 4 boiled eggs
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 cup curd or coconut milk
  • 1 tomato chopped
  • 2 garlic flakes
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tasp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tbsp oil
  • salt to taste
  • 1" fresh ginger root
  • few curry leaves
  • few coriander leaves


Egg curry preparation:

  • Heat a pan with 1/4 tbsp of oil and add sliced onions.
  • Saute till the onions become transparent.
  • Remove from heat and allow it to cool for some time.
  • Then make a paste with onions and keep aside.
  • Now make a paste with ginger, garlic and keep aside.
  • Then boil the eggs and peel off the skin and keep aside.
  • When they start to pop add curry leaves and onion paste.
  • Now heat the same pan with remaining oil and add mustard seeds.
  • Saute till the tomatoes become juicy.
  • Saute for 3-5 mins, then add chopped tomatoes.
  • Then add chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder and saute for a min.
  • Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell disappears.
  • Now add yoghurt and little amount of water and mix well.
  • Cover with a lid and cook for 5 mins.
  • Then add boiled eggs and cook for few more mins till the masala is of your desired consistency.
  • Finally garnish with coriander leaves and sreve with rice, Roti, etc...

TIP FOR ASTHMA PATIENT

Take 1 Tea spoon of onion juice.Can relief from breathing problem soon.(It is useful tip for asthma patient should try it) 

REMOVE BITTERNESS OF SPINACH


To remove bitterness of spinach, put                 spinach in to salty water for two to                  three times.Bitterness of spinach will be over.