Wednesday, February 2, 2011

FRIED POMFRET (Koliwada Style)


This fish is a speciality from a Suburban area in Mumbai - Sion Koliwada.
The recipe originated from Kolis (fisherfolk) and now it has become a delicacy and is served in various restaurants in Maharashtra. But still people prefer going to eat in the small roadside thelas of Koliwada for the authentic taste.
This recipe here may not exactly be the same but it is quite close to the original one. My Maharashtrian maid prepared the marination.I was quite happy with the results.You can prepare prawns in the same way.

Ingredients:
Pomfrets ...... 2 small (any other fish can be used but pomfret is preferable)
Lemon juice .... 2-3 tbsps.
Ginger paste ... 1 tsp.
Garlic paste .... 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder.. 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder ... 1/2 tsp.
Garam masala ....... 1 tsp.
Ajwain (Carom) powder .... 1/2 tsp.
Red colour ............. 1/4 tsp.
Rice flour ............. 2 tbsps.
Salt ....... to taste
Oil ..... to fry

Method:
1. Clean the fish well and make a big slit on the side and lightly on both sides for the marination.Usually small entire fish is preferable for this recipe and not the slices.
2. Mix all the ingredients (except rice flour) with salt and lemon juice and rub on the fish.(out side as well as inside)Leave it for few hours.
3. Heat oil for deep frying. Sprinkle a little rice flour all over the fish and deep fry it till done.
Garnish with onion slices and lemon wedges. Serve hot.

Cabin Fever

WOW this ice storm is crazy! Tomorrow will be my third day out of school. My district doesn't close school often. The streets are like ice hockey rinks. Here is a picture of the street in front of my house. The white stuff looks like snow, however it's all ICE.



A few weeks ago we had a beautiful snow fall here in North Texas. Our house looked so pretty all covered in snow. Now I wish it only looked like this.



Hopefully we'll be going back to school Friday. It should be a fun day because we'll be celebrating our 100th Day of School!

Cheezburger of the Day

Spilled Milk

A previous post regarding the EPA regulating milk spillages seems to have had some errors (as astutely pointed out by Kelly, our Missionary to the Frozen, Northern Wastelands), so it's been removed. You can see the Thomas Sowell article it came from here.

Over at that link, commenter diehard raises the same objections as did Kelly. I'm very disappointed in Mr. Sowell and will read his articles with a rather jaundiced eye from now on.

Roasted Leek and Potato Soup



Like I said earlier, it's time to eat lots of leeks! This is not a Chinese recipe of course, (but still auspicious!), and very yummy, perfect this season. Leek and potato soup is a classic combination, but to give it a lot more oomph, I roasted the leeks first to get all those caramelised leekiness. Along with 2 secret ingredients, it's not just a leek and potato soup.It's an extra baking tray to wash, but so worth it I promise you!

Roasted Leek and Potato Soup
serves 3-4
Ingredients
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, cleaned and chopped into about 5cm large pieces
1 med floury potato, peeled and chopped
1 med onion, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups homemade vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp+1tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
sea salt, black pepper (to taste. I used around 1 tsp of salt)

To serve
extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
snipped chives

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Prepare the leeks by trimming the ends and root, slice lengthwise then run water through to wash off the soil in between the leaves. Then chop into about 5cm large pieces.
3. Arrange chopped leeks and garlic on a baking tray, tossing all with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Roast for 30-45 min till the leeks turn slightly brown.
4. Meanwhile, sweat the onions in 1tsp each of olive oil and butter, till translucent and slightly golden.
5. Add the potatoes and the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 min.
6. Remove the roasted leeks and garlic and add to the pot, scraping all the caramelised yumminess in too (you can use some hot water or liquid from the pot to help deglaze the tray). Simmer for another 10 min.


7. Add the milk and remove from heat. Using a blender, puree the soup, adding more hot water or stock if necessary, till you get a smooth creamy consistency.


A creamy silky soup just bursting with the flavour of caramelised leeks, with just that hint of roasted garlic and dijon mustard<-- my secret ingredients.

Dantes, celebrities and Jumbos at the Beard House

February 2

Mario Cantone likes my wit.

I know he does because he told me so last night.

“I like your wit,” he said.

That’s right. Comedic performer Mario Cantone thinks I have wit. And he likes it.

I don’t know if he likes your wit because he didn’t say, but he likes mine.

We were at the James Beard House last night, having a dinner that had been dubbed “Battle of the Dantes” — later changed to “Dueling Dantes” which is equally Top Chef-like and not what chefs do when they cook together at the Beard House. Dual Dantes would have worked, or Dante Duo or even Dante Duet.

But when grown-up chefs cook together, they don’t fight. They collaborate, and that was clearly what Boston-based Dante de Magistris and Dante Boccuzzi, from Cleveland, were doing last night.

Mario Cantone doesn’t like Top Chef, by the way, because viewers can’t taste the food, and so they can't judge with any intelligence.

But his dining companion and former work colleague said she enjoys Top Chef. She gets into the food. She was seated between Mario and me. You might have heard of her, because she was Kim Cattrall.

She’s a nice person to have dinner with. She tells stories that are amusing and brief about travel and life experience. She graciously and politely answers questions about being a celebrity without droning on about it. She asks other people about themselves.

So we exchanged observations about restaurants. She had eaten a fair amount of Dante Boccuzzi’s food before because she lives near Aureole’s former Upper East Side location, where Dante was executive chef for a number of years.

“He’s cooked for me many times,” she said, showing an admirable awareness for the fact that it’s good to be a celebrity in a restaurant — although she later said it was a drag to go to places, particularly on Madison Avenue (who knew?) where fans are likely to harass you when you’d just like to have a meal.

Obviously, one must be grateful to fans, so she’s fine with signing autographs, but pictures are a drag because if one person sees someone having a picture taken with her then everyone wants to have a picture taken with her.

Anyway, she was nice. And she can eat.

So the celebrities were on my left. To my right: Jumbos.

Ben Bell, who does social networking at The Huffington Post, was there with Simone Press, who’s in an entry-level job at CBS (as is appropriate, since they graduated from college in, like, 2007).

We bonded quickly, because we all went to college outside of Boston.

No, we didn’t go to Harvard, we went to Tufts. Sure, I graduated 17 years before them, but we can still bond.

Especially since we didn’t just all go to Tufts, we all studied in China.

Well, sort of — they studied in Hong Kong, which was still a British colony when I was roughing it in Nanjing in 1988, but it’s certainly more adventurous then spending your junior year in London, say.

Did you know Kim Cattrall was born in Britain and grew up in British Columbia (Vancouver Island) as well as London?

She says she can totally walk around in London without anyone bothering her. New Yorkers take pride in leaving celebrities alone when they see them, but Kim says we’re not nearly as good at it as Londoners are.

Mario Cantone, a Massachusetts native, was the celebrity who was invited to the dinner, by Dante de Magistris’ publicists [or so I thought — it turns out that he was invited by Dante Boccuzzi’s people, because, like Kim, he became a fan of Dante’s at Aureole; see comment #1 below]. Kim was his guest. When the chefs came out with their crew at the end of the meal, as one does at the Beard House, Mario declared loudly — shouted, really — that he knew that the Dantes had just left their wives and were hooking up that evening in the St. Regis.

Kim bowed her head slightly, appropriately embarrassed.

“Write it up!” Mario said to me of his declaration of the Dantes' mutual love.

Sure, why not?

Consider it written up.

What we ate and drank:

Stuzzichini:
by Dante Boccuzzi:
Truffled mortadella panino (the best bologna sandwich I’ve ever had).
“Caviar in a cloud” (American sturgeon roe in potato foam over cooked egg yolk)

by Dante de Magistris:
“Vitello tonnato“ (but with a piece of raw tuna instead of the traditional sauce made from canned tuna) with caluiflower giardiniera
Candied guanciale and artichoke dip
NV rosé brut Conti di Buscareto, (Ancona, Marche, Italy)
Crudo (by Dante Boccuzzi):
Long Island fluke with octopus garnish, blood oranges, extra virgin oil Toscano, mustard greens
(2009 Anima Umbria Bianco, Arnaldo Caprai, (Umbria, Italy)

Trota (by Dante de Magistris):
Mafalde pasta Alfredo, smoked trout, trout roe and black radish
2009 Grechetto, “Grecante,” Arnaldo Caprai, (still Umbria)

Quaglia:
by Dante Boccuzzi: Black pepper seared quail, black quinoa risotto, leeks, rosemary toasted pine nuts
by Dante de Magistris: Chestnut and porcini stuffed quail Milanese with pomegranate molasses and pear mostarda
2007 Montefalco Rosso, Arnaldo Caprai (you know the drill)

Cinghiale:
by Dante Boccuzzi (who said he’d never cooked boar before): Confit boar shoulder and prosciutto, persimmon compote, green garlic chives, yuzu soy gastrique
by Dante de Magistris: Slow roasted boar loin, peperonata, vincotto, cocoa, hazelnuts
2004 Sagrantino di Montefalco, “Collepiano,” Arnaldo Caprai...

Dolce:
by Dante Boccuzzi: Chocolate hazelnut arancino with caramelized bananas and passion fruit syrup
by Dante de Magistris: Chocolate eggplant pasticcio, amarena cherries, cedro citrus
NV “Cardamaro,” Giovanni Bosca, Canelli (Piedmont, Italy).

Stir-fried Leeks with Beef and Beancurd



It's Chinese New Year! Back home, my family's probably having a feast with lots of abalone and sea cucumber and roast duck ): The Chinese New Year fare is not only about the expensive or rare ingredients though, often it's the simple vegetables that shine. I love leeks, and as my mum happily informed me, that's going to bring me lots of wealth. Leeks are 蒜苗/大蒜 ('suan'), which sounds like “算”i.e. count, so the Chinese believe it means you will have lots of money to count. You could do it minus the beancurd too, or with extra vegetables like carrots, but the golden beancurd represents happiness (white tofu not recommended..white=death?) I can't promise you'll suddenly get a windfall with this, but no harm having some lucky food in you right? ;)

Stir-fried Leeks with Beef and Beancurd
serves 2-3
200g beef rump (it's a cheap cut but check out the Chinese stir-fry tips I learnt on how to make cheap meats tender even if you aren't slow-cooking it!)
1 medium leek, sliced into about 5cm long pieces
100g firm beancurd, chopped into medium pieces
1 red chilli, sliced thinly
2cm ginger, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp of olive oil+2 tbsp of coconut oil/palm oil

For marinade and velveting
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp good (naturally aged) soy sauce
pinch of five-spice powder
few drop sesame oil

For sauce
4 tbsp of homemade stock
1 tbsp good (naturally aged) soy sauce
1 tsp of Chinese rice wine (shaoxing/huadiao)
1 tsp Chinese black vinegar
1/2 tsp of sesame oil
pinch of sugar
1tsp of cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp water (to thicken)

Method
1. Slice the beef thinly against the grain. Mix well with the marinade and then leave it aside for 30 min.
2. Meanwhile, you can prep your ingredients, wash the dirt off the leeks and chop everything up. Also, mix the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch and water so later you can have a relaxing stir fry.
3. Over med-high heat, add half the oil and fry the firm beancurd for about 5 min till light brown and set aside.
4. 30 min should have passed. Over high heat, add the rest of the oil and flash-fry the beef for 1 min, then remove from the pan (sorry no wok) and let drain and set aside.
5. Add the ginger and garlic to the hot oil, fry till fragrant. Add the leeks and chilli and cook till the leeks soften.
6. Add the sauce, which should help deglaze the pan. Let it come to the boil, then reduce the heat.
7. Stir in the cornstarch slurry a little at a time till you get the consistency you want. Note: it will thicken after it cools, so don't go pouring everything at a go!
8. Add the beef and beancurd (finally all the ingredients are happily together!) and stirfry for 2 min or so, making sure everything's coated.
9. Serve over a steaming bowl of rice (:

The beef, prepared this way, is really tender, oozing with juices and flavour-- no need for expensive sirloin steak cuts. Yay for frugal ingredients (:

The Secrets to a Chinese Stir-fry

Whenever people think of Chinese food, they naturally think of stir-fries. It's like the equivalent of Chinese cooking, but I think there's so much more to Chinese food. A lot of effort goes into the food, all the careful steaming to get everything done to perfection, the braising, the slow-cooking for tender and flavoursome food. It's not all quick, easy stir-fries. Chinese restaurants in Singapore (and in China I assume) are so so different from the Chinese restaurants here which serve up MSG-laden sticky and oily deep-fried food.

That said, a good Chinese stir-fry is not that easy. Even with the exact same ingredients and recipe my stir-fry can never match up to that of my favourite tze-char stalls in Singapore. I love cooking and finding out about food, to the extent of a nerd actually. So here are the compilation of tips from surfing a lot of forums, watching a lot of Youtube and master chefs, and Saturday Kitchen on BBC iplayer.

1. High heat!
Sauteeing slowly over low-heat doesn't sear the meat and vegetables the same way, and everything needs to be done fast, which brings me to the next point

2. Fast!
It's not always the more the better, in this case, more time is not better. It always amazes me how much time goes into the prepping of the ingredients but the actual stirfry is over in a matter of minutes.

3. A wok
The heat distribution of a wok is quite different form that of a frying pan. It's where you get that wok hei, that smoky depth to the food at tze char stalls or restaurants. Also, because it curves in at the base, you can "deep-fry" garlic, shallots and ginger without having to use much oil. I don't have this ): I will always be inadequate. Boo.


With meat, I've always wondered how Chinese chefs get the meat so tender and juicy despite the fast cooking on high heat. So anyway, Ken Hom revealed the secret to this on the recent episode of Saturday Kitchen:

4. Velveting
You coat the chicken or whatever meat pieces in egg white, cornflour and some rice wine, before cooking in warm (forums say hot. but the Ken Hom says warm..) water or oil, take it out before it's cooked, because it'll continue cooking on slowly, and that add it back to the dish at the end for a final heatshock. I was so fascinated I trawled the forums and found out some people use baking soda instead too.
So, it goes like this
For about 500g of meat, let it marinade for 20-30 min in:
1/2 tsp baking soda OR 1 eggwhite
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (shaoxing/huadiao)
1/2 tbsp or so of oil (I'll use sesame oil)
any other flavouring agents like soysauce etc.
2 tbsp of water/stock (for beef esp, apparently because beef will absorb more water when cut)
I like the idea of parboiling in water, so you get a lighter dish than using oil to parcook. I've tried chicken cooked this way before I almost thought it wasn't cooked because it was so tender! But I'm not sure if it'll work with beef?
Future project: Experiment with all the techniques (baking soda/eggwhite, water/oil, warm/hot), using different meats, then do an update someday ;)

5. Slicing
For meats like beef, slice against the grain, and slice thinly.
Tip: Partially freeze it so the meat stiffens up and you can go real thin diagonally easily.

Ah I know I'm weird, but I really enjoy doing research like this.

Winter Ice Storm

Yesterday and last night we had a lot of sleet and rain here in Ohio, for that matter, most of the mid west to east coast did. The poor dogs were too scared to go outside much last night because they could hear tree limbs falling all around the house. I was just waiting for the power and the satellite dish to go out, but thank goodness, neither of them ever did. So this is what we woke up to this morning...

 

Thankfully no damage was done, I was worried about the cars being parked out under the trees. Looks like we will have a lot of clean up when it warms up! I'm just glad God kept us all safe and warm last night!! 

Wisdom Wednesday


A couple weeks ago, we went to the Creation Museum (my second time, everyone else first time) for my mom's birthday. I wanted to share this beautiful picture from there for today's Wisdom Wednesday quote.

Photo Credit: Taken by Heather G. at the Creation Museum


Grilled Fish with Basil and Tomato Sambal (Ikan Bakar Colo-Colo)

Grilled Fish with Basil and Tomato Sambal (Ikan Bakar Colo-Colo)

1 whole fish, approximately 1 kg, cleaned
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
large piece of banana leaf
or aluminum foil to wrap fish

Colo-colo sambal :

3 tbsp lime or lemon juice
2 tomatoes, cut in half and sliced
4 sprigs basil, chopped
5 red chilies, seeded and sliced
4 French shallots, peeled and sliced
4 tbsp light soy sauce

Season fish with salt and lime juice, then brush with oil. Wrap fish in banana leaf and place parcel directly on charcoal or under a grill.

Cook until banana leaf is evenly browned and fish is done.

Prepare colo-colo sambal by combining all ingredients and mixing well. The sambal can be poured over the fish when serving or just put into an individual sauce bowl for each diner to add to the fish as liked.

Grilled Fish with Basil and Tomato Sambal (Ikan Bakar Colo-Colo)

Grilled Fish with Basil and Tomato Sambal (Ikan Bakar Colo-Colo)

1 whole fish, approximately 1 kg, cleaned
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
large piece of banana leaf
or aluminum foil to wrap fish

Colo-colo sambal :

3 tbsp lime or lemon juice
2 tomatoes, cut in half and sliced
4 sprigs basil, chopped
5 red chilies, seeded and sliced
4 French shallots, peeled and sliced
4 tbsp light soy sauce

Season fish with salt and lime juice, then brush with oil. Wrap fish in banana leaf and place parcel directly on charcoal or under a grill.

Cook until banana leaf is evenly browned and fish is done.

Prepare colo-colo sambal by combining all ingredients and mixing well. The sambal can be poured over the fish when serving or just put into an individual sauce bowl for each diner to add to the fish as liked.

Don't Ask

Sometimes things like this happen at my house. Kayak in the pool...what!


Winning the Future

Wouldn't government support for telecommuting be more futuristic and environmentally friendly than high-speed rail? Wouldn't it be better for office buildings to be unnecessary and instead of people being moved about in big boxes, not having them move about at all?

Win the future!

A Little "Ditty"





I have a little ditty.
About my son.
He's 14.

That should say a lot.

He is very amusing.

Parents of 14 yr. old boys should understand.
If his room were ever clean,
he would have no idea whose room he was in.
Last time I was in ... there ...
Legos had reached about ankle deep.
There is also a certain aroma in ... there.

Moving on.
'nuff said.

He is suddenly interested in cooking.
He started with a fried egg.
Very curious development noticed.
He is actually holding the yolk as the egg cooks centered just in the middle of the white

so. it. is. perfect.

Legos (did I mention) ankle deep.
Aroma.
Moving on...
'nuff said.

As parents, we search... earnestly... for any sign of maturity in our 14 year old boys.
Parents of 14 yr. old boys should understand.

Well.... 
I just know it.  
This is a sign.
I'm not really an optimist, but I am searching here.

So.  At Williams Sonoma, I saw these little round contraptions.
My son's newfound fried egg-yolk-centered-hold-it-there technique could
...mature. Or, let's say...benefit.
I bought the cute little contraptions
I surprised him with the cute little contraptions

My son's eyes reflected...Pure. Delight.
Perfectly round eggs with centered yolks.

Its a definite sign.
Yup.

A.definite.sign.
I  must be raising a  perfectionist.
I'm so proud of him.
As only a mother can be.


Rocking The Casbah

So I'm off to Marrakesh for a Yoga Retreat in May and to get me in the mood for rocking the casbah and suchlike I thought I'd give the Lamb Chop Tagine with Minted Fluffy Cous Cous a try - Page 88.  Unlike traditional tagines which need long slow cooking this was a quicker method although it seemed rather strange to have to cook a panfull of only onions, stock & spices for 30 minutes before even adding the lamb, but I did as I was told.

I pretty much followed the exact recipie and method which does call for quite a lot of different spices but all ones that I had in the storecupboard so nothing too unusual to buy and never use again.  I didn't have any green olives (and don't really like them!) so used black ones and I halved the quantity of prunes as there seemend to be loads of them and I feared the after effects!

Alas my cous cous was anything but fluffy - stodgy and porridge like would be a better description!  Its not usually something I have problems with cooking so don't quite know what went wrong but will stick to my own tried and tested method of preperation in the future.


Boy though it was amazing and especailly enjoyed the prunes, Girl turned up her nose and refused all black bits, and all the bits in the cous cous, and all the chick peas - I guess she perhaps ate a bit of the lamb.  Why do I bother?! 

Unfortunately one of my major bugbears of recipie books has been rearing its ugly head in Giraffe - no pictures for some recipies.  ARGH!  I can't tell you how much it puts me off not being able to see what I'm supposed to be cooking.  So as to whether it turned out looking like it should have I have absolutely no idea - and that really annoys me.  At a rough estimate I'd guess there are only photos for half of the book so black marks from me for that.

Would definately make it again, lovely robust flavours and nice and quick.  However I might be tempted to buy a Tagine Pot on holiday and try making the real deal.  Then again my measily Ryan Air luggage allowance probably won't even cover my yoga mat - let alone souvenirs.