Monthly Archives: September 2010

so delish! lets see: try the one with ricotta and greens and olives first, then the fish one, so unique, you must consider the spaghetti one night when you’re in a bit of a sluttish–make that puttanesca!–mood, and well, chicken thighs: a lovely way to vary your thigh action!

So there I was, inching my way down the buffet table at the Italian Embassy party, getting ready to lunge towards the huge Parmesan cheese just sitting there, opened, and ready to be raided for a few take-home chunks….but when I arrived at the cheese disaster struck: 1. I was caught in the act by a fellow lunger, Antonietta, the Contessa from San Remo, and 2. there was no cheese left in the big hollowed out shell!

But when you’re hanging with the aristos, you get to learn all sorts of tricks: that night I learned that not only is Parmesan rind edible, it might well be the BEST part of the cheese! We filled our pockets! For frugal souls like myself, there is nothing better than never ever ever throwing anything away, and discovering new facets to even the simplest things. Such as the rind of a big cheese. (ps it makes a great soup, read all about it!)

from the Roving Feast–San Francisco Chronicle and sfgate.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F09%2F24%2FFDEL1EMP57.DTL

Mridula’s Carrots in Roasted ChannaDahl Sauce

Serves about 4 as a vegetable side dish or, unorthodox-ily, as part of a sort of Indian chutney antipasti, as we did with Mridula (see previous posting). I like this served at room temperature rather than reheated, as the carrots retain their bright orange color and fresh, sweet taste! I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day!

2 tablespoons +2 teaspoons oil of choice (I use a combination of half canola, half olive for everyday cooking)

1/2-1 tsp black mustard seeds

1- 1 1/2  lb fresh, sweet, large autumn carrots, peeled and cut into 5 cmm/1/4 inch cubes

3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2-1 teaspoon mild chile flakes (such as Urfa, Aleppo, or other Turkish chillies, or a pinch hot chile flakes or shake or two cayenne

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 tablespoons ordinary green split peas (though the traditional recipe calls for channa dahl or yellow split peas; I find green ones just fine!)

1 heaping tablespoon sesame seeds OR 1 heaping tablespoon tahina + a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the mustard seeds. As soon as they start popping, which will be around 30 seconds to a minute, add the carrots, salt, sugar and chile flakes or cayenne. Stir over medium heat 2-3 minutes, then add 1/3 cup water, reduce heat slightly, and cook, covered, until the carrots are firm but tender, 10-12 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a small frying pan over a low heat and dd the coriander seeds and split peas. Fry them until they are golden, light brown, but do not let them darken, probably less than 1 minute. Add the sesame seeds and continue to fry 30-40 seconds. (If you are using the tahina and sesame oil instead of sesame seeds, omit this step).

3. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes, then grind the seeds and peas in a coffee grinder until they form a smooth powder.

4. Add the seeds/pea mixture to the carrots (and if using tahina and sesame oil, add these too),  then cook together, uncovered, until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture has formed a paste that clings to the carrots, about 6-8 minutes. Depending on how much liquid was left in the pan with the carrots, you may need to add a little bit more water–my frying pan is shallow and i had to add about 1/4 cup.  Add the lemon juice and remove from the heat.

You may eat them warm, but I like them best at room temperature.

Indian chef, food writer, and television personality came to lunch yesterday and brought a new selection of her chutneys.  Mridula sells her chutneys and pickles at farmers markets throughout UK, as well as Waitrose, and other deli/food halls. I love all chutneys and pickles, it is true: but i love Mridula’s even more: they are unique: based on her mothers recipes from her Himalayan childhood, made of the fruits and vegetables of the high mountains: pears, citrus, carrots, parsnips, berries, as well as the more tropical fresh things we associate with India such as mango and pineapple. And the spicing for each chutney is individual, as perfectly balanced as a musical tune, with wafts of ginger, mustard, fennel, cumin, cinnamon, nigella, asafetida; some have whole spices, some ground, some both; and some are blessed with the fragrance of garlic. sigh.

So when Mirdula brought her new seasons chutneys for me to taste, I designed our first course of lunch around them:

small bowls of cherry-cranberry chutney; blueberry and pineapple chutney (with its gorgeous hit of cumin); strawberry and chile chutney which i thought would be glorious on top of cream cheese and something crisp and grainy, like wasa brod. we had carrot and orange chutney, green chile and garlic pickle, and i whipped up a raita using my own homemade brinjal pickle (based on Mridula’s recipe) with greek yogurt, a dusting of cumin and sprinkling of cilantro. But the star of the chutney parade was the parsnip and onion chutney: thin strands of caramelized parsnip and onion, studded with raisins and golden with spice.

To go with our chutneys and raita, I served the carrot dish she also brought: served room temperature like a salad or antipasto, cooked carrot squares, sweet and juicy and just tender, cloaked in a spicy chile-flecked mixture of toasted, ground lentils and nigella seeds….i also serve my new found tomato-love dish of the past week: ginger-roasted tomatoes: an array of different types of tomatoes for a complexity of flavour, scattered with thai basil; also pan browned smoked kippers, and toasted pain poilane.

it was like frolicking through a spice garden, with the smokey salty fish the perfect foil to the array of spicy-sweet-tangy fruit and vegetable chutneys!

we followed with a main course of pasta al forno: penne with cream, truffle, tomatoes, peas, and a pecorino-breadcrumb crust. And a lemon-rosemary-garlic roasted chicken. Mridula loves my chicken!

After we had eaten and talked and sipped wine for about three hours we had dessert: fruit salad with rosewater (blood orange, banana, passion fruit, pear, kiwi, mango) and cardomom yogurt. dark strong black coffee in tiny cups and little squares of equally dark strong chocolate (81%).

i sent Mridula home with green tomatoes from my garden; she emailed later that she made chutney from them; i can hardly wait to taste it!

our lovely neighbour Liz came over for dinner tonight. Liz comes over about once a week; I love when liz comes over–she is a good little eater, and clearly enjoys what i offer; and i, in turn, love to think: what might Liz love that she’s never had before.

If something is particularly Australian, I’ll think of that as Liz lived in australia for a number of years. I had been looking for something truffley for awhile, as Liz said she had never tasted truffles. As things happen, I found a jar of fabulous truffle salsa which came, in fact, from Tetsuyas, in Australia. Thus our menu was anchored around the truffley mixture.

Since it is feeling decidedly autumnal tonight, and since i have literally at least 5 cabbages in my kitchen, I decided on braised cabbage in cream with a hit of truffle added at the end. Husband brought home a package of ground veal while i was braising the cabbage. I know, meatballs again: but these are veal, last nights were chicken, and anyhow, i could eat meatballs every night of the week with leftovers in a sandwich. So i began to mix, and roll, brown and braise.

First I blanched the cut up cabbage; then i mixed the veal with onion, garlic, nutmeg, 1 shredded carrot (I have a big bag of carrots in my fridge; if they were zucchini, i would have used that instead. I like to add some shredded vegetable to most of my meatballs, for their lightening effect), and about 1/4 chicken bouillon cube. I rolled them up into tiny meatballs, the size of large marbles, then lightly gilded them in a heavy frying pan in a tablespoon or two of butter.

Meatballs pushed over to one side, I added the drained cabbage, and cooked that in the butter, too. Next came about a cup of chicken broth, a simmer of say, 10 minutes, then a cup of heavy cream. Simmer simmer simmer, gently, until the sauce is creamy and the meatballs are cooked through.

When ready to serve, stir in 2-3 tablespoons of tetsuyas truffle salsa–or any truffle condimento such as tartuflanghe’s–taste for seasoning, add a drop or two of lemon juice, and serve. If you love truffles, cream, and veal meatballs as much as i do, fainting from pleasure might be an option.