The Food We Eat

Italian Sausage with Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers

 

 

So, the thanksgiving holiday has come and gone, and so has my resolution of hitting the gym this week. I have a bad cold - how's that for an excuse? Oh well, 'cest la vie. The good news is I think I am dessert-ed out. At least for a day or two :-) Just till I make a batch of cookies again :-) No seriously, I think I need a break from sweet things. How about something really nice and salty with just a little kick from hot sausage? Ok, so it's not quite "diet food", but who would eat it if it were? Not me, said I.

Ok, so here is my disclaimer. I don't know where this dish came from. It just sounded good and I had hot italian sausage and lots of potatoes that were begging to be eaten. These aren't any potatoes, they are grown in Washington, organic potatoes, that are scrumptious. I could just boil and eat them with a bit of sea salt and pepper....But I do know this -- potatoes, onions, and peppers are a very classic combination, and for all you know, some grandma in Italy is making this at home. If you have any information regarding the authenticity of this recipe, or the total blasphemy of it too, please let me know.

 

What I do know, is that what results is absolutely delicious! And, is a low prep, hand-off dinner you can make while you're busy doing other stuff. Oh! the smell. The house smells fantastic too - the onions, pepper, distinct fennel aroma from the sausage - yum! Ours was roasting in the oven while we were all hanging ornaments on the tree. We had this with a nice crisp green salad (yes, the CSA box still has salad in it) and a nice red wine. Cheers!

Now, let me talk a bit about the ingredients. You can use any sausage you want, but I would highly recommend Hot Italian Sausage (the raw, uncooked kind, preservative free). Warning -- this gets pretty spicy. If you don't handle heat well, then you might consider half hot Italian sausage, half sweet Italian sausage. Or, all sweet. Your call.

I used red onion, but you can use whichever you have in the pantry. As go potatoes, you want to use a waxy potato. Yukons and red bliss are my personal favorites. We had a 1lb bag of Russian fingerlings in the CSA box, so I used a combination of fingerlings and red bliss. And lastly, peppers. I personally love the flavor of green bell peppers, but I know many people don't feel as warmly towards them. If you want to use red, yellow, or orange ones, they would work mighty fine. Whatever finds your fancy. But here goes the recipe I used below.

 

Italian Sausage with Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers

Serves 6

4 links hot Italian sausage

2 large red onions, sliced

3 green bell peppers, sliced

1 pt sweet mini peppers

6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 lbs red potatoes, quartered

1 lbs russian fingerling potatoes

kosher salt

pepper

olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Parboil potatoes for 10 minutes in salted, boiling water. Drain well and blot excess water with a kitchen towel. Transfer to a foil lined jelly roll pan (or large baking dish). Drizzle 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper and toss well to coat. Top with rosemary sprigs.

2. In a large bowl, toss sliced onions, peppers, whole mini peppers, and peeled garlic with 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp olive oil.

3.Top the potatoes with the vegetables. Slice sausage (leave casings on) in 4 pieces on the bias. Lay on top of the potatoes and vegetables.

4. Roast 45 - 60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, till potatoes are cooked through. Check seasonings. Add more salt, pepper as needed. Enjoy! Leftovers keep extremely well. I just ate the last of it for lunch today!

Dhaba (roadside eatery) ka Dal

Ok, so many of you have been not so happy with me as I do not have a post up on my blog for 'Dal' yet. What's my excuse? Nothing really. Its just that Dal is such an everyday thing at our house (I could practically make it in my sleep). No, I'm not showing off, Dal really is an everyday thing if you grow up in an East Indian vegetarian family. It is the main source of protein. Also, dal is an amazingly inexpensive way to feed a crowd (and boy, is it nutritionally dense or what?), so it is a staple of the East Indian diet. Oh, you're not sure what dal is? Check it out here.

But, the reason why we all love dal is not because it is cheap, or it makes nutritionists do the approving nod. It is simply because it is comfort food at its best. For hubby and me, nothing beats hot dal and rice when we are feeling very tired, gloomy, cruddy, or have just returned from a trip. In fact, J counts on me making dal for him when he returns from a business trip. I've told him that the day he comes home from a trip and finds a turkey sandwich for dinner, he knows he is in DEEP trouble :-)

Many of my friends ask for my standard dal recipe. However, it is a bit more complicated than that. There are over 25 varieties of dals that I make. Each uses a combination of, hmmmm lets see --different type of lentil, different seasonings, different vegetable matter, etc. So, how about this. I propose to familiarize you with many different types of dals over the next few months. Now that winter fall is here in Seattle, I can promise you we will be eating a lot of dal to cure the SAD.

Anyway, without further delay, below is the recipe for a delicious dal called Dhaba dal. The name comes from the fact that you see this combination of lentils very often in roadside huts or 'dhabas' in India. The Urad dal used in this particular preparation lends a very comforting texture. Might take some getting used to, but I promise, it is quite addicting in a mom's cookin' sort of way.

Oh wait! One last, but important thing before the recipe.This is regarding the proper way to cook dal. Most Indian households own a pressure cooker. If you don't have one, PLEASE get one. They are great! If you don't want to use one, be prepared for long cook times, or use one of those slow-cooker thingies. I am all for making dal occasionally in this stove-top fashion, but if you eat it as often as we do, you gotta go get a pressure cooker. If you do, it is sheer magic. Soak the beans overnight, and you can have dal on the table in 30 minutes. Bet Rachel Ray can't beat that!

Dhaba ka Dal

Serves 4 to 6

Adapted from Tarla Dalal

1/2 cup dried urad dal (split black lentils), with skin on

1/2 cup chana dal (split bengal gram)

1/4 cup dried rajma (kidney beans)

1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste*

1 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 serrano or thai chilis, split in half

1 cup finely chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp red chili powder

2 tsp fresh cumin powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 tbsp vegetable oil , or ghee

2 tbsp salt (more/less to taste)

Method:

1. Clean, wash, and soak the urad dal, chana dal, and rajma in 6 cups water overnight (or at least 6 hours).

2. Drain the soaked dals and rajma. Add 5 cups water and pressure cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the dals are completely cooked. If not using a pressure cooker, cook on stove top in a large thick-bottomed pan, covered. You want the dals (and rajma) to be completely cooked, otherwise the texture of the finished dal suffers.

3. Heat the oil. Add the ginger/garlic paste, onions, and green chilis. Saute for 5 minutes, till the onions are slightly pulpy and golden brown in color. Add the turmeric, chili powder, and cumin powder, and saute for 1-2 minutes more.

4. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook over a high flame till the tomatoes get mushy, approx. 5 minutes.

5. Add the cooked dals with the cooking water (if you have too much water, reserve some. You can always add it back later, but overly-thin dal is not good). Mix well, add the kasuri methi, and simmer for 10 minutes.

6. Add the cilantro, heat another minute or so, and serve with roti and/or rice.

* I make my own ginger-garlic paste. Take equal parts ginger and garlic. Puree in a food processor, and freeze flat in a ziploc bag. Break off what you need, and you're good to go. If you really really really must, use the bottled ginger-garlic paste. I can't stand the stuff. Smells chemical-ly to me. I think you'd be better of using fresh minces ginger and garlic.

Beef Stew with Guinness and Mustard

Ok, this may sound very much like a recipe for Irish Beef Stew, but I can tell you, it isn't. Not quite. For many reasons that go (a) No Irish roots here and I did not look up a recipe for authentic Irish beef stew, (b) this recipe is a sort of amalgamation of flavors I like in stew, (c) if I am correct, Irish beef stew has potatoes in it and this one doesn't, (d) I made the recipe up as I went along, and I was quite pleased with the results.

Would I change anything next time around? Sure! Most importantly, I would add some red wine, maybe a dash of worcestershire sauce. I think that is pretty much it. J and I enjoyed the stew quite a bit, but it was a total flop with the boys. I think the whole Guinness thing put them off. That's all I can think of, since otherwise the stew had all the basic components they love. Well, I guess it also might have to do with the fact that they ate their cheese quesadillas (packed for school this morning) at 3:30pm (after school). Monkeys! Sometimes I don't know why I go through all the headache of packing a decent lunch for them. Oh well...a mommy's gotta do what a mommy's gotta do I guess.

I served the stew with smashed yukon gold potatoes. Call me crazy if you want, but I actually prefer smashed potatoes with a dash of butter over mashed potatoes. Unless you give me those ultra-silky butter and cream laden mashed potatoes you eat at restaurants. But at home, thanks but no thanks. Low-fat mashed potatoes are nasty and I'll save my butter and cream quota for dessert.

I even made buttered egg noodles for the kids, but I guess that Ronzoni whole grain egg noodles thing didn't cut it for the boys today. In their defense though, the noodles were pretty yucky! Nothing like the silky, soft, soothing buttered egg noodles we hoped they would be. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Beef Stew with Guinness and Mustard

Serves 4-6

1.5 lbs beef stew meat

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp fresh thyme

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil

1 can Guinness beer

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp stoneground mustard

3 large carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 large onion, cut into large chunks (baby cippolini would be better, I didn't have any)

1 lb white button mushrooms

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

Method:

1. Mix flour, pepper, salt, and thyme in a large bowl. Toss the beef pieces in the flour mixture. Shake of excess flour.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large dutch oven. You don't want to crowd the beef too much, so brown in two batches preferably. The beef I used (organic, grass-fed) was pretty lean, so I used 2 tbsp oil to brown the second batch too. If the beef you use is very greasy, you might want to drain some off the fat off between batches and omit the oil. Set the beef aside.

3. Add the guinness to the dutch oven and scrape up all the precious brown bits on the bottom of the pan using a wooden spoon. Add the beef back to the pan.

4. Add in all the other ingredients (except the vegetables). Bring to a simmer and add in the carrots, onions, mushrooms, and bell pepper.

5. Cook, covered in oven at 350F for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is fork tender.

6. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Curried Cashew Chicken

My Cooking Light magazine showed up in the mail and they had a feature on Stir Fry. Have I told you how much I love stir frys? What a fantastic cooking technique! It is fast, easy, delicious, nutritious, and most importantly it lends itself to a great balance of textures and flavors. Did I already say fast? I mean c'mon, whats not to like? 

Fall is here in Seattle. You can tell, because the temperature drastically falls when evening sets in. The curried chicken recipe just jumped out at me. The warmth of the curry heat.....fabulous! Of course, I have this disease where I can never just follow a recipe without making my tweaks. So I did that here too, and IMHO I like the changes I made. For one thing, I like a bit more liquid in my curried chicken. I love the way the brothy stuff soaks up into the rice.

I served the curried chicken over brown rice, but white rice would be great too. Unfortunately, I omitted the dried red chilis, which is too bad because I think they would have been fantastic. I need to work on the spice tolerance for the kiddos and then they would be absolutely perfect little kids :-) If you can tolerate some spice, please add in a few dried red chilis. Add them to the oil at the point I add the red chili flakes. For extra oomph you can add the whole chilis and the chili flakes. Now that's my kind of stir fry.

Another added bonus of this dish is that it makes the kitchen smell divine. J walked in the door and had a huge grin on his face. A said his favorite part of the dish was the chicken and the cashews. He prefers his bell pepper raw. R, the carbo lover, liked the rice the best. No surprises there. Oh! the carrots too. I had to pick the onions out of his plate which was quite a pain given how many there were, but not too shabby. At least I am not cooking separate meals for them anymore. Baby steps.....

Did I mention the cilantro is fresh? Here is R harvesting cilantro from the farm. He was really getting into it.

Curried Cashew Chicken

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine, Sep 2008

For Sauce

2/3 cup chicken broth (canned is fine)

1/4 cup water

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp rice vinegar

Remaining Ingredients

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (approx 1 lb)

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp canola or peanut oil

1 1/2 cups sliced onion

3 scallions, green parts only, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 carrots, sliced on the bias

1 green bell pepper, sliced into 1/4 inch strips

1 tbsp finely minced fresh ginger

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp dried red chili flakes

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup roasted salted cashews

1/2 tsp salt (more/less to taste)

Method:

1. Cut chicken across the grain into 1/4 inch slices; flatten and slice again into 1/4 inch strips. Cut strips in half, so each is approx. 2 inches long.

2. Sprinkle chicken pieces with cornstarch and soy sauce. Mix well and set aside.

3. To prepare sauce, combine the first five ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil, swirling to coat the wok. Add half the chicken, stir fry for 2 minutes till chicken develops a nice golden crust. Spoon cooked chicken into a bowl. Repeat the procedure using one more tbsp oil and the other half of the chicken.

5. Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to the wok, swirling to coat. Add the red chili flakes. Then add the onions, scallions, ginger, and garlic; stir fry 1 minute or until lightly browned. Add the carrots and bell pepper. Stir fry 3 minutes, till vegetables cook through just a bit. Add curry powder. Stir fry 30 seconds till fragrant. Add sauce and chicken to the wok. Stir fry another miniute or so till the sauce coats everything evenly and slightly thickens. Add in the cashews and cilantro. Serve immediately over rice.

Spanish-style Swiss Chard with Garbanzo Beans

After a long break, I am happy to report that I am back in the kitchen. We returned from a fantastic, low-key, yet highly soul-soothing vacation to India a couple weeks back. I had grand plans of taking just a few days to tackle jet-lag, and then cooking up a storm (you see, I really did miss cooking while I was on vacation. I helped mom, but didn't really cook). But alas! A nasty viral bug chose to adopt my body as its favorite host (my guess is on the plane), and my well-laid plans of culinary rediscovery were thwarted. Unless you count chicken noodle soup from a can (organic, of course) and Ramen noodles as culinary achievements.

So anyway, all is better now. A is off to school (first grade, can you believe it?) and R is back in preschool. I am feeling a heck of a lot better, and I'm sure J is excited to have me back in the kitchen. The poor guy! Went from being presented with a veritable feast every meal for 5 weeks in India to chicken noodle soup with toast! What a nasty shock to the poor taste buds!

Okay - go on say it. I have let you down. I go on and on about coming back to the kitchen, and you are expecting some mind-blowingly complicated recipe, and I present you with a humble vegetarian dish?? Is that the best you can do, you ask? Well, my dear friends, don't dismiss this humble offering quite so fast. It is simple, yes, but that is what makes it so beautiful. The flavors are simply sublime. And what better way to use up a whole bunch of swiss chard from the farm?

So, let me plug in my locavore thing here. Dishes such as this are meant to show off nature's bounty. So the end result is only as good as the quality of the ingredients you put in it. Ever wonder why food in Italy, Spain, France (heck, most of Europe) tastes so damn good? Well, it is in large part due to the fantastic quality of the stuff they put in. So go ahead, please use good, organic, local stuff. I promise you, it is well worth the trouble.

My six year old, A, gobbled it up saying "Mom, could you drizzle some more olive oil on mine? I love my stew with extra oil on top". If you knew this kid when he was 2 and 3, you'd never believe me. A was the pickiest eater you've ever seen. Who woulda thunk it. This kids eats anything now. R reluctantly ate up his portion and then piped in "Yummy, with some fresh organic water". Makes no sense? You're not alone. Welcome to the  world of a 4-year old...

You can serve this dish with rice, couscous, or even a nice crusty loaf of bread. This version is an adaptation of Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for espinacas con garbanzos, a Spanish tapas dish served in tapas bars across Seville. I liked the slight bitterness that the swiss chard lends, and I think it works especially well when you serve this as a main course alongwith rice or couscous. That said, I really like the original recipe using spinach too.

We had some whole-wheat couscous in the pantry, so that is what I served. Couscous is extremely quick and ridiculously simple to prepare. I like to use a 1:1.5 ratio of dry couscous:water, or even better, use chicken broth instead of water. Bring the water or broth to a rolling boil, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Then add the couscous, stir, cover and take off the heat. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes (don't peek). Then take the cover off, and fluff lightly with a fork. That is it! Ta Da! I told you it was ridiculously simple.

To serve, spoon some couscous on a plate. Top with the stew. Drizzle some good quality olive oil on top. Scatter a few marcona almonds on top and Voila! A glass of red wine to accompany (I still have remnants of a cold, so sadly no wine for me) and here's to a good hearty meal.

Spanish-style swiss chard with garbanzo beans

Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian

2 bunches swiss chard (about 20 leaves)

1 15oz can organic garbanzo beans, washed and drained

1/4 cup olive oil

5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp freshly ground cumin

1 tsp freshly ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp spanish paprika (Pimenton)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 - 1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

Method:

1. Wash the swiss chard well. Remove the stalks from the leaves. Set aside. Cut the chard leaves into ribbon-like shreds. Finely chop the stalks.

2. Heat the oil and add garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute till garlic smells fragrant. Add the swiss chard stalks and saute for a few minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne, and salt. Saute a few minutes till spices smell fragrant. Add the swiss chard leaves and saute till the leaves wilt. Add the garbanzo beans, tomato sauce, and water. Stir well.

3. Cook on medium heat, uncovered, for approx. 30 minutes. Stir occassionally. Cook until there is just a bit of juice left at the bottom of the pan.

4. Serve hot or warm. I like to drizzle some olive oil on top just before serving. Garnish with marcona almonds for a nice crunch.

Black Bean Chilaquile

Chilaquile is a Mexican dish, sort of like a Mexican lasagna. Traditionally, chilaquiles are a quick dish, typically a way to use up leftover meat, beans, and corn tortillas from the day before. So, this is certainly a comfort dish, but let it not fool you, it is absolutely delicious. This dish is very simple, so it all comes down to the quality of what you put in it.

The version I have here is vegetarian, but I see endless ways to add in some meat -- ground beef/turkey prepared for tacos, shredded chicken/pork/beef prepared for enchiladas or burritos, etc.

I have had the good fortune of dining at THE Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. There was a time in my life when I was completely smitten by Mollie Katzen and her creations. Don't get me wrong, I still love the food  Moosewood puts out, but I find some of the food a bit too rustic and collegiate sometimes. I guess age and fine-dining habits have taken a stronger hold of me....That said, there are some things that I really really love from Moosewood, and this Chilaquile dish is right at the top. I have made this many many times for feeding a crowd, and it has always been a huge hit! Try this for your next potluck, picnic, or casual gathering. And be sure to let me know what you think..

We had friends over for dinner, and since the majority were vegetarian, I decided we'd all go that route. I will also say that I did not mind the absence of meat one bit. I think you won't either. We served the chilaquiles along with a nice fresh green salad with ripe nectarines and a chili-lime salad dressing. Muy delicioso...

Let's talk about the ingredients. You can make your own tortilla chips by frying up some corn tortillas at home, but since I've given up deep-frying at home, that is not an option for me. You can easily use good-quality stoneground tortilla chips that come in a bag. I decided to shave a few extra calories off and used stoneground baked tortilla chips from Guiltless Gourmet. I *do not* like these to eat as a snack (they are a bit like cardboard), but this is a prefectly decent application for them. So save the greasy stuff for munching on. The key though is that you will want to use sturdy homestyle tortilla chips. That nasty tostitos/doritos/whatever stuff is plain nasty and will turn into a soggy mush.

And please take the extra 10 minutes to make the quick blender hot sauce (recipe below). Store-bought bottled salsa will just not give you the same taste and texture.

Also, I love the flavor and heat of roasted green chile. I get an annual supply from New Mexico. I really like the New Mexico Big Jims. They are picked in the heat of summer and roasted on site. They come frozen and keep beautifully in the freezer. I use these to make giant batches of green chile, I use them in stew, huevos, etc. They are fantastic! If you don't want to roast green chili's, you can just leave these out. If you really really want to, you can use the canned roasted stuff, but why bother? I would much rather substitute a chipotle chile. 

Black Bean Chilaquile

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant

Serves 6 - 8

2 cups chopped onions

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups chopped tomatoes

3 cups fresh corn kernels (frozen will do)

3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 - 15oz cans, drained)

4 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh black pepper

4 cups rinsed, stemmed and choppped Swiss chard (spinach works well too)

4 cups lightly crushed baked tortilla chips

1 cup grated monterey jack cheese

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 roasted green chiles, skinned, and membranes removed, then chopped

4 cups prepared Blender Hot Sauce (see recipe below)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Saute the onions in olive oil till translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, corn, black beans, lime juice, salt, and pepper and continue to saute another 10 minutes or so, just until everything is heated through.

Meanwhile, in another pan, blanch the greens in boiling water for 2 minutes, until just wilted but still bright green. Drain immediately, spread on a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel, and set aside.

Prepare a rectangular baking dish (approx 9 x 13 inches) with a light coating of olive oil or cooking spray. Spread half of the crushed tortilla chips on the bottom. Spoon the saute'ed vegetables over the tortilla chips and sprinkle on the cheddar cheese. Arrange the greens evenly over the cheese and pour in half of the blender hot sauce. Finish with the rest of the tortilla chips and top with the remaining hot sauce and the monterey jack cheese.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown. I like to finish the casserole off under the broiler for a few minutes, so the cheese forms a beautiful brown crust.

Let cool 15 to 20 minutes, slice and serve. Leftovers keep really well.

Blender Hot Sauce

Makes approx. 6 cups

2 cups chopped onions

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 - 2 jalapeno peppers

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 - 28oz cans whole plum tomatoes with juice (I like Muir Glen)

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Salt to taste

Add all the ingredients into a blender jar (you might need to work in 2 batches) and puree until smooth.

Transfer the sauce to a heavy saucepan, and simmer, uncovered for 30 - 45 minutes. Stir often to prevent scorching at the bottom. Add salt to taste.

You can make this ahead. The sauce will keep for a week easily, covered in the refrigerator.

 

Curried Chicken Salad with Raisins and Almonds

This is so ridiculously simple -- do I actually need a recipe for this? If this is what you're thinking, I do not blame you one bit. However, let me ask you this? How often have you eaten a chicken salad that you have really liked? In my experience, they either tend to be too mayo-ey, or too sweet, or way too crunchy, or not crunchy at all. It all comes down to one simple thing -- Balance! Simple word, but not so simple to acheive. Be it in food, our life, work, social committments, we are always striving to achieve that perfect balance. Oh sorry -- forgot this is a food blog. Lets just keep the subject simple --- Chicken Salad.

Now why did I think of making this? Well, it was a hot hot weekend, and we'd eaten a lot already - July 4th BBQ, friends over on July 5th, and we were now having some neighborhood friends over for brunch. I thought I'd keep it relatively light, simple, and summery. My first thought were something to do with eggs, but just didn't feel like that brunchy type stuff. Given that our friends were coming over around 12:30, I thought I'd do something lunch-y instead. So here goes......

Oh another thing! With all due respect to Luisa on Wednesday Chef, I actually think raisins work quite well with chicken salad. And that is funny coming from me, as it is only in the last few years or so that I have developed a liking for fruits in my food. I used to have a big issue with sweet in my savory food. That included fruit-based salsas with grilled seafood or chicken, apricots and prunes in stews, pineapple on pizza (wait! I still hate that stuff). Over the years, I have grown to tolerate, and sometimes even appreciate the balance of sweet-salty one achieves by artfully using fruit to complement flavors. But this is an art - you use the right kind of sweet and Genius! Use the wrong kind or amount, and you have a mess! Something akin to too much grape jelly in the crockpot meatball sauce (what is up with that?).

Anyway, back to brunch/lunch. We had curried chicken salad sandwiches alongside a tossed green salad with fresh strawberries. Oh! We started with a Chilled Melon Soup. Civilized, huh?

Curried Chicken Salad with Rasins and Almonds

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated, Best Recipe

Serves 6 as a main course

CHICKEN

4 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (approx 3 lbs total)

1 tbsp canola oil

Salt

SALAD

3 medium celery ribs, cut into small dice

2 medium scallions, white and green parts, minced

3/4 cup mayonnaise ( I used canola mayonnaise)

2 tbsp juice from 1 lemon

2 tsp curry powder

2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro

6 tbsp golden raisins

3 tbsp roasted slivered almonds

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

For the chicken:

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat to 400F. Set the chicken breasts on a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Brush with the oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees, about 40 minutes. Cool the chicken to room temperature. Remove skin and bones and discard.

Gently pry the chicken breast meat off the bone. Cut each breast onto 3 pieces so you don't end up with very long and unmanageable shreds. Use your hands to pull apart each piece. Shred into small chunks. Don't over-shred into long strings or the salad tastes stringy instead of creamy.

Note: The chicken can be prepared a day ahead. Once the chicken breasts have cooled, remove the skin. Store the chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Best to shred the meat right before making the salad.

For the Salad:

Mix the shredded chicken and all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve. The salad can be refrigerated for a day.

I served the chicken salad on toasted ciabatta rolls. You could use any bread of your choice, or a wrap, or even serve on greens.

Miso Glazed Salmon

So, have I told you about my crazy $212.80 seafood experience? Read on..it's not as crazy as you might think. A month or so ago, I happened to be at one of my favorite grocery stores in Seattle, Central Market. All I really wanted was some milk and cheese. Before I even laid my foot in the store, a sign beckoned me - "Fresh Wild Alaskan King Salmon". Let me begin by saying that I am a HUGE salmon lover, and snob too. I only want the wild stuff. This farmed crap just will not do. I better be careful though, because we all might be forced to eat the farmed stuff if we keep consuming like we do. In any case, I'll enjoy the good stuff while it lasts (I hope I am offsetting my bad karma by all the good things I am doing for Mother Earth).

There are many varieties of Salmon in the Northwest - Sockeye, King, Coho, Chum. Of all these, King (aka Chinook) Salmon is my favorite. I love the deep orange flesh, the meatiness, the texture, and the flavor. It also happens to be the most expensive (you know, beer budget, champagne taste). Well, lets just say -- I had to get some. It was flown in just that morning from Alaska - it looked really really good. But I promise, I wasn't quite planning on buying the 'whole' fish. All 18 pounds of it. But it was such a good deal. And it was way cheaper to buy the whole thing instead of fillets. Lets do the math: $212.80/18, so that is approx. $12 per lb. Awesome! The friendly seafood guy did a beautiful job filleting the fish, and I carried my bounty home *very* carefully. Don't laugh but I actually strapped the huge package in A's car seat (uh oh!). Gosh, I'd love to have seen the look on the cop's face If I had been pulled over :-). In any case, I spent a good few hours that day cutting, wrapping, vaccuum sealing the fish, but all that had paid off. We have been eating lots of that yummy Salmon recently. Lucky us!

Back to dinner. I had some delicious Gai-Lan (aka Chinese Broccoli) in the CSA bin, so I really wanted to use that up when it was still so fresh. J cut out the Food and Drink section of the WSJ on June 8 for me - it had a feature on Summer Foods recipes courtesy of my absolute favorite local chef, Tom Douglas. This guy rocks!! I have never been dissappointed with any dish in any of his (now 5? ) Seattle restaurants. That is a great record considering I have eaten at his restaurants a lot. Tom had featured Sake poached Salmon, but alas, no Sake in the house (but fear not. I have saved this recipe for later). He paired it with Aromatic rice which sounded so so yummy, I had to make that. See here for the Aromatic rice recipe. Seeing the Asian turn dinner was taking, I decided to treat the salmon with a Miso Glaze. Oh so good. And a perfectly respectable way to treat a delicious (no make that 4 delicious) hunks of King salmon.

Miso Glazed Salmon

Serves 4 to 6

4 Salmon fillets, skin on (6 to 8 oz each)

3/4 cup Shiro Miso

1 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp Mirin

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp finely grated ginger

2 tsp olive oil

Method:

1. In a small glass bowl, combine all the ingredients above (except the salmon). Whisk to incorporate.

2. Smear the glaze over the salmon and refrigerate 1 hour (you could probably get away with another hour, but I would not go beyond that. You want to be able to taste the salmon, not just the marinade).

3. When ready to cook, turn the broiler on to high. With your fingers, scrape some of the excess marinade off the salmon fillets. Reserve the excess marinade.

4. Add the marinade to a small saucepan and thin with a bit of water. Cook 5 to 10 minutes to ensure that the raw marinade is cooked well (and safe to eat). You are looking for a sauce-like consistency. Thin with water if it is too thick.

5. Place the oven rack 4 to 5 inches from the heat elements. Place the salmon skin side up on a broiler pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil (will greatly assist in clean-up). Cook 5 minutes. If the skin begins to burn, lower the rack by an inch or so.

4. Gently flip the salmon and cook 3 - 4 minutes longer (depending on the thickness of your fillets and how you like your salmon cooked). We like ours a little pink on the inside. Be careful not to overcook the fish.

4. Top the salmon with a tablespoon or so of the sauce. Serve with your favorite vegetable and grains. We had ours with Aromatic Rice and stir-fried Gai-Lan.

Note: This would also work well with other meaty fish like Halibut, Sea Bass, Black Cod.

Sprouting in Seattle - Fried Rice with Sprouted Mung Beans

You probably know this already - sprouts are nutrient-dense foods. Mung bean sprouts are low in calories and fat, yet provide substantial amounts of Vitamin C, folates, protein, and fiber. Also, for people intolerant to beans, sprouts are a great alternative. The sprouting process converts starch to simple sugars, making sprouts a lot easier to digest. And lest we forget their most important virtue, they are delicious!

I have tried many different ways of making sprouts at home in the past, and honestly, never took to sprouting at home as there was too much baby-ing involved. Yes, I know what those of you who know me well are thinking..c'mon Susmita, given all the other crazy things you do in the kitchen, changing water once a day is too much baby-ing? Well yes, because its BORING work. And no, I do not own one od those home seed sprouter thingies. As I see it, it is yet another uselessgadget that I have no room for (but who knows, I might  get one anyway. hee hee)

Thankfully, my attitude towards sprouting at home changed when one of my good friends (thanks, Bhavna) showed me a super easy and reliable way of making Mung bean sprouts at home. No babysitting required - ok almost no babysitting.....

Mung Bean Sprouts

Makes about 4 cups

Start with a cup of whole mung beans, and soak in plenty of cold water overnight. Next morning, drain the plumped up mung. There will likely be a couple of goners in the bowl - these will still be hard and shriveled. Pick these out and discard. If most of your Mung  beans look this way, it is probably because you have a very old batch of beans. Dump these and get yourself a fresh batch. I usually buy Mung beans at the Indian grocery store alongwith all my other legume purchases, but I have also found an excellent selection at PCC and Central Market in Seattle. In fact, I think I will switch to PCC as they have a great selection of organic beans and legumes.

Line a large plastic or glass container with a damp paper towel. Add the soaked and drained Mung beans to the container and store covered in a draft-free dark place for a few days. When my oven is not in use, I keep the container there. Check on the sprouts daily -- you might need to sprinkle a tablespoon or so of water if the beans look too dry. In about 2-3 days you will see 1/4 to 1/2 inch sprouts on the beans. These small sprouts are what I want. Chinese mung bean sprouts are large (2-3 inch sprouts), but in Indian preparations, the sprouts are kept small (1/4 - 1/2 inch). Personally, I like the small ones better. They are super sweet, nutty, and crunchy. Yum!

There are many ways to use the sprouts. You can toss them in salads, eat them plain, Stir-fry them, make pancakes with them; use your imagination. They will be delicious all the same. One disclaimer. Our family (and many others) have consumed these raw on many an occassion, but the FDA has warnings about raw sprouts and E.Coli. Granted their issue was focussed on commercially sold alfallfa sprouts, but still.... if you are concerned, cook them. I prefer them slightly cooked over raw anyway.

Fried Rice with Sprouted Mung Beans

Serves 4

My hankering for spicy food was still strong, and I was craving rice...fried rice! I adapted my usual fried rice condiments to this recipe.

2 cups sprouted mung beans

2 cups cooked brown rice (preferably day old)

4 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp garlic, chopped

2 tbsp ginger, chopped

6 scallions, white and green parts

1 jalapeno pepper, sliced

6 baby red radishes, cut in fourths

3 tbsp chili-garlic sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp sugar

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

salt to taste

Heat oil in large saucepan or wok. Add ginger, garlic and peppers and stir fry 1-2 minutes. Add Sprouts and radishes, stir fry 2-3 minutes till sprouts barely soften (you might need 1 tbsp of water to cook the sprouts). Add brown rice. Stir to combine.

Add chili-garlic sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir well so sprouts and rice grains are well coated. Stir fry a few more minutes so flavors blend. Taste and add salt if needed. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Note: I use Sunluck brand chili-garlic sauce. You can use sambal olek or sriracha sauce if you prefer. I like this chili-garlic sauce because of the acidity and the extra garlic oomph.

Also, This rice was quite spicy; the way I like it. If you want it less spicy, omit the pepper or use less chili sauce. If you use less chili sauce, however, you might want to add a tsp of rice vinegar, so you get the acid balance.

I love the flavor of sesame oil in stir fry. If you don't, feel free to use peanut or vegetable oil instead. Or use half-half.

Variations: Add any veggies - snow peas, broccoli, carrots would be nice. You can also add some tofu or cashews for more protein.

 

Greek-Style Lamb Patties with Tzatziki Sauce - Mock Gyros

For those of you who are lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest, there is a wonderful source of great quality grass-fed organic meats, Thundering Hooves farm in Walla Walla, WA. You can order from them directly, but I have access to their meats via my organic grocery delivery service, SPUD. Fantastic meats!

We try not to eat too much red meat at our house, as J isn't getting any younger and I am trying to lose 20 lbs (yeah right!) But I've been craving some meat, and lamb is really one of my favorite red meats. So, last week I ordered some ground lamb from the farm.

Next question: What would I make with this lamb? Gyros! The seed for something Greek got firmly planted in my brain when I caught the smell of gyros from a little Greek deli while driving back home from a meeting.. Gyros it would be. My all-time favorite food-science geek, Alton Brown actually has a recipe to mimic the pressed rotisserie gyro meat that you find in Gyro places. I sure will give this a try one of these days, but it was Friday evening, and I didn't feel like taking anything too challenging on.

I remembered seeing a Gyro recipe in Cooks Illustrated, that used Lamb patties, so I went to work on it. I decided to add some Tabbouli as a side, but in retrospect that was way too much food. Oh well! Life could be a lot worse. Now we have some Tabbouli in the fridge, and in my opinion it tastes much better the next day anyway. The bulgur grains have a chance to absorb the yummy lemon-olive oil flavors....yumm.

Lamb Patties

(Adapted from Cooks Illustrated, July 2007)

1 lb ground lamb

4 pocketless pitas

3/4 pita torn into 1inch pieces

1/2 onion, chopped coarse (~ 3/4 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp fresh greek oregano leaves, minced

4 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp canola oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. To heat the pita, wrap tightly in foil and place in oven for 10 - 15 minutes.

2. Process onion, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice and pita pieces in food processor into a paste, about 30 sec. Transfer onion mixture to a large glass bowl. Add lamb and mix gently till lamb and onion paste is well incorporated. Divide mixture into 12 equal pieces and roll gently into balls. Flatten balls gently into patties, about 1/2 inch thick.

3. Heat 1 tsp canola oil in a 12-inch skillet, preferably non-stick. Add  half the patties and cook over med-high 3-4 minutes, or until a nice brown crust forms. Flip patties, reduce heat to medium, and cook about 5 minutes on other side, until well browned and cooked through. Transfer patties to paper-towel lined plate. Wipe the skillet clean, add 1 tsp oil and cook the rest of the patties. Drain on paper towels. Keep patties warm in a 250F oven.

Note: I would use a splatter screen so you don't get lamb grease all over your stove. Sorry for the hazy picture -- I didn't want to get too close and have oil splatter on my camera lens.

Tzatziki sauce

1 cup greek yogurt (I use Fage brand)

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves

1/4 tsp dill (I used dried as that is what I had on hand)

1 small garlic clove, minced fine

1/4 tsp salt

Juice from 2 lemons

1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

1. Combine cucumber and salt, and let drain in a colander set over a bowl for 15-30 minutes.

2. Add drained cucumber, garlic and lemon juice to food processor and pulse a few times till cucumber till you get a chunky paste. Don't over-process.

3. Mix cucumber mixture with yogurt. Add mint, dill, and lemon zest. Season will more salt and pepper if needed. Keep chilled.

Accompaniments:

1 large tomato, chopped

2 cups romaine hearts, shredded or julienned

1/2 cup feta cheese

Tabbouli/ Tabbouleh

1 cup bulgur (cracked wheat)

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

4 scallions, chopped fine

Juice from 4 large lemons

2 tbsp lemon zest

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 tbsp kosher salt

Method:

1. Add bulgur to boiling water in a large glass bowl. Stir well, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside 20 - 30 minutes till bulgur grains are al-dente and plumped up.

2. Drain bulgur in a mesh sieve so all extra water drains.

3. Mix bulgur with parsley, oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, scallions, lemon zest.

4. Check seasonings. Set aside at room temperature till ready to eat.

Note: You can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup diced red onion if you like. I didn't as the kids don't eat raw onion, and also, I didn't want more dragon breath on movie night :-)

To assemble gyros:

Lay out warm pita on a square of aluminum foil. Spread 1/4 cup tzatziki sauce in the middle lengthwise. Arrange 3 patties on the sauce. Top with tomato, lettuce, cheese and a few more tablespoons of sauce. Fold pita. Wrap foil over like a blanket and serve.