Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

  • Savory-Sweet Baked Sweet Potato with Lentils, Maple Butter, and Scallions

    Hetty McKinnon, how I adore your To Asia, With Love cookbook.  The latest amazing recipe – baked sweet potatoes with lentils, maple butter, and scallions.   Super easy to prepare, incredibly filling, and a range of flavors and textures featured.

    Hetty Sweet Potato Served

    The warm sweet potato flesh melts in your mouth, complemented by the subtle sweetness of the melty maple butter.  The dish isn't all sweet with some nice sharpness from the fresh scallions and the simple prepared lentils which add more savory, salty notes.  The lentils and maple butter can be prepped while the sweet potatoes are baked in the oven, so it's a really easy and healthy weeknight meal.  

    I've made this recipe twice so far.  The only downside is that once, the sweet potato skin was almost burnt, so I had to largely pick around the charred skin parts.  So depending on the type of sweet potato, I may need to adjust the temperature + cooking time (~50 minutes so far).

    Hetty Sweet Potato Close Up Served

  • Pan-Fried Salt and Pepper Eggplant – Excellent Savory Flavors

    Yes, another Hetty McKinnon To Asia, With Love recipe to report on today – the pan-fried Salt and Pepper Eggplant.  This simple, marinated eggplant is coated in cornstarch before being lightly pan-fried and dusted with a savory and sweet salt and pepper / five spice mix.

    Hetty McK Salt and Pepper Eggplant and Cumin Tofu and Cauliflower

    The complex flavors of the spice mix are a great complement to the sweet and sour eggplant, which is perfectly tender under its crisp cornstarch coating. 

    I would make this recipe again, and continue to use less oil (I basically just lightly coated the pan instead of filling it to 1/2 inch). 

    The only downside of this multi-step recipe is the number of dishes it uses (marinating eggplant, cornstarch mix, salt and pepper mix, paper towel-lined plate for the post-cooked eggplant) so it might not be an everyday dish!

  • Hetty McKinnon’s Cumin Tofu and Cauliflower – Work in Progress

    Competing with Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India for cookbook supremacy in my household is Hetty McKinnon's excellent To Asia With Love.

    One of my latest recipe attempts is her Cumin Tofu Stir-Fry, which is a riff on the Western Chinese cumin lamb that nearby Xi'An Famous Foods is famed for producing in NYC.

    Cumin Tofu and Cauliflower

    I am really happy I tried this recipe as I love cumin and have often wished for a vegan / vegetarian version of this western Chinese favorite.  The recipe was packed full of ground cumin, and that strong flavor was nicely offset by the onions, cilantro, and sesame seed garnish. 

    I think the one challenge with this recipe is that the dried spices – cumin, gochugaru – are added at the end of the cooking time and are added just dry, with no water or oil to make into more of a sauce.  As a result, the spices seems to get clumped in certain areas and were dry on the mouth in some bites.  I will experiment with either adding the spices earlier to the cooking time, adding some water or oil to the dry spices to make it more of a paste that gets added, and/or reducing the amount of spices added moving forward.  

    I look forward to making this again and adapting it to my tastes!

  • Madhur Jaffrey’s Excellent Saag Paneer

    I think I've found a new recipe to displace my recent favorite saag / palak paneer.  The winner?  From Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India, which has also become my favorite cookbook of late as well.  

    Madhur Jaffrey Saag Paneer

    This saag paneer recipe is also available online and features a deceptively simple approach to get a mouthwatering spinach flavor and consistency – blanching.  The spinach is quickly blanched prior to blending with other ingredients and cooking.  This approach results in the smoothest and creamiest sauce sans ghee / butter, which is a staple of my previous favorite recipe.  

    I made just a few recipe modifications – omitted the coriander and used approx. half of the fenugreek the recipe calls for (~1 tbsp instead of 2).  The only downside of this recipe is the number of dishes it utilizes given the blanching, but it's worth it for a great base that I think can be combined with tofu, corn, or other proteins / vegetables.  

  • Cauliflower with Ajowan and Ginger – Earthy, Simple Indian Cauliflower Preparation

    Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India has become my new favorite cookbook with yet another solid, simple recipe. 

    Jaffrey's Ajwainwali Gobi or Cauliflower with Ajowan and Ginger is based on the recipe from Aurobindo Ashram, a place we have visited before in India.  It was quite a surprise to find that connection in this cookbook, let alone a recipe that makes use of ajowan / ajwain, a spice I bought long ago to prepare Ethiopian food and have had yet to use!

    Cauliflower Ajawain Served

    I found the prepared cauliflower, which was just lightly steamed on the stovetop, very earthy and flavorful.  The ajowan had a lighter and slightly more herby flavor than cumin, and my husband got some caraway flavor notes (though I did not).  I would make this simple cauliflower again and again, similar to the great kalonji greens which have become a frequent homemade staple.  

    Cauliflower Ajawain in Pot

  • Deceptively Delicious Capers, Parsley, and Breadcrumb Pasta

    I had long bookmarked the Milk Street's Fried Capers and Toasted Breadcrumbs Pasta, because I always have capers and panko around.  However, holding me back has been my perpetual lack of fresh marjoram, which I don't think I have ever bought. 

    Finally desiring a new pasta dish this winter, I decided to seek out fresh marjoram to make this pasta, and barring securing fresh marjoram, I resolved to substitute their recommended fresh oregano.

    Milk Street Capers Parsley Pasta

    I'm glad I finally took the plunge because this delightfully salty, herby, and crunchy simple pasta was a delight.  I really liked how much the strong flavors came out in the topping, which was a nice contrast to cream or tomato-based pasta sauces.  I do hope to try this recipe with marjoram though at some point as I did find the oregano a bit astringent, per the recipe designer's note.

    A few notes – I halved the recipe, and I used a bucatini pasta, which worked perfectly with topping.  The panko cooked much more quickly than the recipe called for – in 2 minutes v. 5, so I'd definitely carefully watch the panko once it's on heat.  

    I look forward to making this simple and lighter feeling pasta treat again in the future!

    Milk Street Capers Parsley Pasta Close Up

  • Broccoli Quinoa “Spoon Salad” – Great Lunchtime Meal

    We now receive the physical New York Times on the weekends, and one of the benefits of this subscription is being able to rip out appealing recipes from the paper.  For some reason, I get significantly more joy out of carefully tearing out a paper recipe to leave to taunt me on my dining table for weeks or months than just Internet bookmarking a website recipe.  

    One of the first recipes I've made from this recent round of ragged-edge tear-outs is the Quinoa and Broccoli Spoon Salad.  With bright hues from the broccoli and dried cranberries, and the addition of quinoa, this felt like a solution to my protein-light weekday salad routine.  

    Broccoli Spoon Salad - Served

    Thankfully, this dish lived up to my expectations!  In fact, as I type this post, I think I should make it today.  The dish has a diversity of flavors from the dijon mustard adding a tart sharpness, apple chunks providing sweet notes, broccoli contributing a grassy earthiness, and the cheddar nice salty and fatty flavors.  

    The preparation time is basically the time it takes for the quinoa to cook on the stovetop (~15 minutes?), as you use that time to prep the rest of the ingredients.  I did make a few modifications to the recipe, none of which though affected the preparation time:

    • No pecans because of my nut allergy
    • Steamed the chopped broccoli in the Instant Pot on 0 minutes, high pressure to make it easier to digest + eat

    Moving forward, I may omit the dried cranberries as well because the dish was already sweet enough for my tastebuds with the apples and dijon.

    Broccoli Spoon Salad - Close Up

    In a sign of how much I liked this dish, I ate the leftovers throughout a few days with nothing leftover throw away upon spoilage.  This is a great Sunday or mid-week meal prep dish!

    Broccoli Spoon Salad- in Mixing Bowl

  • Knitwear Returns – Transition Season Lacy Cardigan

    It's been half a year since I've posted a completed knitting project, so I am very excited to unveil this item.  This cardigan was completed in January, but getting the pictures and final measurements kept falling off my queue (as was the case with my last knitting post, which was 3 months post-project completion!).  

    This lacy cardigan was initial intended to be a summer weight cardigan, but its thickness and drape makes it feel like more of a fall or spring cardigan.  

    Ajasai Cardigan Full

    I am not sure if I love the buttons I sewed on the cardigan (just some from my stash) but I really like the bottom lace pattern and the twisting cable borders.  I do wish this was a bit roomier of a cardigan and/or a bit shorter, but it's a lovely piece particularly when worn unbuttoned.

    Ajasai Cardigan Bottom Close Up

    Ajasai Cardigan for Me!

    Pattern: Ajasai by Yuko Shimizu, size S

    Needles:  2 US 0 and 2 US 1 circular needles

    Yarn:  Americo Original Merino Superwash Fine Sport, 2 skeins in 429 J color, a lovely find from many years ago in Toronto, Canada

    Measurements: 

        Pre-blocking measurements of:

    • 21 1/4 inch long on the back center
    • 3 inch diameter cuffs
    • 14 inch long sleeves from shoulder top to bottom; 8 inches from underarm to end of sleeve
    • 16 inch diameters at widest point of side to side front

        Post-blocking measurements of:

    • 22 inches long on the back center
    • 3.5 inch diameter cuffs
    • 15 inch long sleeves from shoulder top to bottom; 8.5 inches from underarm to end of sleeve
    • 17 inch diameter across at widest point of the front

    Ajasai Cardigan Modeled Full

    Ajasai Cardigan Close Up Bottom Modeled

  • A Very Bad Attempt at Using the Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker – Undercooked Black Bean Chili

    The title of this post says it all.  Almost. 

    Yes, I tried to use my Instant Pot as a slow cooker for the first time. 

    Yes, it was an uncooked disaster. 

    But did I utilize a poor approach to adapt the Instant Pot to slow cooking?  Yes.  

    Slow Cooker Instant Pot Chili

    I think I committed three fatal errors on this first attempt.

    First, I used a random glass lid which "seemed" to fit over the inner Instant Pot stainless steel pot, but it was not a perfect fit. 

    Second, I opened the pot to stir the mixture once or twice because it seemed to my naked eye that water had evaporated too much from the pot.  It hadn't.  I subsequently read that removing the lid during a slow cook can disrupt the cooking process by letting too much heat escape from the pot.  Oops.

    Third, I used Rancho Gordo's Chiapas Black Beans which I have found require a VERY long cook time compared to other black beans.  

    Unfortunately, even though I halved the recipe, the beans just weren't that cooked after 8 hours.  So then I did two rounds of pressure cooking, at 5 minutes a piece, but the beans were still not that cooked!

    So maybe I will attempt a slow cook again, but only with a proper fitted lid and perhaps with non-dried beans (either canned or at least soaked overnight). 

    And/or a 10+ hour cook time.  Just to be safe.

    Slow Cooker Instant Pot Chili Served

  • Solid Classic Egg Salad

    Egg salad, egg salad – how you have entered our lives!  Building on the success of my first homemade egg salad, I decided to try a more traditional, mayonnaise-based egg salad from the Cook's Illustrated team.   

    Classic Egg Salad Served

    This egg salad was pretty good – the eggs cooked better this time (less dry) and the inclusion of mayonnaise didn't result in too bland of a flavor.  Instead, the herb, red onion, and celery flavors came through pretty well.  I added some leftover tarragon to this recipe as well. 

    And while the dijon mustard added a nice tang, I think a slash of champagne vinegar would have also helped add more diversity of flavors to this otherwise tasty egg salad.  I look forward to making this recipe again!