Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

  • Rasam — A Light and Spicy Indian Tomato Soup

    One of my favorite Indian dishes is rasam — a light tomato broth that is wonderfully flavorful and can be enjoyed with rice and yogurt in addition to just being delicious on its own.  After long salivating for rasam on my journeys home to Michigan, I finally decided to try it on my own.  I bought some rasam powder (a mix of ground spices that you can find at any Indian store), and instead of following the rather bland directions on the box, I tried to incorporate items that I know my mom uses when she makes rasam.  The recipe follows the picture below.

    Rasam 2 

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups water
    • 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
    • 1/3 cup chopped onion
    • 1/2 jalapeno, chopped
    • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
    • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 2 tsp. prepared rasam powder
    • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
    • 2 dried red chili peppers
    • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

    Directions

    • Place water in medium pot, and turn heat on burners to high.
    • Add in chopped vegetables and rasam powder, and stir well.
    • Bring mixture to a boil, and boil for 3 – 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to a simmer.
    • At the same time, heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan.  Once hot, add mustard seeds and break the 2 dried chili peppers in half and add them as well.
    • Heat the mustard seeds and peppers until the mustard seeds pop.  Once they do, add the entire contents of the saucepan to the simmering pot.  
    • Stir the soup well, and then serve when desired.  Although excellent on its own, rasam can also be served on the side of any Indian meal or with just rice.

  • A Bland First Attempt at Vegetarian Paella

    In January, I made the bold purchase of a paella pan.  And to follow up that self-described "bold" move, I attempted my first paella…7 months later.  Unfortunately, it was not a wait well worth it — the result of my impromptu paella was bland, and there were LOTS of leftovers (though I admit all of the leftovers were consumed with lots of Sriracha, which certainly made it tastier).   In any case though, it was a good way to use a lot of random CSA veggies, even if it meant eating them with a lot of Sriracha.

    Below the picture, I provide the ingredients I used and directions, followed by tips that I think will help make the paella tastier next time (and no vegetarian paella skeptics, none of those tips involve using meat!). 

    Vegetarian Paella

     
    Ingredients (for approximately 6 – 8 servings)

    • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 3/4 cup chopped onion
    • 1 large green bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
    • 1 medium orange bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
    • Approx. 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
    • 1/2 tsp. saffron
    • 1 small jalapeno, chopped
    • 1/4 tsp. paprika
    • 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
    • 1 cup arborio rice
    • 1 cup brown basmati rice (only because I realized I only had one cup of arborio)
    • Olive oil

    Directions

    1)  Heat oven to 400 degrees.
    2)  Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in paella pan on medium-high heat (you may need to use two burners depending on the size of your paella pan.
    3)  Add garlic and onion, and saute for approximately 5 minute until the onions cook down.
    4)  Add the sliced bell peppers, jalapeno and tomatoes and cook for approximately another five minutes.
    5)  Add rice, saffron and paprika, stirring to incorporate rice into the entire vegetable mix.  Saute for 2 minutes.
    6)  Add in the vegetable broth, stirring and increasing heat to high, and cook until the liquid starts to boil.
    7)  Place pan into oven uncovered, and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed and rice is cooked.
    8)  Serve immediately.

    Preliminary Improvement Tips

    Thanks to the advice of my friend Jonathan, it seems I can attribute a good chunk of the paella blandness to dramatic underspicing.  I should have used a few tsps. of pimenton instead of traditional paprika,  and used more saffron (and crumbled it) and salt.  Additionally, I should have definitely just stuck with a cooking a smaller amount of rice, and using only the arborio or other medium-grain rices because not only do they cook faster, they also are the necessary component to building the traditional paella "crust".  I also think I should have been more diligent about using two burners for my large paella pan to more evenly distribute high heat throughout the cooking, as well as using a higher heat (e.g., Bittman's recommended 450 degrees for his tomato paella recipe) to better achieve the crust as well. 

    I'll definitely report back after I attempt another round of paella!

    Vegetarian Paella Close Up

  • “Not-So-Red” Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

    I have wanted to make red velvet cupcakes for some time, but finding the right recipe and figuring out how to avoid using red food coloring have held me back from baking them.  After a considerable amount of searching, I finally settled on this recipe from Kim O'Donnel's A Mighty Appetite blog on WashingtonPost.com.  Unfortunately though, before I selected this recipe, I had purchased big jar of white vinegar — a staple of many red velvet recipes — and so if anyone has any thoughts on what I should do with it, please let me know! 

    I followed the recipe (including cream cheese frosting) almost exactly, except for adding in the red food coloring.  I instead tried to puree a few baby beets to add them to the mixture, but unfortunately, they didn't turn out to have the consistency I would have preferred (probably because I used a magic bullet instead of a real blender, so I admit it was a half-hearted attempt).   So, I decided to forgo the color additive and just make light brown cupcakes.   

    The batter was remarkably rich and velvety when I poured it into the cupcake tray.  I have to admit sampling a bit of the uncooked batter and it was DELICIOUS.  Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to sampling these not-so-red velvet cupcakes.

    Red Velvet Cupcakes

    I thoroughly enjoyed the cupcakes when they came out of the oven — they had a fantastic cinnamon flavor and were perfectly moist.  The next day though, I found them to have dried out a fair amount in the airtight container I put them in, and despite the flavor, the cupcakes had definitely lost their charm.  They were not necessarily dry but the consistency just wasn't even and the cupcakes almost stuck to my mouth — not a pleasant feeling. 

    So definitely recommend this recipe if you are planning on serving them right away, but would not recommend making these cupcakes a day ahead of time.  And now that I have finally tried making not-so-red velvet cupcakes at home, I hope to try another recipe soon!

  • CSA Summer Yellow Squash Casserole

    I recently read that if you plant summer squash in your backyard
    garden, you should plant very little because summer squash can be
    especially fruitful.  That certainly seems to be true based on the TON
    of summer squash we have been getting in our weekly CSA deliveries. 
    I've done a fair share of sauteeing and grilling the squash, and
    finally reached a point when I just had to try something new.  I
    decided to make a summer squash casserole, similar to a mixed
    winter/summer squash casserole I made several years ago, by using some
    ingredients I had sitting around the house.  Directions follow the
    picture of the prepared casserole.

    Summer Squash Casserole

    This recipe makes approximately 6 side servings.

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups chopped yellow squash (approx. 2 medium squash)
    • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 3/4 cup chopped onion
    • 2 tbsp. butter
    • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
    • 3/4 cup shredded parmesan
    • salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste

    Directions

    • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
    • Melt the butter on medium-high heat in a wide saucepan
    • Add the garlic and onion, and saute until the onion softens (approx. 2 – 3 minutes)
    • Add the chopped yellow squash, sauteeing on high heat for
      approximately 10 minutes, or until the squash pieces soften and appear
      semi-cooked (inner parts of the squash have been softened, and appear
      somewhat translucent, but the squash has not browned).  Add salt,
      crushed red pepper and black pepper to taste.
    • Transfer contents to a lightly oiled or buttered 8 x 8 inch baking
      dish.  Sprinkle the panko breadcrumbs on top of the mixture, and then
      add the parmesan to cover the entire dish.
    • Bake uncovered for approximately 20 minutes, or until there is a lightly browned crust.  Serve immediately.

    While I enjoyed eating this casserole, I think that mixing in 1/2 a
    cup of a softer, shredded cheese — perhaps some mozzarella — to the
    squash mixture would be a welcome addition to the dish, both to add
    flavor and make the texture a bit creamier.  I think that this recipe
    would also work well doubled in case you also have to deal with an
    abundance of yellow squash!

  • Wonderfully Rich Chocolate Ice Cream

    It's been awhile since I've broken out the ice cream maker, and one recent afternoon, I decided to find a recipe and finally put it back to use.  I ended up settling for a relatively simple chocolate ice cream recipe from AllRecipes.com, and I am definitely happy to have found it! 

    Chocolate Ice Cream

    The recipe was incredibly easy to prepare, and the result was nothing short of amazing — incredibly rich and velvety, as well as a perfectly soft consistency that didn't get chalky after a few days in the freezer.  I highly recommend it to anyone who has an ice cream maker!

  • Sour Cream Potato Salad

    I hosted a small barbeque at my apartment last week, and the menu consisted of CSA bell pepper and onion fajitas, veggie burgers, lamb burgers (for the meat-eaters), red velvet cupcakes, chocolate ice cream, and a potato salad that I whipped up using some CSA new potatoes and green onions.   Although I truly just threw together the potato salad with just ingredients I had in the house, it actually ended up being very tasty — tastier than many potato salads I've had in the past (note my surprise).   I think the key ingredients used were the dijon mustard and garlic powder — both really added a lot of good flavor to an otherwise bland potato salad.

    Potato Salad

    Approximately 4 side servings, or 2 large servings

    Ingredients

    • 10 small new potatoes, scrubbed and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces (approx. two cups chopped)
    • 1/3 cup sour cream
    • 1 large tsp. of dijon mustard
    • 1 large green onion, chopped into 1/4 inch segments (use both white and green parts)
    • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Directions

    1.  Cover chopped new potatoes in water, and bring to a boil.  Boil for an additional 5 – 7 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and easily pierced by a fork or knife.

    2.  While new potatoes are boiling, mix the other ingredients together in a large serving bowl.

    3.  Drain the potatoes well, and let cool for 2 minutes or so.  Mix the potatoes into the serving bowl, and ensure the potatoes are fully covered by the sour cream mixture.

    4.  Cover serving bowl with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

  • Scarf Week Part II: Double Cable Scarf from One Skein

    Its funny (or sad) how much I rely on the Internet for my knitting and cooking.  Another piece of evidence that this reliance is not pushing toward better and more interesting knitting is that I recently found a fantastic scarf on the Internet to make Maya, my cousin's youngest daughter, for my recently-proclaimed "Scarf Week".  Both the pattern itself was actually published on the Internet — it was instead published in a book that I have owned for some time, One Skein. 

    I used an entire ball, with only about 5 yards left over, of Bernat's Cottontots Solid in light blue to make the scarf, which like the Edgar scarf, knit up in several hours.  I ended up adding an extra cable row because the Cottontots knit up smaller lengthwise than the gauge called for in the pattern.  I used a size 6 needle, slightly smaller than called for on the yarn band, but what seemed to achieve the correct gauge for the pattern.  The final measurements (pre-blocking) were:

    • 3.5 inches wide
    • 36.5 inches long
    • 9 inches of cables (about 10 full cables); rest of the scarf was a double rib
    Maya Double Cable Knit Scarf

    The next time I make this scarf, I might increase the needle size to size 7 to make working the rib and cables a bit easier with this specific yarn.  I will probably also try making this scarf again with a wool blend for more of a winter scarf and for greater ease while knitting, but I think for a Florida scarf, the Cottontots worked out well for a soft and decorative scarf. 

  • Scarf Week: Knitty Edgar Scarf in Light Green Mohair

    I recently made two scarves in a little over a week for my cousin Anu's two daughters.  The eldest daughter Pooja's favorite color is green, and her younger sister Maya's favorite color is blue.  I wanted to knit them both relatively lightweight scarves, as they like in Florida, but unfortunately deciding on a type of object to knit seemed to almost expand the options of what patterns to look at, instead of making the selection process easier!  It took several weeks (if not months — it was definitely a long process!) to finally settle on a pattern and yarn.  Toward the end of my search, I consulted Ravelry frequently especially after I decided to use yarns in my stash.

    For Pooja's green scarf, I settled on knitting the cravath size of the Edgar Scarf by Silke Hupka, published in the fall 2005 issue of Knitty.com.  I used a ball of Classic Elite La Gran Mohair in what I believe is the Eucalyptus Green (I can't find the label though to confirm).  The project took exactly one ball, and I used a size 8 circular needle to produce a scarf with the following measurements (post-blocking):

    • 4.5 inches at its widest point
    • 41.5 inches long
    • 10 triangle blocks total
    Mohair Green Edgar Scarf

    While the scarf was initially knitting up, I was worried the mohair blend was making the pattern look a little sloppy, but upon blocking the scarf, I could see that the mohair really worked well with the pattern.  The final scarf was plush and soft, and draped really well for a shorter scarf, which can too often be a little too bulky for their size and hard to wrap.  And given that the scarf knit up in several hours, I look forward to using both this scarf pattern and this yarn again!

  • Indian Style Cabbage Stir Fry

    The weekly CSA deliveries continue to make me try new recipes — or at least in this case, a recipe I have never tried despite eating several times.  For two or three weeks, I received a small head of cabbage in my share.  I've never actually cooked with cabbage, but I remembered that my mom made a tasty Indian cabbage dish that I used to eat a decent amount growing up.  So I called her up, and got her recipe — which sure enough, was extremely easy to follow, cooked up incredibly quickly and will definitely be repeated next time I pick up some cabbage!

    And the best part — which I learned at work the next day — is that a whole head of cabbage has less than 300 calories!  That means each serving of this recipe is maybe 75 – 100 calories at most! 

    Cabbage (Indian Style)

    Makes approximately 6 servings

    Ingredients:

    1 small head cabbage, outer green leaves removed and thoroughly washed (approx. 6 cups of cabbage, after chopped)
    1/4 cup peas (can be frozen)
    1/2 cup shredded carrot
    1 thai green chili pepper
    1 tsp. mustard seeds
    2 cloves garlic, sliced
    3 dried red chili peppers (can be found in Indian grocery stores), broken in half
    1 tsp uridahl
    1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    1/4 tsp turmeric powder
    Vegetable oil
    Salt

    Directions:

    1.  Chop the cabbage into small pieces — approximately 1/2 inch wide by 1 – 2 inch long pieces.
    2.  Place cabbage in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes to pre-cook.  Also place peas and carrot in the microwave for approximately 1 minute (if frozen, for 2 minutes).
    3.  At the same time, heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan on medium-high heat, and add mustard seeds.
    4.  After mustard seeds pop, add garlic, red chili pepers, uridahl and cumin, and quickly saute.  You want to cook until the garlic softens, but before it browns.
    5.  Immediately add the cabbage, peas and carrot; sprinkle on the turmeric and salt to taste; and ensure that the seasonings and oil coat all the vegetables. 
    6.  Saute the mixture for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring regularly until the cabbage reaches the consistency you desire.  Add more salt to taste before removing from the heat. 
    7.  Serve hot with basmati or long-grain rice, or Indian breads.  Think about how something so delicious can be so good for you!

  • Sage Shortbread Cookies — A Deliciously Savory Alternative to Sweet Shortbread

    My experimentation with CSA veggie and herbs continues!  Over the past eight weeks, I've received several types of herbs, some of which I am familiar with (basil, oregano) and others that are either completely new to me, or just herbs that I haven't cooking with (lemon balm — who knew?, mint, peppermint).  One herb that seems to fall in the middle of these two categories is sage — an herb I've used in the past, but maybe only once or twice at most. 

    As I approached using fresh sage when it arrived in my weekly delivery, I really had no idea what to do.  I consulted a few cookbooks, but could only find recipes that would require me to buy several new ingredients, instead of use what I have at home.  I then (shockingly!) turned to the Internet, and found this Sage Shortbread recipe on Epicurious, which would require me to only use what I have in the house.

    Sage Shortbread Cookies

    I ended up halving the amount of fresh, sliced sage used both because some of the sage had gone bad by the time I used it and some of the recipe reviewers recommended using a smaller amount of sage.  I also ended up cutting the baking time in half per some of the reviewers, but even that amount of time led to some "well-done" shortbread.

    The result though was incredible — both sweet and salty, with a really tasty sage flavor.  I would HIGHLY recommend this recipe, and look forward to making the cookies again as soon as I get more sage!