Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Author: madhuknitsandcooks

  • A Truly Unique and Mouthwatering Saag Paneer – with Feta!

    I checked out Priya Krishna's great Indian-ish cookbook from our library ebook reader, and the recipe that immediately caught my eye was the Feta Saag Paneer recipe.  

    Feta Saag Paneer Served

    Feta instead of paneer?  Yes, it works!  And it works really, really well.  The saltiness and brine of the feta melts wonderfully into the cooked spinach to create a creamy, tart, and herby dish, though I think Krishna's liberal use of butter helps enhance the flavor as well 🙂

    I made a few modifications to this recipe – substituted 1 tsp. of ground coriander for seeds based on the recipe reviews and personal preference, less butter (don't remember how much, but I think just a small amount works), and one Thai red chile.  I also reduced the spices overall because I had only 10 oz of spinach and about 4 oz of feta.  

    Yum!  I look forward to making this recipe again.

  • Whole Roasted Cauliflower in a Gobi Manchurian-ish Style

    When I saw Milk Street had a recipe inspired by one of my Indian-Chinese favorite dishes, gobi manchurian, I knew it was a "when" not "if" for my first attempt at this recipe.  

    Gobi Cauliflower Roasted Whole

    Unfortunately, while the flavors were slightly reminiscent of the sweet-spicy gobi manchurian I know and love, I overall found this roasted cauliflower too overspiced for my preferences.  It was similar to the last whole roasted Milk Street cauliflower recipe I made, but without the additional herbs, tomatoes, etc. to cut the very strong deep dried spice flavor.  So I think this will not be a recipe repeat.  

  • Fettuccine with Kale, Parmesan, Olive Oil, and Garlic – A Simple Weeknight Dinner

    With leftover homemade fettuccine in the freezer, and leftover kale in the fridge, I decided to put the two together.  But how?  Enter Bon Appetit.  I modified their recipe by using my homemade fettuccine instead of spaghetti, about 3/4 of a bunch of dinosaur kale, 2 cloves of garlic, less olive oil (maybe 2-3 tbsp. instead of a quarter cup), and a sprinkling of shaved parmesan on top.  

    Kale and Parmesan Fettucine

    The result was very good, though slightly more on the bland end.  A bit more salt, kale, olive oil, and parmesan to taste would have helped, so in the future, I will not reduce the original recipe amounts.

  • Updated Favorite Homemade Vegetable Noodle Soup – with Potatoes and Kale

    With some leftover potatoes and kale in the fridge, I decided to do the easiest thing I could think of – throw them in a soup!  

    Vegetarian Soup with Potatoes and Kale

    I used my favorite vegetarian noodle soup recipe, and added the cubed potatoes in for 9 minutes to fully cook while the ripped kale only took a few minutes.  Both were fantastic additions to the soup, with the kale in particular really adding to satisfying meal.  Look forward to adding these again to my future soups!

  • Field of Wildflowers – My First Instagram-Inspired Hat!

    A few years ago, I saw a breathtaking picture of a completed Field of Wildflowers hat on Malabrigo's Instagram account.  I loved everything about this hat – the pattern, the yarn, and how they both worked so well together to create a bright, but not-too-bright winter hat.  I not only bookmarked this hat, but also immediately ordered the Malabrigo Rios yarn that the hat featured.  

    Years later, during a global pandemic no less, I finally saw the need to make this hat – with increasingly long winter walks outside and no concerns about "hat hair" during work or social events.  

    Field of Wildflowers - Finished

    While the hat knit up fairly quickly, and the squishy Malabrigo Rios was a true pleasure to work with, the initial hat I produced was too long for my tastes.  The length meant that the hat had a fair amount of "slouch" at the top, which is not a style I like.  So I frogged the top part of the hat and remade it to only have 4 pattern repeats.  I also skipped decrease rows 13-15 and 17-19.  If I make this hat again, I will probably just concentrate the length cutting on the border rows to have more of the pattern appear across the length of the hat.

    Here are some pictures of the original, longer hat, including compared to a previously knit hat that fits me quite well.

    Field of Wildflowers - Initial Version

    Field of Wildflowers - Initial Version over Hat

    Field of Wildflowers – for Me!

    Pattern:  Field of Wildflowers by Joji Locatelli, size small

    Yarn:  Malabrigo Rios, maybe 2/3 skein, in Arco Iris

    Needles:  Two US3 and two US 4 circulars

    Measurements:  Pre-blocking measurements of 8 inches tall by 8.5 inches wide at the bottom; post-blocking measurements of 7.75 inches tall by 9.25 inches wide at its widest point at the brim

  • Baked Spinach and Ricotta Manicotti – An Adaptable Recipe that Produces a Hearty Dinner

    With leftover spinach ricotta filling from my first stuffed pasta, I decided to attempt the Cook's Illustrated Baked Manicotti.  I thought the manicotti would be less time consuming than making and stuffing fresh pasta again, and while I was correct, the multiple steps required also make this more of a weekend than weeknight meal.

    Baked Manicotti - Rolled Filling

    I first sautéed leftover spinach, red onion, and garlic, and combined it with leftover ricotta to supplement the pre-made spinach and ricotta filling.  I then soaked the Wegmans no-boil lasagna noodles as directed, and then filled and rolled the shells with the filling.  The approx. half leftover spinach ricotta filling was enough to fill 4 rolls and then newly sautéed spinach mixture enough for 2.  I then decided to use jarred tomato sauce – Wegmans Diavolo – instead of fresh, grated some parmesan on top, and baked the manicotti for 34 minutes.  As directed, I then broiled the dish before serving.

    Baked Manicotti - Out of the Oven

    Many steps, but for a great result – tangy from the tomato sauce, fatty and rich from the ricotta, and fresh herb-y flavors jumping out from the spinach.  The recipe took very well to my adaptations (jarred sauce, leftover filling with different ingredients, an improvised new filling of leftovers), such that I think this will be a well used recipe in the future.

  • An Improvised Chickpea Salad Sandwich – Bland, but Different Meal

    I recently went on a vegetarian sandwich googling kick, after feeling a bit exhausted from my lunch salad routine.  One of those searches resulted in an unexpected discovery – vegetarian/vegan chickpea salad sandwiches!  Who would have thought?

    Chickpea Salad Sandwich - Filling Prepared

    When I got to actually making the sandwich filling, I improvised significantly from the recipes linked above, simply to accommodate what I had in my fridge and pantry.  So I eyeballed some cooked chickpeas, dijon mustard, mayonnaise, chopped red onion and scallion, herbes de provence, salt, and pepper into a bowl, and then lightly mashed the chickpeas as I stirred these ingredients together.

    I then spooned the filling into some toasted bread, added some thin sliced tomatoes, and sat down to eat.

    Chickpea Salad Sandwich - Served

    The result was somewhat bland, but still pretty tasty to eat smashed, flavored chickpeas in bread.  I think the key changes to make in the future are to include fresh celery for a textural contrast, some lemon juice for a more sharp tartness, and some herbs (as called for by the ATK recipe) would have definitely helped as well.  So a work in progress!

  • Spinach and Ricotta Mezzalune – A Fantastic, Albeit Time-Consuming Stuffed Pasta

    My first stuffed pasta, largely following the ATK Half-Moon Stuffed Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta recipe.  This pasta turned out even better than I could have expected – incredibly fresh spinach flavor with just the right amount of saltiness and creaminess from the ricotta and butter/salt/parmesan sauce.  AND you can freeze the uncooked leftovers (just add a minute or two to the cooking time for the frozen ravioli), making it a fantastic future weeknight treat.

    Mezzalune - Served

    The modifications I made:

    Notes for future attempts:

    • Per the recipe guidance, used only 8oz of the pasta but had a tremendous amount of filling leftover (approx. half!) so should have used the entire amount pasta dough I made
    • Definitely don't need a sauce for this – so incredibly tasty on it's own
    • A multi-hour (maybe 3-hour) effort with the dough and filling prep, pasta rolling, and then ultimately not only filling the pasta but also then letting it dry for 30 minutes before cooking

    Mezzalune - Pasta Being Filled

    Mezzalune - Filled Pasta Drying

    Mezzalune - Cooked in Pan

  • Yeasted Cinnamon Rolls – A Once-in-a-Decade Homemade Treat

    It's been a decade since I've made yeasted cinnamon rolls.  Those soft, warm, gooey rolls are delicious – but incredibly time consuming.  The dough generally requires a few rises, making the final product a little too late for breakfast and a little too decadent for lunch.  So once-in-a-decade seems like the appropriate frequency for making these high-caloric, time-consuming treats. 

    KAF Pillowly Cinnamon Rolls - Served

    The inspiration for my 2020s attempt came from King Arthur Flour, which declared their Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls as the KAF 2021 Recipe of the Year.  I halved this recipe and also followed the KAF catalog printed recipe, which had some slight deviations from the online recipe (namely 1 tbsp. of Vietnamese cinnamon instead of regular ground cinnamon).  

    KAF Pillowly Cinnamon Rolls - Out of Oven

    The recipe was very easy to follow, and I wished I adhered to it more closely by using dental floss to more cleanly cut the rolls.  Otherwise though, the tangzhong-based recipe produced soft and light rolls with a very, very sweet (but tasty) icing. 

    The baked rolls held up for two days post-baking, and their only downside was that they took a long time to prepare.  See you in the 2030s delicious yeasted cinnamon rolls!

    KAF Pillowly Cinnamon Rolls - Just Iced

  • Caramelized Onion and Brie Pizza – Pretty Good Alternative to Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella!

    With one serving of pizza dough in the fridge, and not enough mozzarella and tomato sauce to put on it, what to do?  We didn't have any smoked gouda to make my beloved Matchbox Fire and Smoke Pizza, so to the internet I turned for other options.  King Arthur Flour conveniently had a Caramelized Onion and Brie pizza recipe, which not only could use up our leftover pizza dough, but also some leftover brie.

    Carmelized Onion Pizza

    I largely followed the recipe (halved the ingredients for a half pie topping) though I did finish the pizza under the broiler which resulted in the very dark, crisp onions pictured above. 

    The flavors of the toppings were great – rich and creamy brie with slightly earthy yet sweet caramelized onions.  My husband really loved this topping as is, though I think I would have preferred another sweet or salty contrast – perhaps the sweetened cranberries, almonds or fresh herbs mentioned in a KAF recipe note.  However, it's a great recipe to use up leftover onions and cheese, so one I can see us making again.

    Carmelized Onion Pizza Close Up