Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Breakfast

  • Sweet Potato Oven Fries – Simple Breakfast Accompaniment

    On a whim, I purchased some sweet potatoes from the farmers market a  few weeks back.  I initially had in mind making a spicy South Indian sweet potato and chile dish, but ultimately decided to try a new approach.

    To Cook's Illustrated I turned, and found this healthy Sweet Potato Oven Fries recipe.  The recipe couldn't be easier to make – cut the sweet potatoes (I cut them into smaller, bite-size pieces than called for in the recipe) and toss with oil, salt and pepper.  Bake.  Turn the sweet potato slices over once or twice while in the oven for even cooking.  

    Cooks Illustrated Sweet Potato Oven Fries Close Up

    When the sweet potatoes are nicely browned, remove from the oven and serve!

    Couldn't be easier, but…the flavor was definitely a bit bland and without the crunch from oil, I don't these are a snack that fully stand on their own.  However, I can see these as the perfect breakfast potato side, so will be holding the recipe for that use in the future.

    Cooks Illustrated Sweet Potato Oven Fries

  • Steel-cut Oats Upma – Savory Breakfast for Health

    While I sometimes vary on whether I want a sweet or savory breakfast, savory is usually my preferred option.  And I feel that no one does savory breakfast quite like South Indian cuisine, which has a range of fantastic vegetarian breakfast items, from idli to dosa to upma.

    Upma is a wheat-flour based dish that incorporates many of the standard tempering spices and vegetables used in South Indian food generally.  It can be a great one-pot meal that I wanted to make even healthier by incorporating steel-cut oats – an approach used by some of my cousins.  My thought was that if I get this recipe right, it could be my new weekday breakfast that I could prepare on Sundays for the entire week (taking from a NY Times recommendation to cook a pot of steel-cut oats on Sunday to last until Friday).  

    Oatmeal Upma Prepared

    My first attempt at steel-cut oats upma was pretty good, though not great.  I think I should have added curry leaves to add a bit more complexity of flavor; used maybe 1/2 onion instead of a full one; and perhaps should have shredded the carrot instead of chopping it, for more textural consistency.  I'll report back as I continue to refine the recipe, but in the mean time, I think the following recipe will result in a pretty good, spicy and filling make-ahead breakfast.

    Steel-cut Oats Upma

    Ingredients:

    • 1 carrot diced
    • 1 onion chopped
    • 1 green chile, sliced
    • 1 tomato, chopped
    • 1 tsp ginger, minced
    • 1 cup steel cut oats, roasted
    • 3 cups water
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp mustard seed
    • 1.5 tsp urad dal
    • 1.5 tsp channa dal
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric
    • 2 tbsp grapeseed or vegetable oil

    Directions:

    • Heat a small pot on medium heat, and dry roast the oats until fragrant with a nutty smell – approx. 2 – 4 minutes.

    Oatmeal Upma Toasted Oats

    • Place oats in separate bowl to cool, and use same pot to heat oil on medium heat.
    • When hot, add spices and stir mixture periodically.  When mustard seeds begin to pop, add the ginger, chile and onion.  When the onion is translucent (approx. 4 minutes), add the tomato and carrot.  Cook down for 4 – 5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to break down.

    Oatmeal Upma Spices and Vegetables Cooking

    • Then add oats, coating oats in vegetable and spice mixture.  Add water, salt and turmeric and bring to a boil.

    Oatmeal Upma Oats and Vegetables Cooking

    Oatmeal Upma Water Cooking

    • When boiling, turn down heat to low and cover the pot.  
    • Cook for approx. 40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes or so, or until the oats are cooked down to your liking.  
    • Add additional salt and pepper to taste before serving.

  • Cheddar Scallion Jalapeno Drop Biscuits – Near-Instant Gratification

    Making a soup and need an accompaniment to make it a full meal?  Or want a quick savory option for brunch or breakfast?  Or just want something delicious that takes virtually no time to make?

    Assuming that one has to answer "yes" to at least one of these questions, the solution is Cook's Illustrated's Cheddar and Scallion Drop Biscuits recipe, to which I usually add half to a full minced jalapeno.  The recipe takes just a few steps – basically, stirring things togetherness (yes, that easy!).  

    Cheddar Scallion Biscuits Dough

    Cheddar Scallion Dough Together

    Cheddar Scallion Biscuits Ready for Baking

    These few steps somehow result in an amazing, amazing result – a savory, moist and light biscuit.  The scallions add a nice sharp flavor, the jalapeno adds sweetness and spice, and the cheddar adds another mellow flavor.  These biscuits are so good that I made them three times within the first month of trying this recipe!

    Cheddar Scallion Biscuits Baked

    The cooled biscuits last a few days, and can be warmed up in an oven or microwave, though their texture may become slightly more uniform instead of the day-off feature of having a slightly firmer crust and soft interior.  Regardless, these are an amazing treat!

    Cheddar Scallion Biscuits Cooling

  • Perfect Weekend Buttermilk Pancakes

    As I just blogged about, I recently made a weekend breakfast at home instead of heading out to a restaurant.  While the hash browns I made were a bit of a disaster, the pancakes I made were a complete success and far less work.  

    CI Pancakes Cooked

    I basically just followed the Cook's Illustrated Light and Fluffy Pancakes recipe, making only one major modification – I used buttermilk for the entire recipe, instead of mixing buttermilk with regular milk.  The recipe still resulted in what was promised though – light and super fluffy pancakes.

    CI Pancake Batter

    The only downside of this recipe is that it requires more steps and dishes than the standard pancake recipe in which you mix all of the ingredients together in basically one shot.  

    CI Pancake Batter in Pan

    For this approach, you combine the wet and dry ingredients separately, melt butter, and whisk in a separated egg.  To that end, when I mixed the yolk into the melted butter, I was worried that some parts of the egg yolk cooked in the warm butter, but that seemed to have no ill effect on the outcome.

    CI Pancakes Two in Pan

    In particular, our niece and nephew definitely loved the pancakes which ensures they will definitely be made again!

    CI Pancakes Noah

  • First Attempt as Hash Browns – My Technique Needs a Lot of Work!

    For a recent weekend breakfast we had at home, I tried my hand at making hash browns for the first time.  While I selected a Cook's Illustrated recipe, and therefore thought I was set up for success, I committed the fatal flaw of not perfectly following the recipe and ended up with a bit of a gummy mess.  

    Hashbrown Raw Potatoes Whole

    I think the problems started when I didn't squeeze enough water out of the grated potato shreds (see below).  I think the extra moisture helped turn the potatoes red/purple during cooking and forced me to increase the cooking time significantly because there was simply too much moisture and starch in the dish.

    Hashbrowns Raw Shredded

    In addition, I probably let the shredded potatoes sit too long before cooking, with CI warned could lead to browning.

    Hashbrowns Partially Cooked

    And so the potatoes cooked, cooked and cooked – the cooking time was probably double to triple what the recipe originally called for.

    Hashbrowns Cooking Flipped

    (flipped hash browns)

    I'll admit one more flaw evident from the pictures – I used a nonstick skillet instead of a cast-iron, which would have improved the cooking time dramatically as well.

    Hashbrowns Cooked

    So next time, a few modifications will be made.  First, the pan will become a cast-iron skillet.  Second, I will actually squeeze out ALL of the water from the potatoes with a kitchen towel instead of paper towels.  Third, I will probably also soak the potatoes in a bit of salt water before squeezing the water, to get rid of excess starch that can discolor the raw, starchy potatoes.  I use this final technique with the Indian potatoes I make, and have read online that that step can make a major difference.

  • Not for a Lack of Trying – Just OK Gallo Pinto Again

    After trying gallo pinto, a vegetarian black bean and rice dish, at a restaurant, I attempted to make it at home.  The result was fairly good, but only when I added a fair amount of Tapatio hot sauce to the dish.  

    With some cooked black beans in my fridge recently, I tried to make gallo pinto again, but this time aimed for a version that would not suffer from a lack of condiments.

    Although I tinkered with the recipe even further to add more flavor to both the rice and beans/sofrito mixture, the result was still fairly bland.  Maybe it is was it is was, but I think gallo pinto has now been retired from my recipe repetoire.

    Gallo Pinto v2

    (black bean and sofrito mixture)

    Gallo Pinto v. 2

    Ingredients:

    • 1.25 cups dried black beans, cooked beforehand
    • 1/3 cup reserved black bean cooking liquid or water
    • 1 1/3 cup rice, cooked with one vegan boullion cube
    • 1 large onion, chopped
    • 4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
    • 1 small orange bell pepper, chopped
    • 1 bay leaf
    • chili powder, to taste (optional)
    • 4 tbsp. olive oil
    • salt and pepper

    Directions:

    • Heat olive oil in large heavy bottom pot on medium heat.  When hot, add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent, reducing heat if garlic starts to brown.
    • Add the bell pepper and bay leaf, and saute for another 4 – 5 minutes until bell pepper has cooked but remains firm.
    • Add the beans, toss the ingredients together, and cook for another 7 – 10 minutes or at least until the beans have warmed through.
    • Add the cooked rice to the pot, stirring to break up any cooked rice clumps.  Add the reserved black bean cooking liquid or water, to make sure that the rice does not stick to the hot pot.  Cook for another 10 minutes, sauteeing every few minutes or until everything is hot and the rice and beans are flavored with the sofrito mixture.
    • Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as chili powder, and serve warm with hot sauce or other sides.

  • Coffeecake Muffins – Amazing Idea, Failed Execution

    For a recent brunch gathering I decided to incorporate a sweet offering to complement the otherwise savory egg, bread, rice/lentil and salad options.  Not surprisingly, I turned to Cook's Illustrated to find a recipe, and was incredibly happy when I found their Coffeecake Muffin recipe.  

    I am a big fan of nut-free coffeecake (I am allergic to nuts), and the muffin approach seemed like a great way to ensure a not-dry cake because the smaller cakes could presumably bake more evenly.  Unfortunately though, the concept was better than reality for at least the first time I made it.

    I followed the recipe mostly as is, omitting the pecans and using low-fat sour cream instead of full-fat.  I used 13 muffin cups though because the quantity of dough was WAY more than 12 cups would allow.  In fact, I think I should have used 18 cups or so because I definitely overfilled each cup, which led to a baking disaster.  Each cup's dough eventually spilled over the sides, covering the entire outside of the cup.  So halfway through the baking, I had to scoop up the dough on the baking pan, and off of the sides of the silicon cups.  

    Coffeecake Muffins

    When I took the muffins out of the oven, some were partially baked and sunk in while cool, and others were overbaked.  The flavor was outstanding though – great spices and dark brown sugar combined with the sour cream for a rich, dense taste.  So while I definitely look forward to making them again, this was yet another reminder to never overfill muffin cups while baking!

    Coffeecake Muffins Close Up

  • Banana Bread – Is There a Ceiling to How Great It Can Be?

    I make a lot of banana bread, mostly because I buy bananas fairly frequently and then never eat them before they turn black.  I then either make banana bread or muffins right away, or freeze the ripened bananas for future baking.  

    For the past several months, my go-to recipe has been the Martha Stewart Banana Bread recipe.  It's really, really good and I generally would not imagine deviating from it.  However, recently I had 3 frozen, ripe bananas and 3 black bananas on my countertop, so I decided to take a gamble and try the Cook's Illustrated Ultimate Banana Bread.  The Cook's Illustrated recipe calls for 6 bananas, which is generally far more than I ever have.  

    In classic Cook's Illustrated form, their recipe is more complicated than one's standard banana bread recipe (including the Martha Stewart version) and involves cooking down some banana liquid.  Despite the longer process and need for far more cooking instruments, the result is really amazing.  Incredibly rich with banana flavor (remember, 6 bananas for one loaf!), a perfect crisp exterior and good consistency within the bread.  The presentation of the bread is also much nicer than one usually finds because one banana is sliced and placed on top of the bread before baking (perfect for a brunch potluck).  

    So, all in all, I am very happy I decided to try the new recipe and will look forward to trying more because it seems like maybe banana bread can only get better and better?

    Cooks Illustrated Banana Bread

  • Cook’s Illustrated Drop Biscuits – Maybe Only to be Used in a Pinch in the Future

    Still catching up a long back-log of posts, so this one, like many to follow, will be relatively short.  I made a half batch of Cook's Illustrated drop biscuits recipe because I liked the simplicity of the recipe and wanted to ingest a lot of carbs 🙂  The recipe was pretty easy to follow, and required only a few ingredients which is a nice change of pace for CI recipes.  

    I used a silicone cupcake holder to measure out the dough, and I think I ended up with one of two more biscuits which explains why my 13 minutes of baking time seemed to overbake the biscuits.  The biscuits were fine – really nice out of the oven, but generally didn't have that much of a flavor to them.  So generally, I think I'll follow one of their more complicated biscuits in the future and save this one for when I need to make a quick batch of hot biscuits.

    Drop Biscuits

  • Savory/Spicy Pongal – A Flavorful, One Pot South Indian Rice and Lentil Dish

    Although I haven't attempted my favorite Indian weekend morning foods – dosa and idlis – I did recently try for the first time making pongal, a South Indian rice and lentil dish that can be savory or sweet.  I  like the savory/spicy pongal, and so I asked my mother for her recipe.  I made it with a few modifications – the full recipe follows the picture below – and could not be more pleased with the results.  It was perfectly flavored, filling, and very easy to prepare.  I look forward to making it again!

    Pongal

    Pongal

    Makes approximately 4 – 6 servings.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 tbsp. olive oil
    • 2 tsp. cumin
    • 1 tsp. ginger, minced
    • 12 curry leaves (I used dry, but you can use fresh – both can be found at Indian grocery stores)
    • 1 tsp. coarsely ground black peppercorns (can use whole as well)
    • 2 tsp. salt
    • 1 cup uncooked white rice
    • 7/8 cup moong dal
    • 5 cups water

    Directions:

    • Soak the white rice and dal separately for thirty minutes (optional).
    • In a medium dutch oven, or other heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat.  When warm, add cumin, ginger, peppercorns, and curry leaves.  Saute for one minute, and then add the rice and lentils.
    • Fry the mixture for 2 – 3 minutes, lightly tossing the mixture to ensure the rice/lentils do not stick to the bottom of the pan.  
    • Add the salt and water and bring the mixture to a boil.  When the pot contents start boiling, reduce heat to bring about a low simmer, and cover the pot.  
    • Cook for 25 – 30 minutes, or until the rice and lentils are soft and the water has been fully incorporated into the dish.
    • Serve on its own, or with other Indian breakfast foods or pickle.