Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Recipes

  • 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!
     

  • Turkish-Style Zucchini Pancakes (Mucver)

    One of my favorite Turkish dishes is mucver, or zucchini pancakes, topped with a Turkish yogurt.  Despite my feeling that one can probably never mess up mucver (I've had it at multiple restaurants with varying levels of overall quality), I hadn't really thought about making it at home until I saw this recipe on the NY Times website a few months ago.  But even after seeing this fairly easy recipe, I didn't actually decide to plow forward and make it myself until I recently a HUGE zucchini from my CSA.  I have tried a few other dishes with the CSA zucchini, including a spicy stir-fried zucchini and sliced zucchini on homemade pizza, but the massive size of the zucchini I received that week meant that it was time to get creative so to the mucver I turned.

    Rather than follow the NY Times recipe which required a lot of ingredients that I didn't have and much more egg than I wanted ( I generally don't eat eggs unless they are in baked goods), I looked up a few other recipes and decided to just freestyle it with the following version:

    Zucchini Pancakes

    This recipe makes approximately 2 large main course servings or 4 appetizer-size servings.

    1 medium large zucchini, shredded
    1 egg, lightly beaten
    1/4 tsp salt
    2 tbls all-purpose flour
    1 tbls panko breadcrumbs
    1 green onion, finely chopped
    crushed red pepper to taste
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1/3 tsp baking soda

    Olive oil for pan-frying (approx 3 tbls)

    Directions

    1.  After shredding the zucchini, squeeze as much of the excess water out of the remains and pat the mixture as dry as possible.

    2.  Heat a heavy pan on high heat with olive oil for light pan-frying.

    3.  Mix all of the remaining ingredients together.

    4.  Place one large tablespoon of the mixture onto the pan, slightly flattening out to a 2 – 3-inch diameter with a spatula.  Repeat, leaving an inch or two between each zucchini pancake round.

    5.  Cook for approximately 3 minutes on each side, until fairly browned.

    6.  Serve immediately with a Greek or Turkish style yogurt or freshed chopped dill, if you desire.

    Although this recipe may not follow the true Turkish style of mucver, I found this recipe to be extremely quick, flexible and very tasty (not too eggy!), and look forward to trying other spices or cheeses with it as I happen to get them in my kitchen. 

  • One Egg Banana Bread — Results of a Desperate Internet Search!

    A Sunday a few weeks back, I was just ready to make banana chocolate cupcakes (with additional chocolate chips).  So ready that I took out the ripened bananas I had frozen a few weeks back, and started to let them thaw in anticipation of making the cupcakes.  However, when I returned to the kitchen to start readying the rest of the ingredients, I discovered I had only one egg instead of the two eggs called for in the recipe.  I did a quick search of the Internet to see if I could find a way to modify the recipe, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything that made sense so I readied myself to just throw away the bananas and find another time to make the cupcakes.

    But then I thought about what else I could make that day, and realized that I really didn't have much to make anything work, so why not try to salvage the bananas?  I did a google search for one egg banana bread, and ended up finding this recipe:  http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001465banana_bread.php.  I decided to add in 1/4 cup of cocoa and sprinkle chocolate chips on top to meet my chocolate desires, and substitute some brown sugar for 1/2 of the white sugar in the recipe, and otherwise followed the recipe as is.  The bread did take some extra time to bake (maybe 10 minutes or so), but turned out well.  It was very moist, and the chocolate taste was perfect.  I'll be making it again, so it almost makes me look forward to more kitchen planning mishaps in the future!

    Chocolate Banana Bread

  • A Return to Giada: Artichoke Gratinata

    A few months ago, I checked out Giada DeLaurentiis' "Giada's Kitchen" from the local public library and tried making several of her recipes. 
    I returned the book before maybe the Artichoke Gratinata — the one
    recipe I had bought the ingredients for (frozen artichokes, marsala
    wine, breadcrumbs, etc.) but never had a chance to make.  A few weeks
    later, I decided to finally use up the ingredients I had purchased and
    try the Artichoke Gratinata recipe. 

    Artichoke Gratinata

    I
    basically followed the recipe as is, but I omitted the parsley (didn't
    have any), substituted panko breadcrumbs for the standard breadcrumbs
    and substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth called for in the
    recipe.  Finally, I also cooked the artichokes in the pan for longer
    than called for (maybe 10 minutes or so) given that I was not using a
    heavy-bottom skillet so it just wasn't that hot for a prolonged period
    of time.

    Generally, I liked the taste of the dish but I admit
    that it probably doesn't successfully make the transition from "side"
    to "main" course (which I had tried to make it).  I think the dish just
    haven't the right set of flavors to successfully make the transition. 
    I do think I'll make it as a side dish again, but probably only with a
    tasty main course to give it a bit more balance.

  • Madhu Joins a CSA (and Simple Roasted CSA Beets)!

    After years of thinking about joining a CSA, I finally decided this winter that I no longer have any reasonable excuses (moving, working too much, etc.) for not doing it.  My friend Mike and I started to do a fair amount of research about the types of CSAs in the D.C. area, and about CSAs generally to get a better sense of what we would want to start with.  The first CSA we attempted to join was Clagett Farm — but unfortunately, it appears that everyone else in the D.C. metro area also wanted to join Clagett so we did not make it in through their process.  After regrouping, we decided on Karl's Farm, a farm located in Pisgah, MD.  The sign-up was relatively easy, and the location/philosophy and reviews seemed to match what we were looking for. 

    So almost three months later, our first delivery arrived about two weeks ago (Karl's Farm delivers to your home, which is also a big plus).  The first two weeks' deliveries included broccoli rabe (the first week I sauteed it in a skillet, and threw it on a pizza I was making), green onions, sage, oregano, mint, lemon balm, Daikon radish, a few varieties of turnips, and beets — lots and lots of delicious beets. 

    Roasted Beets

    Besides using some items like the broccoli rabe, oregano and green onions in some standard dishes that I usually make, I have been taking the time to learn more about roots like beets, radishes and turnips.  My most recent attempt to use these items included buying a handheld mandoline and baking homemade root chips — unfortunately though, the attempt was not successful as it seems I baked the very thinly sliced chips at too high of a temperature (375 degrees).  The "chips" seemed to both burn and undercook, so I would recommend cooking them at a lower temperature (maybe 300 degrees) for a longer period of time. 

    My first, and most successful, attempt to use these items though including the simple stand-by of just roasting the root vegetables in the oven.   After scrubbing and peeling them, I cut up the Daikon radish and turnips into 1/4 inch by 1/2 sticks, and threw up some mustard seeds and cumin on top of them.  I baked them at 375 for maybe 45 minutes, and they turned out wonderfully.  I also wrapped the individual beets in foil and baked them until tender — about an hour at the 375 temperature as well.  I quickly then sliced them (burning myself in the process, but I was so hungry, it didn't matter) and ate them without any garnish as they were just so delicious on their own.   They were so good that I am actually still upset with myself for messing with such a good, simple way to prepare beets and attempting my poorly-conceived vision (meaning burnt) of beet chips.  

    Definitely looking forward to what's going to come this week!

  • Back to Soups! Rachel Ray’s Corn and Salsa Soup

    Apparently there is hope that I will use the cookbooks and cooking magazines in my apartment, and not just rely on the internet and cookbooks from the library for my cooking and baking experiments.  I make this statement as the other day, I pulled out the one and only "Everyday with Rachel Ray" magazine I bought last year and made my first recipe from it.  I settled on the "Corn and Salsa Soup" recipe both because I thought it would be a filling soup for my friends who I were expecting for dinner, but also because it seemed that it would be a quick main course that would allow me to spend time on the two desserts I planned on making that evening. 

    Rachel Ray Corn and Salsa Soup Close Up

    I basically followed the recipe step-by-step, though I ended up using a can of plain diced tomatoes because I couldn't find fire-roasted tomatoes at a small grocery store nearby.  I found the soup incredibly easy to make  and despite my concerns that it would not have enough flavor, the poblano peppers definitely added a lot more spice than I thought.  I definitely look forward to preparing it again, especially because it had both a light consistency and somehow ended up being incredibly filling and healthy.  The recipe can be found online at:  http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/30-minute-meals/corn-and-salsa-tortilla-soup/article.html.

    Rachel Ray Corn and Salsa Soup   

  • Broccolini and Popovers — A Simple, Light and Very Garlic-Heavy Meal!

    About a week or two ago, I found some very good-looking broccolini at the local grocery store and decided to pick some up even though I had no idea what I should make with the bunch.  I ended up looking in my cookbooks (including the ones from the library) and couldn't find anything that seemed good so to the Internet I went!  I found this simple "Garlicky Broccolini" recipe from Rachel Ray:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/garlicky-broccolini-recipe/index.html.  I ended up making it one night, and decided to pair it with some Garlic Parmesan Popovers from my Gourmet cookbook — my first attempt at Popovers.   The Gourmet recipe is also online at:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Garlic-Parmesan-Popovers-11444.  My thoughts on the recipes follow the pictures below.

    Garlicky Broccolini and Garlic Parmesan Popovers

    I thought the broccolini turned out well though I admit that I probably won't use this recipe again — it was just a little too simple, and I think there are probably other dishes I can throw broccolini in to make a more flavorful and memorable meal.  My first attempt at popovers also turned out well — I used my silicon baking cups and pre-heated them in the oven per a tip I found online.    They rose uncontrollably (as they should!) and had a great consistency when we took them out of the oven.   The only complaint I have is that they tasty pretty "egg-y", and as someone who is not really a fan egg-flavored foods, I could only eat one popover.  Andy enjoyed them though, and ate all of the leftovers so if you are looking for a popover recipe, it seems this would be a good one to start with!

  • New Dinner Bread Option — Parmesan Biscuits

    Last week, I was trying to figure out ways to use up a chuck of parmesan that I had purchased for one of the "Giada's Kitchen" website, and I definitely knew that I wanted to be some sort of bread or cracker.  I found this cool website, Dinner with Julie, and a parmesan biscuit recipe that perfectly suited my needs (and my pantry):  http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2009/04/13/curried-lentil-soup-with-ham-and-sweet-potatoes-and-parmesan-biscuits/.  The only change I made was reducing the baking time by 5 minutes, which resulted in wonderfully bouncy and rich biscuits that also tasted pretty good the next day for breakfast.

    Parmesan Biscuits

  • Chocolate Souffle — I am a Master! (Ok, Maybe Overstatement of the Year but Still a Personal Achievement!)

    About three weeks ago, I finally crossed off an item on my to do list that has been following me for several months — buying ramekins.  If only I could adequately describe how much effort and nervous energy I put into this project — it would be quite a story to tell, but in order to properly describe it, I'd have to become a much better writer.  So to quickly recap my ramekin journey, the first issue was that it seems that many of the standard kitchen stores in town just didn't have any individual-size ramekins, which pushed my search onto the Internet.  On the Internet, I was quickly (and predictably) overwhelmed by the options available, including the ridiculous number of sizes available for "individual" serving ramekins.  That question of size really threw me for a loop, so I of course had to consult ALL of the souffle and custard recipes in my cookbooks to find out the most common individual size called for, and then back to researching this question on the Internet where, of course, I couldn't find an answer that really satisfied my question (the answer doesn't exist of course because chefs seem to actually use all of the different available sizes of ramekins!). 

    I then decided that maybe I should just focus on price, which led to more online research about common prices for ramekins, online store reviews to find the most reliable store, and then of course, while price-comparison shopping for ramekins, I found that that there are different types — metal, porcelain, ceramic, etc. (I had always just assumed they were some sort of ceramic-y-porcelain-y type material).  It seemed the search would never end!

    Eventually I made myself just find a store that had them in stock — a Williams-Sonoma not too far — and took myself there just to get whatever individual size ramekins they had in stock, no matter the price.   I ended up with 4 6-oz. individual porcelain ramekins that just look fantastic and that I am determined to use many times to get my money's worth out of them because I definitely paid way more than I should have.

    My first ramekin project:  individual chocolate souffles. 

    Individual Chocolate Souffles (Bittman)

    As you can tell from the title of this post, this project was definitely a success — such that I decided to call myself a "master".  In reality, the recipe truly was dummy-proof and for that all thanks go to Mark Bittman, the true cooking master that I hope to be 1% as good as someday (crossing my fingers).  I would encourage everyone to check out his simple recipe at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/dining/111mrex.html?ref=dining.  The only change I think I will attempt the next time I make them (and there will absolutely be a next time!) is to prepare some sort of sauce to accompany them — perhaps a Grand Marnier sauce to complete the experience!