Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Recipes

  • Chocolate Meringue Cookies

    After making the wonderful vanilla ice cream that I blogged
    about here:  http://www.madhuknitsandcooks.com/madhu_knits_and_cooks/2009/03/vanilla-ice-cream-and-apple-crumble.html, I had 6
    leftover egg whites.  Similar to the
    incident with the leftover egg yolks that ended up in the cracked sugar cookies
    (http://www.madhuknitsandcooks.com/madhu_knits_and_cooks/2009/03/very-delicious-and-probably-not-very-healthy-cracked-sugar-cookies.html), I wanted to make sure to use up the whites and immediately my
    thoughts turned to meringue!

    Chocolate Meringue Cookies

    A few years back, I made a banana cream pie and used the
    leftover egg whites to make some delicious chocolate meringue cookies with mini
    chocolate chips (I believe the recipe was from Cooking Light).  However, I did not realize that one should
    really use an electric mixer when making meringues and that the whites should
    be at room temperature before you start, so I ended up whisking the whites for
    two and a half hours before getting soft peaks! 
    I also ended up WAY over baking them, which did not lead to a great
    result.  Needless to say, I’ve learned a
    lot since then about making good meringue!

    For this effort, I ended up finding a new recipe online on
    AllRecipes.com, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Meringue-Cookies/Detail.aspx,
    and doubled the recipe without any problems. 
    I added in some chocolate chips, and slightly underbaked the meringue
    (by reducing the time, not temperature) to get a more chewy result.  The cookies were definitely a big hit in the
    office, and I don’t think they survived for more than a few hours!

  • Vanilla Ice Cream and Apple Crumble

    My winter 2009 cooking extravaganza reached exciting new
    heights when I decided to finally dust off my ice cream maker and use it a second
    time, and couple the ice cream with a wonderful – and simple – apple
    crumble.  Instead of choosing to make an
    easier Philadelphia-style ice cream, I decided to make a French custard-type
    vanilla using this recipe from Williams-Sonoma: 
    http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipeDetail.cfm?objectid=128D0D36-F79E-407C-B19974BA0311BDA1.  Although it definitely took more work to make
    this style of ice cream, I definitely think the effort was worth it in the
    sense that the custard-style ice cream stayed more flavorful and with much
    creamier consistency than the Philadelphia-style (which you don’t cook, rather
    just whisk all of the ingredients together).

    I also chose this apple crumble recipe from Epicurious.com,
    but ended up only buying 3 pounds of apples, so modified the recipe to reflect
    the smaller amount of apples:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Apple-Crumble-and-Vanilla-Ice-Cream-108716.  The one flag that I would have is that I used
    the recommended amount of lemon juice, and I think that it did make the crumble
    a little too citrus-y so I’d recommend cutting the amount depending on your
    preferences.

    Apple Crumble and Vanilla Ice Cream

  • My First Attempt at Risotto (Simple White Wine Broccoli Risotto)

    Upon a quick scan of my pretty-sparse fridge a month or two
    back, I realized that I had the perfect set of ingredients to make a dish that
    I had never before tried – risotto.  I
    had about a ½ cup of white wine, one cup of leftover vegetable broth and some
    leftover yellow onion, in addition to an unopened box of Arborio rice in the
    cupboard.

    Because it was my first time making risotto, I consulted
    some cookbooks and recipes online to figure out the right technique – and it
    seemed that constant stirring with a lot of liquid was the only real
    “must”.  Specific ingredients seemed to
    be up to the cook, so I decided to improvise the following recipe with items I
    had in the house (I did not want to buy new items to make the risotto in an
    effort to put to good use things already in my kitchen).  Ingredients, technique and lessons learned
    follow the picture below.

    Broccoli Risotto

    Makes 4 larger meal-size servings, or 8 side dish servings

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup white wine
    • 1.5 cups of Arborio rice
    • 1 cup vegetable broth
    • Approx. 2 cups of water
    • 1 medium to large yellow onion, diced
    • 1 cup frozen broccoli, finely chopped and partially steamed
    • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
    • ¾ cup shredded mozzarella (optional)

    Directions

    • Heat water and vegetable broth in small pot
    • Heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil in large saucepan
    • Add onion, garlic and broccoli and saute
    • As the onions become cooked, add in the dry rice and saute with the vegetable mixture for 4-5 minutes, stirring to ensure that the rice is incorporated into the mixture
    • Add the wine, stirring until the white wine blends into the rice
    • Add 1/2 cup of heated water/broth combination to the saucepan, stirring until the liquid has been incorporated into the dish
    • Continue
      adding ½ – ¾ cup of the heated water/broth combination to the saucepan,
      stirring until the liquid incorporates into the rice, until you reach the
      consistency you would like for the dish (I believe I was cooking the dish
      for an hour from start to finish).
    • Remove
      pan from heat, and garnish with mozzarella, if you desire, either in the
      pan itself or in the individual serving bowls

    Lessons Learned

    I learned several lessons from this first attempt at
    risotto, starting with several ingredient-related flags. 

    First, I definitely used too much onion – there was a little
    too much onion flavor in the risotto and I think that it would have been better
    to use maybe ¾ of the amount I ended up using. 

    Second, I only wanted to use ingredients I had in the house,
    which meant I only used one cup of broth to two cups of water, instead of using
    all broth.      I think that that diluted the
    flavor of the risotto, so that it ended up being blander than it should have
    been.

    Third, risotto is fairly bland generally and I think that
    one may need to really think creativity when it comes to vegetarian risottos in
    terms of how to pump up a flavor to make them an interesting main course as
    opposed to a good side dish that is complemented by a more flavorful main
    course.  I don’t have a great answer to
    this yet, but perhaps some hot peppers or other interesting flavor can help
    make risotto transition to a solid main course.

  • Very Delicious (and Probably Not Very Healthy) Cracked Sugar Cookies

    When I made the improperly-named “decadent brownies” several
    weeks ago, I had three leftover egg yolks that I definitely wanted to put to
    some use.  One benefit of cooking more
    and more is that you realize that you should really throw away very little –
    many leftover items from recipes can be easily used for tasty additions to the
    meal you are making or into whole meals later. 
    So not thinking of any types of recipes that I wanted to make using
    three egg yolks, I jumped onto AllRecipes.com to get some ideas.  I was very happy that I chose that course as
    I found this recipe for “Cracked Sugar Cookies”:   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cracked-Sugar-Cookies-I/Detail.aspx. 

    Cracked Sugar Cookies 2

    The recipe was incredibly simple – I just used ingredients
    that I had at home, and it was a cinch to mix up this batter and get them into
    the oven.  The cookies are both soft and
    substantive, and really have a wonderful flavor (and I’m someone who doesn’t
    like sugar cookies that much!). 
    Definitely check out this super simple and easy recipe.

  • A Note on Low-fat Brownies

    Several weeks ago, I found a 2005 Vegetarian Times recipe
    for “decadent brownies” in my recipe folder. 
    It was a low-fat recipe for supposedly fudgy and “decadent” brownies and
    I thought that I had stumbled upon something healthy and marvelous, but in
    baking this recipe for brownies, I learned an important lesson:  don’t make low-fat brownies.

    Well, I guess someone one can make them but only if the
    person goes into the process realizing that the brownies will taste low-fat (by
    low-fat I mean slightly bland, dry and just not that fulfilling).  So why not just make full-fat brownies and
    actually enjoy yourself instead of feeling unsatisfied and slightly upset that
    the brownies just aren’t that tasty?  
    That’s an important lesson that I learned for at least myself and my
    baking preferences this winter.

    For those of you though who have different preferences and
    enjoy – for whatever reason – low-fat brownies, you can find the recipe here: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10209.   My suggested alteration to the recipe below the picture.

    Decadent Brownies (Lowfat - Vegetarian Times)

    I also added ½ cup of frozen raspberries to the recipe, and
    although the brownies were still not delicious or decadent or moist, I do think
    they turned out better than if I did not include them (or some other flavorful
    additive) in the recipe.

  • Madhu Knits and Cooks Returns — Best Pumpkin Pie EVER

    So three months after Thanksgiving, I have finally found the time to post about the pie I made twice during the week of Thanksgiving.  Despite how much pumpkin pie folks had consumed that week, this was deemed the best pumpkin pie EVER by all of those who consumed it.   I definitely owe thanks to the author of this AllRecipes.com recipe, as well as the Gourmet Cookbook authors for their traditional pie crust recipe which works wonderfully with any type of pie I make!  The pie feels incredibly light when you eat it because the eggs are separated, the whites are beaten until soft peaks form, and then you lightly fold them into the rest of the pie mixture.  The streusel topping is also a must — I have made this pie without the topping before, and the difference between the version with the streusel topping and the one without is really quite significant.

    Another tip when using a homemade pie crust — no need to pre-bake the crust prior to putting in the filling, and I usually put some foil around the edges during the last 30 minutes of baking or so.

    The AllRecipes.com recipe can be found here:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brown-Familys-Favorite-Pumpkin-Pie/Detail.aspx.

    Best Pumpkin Pie Ever with Ice Cream

  • Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins and Philadelphia Style Vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!

    Several weeks ago, I finally found the time to make two new items.   First, I had some ripebananas that I wanted to use, and instead of making the standard Moosewood Cookbook banana chocolate chip muffin recipe, I decided that I wanted to make them a bit more substantive and add some oats into them.  So I did a little google searching at work (shh!) and found this recipe from AllRecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Oat-Muffins/Detail.aspx). 

    I added in maybe 3/4 cup of chocolate chips into the recipe as well, made perhaps 15 muffins instead of the 12 in the recipe (some of my silicon baking cups seem smaller than standard).  They turned out really well, but I think adding another sweetening agent would be good because without the chocolate chips, they would have been rather bland (I think some people in the comments mentioned applesauce for vegetable oil — that might serve two purposes which would be good). 

    Another accompaniment that would make them tasty is something that I actually did pair with the muffins — homemade ice cream!

    Banana Oat Muffins and Philadephia Vanilla Ice Cream 

    I recently purchased an ice cream maker — yes, an ice cream maker.  Williams Sonoma hassome on sale for only $60 so I thought it was such a bargain, that I couldnt say no.  Its a Cuisinart 1.5 quart machine, and they added in an extra freezer bowl.  Its still on sale here:  http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/9313347/index.cfm?cm_src=rel. 

    For my first homemade ice cream experience, I decided to pick a simple recipe with no cooking required.  I chose the Philadelphia Style Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Williams Sonoma:  http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=E2192A50%2D00D5%2D4D3D%2DBCCDF7E7E0EEFEBF.  I followed the recipe exactly, except for deciding to throw in some chocolate chips at the end of the freezing process.  It turnedout to be the best ice cream I've ever had, but I only finished about an eighth of it before having to throw it away because it had been in the freezer for too long!  Unfortunately, I think my current lifestyle is not only suboptimal for making ice cream (and really any sort of food) but also apparently for eating things I make.   In a few months, I am hoping to spend some quality time experimenting with different types of ice creams, frozen yogurt and sorbets — just in time for a cold winter, I'm sure.  Some of the recipes I want to try are:  lavender, green tea, peach, strawberry basil, raspberry, and of course, plenty of versions of chocolate!

  • Indian-Style Black Eyed Peas

    I recently had some really tasty black-eyed peas at my uncle's place, and finally after thinking weeks about how good they were, I asked him for his recipe which was a lot simpler than I expected!  This is a good, simple AND healthy addition to any meal.

    Black_eyed_peas_close_up

    Ingredients:

    • 1 bag dried black eyed peas (I used a bag that yields 6 cups cooked blackeyed peas)
    • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
    • 1 thai green chili, sliced
    • 4 dried red chili peppers, broken in half
    • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 4 curry leaves, ripped in half
    • 3 tsps. vegetable oil
    • pinch of cumin

    Directions:

    1)  Soak peas for at least 4 hours — I soaked them for 10

    2)  After peas are soaked, drain the water.  Add fresh water and lots of salt to soaked peas and bring peas to a boil.

    3)  Boil covered for 20 – 3o minutes (I boiled them for 40 minutes and it ended up being too long.  My uncle recommends 20 minutes)

    4)  While peas are boiling, heat vegetable oil in a  small saucepan and add the mustard seeds, sliced thai chili and dried red chilis.  Saute under the mustard seeds pop and then add pinch of cumin and the chopped garlic until the garlic browns.

    5)  Drain peas, and stir the contents of the saucepan into the beans.  Also add the curry leaves, mix and enjoy with rice, Indian breads or as a side to any meal.

    Black_eyed_peas

  • Indian Lemon Rice — A Great Side or Light Meal

    The final of the three recipes I learned on my most recent trip home was Lemon Rice — a light favorite of mine.  I like to eat warm lemon rice mixed with plain yogurt as a light lunch, and it also can be a part of virtually any meal.  My mom recommends eating it with grilled chicken and garnishing with peanuts (I am vegetarian and allergic to nuts so unfortunately I can't follow either of these recommendations).

    Lemon_rice

    Ingredients:

    • 3 cups cooked, day-old (or just not fresh) rice
    • 1 1/2 tsps. mustard seeds
    • 2 dried red chilis, broken in half
    • 1 tsp. cumin
    • 2 tsps. uridahl
    • 1 tsp. channa dahl
    • 15 dried curry leaves
    • 1/2 cup shredded carrot
    • 1 thai green chili, sliced
    • Heaping 1/4 tsp. turmeric
    • 1 tbl. fresh lemon juice
    • salt
    • vegetable oil

    Directions:

    • Warm up the rice in the microwave for 2 minutes or so
    • In a medium pot or saucepan, heat a few tablespoons of oil on medium heat
    • Add the mustard seed, dried red chilis and cumin
    • When the mustard seeds start popping, add in the uridahl, channa dahl, curry leaves and turmeric.  Quickly stir the mixture, then turn off the heat.
    • Mix in the shredded carrot and the thai chili, stirring quickly
    • Mix in the warm rice, and when fully mixed, add 1 1/2 tsps. salt
    • Finish with adding the lemon juice and making sure all the flavors are blended.  Add additional salt to pump up the flavor if you wish.

    Garnish with peanuts if desired. 

  • Mom’s Crispy Indian Potato Dish

    This recipe is not only a family favorite, but also a favorite of family friends and visitors to my parent's house.  It can be made spicy or without much spice so it can serve a variety of guests.

    Moms_crispy_potato

    Ingredients

    • 4 – 5 Idaho Russett potatoes
    • 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
    • 1/2 tsp. cumin
    • 1 dried red chili, broken in half
    • 1/2 tsp. uridahl
    • 1 clove garlic, sliced
    • 6 dried curry leaves or so
    • 1/4 tsp. turmeric
    • vegetable oil
    • salt

    Directions

    • Peel the potatoes and dice them into 1/3 inch square cubes
    • Cover the chopped potatoes in cold water and add 1/2 tsp. salt (this will prevent discoloring of the potatoes during cooking and help take out some of the starch).  Let the potatoes sit for 5 – 10 minutes or so (can be longer, but as short as 5 minutes if you are in a hurry).
    • The drain the water and roll the potato pieces in a towel to get the water out.
    • In a saucepan, add 5 tsps. or so of vegetable oil and bring to medium heat.
    • Add mustard seeds and cumin.
    • When the mustard seeds start popping, add the dried red chili, uridahl, garlic and curry leaves.
    • Saute for a minute or two, and then add in the potato.  Mix the potato in well so the potato pieces get coated with the mixture.
    • Add turmeric.
    • Let the potato cook, and stir from time to time.  When the potato starts getting brown and crispy, add salt to taste (start with 1 tsp — be fairly liberal as the salt really brings out the flavor).

    Moms_crispy_potato_close_up