Tag: Uncategorized

Readers – I started this blog in the summer of 2006, more than 18 years ago.  I've been recently thinking about how I spend my time and I've decided to pare down some of my hobbies and obligations.  While this blog doesn't take up too much of my time, this project was sadly a part of that decision to do less.  It's just time and I am thankful I have other outlets for writing and creativity.  

So moving forward, a few changes will happen:

• I will only be posting simple recipe notes or new recipe directions, narrative introductions or commentary will largely be eliminated.
• I will only be posting my knitting projects on Ravelry, under the user name Madhuri
• I will probably be posting sewing project notes
• I will be migrating this blog at some point to another platform

Some may ask, why keep this blog at all?  The answer is what has propelled me to keep this blog going over the years – I actually use it!  This is where I store all of my recipe notes, what I should try again or avoid in the future, and where I refer people for my favorites.  So I will reduce my effort into this blog to meet that utility.  

Hope you have enjoyed reading my posts in the past, and look forward to this new part of the Madhu Knits and Cooks journey!

It's been half a year since I've posted a completed knitting project, so I am very excited to unveil this item.  This cardigan was completed in January, but getting the pictures and final measurements kept falling off my queue (as was the case with my last knitting post, which was 3 months post-project completion!).  

This lacy cardigan was initial intended to be a summer weight cardigan, but its thickness and drape makes it feel like more of a fall or spring cardigan.  

I am not sure if I love the buttons I sewed on the cardigan (just some from my stash) but I really like the bottom lace pattern and the twisting cable borders.  I do wish this was a bit roomier of a cardigan and/or a bit shorter, but it's a lovely piece particularly when worn unbuttoned.

Ajasai Cardigan for Me!

Pattern: Ajasai by Yuko Shimizu, size S

Needles:  2 US 0 and 2 US 1 circular needles

Yarn:  Americo Original Merino Superwash Fine Sport, 2 skeins in 429 J color, a lovely find from many years ago in Toronto, Canada

Measurements: 

    Pre-blocking measurements of:

• 21 1/4 inch long on the back center
• 3 inch diameter cuffs
• 14 inch long sleeves from shoulder top to bottom; 8 inches from underarm to end of sleeve
• 16 inch diameters at widest point of side to side front

    Post-blocking measurements of:

• 22 inches long on the back center
• 3.5 inch diameter cuffs
• 15 inch long sleeves from shoulder top to bottom; 8.5 inches from underarm to end of sleeve
• 17 inch diameter across at widest point of the front

My husband accidentally ordered Bob's Red Mill corn flour a few months back instead of masa harina.  Corn flour is not a common ingredient as it turns out, decidedly less popular than corn meal, masa harina, and corn starch.  

While the bag states that you can substitute corn flour for corn meal in corn bread, we are generally not spring / summer corn bread consumers so this bag has remained unopened.  Deciding that there must be something I could with this flour, I did some internet searching and found David Lebovitz's version of the Poilane corn flour bread.  

I hadn't tried this bread when we visited Poilane in Paris last year, but I was eager to give this recipe a try given how wonderful both Poilane and David Lebovitz are.

I made a few substitutions to the recipe, one of which may have been a critical omission (only learned while the dough was rising). 

I substituted soy milk for oat or cow milk, retained Lebovitz's use of pumpkin seeds instead of Poilane's hazelnuts, and omitted the flax seeds because I didn't have any.  I misread the recipe notes that it would be fine to omit seeds or nuts, but later realized that line just referred to the pumpkin seeds.  For non-gluten recipes, you need to include a "binder" in doughs which flax seeds often play.  I thought about adding in an egg to the dough to serve as the binder, but given that the dough was already rising, decided to leave it as is.

I was pleasantly surprised when the dough rose well, and hoped that maybe the honey acted as a partial binder as one website indicated it may?

Unfortunately, the result out of the oven did not adhere to my cautiously hopeful expectations.  The bread was very dense yet flaked apart when cut, and I also found the mild corn flavor to be slightly unpleasant for some reason.  It felt like your mouth had to search for flavor with this bread, and when you found it, it was so bland to be disappointing. 

Butter did make the bread more palatable though – but not enough for me to freeze the leftovers.  At half a loaf, I decided to sacrifice the rest instead of sacrificing my body to consume the remainder.  One upside of this bread is that my husband described it as "stodgy" thereby bringing one of our favorite Great British Baking Show sayings home!

It's somewhat fitting that my next scheduled post is for Lisa Fain's new Queso! cookbook, which features a variety of queso recipes from across the Southwest. 

As I think about my love of queso, I often think about Lauriol Plaza, the DC restaurant where I basically lived in 2005 – 2006 while working in the U.S. Senate.  Lauriol Plaza had amazing queso, freshly fried chips, and margaritas, and I would frequently go to Lauriol just for their queso with my friend Michael Robertson, who recently passed away.  

Michael wasn't just one of my top queso-eating partners, he was also in many ways the person who pushed me to start this blog.  When I accepted my job in the Senate, I was taking a pay cut while also moving to a city where my monthly rent nearly tripled.  I had to learn how to cook cheap, efficient and healthy meals, and I had no idea where to start.

Not only did Michael help me learn some basic meals (notably California-inspired burritos with lots of Tapatio, which as a Midwest-native, I hadn't been exposed to before), he also became a favorite baking partner.  From Michael, I learned about springform pans; food processors; baking cheesecakes, biscuits, and a range of other delectable treats (Rolo cookies!); and even how to pick out the best fruit at the supermarket.  Michael also has the honor of being the only person, apart from my husband, to attend a sheep and wool festival with me.  This blog would not be what it is without Michael's influence.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I want to not only honor and remember Michael for his friendship and knowledge over the years, but also encourage blog readers to help support Michael's 16-month old son Wali and his future education.  If this blog has ever helped you figure out a recipe or knitting pattern, or inspired you to try something new, please consider making a small donation to honor someone who helped make this blog a reality.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Can the chefs at Milk Street impress a South Indian American with their tomato rice recipe?  Absolutely – and wow, what a great rice that produces perfectly textured and spiced grains.

Soaking the rice, thoroughly rinsing it to get rid of the extra starch, and precooking the rice with oil all seemed like key elements to get those perfectly cooked grains.

Another key element for perfectly cooked rice is to let the cooked rice sit for five minutes post-cooking and then fluffing it with a fork – I've noticed that is important for my Mexican and other rice recipes as well.

I also made two alterations to the recipe, which had no apparent effect on the outcome.  I omitted the salt by accident during the cooking, so added it at the end, and I also substituted two plum tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes called for in the recipe.  I can't wait to make this recipe again and again!

As regular readers of my blog know, sometimes I have massive cooking failures.  Among the most recent such failures was my attempt at Three Cup Tofu, a modified version of a Taiwanese favorite (Three Cup Chicken).   

My original attempt at Three Cup Tofu was a salty mess – probably due to my use of dark soy sauce, which was just too thick and overpowering for this delicate dish.  

As a result, I thought Three Cup Tofu would probably be a dish I would only have at restaurants, prepared by veteran hands.  A few months later though, I came across a 2015 New York Times article about Taiwanese cooking, which deconstructed some challenges about Three Cup Chicken and provided a more foolproof recipe.  

Feeling emboldened by others' past failures which were then overcome by success, I decided to modify the NYT Three Cup Chicken recipe to attempt Three Cup Tofu again.  While the result wasn't perfect, it definitely has gotten me a lot further than my original attempt.

I largely followed the recipe, though reduced the amount of sugar, rice vinegar, and soy sauce because I thought the proportions would be too much for the amount of tofu I prepared (one standard grocery store brick).  I also used less basil because the (regular, not Thai) basil I purchased wasn't the best quality and was already browning.  

The result was slightly too sweet, but still much closer to the version I've had at restaurants.  I think next time, I'll reduce the amount of rice wine and see what happens.  More to come in future posts! 

We've been able to take a few great American trips this summer, and today's recipe is inspired by one of our most memorable stops – Nepenthe in Big Sur, California.  Nepenthe is a famed casual restaurant with incredible views of the California coast line.  Nearly every person we met who had been to Big Sur before could not stop raving about Nepenthe's views – though interestingly the food wasn't as frequently mentioned!

When we made our way to Nepenthe after a day of driving and hiking, to say we were famished would be an understatement.  We were dehydrated, sand-covered from head-to-toe (from the lovely Julia Pfeiffer State Beach), and a little sun-worn in addition to being plain hungry.  After waiting for approx. 30 – 45 minutes, we were seated with a perfect, unspoiled view of the coast – and the view was so beautiful that we almost forgot about how hungry and dirty we were.

Despite our newfound calm about actually eating, our food came out fairly.  And while our sandwiches were good, what really blew us away was the bean salad side to one of our meals.  The side - comprised of chickpeas and kidney beans – had a distinct flavor from oregano, some sort of vinegar, and minced scallions.  I couldn't tell if it was the hunger talking, but we really were fighting over every last bite of this salad.

I set out to recreate this recipe basically the day after we returned to New York.  With cold, dairy-free salads seeming like the perfect summer get-together accompaniment, I felt that if I could get this recipe right, I would be set for decades of summer parties. 

Thankfully, spurring me on my way were both blogs pointing to the My Nepenthe cookbook and a Simply Recipes three-bean salad that incorporated some elements that I thought would be great additions, like fresh parsley.

I have now made this bean salad 3 – 4 times, and I currently have some chickpeas and red kidney beans soaking to make the salad again tonight!  I've found that in addition to summer parties, this is a great, protein-packed snack for the work week as well.  I hope this recipe becomes a staple in your home as well!

Modified Nepenthe Bean Salad

Ingredients

• 3 scallions, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp. finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1.5 cloves garlic, minced
• Approx. 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas, washed and drained
• Approx. 1.5 cups of cooked red kidney beans, washed and drained
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 tbsp. apple cider or red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Mix fresh herbs, garlic and beans in a large bowl and set aside.

• In a smaller bowl, mix together the dressing of olive oil, vinegar, oregano, sugar, sea salt and black pepper.  

• Pour the dressing over the beans mixture and toss to combine.
• Let sit for approx. 30 minutes for flavors to blend, and store any leftovers in the fridge.

A bit of introduction for my non-knitting readers:  Elizabeth Zimmermann is a big deal.  A huge deal.  A true grande dame of knitting, particularly American knitting.  

I purchased my first Elizabeth Zimmermann (EZ) knitting book maybe 10 (!) years ago?  That purchase was quickly followed by another EZ book, though what I did with those purchases was mostly reading her reflections on life and knitting, instead of actually knitting any of her amazing, hearty patterns.

What kept me from attempting an EZ pattern for a decade, if not more?  Two potential explanations come to mind.  First, fear of taking on a true master's projects.  Second, fear of taking on a knitting pattern that is more loose guidance than line-by-line patterning.  Granted, I've created my own patterns, albeit simple patterns, but the prospect of truly having the training wheels off and taking on an EZ pattern?  Man, oh man, more than a bit overwhelming.

Well, 2015 is the year I finally conquered an EZ pattern.  This first attempt produced a beautiful result – a true Baby Surprise Jacket for baby Felix, who from the pictures below, clearly loves this handknit!

The pattern did cause some anxiety – it looked like nothing for some time, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how this one piece of knit fabric would turn into a cardigan.  Thankfully, many have knit this path before me, so I had a lot of online guidance, including the invaluable Ravelry BSJ wiki.  

Tip for those who attempt this amazingly inventive pattern – keep going!  Yes, the fabric will look like nothing resembling an actual garment, but keep going!  The pattern does work and does turn into a beautiful cardigan. More details follow the pictures below.

This "thing" turns into…

And with wonderfully cute puppy buttons:

Baby Surprise Jacket for Felix

Pattern:  Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Yarn:  Shelridge Yarns Soft Touch DKW in Forest, approx. 1.1 skeins and in Light Green, 0.7 skeins

Needles: US 6 circular

Measurements:  Post-blocking measurements of 11.5 inches from top to bottom, 9.5 inches wide while buttoned, 4-inch sleeve width, and 5-inch long sleeves. 4-inch wide neck opening while buttoned.

Additional Notes: Completed increases by picking up yarn between stitches from back to front and knitting into front of loop to make one.  Made the buttonholes on left side.

Enjoy your sweater Felix!

Like most people I know, I watch a lot of cooking shows.  Even though I no longer have cable, I still find myself glued to the television most nights of the week watching the local PBS "Create" channel, which features almost non-stop cooking shows during the week.  My new favorite cooking show — one that I wish I would have discovered a long time ago — is America's Test Kitchen, which is run by the same folks who publish Cook's Illustrated.  For what I think is the first time — despite my long love of cooking shows — I got so inspired by one recipe I saw that I decided to make it only a few days later.   The recipe was for perfectly flakey and moist blueberry scones, and the results were so good that not only do I think I will make them again and again, but I also finally subscribed to Cook's Illustrated!  Details after the picture.

The most interesting part of this recipe is that you freeze the butter before you shred it, and then freeze it again.  Given how concerned one should be with cold butter for pie and other types of flaky-crust recipes, I guess its no surprise that freezing shredded butter would make sense (the shredded pieces also mean that you don't need to work the butter too much such that it gets warm).  However, as opposed to the direction to only shred half of two sticks of butter to get 8 oz of shredder butter, I ended up shredding just one full stick of butter.  I didn't notice the difference at all in the final product.  I definitely look forward to trying this technique in other baked goods in the future! 

The only other modification of note I made was to reduce the baking time by 5 minutes or so because the first batch was more than a little well-browned.  To access this recipe, please fill out the free registration and link to:  http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=4432&iSeason=8.  

Hi all–

Just got back from Europe, and am now going to be spending much more time on getting this site up and running.  Stay tuned!