8-25: Indian Approximation

It is hard for me to imagine a time when I had not yet discovered the wonders of Indian cuisine, yet I know that for the first 18 years of my life, I had not yet tasted what is now one of my go-to comfort foods… It was not until I left the small town in which I grew up (cuisine choices: pizza, greasy chinese, and mexican) that I was truly able to explore my culinary options. (This does NOT say anything about my parents or family, who are all adventurous eaters who will try anything and everything – rather, about the limited options available in rural NH)

Living in NYC, I love having the option of picking up my phone and getting tasty Saag Paneer delivered to my door, or putting on pants and wandering outdoors to sit in a booth scarfing down Aloo Gobi. But? Since I like to cook, I also enjoy chopping up my vegetables and trying out various recipes to see if I can re-create the deliciousness myself. (In fact, I have a 5 pound cookbook titled, simply, “Indian”)

What I have found, however, is that try as I might – follow the recipes EXACTLY as I might (which is a real feat for me to manage) – I CANNOT truly re-create restaurant-style Indian dishes at home. Now, this might have to do with me using less butter (or ghee) than they do in their kitchens (a real possibility); it might also be the recipes I try. But, you see, Indian cooked by me? Is delicious, true, but all the vegetables are still… hmmm… distinct. They are chunks. They are yummy yummy chunks, but they are not molten smooth sauces that run into my rice and flavor everything so deliciously.

So? Today? When I was cooking “Indian” (in quotes because I wasn’t following a recipe, just throwing things together that I had in the kitchen)? I thought – “Hmmmm… Smooth? Sauce-y? Why don’t you stick it in the blender, you dolt?!?!” And so that’s what I did. I took half my creation and pureed it like a mad-woman, then re-combined with the remaining veggies for the perfectly textured meal, with plenty of vegetable chunks to sink my teeth into, and plenty of sauce to coat my rice and flavor up every bite!

I don’t have a recipe, per se, for this one – but my tips for re-creating Indian? Use butter. And turmeric. And, for me, I almost always use peas and cauliflower and potatos. And ginger. Add whatever you want to this mix, simmer for a long time, blend half, throw over rice – and while it is in no way authentic Indian, it sure is delicious!

8-24: Stocking Up + Cheesy Veggie Soup

Over the weekend, whenever possible, I like to make a few things to put into tupperware for easy lunches, snacks, etc during the week. “Whenever possible” usually means every other week, but this was that week!

First, I made a large batch of pesto:

Next, I made something that I absolutely adore and the husband doesn’t touch (so – perfect for me! The “leftovers” will remain around for MY consumption, as opposed to me craving something I think we have in the fridge, only to find he has eaten it all… Which has happened, oh, FREQUENTLY) : Cheesy Vegetable Soup

This picture? Does nothing to show you the amazingness of this soup. Especially because it just shows you piles of tupperware (with some leftover couscous in the front) which is really not how this BESTEST SOUP EVER! should be presented. But I forgot to take a picture while cooking… Whoops.

The original recipe is from one of my oldest cookbooks (Moosewood – such fabulous cookbooks!), though I have deviated many times from the recipe and it always comes out amazing. Which, to my mind, makes it a fantastic dish – good as it is, good as it is not, easy, and always yummy

Anyways, here is the original recipe, but I’ve made many different vegetable substitutions. The only things I leave alone? I always keep the onions, garlic, potatos, and cheese! From Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onions

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium potatos, thinly sliced

1 medium yellow summer squash, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)

pinch of turmeric

2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup buttermilk or milk

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

salt to taste

Directions:

Saute the onions (and garlic – I always add garlic) in oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in potatos, carrots, squash, pepper, and turmeric. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the milk and cheese. Puree in a blender or food processor (I like to leave some veggie chunks out, but mash the majority together…) Gently reheat. Add salt to taste. Enjoy!

8-23: Pizza!

Saturday, again. Pizza, again. YUMMY!, again

Today it was two very different pizzas – high-brow and low-brow, if you will. Or gourmet and, um, not gourmet? (I can’t come up with a good antonym, and google? Ain’t helping me much… or at all)

First, his pizza – the less-than-spectacularly-epicurean creation, that was nevertheless what he wanted and perfectly yummy:

Using my usual homemade wheat pizza dough, it was topped with tomato sauce from a can (like I said, less than gourmet), shredded cheddar from a package (ditto), and chicken. Yup.

MY pizza, however, is a thing of absolute beauty:

This would be the same crust, but topped with homemade spinach-basil pesto, fresh tomato slices, some garlic, and herbed goat cheese. Gourmet? I think so. Yummy? Most definately!

8-19: Risotto

So you know how I was all, “I want to eat HEALTHY!” and “I am craving VEGETABLES!” yesterday? Well… secretly, I was also craving risotto. Not exactly the same thing.

I’ve been craving this for a little while, and thought I might be able to stave it off last Friday when our lab went out to a French restaurant and I ordered – you got it – risotto.

But… While their risotto was good, it wasn’t exactly the CHEESY PERFECTION I was looking forward to. It didn’t satisfy my craving. Le sigh.

And so tonight, I made risotto. And this picture? Does not do the CHEESY PERFECTION that it is justice enough. Because? Oh, so deliciously, wonderfully, perfectly flavored cheesiness. Yes. Craving SAT-IS-FIED.

Recipe was found on allrecipes.com, one of my favorite sites EVER.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 large sweet onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used 6)

1 pkg Arborio rice (they call for 1 1/2 cups, I used 2)

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons lemon juice

5 cups hot broth (they call for chicken, I used vegetable)

1 cup heavy cream

3 cups cooks broccoli florets

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon grated Asiago cheese (I just cut into chunks, and used the whole block I bought)

salt and pepper to taste (I didn’t think it needed any, a first for me!)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and stir until onion begins to brown (they say about 2 minutes, I took maybe 4-5)

Pour in the rice and stir until coated in oil and starting to toast (basically, 1 minute for me)

Reduce the heat to medium; stir in the wine and lemon juice; cook and stir until wine mostly evaporated

Stir in 1/3 of the broth; continue cooking and stirring until incorporated

Do again for another 1/3 of the broth

And, yes, yet again. In total, this should take 15-25 minutes.

Stir in the cream, and cook for 5 minutes.

Next, stir in the broccoli and chives, the parmesan cheese and the asiago cheese. Cook and stir until melted and hot (perhaps 2 minutes?)

Season to taste and ENJOY!

August 9 – Pizza!

Confession: I made pizza last Saturday, too. I’d been craving it, and despite having guests over for dinner, despite never having made this particular recipe before, despite all of that – I made pizza. Pesto pizza, to be exact. Because it’s what I wanted. And so, it’s what we were having. Democracy? Not in my kitchen!

Aaaaaaaand… it wasn’t great. Stupid me for trying out a new recipe with guests coming over! Now, to be honest, it LOOKED fantastic. And everyone said it tasted great, too. The problem? It was kind of – soggy. Kind of? Who am I kidding… It was REALLY soggy. Taste? Fine. Texture? Not optimal. Not at all.

(Luckily I had a back-up pasta dish… And our guests were not too picky!)

It could have been a number of things, but we narrowed it down to two – A) the recipe for the crust, or B) the fact that the amazingly delicious tomatos were also amazingly juicy, and thus caused the sogginess.

Being a scientist (who likes pizza), of course I needed to figure out which of these two it was.

And so, one week later – pizza (again).

This time – same crust. Different tomatos.

And how did it turn out?

Really, really good. While the crust might not be “the world’s best” (as I believe it was advertised to be) – it was really, really good. The whole damn pizza was. And so – a new tradition in the Z household. Pizza Saturdays, anyone?

The recipe (from fabulousfoods.com):

3 1/2 cups flour (I use whole wheat)

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons yeast (I just dump in one packet from the grocery store)

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour warm water into a large bowl, add honey and salt. Stir a bit, until mixed, and then add the yeast. Stir a bit more, then leave for 5 minutes (or so). Add 1 cup of the flour and all of the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour and anything else you might like (I’ve used parsley… I’d imagine any spices could be great additions!) and mix well. The dough should ball up; if it does not, add either flour or water one tablespoon-full at a time until it does. Once balled up, place dough on a floured surface and knead for a minute (I cheat and do this in the same bowl) – this is supposed to help build the gluten. Place dough back in the bowl and cover; store in a warm, dry area to rise.

45 minutes to 2 hours later (they say 45 minutes; I’ve left a lot longer), punch the dough down (so satisfying!). Leave for another 1-2 hours; you can then either roll out or punch down again.

After this, roll the dough out to the desired size (I found leaving it thicker was better) and add on toppings – the ones I used were my leftover spinach sauce, lots of grape tomatos, fresh mozzarella, and garlic.

Though the recipe says to bake for 20 minutes, I found leaving for 30 left me with a better result (i.e. non-soggy pizza) – YUM!