Pumpkin Pancakes

I just created this recipe sort of by accident, and my flatmate and I just gobbled down a whole batch.

The pancakes are based on a South African recipe (sort of - my flatmate, who is South African, says the texture comes out different when her mom makes them), but I thought this version was great. It is dairy free!

To start, you must have some leftover roasted pumpkin. We had roasted pumpkin for dinner last night, so we had about 2 cups leftover. I mashed this up.

Then I added:

1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg (optional - I didn't do this, but I think there may have been some on the pumpkin when it got roasted)

I blended this with the electric mixer till it was fluffy.

Then I separated:

2 eggs

I added the yolks to the batter, then beat the egg whites till fluffy. Then I folded in the egg whites.

Initially, I tried frying them in some oil (like I would a potato pancake), but this proved unnecessary, as the batter had a consistency much more like an American pancake. So I ditched the oil, and just used a hot skillet with no oil, and they came out great. They were really light and fluffy, with a great pumpkin flavor. We ate them with maple syrup and butter.

YUM

Sadly, it wasn't until after I consumed the last one that I thought about taking a picture. Oh well.

So, if you are ever roasting pumpkin, make sure to roast some extra to make these pancakes the next day!

Miriam's quick-fix pasta

I recently became friends with a half-Malaysian, half-Italian lesbian. She made me dinner one night:

• Hot oil in pot/pan
  
• Add in garlic
• Add in shrimp (frozen is okay)
• Add in anchovies
• Cook until anchovies melt
• Mix in pasta

Serve! (Feel free to sprinkle some salt at some point during the process.)

Sweet and Sour Pork (or Chicken or Tofu)

In China, I learned how to make a very simple sweet and sour pork recipe. We often think of "sweet and sour pork" as a very goopy, bright red American Chinese food, but it doesn't have to be that way at all. A good sweet and sour sauce is super easy and very tasty.

Ingredients:

a few cloves of garlic, diced
shredded pork (or shredded chicken, or pre-fried tofu, or anything you want)
soy sauce (for color)
sliced wood mushrooms (optional)
vinegar (black Chinkiang vinegar, or red wine vinegar, or even white vinegar or rice vinegar)
sugar (white, brown, etc)
fruit jam or syrup (optional)

Heat wok to high heat, once the wok is smoking, add oil. If you are using mushrooms, stir fry these first until they are mostly cooked. Then remove from the wok. Heat wok again, then add garlic - stir fry for a few seconds, then add the meat. Cook until meat begins to turn color, add a spoonful or two of soy sauce to give the meat a nice browned color. Continue to cook and stir, then add about 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar, and about the same amount of sugar. Adjust to taste, depending on how sweet or sour you like the meat. If you have a fruit syrup or jam, especially one on the more sour side, add a teaspoon of this as well to give the dish a fruitier flavor. Or add a bit of sliced tomato if you want it to be more like a tomatoey sweet and sour sauce.

Continue cooking, add salt if needed, then serve with rice! Very easy and delicious.

Tonight I made sweet and sour chicken, and it came out well too. I used Chinkiang vinegar, white sugar, and a bit of sour cherry jam. Cherry syrup would also work well, as would a mango chutney (or other less sweet chutneys)

If making this with tofu, I think it would be better to fry some cubes of tofu first so they are crispy on the outside, then stir fry them with the garlic and the other sauce ingredients. Yummm

Cabbage Minestrone With Chick Peas

I somehow ended up with an obscene amount of red cabbage in my fridge. Here's what I made last night with part of it. Original recipe from the New York Times— I adapted it to what I had on hand.

Cabbage Minestrone With Chick Peas

1 heaped cup chick peas, washed and picked over, soaked for 6 hours or overnight in 1 quart water (channy: i used 1 can of chickpeas)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped (i didn't have an onion)

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped (didn't have this either)

Salt to taste

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes, seeded and chopped, with juice (i did't quite use 28oz. I had some leftover- probably 14oz)

1 1/2 pounds cabbage, outer leaves removed, cored and coarsely chopped (about 1 medium cabbage)

2 1/2 quarts water ( i used about a liter? look at me, all metric. anyway, mine came out more stew-y than soup, so it could use more liquid)

A bouquet garni made with 1 Parmesan rind, a bay leaf, and a few sprigs each parsley and thyme (i just used parsley and the parmesan rind)

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup elbow macaroni or small shells (orzo)

Freshly grated Parmesan for serving

(in the absence of onions and celery, i added 1 slice of bacon. mmmmmm)

1. Drain the chick peas and set aside. Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy soup pot and add the onion, carrot, and celery. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is fragrant and the vegetables tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in half the minced garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute or so, until the garlic begins to smell fragrant. Add the tomatoes and their liquid and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down a bit. Add the cabbage, stir together for a minute, then add the drained chick peas, 2 quarts water, and the bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 1 hour, or until the beans are just about tender.

2. Add the remaining garlic and salt to taste, cover and continue to simmer another 30 minutes to an hour, until the beans are thoroughly cooked and the soup very fragrant. Add a cup more water if it seems too thick. Add pepper, taste and adjust salt. Remove the bouquet garni.

3. Add the pasta and cook until the pasta is cooked al dente, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve, passing the Parmesan at the table for sprinkling.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

From the amazing food blog smittenkitchen

Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing
Adapted from Orangette, who adapted it from Casa Moro

Yield: 4 servings

For salad:
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoons ground allspice (I skip this)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

For tahini dressing:
1 medium garlic clove, finely minced with a pinch of salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons well-stirred tahini
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to taste

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

In a large bowl, combine the butternut squash, garlic, allspice, olive oil, and a few pinches of salt. Toss the squash pieces until evenly coated. Roast them on a baking sheet for 25 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and cool.

Meanwhile, make the tahini dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic and lemon juice. Add the tahini, and whisk to blend. Add the water and olive oil, whisk well, and taste for seasoning. The sauce should have plenty of nutty tahini flavor, but also a little kick of lemon. You will probably need to add more water to thin it out.

To assemble the salad, combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and cilantro or parsley in a mixing bowl. Either add the tahini dressing to taste, and toss carefully, or you could serve the salad with the dressing on the side. Serve immediately.

Orange Pan Glazed Tempeh

this is from my favorite recipe blog, 101 Cookbooks

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3-4 large juicy oranges)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
roughly 10 ounces of tempeh (or extra-firm tofu)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lime
a handful of cilantro (coriander) leaves

Put the orange juice in a small bowl. Squeeze the grated ginger over the bowl to extract the juices, then discard the pulp. Add the tamari, mirin, and maple syrup, ground coriander, and garlic. Mix together and set aside.

Cut the tempeh (or tofu) into thin-ish, bite-sized pieces, and if working with tofu, pat dry with a paper towel.

Put the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the tempeh and fry for 5 minutes, or until golden underneath. Turn and cook the other side for another 5 minutes, or until golden. Pour the orange juice mixture into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to a lovely thick glaze. Turn the tempeh once more during this time and spoon the sauce over the tempeh from time to time.

Serve the tempeh drizzled with any remaining sauce and a squeeze of lime, with the coriander scattered on top. I ate this over jasmine rice with some rainbow chard sauteed with garlic and olive oil, with a splash of rice vinegar.

Serves 2-3

Chicken with dill-lemon-tomato sauce

Ingredients:

olive oil - 1 T
1/2 onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 or 3 big strips
1 tomato, sliced
1 small red pepper, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp paprika
1/2 lemon
fresh dill - chopped, about 1 T
water (1/2 cup)

I invented this recipe on the spot tonight, based on ingredients I had bought at the store last minute. It was quite tasty, would have been very good with rice (but I had it with bread)

Heat deep skillet, add olive oil, sauté onions and garlic. Once onions are translucent, add chicken, and brown on both sides. After chicken is brown, add tomato slices and pepper slices, then all other ingredients except water and dill. Stir fry everything, allowing tomatoes to fall apart and form a sauce with the other ingredients. Add the water and keep on high heat till the water mostly simmers off. Cover if necessary to make sure the chicken fully cooks. Near the end of cooking, add the fresh dill.

It only took me about 15 minutes to make this entire dish, including all the chopping, so it's good for a quick chicken dish. Would be curious to hear if other people have other quick chicken (or tofu) recipes that are similar to this in terms of difficulty.

Sorry I didn't remember to take pictures. But I will take pictures of future dishes for the blog.

Rika's Lemon Curd

I am going through old papers and notebooks today, cleaning out my room, and I found the recipe for lemon curd that I learned to make in Ecuador 4 years ago. I got this recipe from Rika, who was from Belgium and owned a hostel in Canoa, Ecuador. We ate the lemon curd with crepes for breakfast.

We also tried substituting maracuya (passionfruit) juice for the lemon, and this worked great as well. It's also good to do a mixture of the two.

Here is the recipe:

approx 4 Tbsp lemon peel
About 1 cup juice (fresh lemon or fresh passionfruit)
100-125 grams (about 1 stick) unsalted butter
275 grams (about 1.5 cups) sugar
4 entire eggs
2 extra egg yolks

Melt everything except the eggs in a double boiler, then add the beaten eggs one at a time. Ideally you should strain the eggs before adding to the juice, to remove any bits of shell or strange lumps. Beat with a wisk, and continue a smooth stirring motion as you continue adding eggs. Once the mixture thickens, it is done. Sterilize glass jars, pour in curd, and seal. Store in refrigerator.

Trastor's Tortilla Patatas

Pre-preparation

• If you can, get potatoes that are about a year old, they have better starch. You can sometimes buy potatoes from the previous harvest (they are cheaper, and there are 3 harvests a year).
• Good oil ("sabor de intenso" is good enough).
• Eggs!
  

Instructions

• Cut potatoes: One quick and easy way is to cut the potatoes with a peeler (after peeling it of course!).
• Put quite a bit of oil in the pan (a non-stick pan will help) and heat it until it is on the verge of boiling.
• Toss the potatoes (drain them a bit beforehand if they're very wet) into the pan and give it time to soak up the oil and grow.
• Cook the potatoes until they "fall apart in your mouth" (this is a sign that they are cooked). You also want them a bit brown and a bit crsipy.
• Scoop the potatoes out and put them in a plate/bowl/colander to allow the oil to drain out.
• Prepare a big bowl with well beat up eggs.
• Toss the potatoes into the bowl of eggs and let it sit for several minutes.
• Put the mixture in a heated pan with a thin layer of oil.
• Let it cook while shaking/jiggling the pan the entire time with one hand to make sure the mixture does not stick to the pan.
• Cap the pan using a plate or lid and flip the half-cooked tortilla onto it. (I have been told that you need to do this with a "whoop." If you don't flip in a whooping arc, the eggs leak out to the sides.)
• Reheat the pan a little and add some oil if necessary.
• Then put the other side of the tortilla back into the pan.
• Heat and jiggle.

Enjoy with bread and wine and whatever else you wish!

Quick and Dirty fiddlehead dinner

I received lovely fiddleheads and ramps from my friend's Mainer parents. In an attempt to cook something fantastic, in my 20 minute study break this is what I came up with. Very simple but yummy.

Saute ramps in olive oil
blanch fiddleheads
combine ramps and fiddleheads in marinade
marinade = assortment of vinegars (I had apple cider, red wine and a little rice vinegar for sweetness), olive oil, s+p, spices (I used oregano and rosemary)

boil up some pasta (I used spinach and chive linguini from trader joes... probably a fresh pasta would be fantastic)


toss above items together. add parmesan to taste. eat

Dal Makhani

from India Curry

Ingredients

Basic Dal

1. Water: 6 Cups
2. Dhuli Moong Dal (Skinless split Mung beans): 2 Cups
3. Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
4. Ghee: 2 teaspoons
5. Chopped Spinach: 1 cup (channy note: i used baby beet greens)

Makhani Masala

1. Cooking oil: 3 Tablespoon
2. Finely chopped onion: 1½ Cup
3. Salt: 1 teaspoon or to taste
4. Cayenne powder: 1 teaspoon
5. Minced Garlic: 1 Tablespoon
6. Finely chopped ginger: 1 Tablespoon
7. Chopped Serrano: 3
8. Garam Masala:1 Tablespoons
9. Yogurt: ¼ Cup
10. Chopped tomatoes: 1 cup (Use Roma Tomatoes, Cut them in quarters, Discard seeds)
11. Amchoor (Dried Mango powder): ½ teaspoon (channy note: i substituted tamarind paste. lime juice would also work)
12. Unsalted Butter: ½ Cup
13. Heavy Whipping Cream: ½ Cup (channy note: i used half-and-half)

Garnish

Ginger julienne cut: 2 Tablespoon
Chopped Cilantro: 2 Tablespoon
Fresh Serrano Chopped

Method

Basic Dal

1. Wash and Rinse beans. Select a heavy stock pot. Bring the water to a boil. Add beans remaining ingredients except spinach. Bring it to a boil again. Add about a teaspoon of Ghee. Let it simmer on medium heat. The purpose of the oil is to break the surface tension to avoid boil over. It will take about 15 minutes after boiling.

2. Add Spinach. Bring to boil. Simmer about 5 minutes.

Makhni Masala

1. In a separate pan, heat cooking oil.

2. Add onions, salt and cayenne pepper. Sauté till edges of brown.

3. Add Garlic, ginger, and Serrano. Sauté about 2 minutes.

4. Add Garam Masala. Sauté about 2 minute

5. Add yogurt. Stir and fry till all the yogurt is consumed.

5. Add tomatoes and Amchoor. Bring to a boil. Cook till tomatoes are softened. DO NOT smash tomatoes. You want cooked tomato pieces. It will take about 5 minute

6. Transfer to Dal.

7. Stir in Butter and Cream. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.

The Trash's Paella in a Pot

0. The preparation

• A big aluminium pot because it conducts heat rapidly and allows for more flexibility in timing
• Pressure cooker top for the above pot to expedite cooking time
• Borrow ingredients from mom because you didn't go grocery shopping this morning and our lunchtime guest only told you last night that he was arriving in town today

1. The meats

• Cut up chicken wings/drumsticks and quail into limb-sized pieces
• Salt both sides
• Fry in oil for a while until the skin begins to yellow/brown -- no need to cook it well
• Toss into big pot (without the oil)

2. The veggies

• Chop up large handfuls of onions, tomatoes (peeled), green peppers and red peppers into finger-nail sized bits
• Fry onions, then add in green peppers, fry, then add in red peppers, fry, then add in tomatoes, fry
  
  (If you are not a "fundamentalist" you can expedite this step by cooking all the vegetables in one go. But be warned, the Trash may frown upon you.)

3. The seafood

• Take off the heads and shells from small shrimps, collect the heads/shells in a separate small pot.
• Add some water to this small pot and boil the shrimp throwaways for a while.
• Filter this broth into a collecting cup.
• Take a pestle and gently ground the shrimp heads in the pot to squeeze the juices out.
• Add a bit of water to this mix and filter out the broth again into the same collecting cup.
  
  This broth will later be used as a substitute for water when we cook the rice.
  
  
• Collect any of the clam water into the broth cup, remember to filter.
• Cut up squid into strips.
  
  
• Toss the seafood into the pan with the vegetables and let them cook together for a while. Then toss everything into the big pot.
  

4. The extras

• Gently ground one tooth of garlic in a mortar and pestel.
• Add parsley (just the leaves, preferably dried) and gently ground.
• Add a dash of white wine and mix.
  
  
• Squeeze the juice out of half a lemon.
  
  
• Ground some saffron (threads, not powder) gently with a dash of white wine.
  

5. The rice

• Prepare one-and-a-half as much water/broth as you want rice. Use the broth collected before as much as possible and add water to make up the rest of the volume.
• Add a bit of extra water/broth and cook everything in the big pot for a while (5 minutes, no more).
• Add in the lemon juice and garlic/parsley here.
  
  
• Add in the white people's rice now. (Here we used Arroz SOS, which is known for its initial resistance to bursting/swelling.)
  
  
• Stir the contents of the pot (but never ever after) and bring to a boil.
• Add in the saffron here.
  
  
• Put the pressure cooker top on the pot and heat up until the whistle is loud and spinning. At this point, turn the heat down to low and let it sit for approxmiately 7 minutes.
  
• After 7 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit for an additional 3 minutes.
  
  (Actually timings will depend on the technology of the pressure cooker, this one was apparently old and new ones are supposed to be even faster! If you are using a normal pot, it will take approximately twice the amount of time. If you are using a large broad pan, no lid, as most people usually do, then it will take even longer.)
  

6. The eating

• Serve with Spanish red wine (Rioja for example) because Spain is a wine counry and we have the best wines in teh world.
• Remember to also eat the toasted bits of rice stuck on the inside of the pot (called "sacarat" in some parts) because it is where the flavor has crystalized and is the best part.
• You will probably want to have dessert afterwards, followed by a shot of something from your liquor cabinet.
  
  
• The post-meal siesta is optional.
  

Apple-Cucumber Salad with Split Mung Dal

from www.bigoven.com

MBC note: I didn't have curry leaves, so I left them out. I doubled the amount of dal, and used dried cayenne instead of fresh. Or maybe it was paprika. The jar wasn't labeled.

anyway, it was delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 tb Split mung dal
• 1 lg European cucumber
• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 1 Green cayenne pepper; or two
• 3/4 c Fresh cilantro leaves;
• 2 tb Fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ts Salt; or to taste
• * Tempering *
• 1 tb Vegetable oil
• 1 ts Black mustard seed
• 1 ts Cumin seed
• 1 tb Dried curry leaves; or

Instructions

1. Place the dal in a small bowl with 1 cup water and soak for 1 hour.

2. Cut the cucumber lengthwise into 4 or 6 wedges. discard the seeds, then cut crosswise into 3/4 inch or 1/2 inch chunks. Place in a large bowl. Core the apple, but do not peel, then cut into small chunks and add to the cucumber. Add the chile. coriander, soaked dal, and lime juice and toss to blend well.

3. Heat a small heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and when it is hot, toss in the remaining tempering ingredients. Give a quick stir, then cover to prevent the mustard seeds from popping out. When most of the seeds have popped, about 30 seconds, remove from the heat and pour over the salad. Sprinkled on the salt and toss well. Served in a shallow bowl.

Caribbean Stuffed Chicken

My co-worker helped me come up with this recipe. It was very good, and my housemate said this was one of the top 10 meals I have made him.



Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
6 slices prosciutto
1 yellow plantain (on the riper side is better, but not so ripe that it's black)
1 sweet potato
6 slices mozzarella cheese
butter
salt, pepper, garlic salt
olive oil

Peel the plantain and sweet potato. Cut the sweet potato into small chunks, and cut the plantain in half. Boil them in salted water until they are cooked. They will float once they are done. Drain, then mash with some butter, salt, pepper.

Trim off the fat on the chicken thighs, and lay as flat as possible. Pound or flatten the chicken if necessary. Lay a slice of prosciutto over each slice of chicken, followed by a spoonfull of the plantain/sweet potato mixture. Fold the chicken over on itself and secure with a toothpick. Salt, garlic salt, and pepper the outside of the stuffed thighs.

In a cast iron skillet (or other oven proof skillet), heat olive oil. Place the chicken in the pan to brown on both sides. Once chicken has browned, put the cast iron skillet in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, lay the slices of cheese over the chicken so that they are melted by the end.

Enjoy!

Okonomiyaki

adapted from 101 cookbooks

2-3 cups cabbage, finely shredded
1 cup leeks, well washed and chopped (channy: i used green garlic)
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or apf flour)
a couple pinches of fine grain sea salt
3 eggs, beaten
1+ tablespoon olive oil

Garnish: whatever you have around. slivered almonds. chives, pesto, olives, cheese. I ate mine with kimchi.

Combine the cabbage, leeks, flour, and salt in a bowl. Toss until everything is coated with a dusting of flour. Stir in the eggs and mix until everything is evenly coated.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add a generous splash of olive oil. Scoop the cabbage mixture into the pan, and using a metal spatula press it into a round pancake shape, flat as you can get it. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the bottom is golden. To flip the okonomiyaki, slide it out of the skillet onto a plate. Place another plate on top and flip both (together) over. If you need a bit more oil in your skillet, add it now, before sliding the okonomiyaki back into the skillet. Again press down a bit with a spatula and cook until golden on this side - another 3 -5 minutes.

When you are finished cooking, slide it onto a cutting board to cut into wedges. Garnish and enjoy immediately.

Serves 1 - 2.

Basic Bread Pudding

i had some leftover bread lying around and i decided to channel karen alroy.

however much stale bread you have sitting around. I used about 1/3 of a sourdough batard, 1/3 of a baguette, and 2 whole grain sprouted hamburger buns. Anything will do, really.

All measurements are approximate
Oven to 350

1c heavy cream
2-3 cups milk

• heat milk and cream on medium high until almost simmering, stirring frequently. remove from heat.

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4c sugar

• whisk all together in a large bowl.

1/2c dried currants or raisins

• soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes or until plump.

• add cream mixture slowly and evenly to egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the egg does not cook. mix in raisins/currants. pour mixture over bread in a large bowl and let sit and soak for 20 minutes or so, poking at it occasionally to submerge all the bread.

• drain, put bread in a buttered casserole dish and pour extra liquid over top. IMPORTANT: put the casserole IN a roasting pan. Put into oven and fill OUTER roasting pan halfway with boiling water. This is called a bain marie, and it prevents the outside of the pudding from cooking too much before the inside.

• bake for 50 minutes or until set and golden brown

Natasha's Grape Salad

what a weird combination of flavors. It's delicious!

red seedless grapes, halved
handful of cilantro leaves

>>toss together in a bowl

dress with lemon juice, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Hamachi Kama Shioyaki

this is so delicious and ridiculously easy. The hardest part is finding the hamachi kama. If you're in SF, they sell it at Nijiya Market in Japantown.

1 hamachi kama (yellowtail collar)
lots of sea salt

rub salt all over fish. let sit for a while. broil for 10 minutes or so.

eat.

Miso Black Cod

Tonight I got about 1 lb of black cod at the fish store near my work. This fish is not actually a type of cod - it's called sable fish, and there's a very interesting NYT article about it here:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9D04E1DC153AF935A25756C0A9679C8B63

Sable has been for sale in New York at Jewish Delis for years as a cheap, smoked fish...but it more recently became trendy after Nobu in NYC put this recipe on the map.

What I made tonight is based on the Nobu recipe, which is similar to this:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Cod-with-Miso-105872

But I just used ingredients that I had in my house:


1 lb sablefish (black cod) fillet, cut in three pieces (with skin)
miso paste (about 1/2 cup)
white wine (about 1/2 cup)
sherry (about 1/4 cup)
dash of soy sauce
sugar (about 3 T)
dash of salt
fresh ginger chopped (about 2 T)


In a pot, mix all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Allow the miso and sugar to dissolve into the rest of the liquid. Let cool, then put the marinade in a tupperware of plastic bag with the fish so it's totally covered. Marinate ideally for a day or overnight - I just did it for 2 hrs since I was in a rush, and it was fine.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a cast iron pan on the stove, add some oil (I used grapeseed). Once the oil is hot, take out the fish, let most of the liquid drip off, then put into the pan face up (skin touching the pan). It will sizzle a lot. Allow the fish to cook for about 2 minutes, then flip it with a spatula. Allow the fish to sear on the other side for another 2 minutes, then flip it back over again. The fish should be browned on top. Take the cast iron pan and put everything in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the fish is tender. You can check doneness of the dish by sticking a knife in it - if it can sink through easily, the fish is done. It will be white and flaky.

Meanwhile, take the leftover marinade and heat it up in a pot until it simmers. The bad fish juices will boil away, and there will be a nice (but very salty) sauce.

Once the fish is done, remove it from the cast iron pan, and serve on a plate. Drizzle a bit of the sauce over the top of the fish.

I served this with coconut rice and some thai-style vegetables, although I thought these flavors overpowered the fish a bit. It'd be better served with more mild sides, like simple garlic-stir-fried vegetables or mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Dry-Fried Masala Okra

I wanted to recreate the okra dish at Sultan Restaurant in San Francisco, so I posted on chowhound to get some advice about it. Here's a link to my post:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/586773

Here's the recipe I made. It came out great. I think I will continue to experiment with different spice combinations, but this was a good start for sure.

1/2 lb okra (2 cups) - cut diagonally into bite-sized pieces
3 T veg oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 small jalapeno chile
sprinkle of fried garlic

Make sure that the okra is completely dry before cooking - this means that if you need to wash it, you have to do that way ahead of time and then dry it on paper towels. I just decided not to wash mine (yum. dirt.)

In a wok, heat oil on medium, add mustard seeds until they start popping, and then add the turmeric, cumin, and coriander. Stir the spices into the oil for a minute, then add onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir fry these together until onions get soft...the mixture will also start to turn brown and a bit crispy, which is good.

Once onions are mostly cooked, add the okra, garam masala and the jalapeno. Cook until the okra are tender (I did a combination of covered and uncovered wok). Make sure to minimize the stirring as much as possible so the okra doesn't get gummy, but stir enough so that the okra doesn't burn. The cooking will take about 7 minutes.

Turn off heat, and add salt (1/2 tsp made it quite salty - this can be toned down a bit if you prefer less salty). I think it's important to add salt at the end because adding it too early will extract water, which will make it gummy.

Done! I served the okra w/ some homemade daal, rice and mango chutney. Yum

Beer-Can Chicken

I originally heard about this recipe for the grill, but since it's snowy and freezing here, we decided to try it out in the oven. If I had had some aluminum foil, I probably would have used it to make a tent. We added some potatoes to the baking dish, and these would have been better were there something trapping the moisture in the pan. All in all, the most moist chicken I've ever had.

Easy
Prep: 15 min; Cook: 2 hours

If starting with frozen chicken, defrost for 3 days in refrigerator.

• 3 - 4 pound whole chicken
• any spices you want - I used s/p, paprika and garlic cloves
  
• 1 12-14 oz can beer

PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees F. - rack on bottom.

REMOVE any innards or other items from inside of the chicken.

RINSE the chicken inside and out in cold, running water.

OPTIONAL: seal neck of chicken with skewer (shown) for gravy, seal neck, for moister chicken, leave open.

RUB the chicken, inside and out with your choice of spices.

OPEN a standard can of cheap beer (i used PBR), punch a few extra holes, and quaff off about 1/4 of the beer.

ADD 2 TBSP rub or spice to beer can.

PLACE beer can on ovenproof pan or dish (this allows the chicken to cook indirectly and catches the juices if you want to make gravy.

ARRANGE chicken on beer can, allow the two legs to form two sides of tripod so chicken is stable (picture).

WHEN oven is ready (400 degrees), place chicken on pan or plate on bottom rack. Some cooks 'tent' the bird with foil for the first hour or so to prevent over-browning.

REDUCE oven to 350 degrees after 1/2 hour. BEST when chicken cooks 1 1/2 - 2 hours - check visually after about 1/2 hour and rotate the chicken in a half circle to cook evenly, should brown slowly and evenly.

WHEN chicken is ready, using tongs and oven glove if necessary to separate chicken and beer can, carefully remove to separate platter. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

REMOVE ovenproof pan or dish, and pour in any remaining beer, stirring, if make a sauce.