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.