Share your recipes
Re: Share your recipes
Potato Dry Fry
This makes an awesome side dish for the lemon flavoured rice I posted earlier. I am going to post two dishes done in different methods. one from my mom and the other from a distant grandma.
Starting with the dish from my mom
Ingredients
Potatoes -2 medium sized. NOT the sweet ones; the light/dark soil colored ones; any local variety will do. Wash and peel the skin off. There is another line of cooking where these are boiled in a pressure cooker for 2/3 whistles and then used in this method later, but I personally do not like this method since the potatoes will not absorb any flavour while boiling. So I will let the boiling happen in the pan with all flavours. Cut these into medium sized cubes after peeling off the skin
Oinion & tomato - half to 1 full size each; sliced and diced as small as we can cut these since they form the backbone for gravy/curry. I do not like adding tomato, but my mom does to add quantity to the dry gravy
Garlic - 2 - sliced and diced as small as we can cut these, or even better, if we can make a paste out of this. I do not suggest going for ready made paste available in stores since they contain preservatives - ALERT - fresh ingredients preferred always in Indian style cooking.
Ginger - equal in quantity to that of garlic after minced.
Black mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon
Urad gram or cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon. I forgot what my mom adds, but I usuall add either of these two.
Notes:
Garlic and ginger along with curmin seeds are added to balance or in fact relieve the flatulence from consuming potato.
Method
1. Heat a medium sized pan, add oil once the pan is heated and once the oil gets heated, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let it splutter
2. Add the garlic & ginger and let them turn light brown. Then add the onions and let it become translucent/light/golden brown
3. Add the tomatoes at this point if tomatoes are preferred to add more dry gravy to the overall dish.
4. Add potatoes and let them stay on the pan with occasional stirring for a couple of minutes. make sure none of the ingredients gets burned. Cooking always needs 100% manual presence during these times. Either add little more oil at the start or make sure to stir frequently so nothing gets burned
5. Once the potatoes get slightly cooked, add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and give a nice stir so all the sides of the potatoes gets coated with these
6. Add enough water to submerge the potatoes, stir again to make sure everything is mixed nicely well and cover the pan
7. Occasional stirring is required to make sure all the sides of potatoes and all the potatoes in the pan gets uniform flavour.
8. When all the added water gets vapourised under the pan cover, check if the potatoes are cooked nicely. This can be done by poking them with a fork/spoon and if we do not feel any resistance, then done.
9. Leave the pan open for a couple of minutes till the remaining water gets vapourised and the heat can be switched off
10. When we were kids, mom does not usually stop at Step 9. She will add little oil on the pan sides and give all the potatoes a nice stir and leave the heat at mid or even slow/low, so the potatoes gets a nice golden brown/dark brown skin and a little crispy. This can be done given the cook and the eater has patience and hunger that can be held a little longer:)
============================================
The second dish from that distant grandma
Potato - 2 medium sized ones - peel off the skin and cut these into small sized squares/rectangles the size of our nails.
Lemon - 1, depends on the size again. Juiced
Turmeric powder - 1/8 spoon
Chilli Powder - 1/2 Spoon (I see a lot of variety in the Indian grocery stores abroad like Extra hot, Hot, Mild - so please quantify based on these spice levels)
Salt - as required
Oil - locally available oil and as required
Notes: This is actually a cheat dish, it does not have the usual ingredients nor follow the usual method to cook. Its more or like Cajun potato fries we get in Five guys burger food chain in US, the only difference is the shape of the potatoes.
Method -
1.Add 1/8 spoon of turmeric powder, 1/2 spoon of chilli powder, 1/4 spoon of salt and generous (1 lemon) juice to the above cut potatoes
2. Mix all the above nicely so all the potato pieces are coated with all the other ingredients.
3. Heat a pan (I prefer cast iron, but any pan will do), add a generous amount of oil (6/7 spoons)
4. Once the oil gets heated, add all the mixed contents to the oil
5. There will be a light splutter because of the lemon juice and the hot oil, but soon it will subside
6. Keep turning over from time to time till the potatoes are nicely cooked and roasted.
7. Keep an eye not to over roast the potatoes. The perfect time to switch off the heat is when the outer layer of the potatoes are light to dark brown color and crisp but the inner flesh of the potato is still moist, but cooked
8. Serve hot. This is important since once it becomes cold, the crispiness goes off and it does not taste good when consumed.
============================================
I will try to post photos from my personal collections of these dishes later.
This makes an awesome side dish for the lemon flavoured rice I posted earlier. I am going to post two dishes done in different methods. one from my mom and the other from a distant grandma.
Starting with the dish from my mom
Ingredients
Potatoes -2 medium sized. NOT the sweet ones; the light/dark soil colored ones; any local variety will do. Wash and peel the skin off. There is another line of cooking where these are boiled in a pressure cooker for 2/3 whistles and then used in this method later, but I personally do not like this method since the potatoes will not absorb any flavour while boiling. So I will let the boiling happen in the pan with all flavours. Cut these into medium sized cubes after peeling off the skin
Oinion & tomato - half to 1 full size each; sliced and diced as small as we can cut these since they form the backbone for gravy/curry. I do not like adding tomato, but my mom does to add quantity to the dry gravy
Garlic - 2 - sliced and diced as small as we can cut these, or even better, if we can make a paste out of this. I do not suggest going for ready made paste available in stores since they contain preservatives - ALERT - fresh ingredients preferred always in Indian style cooking.
Ginger - equal in quantity to that of garlic after minced.
Black mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon
Urad gram or cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon. I forgot what my mom adds, but I usuall add either of these two.
Notes:
Garlic and ginger along with curmin seeds are added to balance or in fact relieve the flatulence from consuming potato.
Method
1. Heat a medium sized pan, add oil once the pan is heated and once the oil gets heated, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let it splutter
2. Add the garlic & ginger and let them turn light brown. Then add the onions and let it become translucent/light/golden brown
3. Add the tomatoes at this point if tomatoes are preferred to add more dry gravy to the overall dish.
4. Add potatoes and let them stay on the pan with occasional stirring for a couple of minutes. make sure none of the ingredients gets burned. Cooking always needs 100% manual presence during these times. Either add little more oil at the start or make sure to stir frequently so nothing gets burned
5. Once the potatoes get slightly cooked, add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and give a nice stir so all the sides of the potatoes gets coated with these
6. Add enough water to submerge the potatoes, stir again to make sure everything is mixed nicely well and cover the pan
7. Occasional stirring is required to make sure all the sides of potatoes and all the potatoes in the pan gets uniform flavour.
8. When all the added water gets vapourised under the pan cover, check if the potatoes are cooked nicely. This can be done by poking them with a fork/spoon and if we do not feel any resistance, then done.
9. Leave the pan open for a couple of minutes till the remaining water gets vapourised and the heat can be switched off
10. When we were kids, mom does not usually stop at Step 9. She will add little oil on the pan sides and give all the potatoes a nice stir and leave the heat at mid or even slow/low, so the potatoes gets a nice golden brown/dark brown skin and a little crispy. This can be done given the cook and the eater has patience and hunger that can be held a little longer:)
============================================
The second dish from that distant grandma
Potato - 2 medium sized ones - peel off the skin and cut these into small sized squares/rectangles the size of our nails.
Lemon - 1, depends on the size again. Juiced
Turmeric powder - 1/8 spoon
Chilli Powder - 1/2 Spoon (I see a lot of variety in the Indian grocery stores abroad like Extra hot, Hot, Mild - so please quantify based on these spice levels)
Salt - as required
Oil - locally available oil and as required
Notes: This is actually a cheat dish, it does not have the usual ingredients nor follow the usual method to cook. Its more or like Cajun potato fries we get in Five guys burger food chain in US, the only difference is the shape of the potatoes.
Method -
1.Add 1/8 spoon of turmeric powder, 1/2 spoon of chilli powder, 1/4 spoon of salt and generous (1 lemon) juice to the above cut potatoes
2. Mix all the above nicely so all the potato pieces are coated with all the other ingredients.
3. Heat a pan (I prefer cast iron, but any pan will do), add a generous amount of oil (6/7 spoons)
4. Once the oil gets heated, add all the mixed contents to the oil
5. There will be a light splutter because of the lemon juice and the hot oil, but soon it will subside
6. Keep turning over from time to time till the potatoes are nicely cooked and roasted.
7. Keep an eye not to over roast the potatoes. The perfect time to switch off the heat is when the outer layer of the potatoes are light to dark brown color and crisp but the inner flesh of the potato is still moist, but cooked
8. Serve hot. This is important since once it becomes cold, the crispiness goes off and it does not taste good when consumed.
============================================
I will try to post photos from my personal collections of these dishes later.
Re: Share your recipes
I made some fava beans purée recently.
I love how subtly bitter fresh fava beans are.
Get some fresh fava beans
Clean them up
Prepare the usual garlic soffritto (15 mins on mid flame, till the garlic starts turning “gold colored”)
Dump the fava beans, add water and let boil with a lid on
After an hour or so they will be ready.
Then, mix them
Adjust salt, add some sautéed kale (recipe provided earlier) and a bit of spicy oil.
It makes for a great mix of flavors
I love how subtly bitter fresh fava beans are.
Get some fresh fava beans
Clean them up
Prepare the usual garlic soffritto (15 mins on mid flame, till the garlic starts turning “gold colored”)
Dump the fava beans, add water and let boil with a lid on
After an hour or so they will be ready.
Then, mix them
Adjust salt, add some sautéed kale (recipe provided earlier) and a bit of spicy oil.
It makes for a great mix of flavors
- jennypenny
- Posts: 6861
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm
Re: Share your recipes
I've never had them. Do they taste like lima beans/butter beans?
Re: Share your recipes
They are similar animals obviously, but the fava beans have a sort of “skin” that’s a bit bitter.
I like them a lot, but the taste is not as smooth as butter beans.
They also taste more “green” if that makes sense.
I like them a lot, but the taste is not as smooth as butter beans.
They also taste more “green” if that makes sense.
Re: Share your recipes
I did a strange experiment lately, did not know how it was going to turn out but it was very cool.
I love Japanese food (=! Sushi, average Japanese people eat sushi maybe twice per year), but obviously it’s hard and expensive to find all the right ingredients.
So when I found some real miso paste (of the shiro variety, meaning the lighter and sweeter one they use for soups) I decided to try a mix of Italian and Japanese.
I thought this might work because in terms of attitude, Japanese and Italian cuisine are very similar: both are an “ingredients” cuisine, with few ingredients, little work, not many sauces/tricks/reductions etc.
So I started by doing a basic stock, with some light meat and vegetables.
I had a couple chicken legs and some lean veal leftover, to which I added a chopped mushroom, a carrot and a piece of celery.
Add a bit of soy sauce and let boil.
Meanwhile, prepare other vegetables, the ones you will actually eat
When the meat is ready (meaning nice and soft), take out the vegetables you used for flavor.
You can later mix them and use them to make soup.
Now toss the chopped veggies in the stock and let boil for 10-15 minutes max.
Veggies need to stay crunchy.
Grab the miso paste and dilute a large spoonful of it with some of the stock
Add it to the broth and voilà, italianized miso soup with meat and veggies.
Delicious.
I love Japanese food (=! Sushi, average Japanese people eat sushi maybe twice per year), but obviously it’s hard and expensive to find all the right ingredients.
So when I found some real miso paste (of the shiro variety, meaning the lighter and sweeter one they use for soups) I decided to try a mix of Italian and Japanese.
I thought this might work because in terms of attitude, Japanese and Italian cuisine are very similar: both are an “ingredients” cuisine, with few ingredients, little work, not many sauces/tricks/reductions etc.
So I started by doing a basic stock, with some light meat and vegetables.
I had a couple chicken legs and some lean veal leftover, to which I added a chopped mushroom, a carrot and a piece of celery.
Add a bit of soy sauce and let boil.
Meanwhile, prepare other vegetables, the ones you will actually eat
When the meat is ready (meaning nice and soft), take out the vegetables you used for flavor.
You can later mix them and use them to make soup.
Now toss the chopped veggies in the stock and let boil for 10-15 minutes max.
Veggies need to stay crunchy.
Grab the miso paste and dilute a large spoonful of it with some of the stock
Add it to the broth and voilà, italianized miso soup with meat and veggies.
Delicious.
Re: Share your recipes
Pics for the first and second Potato fry recipe posted earlier.
The same above dish combined with the Lemon flavored rice recipe whose recipe was again posted earlier. Sorry for the over-saturation of the picture.
The same above dish combined with the Lemon flavored rice recipe whose recipe was again posted earlier. Sorry for the over-saturation of the picture.
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- Location: Texas
- Contact:
Re: Share your recipes
Breakfast Egg Cups:
Ingredients per serving:
2 Large Eggs
1 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 oz 73% Lean Ground Beef(browned)
Salt and pepper to taste
Equipment:
Oven
Muffin Tin
Instructions:
1. Set oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Crack 1 egg per muffin tin cup.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add 0.5 oz cheese to each cup.
5. Add 0.5 oz browned ground beef to each cup.
6. Place muffin tin in oven for 30 minutes.
7. Take egg cups out of the muffin tin as soon as your take them out of the oven to cool.
Alternatives:
Alternate meats, some that I use are: ground beef, breakfast sausage, pepperoni, and ham. The other meats add more flavour than the ground beef does, but of course come at an increase in cost.
A version of this is my breakfast just about every week day. I make a batch of them Sundays for the week. I just pop them in the microwave for about 50 seconds before eating them to reheat.
Ingredients per serving:
2 Large Eggs
1 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 oz 73% Lean Ground Beef(browned)
Salt and pepper to taste
Equipment:
Oven
Muffin Tin
Instructions:
1. Set oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Crack 1 egg per muffin tin cup.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add 0.5 oz cheese to each cup.
5. Add 0.5 oz browned ground beef to each cup.
6. Place muffin tin in oven for 30 minutes.
7. Take egg cups out of the muffin tin as soon as your take them out of the oven to cool.
Alternatives:
Alternate meats, some that I use are: ground beef, breakfast sausage, pepperoni, and ham. The other meats add more flavour than the ground beef does, but of course come at an increase in cost.
A version of this is my breakfast just about every week day. I make a batch of them Sundays for the week. I just pop them in the microwave for about 50 seconds before eating them to reheat.
Re: Share your recipes
Vegetable Biriyani/Pulav/pilaf
This is one dish which wields its influence or a common link starting from Persia/Iran all the way till South East Asia. In fact one of the stan's national dish is this. It has many stories on how it originated. Some say it was developed in the Medieval battle fields where soldiers with scarce resources need to have their armies moving and fighting. It has spread to such a large area due to the Islamic/Mongol conquests of the South - Asian continent and their integration with the local folks from these times. While it travelled the continent, the dish itself got integrated, influenced by the local spices and branched into different varieties. So across countries and even within them, the same dish can taste slightly/totally different depending on the local liking but the basics are same.
If you are in India and want a filling meal, you can always check if biriyani is available. As said previously in the trailing part of the last paragragh, while in India, a new variety called "vegetable" Biriyani was developed to cater to the vegetarians in the country. I used to cook this same dish with Chicken during my old meat eating days while in US. My mom used to cook the same dish with goat/lamb meat and many in India cook it with beef/prawn/fish too. When I became vegan, I cooked the vegetarian version and going on ever since. There are many who will say there is a lot of difference in cooking between the Middle eastern version and the Indian version that is done in homes. May be its because we do not have the resources to do as it is done in "rich" Middle East / restaurants, we cook in the most basic style.
And again there are a lot of folks that stress that Pilaf/Pulav and biriyani are different. I am from South India and this dish entered India from North West (from Pakistan) and by the time it reached South, the clarity in the difference between these two dishes is reduced to the bare minimum. In North India, these dishes may be different, but not much in my home state.
This dish is more like a feast cooked on the relaxing Sundays when everyone will be home and have the time and the mood to enjoy it as much as they want. Muslims in India specialise in this dish and and theirs will have the best taste. We have always wanted to and will feast on this dish on final day of the Holy month of Ramadan/ Ramzan and since it is going to be final day of Ramadan this Friday, thought of sharing it.
Ingredients
Oil - as required so all the veggies should be coated with oil when sauteing
half spoon fennel seeds
Cinnamon Sticks - half finger sized
Star Anise - 2 or 3 maximum
Cloves - half spoon
Cardomom Green -1 or 2 maximum
Bay Leaves - 3 maximum
Onion - 1 nicely chopped
Tomato - 1 nicely chopped
Mint Leaves - handful, cleaned with water
Coriander Leaves - handful, cleaned with water
Garlic - 2 or 3, nicely chopped into small pieces
Ginger - equal in quantity to garlic, chopped like garlic
Chilli and Coriander powder - 1 spoon or per taste
Rice - soaked for 30 minutes if parboiled rice. Basmati rice prefered and soak it per instruction on the package.
Lemon juice - medium sized - quarter or half
Yellow/Green/Red Peppers /Capsicum- 1 each
Green Beans - 10 numbers, cleaned and cut into medium length pieces
Carrot - half medium sized, peeled and slit into vertical short pieces
Green Peas - handful
Potato - medium sized half, peeled and cubed
Chickpeas - I add this to give a crunchy feel and protein. Soak it overnight and ready to use. Do not drain the soaked water, instead use it in the dish for cooking, but usually not added.
Cauliflower - handful of florets, cut into smaller florets
Bread- edges removed, cut into squares and fried in oil - this is increasingly being added for the past 10 years, It adds little crispiness
Method
1. Add close to 4/5 cups of oil to a pressure cooker and let it get heated
2. Add Fennel seeds, Cinnamon Sticks, Star Anise, Bay Leaves, Cloves, Cardamom and let these splutter and get roasted a little. Nice smell of these spices should be up in the air
3. Add ginger, garlic and let these become slightly brown
4. Add Mint and coriander leaves and let these loose their water content. be a little careful here since the hot oil will react violently on contact with water droplets on these leaves.
5. Add Onion and let these become translucent
6. Add tomatoes and let these become mushy
7. Now finally add all the veggies+ Chickpeas(if needed) listed in the above section and ensure enough oil is available for these veggies to shine in the hot oil. Note: enough oil should have been added before starting the dish.
8. Let these get sauteed with occasional stirring and for about couple of minutes
9. Add Chilli powder, Coriander Powder and Salt per taste. Take into account the potatoes will absorb the chilli/spiceness of the whole dish, so add a little extra if the dish needs some real taste.
10. Add the soaked rice and give everything a nice stir and add water so all the added items are submerged. Understanding how much water should be added for the perfectly cooked dish is a long learning curve and be prepared to fail lot of times before finally enjoying an awesome Biriyani.
11. Close the lid, add the whistle for the cooker and let it whistle for once.
12. REduce the flame to medium and let it sit for 5 minutes. Smell from the near the whistle if the food is getting burnt and if it is, move the cooker to the sink (hope the sink will have a wet cool surface) and add cold water to the lower side walls of the cooker. This will prevent further burning of food at the bottom. Again this is a long learning curve.
13. Once the pressure releases from the cooker, open the lid, add the fried bread squares, add a little dash of lemon juice and serve hot
Veggie Biriyani
On the right, packed and ready to go for office
reminiscing those days WIth a quick Omelette as a side for this dish
An Hard boiled egg will do too
Yay, This is the Chicken version with an oven roasted leg piece
And burning a little food is a part of learning process
This is one dish which wields its influence or a common link starting from Persia/Iran all the way till South East Asia. In fact one of the stan's national dish is this. It has many stories on how it originated. Some say it was developed in the Medieval battle fields where soldiers with scarce resources need to have their armies moving and fighting. It has spread to such a large area due to the Islamic/Mongol conquests of the South - Asian continent and their integration with the local folks from these times. While it travelled the continent, the dish itself got integrated, influenced by the local spices and branched into different varieties. So across countries and even within them, the same dish can taste slightly/totally different depending on the local liking but the basics are same.
If you are in India and want a filling meal, you can always check if biriyani is available. As said previously in the trailing part of the last paragragh, while in India, a new variety called "vegetable" Biriyani was developed to cater to the vegetarians in the country. I used to cook this same dish with Chicken during my old meat eating days while in US. My mom used to cook the same dish with goat/lamb meat and many in India cook it with beef/prawn/fish too. When I became vegan, I cooked the vegetarian version and going on ever since. There are many who will say there is a lot of difference in cooking between the Middle eastern version and the Indian version that is done in homes. May be its because we do not have the resources to do as it is done in "rich" Middle East / restaurants, we cook in the most basic style.
And again there are a lot of folks that stress that Pilaf/Pulav and biriyani are different. I am from South India and this dish entered India from North West (from Pakistan) and by the time it reached South, the clarity in the difference between these two dishes is reduced to the bare minimum. In North India, these dishes may be different, but not much in my home state.
This dish is more like a feast cooked on the relaxing Sundays when everyone will be home and have the time and the mood to enjoy it as much as they want. Muslims in India specialise in this dish and and theirs will have the best taste. We have always wanted to and will feast on this dish on final day of the Holy month of Ramadan/ Ramzan and since it is going to be final day of Ramadan this Friday, thought of sharing it.
Ingredients
Oil - as required so all the veggies should be coated with oil when sauteing
half spoon fennel seeds
Cinnamon Sticks - half finger sized
Star Anise - 2 or 3 maximum
Cloves - half spoon
Cardomom Green -1 or 2 maximum
Bay Leaves - 3 maximum
Onion - 1 nicely chopped
Tomato - 1 nicely chopped
Mint Leaves - handful, cleaned with water
Coriander Leaves - handful, cleaned with water
Garlic - 2 or 3, nicely chopped into small pieces
Ginger - equal in quantity to garlic, chopped like garlic
Chilli and Coriander powder - 1 spoon or per taste
Rice - soaked for 30 minutes if parboiled rice. Basmati rice prefered and soak it per instruction on the package.
Lemon juice - medium sized - quarter or half
Yellow/Green/Red Peppers /Capsicum- 1 each
Green Beans - 10 numbers, cleaned and cut into medium length pieces
Carrot - half medium sized, peeled and slit into vertical short pieces
Green Peas - handful
Potato - medium sized half, peeled and cubed
Chickpeas - I add this to give a crunchy feel and protein. Soak it overnight and ready to use. Do not drain the soaked water, instead use it in the dish for cooking, but usually not added.
Cauliflower - handful of florets, cut into smaller florets
Bread- edges removed, cut into squares and fried in oil - this is increasingly being added for the past 10 years, It adds little crispiness
Method
1. Add close to 4/5 cups of oil to a pressure cooker and let it get heated
2. Add Fennel seeds, Cinnamon Sticks, Star Anise, Bay Leaves, Cloves, Cardamom and let these splutter and get roasted a little. Nice smell of these spices should be up in the air
3. Add ginger, garlic and let these become slightly brown
4. Add Mint and coriander leaves and let these loose their water content. be a little careful here since the hot oil will react violently on contact with water droplets on these leaves.
5. Add Onion and let these become translucent
6. Add tomatoes and let these become mushy
7. Now finally add all the veggies+ Chickpeas(if needed) listed in the above section and ensure enough oil is available for these veggies to shine in the hot oil. Note: enough oil should have been added before starting the dish.
8. Let these get sauteed with occasional stirring and for about couple of minutes
9. Add Chilli powder, Coriander Powder and Salt per taste. Take into account the potatoes will absorb the chilli/spiceness of the whole dish, so add a little extra if the dish needs some real taste.
10. Add the soaked rice and give everything a nice stir and add water so all the added items are submerged. Understanding how much water should be added for the perfectly cooked dish is a long learning curve and be prepared to fail lot of times before finally enjoying an awesome Biriyani.
11. Close the lid, add the whistle for the cooker and let it whistle for once.
12. REduce the flame to medium and let it sit for 5 minutes. Smell from the near the whistle if the food is getting burnt and if it is, move the cooker to the sink (hope the sink will have a wet cool surface) and add cold water to the lower side walls of the cooker. This will prevent further burning of food at the bottom. Again this is a long learning curve.
13. Once the pressure releases from the cooker, open the lid, add the fried bread squares, add a little dash of lemon juice and serve hot
Veggie Biriyani
On the right, packed and ready to go for office
reminiscing those days WIth a quick Omelette as a side for this dish
An Hard boiled egg will do too
Yay, This is the Chicken version with an oven roasted leg piece
And burning a little food is a part of learning process
Re: Share your recipes
Looks yummy. I love herbs and spices, so I might try that vegetable biryani.
Re: Share your recipes
Sorry I did not take pictures of all the steps as usual, but refer to the previous post about tomato sauce for similar instructions.
I mentioned that most of the times, a good canned tomato beats fresh tomatoes, with the exception of great quality, in season tomatoes.
Among my favorite tomatoes are the Datterini variety:
note: they are small, around 1-1.5 inches long
They are exceptionally sweet and tasty.
The basic procedures for a good tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes are similar to the canned tomato version, with a few tweaks.
Start by doing the garlic soffritto, but use a bit more olive oil than normal.
Then chop the tomatoes in small pieces.
Put the flame on high, toss the tomatoes and cook at high heat for a short time (3-5 minutes max).
The tomatoes need to stay mostly intact (see plate pic further down).
The idea is that since you have a great fresh product, you want to cook it as little as possible.
Add a bit of salt, and a tiny bit of white wine.
Let evaporate the wine, and boom you’re ready to go.
I mentioned that most of the times, a good canned tomato beats fresh tomatoes, with the exception of great quality, in season tomatoes.
Among my favorite tomatoes are the Datterini variety:
note: they are small, around 1-1.5 inches long
They are exceptionally sweet and tasty.
The basic procedures for a good tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes are similar to the canned tomato version, with a few tweaks.
Start by doing the garlic soffritto, but use a bit more olive oil than normal.
Then chop the tomatoes in small pieces.
Put the flame on high, toss the tomatoes and cook at high heat for a short time (3-5 minutes max).
The tomatoes need to stay mostly intact (see plate pic further down).
The idea is that since you have a great fresh product, you want to cook it as little as possible.
Add a bit of salt, and a tiny bit of white wine.
Let evaporate the wine, and boom you’re ready to go.
Re: Share your recipes
I found some fantastic fresh Borlotti beans at the supermarket, couldn’t resist making a Fagioli Soup.
Cleaned them
Then prepared a very simple soffritto with some extra virgin olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and mixed herbs.
Let it simmer on low flame for 10-15 mins
I dry and prepare my mixed herbs for soups in a very simple manner: I mix equal parts
Sage
Rosemary
Bay leaves
Added the beans
Sautéed them on low flame while cutting a potato.
It helps thicken the soup.
Added water and salt.
Cooked for 30-40 mins
I suggest you always leave it a little liquid and let it rest overnight.
The beans will suck up some more water and the flavors will harmonize.
This soup can be eaten as is or you can cook some pasta in it: just add more water (pasta will suck a ton of liquid) and salt (pasta is sweeter than you think)
Cleaned them
Then prepared a very simple soffritto with some extra virgin olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and mixed herbs.
Let it simmer on low flame for 10-15 mins
I dry and prepare my mixed herbs for soups in a very simple manner: I mix equal parts
Sage
Rosemary
Bay leaves
Added the beans
Sautéed them on low flame while cutting a potato.
It helps thicken the soup.
Added water and salt.
Cooked for 30-40 mins
I suggest you always leave it a little liquid and let it rest overnight.
The beans will suck up some more water and the flavors will harmonize.
This soup can be eaten as is or you can cook some pasta in it: just add more water (pasta will suck a ton of liquid) and salt (pasta is sweeter than you think)
Re: Share your recipes
I did eggplant sauce
Prepare the usual soffritto, this time adding some chili pepper
Peel the eggplant and slice it thin, sauté in the soffritto.
Never put too much eggplant for the pan, or else it will get soggy.
The below is the maximum you should put (I did a few rounds of this)
This is when they’re ready, put aside
Re do some soffritto again
And prepare the usual tomato sauce.
Remember: use some whole peeled tomatoes and mix/crush them yourself. Tomato paste = shit
While the sauce is cooking, grate some parmigiano (or even better, some pecorino romano)
Drain the pasta well al dente and combine all ingredients
Prepare the usual soffritto, this time adding some chili pepper
Peel the eggplant and slice it thin, sauté in the soffritto.
Never put too much eggplant for the pan, or else it will get soggy.
The below is the maximum you should put (I did a few rounds of this)
This is when they’re ready, put aside
Re do some soffritto again
And prepare the usual tomato sauce.
Remember: use some whole peeled tomatoes and mix/crush them yourself. Tomato paste = shit
While the sauce is cooking, grate some parmigiano (or even better, some pecorino romano)
Drain the pasta well al dente and combine all ingredients
Re: Share your recipes
I finally made bolognese again.
First things first: there is no “correct” recipe for the bolognese.
As with most recipes from northern Italy (that used to be the poorest part of the country), it is made to use all leftovers.
Farmers would sell the best cuts of meat, grind the leftovers and cook them in a sauce for maximum yield.
So they would throw in whatever they got.
It is commonly accepted though that any bolognese should contain at least some pork and some beef.
Usually I do something like:
50% beef
25% sausage
25% veal
A nice substitute for sausage is fresh uncured bacon.
This time I did:
80% beef
20% split 50/50 between fresh bacon and sausage
In retrospect I should have used more pork because the beef was lean.
First start browning the fattest meat
This is when it’s ready
At this point, add the vegetables for the soffritto. For bolognese I suggest celery, carrot and a bit of fresh garlic or scallion
Add the leaner meat
Once it’s all semi cooked
Add the tomatoes.
Remember: bolognese is a lot of meat and a bit of tomato.
For a total of almost 6lbs of raw meat I used three small cans of tomatoes (3x400g - 3x0,9lbs).
Then cook for 3-4 hours.
And let it rest for at least one night outside (or in the fridge)
Then re heat and cook for another 2-3 hours.
Add water in case it dries up
The more you cook-rest-reheat, the better it tastes.
For this batch, I did
4 hours
Rest
2 hours
Rest
2 hours
Then ate some of it on top of some polenta
And froze the rest
Enjoy
First things first: there is no “correct” recipe for the bolognese.
As with most recipes from northern Italy (that used to be the poorest part of the country), it is made to use all leftovers.
Farmers would sell the best cuts of meat, grind the leftovers and cook them in a sauce for maximum yield.
So they would throw in whatever they got.
It is commonly accepted though that any bolognese should contain at least some pork and some beef.
Usually I do something like:
50% beef
25% sausage
25% veal
A nice substitute for sausage is fresh uncured bacon.
This time I did:
80% beef
20% split 50/50 between fresh bacon and sausage
In retrospect I should have used more pork because the beef was lean.
First start browning the fattest meat
This is when it’s ready
At this point, add the vegetables for the soffritto. For bolognese I suggest celery, carrot and a bit of fresh garlic or scallion
Add the leaner meat
Once it’s all semi cooked
Add the tomatoes.
Remember: bolognese is a lot of meat and a bit of tomato.
For a total of almost 6lbs of raw meat I used three small cans of tomatoes (3x400g - 3x0,9lbs).
Then cook for 3-4 hours.
And let it rest for at least one night outside (or in the fridge)
Then re heat and cook for another 2-3 hours.
Add water in case it dries up
The more you cook-rest-reheat, the better it tastes.
For this batch, I did
4 hours
Rest
2 hours
Rest
2 hours
Then ate some of it on top of some polenta
And froze the rest
Enjoy
Re: Share your recipes
I posted a recipe in my journal, will cross post here for the benefit of everybody.
LENTILS!
First chop some garlic, carrots and some sort of tasty pork.
You can use bacon, guanciale or whatever. I scored a prosciutto end for a super cheap price so that’s what I used.
Do the soffritto as usual, and add fresh bay leaves.
After a good 15 mins on low flame, add 1lb of lentils and half a glass of red wine.
Drink the other half
Add water and salt, let cook
Enjoy the wait by reading, sipping wine and eating parmigiano on your makeshift table
Done!
Happy holidays ladies and gents!
LENTILS!
First chop some garlic, carrots and some sort of tasty pork.
You can use bacon, guanciale or whatever. I scored a prosciutto end for a super cheap price so that’s what I used.
Do the soffritto as usual, and add fresh bay leaves.
After a good 15 mins on low flame, add 1lb of lentils and half a glass of red wine.
Drink the other half
Add water and salt, let cook
Enjoy the wait by reading, sipping wine and eating parmigiano on your makeshift table
Done!
Happy holidays ladies and gents!
Re: Share your recipes
I did a nice variation of my basic risotto.
The very basic one calls for 3 parts broth or salted water and 1 part Arborio o Superfino Roma rice (by weight).
Get some zucchini.
Remember the smaller and the firmer, the better
Garlic and red pepper soffritto
Then cut the zucchini thin and let cook on medium.
Don’t move them too much, just occasionally.
It will take about 20mins so you can enjoy a nice Italian style aperitivo in the meanwhile
Ice
One part Campari
Two parts sparkling wine (dry)
Two parts club soda/sparkling water, add a slice of lemon
When the zucchini are done, set aside
Now three parts broth
One part rice
Start heating the broth
Take one sweet sausage, peel it like so
Just sizzle it and cut it up in small pieces
Add a splash (not too much!) of the sparkling wine to aromatize it, let the wine evaporate and add the rice.
Stir for a few seconds to let the rice suck up a bit of the fat, then add the broth, close the lid and let cook for 12-13 minutes
Once the rice looks like this, open and keep stirring
At about this point, add some zucchini and let cook for about a minute.
Keep stirring
When it looks like this, add a bit of butter, take off the flame, close the lid and let rest for 2-3 minutes
Voilà
The very basic one calls for 3 parts broth or salted water and 1 part Arborio o Superfino Roma rice (by weight).
Get some zucchini.
Remember the smaller and the firmer, the better
Garlic and red pepper soffritto
Then cut the zucchini thin and let cook on medium.
Don’t move them too much, just occasionally.
It will take about 20mins so you can enjoy a nice Italian style aperitivo in the meanwhile
Ice
One part Campari
Two parts sparkling wine (dry)
Two parts club soda/sparkling water, add a slice of lemon
When the zucchini are done, set aside
Now three parts broth
One part rice
Start heating the broth
Take one sweet sausage, peel it like so
Just sizzle it and cut it up in small pieces
Add a splash (not too much!) of the sparkling wine to aromatize it, let the wine evaporate and add the rice.
Stir for a few seconds to let the rice suck up a bit of the fat, then add the broth, close the lid and let cook for 12-13 minutes
Once the rice looks like this, open and keep stirring
At about this point, add some zucchini and let cook for about a minute.
Keep stirring
When it looks like this, add a bit of butter, take off the flame, close the lid and let rest for 2-3 minutes
Voilà
Re: Share your recipes
Let’s try a typical Genovese recipe, the Farinata.
Farinata is basically a sort of focaccia, done with chickpea flour.
It is super simple, super cheap and super good (also: vegan for those who are interested).
Mix by weight:
1 part chickpea flour
0.7 parts extra virgin olive oil
2.5 parts water
Salt
Fresh rosemary
Stir often and let rest for one night
The 12 hour rest is not mandatory, but it will definitely help dissipate the small crumbs
Pre heat the oven at 200C (390F), mix the preparation well so that the flour doesn’t sit on the bottom, and place it in a pan with some oven paper underneath.
Ideal height is about half an inch.
When cooking, If you see the top sizzling too hot, lower the oven temp a bit.
Is has to sizzle, but not burn.
Cook well, it takes longer than you think as it is very humid.
It is ready when both the top and bottom are crispy, while the center is still a bit soft.
Farinata is basically a sort of focaccia, done with chickpea flour.
It is super simple, super cheap and super good (also: vegan for those who are interested).
Mix by weight:
1 part chickpea flour
0.7 parts extra virgin olive oil
2.5 parts water
Salt
Fresh rosemary
Stir often and let rest for one night
The 12 hour rest is not mandatory, but it will definitely help dissipate the small crumbs
Pre heat the oven at 200C (390F), mix the preparation well so that the flour doesn’t sit on the bottom, and place it in a pan with some oven paper underneath.
Ideal height is about half an inch.
When cooking, If you see the top sizzling too hot, lower the oven temp a bit.
Is has to sizzle, but not burn.
Cook well, it takes longer than you think as it is very humid.
It is ready when both the top and bottom are crispy, while the center is still a bit soft.
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Re: Share your recipes
I’ve been cooking a lot lately, and thought I’d share 2 new favorites. One is chicken paprikash. Easy and cheap, and though worth it to invest in good sweet Hungarian paprika, regular paprika will work, with a few flakes of red pepper.
Recipe is simple—make a roux with butter, flour, and at least a tablespoon or two, add thinly sliced onions, chicken broth, 2 more tablespoons of paprika, cooked chicken, salt, pepper, a little red pepper, and maybe more paprika. Simmer and let it thicken, then stir in either heavy cream or sour cream. If you need actual measurements, lots of recipes online.
To me, it’s great with anything: buttered noodles, spaetzle, dumplings, mashed potatoes or a baked potato .... it’s also not bad at all if you substitute firm tofu.
The other thing I’m eating a lot of is waffles. I bought a waffle iron, so am trying lots of different things with it. Waffles are very economical, with tons of variations, and also easy to make in bulk and freeze. So far yeasted waffles are my favorite, though I’m getting ready to start another sourdough batch.
Tons of recipes on line, and also ideas about what to do with the waffle iron. Do not, however, put cookie dough on the waffle iron, no matter how many times you read that you can online....
Recipe is simple—make a roux with butter, flour, and at least a tablespoon or two, add thinly sliced onions, chicken broth, 2 more tablespoons of paprika, cooked chicken, salt, pepper, a little red pepper, and maybe more paprika. Simmer and let it thicken, then stir in either heavy cream or sour cream. If you need actual measurements, lots of recipes online.
To me, it’s great with anything: buttered noodles, spaetzle, dumplings, mashed potatoes or a baked potato .... it’s also not bad at all if you substitute firm tofu.
The other thing I’m eating a lot of is waffles. I bought a waffle iron, so am trying lots of different things with it. Waffles are very economical, with tons of variations, and also easy to make in bulk and freeze. So far yeasted waffles are my favorite, though I’m getting ready to start another sourdough batch.
Tons of recipes on line, and also ideas about what to do with the waffle iron. Do not, however, put cookie dough on the waffle iron, no matter how many times you read that you can online....
Re: Share your recipes
Haven’t been posting for a while.
Since I will probably be moving to Asia relatively soon, I’m starting to experiment with the kind of ingredients that I expect to find there.
Start with some green beans, cut the extremities like so
Then boil them till they are “al dente”. I like them a bit crunchy, then drain and set to the side.
Chop some chicken / turkey
Prepare a garlic and red pepper soffritto
When the garlic is nice and golden, add the turkey/chicken and some bay leaves
When the chicken is white, sprinkle some flour. This will add some substance / thickness to the sauce.
Add soy sauce to your liking. From now on, keep the flame high.
When it caramellizes, like so
Add water to keep it moist. You’ll likely need to add water a few times.
Repeat till
A) the chicken is fully cooked
B) the sauce is nice and thick as the flour has blended perfectly
This whole process should take around 10 minutes and 3-4 water additions.
Before serving, incorporate the beans and mix
This obviously works very well with rice.
You can use a lean piece of pork instead of chicken
You can use other crunchy vegetables instead of the green beans (romaine cauliflower, morning glory...)
You can use sage leaves instead of bay leaves
You can use white wine instead of soy sauce (but you’ll need to add salt at the end).
Enjoy!
Since I will probably be moving to Asia relatively soon, I’m starting to experiment with the kind of ingredients that I expect to find there.
Start with some green beans, cut the extremities like so
Then boil them till they are “al dente”. I like them a bit crunchy, then drain and set to the side.
Chop some chicken / turkey
Prepare a garlic and red pepper soffritto
When the garlic is nice and golden, add the turkey/chicken and some bay leaves
When the chicken is white, sprinkle some flour. This will add some substance / thickness to the sauce.
Add soy sauce to your liking. From now on, keep the flame high.
When it caramellizes, like so
Add water to keep it moist. You’ll likely need to add water a few times.
Repeat till
A) the chicken is fully cooked
B) the sauce is nice and thick as the flour has blended perfectly
This whole process should take around 10 minutes and 3-4 water additions.
Before serving, incorporate the beans and mix
This obviously works very well with rice.
You can use a lean piece of pork instead of chicken
You can use other crunchy vegetables instead of the green beans (romaine cauliflower, morning glory...)
You can use sage leaves instead of bay leaves
You can use white wine instead of soy sauce (but you’ll need to add salt at the end).
Enjoy!
Re: Share your recipes
To recap, I found 12 pounds of Bob's Red Mill organic almond flour at the swap meet for $4 and about a pound of organic spinach in the trash. This is the first time I've ever used almond flour so it was a learning experience.
I lined a pyrex with three stale corn tortillas and mixed the almond flour with water, olive oil, salt, chili flakes and a little garlic into a paste.
I spread the paste on top of the tortillas then topped it with diced onion, tomato, sundried tomato, spinach and red, yellow and poblano peppers.
Baked at 350 for 25 minutes.
The almond flour is somewhat gritty so I expected it to congeal like tamale masa, but that's not what happened. The vegetables maintained enough moisture so that the flour took on the crumbly texture of Roquefort cheese with a mild, nutty flavor. Surprisingly good for a first try. Next time I will bake the base for about fifteen minutes before adding the vegetable topping and putting it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
I lined a pyrex with three stale corn tortillas and mixed the almond flour with water, olive oil, salt, chili flakes and a little garlic into a paste.
I spread the paste on top of the tortillas then topped it with diced onion, tomato, sundried tomato, spinach and red, yellow and poblano peppers.
Baked at 350 for 25 minutes.
The almond flour is somewhat gritty so I expected it to congeal like tamale masa, but that's not what happened. The vegetables maintained enough moisture so that the flour took on the crumbly texture of Roquefort cheese with a mild, nutty flavor. Surprisingly good for a first try. Next time I will bake the base for about fifteen minutes before adding the vegetable topping and putting it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
Re: Share your recipes
looks great for a first try for sure, I'd hit that!
You could try cook it on low flame on a covered pan, so that the humidity stays in and doesn't get dispersed like it would in an oven.
This would cook the flour through
Then, finish by putting the flame on mid and removing the lid to add a crispy texture to the bottom part.
Maybe you don't even need the tortillas this way
You could try cook it on low flame on a covered pan, so that the humidity stays in and doesn't get dispersed like it would in an oven.
This would cook the flour through
Then, finish by putting the flame on mid and removing the lid to add a crispy texture to the bottom part.
Maybe you don't even need the tortillas this way