Monthly Archives: November 2018

Ginger Garlic and Broccoli Thai pizza

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Think of your favorite wood fired pizzeria pizza with its slightly charred crust with large bubbles. This is that kind of pizza but at home.

The toppings are inspired by Jim Lahey’s thai pizza from my favorite food site – Serious Eats. Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread changed my life but I’m not very fond of his pizza recipe. It’s too tacky and I like oil in my pizza dough. For my  dough- I used the olive oil dough recipe from my favorite bread book- Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day.  I will write a post about that recipe another day. Today- I want to talk about Thai pizza

Sauce: It is a regular bechamel sauce. Ingredients: 1 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp butter, 1 cup milk. Cook the flour in the melted butter for one minute. Whisk in the milk to make the sauce lump-free. Cook till the sauce bubbles and thickens. Add salt and pepper. Cool

Toppings: Finely chopped ginger, garlic, jalapenos,  baby broccoli.blanched for a minute

Cheeses: Provolone and Mozarella

Heat your oven to 500F with a pizza stone. Roll out or toss your pizza dough fairly thin. Spread the white sauce sparing half an inch at the edge. Sprinkle on the ginger, garlic and jalapenos. Add chunks of the broccolli. Add the provolone and torn pieces of the fresh mozarella.

Slide pizza on pizza stone ( I use parchment) and cook for 10 minutes.

These are flavor combinations that shouldn’t work but they somehow do. Cheese, Ginger, Garlic, Chillies- it’s a winning combination.

Puttanesca sauce

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The story goes that the prostitutes of Naples attracted customers because this sauce was so fragrant. I really like that story. The kids in Lemony Snicket (which is a very sly book) cook this for their guardian. My version doesn’t have anchovies, I’ve added gochuang, miso, shitake mushrooms, tamari and other ingredients to my puttanesca at different times. Today- I just skipped the anchovies.

Ingredients:

1 14 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped olives ( I used green, but oil cured would be fantastic here)

1-2 tbsp capers

4-5 large cloves of garlic (about 1-2 tbsp)

2 tbsp extravirgin olive oil

1/2-1 tsp dried red pepper flakes, 1 tsp dried oregano and 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat the oil, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes (don’t brown). Add the capers and olives and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and the oregano and the red pepper flakes. Cover the sauce and cook  this low and slow for 20-30 minutes.

Cook pasta, add to sauce, thin with some pasta water. Traditionally this pasta is served with parsley and without cheese but honestly, every pasta tastes better with some parmesan.

Roasted carrots

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I hated cooked carrots while growing up, they were mushy and soggy and tasteless. These carrots are jammy, slightly charred and sweet and very addictive. I first saw the carrot- coriander combination in a purple carrot recipe and I’ve cooked these once a week since then

4 carrots- peeled and chopped into equal pieces

1-2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp coriander powder

Toss together, roast at 400 F for 20-25 minutes

Recipe is 9 year old approved!

Karanji

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Karanji (in Marathi or gujiya in Hindi) is a sweet or savory stuffed mostly deep fried pastry traditionally made on Diwali day in the state of Maharashtra.

Traditional karanji recipes call for a mix of all purpose flour and semolina flour and are deep fried. I really hate deep frying ! I used an empanada dough recipe for my karanjis and baked them. The empanada recipe gives me a wonderfully flaky and sturdy pastry shell.

Dough: Melt 7 tbsp of butter, add 1/2 cup of really hot water with 1 tsp of salt. Add butter and hot water to 3 cups all purpose flour. Knead. Add upto 1/4 -1/3 cup of additional hot water to make a smooth pliable dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for an hour.

Sweet filling: Melt 3 tbsp of ghee, add 1 cup of grated fresh coconut ( I use frozen). Roast till coconut dries out a little and just starts browning. Take off the heat. Add 1/4 cup of jaggery, 3 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of sesame seeds, 1 tbsp of poppy seeds, 1/4 cup roasted cashews, 1/4 cup raisins, 1 tsp of ground cardamon powder.

Divide dough into  4s and then into 8s. Use a rolling pin or flatten each dough ball into a 3 inch diameter circle. Add 1 tbsp of filling and crimp into half moon shapes and make a slit on top for the steam to escape. Can be frozen at this stage (freeze flat on a baking sheet and add 5-6 minutes to bake time)

Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Continue reading →

Ragi noodles – 2 ways

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I was introduced to Ragi vermicelli by a Tamilian friend of mine in the USA. Ragi is a millet, rich in calcium and gluten free (but don’t quote me on that). It is also easily available as flour and vermicelli in the Indian store and is delicious. It is important to prepare the ragi noodles according to the instructions on the packet to avoid the vermicelli clump from hell. This particular brand wanted me to soak the noodles for 3 minutes in salted water and steam for 5 minutes.

I prepare these 2 ways:

Coconut and ghee- For my American non-spice loving kid, I roast some frozen coconut in ghee and add some frozen corn and 1-2 tsp of sugar. Add the ragi noodles, cover and steam on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Serve.

Spiced ragi noodles: Start as you would with a poha recipe- for me that is 2 tbsp of oil, 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds- heat till they sputter, add a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 dried chilly, 3-4 chopped curry leaves, 1/2 a chopped preserved lemon (can be omitted) and 2-3 crushed stuffed dried chillies (also found in Indian store but can also be omitted). Add one onion finely chopped and cook till golden brown with some salt, pepper and a tsp of sugar. Add frozen corn, frozen coconut and the cooked ragi noodles. Cover and steam for 5-10 minutes till everything is heated through and the corn is cooked. Add chopped cilantro. Serve with a squeeze of lime.

Raspberry pie

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My post thanksgiving pie shenanigans. I had only 3 eggs and 2 and half sticks of butter and a bag of frozen raspberries and no whipped cream. It was almost a Chopped episode.

Crust: Shortcrust pastry dough: I used this David Tanis recipe. I cup flour (145 gm), 1 stick butter with 1 tsp salt- whiz in food processor and add 2-3 tbsp ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time till the dough just comes together. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness for a 8 inch pie pan- refrigerate again for 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes.

Add parchment paper and bean or pie weights and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes till very pale brown (you may  need foil on the edges if they start browning too soon)

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12884-basic-short-crust-pastry

Pastry Cream: After much research, I settled on this Mark Bittman easy recipe. It is slightly runny for pie though- it definitely needs at least 1 hour to set. I halved it.

In a saucepan- add 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp of flour, 1 tbsp of cornstarch and 1 cup of whole milk and 1 beaten egg. Whisk over low-moderate heat fairly continuously till the custard comes together (you know- when you can draw a line on the back of the spoon). Add a tsp of vanilla and a tbsp of butter. Resist the temptation to lick all of it. Refrigerate for 30 minutes with cling film over the top so it doesn’t form a skin

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015881-mark-bittmans-pastry-cream

Rasberries: Frozen raspberries, heat with sugar (3-4 tbsp) and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Some grand marnier and some orange zest will be excellent in this too.

Cool everything and then assemble. Wait for at least 1-2 hours. We didn’t and it was delicious but slightly runny.

Yorkshire pudding / popovers with malai paneer

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Yorkshire puddings with paneer curry

Yorkshire pudding with malai paneer

While doing the stream of consciousness internet browsing thing, I came across Jamie Oliver’s video on Yorkshire pudding. I have no idea why I haven’t made this before. Hot oil, batter that puffs up, crisp outside, doughy interior – sounds so beautiful. Jamie paired his with salmon and creme fraiche. I’ve paired mine with a paneer curry, mint chutney and raw onions

Yorkshire pudding

I’ve linked to Jamie’s video below. Whisk 4 eggs, 200 ml milk and 200 g all purpose flour together with a pinch of salt. Heat oven to 425F. Pour a cm of vegetable oil in 12 muffin tins. Heat the oil for 15 min. Pour the batter in cups 2/3 full (I overfilled mine and had only 9 puddings). Shut the door and do not open till 20-25 min have passed and the puddings have puffed up gloriously

Malai paneer: my easy go-to paneer recipe

Heat 2 tbsp butter or ghee, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 dried chillies and half a cup of sliced onions till onions are pale gold.

Add 3 chopped garlic cloves and 100 gm of chopped paneer. Sauté for 2-3 min. Add frozen corn, green beans, raisins, cashews (I added pine nuts today). Add half a cup of cream and 1 tsp cumin powder and 1 tsp coriander powder. Cook for 10 min. Adjust consistency with more cream if needed, add ½ tsp of garam masala powder and ½ tsp of crushed kasoori methi.

Mint chutney: blend ½ cup of yogurt with ½ cup mint leaves, ½ cup cilantro and 2 jalapeños and salt

Assemble: tear open popover, add paneer, top with sliced raw onions and chutney. Find your happy place !

Vegetarian puttanesca with homemade pasta

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Fresh pasta at home with vegetarian puttanesca

Fresh Homemade Pasta with Vegetarian puttanesca

 

It’s easier than it sounds and tremendous fun! You do need a pasta maker. I make it enough that I have a kitchen aid attachment but a hand cranked pasta maker is available for less than a $100. My kid did well in her piano recital and I asked her what she wanted for dinner and the answer is always “let’s make pasta”

 

Recipe: I use Michael Ruhlman’s recipe – 3 parts flour to 2 parts egg. It’s easy – I crack the eggs required (1 for each portion of pasta), weigh them and add 1.5 times the amount of all purpose flour and a tsp of salt. A large egg is approximately 50 g.

I use the dough hook of my stand mixer to knead – it will look tacky but have faith in the recipe and keep at it for 5 min- it will come together. Now let it rest for at least 30 min ! This is vital- I’ve skipped this step once to my great regret and never done it again.

 

Divide the dough into manageable quarters or eights. Start at the largest setting on your pasta machine- pass the dough through. I flour the dough frequently. Fold into thirds, turn it and pass through it again. Do this 3 times and then consecutively pass through thinner settings. For fettuccine, which I made today – the 2nd or 3rd last setting is good. For ravioli, I go to the thinnest. Switch the attachments for the cutting attachment – cut the sheets to manageable lengths and pass the pass through. Flour liberally – you have a nest of pasta. Cook in salted boiling water for 3 min !

 

Puttanesca

My daughter is reading Lemony Snicket and wanted a vegetarian puttanesca. Here is my version

3 tbsp butter, add 5 chopped garlic cloves, about ¼ cup chopped olives, 2-3 tbsp capers. Cook for a minute. Add 2 small cans of crushed San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz) and 1 tbsp of gochuang (to replace the umami of the anchovies). Simmer for the 30 minutes you are making the pasta.

 

Toss pasta with warm sauce, top with some good olive oil and Parmesan. Well worthy of a 9 year old piano maestro 🙂