Category: Inauthentic Recipes

No Cook and Cooked

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I have no weekend cooking experiments to report this Monday. To the relief of my family, once in a while I do cook the same dish twice. This Sunday Swedish Meatballs were requested. I used this easy tried and true recipe from food blogger Jo Cooks. The mixture of ground beef and chicken make these meatballs a bit lighter in texture and flavor. The meal also included broccoli, peas and roasted brussels sprouts. It was a tasty way to end the weekend. Sadly….no dessert. But….today I’m about to eat something delicious that I may have made up. Its an adaptation of a Jamaican rice recipe with coconut milk and a whole scotch bonnet pepper that soothingly accompanies refreshing black beans and spicy jerk chicken. My version involves sauteing a cup of rice with a tablespoon of oil, adding all my left over vegetables (in my case peas, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale and mushrooms), a can of drained black beans, a can of coconut milk and a can a water. Simmer. The result is a hearty flavorful rice dish studded with beans and vegetables. The slight heat of the whole scotch bonnet contrasts gently with  the sweetness of the coconut milk. Can’t wait for this bowl of moist fried rice goodness, my Monday reward for surviving another busy weekend.

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I also want to sing the praises of the Netflix documentary Cooked. I binge watched all four episodes: Fire, Water, Air and Earth (and re-read Michael Pollan’s book by the same title). With Pollan we travel to far away places across the world and are also invited to his home as he brings home lessons learned. Visually the documentary is a work of art. I have never seen such beauty in a boiling pot or a heap of decaying food. Please see it for yourself. It is rare a celebration of our humanity practiced in making and sharing food. Makes me want to cook. More.

There is a bowl of coconutty veggie filled rice calling my name. Can’t wait to share it with my veggie loving baby, Atiya.

Wishing you happy Monday lunch,

Hungryphil

 

 

 

 

 

Wobblyogi Wednesday – YTT Journal Week 3

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This week we were asked to team teach two fifteen minute sequences of standing and balancing poses. Both times, my partners and I tried to insert standing poses like the wide legged forward bend, trikonasona, extended side angle and the pyramid (or balancing poses like tree, dancer, half moon) smoothly into a sequence. Small  moves like turning the direction of our toes and gaze or stepping back or front became crucial components of a fluid transition. When leading the class, it felt like I was stuttering, as if the mind, body and breathing has yet to learn a new combined language.  I have a new appreciation for all those soothing and calmed voiced yoga instructors out there. Making anything seem effortless takes a whole lot of effort!

Betsy lead us through a Hot Progressive Yoga session. It was a combination of challenging poses and ease that builds in intensity through the session. Despite the intensity and sweat, the session did not conjure feelings of athletic breathless panting. I suppose this was my lesson for the week on and off the mat: to keep my breath steady regardless of ease and effort (and to focus on breathing and cue breathing when teaching).

At my third week of regular yoga practice, I do feel more grounded and grateful. I’m more aware of tight muscles and flexible muscles. I feel increased body awareness and am beginning to understand yoga instructions to “connect with your breath,” “ground through your feet,” “stack your hips” etc,. I’m discovering new questions like why is balancing with closed eyes harder? May that be a metaphor for something? I also continue to be amazed by my fellow yogis. What a combination of intelligence, kindness and grace! I am so lucky to breathe and flow with this inclusive and wonderful little community.

Oh….and we had our first test. It was a good reminder of all that we have learned already. And, of course of things we need to notice as important to remember.

It was a good week. We are no longer strangers. Wherever we started we have all started to deepen our practice.

This week’s yogi snack…dear readers I would love suggestions. What do you like to eat before or after practice? Vegan, vegetarian and/or gluten free options seem difficult to make portable and share-able. Thoughts? Any cook book recommendations out there?

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla, granola, jelly
1. Beat egg and sugar together.
2. Mix in peanut butter.
3. Drop tablespoons of dough. Flatten. Makes about 12-15 cookies.
4. Bake 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.
Cool completely before enjoying!

Recipe from Food Network, Damaris Phillips.

Yoga Elephant image from: https://www.pinterest.com/jenhaussmann/yoga/

Weekend Experiments – Turkish Lamb Pizza

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First of all, Bangladeshi family and friends, I need a “chital peetha” recipe. It occurs to me that as a naturally gluten-free bread it would be a great alternative for my GF friends. Also, I tried to make a version of it and failed miserably. So…please help.

I also had trouble making Ethiopian Injeera bread. It kept sticking to the pan. Online directions tell me to add flour and cover to let it steam. I’ll try that and report back. Let me know if you have an idiot-proof recipe.

I made a corn fritter inspired savory pancake at Atiya’s request. It is wonderful contrasted with maple syrup or any berry compote, or also with sour cream. Here is my made up recipe:

Savory Corn Pancakes

1 can of cream of corn

1 egg

1/2 to 3/4 flour (depending on how corny or pancaky you like it)

enough water to make it pancake consistency

1/4 cup of chopped onion

1/4 cup of chopped cilantro

1/4 cup of chopped tomato (seeded)

1 Thai chili pepper or jalepeno pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix into batter. Make pancakes on buttered or dry skillet. Atiya likes it buttered so the edges get extra crispy. Enjoy a bright and complex, sweet and savory weekend breakfast.

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The second experiment involved using my Turkish,  Raw Spice Bar, spice packets. Jim and I made their lamb pizza. He did an excellent job preparing and baking the pizza dough. We only used a 3 ozs of meat that seemed to flavor stretch with the Baharat spice that was complex and robust mixed with tomato paste. Did not miss cheese at all. I don’t know if this should be called “pizza.” It tasted more like an inside out meat stuffed naan or paratha. Crunchy, smokey, sweet, spicy all good things in an unassuming hand held bite.

 

Hope you all had a weekend of exploring and examining delicious new and old foods,

Hungryphil

 

 

 

Weekend with Ina Garten Recipes

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It was a very cold weekend and we needed comfort. Tasty, delicious, feel guilty later, put on a few pounds to keep warm comfort. Perfect attitude for testing a few decadent recipes. Food Network nobility, Ina Garten (a.k.a the Barefoot Contessa) to the rescue. We tried three of her recipes.

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Cranberry Orange Scones

The butter chucks may not have been small enough to process in the stand mixer. I had a lot o flour flying all over and the butter didn’t quite arrive at an uniform grainy stage. Didn’t matter, the scones were flaky and light. I also didn’t shape the scones into beautiful rounds. The cut triangles worked just fine. Didn’t have the patience to wait for the scones to cool enough for the icing. Again, didn’t matter, still tasted wonderful. Despite my veering off the recipe multiple times, Ina’s guidance did not steer me wrong.

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Brownie Tart

This recipe yields a magical combination of cookie like chewy consistency on the edges, fudgy gooeyness in the middle and cakey brownie in between. We swapped walnuts for pecans. May have over mixed the batter, may have not cooked it long enough for the cake to puff up, may have, may have. Without having a sense of how it was “supposed” to be, the dessert just was….. delicious. Sometimes, definitive expectations can be limiting and counter productive. Happy to test this recipe, again and again, in search of tart perfection. Whether I ever get there is irrelevant.

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Turkey Lasagna

This may just be my new favorite lasagna recipe! The goat cheese adds a gentle complexity to the taste. The turkey sausage sauce was very flavorful. I did follow the advice from the comments sections and reduced the amount of salt. Her technique of soaking the noodles in hot water for 20 minutes before layering is genius.  I was skeptical and worried that the noodles wouldn’t cook. She proved me wrong. This is the way I’ll be making lasagna from now on. The fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and parsley, the goat cheese all added a brightness to the rich lasagna.

Small deviations and additions to a recipe make it mine. But, these detours from directions also show me ways to redefine familiar dishes like lasagna or brownies in method and taste. What makes a recipe better or worse? Meeting expectations, good taste, ease of preparation, new techniques?

From the scones, I learned that as long as the proportion of fat (butter and cream) to flour is maintained all else can be variable.

From the brownie tart, I learned that chocolate whether liquid, chewy, soft or hard is delicious. A tart contains all the states of chocolate.

From the lasagna, I learned that layering light fresh ingredients with ricotta, tomato sauce and noodles, the unusual with the usual challenges lasagna expectations.

From now on, I  will trust the Ina.

Goan Fish Curry – Testing Saveur Recipe

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Every region thinks that their cooking is the best. Despite being Bengali, I concede yesterday’s Saveur recipe of the day of Goan Fish Curry was…… excellent. Two things make it both satisfyingly hearty yet bright in flavor.

  • The recipe promised vinegar to be the magic ingredient. It was. I was skeptical about the coconut milk and vinegar combination. Now I want to add vinegar to everything!
  • The second trick that I’ll use in other fish dishes is marinating the fish in lemon juice and salt for a half an hour before cooking. It starts the cooking process and makes the fish taste fresh and “less fishy.”

I used catfish, instead of cod. Had about pound and a half instead of two. And, may have added more vinegar than the recipe called for.

Here is the recipe. Try it.

Enjoy!

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Brussels Sprouts and Chocolate Cake

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No…………. not baked together, silly.

This was a savory sweet accident. At Target, I found assorted chopped and bagged vegetables that include sugar snap peas, shaved brussels sprouts, cubed sweet potatoes and pumpkins, etc: two bags for $5. Sounded like an easy experiment.

  1. Placed the cubed sweet potatoes and shaved brussels sprouts on a sheet pan.

  2. Tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and paprika. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

  3. Bake 425 until sprouts become like crispy onions. Drizzle more balsamic vinegar. Enjoy.

My oven is not working well and is unable to maintain a steady temperature. Ahhhh….old age. So, the vegetables were in the oven much longer than usual. My new favorite. Really. Even suspicious of brussels sprouts, Jim liked it. I would have it over rice, toast, or even nachos, like at our local restaurant Restauration that serves fantastic brussels sprouts nachos. In fact, this recipe was probably inspired by that recent post- volunteering dining experience with Atiya.

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Friday was devoted to paying forward all that I eat. A dinner for 30 at Lafayette Urban Ministry’s homeless shelter. For less than $60! Embarrassingly easy and affordable. Made Beef Stew (having tired of making chili the past few times). Also, I’d like to include more healthy vegetables to the mix. Taking a vegetarian meal seems insufficient. I don’t know. Maybe I should ask the coordinator. Thoughts?

Happy to report, another successful weekend experiment was Patti’s Chocolate Cake. Yay! Mine was not much of a looker but it tasted ALMOST as good as Patti’s.

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Her chocolate icing recipe is surprisingly simple but it may take some practice to get it just right. I don’t mind practicing a few times.

Here is Patti’s recipe. Ava and Lucy this is for you:

Chocolate Cake

Make layers using 2 boxes Duncan Hines Cake mix. The make sure layers are not too sweet, use beer in place of water when making the layers. Bake in three 9 inch pans. When the layers are cool, slice each layer in half.

Icing – Make two batches

½ C. Butter

4 T. Cocoa

6-7 T. milk

1 box 10X Powdered Sugar

In a double boiler melt the butter. Stir in 4 T of cocoa. Add milk and cook for about a minute while stirring. Pour over powdered sugar. Mix slowly until combined, add another 2-3 T of milk, and beat on highest speed until frosting is creamy. Pour over the each layer, allowing chocolate to soak into each layer. This should cover about three half layers. Make an additional batch of icing and finish cake.

I hope your weekend included tasty experiments, sharing and giving things that are broken more time.

Wishing you a wonderful first week of February,

Hungryphil

 

Kheer – Rice Pudding with Jaggery

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Dear Atiya,

Here are two recipes for the kheer you enjoyed in Fort Worth. The first recipe is the original, your Mimi’s, the second is my inauthentic version you tried recently.

Moli’s Original Kheer Recipe

1/2 pint of Half and Half
1/2 pint 2% Milk
1/2 Cup Soaked Chinigura rice
3/4 cup Jaggery
1/2 cup Coconut
Simmer rice and liquids until soft.
Gradually add jaggery.
Add shredded coconut.
Enjoy.

Mom’s Inauthentic Kheer Recipe

2 1/2 cups of whole milk [had some left over from Mac and Cheese the other night]
1/2 cup Jasmine Rice [I was too lazy to open a fresh bag of Chinigura rice]
3/4 cup Jaggery [bought in Dallas, use poor substitute brown sugar if unavailable]
1/4 cup Shredded Coconut
I heated the milk and rice with 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamoms and 1 bay leaf [because I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to because it competes with the jaggery flavor]
Be sure to simmer on low otherwise milk will boil over. This takes a while, about 30-40 minutes. Don’t rush it. The milk will thicken and the rice will soften.
Once the rice was soft, I added the jaggery and the shredded coconut.
Your done! Enjoy warm or chilled.

 

I’m sure you’ll find your own version when you make it.  Basically milk, rice and sugar. The key is the low and slow simmering.

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Bringing Bitter Back

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The 2015 December issue of Saveur includes a Bitter Melon tofu stir-fry recipe. It reminded me of my grandmother who would, much to my childhood discontent, insist on starting every lunch with Bitter Melon Bhaji. Worse, she would offer the second course, usually a delicious light fish or chicken curry, only after evidence of a finished bitter melon plate. Bitter Melon was the unwelcomed gatekeeper of lunchtime deliciousness.

My grandmother was a staunch believer in bitterness, a Bengali version of the British stiff upper lip. For her, all sweetness came at the price of bitterness. “The more you laugh, the more you’ll cry,” all the cousins joke. Bitter Melon wasn’t a vegetable, it was a philosophy. I had misinterpreted the lesson as a prescription to avoid the sweet, in order to avoid the bitter. Instead, it should be: accept the bitter and the sweet, equally. It makes life full and robust, a meal savored and stretched between bitter, salty, spicy and sweet. An appreciation of bitterness maybe a taste that is acquired by diligent practice and age. My love of cooking is no small part due to my grandmother’s slow, methodical, everyday practice of cooking. Here’s to you, Bubu.

I’d like to bring bitter back as a taste to be savored along with others, instead of avoided or feared. This is my bittersweet New Year’s Resolution: To finally embrace the Bitter Melons of my life.

Recipe for Bitter Melon Bhaji (Serve 4-6)

  1. Wash two or three bitter melons depending on size.IMG_2372

  2. Slice length-wise and scoop out seeds (some leave seeds in if melons are young)IMG_2373IMG_2374

  3. Massage with salt and rinse with cold water for a few minutes. Rinse. Drain. Let dry.IMG_2375

  4. Put 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a hot pan.

  5. Fry a medium sliced onion until soft and starts to brown.

  6. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric and salt to taste.

  7. Add a julienned medium potato.

  8. Fry until coated with turmeric. Bright and yellow.

  9. Add the bitter melon. Fry over gentle heat. Cover.

  10. Simmer, covered until potatoes and melon are soft and edges start to brown and caramelize.

Serve with warm white rice and digest all the day’s bitterness away.

Examined Eating in Georgia

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As the second image shows, Christmas dinner in Austell, Georgia was soothingly summer on a plate. The last stop during my holiday travels it represents how far my taste buds have traveled in place and time. Recipes for half of the plate begin with “grow your own okra, green beans, corn.” The other half of the plate with smoked turkey, dressing and gravy had all the longed-for familiar and savory holiday flavors. The magic of homegrown summer vegetables made the dinner extra special. Dennis and Rachel are most definitely blessed with green thumbs, patience and gardening knowledge. As the last image shows, dinner was greatly appreciated and enjoyed. Just simple, homey and delicious. Can’t get a more local dinner than what’s grown in the backyard!

Fried Okra

  1. Grow okra and pick at appropriate time.
  2. Slice 1/4″ thick pieces. 4 cups.
  3. In a colander pour 1/4 cup of buttermilk over sliced okra.
  4. 1/2 cup flour + 1/2 cup white corn meal. Place lid and shake until pieces are coated.
  5. Shallow fry in an inch of canola oil.
  6. Drain on paper towel and watch the okra disappear.

Creamed Corn

  1. Grow corn and pick at appropriate time.
  2. Shuck and silk.
  3. Soak in water.
  4. Cut off cobb, twice. Once, if big grains are desired.
  5. Scrape.
  6. Cook on stove over low heat, stirring constantly. Bring to boil.
  7. Salt and butter if needed.

Green Beans

  1. Grow Blue lake green beans.
  2. Take ends off, string them if needed.
  3. 4 cups broken into 2 inch pieces.
  4. Boulion cube + 2 cups water + black pepper.
  5. Boil until tender.

Gravy

  1. 2 Tbs Olive Oil + 2 Tbs flour in pan. Stir until brown.
  2. Add 1 can chicken broth.
  3. Add 1 can cream of chicken soup.
  4. Add boiled and chopped turkey liver, neck meat, giblets and two boiled eggs.

Still need to add Patti’s dressing recipe and Dennis’ Smoked Turkey recipe. More to come.

 

 

Examined Eating in Fortworth, TX

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The plate is a left-over recreation of a meal that my fantastic cook and all around awesome sis-in-law, Moli made for us. Goat biriyani, chicken roast, and potato chop (like a croquet), olive pickles [missing the mixed vegetable dish and the cucumber raita salad]. It was a festive meal, full of familiar flavors associated with joyous celebrations. I was ten again eating and celebrating with my family. It was delicious nostalgia. Thank you so much Bhabi for feeding us so well.

img_2312 Bhabi led the stroll-down memory lane with many snack stops that included, “jhal muri” [a combination of puffed rice, tomatoes, onions,cilantro, mustard sauce (kashundi) and chanachur (fried crispy spicy lentils, nuts and chips)], patties, chow mein noodles, paratha and butter chicken, home-made salsa and chips, pudding, kheer, ras malai and more.

We also went to a grocery store that had a whole aisle of frozen Bangladeshi fish, shelves of Radhuni (Bangladeshi brand) spices and other very specific Bangladeshi products. This was about far away and long ago eating, different from the farm-to-table principles I’ve been researching. Is it possible to merge the two forms of community building immigrant and local into a transnational glocal convivium? That requires more eating. Back at Forth Worth’s India Bazaar, we had tea and samosas (the crispy meat filling kind, not to be confused with the potato filled Shingara). It was like a flipping through an old photo album with my mouth.  The nostalgic magnetism of remembered tastes is so powerful.

I used to believe that these familiar tastes were my only home, but now, having been at home with many tastes, I realize that my “home” has grown to embrace more people and places than ever imagined. This ability of food to put us at ease is magical.

Thank you, Bhabi for the trip back, reminding me how wide my tastes have grown and sharing your recipes.

Wedding Feast Chicken Roast (Moli and Mithun Recipe)

[rough translation]

1 Chicken

oil – 1/2 cup

salt – 2 tsp

sugar – 2 tsp

saffron color – a little

ginger paste – 3 tbs

garlic paste – 1 tbs

chili powder – 1tsp

fried shallots – 1/2 cup

Special Garam Masala -1 1/2 tsp

[2 1/2 tbs cardamom+ 1 1/2 tbs cinnamon + 1 1/2 tbs Shah Jeera-cumin + 1 tsp nutmeg + 1 tsp mace + 1 tsp white pepper = ground in coffee grinder]

Prunes, raisins, rose water 1 tbs, ghee 1/4 cup

  1. Saute skinless chicken pieces.

  2. Add salt, sugar, color. Saute.

  3. Add ginger, garlic, chili pepper. Saute.

  4. Add fried shallots, garam masala and water needed to help meat tenderize.

  5. Add prunes, raisins, rose water and ghee.

  6. Simmer on low until gravy clings to chicken and fragrant.

Looking forward to trying this in my kitchen and re-posting with an update.