Thursday, April 01, 2004
Rib roast w/ Roasted root veggies.
Connie cooked tonight - the rib roast was imply tied and seasoned with salt and pepper. Roasted at 350F till it reached an internal temperature of 134F, it was tender and simply delicious. I made a bit of a sauce by simply boiling water in the fond and stirring. We ate it with Connie's roasted root veggies, very simple (this time with no herbs, just garlic cloves roasted with the veggies) and a little salad, which I made with a passion fruit/lime dressing (actually the lime pretty much overpowered the passionfruit juice...)
Veggie Chinese at Lu Lai
Vegetarian chinese food that's actually good... not overly greasy, to make up for the lack of fat in the faux meat... tasty, not overly spiced. This is gluten and tofu and various other culinary subterfuge, but it is subterfuge with a tradition. We were at Lu Lai Vegetarian, in the Ranch 99 mall in Milpitas for lunch. From the extensive menu, I probably selected quite badly, picking the curry tofu with okra - for a chinese food place the curry wasn't bad, it was the chinese interpretation of curry. The okra was whole, and perfectly tender, even though the individual specimens were quite large. In addition we had (all non vegetarian items made vegetarian, of course) a mixed seafood dish, ma bo tofu (which had cute little bits of faux ham), beef with bitter mellon (people in our party were impressed with the beef but wished the mellon was a bit more fake) and a mixed bok choy/mixed mushroom/hair seaweed dish that was just delicious. I'd actually eat here out of choice.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Pork Chops w/ Rapini
Pork Chops - w/ Julia Childs spices (from Cooking with Jaques and Julia) - Pepper, nutmeg, allspice, mace, cinnamon, cloves, thyme, marjoram, savory. Dry rubbed into the chops - I use a lot, about 2 teaspoons for 2 3/4 inch chops.
I used the Cooks Illustrated cooking technique, actually starting the chops on the pan while the pan is cold, setting the heat to medium and cooking till browned on both sides and the internal temp of the chops is over 160F. Then I rest the pork chops in a plate, inverting another over it.
I sliced and cored 2 fuji apples and browned them in the same pan, with a little of the same spice and some lemon juice and olive oil. Finally, I added some water to the pan to deglace it.
Side - a bunch of rapini, sauted in olive oil with a little garlic.
Thoughts - the Cook's Illustrated technique worked really well, the chops were juicy and tender while being perfectly cooked all the way through. Even without any brining. This is my new chop method of choice...
I used the Cooks Illustrated cooking technique, actually starting the chops on the pan while the pan is cold, setting the heat to medium and cooking till browned on both sides and the internal temp of the chops is over 160F. Then I rest the pork chops in a plate, inverting another over it.
I sliced and cored 2 fuji apples and browned them in the same pan, with a little of the same spice and some lemon juice and olive oil. Finally, I added some water to the pan to deglace it.
Side - a bunch of rapini, sauted in olive oil with a little garlic.
Thoughts - the Cook's Illustrated technique worked really well, the chops were juicy and tender while being perfectly cooked all the way through. Even without any brining. This is my new chop method of choice...
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Chicken Pal-Curry (Milk Curry)
Generally Coconut Milk, though regular milk has worked in a pinch.
Finely slice 2 onions.
Add a tablespoon or so of oil to a dutch oven, heat over medium. Add a few cloves, cardamon pods, and a small stick of cinnamon to the oil and fry till the oil is fragrant, the cardamon pods lightly browned, and the cinnamon stick uncurls. Add the onion and fry, lowering the heat slightly, till the onions sweat their moisture, then dry to turn light brown.
Add 2 large cloves of garlic and 1 inch of ginger, both in a very fine julienne, and green chillies to taste. Saute with the onions till the fragrance is no longer as raw.
Make a paste with 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp salt and a little water. Add this to the onion mixture, and again, cook till you can no longer smell the raw spices in the mixture.
Add 1 (small) whole chicken, cut into 16/18 pieces. Cook over medium heat so the spices soak into the chicken, and the outer layer of the chicken turns opaque. This takes 5-10 minutes.
Add 1.5 cups of water, separately brought to a boil. Bring the chicken to a simmer, then cover and let cook for 5 minutes.
Add 3-4 russet potatoes, peeled and halved (quartered if they are big potatoes, but you want them large as they will disintegrate a bit in the sauce). Simmer for 20 minutes, till potatoes are quite soft.
Add 1 cup of thick coconut milk. Turn temperature to low, and simmer for a few minutes to combine flavors of the coconut milk with the curry.
Separately, heat (in a small container) a tablespoon of oil to about 350F. Add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds (black), heat them for a minute till they splutter and flavor the oil, then about 10 curry leaves. The curry leaves will splutter quite a bit initially.
Pour the hot oil mixture onto the chicken curry, give it a quick stir, and cover.
Serve with rice, bread, or appam.
Finely slice 2 onions.
Add a tablespoon or so of oil to a dutch oven, heat over medium. Add a few cloves, cardamon pods, and a small stick of cinnamon to the oil and fry till the oil is fragrant, the cardamon pods lightly browned, and the cinnamon stick uncurls. Add the onion and fry, lowering the heat slightly, till the onions sweat their moisture, then dry to turn light brown.
Add 2 large cloves of garlic and 1 inch of ginger, both in a very fine julienne, and green chillies to taste. Saute with the onions till the fragrance is no longer as raw.
Make a paste with 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp salt and a little water. Add this to the onion mixture, and again, cook till you can no longer smell the raw spices in the mixture.
Add 1 (small) whole chicken, cut into 16/18 pieces. Cook over medium heat so the spices soak into the chicken, and the outer layer of the chicken turns opaque. This takes 5-10 minutes.
Add 1.5 cups of water, separately brought to a boil. Bring the chicken to a simmer, then cover and let cook for 5 minutes.
Add 3-4 russet potatoes, peeled and halved (quartered if they are big potatoes, but you want them large as they will disintegrate a bit in the sauce). Simmer for 20 minutes, till potatoes are quite soft.
Add 1 cup of thick coconut milk. Turn temperature to low, and simmer for a few minutes to combine flavors of the coconut milk with the curry.
Separately, heat (in a small container) a tablespoon of oil to about 350F. Add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds (black), heat them for a minute till they splutter and flavor the oil, then about 10 curry leaves. The curry leaves will splutter quite a bit initially.
Pour the hot oil mixture onto the chicken curry, give it a quick stir, and cover.
Serve with rice, bread, or appam.
Friday, January 02, 2004
Finally, a request!
The diarist's aunt requested a recipe for garlicy breadsticks. I experimented a bit - OK, just once - but found something that works. Additionally, it's lowfat (the bread portion itself includes no fat) and includes no egg...
This recipe is based on the Focaccia alla Pugliese recipe in Carol Field's The Italian Baker. I modified it is some ways, chiefly by keeping the dough overnight, and substituting a garlic mixture for the original tomato. The original tomato topping is also a highly recommended treat...
Microwave 2 smallish russet potatoes (about 320 g to start) on the bake setting (or about 7 minutes) after pricking them with a fork to prevent untimely explosion. Rice the potatoes, or otherwise mash them.
Dissolve 2 tsp active dry yeast in 1 1/4 cups warm water. Add 500 g unbleached all purpose flour (I use King Arthur flour, which is slightly higher in gluten than usual) and the riced potato (should be about 275-300 g of potato). Add 2 teaspoons of salt.
I used the stand mixer to knead this - a paddle to bring it together and the hook to knead for 3 minutes, as directed by the recipe. Hand kneading should work reasonably well, dough will be sticky, so don't worry about it, don't add any additional flour at this point.
When the dough was reasonably smooth and elastic (though still sticky) I put it into my rising container and let it rise for 25 minutes. Then I turned out the dough and "folded" it on a lightly floured surface. This process is described in "Artisan Baking". Basically, you drop the dough on the lightly floured surface, smooth side down. Then you hold on to one side, and gently pull it out, then fold it back on to the dough. You could thing of this as a very deliberate, gently form of kneading. Repeat this four times, folding the dough onto itself so that the smooth part of the dough on the bottom is stretched out and the dough is a squarish ball. Dust with flour, return dough to the rising container, and repeat after about 25 minutes. Then I put the rising container in the fridge for the night.
The next day I took out the dough (it had risen in the fridge to a little more than double, then the rising had stopped) and dumped it out onto a floured counter. I cut it into two balls, kneaded these gently to form a nice skin. I let these rest for a few minutes so I could stretch them out into 9" circles. I placed these disks on parchment paper. Then I let these rise for about 45 minutes. Since it's cold here, I put them in the oven which I'd heated for just a little bit, checking with a thermometer to make sure it was no more than 80F.
After the 45 minute rise I started preheating the oven to 450F with baking stone in it. Preheating took about 30 minutes.
While the over was being pre-heated, I cut the bread into strips using a dough scraper. I flour the scraper, then plunge it into the dough. The dough was a little sticky but it worked OK.
Then I put together the garlic mixture - 2 cloves of garlic, chopped, a tablespoon of water, a dash of salt, a little dried oregano, and a tablespoon of olive oil, mixed together thoroughly.
Just before putting the bread in the oven, I drizzled the garlic mixture over the dough and spread it thoroughly with a cooking brush.
I placed the breads on a pan, and baked with this on the stone for 15 minutes, then removed the focaccia and baked them directly on the stone for 15. Took them out when the bread was nicely browned, the creases where it had been cut showing between the pillowy breadsticks. When the bread is done it has an internal temperature of about 200-205 F.
Notes: I used a springform pan top (i.e. the springform part) to hold the disks of focaccia together while baking. This might have made them rise a bit higher, but I think you should get good results even without them.
Thoughts - The breadsticks were moist and had a very soft, moist, cakey crumb. The dough seemed as though it must contain some fat... it's suprising that it doesn't. It's not too garlicy - but the browned garlic flavor might not be to your liking. In this case, adding the garlic later should result in a fresher (but stronger) garlic taste.
This recipe is based on the Focaccia alla Pugliese recipe in Carol Field's The Italian Baker. I modified it is some ways, chiefly by keeping the dough overnight, and substituting a garlic mixture for the original tomato. The original tomato topping is also a highly recommended treat...
Microwave 2 smallish russet potatoes (about 320 g to start) on the bake setting (or about 7 minutes) after pricking them with a fork to prevent untimely explosion. Rice the potatoes, or otherwise mash them.
Dissolve 2 tsp active dry yeast in 1 1/4 cups warm water. Add 500 g unbleached all purpose flour (I use King Arthur flour, which is slightly higher in gluten than usual) and the riced potato (should be about 275-300 g of potato). Add 2 teaspoons of salt.
I used the stand mixer to knead this - a paddle to bring it together and the hook to knead for 3 minutes, as directed by the recipe. Hand kneading should work reasonably well, dough will be sticky, so don't worry about it, don't add any additional flour at this point.
When the dough was reasonably smooth and elastic (though still sticky) I put it into my rising container and let it rise for 25 minutes. Then I turned out the dough and "folded" it on a lightly floured surface. This process is described in "Artisan Baking". Basically, you drop the dough on the lightly floured surface, smooth side down. Then you hold on to one side, and gently pull it out, then fold it back on to the dough. You could thing of this as a very deliberate, gently form of kneading. Repeat this four times, folding the dough onto itself so that the smooth part of the dough on the bottom is stretched out and the dough is a squarish ball. Dust with flour, return dough to the rising container, and repeat after about 25 minutes. Then I put the rising container in the fridge for the night.
The next day I took out the dough (it had risen in the fridge to a little more than double, then the rising had stopped) and dumped it out onto a floured counter. I cut it into two balls, kneaded these gently to form a nice skin. I let these rest for a few minutes so I could stretch them out into 9" circles. I placed these disks on parchment paper. Then I let these rise for about 45 minutes. Since it's cold here, I put them in the oven which I'd heated for just a little bit, checking with a thermometer to make sure it was no more than 80F.
After the 45 minute rise I started preheating the oven to 450F with baking stone in it. Preheating took about 30 minutes.
While the over was being pre-heated, I cut the bread into strips using a dough scraper. I flour the scraper, then plunge it into the dough. The dough was a little sticky but it worked OK.
Then I put together the garlic mixture - 2 cloves of garlic, chopped, a tablespoon of water, a dash of salt, a little dried oregano, and a tablespoon of olive oil, mixed together thoroughly.
Just before putting the bread in the oven, I drizzled the garlic mixture over the dough and spread it thoroughly with a cooking brush.
I placed the breads on a pan, and baked with this on the stone for 15 minutes, then removed the focaccia and baked them directly on the stone for 15. Took them out when the bread was nicely browned, the creases where it had been cut showing between the pillowy breadsticks. When the bread is done it has an internal temperature of about 200-205 F.
Notes: I used a springform pan top (i.e. the springform part) to hold the disks of focaccia together while baking. This might have made them rise a bit higher, but I think you should get good results even without them.
Thoughts - The breadsticks were moist and had a very soft, moist, cakey crumb. The dough seemed as though it must contain some fat... it's suprising that it doesn't. It's not too garlicy - but the browned garlic flavor might not be to your liking. In this case, adding the garlic later should result in a fresher (but stronger) garlic taste.
TGI's Sushi
We visited Chris' Sushi place today, and - it was fantastic. Big thanks to Andy (and his guide to sushi on the peninsula below). They were out of the Toro, but we had some Maguro, which was luscious. We also had some Bonito, and the Aji, Spanish Mackarel, which had just the most delicate Mackarel flavor, and which was cut beautifully. In fact, all the sushi was beautiful. The Country Girl Roll was another pretty one, and Connie said that the Spider roll was the best execution she'd had - by the time we left she was already planning our next trip there, which is saying a lot since she's allergic to fish... The anago was toasted like the unagi which was a bit unusual, but brought out the flavor a bit more. To end we asked Chris for something special, and we were brought a large scallop in the shell, with just a bit of green onion and flying fish egg... butter smooth and soft, just slightly sweet, with the muscle sliced fine into a slightly briny crunchy accompaniment. Perfect end to a very good sushi meal. Visit TGI's Sushi at the corner of California and San Antonio in Mountain View, CA.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Dosa
4 little letters. The recipe is quite a bit more complex...
First you soak the ingredients. Day before yesterday evening (diarist mom and diarist) soaked 1/2 cup of urad dal (split and skinned black gram dal) with about 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds (after washing) in 1.5 cups of water. We also soaked 1 cup of short grained rice in about 2 cups of water.
Yesterday morning we poured out the water from both, reserving the water from the urad dal (the urad dal is what provides the rise, so that water is reused for a little extra umph). We ground the dal first, then the rice, both down to a fine paste, adding just the minimum amount of the urad dal water to get both ground, then adding the rest to smooth them out further.
Then we mixed the two, added a little salt (1 tsp) and let it rise for 24 hours. Then this morning we fried the dosa, pouring out a ladleful of the batter (a little less that 1/4 cup) onto a nonstick griddle, then spreading it thin by drawing roughly concentric circles in the batter with the back of the ladle. Sprinkle a little oil, flip, brown both sides lightly, serve with chutni.
Coconut chutni -
Grind 100 g coconut (I use frozen coconut, of phillipine origin) with 1 tsp tamarind (whole, or concentrate to taste), 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp salt using the minimum amount of water to create a relatively smooth paste (it'll end up a little grainy, that's ok). When it's smooth, you add a the tadka. Heat a couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil to about 350F, add a 1/2 tsp of mustard seed, wait till it splutters, then add 1/2 tsp urad dal, brown gently, add 5 curry leaves, fry till fragrant. Dump this oil in the coconut mixture, stir, serve.
First you soak the ingredients. Day before yesterday evening (diarist mom and diarist) soaked 1/2 cup of urad dal (split and skinned black gram dal) with about 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds (after washing) in 1.5 cups of water. We also soaked 1 cup of short grained rice in about 2 cups of water.
Yesterday morning we poured out the water from both, reserving the water from the urad dal (the urad dal is what provides the rise, so that water is reused for a little extra umph). We ground the dal first, then the rice, both down to a fine paste, adding just the minimum amount of the urad dal water to get both ground, then adding the rest to smooth them out further.
Then we mixed the two, added a little salt (1 tsp) and let it rise for 24 hours. Then this morning we fried the dosa, pouring out a ladleful of the batter (a little less that 1/4 cup) onto a nonstick griddle, then spreading it thin by drawing roughly concentric circles in the batter with the back of the ladle. Sprinkle a little oil, flip, brown both sides lightly, serve with chutni.
Coconut chutni -
Grind 100 g coconut (I use frozen coconut, of phillipine origin) with 1 tsp tamarind (whole, or concentrate to taste), 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp salt using the minimum amount of water to create a relatively smooth paste (it'll end up a little grainy, that's ok). When it's smooth, you add a the tadka. Heat a couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil to about 350F, add a 1/2 tsp of mustard seed, wait till it splutters, then add 1/2 tsp urad dal, brown gently, add 5 curry leaves, fry till fragrant. Dump this oil in the coconut mixture, stir, serve.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
Hunan Gourmet
Hot and sour soup - Appropriately spicy, a bit more sour than usual, with big gobs of wood ear fungus.
Hunan family style tofu - Velveted tofu, served in a slighly overly salty braising sauce flavoed with jalapeno peppers, leeks, black bean and bits of pork.
Orange Beef - the cliche dish of the evening actually turned out very nicely, very crisply deep fried beef slices in relatively irregular shapes with just enough orange sauce, garlic and whole red chilies clinging to them to be delicious.
Hunan family style tofu - Velveted tofu, served in a slighly overly salty braising sauce flavoed with jalapeno peppers, leeks, black bean and bits of pork.
Orange Beef - the cliche dish of the evening actually turned out very nicely, very crisply deep fried beef slices in relatively irregular shapes with just enough orange sauce, garlic and whole red chilies clinging to them to be delicious.
Country Gourmet
Brunch at the corner of El Camino and Rengstorff. In spite of the dowdy look of the outsides of this restaurant, as well as the floral country kitchen look of the inside, this place serves a really good breakfast. The pancakes are whole wheat hearty; the sunny side up eggs arrived sunny side up, whites just set and yellows appealingly runny. A breakfast place doesn't have to be gourmet, in fact, the only times I want to go out for breakfast are when I want something that is comforting. This place does have some twists on traditional fare - pumpkin pancakes stood out - but even the more innovative dishes showed an understanding of customers in search of the familiar.
Friday, December 19, 2003
Pulled pork salad
Ingredients - Arugula, 1 large salad tomato, some salsa (I used Whole Foods Chile Morenita?) and 1 pork shoulder.
Apply a dry rub on the shoulder, (I used a mix of kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, coriander and cumin. And cinnamon, I think...) let it rest for a few hours. Then roast in a pan in a 250 F oven for about 8 hours. Then a few more if it isn't already extremely tender. I was hoping at this point that I would just be able to pull the pork off, but it wasn't that tender yet so I diced it pretty fine.
Assembly - I created a bed of arugula, then sprinked on the diced tomato, then the diced pork (not the whole shoulder, just a half pound for 2 people) then some salsa. Salt and Pepper.
Thoughts - Pork and arugula was just an inspired combination. I wish I could take credit for it - but it just so happened that we got arugula in our box and I bought a shoulder of pork...
A toast to my friend Chris, who told me about his pulled pork salad in Mississippi and inspired this dish.
Apply a dry rub on the shoulder, (I used a mix of kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, coriander and cumin. And cinnamon, I think...) let it rest for a few hours. Then roast in a pan in a 250 F oven for about 8 hours. Then a few more if it isn't already extremely tender. I was hoping at this point that I would just be able to pull the pork off, but it wasn't that tender yet so I diced it pretty fine.
Assembly - I created a bed of arugula, then sprinked on the diced tomato, then the diced pork (not the whole shoulder, just a half pound for 2 people) then some salsa. Salt and Pepper.
Thoughts - Pork and arugula was just an inspired combination. I wish I could take credit for it - but it just so happened that we got arugula in our box and I bought a shoulder of pork...
A toast to my friend Chris, who told me about his pulled pork salad in Mississippi and inspired this dish.
