By polina, on August 30th, 2012% A few more recipes that I learned from my Indian client’s mom, not all of them spicy.
Vegetable curry
2 Tbcp olive oil
1 tsp black mustard seed
1-1/2 tsp cumin seed
1-1/2 tsp turmeric
5 medium potatoes, cubed
1 large eggplant, cubed
1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-1/2 tsp ground coriander
1-1/2 tsp goda masala
2Tbsp jaggery
Salt
Chopped cilantro, to garnish
In a heavy pan over medium-high heat heat the olive oil. Add mustard seeds, heat until the seeds begin to pop. Add cumin seeds and turmeric. Add potatoes; cook, turning, until potatoes are browned and almost cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add eggplant, cook until both eggplant and potatoes are tender. Add ground cumin, ground coriander, goda masala, and about 1 cup water to thin the sauce. Season with jaggery and salt. Reduce heat to medium, cook 5 more minutes. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top.
Chicken fried rice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 spring onions, white parts chopped (reserve green parts for garnish)
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 inch ginger, grated
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 green bell pepper, cut into short strips
1 carrot, cut into short strips
4 cups cooked rice
Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions, cook until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add black pepper, grated garlic and ginger, chicken. Cook until chicken starts to brown. Season with soy sauce.
Add green bell pepper and carrot. Cover and cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 7-8 minutes. Add cooked rice, stir, top with chopped green onion, cover, let stand 5 minutes.
Spinach salad
2 bunches spinach, chopped, cooked, drained
1 cup yogurt
Salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Tadka: 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp black mustard seed, 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1-1/2 tsp turmeric, 5 large cloves garlic, chopped, 4 red chili peppers, broken down, with seeds.
Lightly mash the spinach with your hands. Mix spinach with yogurt, season with salt and sugar.
Make tadka: Heat olive oil in a small heavy pan. Add mustard seed, keep heating until mustard seeds start to pop. Add cumin, turmeric, garlic, cook to brown the garlic. Add chilies. Brown lightly.
Pour tadka over the salad.
Salmon Bhapey
(from http://www.muslimrishtey.com/indian_food_recipes/indian_salmon_bhapey.php)
1-1/2 lb. thick salmon fillet from the centre of the fish, skinned
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
½-1 fresh, hot green chilli, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¾ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 oz. very ripe tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
3 tablespoons mustard oil
1 tablespoon water
Cut the fish fillet into 2.5 cm (1 inch) squares. Grind the mustard seeds coarsely in a clean coffee-grinder or mortar.
In a shallow bowl large enough to hold the fish, combine the mustard seeds, green chilli, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, cayenne, tomatoes and mustard oil. Mix well. Add the water and mix. Add the fish and mix gently. Cover with a plate or aluminium foil and set aside for 10 minutes.
Place the covered bowl in the steamer, cover the steamer and steam gently for 10 minutes. Remove the bowl, toss its contents gently to mix, then cover the bowl and put it back in the steamer. Cover the steamer and steam for 10-15 minutes or until the fish pieces are opaque.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:San Francisco, CA
By polina, on February 2nd, 2012% 
I don’t have a sweet tooth. At all. Indifferent to chocolate. Order cheese and wine for dessert. Eat fruit preserves one or two times a year (with cheese). I love fruits, but prefer them not too sweet. When I bake, people who don’t like their desserts too sweet spoon sugar on my tarts. Those who like sweets, don’t eat them at all.
Honey is different. The flavor of a good honey is so complex that you are not annoyed by the sweetness, you just enjoy the whole experience. It’s as balanced as a well crafted wine.
I actually come from a honey producers family: my dad keeps bees at his country house near Moscow. He usually gets a few liters of honey to give to the family and friends, and some extra to sell. The varieties that he gets are clover, linden, buckwheat, and mixed summer flowers, depending on the season.
Now, where are my dad and his bees, and where am I? No chance to get our family honey, so I get mine from the farmers market.
Our farmers market honey people, Marchall’s Farm, move their bees following the flowers, in order to produce single-origin honeys.
Here is what I got in their signature red mesh bag:
- Orange blossom honey – very floral, not too sweet
- California sage honey – delicate, very light herbal taste, not sweet at all
- Wild blackberry – SWEET, complex, fruity
- Star thistle honey – very complex, winey, slightly bitter (pleasant) aftertaste
I like my honey served at teatime on a slice of a very strong hard cheese. traveling in Bashkiria as a student, I fell in love with their dense white buckwheat honey, and the way they spread it generously over a thick slice of a Swiss-style local cheese.
Marchall’s farms suggest paring their honey with a blue cheese, but I don’t want to deal with the mess. So here were are, pairing a French Comte with California sage honey and white tea. You can try this with an off-dry German Riesling too.
Other suggestions for cooking with honey:
- Mix 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp Olive oil, 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce dash of Tabasco, 1 tsp ground black pepper. Use to marinate beef or chicken for the grill.
- Use a mixture of 2 Tbsp honey, 1 tsp dry mustard, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper as a rub for grilled chicken breasts
- For a tasty slaw, dress 2 cups shredded cabbage and 1/2 cup shredded carrot with 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper; mix well.
- Parboil young carrots, turnips, rutabagas until almost tender. Sauté in butter, glaze with honey and balsamic vinegar
- Use instead of sugar to sweeten Turkish coffee
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:San Rafael, CA
By polina, on October 18th, 2011% 
Good bye, summer!
They are probably the last ones of the season, and I’ll miss them terribly. But at this weeks farmers market an almost six-pound bag of slightly overripe organic heirloom tomatoes was $5, and they were of absolutely beautiful, sunny orange and red varieties. I had to take them home, and now everything I eat has tomato sauce on it. I also put away a couple of bags of tomato confit in the freezer for later.
Tomato confit
Makes a lot
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
10 cloves garlic, peeled
5 sprigs oregano
5 sprigs thyme
5 pounds ripe (or slightly overripe, undamaged) tomatoes, or as many as you can fit in your roasting pan, cored
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cover the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil, spread onion, garlic, and herbs in the pan. Place tomatoes on top of onion mixture, stem side down, fitting them close together. Season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Bake about one hour, or until tomatoes char on top and blister. Let cool a little. Remove oregano and thyme. Puree vegetables in blender, working in batches, adding liquid from the bottom of the pan as needed. Store in a refrigerator, or freeze in locking bags or in ice cube trays. Use on pastas, eggs, beans, thin with stock to make tomato soup, braise fish fillets in it, or make my simple version of a vegetable terrine, while eggplants and bell peppers are still in season, and the weather is grill-friendly.
Terrine of grilled eggplant and fire-roasted peppers with tomato confit
Makes 1 4-cup container
2 bell peppers
3 small Italian eggplants
Olive oil for grilling
Salt, pepper
2 cups tomato confit
2 bags unflavored gelatin
Preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Place peppers on the hottest part of the grill, char on all sides, turning occasionally, until almost all the skin blackens. Place in a covered container and leave until cool enough to handle.
Slice eggplants lengthwise 1/4 inch thick. Brush with olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper. Remember that the vegetables will be served cold, so stronger seasoning will help them shine. Grill, turning once or twice, until soft and nice grill marks are created.
When peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the skins – they should slide off easily – and cores and seeds. Work over a bowl to catch the juices. Slice peppers lengthwise.
Line 4-cup Pyrex container, loaf pan, or terrine with plastic wrap. Put a layer of eggplant slices on the bottom, with the best grill marks facing down – this will be the top of the finished terrine. Top with a layer of peppers. Repeat, finishing with a layer of eggplant, with the best grill marks facing up, in case you decide to serve the terrine in the mold.
Divide tomato confit into two roughly equal portions. Bring one to almost boil, add any pepper juices to it. Sprinkle gelatin on cool confit, let sit two minutes. Add hot confit, mix well. Pour tomato-gelatin mixture over the vegetables in the mold. Pierce in a few places with a bamboo skewer, to let the tomato flow under and around the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Turn the terrine over to a cold plate, remove the mold and plastic, slice to show the colorful layers, and serve with more tomato confit, if desired.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:San Rafael, CA
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