Saucy Shrimp Vindaloo

Last week in class, I had a spice lover, I mean a serious about my chilies kind of guy. So at his request I wanted to scope out a spicy recipe. When you tend to think spice in Indian food, what comes to my mind actually is the thought of vindaloo. A vindaloo, is a dish that is most popular in the western coastline of India and has Portuguese roots. I was looking for a recipe that was bold but not overwelmningly spicy since for a class setting, it is important to balance the flavors and the spice. So I went on a quest for a spice balanced recipe.

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One of those bad good dishes...

I might as well warn anyone, for the most part the next few posts shall be all about bad good food, in case you are wondering what I mean by that, I mean food that tastes good, but not quite so good for you. But hey, tis the season. Also, it is going to be way to busy for me at work, so not really that relaxing in terms of the time of the year. What would normally be Santa's workshop, the office dowstairs is currently a podium for the new I-POD and the edges of the TV stand are begining to get all cluttered with mail.

However, it never stops me from cooking. One of my many weaknesses is fried calamari, actually fried food in general but I can actually get my partner in crime (PIC), to share the fried calamaris and enjoy them with untimate relish.

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Slow Cooker Fish Curry

A curry has actually earned a bad reputation as being boring, but in all fairness a curry is about as boring as a sandwich or a soup, let us face it, these days we have the simple tuna fish on toast variations, or a classic and comforting BLT, to a down right impressive and stunning goat cheese panini. The curry for me too is much like a bowl of soup that ranges from light and comforting to rich and decadent. To truly bring out your curries flavors needs care and time rather than butter and cream.

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Pre-Thanksgiving musings - a shrimp curry

It is that time of the year when most of us feel reflective, the growing season is winding down, the year is ending the days are getting smaller and yes, it is Thankgiving. Like most people who love to cook, it is my favorite holiday of the year. I also like to reflect more on the things that I can be grateful for. From simple things like the joy I feel in the kitchen to more complicated things. Something that really helps is my children's after-school program that runs holiday coverage. They are right across the road, this helps on a day like today. I was at home but diwas running around trying to get all the shopping done, but did feel a little guilty, so my compromise was to make the kids some warm lunch and drop it off. A classic that never goes out of style is the grilled cheese. How I did theirs today was with oatmeal bread and some turkey and tomato in the center.

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A messy tasty vacation dish

Remember I told you about the kids little two by two plots, well low and behold they did deliver the radishes as promised. Interestingly enough, a few years back my friend Ken was actually telling me about his daughter (then probably my older one's age say 7) wanting to grow their own and how radishes had a short turnaround. I was kind of half listening to all of that, well now I can relate. I shall tell you all the fun stuff we did with the radishes at some later time. Actually, we have been up to all kinds of fun stuff - apple picking, raspberry picking, I shall tell you about it by and by during those cold winter months when there shall not be any garden stories to share.

 Well, I wanted to actually get to telling you about this really simple recipe I had created when we were visiting my brother in Seattle. Despite some reservations I actually have posted this somewhat messy looking picture, since it capture the spirit of both the dish and the wonderful vacation that we had. It took us some time to figure out how to expand his drop leaf table, to fit all the food we were cookig. It is important to let you know that my brother does not really stock a spice cabinet or actually any pantry of sorts. The deal is that I send him a list before I visit and he is exceedingly dill.igent about getting anything I ask of him, so how can I complain?

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Broiled Thai Red Curry Fish

I think something that I find very pai nful, is to go back to recipe notes and re-write it. In other words, if I can capture a recipe into words right away, it remains, if not it is usually  lost. The camera helps, I often go back to old picture and if and only if the recipe is worth it, I go back to the notes.

Well, this one certainly was in my opinion worthwhile, also I think it was about time to remember that I had the blog and actually get back to writing on it. Actually, I have been inundated with several things, and the classes have been keeping me busy.

Anyhow, this recipe first started out with a Thai red curry paste recipe, that I had adapted from this site. The paste stores well in the refridgerator for 2-3 weeks or more.

Thai Red Curry Paste

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1 medium red onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon paprika
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon dried chopped lemon grass
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coariander seeds
2 tablespoons crushed palm sugar or jaggery
5 whole dried red chilies
1 lime

Method of Preparation

1. Place the onion, ginger, garlic, paprika, fish sauce, chopped lemon grass, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, palm sugar or jaggery in a blender.
2. Add in the whole dried red chilies. Cut in squeeze in the lime juice.
3. Blend the mixture until smooth, now, I should mention that the traditional texture for such a recipe should be a little grainy.

Broiled Thai Red Curry Fish

Prep Time: 45 minutes (mostly to marinate)
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

1.5 pounds of fish (I used steel head trout, in this recipe)
3-4 tablespoon red curry paste
1/3 cup coconut cream
3-4 kafir lime leaves
10-12 thai basil leaves
Extra lemon to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Prepare the fish into 4 pieces, rub with the thai curry paste and set aside for 20 minutes.
2. Place in a baking dish, brush generously with the coconut cream, mince the kafir lime leaves and scatter over the fish.
3. Broil the fish lightly for 6-7 minutes on each side.
4. Carefully place on a serving plate, garnish with the thai basil leaves and serve with lemon slices.

Actually one of the highlights of this summer was growing Thai Basil leaves, what an amazing powerhouse of flavor in just 3-4 small leaves. We enjoyed the fish as is, but it would be wonderful over jasmine rice.

Fading Away..

I would love to think that we have months and months of this beautiful summer left, but even as I go through sorting out things for tomorrow, Deepta starts second grade, I can officially tell that summer is kind of on it's way out. There are apples everywhere an official logo of fall.

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Spicy Shrimp Curry with Bell Peppers

This week it was fresh peppers, a nice collection of them, fresh green and bursting with their sweetly intoxicating flavor. I was amazingly spice adverse growing up, and by most Indian standards I think my touch is still gentle with the use of spices. Anyhow,  I loved the bell pepers because they have the fresh flavors of the green chili, without the heat. It has been a long time since I have found peppers with such amazing flavor, until of course we started growing them.

This recipe is simple but is high on the spice index.

Spicy Shrimp Curry with Bell Peppers

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Makes 2-3 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup of grapeseed oil

1 small onion, very finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves

2 fresh small red tomatoes, cut into eights

1 small onion, cut into eights and separated

1 large or 2 small bell peppers cut into a dice to match the onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound of large shrimp, shelled and deveined

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and cook the chopped onion on low heat for about 6-7 minutes, until the onion is soft and begining to turn golden.

2. Add in the ginger, turmeric, black pepper, fenugreek leaves and the tomatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their juices but are not mushy.

3. Add in the onions, peppers and salt and stir well and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Add in the shrimp and simmer for 6 minutes until the shrimp is cooked through.

I have actually been cooking up several wonderful recipes (at least that is what we think, I have been unable to keep up posting them). I do hope I remember and can post them when I have time. More a matter of remembering how I cooked them, rather than remembering to post them. Although the later happens too!

Trying Spain - Tapas

I could truly truly, use a vacation! I realize that every working mother, ok every mother feels that way, particularly at this late hour when you truly wonder where the day disappeared. I have tried to call my mother several times this evening and have ended up with an international recording. I cannot absolutely cannot help feeling that that is a double whammy! Well, I shall have mom thinking I did not try calling her and frankly here I am hoping I could connect with her.

Anyhow, since I could not take a vacation, I did try to move a little further trying my hand at a cuisine a little further away. I have actually never, tried cooking tapas. I had for the longest time thought that tapas, was the Spanish version of appetizers. Well, I found out at least per this article, that the singular form is tapa and unlike say Dim Sum in the Chinese parlance, tapas could be small portions of anything.

Anyhow, I have been indulging on the wonderful book - Tapas - A taste of Spain in America (via an Indian kitchen?)

Given how much we love garlic and I love potatoes, we began our journey with two a few delectable classics. The first of which being Potato Bravas.

Well, the best surprise in preparing this one, was actually prepping the allioli sauce, the book actually offers two, options, on a very rare whim I actually prepared the traditional version.

Allioli a la Catalana
Traditional garlic and oil sauce

Makes about 1 cup
(Note: I halved the recipe for us)

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (I used a half lemon)
1 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

Method of Preparation

1. Shake the salt on the bottom of a mortar bowl.
2. Place the garlic cloves and crush coarsely (the salt prevents the garlic from slipping).
3. Squeeze in the lemon juice and grind well.
4. Add in the oil, about 1 teaspoon at a time turning the pestle in a slow continuous motion, mixing the oil well each time. Continue doing this, until all the oil is used up and the mixture is a buttery yellow spread. This process takes about 15-20 minutes, but the dense, rich, flavorful sauce is worth the effort.

Potatoes Bravas
Fried Potatoes with allioli and spice sauce
Serves 4

For the Brava Sauce

4 ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
Salt to taste

For the Potatoes

2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound Idaho potatoes
Salt to taste
4 teaspoons allioli
1 teaspoon finely chopped chives

Method of Preparation

1. Strain and create tomato puree
2. Cook till thick and brown.

We also enjoyed Gambas al ajillo, Traditional Garlic Shrimp (I threw in some thinly sliced garden zucchini that blended wonderfully into the basic recipe)

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
20 large shrimp (peeled and deviened, tail on)
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder (my addition)
1 teaspoon brandy
1 teaspoon chopped parsley (I used cilantro)
salt to taste
I added 1/2 a lime

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a medium sized pan and add the garlic and cook till pale brown (about 2 minutes)
2. Add in the zucchini and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add in the shrimp and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Pour in the brandy and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Squeeze in the lime juice, garnish with cilantro/parsley and enjoy!

No Fuss Shrimp...

This week I ended up inadvertently changing the entire look of my blog. I often keep playing with buttons on the dashboard. This week when I logged on, the dashboard said something like, template designer. So I clicked on a button or two and without warning, I had a new looking blog.

Talk of change you can believe in. Well, so like it or not, I now have a totally different set up to the blog, that I am trying to get used to. Last evening we had some friends over and I made a few interesting things actually a Mexican inspired menu. I did not take any pictures and with the slow cooker I felt like I was on top of my game, I shall be posting what I made over time.

I made this no fuss, shrimp gently kissed with spices, that I mixed with the garden lettuce leaves I tossed with red onions and sliced strawberries. Sorry no picture, of the salad either. Just could not make the time.


No fuss -citrus spice kissed shrimp.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 lemon
1 orange
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 jallapeno, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound of large shrimp, shelled with the tail-on
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup lowfat sour cream
3-4 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon garam masala

Method of Preparation

1. Cut the orange and lemon into half and squeeze the juice into a bowl.
2. Mix in the ginger, jallapeno, salt and the shrimp and let the shrimp marinate for 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the sour cream.
4. Heat the oil and add the shrimp in a single layer in a skillet and cook for about 6 minutes on each side.
5. Sprinkle with the garam masala.

Fresh greens shrimp salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients

3 cups shredded fresh greens
1 red onion thinly sliced, cut into rings
10 strawberries, hulled and sliced thinly
1 serving no-fuss citrus kissed shrimp prepared as above
Newmans balsamic vinegar dressing

Method of preparation.

1. Mix the greens, onions, strawberries and shrimp and toss well.
2. Serve with the balsamic dressing on the side.

Spicy Crisp Coconut Salmon

This recipe is another one that was a pleasant surprise. Very simple and flavorful served on a green bed of  beans and spinach garnished with thinly slivered green chilies and scallions. The magic ingredient here - coconut oil.

 

Spicy Crisp Coconut Salmon

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes (includes time for marinating).

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Serves 4 people

 

Ingredients

 

2 tablespoons coconut oil, plus 1 additional tablespoon

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic-green chili paste

1 teaspoon salt

4 salmon steaks (one serving size each)

3 finger green chilies - thinly chopped

1/3 cup green scallions - thinly sliced

 

Method of Preparation

 

1. Mix the 2 tablespoons of oil, red chili pepper, ginger-garlic-green chili paste and salt together and rub over the fish and set aside for about 15 minutes. (I prepare the greens and bean medley while this is happening).

2. Heat a heavy bottomed skillet well and place the extra tablespoon of oil on the skillet and coat the skillet well.

3. Add the salmon in a single layer and cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side until well browned.

4. To serve place a little of the greens and beans medley, top with a piece of salmon and garnish with the chillies and green scallions.

 

Greens and Beans Medley

 

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves 4 people

 

Ingredients

 

1-2 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1-2 dried red chilies

1 onion, cut into a dice

1 tomato

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2-3 cups of chopped fresh greens (I usually use spinach)

Juice of 1 fresh lemon

3/4 cups cooked black-eyed beans

 

Method of Preparation

 

1. Heat the oil and add the fennel seeds, mustard seeds and the dried red chilies and cook till the mustard seeds begin to crackle and pop.

2. Add in the onion and tomato, salt and sugar and mix well.

3. Mix in the greens, lemon juice and the beans and cook covered on low for about 10 minutes.

4. The mixture should be soft and have some liquid.

5. Stir well and cook till the liquid is fairly dry and serve with the fish as directed.

 

 

All Indian Salad dressing

A meal salad for me is usually a fussy creation, especially if you are making the dressing by yourself. However the garden is now filled with all varieties of beautiful multicolored greens - mostly mesclun and romaine. Our first year trying out lettuce growing and I quite like the results! The highlight of this whole effort was the salad dressing that I created. It captures a lot of the base flavors for an essential curry. To add some meal-like substance I mixed cauliflower, nuts and fish to the salad and we ended up with quite a hearty meal.

All Indian Salad dressing

Cauliflower and fish salad with an all indian salad dressing

Prep Time: 7-8 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

For the dressing

5 tablespoons olive oil

1-2 tablespoons grated ginger

4 pods of garlic

1 cup chopped scallions

1-2 minced green chilies

1/2 teaspoon powdered cumin

1/2 teaspoon powdered coriander

4 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon honey

4 tablespoons thick lowfat yogurt (like greek)

1 teaspoon salt

For the salad

1/2 pound fresh white fish fillets (such as mahi-mahi)

1 cup of cauliflower flowerettes

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 tablespoon oil

1/2 cup mixed nuts (I used walnuts and cashews)

2 cups of mixed fresh chopped greens

Method of Preparation

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and add the ginger, garlic and scallion and cook for 3-4 minutes.

2. Remove and place these in a blender bowl. Add in the remaining oil, green chilies, cumin, coriander, cilantro, honey and yogurt and the salt.

3. Blend till smooth, set aside in the refridgerator.

4. Mix the fish with half the coriander, turmeric, and salt.

5. Mix the cauliflower with the remaining coriander, turmeric and salt.

6. Heat the oil in a large flat skillet place both the cauliflower and the fish in separate sections and cook till the fish is flakey (about 4 minutes on each side). The cauliflower needs to be stirred lightly and cooked till lightly brown and soft.

7. Place the cauliflower in a large mixing bowl. Add in the nuts and the greens and mix lightly.

8. Mix in the salad dressing generously.

9. Flake the fish and stir in.

10. The salad can either be served at once or kept in the refridgerator and served when needed (it can stay for 1 hour).

My kind of fish dish

Ok, so I did post the lamb post earlier this week, I am still scared and troubled but a lot more resolved about my job decision. I had the lovely cilantro chutney, that I had made a few days back and some fresh scrod from the market.

In case, people have not realized by now, Saturdays are my day of sleeping in followed by a mad dash to get groceries and then getting a meal on the table for me and the husband, yes the kids too..

So, here is where the quick and brisk splashing it all together comes in handy.

Cilantro Chili Fish

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound of fresh white fish
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin-coriader powder
1 lemon cut into half
1/3 cup oil
1 cup chili cilantro chutney

Method of Preparation

1. Place the fish on a plate and rub with the chili powder, salt, turmeric, cumin-coriander powder and squeeze the lemon juice and set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Heat the oil and place the fish in a single layer and cook for 8-9 minutes and turn and cook for another 9 minutes.
3. Pour the chutney over the fish and cook through.
4. Serve immediately with rice.

A book and a Idea

Like most people who enjoy cooking, I too consider reading cookbooks, equivalent to entertainment - especially the chatty talkative one. I like well written food memoirs, and just anything that meshes text with recipes.
However, ever so often you pick up a book and you are consumed with extreme delight, suprise and just feel like that it made your day!
This was just how I felt when I picked up the steamy kitchen cookbook!
What I loved about the book, is that Jaden has very effectively translated feel and character of her website very creatively, into the book. Most cookbooks and other writings that I have read, somtimes loose a little bit of character and become a little formal when converted into a book. But this one, not really! What is really neat is that the recipes while different from what I would consider everyday fare, can be made with most ingredients that I have around, or possibly with just a little variation. Like this shrimp, which I made with some contreau, since I did not have the brandy that she recommends available. Also, I added tomatoes but once again, the simplicity of the original recipe does shine through.


Contreau Coconut Shrimp

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup of sweetened flaked coconut
2-3 tablespoons oil (I used coconut oil)
1 tablespoon butter (she uses 2)
4-5 pods of garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 pound of shelled wild caught shrimp
1 tomato, cut into eights
2-3 green onions, chopped as shown in the picture
1/4 cup contreau
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the cooking pan and add add the coconut and cook for 1-2 minutes toasting lightly. If you are using sweetened coconut like me, this step needs some care, since it changes from golden to brown in literally seconds.
2. Set this aside and add the oil and the butter and cook till the butter is melted, turn up the heat and add the garlic and the ginger and cook till nice and fragrant.
3. Add the shrimp and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.
4. Add the tomato and the ginger and cook for 3-4 minutes until the scallions are wilted.
5. Mix in the contreau and the salt and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
6. Stir in the coconut and serve hot.

A friday fish dish...

Pondicherry, is a small region on the

southern region of India. It's uniqueness lies in the fact that there is a very prominent french influence on the culture, traditions and food of the region.

The other interesting feature of this region are the various centers of holistic healing and yoga centers some based on the vision of the Sri Aurobinda.

This fish recipe is based on something I had chanced on several year back in a restaurant named Pondicherry. The named restaurant in NYC, was an interesting concept but did not unfortunately hold its own...

Well, this recipe irrespective of its name, is a nice and simple creation for a quick supper.

Fish Pondicherry - Fish in a fragrant tomato sauce

A light and tangy fish creation, with light overtones of thyme. If you do not have thyme, you can actually use some ajowain or carom seeds.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients

1 pound of wild salmon fillets, skin on

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons salt

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 medium white onion, peeled and cut into a dice

2-3 green chillies minced

3 tomatoes, cut into a dice

2-3 sprigs of thyme

8 basil leaves, thinly sliced

2-3 tablespoons of vinegar

Method of Preparation

1. Cut the salmon in 2 inch pieces. Rub with turmeric and half the salt.

2. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and wait for them to crackle.

3. Add the onion and the green chillies and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring freqently until the onions are soft, transluscent and wilted.

4. Add in the tomatoes and the remaining salt and thyme and cook on low heat till the tomatoes are nice and soft, this process takes about 15 minutes.

5. Stir in the basil and gently add the fish. Cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes. Do not overcook the fish, it is important for the salmon to be just moist and not dried out.

6. Stir in the vinegar and serve over rice.

Food and Our Household

Food is so essential to the fabric of our household, you can actually tell by what we are eating, what the well being of our household is like. When things are even keel, the meals are flavorful, generally healthy and something most people would enjoy.

Most of these make it to this place that I call my cyber home. Monday night, I cooked couscous with vegetables from the refrigerator - red bell pepper, mushrooms and corn kernels. Frozen and cooked with the couscous.

The shrimp was also quickly put together, but tasted really nice.

Tangy Mediterranean Shrimp

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon spanish paprika

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound shrimp, shelled and de-veined

2-3 tablespoons minced parsely

1-2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 leek finely chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1-2 teaspoons chopped cilantro to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the olive oil, spanish paprika, lemon juice, salt and shrimp and toss well.

2. Add in the parsely and marinate the mixture for 30 minutes.

3. Heat the butter and add the cumin seeds and the leek and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until the leek is soft.

4. Add in the shrimp mixture and the wine and simmer for 5-6 mintues.

5. Stir in the cilantro and serve with rice or couscous.

A simple fish curry

It has been busy the past few weeks with all kinds of things going on. I have also been somewhat under weather - nasty cough and flu. I get particularly sad when this extends to the weekends.

Folks, some weeks I live for the weekends, it really is rough when I hack and cough into my precious saturday sleeping.

I made a simple fish curry earlier in the week, with acorn squash the only little time I spent was in browning the onions.

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 -2 green chillies, slit
1 cup finely cubed acrorn squash
1 teaspoon salt
1 lbs fish (I used tilapia - rubbed in turmeric and salt)
1 lemon
1/3 cup water
1-2 teaspoons cilantro

Method of preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin and nigella seeds.
2. Add in the ginger and the onion and cook on medium heat stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until the onion is soft, wilted and nicely golden on the edges.
3. Stir in the cumin powder, coriander powder, chilies and the fish in a single layer and cook for 2-3 mintues.
4. Turn once, cut the lemon, lemon the seeds and squeeze the lime juice and add the water and simmer for about 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the cilantro and eat with rice.


In the meantime, we went to watch the NYC marathon, yes, dear brother was running! Kids did the subway - as you can see very excited.

Fall brightens the sky and the view and we look on to another week.

Slow Cooking in the oven!

What caught my attention the other day was this post, about boris. A bori is essentially a sun-dried lentil nugget that I have never really tried making at home. It is just something that I have never seen done and with the indifferent sun we have in the northeast, it has hardly been something I have ventured to do. However the recipe of doing this in the oven seemed very tempting. I did make the boris and I shall post pictures of what I did with them, the interesting thing here was that I oven roasted a whole bunch of tomatoes. I did not have much hopes of anything serious materializing from this exercise so I kept is simple and did not really take any pictures. I had a fussy husband reminding me of the carbon footfrint from my activities. I was going to make my usual fish in the oven fare,so I had a pound of wild salmon steaks that I through in the refrigerator marinating in a zip-lock bag with a paste of 1 small red onion, 2 green chillies, some fresh ginger, mint and garlic. I was heading to Queens to check out something, so I stuck in the boris and the sliced tomatoes drizzled (very lightly) with olive oil and grated ginger and some salt. I had them sitting along with the boris in the oven at 200 degrees and had this timed for 3 hours and went off for my event. Well, I was back about 4 hours later. I found some lightly browned bories and shrivelled tomatoes. I sliced and ate one half and I was in love. This is how the rest of the meal was created.

Masala Salmon with oven roasted tomatoes

Cook time: 4 hours (mostly unattented)

Ingredients

8 small tomatoes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon very finely grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

1 lbs salmon steaks

1 small onion

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 cup mint leaves

2 green chillies

2 cloves garlic

Extra salt and pepper for the fish

2 tablespoons ghee

Cilantro, lime juice and black pepper to garnish

Method of preparation

1. Cut the tomatoes in half and place on a greased casserole, drizzle with the oil, ginger, salt and chili powder.

2. Place in a oven set to 200 degrees and cook for about 3 hours.

3. Mix the onion, ginger, mint, chillies and garlic into a paste and add in salt and pepper and marinate the salmon for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator with this mixture.

4. Remove the cooked tomatoes and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place the salmon in a single layer in a greased casserole. Dot each piece with half the ghee.

5. In the meantime, coaresly slice the tomatoes.

6. Cook for about 10 minutes. Turn and dot with the remaining ghee and cook for another 5 minutes. Spead with the tomatoes and add as much black pepper as you wish.

7. Turn off the heat and place the casserole back into the oven and leave in for at least 10 minutes. This allows the juices to flow and meld.

8. Remove from the oven and add in some lime juice and cilantro. I did not have mashed potatoes, but this dish would be perfect with mashed potatoes.

I just don't understand!!!

I try to keep my political feelings away from the blog, but sometimes I have to comment. I must be oversimplifying things but what could be wrong with a leader wanting to talk to school children about working hard and pulling up their socks!

It sometimes can be challenging to inculcate a sense of responsibilty into children. The general premise seems to be to "wait till they are older". I have to confess I strongly feel that simple lessons inculcated in childhood can make all the difference.

Anyhow, to get ready for school today last evening I stuck to cooking something simple and practical but quite flavorful. I have realized that keeping something on the stove just a little bit longer can make a huge difference in terms of the flavoring of things. The fish pretty much cooked by itself into a nice flavorful gravy, that we ate with chapatis.

Codfish in a tomato and capsicum gravy

Prep/Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 lbs codfish fillets, cut into medium sized pieces

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 lime

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons mustard or olive oil

1 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalo jire)

1 red onion, cut into a very fine dice

1 tablespoon, finely grated ginger

1 green bell pepper cut into thin slices

1-2 slit green chilles

1 cup fresh diced tomatoes ( 3 medium sized tomatoes)

1 teaspoon sugar

Extra salt if needed

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Rub the fish with salt and turmeric and squeeze with the lime juice and set aside.

2. Heat the oil and add nigella seeds and wait for them to sizzle. Add the onion and ginger and cook on low heat for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should be fairly soft and well browned by now.

3. Add the green bell pepper and green chillies and cook for 1-2 more minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and cook stirring occasionally until the tomatoes are fairly soft, (about 3-4 minutes).

5. Stir in the sugar and taste for salt. Gently add in the fish and extra salt if needed and simmer for 5 minutes until the fish is cooked through.

6. Stir in the cilantro and eat with rice or chappattis.

Hint of mint salmon

Boy last night was I exhausted. I was up way way too late on Saturday, just doing this and that and the next day I had promised the kids I would take them to the zoo. Come 7:30am, I was buddled in bed - just way way to early

for me on a Sunday. I really wanted to bail out, my responsible other half reminded me how disappointed the kids would be. I finally agreed! The Bronx zoo, if you have not visited it is really a wonderful place to be. Just has an awful and overpriced cafeteria! I understand people do not go to the zoo to eat. Well, by 4pm, we were all exhausted. All except Dad took a nap in the car. I came in and whipped up a really quick dinner. I was too tired to even take proper pictures. I made salmon with a really simple horseradish and mint dressing. Did I tell you that I cannot live without my food processor? I served this on cous-cous. Which actually was on the list to make for a while, ever since Deepta heard that her Dad had some for lunch, she is convinced it is the thing to eat! She likes the name - here is my fish.
Hint of mint salmon
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves 3-4 (it works for our family of 2 grown-ups and 2 kids)
Ingredients
1 small red onion
1 large piece of peeled ginger
1/3 cup prepared horseradish
1/3 cup mint chutney
2 dried red chillies
Salt to taste
1 lbs sock-eye salmon
1/3 cup olive oil
Lime or lemon slices
Method of preparation
1. Process the onion, ginger, horseradish, chillies and salt into a smooth puree.
2. Apply this on the salmon and set aside for 5-7 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a skillet. Place the salmon on a single layer and cook for about 5 minutes on each side.
4. Serve immediately, garnished with lime.
Deepta's Arabian Cous-Cous (Hey you have to learn to sell!)
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup tri-colored couscous
1/2 tablespoon salted butter
1/3 cup orange juice
1.5 cups of water
2 tablespoons organic dried cranberries
2 tablespoons chopped pecans
Additional salt if needed.
Method of Preparation
1. Place all the ingredients in a rice cooker and stir lightly and let this cook till done.
2. In 15 minutes, you get soft fluffy couscous.
Dinner in 30 minutes!
I am sending this to Indrani and Appayan, who is hosting a really neat event spotlighting fish.