Make this if you like Indian food

I have a little story to share about three things made separately that came together into an amazingly perfect meal as leftovers. I'm sharing, so others may put them together from the get-go.

Not too long ago we went to the farmer's market. I think it was actually the second week it was open for the season in early April. One of the farmers had cauliflower. We were a little stunned to see cauliflower in the Pacific Northwest in April. Turns out, she had planted it last fall and it had overwintered. So, it was a spring treat.

From this spring treat, I made curried cauliflower that turned out delicious and served it with something--I can't remember what.

During that same week, we planned to have a lamb stew. It was going to be layered with potatoes and simmer all day in the crock pot. But I forgot to plan ahead and didn't get the crock pot going in time. So, come dinner, I cut up the lamb shoulder and then looked in our Weber Charcoal Grilling book to see if there were any appropriate rubs. I found a recipe--Cumin-Mint Leg of Lamb that had a "paste" that I modified slightly. So that night we had delicious chunks of lamb served with other things that I now can't remember.

Another night during the same time frame I made a big pot of long-grain basmati rice to go with something that I now don't recall.

So, come the work week, it's lunchtime and I'm at my home office getting hungry. I throw the leftover rice, lamb and cauliflower together and heat them up. Before eating, I top with a couple dollops of plain yogurt. Honestly, it turned out to be the best Indian food I'd ever eaten.

Here's the full meal deal:

Cumin Lamb With Curried Cauliflower Over Rice

Lamb

If using bamboo skewers, soak for 20 minutes
Cut lamb shoulder into chunks for skewers (1-1.5 lbs)

In a small bowl mix together
2 t cumin
1 t pepper
3 large cloves garlic (pressed)
1 t salt
1 t oregano
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice

Rub mixture into lamb and let sit out 20-30 minutes before grilling.

Grill (ideally with charcoal) on high, direct heat for 7-8 minutes total, turning once during cooking.

Rice

2 c brown basmati rice
3 c water

Bring to boil then simmer for 30-40 minutes.


Cauliflower (taken from Jack Bishop's Vegetables Every Day)

1 1/2 T olive oil
1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 lbs, trimmed, cored, and cut into florets)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
1 t curry powder
1/4 c plain yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup water
2 T minced fresh cilantro leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cauliflower and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until florets are lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and continue cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the thinned yogurt, cover the pan, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until the florets are tender but still hold their shape, about 6 minutes. Stir in cilantro (or wait and put this over your combined dish of lamb, rice and cauliflower) and season with salt and pepper to taste.



Combine your lamb and cauliflower over rice and top with plain yogurt and cilantro.

Awesome!

The longer I have kids, the more spicy I want my food

There's hope for my kids. They occasionally taste a tiny drop of hot sauce and then down their milk, but generally they respond to spicy foods as vampires to garlic.

Thus, we generally add our spice at the table (three kinds of hot sauce at most meals). The longer I'm not allowed to spice my food as I cook, the more I crave the hot stuff.

Recently, I made Broiled Chicken with Spicy Jamaican Jerk dipping sauce out of Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipe cookbook. The chicken was soaked in a brine and turned out delicious and since the spicy dip was on the side, the kids enjoyed the chicken sans sauce.

But what happened after the meal was much more interesting. (Not talking romance or indigestion, although look out because the sauce is rather strong).

The next day, clams were on sale. So the next night we had steamed clams in some white wine. We tried the leftover Jamaican Jerk dipping sauce on the clams. It was amazing. The next day I had it on spaghetti with marinara. Incredible.

So, now I'm convinced that this so-called sauce is an improvement on just about any meal.

Here's the recipe. FYI, it's more of a chunky garnish than a sauce.

1 T lime juice
1 T brown sugar
1 medium garlic clove (unpeeled)
1 medium habanero chile
2 medium scallions, white and green parts (minced)
1/2 medium onion (minced)
4 t minced fresh ginger (minced)
1/2 t dried thyme
pinch of ground allspice


Stir together lime juice and brown sugar until dissolved.

Meanwhile, toast the garlic clove and habanero in a small dry skillet over medium heat, shaking frequently until blistered. Then peel and mince garlic and seed and mince habanero.

Combine garlic, habanero, scallions, onion, ginger, thyme and allspice in a bowl and add the lime-brown sugar mixture.

Then store in the refrigerator and put it on whatever you want--but be sure to try it on steamed clams.

Oh and, all due respect to Cook's Illustrated, but I'd love to come up with a better more stand-alone name for it. Any ideas?

Sushi! Can we do it? Yes we can!

Sushi has been on my list of things to make at home for a long time. I first tried sushi when I was in 8th grade and was no fan. But it came around again when I was dating the man who I would end up marrying. One from Portland and one from Seattle, we couldn't really avoid the stuff. And now I loved it.

Wasabi. Soy sauce. Seaweed. Sweet. Salty. Spicy. More. More. More.

A number of years ago a co-worker where I used to work did a lunch-time demo on how to make sushi. I wasn't sleepless the night before due to excitement, but almost. I thought that with the hands-on training I'd soon have my own personal all-you-can-eat sushi bar at home.

But then, photo-copied recipe in hand, I gave it a try. Even with the demo under my belt, the result was basically head to toe sticky rice and really ugly not so tasty rolls. I didn't get it. Sushi still seemed too hard.

A few years later, I got Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. At the time, I no longer had sushi on the brain. In fact, I was anti-sushi. My new dislike had to do with my sister's theory that everything you eat in the first three months of pregnancy becomes disgusting to you.

That so-so supermarket sushi (minus the raw choices) was top of my snack list when I was newly pregnant with my second child. And now I couldn't stand the thought of anything resembling a California roll, good, bad or otherwise.

Luckily this wasn't the end of the story. When I was ready to return to the roll, Bittman's book was there to help.

With the following easy steps, you too, can build a mountain of killer rolls at home.

Sushi Rice

Make any short grain rice, brown or white, as you normally do. Make a double batch if you want a ton of sushi. The vinegar "sauce" below is the right quantity for one-and-a-half cups of rice before cooking.

While the rice is cooking, heat 1/4 c rice vinegar, 2 T sugar and 1 t salt in a small saucepan until sugar dissolves (less than 5 minutes). Then cool this down as quickly as you can (I put it in a liquid measure and set it in a bowl with ice packed around it).

When the rice is done, put it in a big bowl and while it is still hot, paddle in the cold vinegar mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon.

 

 

The Rolls

For the rolls, I've yet to try any raw fish. I generally do very thin cuts of carrot, cucumber, and avocado. I also have used smoked salmon, lox, or leftover fish, fried or in teriyaki sauce. Sesame seeds are also a good addition.

You can buy powdered wasabi in a tin at most any grocery store in the ethnic food section. Just add hot water to make it come alive.

Nori (the seaweed to wrap the roll) can be found in the same spot. It generally comes already toasted.

Then you need a bamboo sushi-rolling mat.

Hand water: put one cup water mixed with 2 T rice vinegar in a bowl. Use it to clean your fingers while you are making rolls and to dip your knife in before cutting the rolls.

To assemble the rolls, lay down the sushi mat and put a sheet of nori down, shiny side down.

Spread rice on the nori, not too much and leaving about an inch border all around.

Lay a modest amount of veges, etc. down the middle. I like to get the filling closer to the edges so it sticks out the end. It makes the ends look like fancy hand rolls. Then roll it up, tightening the roll beneath the mat with your fingers and scooting the mat out as you go. At the end you slide the mat away and you have a tight, sealed role, ready for cutting into neat rounds (a very sharp knife works best with a dip in the hand water in between cuts).

What to serve with sushi?

Interestingly, tater tots taste really good with sushi rolls. Wasabi mayonnaise makes a yummy dip for the adults. The kids don't mind ketchup with their sushi.

A green salad with a soy sauce, honey, and rice vinegar dressing also goes well.

Note: It takes awhile to cut up all the veges and assemble the rolls, so I don't recommend this meal for a school night. I've done it, though. It just gets a little ugly at 8 p.m. when we haven't eaten yet. But the result is worth it. And you end up eating so many, that you max out and don't have to make them again for awhile.

What to do now that I don't eat beef?

It took me over a year to realize that every time I ate red meat my stomach would cramp up and I'd be uncomfortable for about 12 hours. Answer = I gave it up. Not a big deal except my husband loves it and it limits variety for dinners. (Our son, thank goodness, pretty much eats anything so he's on board for whatever). So just this morning as we pondered our week's menu (yes, Alice and Craig, we pretty much do a weekly menu now!!), Ray said he was in the mood for meatballs., "Oh, but you don't eat beef." I immediately asked if he would eat turkey meatballs and because he has had several yummy experiences with turkey meatloaf, he agreed. I turned to Food Network.com and found a tremendously easy and delicious recipe for turkey meatballs- thank you Giada. I did the food shopping at 1:00, had lunch at 2:00 and the meatballs were done simmering by 3:00. And they are so good I had to share!

1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 T ketchup (organic ketchup is great!!)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves (I used dried organic, just under 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese (I bought an italian blend of the 2 cheeses and saved money)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb chopped turkey
3 T olive oil
jar of sauce (Miur Glen organic sauce is delicious)

Add onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, cheeses, salt, pepper in a bowl and blend.

THEN mix in the turkey. Roll into 1 1/4 inch balls. (makes 24 of them)

Heat oil over med-high heat and brown the meatballs for about 5 mins. (they stuck pretty good so Ray recommended putting them in the fridge for a little while before frying to help them stick together better).

Remove and then pour off excess oil.

Add jar of sauce and put the meatballs back in pan. Turn to med-low and simmer for 15-20 mins.

We are going to serve it tonight with whole wheat spaghetti for me and artichoke flour pasta for Ray, and likely both for Raymond, along with a mixed green salad.

Leftovers will be served on a roll for a meatball sub!!

Valentine's Day Trials and Tribulations

It never occurred to me that Valentine's Day (or the lead up to the big day) could be so stressful. Sure, it's been alternately exciting and annoying when I was single and pretty low-key as a married lady, but never stressful.

Enter kids. It's dinner time and you realize that you have twenty little cards to personalize with names and stickers (double that for two kids). I'm sure eventually my kids will do this on their own, but right now at ages 5 and 2, they need quite a bit of help and motivation. Then there's the school party and the guilt-inducing sign-up sheet for goodies. So, add baking cookies to the list.

That's how I found myself last night, making dinner, doing Valentines with the kids, and making cookies all at the same time. Things were already exciting and then the kitchen sink clogged and every available spot on the counter became dirty as the dishes piled up and I had to run to the bathroom to wash my hands and an occasional dish or utensil. Add to that the fact that I had started my no-knead bread in the morning but was returning to the original Jim Lahey process that involves baking the bread in a preheated pot. That's how I came to burn the H-E-L-L out of my thumb and several fingers as I picked up the lid, forgetting that it was 475 degrees hot.

Why am I sharing all this? Truly it's not to complain. I always try to keep perspective and count my blessings--which are many.

Rather, I'm writing because of the looks Craig and I kept exchanging throughout the night. The "can you believe this is happening?" looks. Those looks embody that secret club you enter when you have kids. It's part of the reason I wanted to start this blog in the first place. Because if you are blessed to have a pretty sane and stable life otherwise and if these moments don't turn you into a raving lunatic, at many levels you grow. And you have something to look back on and laugh about.

It's an experience that is fun to share. Cheers and Happy Valentine's Day.

Julie & Julia

Just saw the movie Julie and Julia--where a New York secretary decides to tackle all 500 plus recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year. What fun! It made me want to rush out and buy Child's cookbook . . . but then I remembered that I have small children.

Just imagine trying the Julie and Julia project with little kids. A recipe for disaster, so to speak. But oh how yummy the food looked in the movie! After it was over, I was very satisfied to start my bread before going to bed.  (My own special project is to link to my bread recipe as many times as possible because I'm so enthusiastic about it).

Bon Appetit! (can't make that pesky accent go in, oh well, it's midnight, let it go)

Tomato Soup and Spaghetti with Clam Sauce (and some New Year musings)

It's been awhile since my last post. The holidays have come and gone. They culminated in a quiet Christmas Eve dinner watching the second Tinkerbell movie and eating a dinner of cocktail meatballs, spinach dip, and ensaladillo russo (an awesome potato salad that can typically be found in certain regions of Spain).

Needless to say, the dinner was a bit too rich--it's always sickening to me to eat appetizers for dinner for some reason. It always sounds like fun beforehand . . .

When I'm at a party eating appetizers, I typically don't get enough. But when I'm at home, I get way too much. I would love to solidify a menu that I make every year for my immediate family on Christmas eve that is fun and different and not sickening! Any ideas?

But now that the holidays are over, for the New Year I'm hot on my resolutions. I have the hope of being a better parent. Specifically I want to stop telling my son (nearly five) to be careful (along with a lot of other naggy, worrying comments) so often and give him more credit for the responsible little person he is just starting to be. And then there are the plans to lose 10 pounds and cook healthier meals. For me that means a little less meat and fats. Plus I will continue to have a whole foods (not the grocery store) approach.

In my mind, a whole foods approach means minimally processed, lots of things from scratch, real sweeteners, real butter, milk, cream, etc. Plus I'm always striving to get more things locally and seasonally. For example, we bought bananas the other day as a special treat but normally try to get food from local farmers and/or eat foods from Washington. Generally we still fall far of the mark, getting potatoes from Canada, and other veges from who knows where--USA--but the intent is there anyway. Plus we have our home-grown operation. Right now we have 11 laying hens (only one is laying right now, the rest will start in a few months) plus three rabbits.

Rabbits?? you say. Yes, we have two females and a male (the male in his own cage) and we plan to breed them soon. We will keep the three and then eat their offspring. Barbaric sounding, I know. Our culture is so steeped in bunny . . . it's been a shift for us to think of them as food. But I had already eaten rabbit in Spain and it offers a delicious, economical and extremely low-fat meat. The trick is cooking it (braising or stewing) so it doesn't get too dry.

Around the web you can find lots of people who are raising and eating rabbits and foodies who say it's the up and coming meat and then there is probably a much larger contingent of people screaming about how horrible it is. For our family, it's about safe and sustainable meat and knowing where our food comes from and how the creature has been treated in its life. I just read yet another article about out industrial food system. Specifically, the pink slime (ground up bits from the slaughter-house floor mixed with amonia to kill pathogens) that they put in burgers at MacDonalds, Burger King etc. The filler most notably is purchased for public school lunch programs to save money. (Thanks to Tom Philpott and Grist for that disgusting story). Since raising a cow is not really an option for us, stories like that make rabbit seem ever-more appealing. I have to say, though, the kids are not overly enthusiastic about it.

Now, before I close out this post, I want to circle back and share the two recipes I promised in my last post:

Tomato Soup (adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe)

1 28 oz can of tomatoes in their juice (or whatever equivalent you have on hand, fresh or jarred, you can add their juice and/or some chicken broth to make it whatever consistency you want)
I can of tomato paste (optional for consistency)
I stalk celery
1/2 onion
2 T Parsley fresh (or 1/2 t dried)
2 t lemon juice
1 t sugar
A glug of milk (if you like creamy tomato)
a few dashes of tobasco
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute celery and onion and parsley until soft and just starting to brown. Put this mixture into a blender with rest of ingredients (minus milk) and blend until smooth. Then add a glug of milk, reheat in saucepan and serve.

Spaghetti with Clam Sauce (my mom used to make this when I was a kid, and I just made it for my kids for the first time and they totally loved it)

2 cloves garlic, crushed
2/3 cup olive oil
1 cup bottled clam juice
1/4 t salt
Fresh cracked pepper
1/2 t oregano
2 cans minced clams
1/2 cup minced parsley (I served this on the side at the table since it would put off my kids)
1/2 cup spaghetti, cooked
Parmesan cheese

Saute garlic in oil - add clam juice, salt, pepper and oregano. Simmer 5 minutes. Add clams with own juice. Cook uncovered 10 minutes or longer, so liquid will reduce (it didn't reduce much for me, but made a wonderful broth in the pasta good for sopping up with bread). Mix in parsley and onion. Toss 1/2 of sauce with pasta and top the pasta with the other half of sauce and Parmesan cheese.