Winter2009

Best of the Year of Cook & Talk - December 8, 2009

We reviewed the best food of the year, and recreated our favorite recipes in new and interesting combinations.

	<Cookers: Birgit, Gerd, Ralph, Cyrus, Daniel, Annette >Before: the shopping
	<Curried cauliflower >Fatoush salad
	<Baking squash and chick peas >Plate of much goodness
	<No ''Best Of" is permitted without Ralph's Cold Sesame Noodles >The amazing chocolate
	<Words of wonder

Fattoush Salad
* 2 cucumbers
* 2 spring onions
* Lettuce
* 1 Radish
* Parsley
* Green mint
* 1 loaf of pita bread
* Dressing: Lemon, salt, and olive oil
Cut the vegetables into small - medium size pieces. The lettuce, parsley and green mint should be cut in small
pieces. Cut the pita bread into squares of 1 square cm each and either fry them until golden brown or roast
them under the grill. Add the bread to the vegetable mixture. Add lemon, salt, and olive oil to taste.

Cold Sesame Noodles
Ingredients
1/2 pound Chinese egg noodles
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon red chili paste, such as sambal oelek
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Cucumber slices, for garnish
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions
Cook the noodles in large pot of boiling unsalted water over medium heat until barely tender and still firm. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain the noodles really well and transfer to a wide bowl; toss with the sesame oil so they don't stick together.

In a small saucepan, heat the peanut oil over medium-low flame. Add the green onions, ginger, garlic, and chili paste. Cook and stir for a minute until soft and fragrant. Mix in the brown sugar, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, and hot water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the peanut butter has smoothed out. Toss the noodles with the peanut sauce until well coated. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with the sesame seeds, cucumber slices, and cilantro.

Jhatpat Bhindi (which should be made with okra, but I could only find cauliflower in the market)
300 grams (about 12 oz.) okra (sorry, we used cauliflower) cut into small (1/4") pieces
1 cup(s) onion sliced finely
3 tablespoon(s) oil
1 teaspoon(s) each of red chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder
½ teaspoon(s) each of turmeric powder and hot spice mix (garam masala) powder
2 green chili(es) slit
a squeeze of lemon and salt to taste
1. Heat oil on medium level in a pan for about 2 minute(s).
2. Add onions, and stir fry on medium level for about 4 minutes or till they are very lightly browned. Add red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Fry again for a few seconds.
3. Add the okra and the slit green chili(es). Add a dash of lemon and sprinkle salt to taste. Mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes or till the okra is cooked but firm.

Moroccan spiced roast squash and chickpeas with minted onions
2kg (4lb 8oz) squash or pumpkin
8 tbsp olive oil
150g (5½oz) cherry tomatoes
2 410g (14½oz) tins chickpeas, drained
2 red chillis, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
4 star anise
3cm (1 in) cube fresh ginger, grated
3 onions, peeled, halved and finely sliced
juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
Directions: Cut the squash into wedges and peel each one. Put them into a roasting-tin in which they can lie in a single layer with enough room for the tomatoes later. Season and drizzle with 5 tbsp olive oil. Turn the pieces over with your hands, making sure they get covered in oil. Put in an oven preheated to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and roast for 20 minutes.
Take the tin out of the oven and add the tomato, chickpeas, chilli, garlic, star anise and ginger.
Turn everything around to distribute the flavourings and get the tomatoes covered in oil. Put the tin back in the oven and roast for a further 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes and squash are tender and slightly singed in places.
Put 3 tbsp olive oil in a frying-pan and cook the onions over a medium heat until they are soft, about 10 to 12 minutes. Season then turn up the heat to brown the onions. Finally, stir in the lemon juice and mint.
Serve the roast vegetables with the onions strewn over the top. Couscous is great on the side. If you think some people will want it hotter, you could serve a little bowl of harissa loosened with a splash of boiling water.

Chocolate Caramel Pie
Crust:
1/2 cup (1 stick) soft butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup dutch-process cocoa
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Caramel Filling:
2 cups (12 ounces) caramel pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup white chocolate
Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Crust: In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the salt, vanilla, sugar and cocoa, and blend until smooth. Add the flour and stir to blend. Finally, add the nuts. The mixture will be dry.

Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan. Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake in a preheated 400 F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until it’s set. (The dark color makes it hard to tell, but it’s done when you can just begin to smell the chocolate.) Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside to cool.

Filling: In a medium sized saucepan, set over low heat, stir together the caramel, heavy cream and white chocolate until they’re melted and smooth. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and set it aside to firm while making the glaze.

Glaze: Melt the chocolate with the cream and corn syrup over low heat, stirring until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the filling and sprinkle with the toasted pecans. Refrigerate the pie for 1 hour or more before serving. It’s best served chilled but not cold; remove the pie from the refrigerator about 15-20 minutes before serving.

Late Thanksgiving - December 1, 2009

We may have missed the traditional 4th Thursday in November, but it's never too late too for Everything But the Bird. Many thanks were given.

	<Cookers: Alex, Christiane, Gerd, Birgit, Cyrus, Daniel, Ralph (pretending to be the stuffed turkey) >Roasted Brussel Sprouts
	<Kate's Tennessee Yams Being thankful
	<Little tarts >Un-stuffed stuffing
	<The plate >Better than the turkey: pumpkin pie
	<Ralph insisted that rice crispy treats are a part of Thanksgiving, despite the fact we couldn't find puffed rice (these were somehwat inedible) >Words of the week

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well until all sprouts are covered evenly. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack.
3. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Adjust seasoning with kosher salt, if necessary. Serve immediately.

Kate’s Tennessee Yams
(This recipe is taken verbatim from an email from my friend Kate in NYC. Enjoy!)

2 kg yams
½ milk or cream
2 - 4 tablespoons Jack Daniels or bourbon
1 cup brown sugar, divided into halves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 or 2 pinches salt to taste
3 tablespoons butter

There's really no recipe. Just sweet potatoes/yams, fresh or canned
(canned are actually better because they are easy and less stringy).
Let cook in boiling water. We're talking about enough for a large
casserole. In the US, about 5-6 small cans or three cans. If they are
kind, you just need to stick them in the boiling water long enough to
get them hot so you can mash them. For fresh, you'll need to cook them
until they are done--chopped into chunks takes 20-25 minutes.

Mash sweet potatoes with a stick of butter, maybe a 1/2 cup to a cup of
milk/cream. You don't want it to be runny. It's good a little
chunky--don't worry about getting it totally smooth liked mashed
potatoes. Add a couple tablespoons Jack Daniels or Bourbon, about a
half cup brown sugar, and if you want, maybe a 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or
cinnamon as well as a pinch or two of salt.

Put your mashed stuff in a casserole dish. I then add a glaze made of
a stick of melted butter cooked with brown sugar (about half a cup)
and a couple tablespoons bourbon/JD. When it's melted, just pour it
over the top of the casserole and stick in the oven at 350 for about
20-25 minutes until glaze is bubbly and caramelized. (The temperature doesn't
matter so much.). Just watch it. The aim is to get it warm and
bubbly--but it's fully cooked when you first stick it in the oven, so
it doesn't matter much.

Peter likes me to add chopped walnuts on top, which is really good.
And for a fifties touch, I like canned mandarin orange sections on
top. NO MARSHMALLOWS!!!

I hope this helps. Sorry there isn't any real recipe--but it's kinda
hard to screw this up.

Stuffing
Ingredients:
2 loaves 12 grain bread
200g chopped mushrooms
2 stalks chopped celery
1 onion chopped
100g butter
100g vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons vegetable broth powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Brown mushrooms, celery, and onion in butter. Add 1/2 of the spices. Remove from heat. Cut or rip bread into small pieces. Combine with cooled vegetable mixture. Sprinkle on remaining spices and add more to taste as desired. Mixture should be the level of moistness you would desire it to be at the outcome. Add broth or juice to achieve this as necessary. This stuffing is excellent both stuffed in the bird or not. Usually, I spray Pam on a casserole dish and pack the stuffing into it, cover it, and bake for 1 hour. Enjoy!
This is enough for a large turkey or to serve around 8 - 10 people.

PUMPKIN PIE

PIE CRUST:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced
1/4 cup ice water
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.

PUMPKIN PIE FILLING:
3 large eggs
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree or 1 - 15 ounce can (425 grams) pure pumpkin
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine ingredients, being careful not to overmix. Bake at 190 C until knife comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.

Silk Road Night - November 3, 2009

The theme of "Silk Road" was really just an excuse to eat things inspired by Japanese fusion cuisine eaten while travelling through California. I've tried my very best to recreate the incredible calamari from the Blue Marlin restaurant on Sawtelle Blvd. in Los Angeles - one of my all time favorite dishes, anywhere. Enjoy.

	<Cookers: Cyrus, Tina, Gerd, Ralph and Daniel >Noodle salad
	<Bamboo shoot risotto, an interesting idea >Japanese-style salad with carrot miso dressing
	<Thai-style coleslaw provides the bed for the calamari >Frying calamari rings
	<Attempting to make nori powder. I'm sure one can buy it, but where? >Calamari, ready to eat
	<A full plate >Words

Calamari Tempura Rings with Parmesan and Nori
Directions: Thaw frozen calamari rings in warm water. Prepare Tempura Batter (recipe below) and fry according to directions. When finished, sprinkle warm rings with a generous helping of parmesan cheese. Serve on a bed of Thai Cole Slaw (recipe below) and sprinkle with flaked nori powder. Bliss!

Tempura Batter
* 1 egg
* 1 cup ice water
* 1 cup all purpose flour
Preparation:
Beat an egg in a bowl. Add ice water in the bowl. Be sure to use very cold water. Add sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Tips for making crispy tempura
Tip 1: Ice
Use ice water for the batter. This is really important to prevent the batter from absorbing too much oil.
Tip 2: Batter
Do not make the batter ahead of time. Try not to over mix the batter and not to coat ingredients with the batter too much.
Tip 3: Frying Order
If you are frying both seafood and vegetables, fry vegetables first. Then, fry seafood. Fry vegetables at 340F degree and fry seafood at 350F degree.
Tip 4: Oil Temperature
To check the temperature of frying oil, drop a little batter into the oil. If the batter comes up right away instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan, it's about 360 F degree. If the batter goes halfway to the bottom and comes up, it's about 340F degree. This is said to be the right temperature to fry tempura.

Thai Cole Slaw
* 1/2 head cabbage, shredded
* 1/2 head red cabbage, shredded
* 2 carrots, grated
* 60ml (1/4 cup) lime juice
* 60ml (1/4 cup) rice wine vinegar
* 1 tablespoon fish sauce
* 2 tablespoons sesame oil
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 60g chopped peanuts (optional)
* salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Place the shredded cabbage and carrot into a large bowl and pour in the lime juice, rice vinegar, fish sauce, sesame oil, honey and peanuts. Stir until well blended, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. If using a bowl with a lid, put the lid on and shake thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least two hours, stirring or shaking occasionally, to allow the flavours to blend before serving.

Sesame Noodle Salad
1 package buckwheat noodles (inaka soba)
1 cucumber
1 avacado
1 sheet nori
sesame salad dressing (see recipe_

2. Boil the noodles.
3. While boiling, prepare vegetables. I sliced cucumbers and avocado. They will compliment the fresh flavor of the noodle salad.
4. After about 5 minutes, the water will start foaming up a lot. That's when you know they're ready. Nevertheless, I would still try eating a noodle to see if they're really ready.
5. So, since this is a "salad" dish, you need to rinse it cold. Make sure the noodles are cold all the way.
6. Put it in a mixing bowl. Get ready for mixing!
You will need a sesame dressing, sesame vinaigrette, or miso dressing. Any one of the three will taste great. You can use a commercial dressing or make one from scratch. Refer to my other post for the recipe of homemade sesame dressing.
Add some wasabi on top. Don't worry, your noodle won't be spicy after being mixed with other stuff. Add the dressing and some sesame seeds before mixing.
8. For decoration purpose (plus it tastes good), I cut thin slices of nori (dried seaweed used for sushi rolls).

Sesame Soy Dressing
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
2 teaspoon of lemon vinegar
little sprinkle of dried ginger powder
pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon of corn syrup
1 teaspoon of brown sugar

You might want to add corn syrup and soy sauce first just to blend the thick syrup into the watery soy sauce, creating a semi-thick solution suitable for a salad dressing. Of course, if you're health conscious, you can skip the corn syrup part and use the thin version of the dressing although that would be more like a soy sesame vinaigrette, which is really good too.

Bamboo Risotto
2 Tbs peanut oil
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 smal shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup melon-seed-shaped pasta
3/4 cup arborio rice
2 1/4 cup low sodium vegetable broth, warm
1 1/2 tsp fleur de sel, or regular sea salt
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 tsp paprika powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup bamboo shoots, marinated
1/4 cup baby bamboo, fresh
1 tsp black peppercorns, freshly ground
2 Tbs fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 Tbs red chili cotton seed oil

*In a deep saucepan, heat some oil and cook the shallot until it is golden, then saute the bamboo shoots for about 2 minutes. Transfer the shallot and bamboo shoots on a plate and set aside.
*Pour more oil to the saucepan and saute the baby bamboo. Transfer to another plate and set aside.
*In the same saucepan, add a tablespoon of butter and wait until it bubbles. Add the garlic until light golden, then add the pasta and rice. The butter should coat all the grains. Pour 1 cup of broth and stir constantly.
*After bringing the liquid to a boil, add turmeric, paprika and garlic powders, then lower the heat to medium low for about 15 to 20 minutes. *Season with salt and add the sliced baby bamboo. Check the liquid and periodically add 1/4 cup of stock when all the liquid is absorbed. Let simmer for another 15 minutes
*When rice is almost cooked, add bamboo shoots and remaining butter. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Garnish with the sauteed baby bamboo. Drizzle some red chili cotton seed oil and sprinkle cilantro before serving.

Miso-Carrot Salad Dressing
3 carrots, peeled and diced
3 Tbsp. white miso paste
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
juice of one lemon
Preparation: Place all ingredients in a blender or food mill. Grind carrots into paste with the other ingredients. The result should look like orange mush. Serve over salad of lettuce and cucumbers.

Words of the Week:
swine flu
avian flu [bird flu]
delighted
enthusiastic

TexMex - October 27, 2009

Freshly returned from travels through the southwest of the USA (California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah), I brought back inspiration for veggie version of "New Mexican Cuisine" (from various online sites that insist that it's no longer fashionable to call it TexMex). Call it what you will, the food is still damn good : )

	<Tonight' cookers: Kerstin, Daniel, Gerd, Ralph and Alex >Navajo Fry Bread is spectacular
	<Guacamole >Mango salsa
	<Stuffed peppers seriously needed more salt/spice >The sinful chocolate caramel pie, redolent of southwest truck stops
	>Featuring the layer of caramel sandwiched between brownie crust and chocolate sauce <Words of the week

Navajo Fry Bread
Fry bread is wonderfully lumpy (puffed here and there). It can be served as a dessert or used as a main dish bread.
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying

Sift together the flour, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump.

Flour your hands. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. NOTE: You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Kneading it will make for a heavy Fry Bread when cooked. The inside of the dough ball should still be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured.

Cut the dough into four (4) pieces. Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat, and form a disk of about 5 to 7 inches in diameter. NOTE: Don’t worry about it being round. As Grandma Felipa would say “it doesn’t roll into your mouth.”

Heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. NOTE: You can check by either dropping a small piece of dough in the hot oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles. Your oil should be about 1-inch deep in a large cast-iron skillet or other large fryer.

Take the formed dough and gently place it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Press down on the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take about 3 to 4 minutes.

Indian Fry Bread can be kept warm in a 200 degree F. oven for up to 1 hour. They refrigerate well and can be reheated in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Black Bean and Zucchini Quesadillas
* 2 pounds zucchini, grated
* 1½ t salt
* 30 oz cooked or canned black beans, drained
* 12 oz Monterey Jack, grated
* 2 green onions, chopped
* 1 jalapeño, minced
* 8 eight-inch flour tortillas
* olive oil

Directions: Toss zucchini with salt in the colander, and squeeze out excess water.

Combine zucchini with beans, cheese, green onions, and jalapeño.

Brush one side of each tortilla with oil. Place four tortillas oil side down and spread each with one fourth of the zucchini-bean mixture. Top each one with an oil-side-up tortilla.
Broil: Place quesadillas on baking sheet and broil about 1-2 minutes per side, until golden.

GREEN BELL OR POBLANO PEPPERS RELLENO
2-3 cups pre-cooked brown rice
1 medium (1-1/2 pounds) eggplant, baked 45 minutes, skin peeled off, then drained in a strainer while mashing
1 red onion, cleaned and finely chopped
1 medium yellow or zucchini squash, carefully washed and finely chopped
1/2 pound firm tofu, drained approximately 15 minutes and crumbled
1/2 cup frozen or fresh green chile peppers, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 whole fresh bell or poblano peppers, stems and seed sacks removed
(Cut around the stem base; the whole seed sack will come out; then wash and drain the inside of the peppers.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the rice, vegetables, tofu, and seasonings in a bowl. Stuff the hollowed-out peppers with the mixture. Set the stuffed peppers in a non-stick baking pan, preferably on their sides. Put a little water in the pan as well. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes. Be sure to check the stuffed peppers so they don't overcook and dry out. Remove from oven, and cover each pepper with salsa to taste.

Mango Salsa
* 1 mango, peeled & diced small
* 1 tomato, diced small
* ¼ cup green onions, chopped
* 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
* 1 Tbsp olive oil
* 1/2 Tbsp chili oil, or to taste
* salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together & serve however you would ordinary salsa.

Guacamole
* 1 large avocado
* 1 tbsp minced garlic
* 1/2 cup chopped onion or scallion
* 1/2 cup chopped Roma tomato
* Juice of 1 whole lime
* Salt and black pepper to taste
* Chopped hot chilies, chili powder, or red pepper flakes, to taste

Combine the ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.

Tomato, Lime, & Tortilla Soup
* 1 cup chopped onions
* 4 large cloves garlic, pressed
* 3 Tb. vegetable oil
* 1-2 minced chiles (1 inch long)
* 1 tsp. cumin
* 1/2 tsp. oregano
* 3-1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
* 3 cups vegetable stock
* 1/3 cup lime juice
* salt
* tortilla chips, crumbled
* chopped fresh cilantro
In medium pot, saute onions and garlic in oil.
Add chiles, cumin, and oregano and saute a few minutes.
Add tomatoes.
Sprinkle tomatoes with salt--make sure you get a light covering of salt over all the tomatoes, since this releases their juice.
Cover, cook gently until tomatoes begin to release juices.
Stir occasionally.
Add stock and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
Add lime juice and salt to taste.
Serve topped with tortilla chips and cilantro.

Words of the Week:
similar
gambling
complaints
lid
subscription
Saxony
broth
brother-in-law
pear
pie crust
folding chair
close to tears