Something for Nancy

Okay, so each time I've posted (this year a bit more irregularly than last), I've kind of jammed my Indianized recipes or twisted Indian recipes down your throats whether you liked it or not. Today I thought, I'll start with an Italian one, for my friend Nancy, who loves Italian (food I mean, men, I'm sure) and also Asian food.  
   A couple of days earlier, after a long hanging out session with Nancy in her lovely La Jolla home, I somehow managed to return to my apartment with a bunch of parsley, oranges, lemons and avocados from her garden. Don't ask me how, but that's what happens when you go to Nancy's. No, you don't steal from her garden, she just hands these beautiful veggies to you.
   So I thought, how about making something that I know she's good at making, but something that I have been hesitant to try. No reason, but the first time I had this dish, it was dry, too cheesy and the rice was undercooked. And I was told that it was how it always tastes. Did. Not. Like. It. And I like pretty much everything. Risotto. So, I tried it again in Portland. And it was AMAZING. And no, I don't have images of it, I ate it up way too fast for the camera to capture it. But I can tell you where it was. A place called Equinox on North Shaver, Portland--it's a small place, with a patio, and cozy dining area, all built with recycled materials. If you are planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest, give this place a try--fresh local ingredients, with a keen respect for vegetarian, vegan as well as meat eating customers.
   And since I don't have a photo of that restaurant itself, how about just a cool Portland shot? Like this one at the Saturday Old Town Market.

And not to miss the most wonderful Voodoo doughnut shop that is just decadent, crazy and a Portland must-do and has nothing to do with this blog:

   Okay, enough digression. Risotto with Shitake Mushrooms (a mix of Italian with Asian mushrooms, and of course, par-boiled rice is the Indian aspect to it). Did you know, Shitake mushrooms have been cultivated in China, Korea and Japan since pre-historic times? And that they grow only in cold places, so San Diego may not be the place to start a shitake farm? Did you even think you'd get a history/agriculture lesson from a food blog? Hah. Anyway, the mushrooms have a fragrance, and a texture that adds a lot of body to the risotto, so it's a good addition (in my opinion) to the Italian dish.

 

Ingredients
1 cup par-boiled rice
Optional: 1/4 cup barley and spelt mixed
1 cup grated (good) parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp vegetable broth mix added to 3 cups water, or
3 cups vegetable broth
2 cups roughly chopped mushrooms
1 cup sliced white onions 
4 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp (or more) garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp grapesed oil
1 tbsp melted butter

 

Recipe

• In a big pot, boil the broth. Check for salt. If it's too salty (some pre-made broth mixes are oversalted), dilute it with water.
• In a pan, add the oil and butter on medium low. Cook the onions, and then the mushrooms, till they are browned. Add the garlic, sauté some more.
• Bring the pan off the fire once the vegetables are cooked. You can substitute this with asparagus, salmon, carrots, you name it.
• Cook the rice in the broth on medium-low flame. Once all the broth is absorbed in the rice, stir in the mushroom/onion/garlic mix.
• Keep stirring (the mixture, not yourself). Add the parsley. Your kitchen should smell very nice or else, you've done something wrong.
• Add the cheese at the end. Switch off the gas, stir the pot some more.
• Add more parsley, sprinkle some ground black pepper, more salt (if you want to get high blood pressure) and enjoy the dish warm!

 

Serves (at least) two.

Mine looked like this:

Anyway, if you really want a closeup of the same, this is what it looks like when it's hot, steaming:

     And like I said, I'm sure Nancy has made this multiple times, but it's worked for me this time. So I am a risotto convert.

     Happy Birthday, Nancy, enjoy!

Updates and Such

     How have you been? It's been a crazy few weeks--food foraging (not really) in India, in search of Chinese food in Kolkata, hard drives crashing, losing photos in that crash, silent mental breakdowns with even quieter panic attacks...that's been me for a few weeks.
    Anyway, to start with the start, wanted to share a neat little blog with you. Click on it and enjoy the site: It's called A Taste of Savoie --the photos are amazing and so's the blog. Let me know what you think.
     On another note--last month and the beginning of this one, I was in New Delhi and Kolkata--and yes, all I did was eat.
A representative image would be this:

    And no, I didn't eat the girls. That's Dilli Haat. More on that in the next post. But yes, it was a colorful, beautiful, crazily busy, and a surprisingly fun (food) trip. And did I mention the food?

Anyway, it was more than a cappuccino, and yes, it was at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. And fascinating because I am in a reverse-culture shock mode right now with all these Americanisms flourishing in India.






     Okay, back to food, and food that I enjoy. At Kolkata's Chinatown, thread chicken--basically, wonton skins-wrapped chicken--yum.

    And a favorite at South Ex New Delhi's most famous Bengali Sweet Market--the savory part, the best in the world, chole bhature (छोले भठूरे):

     And yes, we're not talking low-salt, nutritious, low-oil, non-fried, non-greasy food. But c'mon, how can you resist this? I go home just for that! Anyway, thought I'd give you a preview on what you'll see from my trip in the next few quite frequent posts: Chicken biryani, zarda, आर (aar) fish curry, Wenger's pineapple pastries, Keventer's milkshakes, Dilli Haat's food and dance shows...you get the picture.

     Finally, to end, don't know if you caught this, but there's my mug with my Masala Scrambled Eggs recipe on Good Bite.

    I'll be back soon, till then, hope your week's going great, and hope you're enjoying yourself--the snow, the sunshine, the fog...wherever you are!

Make it a Spicy 2010!

Happy 2010! Hope this year you're able to do everything you always planned on--take a trip, get that degree, earn millions, be healthy, stay healthy, eat at the restaurant you always wanted to, laugh a lot, laugh everyday, write that book, be patient, sing that song, cook for friends, make new friends, keep old friends, be nice everyday, fight nice when you need to...you know all the things you wanted to do and be but life and time got in the way...yes, those things.

     We took this break to hang out in San Diego and decided to go to our favorite soup haunt. It's a Mongolian hotpot restaurant. No, don't groan. It isn't a large cast-iron skillet noisy joint with all-you-can-eat veggies and meat. That's a Mongolian all-you-can-eat place. (Just because you heard Mongolian, huh? Shame on you!) This is soup and fun stuff like that, cooked on a burner right at your table, and you get to choose your own soup broth (vegetarian, beef, half and half, pretty neat). The restaurant is called Little Sheep Hot Pot and I'll wait till you stop laughing. We did the same when we heard of this place. What does little sheep have to do with soup unless they're in it (yikes!)? And we're dealing with a vegetarian spouse here, so, that wouldn't have worked. But Little Sheep has a wonderfully flavorful all vegetarian soup broth as well as non-vegetarian options. It's apparently quite popular in China, and there's reason why. The spices are so interesting--gojiberries, galangal, chinese ginger, star anise, four types of pepper, a hundred berries I don't have a clue what they are, mushrooms, I mean...it's really fun if it's slightly cold and you're in the mood for soup.

     Little Sheep in San Diego's located in a strip mall in Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, and you could easily miss it. But inside, the restaurant is impressively huge, and mostly and usually filled with families who are serious about soup. Man, no one even looks up from their plates, it's that good.

     So we went. Sanjay, who was fighting a cold, and being the manly man that he is, told the server, "We would like extra spices in our vegetarian soup broth". The server nodded, no expression. I should have known. (You know where this is going, right?). Anyway, here's how our soup looked when it showed up:

     You have to admit, it's pretty. Look at the spring onions, the mushrooms, the berries...and we were planning on adding tofu, watercress and more mushrooms to this. It was supposed to be fun. Well, we then fished out the red chilies that Sanjay obviously had expressly requested. This is the proof:

     And we fished out even more as the soup boiled in chilies slowly releasing their chiliness (that's a new word you learned in 2010). At least a hundred fiery red chilies waving hello at us. Oy.

     Chicken that I am, I tried one bowl and gave up. And believe me, it's my favorite soup place! But I don't give up that easily, so I moved to their salad, an order that I placed (no spiciness requests were allowed this time!).

     They have a very interesting wood fungus salad that's infused with seasme oil, tons of garlic (yeah, maybe not a first date kind of salad if that's what you're worried about, but garlic's good for you!). It goes really well with soup, especially the 'non-spicy' kind.

     I had two orders of the same while Sanjay, the manly man, had the soup to himself (maybe that was his plan all along...hmmm, didn't think of it that way!).

     Anyway, here's Little Sheep HotPot's salad:

The celery and baked tofu along with the wood fungus is really flavorful and a fun dish with their green tea.

     I've made my own twisted version of the same. So, here it is:

Twisted Wood Fungus Salad

Ingredients

1 packet dried wood fungus

Tofu (half a packet, cubed, optional)

4 large garlic cloves, grated

4 tbsp spring onions, chopped

1/2 cup diced carrots (optional)

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp chili hot oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt to taste

Recipe

Boil the wood fungus for about 5 minutes in salt water, drain, cool

Mix the wood fungus with garlic, tofu, spring onions
Toss in more tofu, carrots if need be
Add chili and sesame oil and mix the salad
Add salt to taste
Squirt lemon juice and mix again
Chill for about an hour in the fridge (not you, the salad, silly!)
Serve with soup or as an appetizer

     See, it's simple, isn't it? All you need to do is go to any Vietnamese or Chinese store and ask them for the dried fungus. You can even get dried shitake mushrooms that you could soak in water for about an hour or so and toss that in too. This is what mine looked like:

     So that was our greatly spicy start, and hope you enjoy the new year with new, exciting and fun foods, good health, and fun times!

     More in a bit, till then, enjoy!

A Hick/Snob in New York

Okay, so this post is late, I know. But hey, last week this time, I was in NYC! Yes, very lovely, very cold, very rude. Sure you all know about people there being bruque and busy. But this is my experience. I know, they have very little desire to exercise their face muscles and smile (a little) once in a while. The only exchange (the entire time!) I had with a random stranger was at a coffee shop where he made a mistake (afterall, 'tall' means small, even though it sounds like it's a HUGE cup of coffee, and everyone, absolutely EVERYONE, in Manhattan knows that!:o)), and so was embarrassed enough to make an apologetic face at me and say, "Oh, well, my brain isn't functioning, of course I knew tall versus grande!" To which I had to console him with a, "Who cares? Just ask for a small coffee, it's okay...no?" Apparently that wasn't the right answer, for the barista glared at me into silence. I broke the cardinal rule--New Yorkers don't make eye contact, don't smile and definitely don't talk, chitchat or banter for no reason. To think I'd lived in that state when I landed in this country sixteen years ago and still smile a bit too much. Obviously the CA sun's made my brain soft. I have become one of those always-smiling-like-an-idiot Californians! So, that was my 2c venting on non-smiling New Yorkers. (But wait, just like a late-night informercial, there's more!)

     The city itself is beautiful. The hustle, the noise, the sirens, the $5 'pashmina' shawls....it's got personality, character, personality (wait, I said that already!). It has a purpose, everyone looks very important, rushing to very important places, and everyone has that vacant look in their eyes, and really, truly don't want to make eye contact (or else something really bad might happen), and everyone's on their respective iPods, iPhones or Blackberries and they really need to discuss the discussion they had a few minutes back so they can schedule another discussion at yet another street crossing even though they may be on their respective phones standing next to each other waiting for the light to change. Is it just me? Are these people really that important? If you're not important, you shouldn't be there? That's what I got for eavesdropping, I guess.
Of course, besides all that, there are the museums. And MoMA is one of my favorites. I used to go there in the 90s, from grad school (schlepping from Long Island when the trains moved slower than we could run!), and so it was going down memory lane. Some views of MoMA, and the cathedral next door:

I'd thought this Warhol image (part of the soup collection) was so much bigger. That's what happens when you imagine New York. Things may not be big, they just appear to be.

     Here's one of my favorites, a Rauschenberg--and yes, it is an actual bed! A decade and a half ago, this wasn't enclosed in glass, and yes, I did touch it, and yes, the security people did yell at me and glare at me like all New Yorkers usually do. So it was amusing to think they put that glass case up to stop me from touching it again. But if there's one museum you have to go to when you're in NYC, MoMA is it. (I'm sure you know that already, and go on, roll your eyes as you read advice from a hick).

     I managed to hang out in St. Patrick's Cathedral too--I love churches. Don't ask me why, and don't analyze me either. I love the architecture, and the huge space inside them, and this cathedral is gorgeous.

And while I was there, I heard the commotion outside, for it was Veterans' Day, and 5th Avenue had a festive look, for it was parade time. The traffic was controlled, the security tight (these guys know what to do), and military people from different generations and wars were everywhere. School kids paraded down the street, and the WTC flag passed by too. The hick was ultra-impressed (jaw-dropped, waving-at-veterans-wildly-for-no-reason-kind-of-impressed).

The NYC police officer is a blur, yes, I know. He was moving way too fast! Not sure if the bagpipers could have guarded the borders much in those skirts flying around, so the police had to take over, I guess. Fun parade really.

And now, onto the food. That's where the snob part comes in. No, before you judge me, I've always loved the food there. What's not to love? But this time, man, did we pick the bad ones! The first one was a Zagat rated Thai place (Holy Basil) in East Village. The decor was great, ambience better, service (almost) smiling. It was great. It couldn't be bad. This is New York! But they didn't have any soup that was vegetarian. I watched Sanjay's face drop. The poor vegetarian had nothing to eat in New York. This was unheard of. We've always managed his vegetarian dishes anywhere, even in carnivorous Brasil. Finally, we got a Pad Thai for him which was edible but nothing great. And then, adventurous Ms. Hick i.e. me, decided to go for scallops and shrimp in red curry. Just one phrase to describe this--grit and dirt in the scallops. I mean, I'm usually quite submissive, and I was that evening. Did I return the plate? No. Did I curse them? No. Did I swallow the gritty scallops. Yes. But I think it was more out of shock (and utter disappointment) rather than anything else. New York serves the best food--what just happened?

   Anyway, that was redeemed in the theater district. Went to Tramonti, a small Italian restaurant between 8th and 9th on 46th, the pizza was fresh, the pasta (house special) light and sauce, a delight. The olive oil was gorgeous, a light taste that went well with their bread and the service was impeccable, even though it's right in the middle of tourist territory. It was wonderful. Yay for New York.

    The vegetarian found his place too. Ate the best falafel wraps at a busy almost-fastfood yet organic and fresh place, Crisp. Their motto is, "Crisp is fresh, and fresh is what Crisp lives by". It was light, a whole lot of food, and some of the best falafels I've tasted in a while. Try their African wrap if you get the chance.

     On the way back, Sanjay took some photos of a lively New York night--

And I thought to myself, you know, I'd forgotten how beautiful this city really is. So instead of looking for ways to tell you all how different it is or its people are from where I live, I should just sit back and just enjoy how charming it is. So, yes, the hick survived New York, and the snob slunk back home. If you are planning a trip there this winter, maybe around Christmas, then take the time, smile lots at random strangers (and throw them off!), breathe in the crisp city air, and enjoy!

An Indian French Toast Day

A few weekends back we decided to breakfast at one of La Jolla's very happening breakfast places. I say we 'decided', because weekends fly by and suddenly Monday looms its ugly head at us and usually we've spent 48 hours staring at Top Chef or Law and Order (don't ask) or E! investigative special re-runs. I say 'we', because heck, well, it's easier to spread the blame than just say, well, it was me, and my TV and I like it that way. So, yeah, anyway, going at a decent time for brunch and actually ordering breakfast for me was a big feat indeed.
     Nestled in southern California, The Cottage is known as 'Old La Jolla's Favorite Beachside Bungalow', serving casual SoCal cuisine, and known as one of the best breakfast places in this country. And I can eat breakfast for dinner, that's how much I love breakfast. And yes, I realize I just used 'breakfast' in each sentence a 100 times!
     The restaurant recommended their world famous stuffed French toast--brioche bread marinated with egg batter, stuffed with strawberries and marscapone cheese. "You won't go wrrronngg, ma'zaam!" said the very cute, and very young and most likely French waiter. (I'm not the only one saying it, Sanjay agrees to, though he's most likely forgotten by now). Anyway, the food, I mean, OF COURSE it was great. We knew it would be as soon as we read the description (after waiting an hour to be seated...that's how popular this place is).
     The order came out looking like this--isn't it gorgeous?

A typical French Toast recipe (not The Cottage's) is:
Ingredients
2-3 slices of thick brioche bread
3 eggs, or egg whites, whipped
3-4 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp whole milk
3 tsp sugar/honey
butter/oil for cooking


For the filling
5-10 strawberries, sliced
2 tbsp sugar, or honey
3 tbsp marscapone cheese
Recipe

• Mix the cream and milk with the beaten eggs, add the sugar/honey
• Soak the bread, one slice at a time, slowly allowing the batter to be absorbed by the bread
• Heat a cast-iron pan, add 1-2 tbsp butter/oil, cook each side of the bread about 2-3 minutes (do not overcook). The bread should brown a little.
• Be sure the eggs are cooked through (raw eggs aren't exciting, except to bacteria, and you're not bacteria or bacterium)
• Cook for 2-3 minutes in the oven at around 350 deg C
• Mix the strawberries with sugar/honey and cheese
• Add them into the bread, fold over
• Dust powdered sugar over the bread
• Serve with butter, honey or maple syrup

     In India, we're used to savory French toast. I mean, it's just so different that I think we should just call it Indian toast. It's just that different. It's salty, spicy, and served with ketchup, right? That's what I was used to. So, while the French toast was exciting, Indian (French) toast has wonderful memories attached--of lazy Indian breakfasts, or even as appetizers with tea in the evenings. Here's my take on this:
Indian (French) Toast
Ingredients
3-4 white bread (or brown), sliced into triangles
4 eggs, beaten
2 medium chilies, sliced
1/2 medium purple onions, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander leaves
salt to taste
3 tbsp grapeseed oil
Side:
3 medium pototoes, grated
1 chili, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish
Recipe:

• Prepare the egg mixture adding onions, spices, chilies and salt
• Dunk the bread triangles in the egg mixture, and let soak for 2 minutes
• Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet and cook the bread triangles
• Again, be sure to cook them well (half-cooked eggs are just not good. Not good at all.)
• Cook both sides for about 2 minutes each side
• Place them on paper towels to remove excess oil and transfer onto a plate
• In the same skillet, add the grated potatoes, chilies, cumin, salt and cook them for 3-4 minutes
• Potatoes should cook quickly, but again, once crispy on one side, be sure to cook it by stirring them
• Remove from pan, remove excess oil, and transfer them to the bread plate
• Garnish with coriander leaves

   The Indian French toast should look like this (or better)

Make a hot cup of tea to go with this.

Enjoy!

A Lazy Day at the Farmers' Market

This weekend was perfect—lazy, sunny, and I had absolutely no plans. Don’t know about you, but that’s what a perfect weekend is to me. Does say a lot about how much I value sleep, eh? When we moved to San Diego, everyone cautioned us that the sun will soften our brains and we’ll become laidback. I’m glad that happened the minute I landed here! There’s something about southern California sunshine, it’s just pure, fresh and bright. Really. If you’re from here, you know what I mean. If you’re not, visit this place, you’ll know what I mean.

A direct effect of this abundant sunshine (though we do have cloudy days, mind you), is the presence of weekend farmers’ markets. You’d find the most friendly and most hardworking people selling their produce. This weekend, Sanjay and I went to our neighborhood one in Del Mar. Do you see the color on the tomatoes? Come on, you’ve got to love this. Heirlooms abound. Drizzled with balsamic vinegar, mixed with fresh mozzarella, parsley and grated garlic, it’s a great appetizer. 
But back to the Del Mar farmers’ market—color was the name of the game, and it wasn’t just red from the tomatoes. Look at the squashes, and zucchini—I mean, come on, they’re gorgeous. Fall/winter brings the squash varieties back, and you can bet on quite a few dinners of roasted veggies with rotis.

Besides the customary tamales, mango and watermelon stands along with fish, flower and fruit stands, there’s even a cactus plant stand, the owner did scare me though—said, you need to come here every weekend (which I don’t, since I’m lazy), and so I lied and said, yes, yes, ma’am, I do and I will. And since I can’t lie that well, I guess I obligated to go every weekend now. Here's her cactus:

But the fun stand is the oranges one. The lady in the pineapple shirt has been there ever since I can remember. From blood oranges to Valencia’s, she has them all. She doesn’t talk much, but I have a feeling she loves oranges (and maybe pineapples). What do you think? I really should stop making up stories about farmers in pineapple shirts selling oranges….

  

Anyway, hope your weekend was fun too. More recipes to follow, but till then, enjoy the rest of what’s left of this weekend. Really, enjoy!