Coconut Basmati Rice

It's been ages since I posted a recipe, I know; but I'm in grad school.  My husband and I made this rice last night to accompany a lovely chicken recipe.  I'm posting it here because it was so gosh darn easy and a great alternative to plain white rice.

1 cup basmati rice, washed and drained

1 can of Light Coconut Milk (about 12 oz.)

1 tsp. turmeric

1/2 cup small dice onion, leek or shallot

15 whole peppercorns

1 tsp salt

  This is really very simple to cook, but I will start here with a quick explanation of rice washing since it's something I never did until I began seriously cooking Asian food.  Most rice bought at the store is coated with excess starch.  By washing the rice you will eliminate it and the rice you cook will be less sticky.  Simply place the 1 cup rice in a large bowl and run it under cold water stirring frequently.  I've found that the tap should only be about halfway open so that none of the rice is stirred up by the running water.  This prevents it from washing over the top of the bowl and down the drain.  Continue rinsing and stirring the rice until the water runs reasonably clear.

  In a small pot with a tight-fitting lid, combine the coconut milk, turmeric, and basmati rice.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat as low as possible.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add the onion, peppercorns, and salt; and cook for another 10 minutes.  You want to watch the rice at this point so that it doesn't burn.  I stirred halfway through this second cooking time and found that it didn't need the full 10 minutes - more like 7. 

  At this time, it's ready to serve alongside whatever main dish you may be having.

Green Bean Salad

As promised here is the green bean salad we made last week. If you are ambitious enough to cook it along with the curry - it will make a wonderful accompaniment.

And it really isn't that hard.

1 pound green beans

3 Tbs. sesame seeds

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

2 green chilies, serrano or jalapeno, seeded and sliced into rings

1/2 tsp salt

2 to 3 Tbs. of fresh lemon juice, to taste

chopped cilantro (optional)

Cook the beans in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender - about 5 minutes. Drain them, then run them under cold water to "refresh" and cool them. At this point, trim the ends and cut the beans into 1" lengths. Set them aside in a bowl.

Heat a dry thick-bottomed skillet over high heat and add the sesame seeds. Stir these constantly as they will be prone to burning. Roast the seeds until they are slightly golden. Transfer them to a coffee or spice grinder and pulse them until they are a fine paste.

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Toss int he chopped chilies and saute for 30 seconds. Pour the hot oil and chilies over the green beans and toss. Add the salt and sesame seeds to the mix and toss again. Lastly, dress with fresh lemon juice. You may add chopped cilantro to the salad before serving. Et voila!

Potato Curry and Green Bean Salad

I don't usually post a recipe without first testing it, but this week you get to cook alongside me. We are planning to make a lovely Indian potato curry from the gorgeous book by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid entitled Mangoes and Curry Leaves - I am a fan, to say the least. When we make it, we intend to throw the green beans into the curry to cook amongst the potatoes. But here I will post a second recipe for a green bean salad which you could also make. We tried it last week with a grilled chicken, and it was light, cool, and delicate.

2 Tbs. raw vegetable oil or ghee*

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 pound waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes

1 pound green beans, topped, tailed and cut into 1/2" lengths (optional)

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup chopped tomatoes (I use 1/2 a can of diced)

2 green hot chilies - like serrano or jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp ground cumin

you can purchase cumin whole and grind it yourself. We keep an
old coffee grinder around to pulverize spices - Look for cumin in bags in
the international food section of your grocery store. It will be a lot
cheaper.

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. salt or to taste

Heat the oil or ghee in a wok or a wide pot over medium heat. Add 1 tsp garlic and cook until you smell it about 30 seconds, then add the onions, potatoes, and green beans (if you are not making green bean salad). Stir-fry for several minutes, until the onions have softened, pressing the potato cubes against the surface of the hot pan. Then add the chopped tomatoes, and the chili. Stir.

Add turmeric, mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, and the remaining garlic and stir. Add the water and salt and bring it to a boil. Cover the pan tightly and cook at a high simmer until the potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes. Halfway through the twenty minutes, check to make sure you have sufficient water and that nothing is sticking to the pan. Add a little more water, if necessary.

Serve with 3 cups basmati or brown rice and green bean salad, if you like.

*If you are keen to make your own ghee, it is possible - and not that hard. Ghee is a common fat in Indian cooking. It is actually just clarified butter with one subtle difference - the milk solids are allowed to brown imparting a nutty flavour.

To make your own ghee you will need a light colored saute pan, butter, strainer, and coffee filter.

When you clarify butter, you will evaporate much of the water in it and decrease its volume. Therefore, double the amount of ghee in the recipe and you have your measurement of butter. To create the preceding recipe, place 4 Tbs. of butter in a light colored skillet and place over low heat. The butter will melt, then sizzle - and once all of the water has evaporated, it will become quiet again. It needs careful watching at this point. Have ready your strainer lined with a coffee filter suspended over a bowl. In the skillet you will see milk solids that have settled on the bottom of the pan. These will begin to color. Allow them to become a nice golden color - like the color of fried chicken. Then take the pan off the heat and pour the butter through the filter. What collects in the bowl below is ghee.

Pasta Primavera

Admittedly I am not a fan of the primavera you can order in most Italian restaurants - the vegetables are likely steamed and insipid - heavy on the water content and light on flavour. But this variation was cooked up for me during a lovely dinner party in London many years ago by a dear friend from Books for Cooks. It is straightforward enough for a mid week meal and can be made with an endless combination of vegetables. Simply think of color and organize your cooking by parboiling those fibrous roots before roasting them in the oven.

The Goddess of Spring in honour of primavera.

a selection of vegetables for roasting cut 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch

we like asparagus, red onion - cut as if for shish kebabs, fennel, butternut squash, and cherry tomatoes

1/3 cup evoo

freshly cracked pepper

kosher salt

1 pound rigatoni or other shaped pasta

1/3 cup kalamata olives

(optional 1/3 cup diced proscuitto for any non-veggies out there)

2 - 3 Tbs of good evoo that you would use for salad dressing

fresh basil, if possible

good good Parmesan for grating / parmigiano reggiano,

( if you can throw down for it)

*A note about ingredients - while it's always best to buy the highest quality you can afford, I think it is doubly important when cooking vegetarian. You are cutting out some of the foods with the highest fat content - and unfortunately our taste buds are wired for fat. So make sure at least some of the item you are still eating are impeccable.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. If anything needs parboiling start a pot of water, chop, then cook the veg for 5 -10 minutes. From the list above I would recommend treating the squash and the fennel this way. The squash can go into the water first, then five minutes later, add the chopped fennel.

Combine the chopped raw and parboiled veg in a bowl. Add the 1/3 cup evoo for cooking, the kosher salt, and the fresh cracked pepper. Spread mixture on a baking sheet and bake the vegetables until they can be easily pierced with a fork - about 30 minutes. I recommend checking a few types of veggies to be sure that you are ready to eat.

Meanwhile start a large pot of salted water boiling for the pasta. As Marcella Hazan says, water for pasta shoudl be as salty as the Mediterrenean. Chop the proscuitto, if you are using it. Cook the pasta until al dente according to the directions on the box.

The best way to allow pasta and sauce to meet is by removing your pasta from the water while it is still a little more al dente then you prefer - about 1 mintue less than the recommended cooking time. Have your sauce ready in a large pan on low heat. Add the pasta to the pan holding the sauce, a little residual cooking water is okay if it sneaks in, this will help the pasta and sauce to comingle. Toss the pasta in the sauce and continue striring occassionally allowing the pasta to finish cooking.

Add proscuitto, olives, and basil. Toss with remaining 2 tablespoons of really good evoo. Grate with parm - et voila!

Butternut squash soup

I haven't been posting for a while on this blog due to a demanding graduate school schedule; but a dear friend of mine is joining the world of vegetarian cooking. I thought this would be a good opportunity to get back to food by posting one favourite all vegetable recipe a week. This recipe comes from Robert McGrath's American Western Cooking. Happy cooking.

not my picture

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, butternut squash, cut in halves

1 Tbs. dark chile powder

kosher salt

fresh cracked black pepper

water (to spin the squash in the blender)

2 Tbs. vegetable or canola oil

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

2 Tbs. toasted, seeded, and finely chopped Chile Ancho

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 cup roasted garlic puree

This can be roasted at the same time as the squash. Simply wrap a head of garlic in foil. It is finished when soft and should take approximately 30 minutes.

1 tsp. toasted and ground cumin seed

Heat a clean dry skillet over high heat. Add the cumin seeds and stir them constantly until you can smell them - about 1 minute. Take them out of the pan and set aside.

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Season the squash with the chile powder, salt and pepper. Roast the squash, seed side down on an oiled aluminum covered sheet pan. The squash is done when the thickest part can be easily pierced with a fork - about 35 minutes. Remove the squash and allow it to cool to room temperature. Scoop out the flesh and puree in a blender with just enough water to spin the squash, season to taste with salt and pepper. The soup can be done to this point the day before, if you like. In a soup pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Saute the diced onion and chile ancho until just tender. Add the squash puree, broth, roasted garlic puree, ground cumin and cayenne pepper. Allow the soup to simmer slowly until it has reduced in volume by 1/4. Puree the soup in a traditional blender or with a handheld immersion blender. Finish with 1/2 cup of cream and season it to taste with salt and pepper.

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

Here is something we tried the other night when we were bereft of groceries and willpower, but not inspiration...no! Tyler wanted Fettucini Alfredo with roasted red pepper, and we thought, why not puree the pepper and fold it into the sauce? We were pleasantly surprised.

1 red pepper, roasted, skinned, seeded and pureed

1 cup heavy cream

2 Tbs. butter, unsalted

1/2 cup parmesan

1/2 pound fettucini

salt and pepper

variations

add fresh basil

try red chili flakes for a spicy dimension

add shrimp to the pasta

use fusilli instead of fettucini

or maybe cheese ravioli...

Under the broiler in the oven, roast the red pepper turning occassionally until the skin is burnt and blistered. Remove pepper from the oven and either place it in a sealed ziploc bag or simply in a bowl with a kitchen towel over top. This will trap the steam and encourage the skin to separate from the pepper. Leave it to steam for five minutes, then under running water (some would argue that this sacrifices flavour but I say, "boo!") slough off the skin, remove the stem and seeds. Puree the pepper in a Cuisinart with 1/2 Tbs. of butter. Begin boiling water for the pasta in a large pot, when at a boil add a generous amount of salt to the water. (Marcella Hazan says pasta should be cooked in water that tastes like the sea, she's right.) Add the pasta to the sea water. In a large saucepan warm the remaining butter and cream on medium heat. You are looking for the cream to lose a little moisture and thicken slightly. Fold in the red pepper puree, and parmesan cheese. Once your pasta is al dente add it to the saucepan as well and toss it to coat it in the sauce. Voila!