Falafel

I remembered the pack of falafel I had in my pantry, on my way back from the outlet mall. I mention the outlet mall so that you know I'd been shopping all day. Which is why I was kinda tired. Which is why I misread the simple directions on the back of the box. Which is why my falafel ball mix looked more like soup.

I misread the directions and added 1 1/3 cup of water instead of 1/3 cup. I realized this 15 mins later, as it wasn't anywhere near the consistency it was supposed to be. In my attempt to fix it, I strained it through a sieve. That didn't quite work. I let the strained liquid settle so I could pour off the excess water. That didn't work either. My last resort was to add a binder. I added spoonfuls of chickpea flower to my slurry. This worked. The texture was a bit smoother than it should be for falafel. But atleast it was the same material - Chickpeas. The batter was still pretty thin, but it worked. I spooned dollops of it on to my pan. They looked more like silver dollars than then did falafel balls. Tasty, nonetheless.

For my impromptu tzatziki - I turned regular yogurt into "greek" yogurt by lining a sieve with 2 layers of paper towel and spooning in plain yogurt. Let the moisture drain and soak up into the towels for about 15-20 mins. Carefully lift and ring out. Don't let the towel rip and squirt (that didn't happen to me at all!) I didn't have any cucumbers on hand for my tzatziki, so I just added some chopped cilantro and a dash of s&p.


Beet salad. I've made a few variations of this before, with goat cheese or feta. This time, no cheese. I added green and red peppers, red onions, cilantro, lime juice and s&p. I can't believe I used to hate beets as a child. They're so delicious. And good for you - high in vitamin B and iron. So eat your beets!

The meal finally came together with some toasted whole wheat pitas, my "silver dollar" falafel patties, black olives, beet salad and tzatziki. Bon Appetite!

Potato Crusted Catfish w/ Lime & Cilantro Oil

I've been home all day watching day time television. What sucks more that day time television? Day time food network programming. Why? Giada De Laurentiis, that's why. She always on! She annoys me. Its the way she can be speaking normally, but the minute she hits an Italian word, she sounds like she just got of the boat. Gelato! Mozzarella! Risotto! This is exactly what Brain Regan was talking about...

Anyway, Giada was making Purple potato crusted Tilapia, which did look pretty tasty. My refrigerator had neither Tilapia or purple potatoes. However, I had catfish and regular potatoes. So I improvised!

Potato Crusted Catfish w/ Lime & Cilantro Oil

1 med. potato, thinly sliced (mandolin works best, it makes even slices)
Catfish fillets
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Lime juice
EVOO
Salt/pepper

Pat dry your fillets and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Arrange potato slices evenly on the fillets, overlapping slightly


Carefully transfer to a non-stick pan on low heat - potato side down.
Let this cook slowly, adding evoo as necessary. Be careful - it splatters!


Once potatoes are browned, flip the fish very carefully.
Brown the fish side.
To make the lime oil - whisk together the cilantro, lime and evoo with a dash of salt.
Drizzle over the fish and serve.

I paired the fish with steamed broccoli and wild rice (It takes a long time to cook wild rice! I gave up and ended up eating it al dente - not a good idea). I think the fish stands alone pretty well. Maybe a green salad would be a better side for it. Next time.

Ratatouille

I came across a ratatouille recipe by Mark Bittman in the book I'm currently reading (Food Matters). It intrigued me to look into what a ratatouille consists of. According to wikipedia - its mainly tomatoes, onions, eggplant and zucchini. Bittman added cauliflower and chickpeas instead of the zucchini. I searched online for different recipes - all different. Some slow cooked, some roasted, some spent hours laboring over peeling the tomatoes.


I decided to come up with my own version. Seemed like the recipe is pretty much up for individual interpretation. I didn't want mine turned into a soupy, over-cooked mush. I wanted to be able to taste each vegetable individually. So I lightly roasted big chunks of different vegetables.


I also decided to indulge myself with a glass of wine. A glass of Syrah from the Francis Coppola wineries. 'Cause The Godfather series just wasn't enough for him. Good wine though!

Ratatouille

Eggplant
Tomato
Carrot
Zucchini
Cauliflower
Garlic
Red pepper
Green pepper
Onion (I happened to have a Cipollini, which tastes great roasted, but any kind should do)
Salt
Thyme
Rosemary
EVOO

Cut everything up in big chunks.
Add salt, thyme, rosemary and olive oil and toss.
Spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet (or 2)


Roast veggies for about 40mins - you want them just browned not mushy. Toss once half way through.
Broil for the last 2 mins. Keep an eye on this!!
Toss in some finely chopped cilantro once its out of the oven.
Serve with a nice crusty baguette.

Dig in!

15 min Chicken Burgers

This was a quickie dinner. I came home from a long day of work+class. I had no idea what I was going to make when I got home, but I had some ground chicken on hand. Burgers was the first thing to pop in my head.
Here's a list of things that went into the ground chicken:

Indian Chicken Masala
cumin powder
coriander powder
red chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder
salt
fresh chopped cilantro

Mix all the spices into the meat and form patties.
Grill and serve with a toasted bun, and tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Catfish Cakes

So here is the catfish I had mentioned earlier. I managed to get 4 equally sized thick square pieces out. I saved these for next week. Its the uneven pieces that I used to make catfish cakes. Fish catcakes? Cat fishcakes? Hmm...

My idea for the fish cake marinade was "chimichurri goes to Asia". Chimichurri is an Argentinian meat marinade made with chilies, garlic, parsley, lime and many other things. I swapped out the parsley with cilantro and added some ginger to it.


I need to get a blender. A real blender. A personal smoothie maker is NOT a blender. Although it does come in handy in pinch. It took a while, but it did blend my ginger, garlic, onions and jalapenos into a nice "smoothie". I kept it pretty thick, added very little oil, but lots of lime. It looked more like my coconut chutney than a chimichurri.



I paired the fish cakes with sauteed red chard. I figured we didn't need any carbs. No quiero ningun carbs esta noche. (Did I mention I'm learning Spanish?)



Catfish Cakes

Marinade
Blend the following:
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Cilantro
Jalapeno
Salt, Pepper
few drops of EVOO
Lime juice (Use the lime juice to turn it into a smooth paste, don't add water)

Fish Cakes

Catfish, cut into small pieces
Marinade (recipe above)
Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs, regular is fine too)



Marinate minced fish with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.
Mix in a handful of panko and form into round cakes.
Pan fry in a bit of oil.

NOTE: You can reserve some of the marinade, mix it in with some plain yogurt and serve it as a sauce for the cakes)

Red Chard

Wash Chard thoroughly, chop.
Saute garlic in a pan, till golden brown.
Add chard, add a splash of chicken stock, salt. Allow chard to wilt.
Do not over cook.

Serve with the fish cakes

Bon Appetit!

Clam Sauce

Neither of us are big fans of pasta, so I don't make it that often. But I was in the mood for a clam sauce, and pasta is a must for that. My clam sauce was purely improvised, I threw in things and hoped it would come out ok. It did. Here's how it goes:


Clam Sauce

1 can clams in clam juice, drained, but reserve the juice
Garlic, chopped
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small tomato, diced
EV olive oil
Italian spice blend (or just basil and oregano)
Salt & pepper

Sautè garlic in a generous amount of evoo.
Add in the onions, and saute till translucent. Do not brown.
Add the tomatoes and the drained clams.
Warm the clams through and add half of the reserved juice.
Simmer while the sauce thickens slightly.
Add the spices.
Add the rest of the juice and a splash of evoo. If necessary a bit of pasta water can help thin the sauce.
Mix in your pasta of choice.

Bon Appetito!

Mussels in Coconut Chipotle Curry

I had mussels when we were in Paris a couple of years ago. Moules a la Mariniere - a giant bowl full of mussels in white wine, with a side of french fries. I approached the pile picking at the shells with my fork and the fries with my fingers - trying hard to not look like a fool in Paris. Then I noticed how the Parisians were eating - they picked up a shell with their fingers and used an empty shell like "chopsticks" to pick out the meat. Then they used the fork for their fries! Ooh la la! I was way off!

I came across these mussels last night at Metcalfs. This was the first time I'd been there, and I'll be going back! Beautiful produce and fresh meats. I wanted everything. I settled for the mussels and fish (stay tuned for some catfish up here soon enough). I figured I could make a coconut based curry for the mussels. I looked up a recipe on my Epi app (cool app by Epicurious) and gathered up the rest of the ingredients.


Cooking mussels is quite simple, it barely takes 5-6 mins for them to open once you get the liquids to a boil. I served it with a crusty ciabatta to soak up the curry. Next time I might stick to regular coconut milk instead of the lite version the recipe calls for. I would have liked the curry to be a bit thicker and creamier.

Before...
...After.
Bon Appetit!

Belated Valentine's Dinner

This was supposed to be our Valentine's dinner, but we ended up stuffing ourselves elsewhere on Sunday. This then became our President's Day dinner.

These beautiful Berkshire pork chops came from John Priske of Fountain Prairie Farms. I originally had my eye on their brisket, but a 7lbs brisket for the two of us was way more than we'll ever need. I went for the appropriately sized pork chops instead.

I barely ever make pork chops. I tend to either undercook them, or dry them out. I like to slow cook my pork. Ribs and butts are best for this. But now that I had these chops, I wanted to make sure I didn't ruin them. I found this recipe - and followed along, making a few changes along the way.


I finished my chops under the broiler: 2 mins on each side giving them a nice char. The end result was delicious. The pork was cooked perfectly - moist and juicy. I topped it with some caramelized onions and the left over salsa from lunch. The potato pancakes was a nice spin on the regular side of potatoes. I roasted the carrots separately - with a bit of honey and Italian spices. Next time I'll go for green beans instead of the carrots - as per Ken's suggestion.

Bon Appetit!

Fish Tacos

My brother is flying out to LA for business today. So we've both been scouring the interwebs to find the best place in LA to get fish tacos. We came across a bunch of places that come highly recommended. We checked out the reviews, the menus and picked out a few that he can check out. But while he gets ready for his flight, I'm left craving some fish tacos! I hadn't had lunch yet, and it so happens I had pretty much everything I would need to make some - so I did! And it only took about 20 mins to make, including the fresh salsa.

Fish Tacos

1 fish fillet, (I had Alaskan Pollack) cut in small pieces
2 corn tortillas
lettuce, shredded
fresh salsa (recipe below)

Dredge the fish in flour and pan-fry with a swig of oil.
Warm up the tortillas in the pan.
Assemble the taco: corn tortilla topped with lettuce, salsa, fish.
Double up on the tortillas if you feel the need. A splash of lime is good too.



Salsa

1 tomato, small dice
1/4 onion, finely diced
small piece of green pepper, diced
5-6 slices marinated jalapenos, chopped
coriander, chopped
salt, pepper


Mix
Pour in a bit of the jalapeno marinating liquid to bring it all together.

Enjoy!

Idlis

Idli = South Indian steamed rice cakes. These can me made plain, to be dunked in a spicy "sambar" lentil soup. Or rava idlis, which have spices added to the batter and are usually eaten with a coconut and green chili chutney. I'm not adventurous enough to make these from scratch. That requires planning at least 3 days ahead of time: soaking the rice for 1 day, grinding it into a paste, and letting it ferment for another before it is ready for making idlis. Instead, I revert to these "just add water" Gits mixes - available in most Indian grocery stores. Just follow the directions on the box for a delicious and healthy meal ready in about 25 mins.



I have a fancy idli maker from India, but you can just make these in a flat bottomed container and cut it up in squares.

The chutney to go with it is pretty simple:

Green Chutney


Green chili + fresh coriander + coconut + pinch of salt + dash of sugar
Add enough water to blend.

Bon Appetit!

Mjeddrah - Lebanese Lentil Rice

I made this a while back, but never got around to posting it. But a friend's request has got me digging into my backed up pictures. Good thing I take pictures of pretty much everything I make!
My first time eating mjeddrah was at Layali Beirut in Astoria. Delicious rice, great kebabs and really good hookahs. Here's my version of the rice:

Lebanese Lentil Rice

1 cup lentils
1 cup rice
3 onions, sliced
salt, cumin, chili powder

Start with caramelizing your onions in a generous amount of olive oil. This is a slow process, make sure its on low heat. Add a dash of salt to bring out the moisture. Keep sauteing till it reaches a dark golden color.
Wash the lentils. Remove any floaters. Add enough water to cover the lentils and boil. Cook the lentils half-way till they are al dente.
Reserve half of the caramelized onions.
To the remaining half onions add the rice and saute.
Add the half cooked lentils, salt, cumin & chili powder and stir to evenly mix.
Add 3 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cover.
Cook till rice and lentils are cooked through - add more water if necessary.
Serve with the reserved onions.

I made a quick zucchini side dish to go with the rice -
zucchini + can of tomatoes + salt, cumin, chili flakes, garlic. Saute all. Serve.

Bon Appetit.

Spaghetti Squash

Doesn't seem like winter is going to be over anytime soon. On the bright side, at least I can enjoy winter squashes some more. Today I'm planning on some spaghetti squash. How awesome is it that you can just "fork" a squash into noodles! I've only tried making this once, but I had no idea what to make of it. I still had no idea this time, but I figured I'll treat it just like pasta. Pesto, ricotta and mozzarella. It looks like mush, but tasted pretty good. Garlic toast completes the meal.

Pesto Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash
2 tbs pesto
1 cup ricotta
1 cup shredded mozzarella
chili flakes
salt

Cut squash lengthwise and bake, cut side down, at 375º for about 45 mins
Remove from oven and let cool to touch. Shread the flesh with a fork.


In a saute pan saute the shredded squash, pesto, chili flakes, ricotta.
Mix well.
Top with mozzarella.

Bon Appetit.

Chicken "wings"

Superbowl special. I made boneless chicken breast white meat "wings". They could have used a bit less time in the oven. I might have dried them out a little - but the overall taste was pretty close to hot wings, without the bones.

Chicken "wings"

Chicken breast, cut into about 2 inch long strips
garlic powder
hot sauce
salt, pepper

Mix all and marinate for at least an hour (more if possible)
Bake on an oiled baking sheet at 375º for 20 mins. Flip and bake for 15 more mins, or until cooked all the way through
Meanwhile, in a microwavable bowl take 1 tbs of butter + hot sauce and nuke till butter melts.
Add the baked chicken to the sauce and toss to coat.
Serve with celery sticks.

Go Saints!

Rice & Beans

A nice and easy meal of rice and beans tonight. Black beans, rice and sazon. I added some chicken & shrimp to the mix. Avocados on top.
Bon Appetit!

Breakfast Souffle

I got a giant log of goat cheese at Whole Foods the other day. I had already made a beet salad and a filled pastry, and now I'm looking for more ways to consume my creamy goat cheese. Souffle. I've always wanted to try making a souffle - so today's the day. Apparently its not as hard as I've always thought it would be. Prep time was about 10 mins.

Spinach, Artichoke & Goat Cheese Souffle

3 egg whites
2 yolks
Spinach, chopped
Artichokes, chopped
Goat Cheese, crumbled
salt, pepper

Beat the egg whites till they're fluffy and form peaks. Don't overdo this part.
Mix the chopped spinach, artichokes, salt & pepper into the yolks. Add a dash of water or milk if necessary.
Crumble in the goat cheese and stir.
Fold the mix into the white. Do not stir, fold in. Try not to deflate the fluff.
Pour into buttered ramekins ( I used 2 medium sized pyrex bolws)


Bake at 375º for about 20 mins.

Note: Let it cool a bit before you dig in, or that melting cheese will singe your tongue.

These refrigerate well. So if you make them ahead of time, just nuke them when you're ready to eat.

Bon Apetite