Grilled tomato, grilled mushrooms, grilled pizza

One thing I've learned since we moved to the Midwest, other than learning how to drive, is grilling. I never had or used a grill before we won it (yes, we won our grill in a raffle, our first month in Madison).  It's a gas grill, much easier and quicker than charcoal. And I love how I can throw anything on the grill and it just tastes awesome. Without heating up the kitchen.

Here is another attempt at grilled pizza. This time I grilled the tomatoes separately, the mushrooms separately, and the pizza base separately. Then assembled it all along with fresh basil (from our patio), slivers of sweet onion and fresh mozzarella.

I cannot begin to explain the taste and texture grilling brings to the base. With a nice crispy char on the bottom and soft melting cheese on top - this creation is one of the best pizzas I've made. Do I say that every time I make pizza? Hmmm...

Double Cheesy Mac

I've been living in Wisconsin for about 10 months now. Cheese has become a part of my everyday food. And I'm surprised that it took me 10 months to get around to making mac & cheese! Kraft has been my only source of mac all through childhood. I remember going to my friend's place for play-dates, and eating kraft mac & cheese with cut-up hotdogs. Thinking back at those memories, I've tried Kraft again as an adult - and its been so disappointing. I've never made mac & cheese from scratch, but now seemed like a better time than any to try my hand at it.

First things first, the cheese. Cheddar is the way to go. Its traditional and its what gives it the nice yellow hue. I picked out a nice sharp Wisconsin cheddar. Plus a bit of Asiago for an added dimension. I went with a rotini rather than the macaroni. I don't think it makes a huge difference, but the curves in the rotini will hold the sauce pretty good. Shred the cheese, cook the pasta and have it ready to go. Since you'll be baking it, cook the pasta al dente.

I picked up some Nueske's applewood smoked bacon especially for this. Render the bacon and set aside.

Dice onions and saute in the bacon fat (why waste?) Add a sprig of rosemary and saute til golden brown.

Slowly sprinkle in flour to make a roux. Grab a whisk and keep whisking till the flour is browned and cooked. Add milk, while continuously whisking to make sure you don't get a lumpy sauce. Re-introduce the bacon and add in all the shredded cheddar and half of the asiago. Remove from heat and stir to a smooth cheese sauce. Add in the seasonings - salt, pepper, red pepper flakes.

Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Transfer it all to an oven-safe dish. Preheat the oven to 375º, set the dish in center rack for about 30 mins.

While the pasta bakes, prepare the topping. Panko breadcrumbs + asiago. After 30 mins, add the topping and bake for another 15 mins or until its nice and golden brown.

The cheesy goodness with a crunchy panko crust is fantasa-blastic! Kraft has nothing on this amazing creation. 

Grilled Ratatouille

I am loving my summer bounty from the CSA. Freshly picked organic seasonal veggies. Not to mention the ones that won't stop growing in our own garden. This weeks box brought some sweet corn, fennel, peppers, eggplant, sweet onions and fresh garlic. It was time to make a veggie loaded dish. Ratatouille came to mind. The dish, not the movie. "Ratatouille. It's like a stew, right? Why do they call it that? If you're gonna name a food, you should give it a name that sounds delicious. Ratatouille doesn't sound delicious. It sounds like "rat" and "patootie." Rat-patootie, which does not sound delicious." Oh Pixar, you are so entertaining!

I didn't need the oven to heat up the whole apartment when its already at a balmy 80º indoors. So I opted for twist on the idea. A grilled ratatouille. Its technically not a ratatouille at all, as there are no tomatoes. But I'll call it that regardless.
I sliced everything quite thick -
Zucchini
Summer squash
Fennel
Eggplant
Sweet onions
Red & Green peppers
Garlic (sliced down the middle)
Corn (on the cob)

Tossed everything with olive oil, salt and fresh chopped thyme and oregano. On to the grill.

Once I had a char on everything, I diced up the veggies into bite-size pieces. Corn got shucked. Garlic got minced. Mix everything a bowl. I adjusted the salt, added an extra swirl of olive oil and topped it with a chiffonade of basil. Summer in a bowl.
Bon appetit!

Braised Cucumbers

If I thought the zucchini was bad, I had no idea what I had in store for me. These cucumbers are relentless. We're reaping about 12-15 huge cukes every week. I promise I'll only plant one seed next year. One cucumber seed, one zucchini seed, one bean and one tomato. Come next year, if I diverge from this decision, please feel free bring me to my senses.

 All these cucumbers reminded me of that part from the movie Julie & Julia, where they mention braised cucumbers. What? Who cooks cucumbers? My thoughts exactly. So I had to look it up, and of course got a whole list of bloggers who had tried making this after watching the movie. How original! Phissh. 

Julia's recipe is pretty simple. Chop cukes. Saute in butter. Add salt and pepper and lemon juice. Voila!

I don't know if I liked this or not. It definitely was a very interesting dish. Very odd eating warm cucumbers. Yet, I couldn't form a definite opinion on whether is was good-interesting or bad-interesting. At this point, I think I might have to try making this again, and see if that helps. If only I had more cucumbers...oh wait! If you try it, do let me know what you think.

Grilled Zucchini

So we know nothing about planting vegetable. We're city folk, we eat what other people grow. But when we had the option to have our own vegetable plot, we jumped on it. And now we're overwhelmed. Apparently we're not supposed to plat the entire packet of zucchini and squash seeds in the same spot. Who knew?

Now we're making zucchini/squashes part of all of our meals. Or making them the entire meal. Grilled. With a bit of olive oil, salt, red pepper, garlic and pepper. Yum.

Guest Series: My Mother's Butter Chicken

My parents are visiting us from India. And that usually means a whole lot of yummy food that my mom cooks from scratch. She takes requests pretty much everyday and makes sure to satisfy all of our whims and fancies. I haven't been taking any pictures or documenting any of her recipes, since I'm usually too busy pigging out. Why waste time with pictures, when you can be stuffing yourself silly with all this goodness? 

As they're packing up they're stuff and getting ready for the long trip back home, one of our final requests was for Butter Chicken. Also known as Chicken Tikka Masala, its a very mildly spiced, but creamy sauce of onions and tomatoes, with succulent pieces of yogurt marinated chicken. It's simple, yet complex layers of flavors are just divine. I had to make sure to get my camera out, get her secret (well, not that secret) recipe and make sure I can make this over and over again.

So without further ado, I start my special guest series with my mom's famous Butter Chicken

Step 1: The chicken

The chicken is marinated in a spiced yogurt sauce and the roasted in the oven. The marinade contains:

Plain yogurt

Garlic paste

Ginger paste

Green chili paste

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Turmeric

Red chili powder

Salt

Cut up your chicken into bite size pieces and marinate overnight or less depending on your time constraints. The longer it marinates the better it tastes. Although its not going to be terrible if it only sits for 4 hours.

Step 2: The gravy

Meanwhile, get started on the curry part. While we're on the subject, let me clarify some American misconceptions about "curry". Curry is not a dish. Curry not a spice either. Chicken curry is not something you find in India and neither is curry powder. Curry pretty much means a gravy. It means the sauce that the meat/vegetable/cheese is covered in. It could be yogurt based, cream based, tomato based, or broth based. It could even just be water. Nobody in India knows what "curry powder" is. And no Indian (including myself) will ever use it. People in India make their own spice blends while the cook. So stop claiming you make Indian food when all you do is add a pinch of generic curry powder to stuff (you know who you are!)

So where was I...ah, the curry. This is what you'll need:
Sliced onions
Garlic
Ginger
A can of tomato sauce, or peeled tomatos
Turmeric
Chili powder
Cumin powder
Coriander powder
Salt
optional - Kasuri Methi (more on this later)

The curry starts with a pat of butter. Even though its called "butter" chicken, it surprisingly only needs about a tablespoons worth. Add in a bit of oil and start on caramelizing the sliced onions. You want these onions a nice dark brown, without burning then. So keep the heat low.

Meanwhile, get the chicken in the oven. Spread out on a baking dish, a drop or two of oil, just so that it doesn't stick. Set in the oven at 375º for about 30-40 mins. Turn once, about 3/4 way through.

Back to the onions. Once these are caramelized, add the rest of the ingredients - chopped garlic and ginger, turmeric, chili powder, cumin powder, coriander seed powder. Mix in and then add a can of tomato sauce. Fresh tomatoes, canned diced or sauce is also acceptable. Doesn't really matter what kind you use. 

If you have it, you may add a generous pinch of Kasuri Methi. Methi is called fenugreek in English. It is a leafy green, used in a lot in India. The dried leaves, called Kasuri Methi have a bitter taste and a characteristically strong smell. It more of an aromatic addition to the dish, than flavor. So easily omitted.

Once everything is sauted, remove from heat and cool for a few minutes. Transfer contents to a blender and blend to a thick paste. Sparingly use water or milk to facilitate the blending. 

You'll get an idea of the consistency here.

Transfer the paste to the pan and saute some more. Add a whole pint of cream (!) slowly into the paste and blend in. Let it come to a slow simmer. 

Don't forget about to check on the chicken in the oven.

You don't need it to get brown, just soft, tender and cooked through.

In goes the chicken into the gravy. Mix well, and bring to a boil.

At this point you can keep this and eat it the next day. The flavors develop even more. But who am I kidding? How can you possibly resist this yumminess?

Serve with hot-of-the-pan rotis and cool raw onions and lime. Enjoy! And thank my mom for the wonderful recipe.

Banh Meatless

I had the "Banh Meatless" at the Mermaid cafe and was blown away by its tastiness. A vegetarian take on the Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich. So instead of the traditional roast pork its marinated tofu. I'm not sure if they then fry this tofu, but it sure has a very meaty texture to it. I always walk in there thinking I'll try something new, but who am I kidding - I just want a juicy banh meatless. Now that I don't get around to the east side as much, I need to find a replacement for my banh meatless fix. 

The first step was to prep the tofu. I used medium firm tofu, sliced up in about 1/2 inch thick slices. Place these on a paper towel in a single layer. Top off with another paper towel, another plate and a weight. I used 2 large cans of beans to weigh it down. This should help remove a little extra moisture from the tofu. I left this contraption in the fridge for about 2 hours. 

Meanwhile I looked up a few recipes for the marinade. Many had lemongrass as the main ingredient. I had no idea where I might find lemongrass around here, so I just disregarded that step and made up my own mix of ingredients.

Into the blender goes:
Garlic scapes
Garlic
Ginger
Parsley (cilantro would have been better, but parsley is what I had)
Scallion
Green chili

Chop finely, and the add:
Sesame oil
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
Rice wine vinegar

Make a paste and slather it on to the tofu. Let it sit for as long as you can wait. I waited for 10 mins. I'm sure longer would be better. At this point I considered baking the tofu. But I was getting impatient and went with a pan fry instead.

The rest of the sandwich consisted of a toasted a demi baguette and a slaw part was just some shredded kohlrabi and red cabbage with lemon juice.

Next time around I'll keep some marinade for the sandwich. I might even make the marinade a bit thinner. Maybe a dash more soy sauce. Not the same as Mermaid Cafe, but I'm heading in the right direction.