Out Of The Garden

I am taking a brief break for my daughter’s play week and also to try and resolve my computer problems. I will be back with surprises from near and far… I have been the lucky recipient of several surprise packages lately and I can’t wait to show!

Now that I can upload photos again, at least from work, I will leave you with some of my favorite Michigan photos. My wandering foot is itching for the end of May and a trip home

Enjoy the lovely spring weather and I’ll be back soon!

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wagner falls near munising

tahquamenon falls near paradise

summer storm brewing on the big lake

lighthouse at old mission point ~ traverse city

goldenrod near lake michigan

ore boat in the st. clair river

rapid river in antrim county

the beautiful au sable river near oscoda

asparagus with creamy yogurt sauce

Look mom… photos upload again!! At least from my work computer… hmm.

I was so happy to see the announcement of Jihva for Love at Jigyasa and Pratibha’s new blog, whose food we eat, their song we sing. I knew in an instant that I would make something from my grandmother’s kitchen.

My youthful palate was raised on plenty of tuna noodle casserole and dry, overcooked chicken, in a house where dad concocted scary-looking meals for himself from things like eggs mixed with cottage cheese and sour cream
(he baked this in a big black spider and called it an omelette!). There were other, tastier things of course, but the memories I have of my mother’s kitchen don’t involve her special cooking as much as they do her special caring. My mother is a nurse and her gifts and talent lie in a different realm. I could never muster the combination of patience, compassion and steel stomach necessary in her job — one she still performs with great aptitude at 72 years of age. I mention this so that you don’t mistake my less-than-enthusiatic remarks regarding the kitchen of ‘home’ for lack of pride, respect, and love for my dear mom! She still makes the best potato salad ever

So while my mother’s kitchen held, and still holds, warm conversation and hot tea late at night, the best food of my childhood was mostly to be had ‘down the cape’ at nana’s. Bluefish fresh from the sound, wrapped in newsprint and left on the front lawn by the neighbors to be grilled with mustard on the old charcoal grill out back. Portugese sweet bread, hot and fresh from the bakery uptown and munched in the old Ford Falcon on the way home. Spicy stuffed quahogs and fresh corn on the cob rolled in melted butter, dripping off the paper plates onto the weathered picnic table… and always at the last, rhubarb dipped in sugar! But those were summertime treats.

For Jihva, I wanted to make nana’s white sauce. This most basic of recipes, the first real sauce I learned to make, consists of flour cooked in butter — a roux — which acts as a thickener for hot milk poured over. Oh yes, I can hear the chorus of “ah ha! That’s just bechamel sauce!” swimming faintly through the ether. And bechamel sauce it was. But Nana sauteed green onions in her butter, before adding the flour, and that made it special. She served it over hot boiled potatoes. How perfect in its simplicity!

In the chill of winter, nana’s simple dish of potatoes in white sauce, cooked together with her guiding hand holding mine, was a gourmet delight. Served unpretentiously (as the best food is!) on her everyday stoneware with the green band around the rim, with a little dish of boiled cabbage in vinegar on the side, this homely meal seemed the stuff that dreams were made of.

Indeed, that dream of yesteryear is still fresh in my mind, taking me back to nana’s kitchen where we sat playing gin-rummy into the night, often over a glass of wine when I was older, talking of her childhood in Canada and the days when papa was alive, mom and my aunt and uncles were young, and their huge garden stretched all the way to where the church now sits two doors down.

Back to the slightly smaller yard where we spent our summers, where nana sat in the shade of an old crab-apple tree on a hot sunny day and watched us kids, chasing a wayward volleyball or badminton birdie into the vegetable patches, and called out in her trademark sing-song way … “out of the garden!!”

I can hear her now.

Thank you, dear Jigyasa and Pratibha, for this wonderful opportunity to relive some sweet memories

~~~~~

Asparagus is a spring-time treat I can’t resist. When I saw Happy Cook’s recipe for Asperges op z’n Vlaams, I immediately thought of my grandmother. She loved spring asparagus, and something in this simple recipe made me think of her. I thought to spice up nana’s white sauce in Indian fashion, and serve it over asparagus and eggs a la Happy Cook. What started out as bechamel ended up almost a kadhi, I think.

Since Jihva for Love is featuring vegan dishes, you may of course omit the eggs

Asparagus and Eggs with Spicy Yogurt Sauce

8-10 spears fresh asparagus
1-2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (use only the whites, if you prefer)

For the sauce:

2 TB butter or ghee
1 small onion, finely diced
2 TB besan
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 - 1 tsp tsp kashmiri chile powder
pinch turmeric

1 c yogurt, beaten smooth with 1/4 c water

salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to garnish

~~~

Cook the asparagus: snap off the tough ends where they break naturally and save to use in vegetable stock — drop the tender spears into boiling water and cook 2-3 minutes. Rinse immediately in cold water to retain lovely green color. Drain well and hold aside.

In a saucepan, heat the butter or ghee over medium heat and add the chopped onion. Fry slowly until turning golden, then add the besan and cumin, chile powder and turmeric. Saute a moment to cook the besan, then remove from the heat and whisk in the beaten yogurt. Return to low heat and cook until slightly thickened. Do not boil. Add salt to taste and adjust the chile powder if needed.

Place the asparagus on a warm plate and sprinkle the chopped egg over. Cover with the warm yogurt sauce. Garnish with fresh ground black pepper, if desired, and for a spot of beautiful color and flavor, sprinkle some of ISG’s onion pickle over all.

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And speaking of tributes — I want to wish Happy Blog-birthday to Daily Musings, that marvelous creation from which I have learned so much! There are few places I manage to visit daily, and Daily Musings is one. With her characteristic intelligence and dry wit, IndoSunGod keeps us informed and amused, not to mention swimming in spicy gravy when we’re not swimming virtually in the Cauvery River! Wishing you many more happy blogging days, dearest ISG

symphony in stainless steel ~ shaheen’s malabar chicken biryani

And it only took three days! This post took three days to complete, that is — the biryani took the better part of one evening and *that* was an evening well-spent!

It appears that WordPress has reactivated the old functional photo uploader –
o joy, o happy day! I have been so discouraged by the change (it was a perfectly fabulous dashboard until a couple of weeks ago) that I haven’t had the heart to spend hours and hours on a post without photos. I know beggars can’t be choosers, and WordPress is a free blogging service — but as my wise uncle used to say: “If it ain’t broke, why fix it”?

It seems much better tonight, so I have hope. I guess it’s true that a picture paints a thousand words — at least on a food blog!

perfect harmony ~ luscious malabar chicken biryani in the making

Recently, I was the fortunate recipient of some super-fragrant homemade biryani masala from Shaheen’s kitchen. Last night Three days ago I carefully copied down her recipe for Malabar Chicken Biryani, and set to work.

I have never made a biryani, and what I learned is, biryani sings.

A carefully orchestrated ensemble of herbs and spices, whole and ground, are arranged in perfect proportion to draw out the mellow bass notes of rich, dark chicken. The feisty alto combination of fresh ginger, garlic, and chiles chases the sweet soprano of melted ghee, redolent with toasted onions, nuts, and fruits.
Layer this together and the flavors will harmonize perfectly, resulting in a dish that is nothing short of a symphony for your taste buds!

I followed Shaheen’s recipe with a only two minor changes:

I did not have white basmati rice, and I didn’t want to use brown, so I used sona masuri. I noticed that ISG made a yummy-looking biryani with seeraga samba rice, plus Shaheen mentioned a special rice called Kaima, so I figured I was on safe ground here.
I did not have mint (who me, out of an ingredient for a dish I want to make RIGHT NOW?? never…!), so I chopped up some spinach and mixed that in with the cilantro. Not the same flavor, obviously, but! If you follow this recipe and make Shaheen’s ginger-garlic-chile masala as I did, between that and all the other herbs and spices, you won’t miss the mint. I promise.

Shaheen’s malabar chicken biryani with ISG’s pickled onions, spinach raita, and papad ~ sing along!

arusuvai surprises from shaheen

A package arrived to spice up my dull work-week ~ Arusuvai from Shaheen of the delicious blog Malabar Spices. Missing from the photo above are the two *huge* yummy chocolate bars she sent along with the savory seasonings — my daughter and her friends made short work of the candy! Arusuvai Friendship Chain began with these lovely ladies: Latha and her family at The Yum Blog along with Bharathy of Spicy Chilly and Bhags of Crazy Curry. It was introduced in the US by dear Latha of Masala Magic. Thanks to you all, once more for this fun idea!

Along with the chocolate, Shaheen sent these lovely bright red South Indian chillies. And the “mystery” was a batch of her special biryani masala ~ so fragrant I could smell it even before I opened the package! Thank you so much Shaheen, for all these wonderful treats! I can’t wait to make a real biryani

I am still having problems with blogging. WordPress has rolled out some interesting new features which I am still learning — but I am so frustrated because I can’t always upload photos with the new setup! Therefore I haven’t been blogging much. I’m still ‘live and kickin’ so hope things are back to normal soon! One delightful discovery I did make this week is A Tribute To Pedatha, a new blog from dear Jigyasa and Pratibha, authors of the beautiful Cooking At Home with Pedatha. They jumped right in too — hosting the May 2008 installment of Jihva — “Jihva For Love”. How fitting

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The kitties have been resting comfortably in this fickle near-spring weather… a few crocuses have bloomed and it’s time to be thinking of garden seeds once more. I can’t wait!

pinkie ~ lounging around

daisy is ready for a vacation…

Lastly but certainly not least, I hope I am in time for April’s Jihva For Garlic, hosted by Mathy Kandasamy at her lovely blog Virundhu.
This is an extremely simple dish, hardly even a recipe, but one that turns pungent garlic to mellow earthy goodness. I am sure many of you have seen it before: roasted garlic.

With this new dashboard, I am photoless for garlic if I hope to make the deadline

UPDATED with pics on April 15!

roasted garlic on green depression glass

Spritz or drizzle a little oil on a fresh head of garlic, and bake at 300F until soft — about 20-30 min. Allow it to cool slightly before squeezing the soft, buttery garlic from its skin. You can mash it and use as is, or add salt, lemon, or any other seasoning that strikes your fancy. Delicious added to soups or stews, or just as a spread for warm bread.

buttery golden roasted garlic, ready to spread on toast

Thank you Mathy, for choosing delightful Garlic for Jihva!

mystery from mandira

For me, the best part of blogging isn’t the food, it’s the people.

It would be so easy to toss up some recipes for nameless, faceless folks to read — but where is the fun in that? Here across the ether, it’s somehow easy to sense a kindred spirit, and countless friendships spring up as we share snippets of our lives: tales of kids and pets, gardening tips, healthy doses of humor and more. Food is tastier when sauced with friendship, and ‘here’, I like to think I am cooking for my friends

One special person I am fortunate to call a friend is dear Mandira of Ahaar.
A fellow Michigander with a generous spirit and a way with words, Mandira’s imaginitave writing and cooking inspire me every time I visit her lovely blog.

Thank you Mandira, for including me in the Arusuvai Friendship Chain!

The Arusuvai Friendship Chain was started by Latha and her family at
The Yum Blog along with Bharathy of Spicy Chilly and Bhags of Crazy Curry.
Thanks to all of you ladies, for this wonderful idea.

I love Latha’s descrption: “Arusuvai means six tastes (aru=six, suvai=taste) in Tamizh and is used to refer for Tasty preparation with six tastes - inippu/ thithippu (sweet), orappu/ karam (hot), kassappu (bitter) , pulippu (sour), uppu(salt), tuvarpu (tastes that one gets in raw leaves)”. I received many of these tastes in my package!

My surprise mystery-melange was a super-fresh and fragrant bag of that beloved spice mixture unique to Bengal — panch phoron! For something different, I dry-roasted some of this and ground it to a powder. Then I used the powder to season a dish of paneer and potatoes, simply cooked with onion, tomato, and very little else. Needless to say the panch phoron turned the simple into the sublime!

Notes:

I first read about dry roasting panch phoron in Sandeepa’s post,
My Spice ~ Panch Phoron. Because the recipe uses this classic Bengali blend, I will send it off to Bong Mom’s Cookbook for RCI: Bengal. So nice to see you around, Sandeepa!

The gravy is heavily based on Sudha’s Paneer Butter Masala.
Hope all’s well with you Sudha

fresh and fragrant ~ panch phoron

Paneer and Potatoes with Panch Phoron

12 cubes paneer (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 - 1 cup cubed boiled potato
1 big onion, peeled, blanched, and ground to a paste
1/2 c tomato puree (I used 6 ice cubes of fresh tomato puree from the freezer, thanks coffee!)

1 tsp panch phoron, dry roasted and ground
1/2 -1 tsp kashmiri chile powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste

2-3 tsp butter
2 TB half and half cream (optional)
water as needed

~~~

Heat half the butter in a small frying pan and brown the paneer. Remove and in the same pan, brown the potatoes. Remove and add the remaining butter. Saute the onion paste until brown. Add ground spices and stir a few minuntes, adding water if the mixture is too thick (I needed about 1/2 cup water in all). Add tomato puree and cream, if using. Cook a few minutes until thickened, then fold in the paneer and potatoes. Add salt to taste. Serve hot with any bread.

spicy paneer and potatoes with panch phoron

For my part, I will be passing the chain along to ISG and Cynthia… what fun!

Also, my apologies for not replying to those of you who commented on my last post — I have been having an awful time with WordPress and my computer in general. Pages are not loading as they should. Imagine what we all did before the internet! Thank you for all the kind words about my ’sunrise from home’

sunrise over lake huron ~ still in winter’s grasp

What would we do without them! Lucky me, I’m headed off for a short break to the shores of Lake Huron. Next week, I’ll be cooking up something yummy with my surprise from dear Mandira of Ahaar, who kindly sent me a package as part of the Arusuvai Friendship Chain!

Have a great weekend!

sailing out into stormy Lake Huron

lightened-up lazeez lauki

For a long time now, I have been drooling over this recipe for Lazeez Lauki.

Since I struggle with my weight under the best of circumstances (and lately it’s been worse!), I couldn’t even contemplate the rich filling — paneer, nuts of all description, khoya, fried onions… egads!

Then I happened upon this yummy version of stuffed bottlegourd by our own
dear Richa, and she referenced yet another version by Tarla Dalal.

Armed with inspiration, I set out to make a lightened-up Lazeez Lauki.

To begin, I used mashed potato in place of the khoya. I wasn’t sure what it would taste like, but mixed with the rest of the stuffing goodies, you could hardly tell it was potato. I did, of course, use a few nuts and sweet little sultanas!
To make the potato creamy, I added a small amount of lowfat yogurt.

I used this delicious store-bought lowfat paneer. Rather than grating it to disappear in the potato, I cut it into small cubes and browned those with the nuts and raisins. Leaving the paneer in chunks also allowed me to use much less;
since you actually see and bite into it, you really know it’s there.

In the whole recipe I used only one teaspoon of ghee. I suppose I could have made it even healthier with canola oil. I find when using only a small amount of fat in a dish, the taste of pure ghee really makes it shine and you don’t feel like you’ve deprived yourself of something yummy

A simple sweet-spicy tomato sauce contrasted perfectly with the bland bottlegourd and its smooth filling studded with nuts, fruit and cheese.

All in all a successful experiment!

~~~

Lightened-up Lazeez Lauki

1 medium lauki/doodhi/sorakaya/bottlegourd

For the filling:

1 large potato
2 TB lowfat yogurt
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
optional: a few chopped cilantro leaves

1 tsp ghee
1/4 c chopped onion
3 oz lowfat paneer
1 TB nuts of your choice (I used cashew pieces and charoli nuts)
1 TB sultanas

For the sauce:

2 c fresh tomato puree (from about 3-4 big tomatoes)
1 tsp grated ginger
1 stick cinnamon
few cloves
1 tsp kashmiri chili powder (or to taste)
1-2 lumps jaggery
pinch salt

~~~

Prepare the lauki by washing, peeling, and cooking in pressure cooker, kettle of boiling water, or microwave just until fork tender. Don’t overcook it like I did the first time as it’s already full of water! They don’t call this the water gourd for nothing

Set aside to drain and cool. Once cool enough to handle, slice off the large end and then using a knife with a long, thin blade, cut out the seeds and surrounding flesh, leaving a shell about 1/4″ thick. You can use a spoon to get the last of the seeds. Let this shell drain while preparing the filling and sauce.

Wash, peel, and cook the potato in boiling water or the microwave.
While hot, mash the potato with yogurt, garam masala, cilantro leaves if using, and salt to taste. Set aside. ** (see note below)

Cut the paneer into small cubes.

In a small frying pan, heat the ghee and add the chopped onion. Cook slowly over med-low heat until translucent. Raise the heat to medium and add paneer cubes, nuts and sultanas. Fry this mixture, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes or until everything is toasty golden brown. Remove the mixture to the potato bowl and mix gently to combine. Reserve the ghee in the pan.

When the filling is cool enough to handle, gently stuff the lauki full as it will hold. Any leftover filling is the cook’s treat

Heat the pan with reserved ghee, adding a spray or two of Pam if there isn’t enough ghee left. Gently brown the stuffed lauki on all sides. Take out onto a plate and let it rest while you make the sauce.

In the same pan over med-low, fry the ginger with the cinnamon and cloves for a few minutes, then add the tomato puree and chili powder. Let this simmer over low heat for 15 minutes or so, until the tomatoes thicken a little. Taste and add jaggery — 1 or 2 lumps depending on how sour the tomatoes are. Add a pinch of salt and cook a further 15 minutes. Stir well and correct the seasoning.

To serve, slice the stuffed lauki about 1/2 inch thick. Ladle some sauce onto a warm plate and place the lauki slices on top.

lazeez lauki ~ light version in sweet-spicy tomato sauce

**Note: I don’t know what possessed me to put chopped cilantro into this filling. It didn’t belong and you could hardly even taste it. That’s what I get for reading 37 recipes before trying to cook something myself…

Now this last photo is a suggestion for those creative kids over at Jugalbandi — a “Click” theme idea for somewhere down the road: dishes that match your dishes. I’m ready when you are. How about it guys??

matching dishes

And oh, look! I’ve been missing my blog-hopping — I just discovered I can send this to darling Sia for her Ode To Potatoes! Whew! I have missed a few events, but it’s nice to make this one. Can’t wait to see all your potato delicacies, Sia!

“The water is wide, I cannot get o’er
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat, that will carry two
And both shall row, my love and I … ”

~ originally an old Scots song

Beauty lingers long after the sun has set…

~~~

In memory of Pedatha.

a spot of springtime in February~ palappam ~ sunny side up
served on a canary-yellow twisted optic plate by Imperial Glass, circa 1927

The photo above is my entry for Click ~ Flour over at Jugalbandi,
home of multi-talented and sweet souls Bee and Jai.

~~~~~

It’s been a lonnnnnng winter.

Today the thermometer stretched its weary wings and nearly touched 60F.

And the skies opened.

No time to feel dreary due to rain, thanks to holidays from work and school. Instead, there was time to play at whatever we chose. For me of course, it was in the kitchen. Yes, this warm spring-like day was a welcome respite, however brief, however soggy; a happy reminder of more good things to come in the spring sunshine. The sun even made an appearance while I was taking pics — surely a good omen

the flip side

Long ago while blog-hopping, I came across a plate of beautiful palappams at Memories and Meals. In her post, Nav told of the sun making a long-awaited appearance, inspiring her to hop up and make the soft cakes.
Then she asked “Do you want to make them too”?.

“Of course I want to make them! But I hardly dare…” I said.

Nav replied so kindly, encouraging me. And oh, how I wanted to make them! Somehow I could never get up the courage to attempt it. I always remembered her kind words, and every so often I went back to gaze at the beautiful palappams — wishing I didn’t feel so intimidated by a bowl full of ground rice and coconut.

Oh, I had all the excuses. I didn’t have a mixie to grind rice. I didn’t have a chatti. Blah, blah. Let’s face it — I was a palappam dropout before I began! I got so worked up about it, I couldn’t bring myself to try. It seemed the fluffy snow-white palappams were destined to remain a delicacy untasted.

Now, year and a half later, I am not so timid (read: I have learned to actually *follow* a recipe, at least the first time!). I have a new mixie.
A few weeks ago I found a bag of roasted rice flour from Kerala, and an ‘appam chatti’ — a small, deep, non-stick frying pan I spotted at Home Goods. The rice flour saved me tackling the soaking and grinding that I tend to fear (not having made a decent dosa yet, when beginning from scratch like that!).

Having the flour on hand, I followed Gini’s super-easy palappam recipe. The only change I made was to use ‘lite’ coconut milk. I don’t have basis for comparison, but the batter rose like a charm.

I was so excited!

The ‘chatti’ worked perfectly ~ a quick swipe with an oiled paper towel and the palappams literally slid out onto the plate.

Did I mention I was so excited about these!

ta daa ~ a bright day indeed, with palappam!

Shn’s eshtu ~ perfect with palappams

To go with the palappams, I made Shn’s creamy-rich potato stew.
Again, I followed her recipe almost to the letter — the only change I made was to add a healthy measure of freshly cracked black pepper just before I turned off the stove. The combination was out-of-this-world fantastic — thanks so much Gini and Shn! And thanks to you dear Nav, wherever you are — I never would have tried palappams without you!

palappams with eshtu ~ for sunshine on a rainy day

~~~~~