Category Archives: Food

Food

Spiced Mango Chutney With Chillies

Spiced Mango Chutney With Chiles

INGREDIENTS

  • 5 pounds mangoes
  • 1 cup, or 7 ounces, golden raisins (or dried cranberries, cherries or apricots)
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup, or 7 ounces, brown sugar
  • ½ cup finely minced onion
  • ¼ cup peeled, finely minced fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seed
  • 6 cardamom pods, seeds extracted
  • 6 Kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 4-inch Chinese long red hot chile, or to taste
  • 1 4-inch serrano chile, or to taste

 

PREPARATION

  1. Peel and dice the mangoes to yield 5 cups, or 2 pounds 4 ounces.
  2. Sterilize jars by running them through a dishwasher cycle, leaving them inside until ready to fill.
  3. In a large, heavy, nonreactive pot, stir together mangoes, raisins, vinegar, brown sugar, onion and ginger together. Crush the mustard, coriander and cardamom seeds with the side of your knife or a rolling pin. Add to the pot and stir well. Add the lime leaves.
  4. Wearing gloves, slice the chiles into rings. Remove seeds if you wish. Decide how much chile suits your taste. (If you are heat averse, start with half the recommended amount and taste. The chiles may be omitted altogether for a sweeter chutney.)
  5. Bring heat up to medium and stir occasionally as mixture comes to a boil. Bring to a good hard boil, stirring all the time. Cook for 25 minutes, being careful to avoid sticking and burning as the mixture thickens. Adjust heat as needed without losing the boil and continue to stir.
  6. After 25 minutes, the mixture should be thick, with the fruit suspended in the tangy syrup, and a spoon pulled along the bottom of the pot leaving a trail. Turn off heat and discard the lime leaves.
  7. Ladle the hot chutney into warm jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Run a plastic knife gently around inside of jar to remove any air bubbles. Recheck headspace. Wipe jar rims clean with a damp towel. Place lids on jars, screw on rings and lower jars back into pot of boiling water. Return to full boil and boil jars for 15 minutes. Transfer jars to a folded towel and let cool for 12 hours; you should hear them ping as they seal.
  8. Once cool, test seals by removing rings and lifting jars by their flat lids. If the lid releases, the seal has not formed. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a month, or reprocessed. (Rings and jars may be reused, but a new flat lid must be used each time jars are processed.) To reprocess, reheat syrup to boiling then continue as before.
Food

Korean Fried Cauliflower

Korean fried cauliflower, a fiery, ketchupy exclamation point of a dish and God given proof that heaven is deep fried. Toasted sesame seeds garnish the tempura-fried vegetable, which in other realms is often relegated to a much more mundane treatment.

Korean Fried Cauliflower

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • 1 ½ tablespoons gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 6 cloves garlic, puréed
  • 3 tablespoons red yuzu kosho
  • ¼ cup mirin

FOR THE TEMPURA BATTER:

  • 140 grams (1 cup) tempura flour or tempura batter mix
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 150 grams (1 scant cup or 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon) potato starch
  • 150 grams (1 cup plus 3 tablespoons) Japanese wheat flour or karaage ko

FOR THE CAULIFLOWER:

  • Canola oil, as needed for deep-frying
  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into 2-inch florets
  • Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
  • Lime wedges, for garnish

PREPARATION

  1. Make the sauce: In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the gochujang, sugar, garlic, yuzu kosho, mirin and 1 cup water. Simmer until thickened slightly and reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside at room temperature. Sauce may be made up to two weeks ahead and stored covered and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before serving.
  2. Make the tempura batter: Fill a pitcher with 1 3/4 cups ice-cold water, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the tempura flour (or batter mix), egg yolk and 1 cup of the water. Whisk to blend, then add the potato starch, wheat flour and remaining 3/4 cup water. The mixture should have the consistency of thin pancake batter.
  3. Fill a deep fryer or large pot halfway with canola oil and bring to 350 degrees. Coat the florets with the batter, and (working in batches if necessary) deep-fry until florets have a dark golden crust, 2 to 3 minutes. The crust should be crispy while the cauliflower retains some crunch.
  4. Remove browned florets from oil and drain on paper towels. Transfer to a warmed platter and drizzle thoroughly with sauce. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and lime wedges. Serve hot.
Food

Lentil Salad With Roasted Vegetables

A simple salad made by combining lentils (can be pre-cooked) with some vegetables you’ve roasted in the over. As with all salads, the key is the dressing.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE LENTIL SALAD:

  • 1 small whole acorn squash, peeled if desired, halved, seeded and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 medium celeriac, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 small beets, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 sprig rosemary, cut in half
  • 2 cups brown or green lentils
  • 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

FOR THE SHERRY VINAIGRETTE:

  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, more to taste
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed

FOR SERVING:

  • 2 heads radicchio, sliced
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced (whites and greens)
  • Parsley, roughly chopped, for garnish
  • Flaky sea salt, to taste
  • Cracked black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tangerine, halved and seeded

PREPARATION

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place vegetables in one layer on one or two large rimmed baking pans, toss with olive oil and salt. Place thyme and rosemary on top of vegetables, cover pans with foil and roast for 25 minutes. Remove foil, stir in bacon and bake for 30 to 40 minutes longer, until vegetables are tender and golden all over.
  2. In a large pot, combine lentils, 6 cups water, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until lentils are tender.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard and salt. Then whisk in olive oil.
  4. Drain lentils and discard bay leaf; keep or discard garlic as you like. Toss lentils with half of the sherry vinaigrette while still warm. Add more salt, olive oil and vinegar as needed.
  5. Toss radicchio with enough of remaining vinaigrette to lightly coat it and arrange it on a platter. Combine lentils and roasted vegetables, adding more of the vinaigrette to taste; spoon mixture on top of radicchio. Garnish with scallions, parsley, sea salt and black pepper. Squeeze tangerine juice over the lentils and drizzle with more olive oil if needed.
Food

Marble Bundt Cake

Continuing to explore the options for my new bundt tin, I had a go at making a marble bundt, basically two slightly less wet cake mixtures added spoon by spoon and vaguely stirred with a chopstick. Cake making for dummies that looks pretty expert.
The only difficulty is the need to convert from American cups (why?) to metric.

 Prepare time:

 Cook:

INGREDIENTS

  • All purpose flour – 2 cups 
  • Baking powder – 2 tsps
  • Salt – 1/2 tsp
  • Butter – 3/4 cup, unsalted, room temperature
  • Sugar – 1 1/2 cups + 3 tbsp, superfine, divided
  • Eggs – 4, large, lightly beaten in a small bowl
  • Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
  • Cocoa powder – 1/3 cup (dutch processed)
  • Hot water – 1/3 cup espresso
  • Vanilla extract – 1/4 tsp

METHOD FOR MAKING MARBLE BUNDT CAKE

Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F) and position a rack in the center of the oven. Grease the bundt pan thoroughly including the creases and flour it well and tap out the excess flour.
In a small bowl, add the hot water, instand coffee powder, cocoa powder and 3 tbsps sugar and mix till smooth with no lumps. Add almond extract and mix. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, add the butter and beat it till smooth for 2 mins.
Gradually add sugar and continue to beat for 3 minsmi. Add the vanilla extract and beat till light in color, approx 4 mins.
Gradually add the egg mixture and beat on low speed for a mt.
Gradually add the flour in four additons and beat on low until just combined and smooth.
Transfer a little less than half of the cake batter to the cocoa mixture and mix with a spoon until smooth.
With the help of an 2 1/2″ diameter ice cream scoop or large spoon, alternate scoops of the vanilla and chocolate batters into the pan. Take a chopstick and create a swirl all through the batters taking care not to touch the sides of the pan. Smooth the top lightly.
Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 mts till a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Check from 50 mts onwards. Cool on a wire cake rack for 10 mts and invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely.
Food

Apple Pie

My NYTimes subscription came with a free trial of their food magazine and recipes which is about to run out, so I’m scrambling around trying to make as many of the recipes on my to-do list as possible. A good apple pie is a wonderful thing, especially at this time of year, and this is one of the best that I’ve found. Itreminds me of my grandmother’s baking.

Double Apple Pie

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CRUST

  • 2 ½ cups/300 grams all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon/2.5 grams kosher salt
  • 2 ½ sticks/20 tablespoons/285 grams unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
  • 4 tablespoons/60 milliliters vodka(optional – it helps keep the pastry flaky)
  • ¼ to ½ cup ice water

FOR THE FILLING

  • 3 pounds/1 1/3 kilograms apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced crosswise (1/8-inch)
  • ½ cup/99 grams granulated sugar, more as needed
  • 2 tablespoons/30 grams dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons/30 grams quick-cooking tapioca
  • 1 ½ teaspoons/3 grams ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon/3 grams ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • Pinch ground cloves
  • 1 ½ tablespoons/22 milliliters lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons/45 grams apple butter
  • Heavy cream or milk, as needed
  • Whipped cream, sour cream or crème fraîche, for serving

PREPARATION

  1. Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse together flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms 3/4-inch pieces. Mix vodka with 4 tablespoons ice water (or use 1/2 cup ice water). Add half the ice water mixture to dough, pulse a few times, then continue adding liquid a tablespoon at a time until dough just comes together (you might not use all the liquid). Dough should be moist, but not wet, and hold together when pinched. If there are visible pieces of butter in the dough, all the better.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, gather dough into a ball. Remove a third of the dough and form into a disk. Form remaining dough into a disk. Cover both tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 5 days.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger disk to a 12-inch circle. Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp edges. Prick crust all over with a fork, then chill crust for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
  4. While dough chills, heat oven to 400 degrees. Line chilled crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes; remove foil and weights and bake until pale golden, 5 minutes more. Cool on rack until needed. (You can bake the crust up to 24 hours in advance.)
  5. Toss apples with sugars, tapioca, spices, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the lemon juice. Fold in apple butter. Transfer apples to crust and press gently to make sure fruit is tightly packed.
  6. Roll out remaining dough disk to a 10-inch round. Use a knife to cut strips 1 3/4 inches wide. Arrange strips over the filling in a lattice pattern. Brush top of crust with heavy cream or milk. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
  7. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling thickly, about 1 hour 15 minutes more. Let pie cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before cutting. Serve with whipped cream, sour cream or crème fraîche.
Food

Caramelized Tomato Tarte Tatin

Sometimes you just want something simple for supper. This taste satin actually works either way up, as a straightforward tart or an inverted tatin – just be careful that it doesn’t get too wet.
Caramelized Tomato Tarte Tatin

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 14-ounce package all-butter puff pastry
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 red onions, halved and thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup plus a pinch of sugar
  • ½ teaspoon sherry vinegar
  • ¼ cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
  • 1 ½ pints (about 1 pound) cherry or grape tomatoes; a mix of colours is nice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thymeleaves
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Halve and part roast the tomatoes for 30 minutes or so to reduce water content. Unfold puff pastry sheet and cut into a 10-inch round; chill, covered, until ready to use.
  2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of sugar and cook, stirring, until onions are golden and caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes.  Transfer onions to a bowl.
  3. In a clean, ovenproof 9-inch skillet or tarte tatin dish, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water. Cook over medium heat, swirling pan gently (do not stir) until sugar melts and turns amber, 5 to 10 minutes to make the caramel. Add vinegar and swirl gently.
  4. Sprinkle olives over caramel. Scatter roasted tomatoes over olives, then sprinkle onions on. Season with thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Top with puff pastry round, tucking edges into pan. Cut several long vents in top of pastry to allow steam to escape.
  5. Bake tart until crust is puffed and golden, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then run a knife around pastry to loosen it from pan, and flip tart out onto a serving platter. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.
Food

Crisp Tofu Katsu With Lemon-Tahini Sauce

Crisp Tofu Katsu With Lemon-Tahini Sauce

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE TOFU KATSU:

  • 5 tablespoons safflower or canola oil, plus more for greasing
  • ⅓ cup cornstarch, plus more as needed
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 ½ cups panko bread crumbs
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons granulated onion
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1 pound firm tofu, cut about 1/4-inch thick, into 12 equal slices
  • 12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced 1/2-inch thick (4 packed cups)

FOR THE QUINOA:

  • ¾ cup red quinoa, rinsed well and drained
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons tahini
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • ¾ teaspoon grated garlic (about 1 large clove)
  • 8 ounces cauliflower florets, thinly sliced (2 heaping cups)
  • ½ cup chopped parsley
  • Lemon wedges, for serving (optional)

PREPARATION

  1. Make the katsu: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 2 large rimmed baking sheets with the oil. Put cornstarch, eggs and bread crumbs in three separate shallow bowls, and add 3/4 teaspoon of the granulated onion to each bowl. Season all with salt and pepper and mix well. Add 3 tablespoons oil to the bread crumbs and mix well.
  2. Working with one piece at a time, dust tofu in cornstarch, then dredge in egg, shaking off excess. Press in bread crumbs to evenly coat. Arrange on one baking sheet, and transfer to oven. Bake until golden and crisp, 15 minutes.
  3. Place mushrooms on second baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Bake until golden, 12 minutes.
  4. Make the quinoa: Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine quinoa with enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook until the quinoa is tender, about 8 minutes. Drain, then return quinoa to the pan. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes; fluff into a large bowl.
  5. In a small bowl, combine tahini, oil, lemon juice, mustard, soy sauce, garlic and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk together and season with salt and pepper.
  6. To the quinoa, add mushrooms, cauliflower, parsley and 1 cup of the dressing and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Divide quinoa in bowls and top with tofu. Serve with remaining sauce for drizzling on tofu and lemon wedges, if desired.
Food

Green Shakshuka With Avocado and Lime

Green Shakshuka With Avocado and Lime

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 large bunch/1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, stems and leaves separated and chopped (about 9 cups)
  • ½ teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
  • ⅓ cup half-and-half or heavy cream
  • 8 large eggs
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper, plus more as needed
  • 3 ounces cotija cheese or queso fresco, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1 avocado, sliced, for serving
  • 1 small jalapeño, thinly sliced, for serving
  • Chopped cilantro, for serving
  • Smoked hot sauce, for serving
  • Corn tortillas, toasted, for serving
  • 1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving

PREPARATION

  1. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until softening, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 5 minutes more.
  2. Raise the heat to medium-high, add the chard stems, and cook to release some liquid, 5 minutes. Add the chard leaves, in batches, adding more as they wilt, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until completely wilted, 3 to 5 minutes more. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, pour in the half-and-half and stir loosely together.
  3. Make eight small hollows in the cooked chard with the back of a spoon. Gently crack an egg into each hollow. Cover with a lid or foil and cook on medium-low until the eggs are just set, but still soft, about 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the lid, sprinkle with salt, pepper, cotija, avocado, jalapeño and cilantro. Serve with smoked hot sauce, toasted tortillas and lime wedges.
Food

Potato cakes with tomato, onion, chilli and herb salsa

Sometimes all you want is fried food.

Prep and macerate 40 min
Cook 40 min
Makes 12 small cakes

For the salsa
1 medium white or red onion, finely chopped
1 large, ripe tomato, finely chopped
1-3 moderately hot green chillies (traditionally serranos, but choose what is available), deseeded and finely chopped
1 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped
Salt

Tomato, peach and caper salsa ingredients.

For the potato cakes
2 medium potatoes (approx 500g)
1 large egg, beaten
100g queso anejo, Romano cheese, salted ricotta or pecorino, grated
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper
Oil for frying

First make the salsa: Mix the chopped tomato, onion and chillies with the coriander leaves, adding salt to taste and moistening with a little water. Leave to sit for 30 minutes while you make the potato cakes.

Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Once cool enough, peel and then either crush the potatoes with your hands or a fork, or pass through a potato ricer. Add the egg, cheese and parsley to the potato, mix, then taste and season as required.

Pour enough oil to come 1.25cm up the sides of a heavy-based frying pan – the smaller the pan, the less oil you will need), and heat. When the oil is hot, add tablespoonfuls of the mixture to the pan, flattening each portion slightly with the back of a fork. Fry, turning from time to time, until the potato cakes are a deep golden colour on both sides.

Lift the cakes from the oil on to a plate lined with kitchen towel to blot, but then serve immediately with the salsa spooned on top.

You can make the cakes in advance: after blotting, lift on to a baking sheet lined with more paper towelling, and when you’re ready to eat, reheat them in an oven set to 180C/350F/gas 4.

Food

Crunchy Noodle Kugel

Essentially baked sweet cheese pasta.

Crunchy Noodle Kugel à la Great-Aunt Martha

The genius of this sweet noodle kugel — the rich, custardy casserole that is a staple of Jewish cooking — is that its top is designed to offer maximum crunch while its interior remains creamy and luscious. The secret: use a shallow baking tray, which means that there is a greater amount of kugel surface area to brown in the oven, and bake it at a slightly higher temperature. Soaking the raisins in sherry or orange juice adds flavor, and also keeps them from burning in the extra-hot oven.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup raisins
  • Sherry or orange juice
  • 1 pound egg noodles
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, more for pan
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups cottage cheese
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • Pinch of salt

PREPARATION

  1. Put raisins in a microwave-safe bowl or small saucepan and cover with sherry or orange juice. Heat on stove top or in microwave oven until liquid is steaming hot (about 1 1/2 minutes in microwave or 3 minutes on stove). Let cool while you prepare kugel mixture.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 11-by-17-inch baking tray. Cook noodles according to package directions and drain well. Immediately return noodles to pot and add butter. Toss until butter melts.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt. Drain raisins and add to bowl along with buttered noodles. Mix well.
  4. Spread mixture in prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until top is crusty and golden, 25 to 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.