kichuri

Kichuri is the ultimate Indian comfort food.  Its a combination of rice and daal and is quick, easy, filling and nutritious!

Ingredients
*oil or ghee
*1 onion (garlic/ginger will also be a nice addition, but I didn't have them)
*1 cup of daal
*1 cup of rice (i used brown rice)
*4 cups of water
*salt to taste
* turmeric
*hing (Asafoetida) - just a pinch will do - hing goes a long way.
*mustard seeds
*cumin seeds
*cloves

This is the basic skeleton of kichuri - you can add cinnamon, peppers, methi, frozen veggies... whatever sounds good.  :)  I also didn't put a measure on the spices in my list..  More or less depending on the freshness of the spice and your personal taste.  I would say starting with 1/4 tsp of a spice is a good start.  Except the hing - start with a pinch and go from there.  Its got a strong odor and strong taste, but I really like it.  I probably use closer to "2 pinches" --- however much that is :)

Cooking method:
1. heat oil in a pot big enough to hold all ingredients
--add whole spices
2. heat onion/garlic/ginger in oil until onion is transparent
--add hing and powdered spices and salt
3. add rice and daal - stir everything together.
4. add water and bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat to medium/low and cook for 20 (more or less) minutes.
5. stir occasionally to keep daal from sticking to the pot too badly

Covering the pot while cooking will let the steam help cook the rice.  If you find that the water has been cooked away but the rice is still hard, add more water and cook longer.  The finished product should be roughly the consistency of oatmeal.  You can't really "over cook" it (though you can burn it - so don't keep the heat too high).  If you find that the rice is "done" but you still have more water, remove the lid and cook until water is gone.

Serving: serve with butter, lime juice, yogurt, or indian pickle.

Lentils soup with pineapple, tomato and cilantro

This way of cooking lentils always feels so... refreshing - if a lentil can be classified as "refreshing", that is.

For this meal, I surely didn't feel like cooking but I also felt that I needed to have a "real" meal.

The pineapple adds some sweetness and some tartness and fits really nicely with the tomato.  If you want a little extra salt, cook in veggie/chicken broth.  Cooking time is roughly 20 minutes, prep time is about 10-15 minutes.

Ingredients:

*1 pound of Lentils

*olive oil

*2 jalapeno peppers (opt)

*1 onion - diced

*3 tomatoes - diced

*1/3 of a whole pineapple, cut into chunks.

*1 bunch of cilantro - chopped.  

*Limes 

I think I added some creole seasoning (which has a fair amount of salt already in it) and some black pepper.  Add whatever spice you like.

1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot that will be big enough to hold all the ingredients plus about 8 cups of water.  If you are adding whole spices, you may add them at this time

2. add the diced onion - cook until transparent but not burned

3. add the tomatoes, jalapenos and any powdered spices/salt/pepper 

4. add pineapple and cook until ingredients start to turn soft.  The finished base should be a little mushy.

-- add a handful of cilantro here, as well.

5. add lentils and water as per package instructions.  I think I added about 8 cups.  Broth may be substituted for some of the water - especially if you like saltier food. 

-- cook until lentils are soft.

Garnish with lime juice and cilantro

I added some crumbled goat cheese to my bowl of soup and it was fantastic!  Experiment away!

It was worth the work...

I just have to say this: the 6 hours it took to make this bread was SO TOTALLY worth it in order to get a taste of it fresh out of the oven! Yum!! Yes, it's pretty rich - but it's very flaky and tender. Very much like a cinnamon roll texture - but not sweet and no frosting :) Just breaddy goodness. The house smells so good now :)

whoa! Holy Buckets! My kitchen smells good! (the bread edition)

This would be classified as one of the multi-step,  complicated baking projects that interests me! :)

It all started with a mailing list email from a recipe site... talking about an anise-flavored egg bread.  That caught my interest.  Sounds similar to the Challah bread I've made before, but with anise extract added.   "done!" I thought... until I clicked on another link: Choereg (Armenian Easter Bread). 

Choereg uses a unique spice called "mahleb" which is popular in the Middle East/Mediterranean  (think: Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Syria, Libya and, of course, Armenia).    It is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of the St Lucie Cherry. The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is about 5 mm diameter, soft and chewy on extraction, but ground to a powder before use. The flavor is similar to a combination of bitter almond and cherry.  I was able to find it at the Lebanese grocery store.  It really smells quite good!




<sup>I will say, however, that upon looking at the recipe for this Armenian bread,  I about threw it out.  Looking at the amount of butter used (2 cups!!) did not make this seem appealing to me.  Additionally 5 eggs are called for just for the dough.  Another beaten egg is called for to make the glaze.  But looking more closely at the recipe, I also noticed it makes 5 loaves and calls for 6+ cups of flour, so that put me at ease a little bit.  I wouldn't exactly classify this as diet food, but one of those "fine in small amounts" foods. :)


Bread 1: Italian Easter Bread</sup>

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided 1/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 (.25 ounce) package rapid rise yeast 2/3 cup milk 1 teaspoon anise extract

2 tablespoons butter at room temperature 2 eggs   1 egg, beaten 1/2 tablespoon colored candy decorating dragees, or as desired

Directions:

1.	Mix 1 cup of flour with sugar, salt, and yeast in a bowl, stir well. Place milk and anise extract into a small saucepan over low heat, and warm to about 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). Make a well in the center of the flour mixture with your hand, and pour in the milk mixture; swirl with your hand in a circular motion to combine the flour mixture with the milk mixture. Mix in butter and eggs, one at a time, then mix in remaining flour until dough begins to pull together.
2.	Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and knead until soft but elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth, and let dough rest for 10 minutes; cut dough into halves.
3.	On floured work surface, roll each half into a ball, then shape the balls into 2 long pieces, about 1 1/2 inches thick and 18 to 20 inches long. Pinch the 2 top ends together, and loosely twist the pieces to form a twisted loaf; pinch the bottom ends together, and tuck the two ends underneath the loaf. (Alternately, form the twist into a ring, and pinch the ends together.)
4.	Grease a baking sheet, lay the loaf onto the prepared sheet, and cover with a damp towel; let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Brush loaf with beaten egg, and sprinkle with colored decorating dragees.
5.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake the decorated loaf in the preheated oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Watch closely towards the end of the baking time that the bread does not begin to burn. Transfer to wire rack immediately after baking to cool.

<sup>Bread 2: Choereg-- this is the more difficult of the 2 breads.  I did not use quick-rise yeast.  This bread really does take about 6 hours to make.  About 30min for the preparation of the ingredients, 2 hours for the first rise, 1 hour for the 2nd rise and I suppose about 30 minutes for the final rise (after braiding the dough).  Don't try this one if you're in a hurry :)


Also, regarding the flour: I used about 5 cups at first, bit-by-bit and then made a consistent paste/dough out of that, then I added the 6th cup.  I probably added at least 1 more cup during the kneading process, but this should be done a little bit at a time so as not to get too much flour.  You're looking for a consistency that "pulls apart" with a very elastic feel, but is not soggy or sticking to your hands.  The kneading will also increase the hardness of the dough, so keep this in mind while adding flour.</sup> 

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
• 5 eggs
• 6 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground mahleb
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, butter and margarine. Heat until butter and margarine are melted, but do not let it boil. Stir in 1 cup of sugar until dissolved, then set aside to cool to lukewarm.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, dissolve 2 teaspoons of sugar in warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface, and let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes.
3. Crack the eggs into a large bowl, and stir a little to break up the yolks. Slowly pour in the heated milk mixture while whisking constantly, so as to temper the eggs and not cook them. Add the yeast mixture, and stir just until blended.
4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, mahleb, and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the wet mixture. Stir until it forms a sticky dough. Pour onto a floured surface, and knead in additional flour as needed to make a more substantial dough. Knead for about 10 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, and set in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
5. When the dough has doubled, punch down again, and let rise until doubled. It will only take about half as long this time.
6. Separate the dough into 5 even portions, then separate each of those into thirds. Roll each of those into ropes about 12 inches long. Braid sets of three ropes together, pinching the ends to seal, and tucking them under for a better presentation. Place the loaves onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Loaves should be spaced 4 inches apart. Set in a warm place to rise until your finger leaves an impression behind when you poke the loaf gently.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Brush the loaves with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until nicely golden brown all over.

Anise Bread

Here's a picture of the Anise bread I made. More to come -- the Armenian bread is still rising, but it's another egg loaf - so it should look similar. I'm curious as to how the difference in recipes will taste...

Black Beans

As you've probably noticed: in my opinion, beans are a great way to create a filling meal from very few ingredients and they are very inexpensive... AND they are very healthy.  The trick is to mix it up so you're not always eating the same kinds of food.  Since I've made a lot of food this weekend, I portioned it into storage containers and froze a good share of each recipe.

This recipe sounded interesting to me.  I realized that Worcestershire sauce is basically just molasses and vinegar (no wonder I love it!) so if you don't have any sauce you can improvise.  Or if you want more sweet than tangy you can add some molasses extra.


The pinch of baking soda used while soaking will help to reduce the "effects" of beans :)
Got this recipe from another guy's blog about South American Cooking.  I didn't use meat or do the blending step.  I also didn't have any coriander - though that sounded really good!

Ingredients:
To serve 5-6 people you will need:
200 grams dried black beans
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Pancetta or bacon rashers 
1 onion
1 green pepper
2 cloves of garlic
Fresh coriander
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Oregano
Cumin
Worcestershire sauce (Salsa Inglesa)

1. Place the beans in a large saucepan or bowl. Cover with tap water leaving at least an inch of water above the beans as they will swell. Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Leave overnight.

2. Before cooking, drain and rinse beans under the tap. Place in saucepan or pressure cooker and cover with fresh water. Bring to boil and boil vigorously for 10-15 minutes. Add no salt.

3. Reduce heat and simmer until soft - 60 minutes (minimum) in saucepan, 45 minutes in pressure cooker.

4. To make the sofrito used to flavour the beans finely chop onions and peppers.

5. Dice pork into small cubes.

6. Crush garlic cloves in mortar or garlic crusher.

7. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onions and when they start to brown add pork and peppers and garlic.

6. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, a small pinch of cumin and Worcestershire sauce and when all ingredients are cooked remove from heat.

7. When beans are cooked place some of the water and beans in a blender, add the cooked sofrito and blend until creamy. Pour back into beans and simmer to reduce and allow flavours to combine.

8. Finely chop coriandor and add to beans just before serving, stir through.

Sweet potato!

As a side dish I made a sweet potato/fennel bulb dish - pretty good.
Cut sweet potato and fennel bulb into little chunks
melt some butter in a cast iron skillet (or other oven-proof skillet)
pan-fry potatoes, fennel in butter.  Add a few of the fennel fronds, some parsley and black pepper.  I also added some seasoned salt (yum!).

Place in oven at 350F for an hour..

Today I will try and make a black bean with Worcestershire sauce and/or Molasses.  I know that's a lot of beans, but I will freeze them in small portions.  I can eat them next month, then :)  If it tastes good, I will post it!