Here are some actual pictures of that rosemary olive oil chocolate chip cake, which I made again this past weekend. It’s beautiful. I’m looking for more desserts with rosemary. Suggestions?
Ever since Rice introduced me to shakshuka at Sofra, I’ve been hooked. Shakshuka is a breakfast dish of North African origin (though I’ve also read that it’s from Israel) of eggs cooked inside a mildly spicy tomato pepper sauce, where the sauce’s tomato-y tartness is offset by mellow, sweet undertones from the softened peppers and onions. At Sofra, the poached eggs bob around in a shakshuka that is as smooth as a soup. I’ve tried to recreate the recipe a few times, from Smitten Kitchen and from my own mind, but my dishes always ended up tasting like my dad’s Mexican beans, which is to say, nothing came close until yesterday’s recipe, which I found in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty. Although this recipe doesn’t make soupy shakshuka, the tomatoes, onions and peppers are stewed to a perfectly agreeable texture, and I might say (and Hrishikesh agreed) that this shakshuka was better than Sofra’s. (Better than Sofra’s!) We broke pieces of slightly overdone toast in our bowls and ladled the shakshuka on top; the toast plumped and softened with the dish’s juices and my goodness it was great. I had to cook my eggs for longer (no more runny yolks for the next few months!) and Hrishikesh put his in later - which explains the picture. This recipe would be as good without the eggs; Hrishikesh’s suggestion was to grate cheese on top but I didn’t think it needed it, as it was already way too delicious on its own. I can’t wait to make it again.
I added garlic although the original recipe doesn’t call for it, and changed the quantities of tomatoes for the Indian size of tomato, which is tiny compared to the average tomato abroad. But I’ll write both tomato quantities below, and you can decide depending on where in the world you reside.
Shakshuka
adapted from Plenty
serves 2
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
60 ml olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, cut into thin strips
2 garlic cloves, diced
3 large tomatoes, chopped, or 8 Indian tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 bay leaves
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped (I used marjoram because that’s what we grow in our garden)
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped coriander/cilantro, plus more for garnish (I forgot the coriander)
1/4 tsp. saffron threads
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (I used Kashmiri chili powder)
up to 175 ml water
4 eggs
salt and pepper
2 pieces dry toast
In a very large pan dry roast the cumin seeds on a high heat for 2 minutes. Add the oil and onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, garlic, sugar and herbs and continue cooking on high heat for 7-10 minutes to get a nice color.
Add the tomatoes, saffron, cayenne and some salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, covering the pan if necessary to break down the tomatoes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper. It should be potent and flavorsome. (You can prepare this mix well in advance.)
Remove the bay leave, then make four gaps in the sauce, and carefully break an egg into each gap. Sprinkle with salt and cover the pan. Cook on a very gentle heat for 10-12 minutes, or until the eggs are just set (or longer if you want to avoid runny eggs). Sprinkle with coriander. Break a piece of dry toast into each shallow soup bowl and spoon the shakshuka on top. Eat, sigh in delight and wonder.
This is a pillowy, faintly sweet bread stuffed with a layer of cream cheese and a layer of lemon curd. It tastes like a doughnut without the scary frying at home.
I’ve made this braided lemon bread once before, while on vacation to America a couple years back. That time it felt more complicated. (This time, it was easy to make, if a little time consuming.) I made the lemon curd from Tartine Bakery’s recipe, and it’s a pale, beautiful yellow. It tastes amazing and I have leftovers. I love lemon curd.
Make this bread if you want doughnuts and you’re in a place where good ones aren’t available.
For the past few months I’ve been on a banana bread baking spree, but I think it’s finally come to an end. I might be officially sick of banana bread.
I think it started sometime in the summer, when I made Clementine Bakery’s banana cake. At first I was disappointed as I found the batter incredibly sweet; I kept reprimanding myself as to why I didn’t cut down on the sugar. However once it baked, the cake tasted fine, and the cream cheese frosting (in which I did cut down the sugar) helped balance the sweetness. I would make this again if I was craving a rich and sweet banana dessert.
A few months hiatus and then in mid-November I baked banana bread with chocolate and cinnamon sugar, a no oil/butter recipe that I had tried once before. The bread was hearty and chewy and not too sweet, but I think those qualities worked against it for my testers. I liked it although it wasn’t “cakey.”
Next, I tried banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping. The texture of this cake was soft and moist but the cinnamon crumble topping (basically cinnamon sugar) sent it over into cavity land.
After that bread, I baked banana bread with chocolate chips and candied ginger. However, I was not eating dairy for a few sorry months so I substituted oil for the butter in the recipe and as a result, the bread was flat and lacked depth.
Then I found a recipe for Flour Bakery’s banana bread, and the bread I baked seemed to be the winner. The recipe calls for beating the eggs and sugar for ten (!) minutes, until a fluffy mixture forms, and then adding the other ingredients. It produced a fluffy, airy bread. The bread takes forever to bake, but while the inside sets, the outside of the bread turns dark and tastes like caramelized bananas. Unlike most cakes, an edge piece of this banana bread is desirable.
I started eating dairy again and made the banana bread with chocolate chips and candied ginger for the second time, this time using butter. The difference was huge - the cake was softer and more flavorful, and the candied ginger added zing.
I decided to make Flour Bakery’s banana bread one more time for comparison. This time, by request, I added chocolate chips, though I think if I make banana bread again, I’ll use less (I used about 3/4 cup). I still enjoyed the caramelized edges, but I think I might have exhausted my craving - baking banana bread six times in three months is enough to last me quite a while, I hope.
Flour Bakery’s banana bread with chocolate chips
adapted from here
Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a pan with parchment paper (I used a silicone heart-shaped pan, so I didn’t line it. I would recommend not using a loaf pan for this recipe as it took me 55 minutes to bake in a pan with a two-inch height. Maybe try an 8-inch square or round pan?)
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk or with your stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, cream/milk, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into pan and bake for about 55 minutes.
A slightly annoying outcome of our cooking hobby is that we never want to go out to eat in Bombay. Of course cooking at home is better/healthier/more fulfilling/(Hrishikesh would say more fun) than eating at a restaurant, but I like getting pretty and going out (occasionally). Abroad we look forward to this because the food is exciting. In Bombay, not so much. Now that we’ve made banh xeo at home, we will probably cross one more Bombay restaurant off of our short list.
Vegetarian banh xeo are rice flour, egg, and coconut milk Vietnamese pancakes, filled with sauteed mushrooms, julienned carrots and radish, snap peas, bean sprouts, and a pile of herbs, drizzled with a tangy vegetarian fish sauce. It’s a crunchy salad inside a crispy pancake, each bite laced with lime, ginger and garlic. Make it! It’s simple and far healthier than the restaurant rendition. One point for eating at home.
Banh Xeo
adapted from Plenty
serves 2-3 as a main course
for the pancakes:
200g rice flour
1 small egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. turmeric
400 ml canned coconut milk
sunflower oil (for cooking)
sauce:
80 ml lime juice
2 1/2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
4 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 fresh red chillis, deseeded and chopped
2 big cloves garlic or 4 small cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. salt
filling:
2 carrots, peeled, julienned
2 mooli (long white daikon radish), peeled, julienned
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
3 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup mung bean sprouts
3/4 cup spring peas, sliced in half down the middle
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 cup mint leaves, torn in half
1 cup basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Start with the batter. Place the rice flour, egg, salt and turmeric in a large bowl. Slowly add the coconut milk, whisking well to avoid lumps. You want to get a thinnish pancake batter with the consistency of single cream. Add more coconut milk or water if necessary (you may need to add more later before you cook the pancakes, as the better tends to thicken). Set aside to rest.
To make the sauce, just whisk together all the ingredients, adjusting the amount of chili to your liking.
Keep the vegetables ready. Saute the mushrooms with a little bit of oil and salt for about 7 minutes. When you are ready to prepare the pancakes, heat up a large non-stick frying pan that is roughly 22 cm in diameter, making sure it doesn’t get extremely hot. Add a bit of oil and swirl around the pan, heating it up.
Pour in about 1/4 cup of batter and swirl around to coat the bottom of the pan. The edges of the pancake can be thinner than the center and turn crisp or it can have the same thickness like a regular pancake. Once the underside is golden brown, turn the pancake over and cook the other side. Remove from the pan and keep warm while you make the other pancakes.
Place a warm pancake on each serving plate and pile vegetables and herbs over one half of it. Drizzle the vegetables with some sauce and fold the other half of the pancake over them. Spoon some more sauce on the top and serve, with any remaining sauce on the side.
I didn’t manage to get any decent photos of this olive oil rosemary chocolate chunk cake with oat flour, but it was a cake I’ll want to make again. It has a close, soft crumb, and it’s kind of like a scone-cake in that it’s dense and not that sweet, making it feel appropriate for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Making it nutritionally appropriate for breakfast is the oat flour, which is high in protein and lends heft to the cake. It’s flecked with rosemary, and held together with olive oil and just enough chocolate to make it a treat. Rosemary smells like pine and tastes like winter and this cake is perfect for day two of the new year, now that the weather is actually chilly(!). It goes well with a cup of milky, unsweetened coffee, and tastes just right with fresh cream.
Avocado with Mustard Seeds and Curry Powder has become my new favorite thing to eat. It’s from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day, and its genius. I’ve made this toast twice in the past week for lunch. It’s savory without the sharpness of guacamole, but the flavors are deeper. It’s avocado prepared like an Indian subzi: mustard seeds and curry powder, onions and garlic, sauteed and mixed into the avocado, along with cilantro and lime juice. Spread it on toast. It’s the perfect lunch, snack, and dinner. I think we’re making it again tonight for our New Year’s celebration of sitting at home and watching movies. Happy New Year!
Avocado Toast
mustard seeds, curry powder, onion
adapted from Super Natural Every Day
2 ripe avocados, or 1 Indian avocado
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon flavorless oil
1 teaspoon black and brown mustard seeds
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Indian curry powder (we use Madras curry powder)
1 small serrano chile, deseeded and minced
bread, to make toast
Scoop the flesh of your avocados into a bowl. Add lemon juice salt and most of the cilantro. Mash the avocados a bit with a fork but don’t overdo it. Set aside.
Toast your bread.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds. Keep a lid on hand because the seeds with scatter as they pop. When the sputtering stops, after about a minute, stir in the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic, curry powder and chile. Count to ten and remove from heat. Stir it into the avocado mixture. Spread mixture on toast. Eat.
This is lunch. Lunch has suddenly become my favorite meal, now that I have a Laduree green kitchen in which to prepare it, and a wooden dining table on which to eat it. That’s right - after two years of work, we’ve finally moved into our new apartment. I love it. (But it is not without teething problems and a near constant vigilance to keeping away dust and bugs and the giant hawks that swoop and circle in the sky.)
I like opening my fridge, scanning the items I arranged there, mulling over what I’d like to make for lunch. I like using my new compact mixer to make sauces, like this rough salsa of Thai basil, ginger and garlic that I dolloped onto slices of avocado. Most of all, I like having the peace and quiet and privacy of my very own kitchen. My drawers, arranged the way I find functional. Plants peeking out of corners. Music. Pretty plates and glasses.
I found this recipe on Gilt Taste and I highly recommend it, though it sounds a bit odd, I know. It’s a recipe for using broccoli stalks. I love using all of a vegetable, but I don’t like the taste of boiled broccoli stocks (say for a mixed vegetable soup)- it can overpower. This recipe, which calls for raw, translucent slices of them topped with cubes of creamy avocado and smeared with a thai basil-ginger-garlic puree, is far, far superior. Thinly shave the broccoli stalks using a mandoline, and toss them with lime and salt. Slice or cube an avocado. In a mixer roughly blend 3 Tbsp. Thai basil with 1 tsp. each of ginger and garlic, and some salt and olive oil, and red chili flakes to taste. Arrange the broccoli stalks in a single layer on a plate. Top with slices and avocado and spoonfuls of salsa. I tried just the avocado and salsa minus the stalks but it wasn’t as good - the stalks add textural contrast as well as a bit of earthiness.
Happy day.
Radish greens and sliced garlic, sautéed for a minute, with angel hair pasta and blistered spoon tomatoes.
Maybe this blog should be called “I’m a Pig(let) and I know it” or something more clever. Here’s what I really enjoy: pumpkin gelato and roasted cashew gelato from Il Laboritorio de Gelato in NYC. The pumpkin is fresh, not masked by cinnamon and cloves, and boy do I love roasted cashews. I do think Il Laboritorio is still NYC’s best ice cream (according to my unscientific assessment where, once a year, I try as many new ice creams as my lactose intolerant stomach will allow).
Brasa, in Minneapolis. Hrishikesh was at a lunch meeting; I was meeting a friend from my study-abroad semester in India after 5 years. Now she has a baby boy who looks just like her: translucent skin, dark blue eyes, purple-red lips. We ate rice and silky black beans, creamed spinach and jalapenos, cornbread, apple and cabbage coleslaw, and candied yams with a buttery caramel sauce that Hrishikesh would have adored. I need to make beans like these, sensuous, nourishing.
Onion rings from Mr. Bartley’s. Supposedly “Boston’s best onion rings!” except not, though they were good. Still, nothing on the crispy gold from Nauset Beach.
This dish is too rich for me
bouquets
toasted nuts and vanilla
perfumed
honeyed
layers
oak
baked figs
lush
crisp
warm pear tart
focused
flintiness
minerality
length
sandalwood
tea leaves
cherries
vibrant
stone fruits
rich
sappy
elegant
restrained
plum
tobacco
lively
precision
subtle
roasted coffee
big
tremendous
full-bodied
toasted brioche
