Broccoli and Mushroom Pasta

This is a rather simple dish but oh so yummy. I used whole wheat fusilli and I prefer its nuttier crunch to plain white pasta.

This recipe serves 3.

Ingredients:
2 cups broccoli florets
1/8 cup olive oil
114 grams shiitake mushrooms ; sliced
3 large garlic cloves ; minced
3/8 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme ; crumbled
128 grams fusilli ; freshly cooked
Salt ; to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper ; to taste
3/8 cup freshly grated Parmesan ; (or enough to sprinkle)
Fresh parsley

Instructions:
Steam broccoli florets until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes (to check). Rinse under cold water. Drain.

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic and saute until mushrooms are almost tender, about 5 minutes.

Add cream and thyme and bring to boil. Add pasta and broccoli and cook until pasta is coated, tossing gently, about 3 minutes.

Transfer to large bowl. Sprinkle with Parmesan and garnish with parsley.

Daring Cooks' Challenge: Risotto

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

I had such fun with this month's challenge. It's almost fool-proof. Here are tips I can give you in making risotto, based on my own experience:
1) Have all ingredients ready.
2) After the wine has evaporated, lower the temperature and add chicken broth.
3) Once the rice (if substituting with calrose) is almost cooked, add the chicken broth very slowly as the rice will not be able to absorb a lot more of the broth.

I did have someone tell me that if I substitute calrose for arborio, it is technically not risotto. However, I had calrose in the house and wanted to finish it off. I think the major difference is calrose cooks up less firm compared to arborio. But it was still a terrifically flavourful dish. I made a chicken and broccoli risotto the first time; the second time, I made a caramelised onion risotto and added lap cheong (Chinese sausage) which was much better.

Chicken Stock

Ingredients:
1 large chicken 2-3 pounds about 1 kg
chicken bones 2-3 pounds 1 kg
2 onions, roughly diced
1 medium leek - white part only, roughly diced
2 sticks celery, roughly diced
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. white peppercorns ( Any type of whole peppercorn will do)
2 bay leaves (fresh or dried, it doesn't matter.)
peel of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. allspice

Directions:

1. Wash the chicken and bones and places in a 5 Litre pot, cover completely with water and bring to a boil
2. Skim away any scum as it comes to the surface
3. Add the vegetables and bring back to a boil
4. Add the rest remaining ingredients and simmer very gently, uncovered for 1.5 hours
5. Carefully lift out the chicken, set aside. The chicken meat can be removed from the chicken, shredded off and used for other things like soup!
6. Simmer the stock gently for another hour. At , at the end you should have around 2 Liters
7. Carefully ladle the liquid into a fine sieve, the less the bones and vegetables are disturbed in this process the clearer the stock will be. 
The stock is now ready for use. Freeze what you don't need for later use.

Risotto Base

Ingredients:
olive oil 2 fluid oz 60 ml
1 small onion, quatered
rice 14 oz 400g
Any type of risotto rice will do. I use Arborio but the recipe itself says Vialone Nano. Another to look for is Carnaroli.
white wine 2 fl oz 60 ml
chicken or vegetable stock , simmering 2 pints 1 L

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add onion. Fry for a few minutes to flavour the oil then discard. (We diced ours and left it in as we like onion).
2. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes to coat each grain of rice with oil and toast slightly.
3. Add the wine and let it bubble away until evaporated.
4. Add enough stock to cover the rice by a finger’s width (about an inch or two). Don't actually stick your finger in, it will be hot. Just eye it off.
5. Cook on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time, until most of the stock has been absorbed.
6. Repeat Step 5 making sure to leave aside approximately 100 ml. of stock for the final step. .
7. Repeat, save 100ml for the final stage.
8. Once you are at this point, the base is made. You now get to add your own variation.

Caramelised Onion Risotto

This is a great side dish. I had it with a salmon meal. There's something about risotto which makes me feel all warm inside when I eat it. To me, it's one of the heartiest meals I can have, although it consists of mainly rice.

I adapted the recipe from here.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion ; sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
7 cups chicken broth ; heated
salt and freshly ground pepper ; to taste
Fresh herbs

Instructions:
Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until onion is soft and caramelized. Add rice and stir to combine. Let cook for another minute. Add white wine and let reduce almost all of the way. Reduce heat to medium low. Begin adding chicken broth a cup at a time. Add more broth as each cup is absorbed. Continue until rice is al dente (you might not use all 7 cups). Season with salt, pepper, and any herbs.

Eggplant Lasagna

I feel quite nostalgic towards food I had during my university days. The eggplant lasagna, moussaka, curry on rice, hot chocolate, kebabs, muffins, orange poppy seed cakes, curry laksa (Australian style), creamy pasta, delicious chips, and so on.

In an attempt to experience a bit of nostalgia, I chose this lasagna recipe by John Ash. I made a beef lasagna with my sisters when I was younger and I do believe the pasta was not thoroughly cooked and the beef might not have been either (although everyone who tried it said it was fine).

Having learned and experimented with cooking a lot more since, this lasagna turned out great. There wasn't any one flavour which jumped out, as you would get with beef lasagna. It was just a terrific melding of pasta, eggplant, cheese, tomato, herbs and spices.

This recipe makes for 6 servings.

Ingredients:
2 large Eggplants - ; 1 1/2 lbs ea
~~ -- Tomato Sauce -- ~~
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 cup Finely-chopped onions
340 grams Sliced Crimini or Shiitake mushrooms ; abt 4 cups
1 tablespoon Slivered garlic
1/2 teaspoon Fennel seed ; crushed
1 cup White wine
794 grams Italian tomatoes - ; 1 can chopped (use the sauce as well)
3 tablespoons Chopped sun-dried tomatoes ; optional
1/4 cup Chopped fresh basil ; OR
2 teaspoon dried basil
~~ -- White Sauce -- ~~
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1/4 cup Minced shallots or green onions ; white part only
1/3 cup Flour
2 1/2 cups Milk
1/4 teaspoon Freshly-grated nutmeg
1/3 cup Freshly-grated fontina cheese ; or smoked or regular mozzarella cheese
Salt ; to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper ; to taste
~~ -- To Assemble -- ~~
454 grams Fresh lasagna noodles ; cooked
8 cups Loosely-packed spinach leaves ; washed well, stems removed, dried
3/4 cup Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Seasoned Bread Crumbs ; (recipe below)

Instructions:
Remove stems from eggplants and slice lengthwise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Arrange in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet or two and roast in a preheated 220°C/425°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until eggplant is lightly browned and cooked through but not mushy. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan over moderately-high heat and add onions, mushrooms, garlic and fennel seed. Continue to cook until mushrooms release their liquid. Add 1/2 cup white wine and continue to cook until liquid has mostly evaporated and mushrooms are beginning to brown. Stir in tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and basil and simmer uncovered until sauce has thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

While tomato sauce is cooking make the white sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauce pan and add shallots and cook until shallots are soft but not brown. Add flour and cook over moderate heat stirring regularly for 3 to 4 minutes. Add milk and remaining 1/2 cup wine whisking constantly until sauce thickens. Continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes to cook out starchiness. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in fontina and set aside. Sauce should be fairly thick but pourable-- thin if necessary with additional milk or wine.

To assemble lasagna: Lightly oil an 8- by 12-inch baking dish. Spread 1/2 cup or so of tomato sauce on bottom. Add layers of noodles, eggplant, spinach, white sauce and a sprinkling of 2 tablespoons or so of Parmesan cheese over top. Continue layering in this manner. Cover loosely with foil and bake in a preheated 190°C/375°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with Seasoned Bread Crumbs and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until crumbs are golden brown. Let lasagna rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.



Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Ingredients:
170 grams Good Italian or French bread ; (crust removed)
1 1/2 tablespoons Olive oil
3 tablespoons Grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon Dried thyme
Salt ; to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper ; to taste

Instructions:
In a food processor or by hand, coarsely chop fresh white bread crumbs (be careful not to get them too fine -- should be about the same size as oatmeal).

Toss crumbs with oil, cheese, herbs, salt and pepper and spread out on baking sheet. Place in a preheated 190°C/375°F oven and bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until crisp, dry and very slightly colored. Store air tight.

Thosai

I had filling and curry leftover from September's Daring Cooks' Challenge. So I decided to make a different version of thosai. The recipe from Kuali requires a bit of fermentation which I felt is closer to the type of thosai we get in Penang.

It was really easy to make. The tough bit was grinding up the rice and dhal and frying them up. Once you get into the groove of ladling the batter onto the pan, you can do it with an eye closed.

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:
25 grams blackgram dhal ; (ulundu) with skin
88 grams uncooked rice
38 grams cooked rice
3/4 cup Water
3/8 teaspoon Salt ; or to taste
Cooking oil ; or sesame oil

Instructions:
Wash rice and dhal and soak each separately overnight or for at least seven to eight hours. Drain, remove skin from the dhal.

Grind rice and dhal together with the cooked rice and water in a blender until smooth. Strain batter through a fine sieve. Add salt and mix well. Leave to ferment for eight to 10 hours. (Refrigerate if not using it for breakfast.)



Grease an iron griddle lightly with oil. Pour a ladleful of batter onto the centre of the griddle. Spread the batter immediately with the back of the ladle starting from the centre in a clockwise motion to make a thin pancake.

Cook for about half a minute or until the underside turns slightly brown. Remove thosai from the griddle and repeat till the rest of the batter is used up. Serve thosai with curry.

Spicy Vegan Curry

I am so on a curry phase right now. Also, most recipes with chickpeas happen to be curries and I made 1 large potful of chickpeas by a slightly miscalculation on my part. Yeah. That's right.

This dish is another pretty good one. Not as flavourful as the previous ones I've made but it's able to stand on its own feet.

Adapted from AllRecipes, serves 3.

Ingredients:
2 potatoes ; peeled and cubed
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion ; diced
1 1/2 cloves Garlic ; minced
1 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 inch Fresh ginger root ; peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoons Fine salt
206 grams Diced tomatoes ; (about 4 tomatoes)
213 grams Chick peas ; rinsed and drained
213 grams peas ; drained
199 grams milk

Instructions:
1. Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two.

2. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and salt; cook for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, and potatoes. Pour in the coconut milk (enough to cover the ingredients and slightly more), and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Daring Cooks' Challenge: Indian Dosas

The September 2009 Daring Cooks' challenge was hosted by Debyi from The Healthy Vegan Kitchen. She chose the Indian Dosas from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal.

I was really pleased with the choice of Indian Dosa. Dosa (or thosai) is rather common in Malaysia and happens to be one of my favourite Indian dishes. Thosai is normally eaten with some form of chutney and it is terrific when consumed right after preparation. It's not a "tapau" food. Once you bring it back home, it turns rather soggy.

This recipe was very easy to follow though the preparation of the ingredients is time consuming. I must say the thosai itself is not exactly what we get in Malaysia and the curry is on the sweet side, rather than fiery hot. Nevertheless, putting aside comparisons, it is a very good dish. The filling has a good combination of vegetables and the curry compliments it well.

This recipe comes in 3 parts, the dosas, the filling and the sauce. It does take awhile to make, but the filling and sauce can be made ahead and frozen if need be. You can serve them as a main course with rice and veggies, or as an appetizer. This does take a little planning ahead, so make sure you read the recipe through before starting.

Serves 4

Equipment needed:
large bowl
whisk
griddle or skillet
ladle (or large spoon)
spatula
vegetable peeler &/or knife
large saucepan
food processor or bean masher

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.



Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.

5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.



Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Dhal Curry

There used to be a makeshift stall near my house which sells the best nasi (rice) dhalca. It is basically rice with chicken in dhal curry; but the curry was a burst of all-the-right-combination-of-flavours and the chicken meat was so tender, it practically fell off the bone. I'm just salivating right now reminiscing about it.

We have been happily consuming the nasi dhalca for years when one dark day, my dad returned from the nasi dhalca stall and informed us that the seller has decided he wouldn't be continuing with his business any longer. Rage and confusion mingled in me.. what? why isn't he passing on his legacy to his kid or something? how will we live without his curry? why does everything happen to meeeeee??

As we all know, we cannot control everything and everyone. So when I had a hankering for dhal curry recently, I decided to try out several recipes until I find one which is good enough to at least resemble The One. This one is great tasting with the right amount of heat and spices.

This recipe yields 5-6 servings (adapted from the hungry horse)

Ingredients:
2 tsp whole mustard seeds
2 tbsp turmeric
4 cloves
4 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp of ghee plus 4 tbsp of olive oil
2 cup of chopped red onion
4 slices of ginger, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 green chilli, cut into large slices
6 cups of water
450g yellow split peas, soaked overnight
2 small potato, diced
2 small carrot, diced
Salt to taste

Directions:
1) In a small bowl, combine and moisten spices (mustard seeds, turmeric, cloves and curry powder) with a few tablespoons of water so it won't burn when they are fried later.
2) In a heavy pot, heat ghee and olive oil over medium­-low heat.
3) Sauté onions, ginger and garlic until onions are translucent, about 2­-3 mins. Add in the moistened spices and green chillies and continue sauteing until mixture is fragrant, about 2 mins.
4) Add water, split peas, potatoes and carrots and give a good stir.
5) Bring curry to a boil and let simmer over low heat for 1 hour, stir occasionally.
6) The dhall curry is ready when the split peas are soft and begin to break apart. You can add more water if curry is too thick. Check seasoning and serve with naan or hot rice.