Instant Pot Kitchari/Khichdi

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups (473.18 ml) water 2.5 for saucier
• 1/2 cup (92.5 g) long grain white basmati rice
• 1/2 cup (96 g) quick cooking lentils such as split Red lentils (masoor dal) or (petite yellow lentils)Mung Dal or both
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/3 tsp cumin seeds or 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 inch (7 g) ginger finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf or 6 curry leaves , optional
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp garam masala , optional
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne optional
• 1 tomato chopped
• 1 to 2 cups chopped vegetables
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• Wash the lentils and rice then soak in hot water for 15 minutes. 
• Heat the Instant Pot on saute. Add oil and let it heat up. Add cumin or mustard seeds and cook for half a minute. 
• Add the onion, chile, garlic and a pinch of salt (and bay leaves or curry leaves) and cook for 2 mins.
• Add ginger and spices and mix in. 
• Add tomato and cook for 3 mins. Mash the larger pieces. Add 2 tbsp water to deglaze mid way.
• Drain and add the lentils and rice. Add water, salt, veggies and mix well to pick up any stuck bits. 
• Close the lid and pressure cook one of the following times. Low pressure for 3 mins for pictured version. High pressure for 3 to 6 minutes for a porridge and if using mung dal. Once the cooking cycle is done, quick release the pressure after 5 mins. 
• Fold in cilantro and lemon and fluff. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. 

  Store refrigerated for upto 3 days. 

Jhinga Nariyal Wala

aka Shrimp Coconut Curry.

This recipe is ganked (almost verbatim) from the Indian Instant Pot Cookbook by Urvashi Pitre.

So, I like shrimp. But I was a little worried about shrimp curry. With coconut, no less. Coconut always reminds me of A) suntan lotion or B) Pina Coladas. Neither of which are good associations. What can I say, Florida in the 70's was a horror show.

However.

This is probably the simplest thing I've made in my Instant Pot (with the exception of hard boiled eggs, because, yeah, hard boiled eggs.) The most effort went into peeling the shrimp (leave the tails on.)

I have a couple of 8" stainless steel prep bowls that I bought for like a dollar at Ocean State. Turns out these are perfect for PIP (pot in pot) cooking. You're welcome.

Ingredients:

1 lb shrimp, shelled and de-veined. (I bought a 1lb bag of frozen raw shrimp at Big Y. They're already de-veined, and that process splits the shell, so they're wicked easy to peel once they're thawed.)

1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic

SPOILER: Or, you could go to the nearest market that carries Asian food and get something called Garlic Ginger Paste. It's exactly that - ground up garlic and ginger in a 50/50 ratio. You pull a spoonful out and you're done. It's my favorite thing so far this year. Keep a jar in the fridge.

1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
1 cup (unsweetened) coconut milk

So, defrost and peel the shrimp. Throw them into whatever you're using that will fit inside your pressure cooker.

Into that bowl, throw all the other ingredients. Mix gently with a spatula to coat all the shrimp.

Put 2 cups of water in your Instant Pot. Put in the trivet. Cover your cooking bowl with foil, and place it on the trivet.

Now, here's where I go a bit off-piste. The original recipe calls for 3 minutes at high pressure, with rapid pressure release. I did that, and 2/3 of my shrimp were still grey and floppy. Another 2 minutes under pressure and they were fine. So, I'd do 4 minutes, with say 5 minutes natural release, then rapid release the rest of it. Problem solved.

I served it with basmati and some raita.

OH which reminds me - found a shortcut for raita. 4 tablespoons plain greek yogurt, and a hefty tablespoon of something called 'Bombay Sandwich Spread', which is nothing more than a slurry of coriander and mint that comes in a jar. Mix it, add some finely chopped cucumber, and you've got raita.

Aloo Gobi

Right, so here's another Indian recipe, best prepared in the Instant Pot or other pressure cooker type thingie. I'll warn you ahead of time that the result may not be pretty - but it tastes friggin' amazing.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp peanut oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 cups potato, peeled and sliced into 1/4" pieces (about 3 normal sized Russets, for example.)

Spice Mix: 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your heat tolerance)

1/2 cup diced tomato

1/4 cup water

(Note: I combined the two above ingredients and used a can of diced tomato without draining. Much easier, and it worked just fine.)

4 cups cauliflower florets. I used 1 medium cauliflower head, trimmed and cut into 1/8ths. You could also use frozen cauliflower florets with no change to the recipe.

Directions:

1) Using the 'saute' function, heat the Instant Pot. Add the oil. When shimmering, add the cumin seeds, saute for a bit until they start to make popping noises. Add the sliced potato and saute for a few minutes until they start to brown. Add the spice mix, stir and saute until the spices are fragrant. Add the tomatoes and the cauliflower, stir to coat everything with the oil/spice/tomato mix.

2) Seal the Instant Pot, and set for Low Pressure for 3 minutes.

3) When the cycle completes, use Quick Release to release the pressure.

4) Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

5) Serve with rice, chapatis or naan.

Instant Pot Punjabi Lobia (Black Eyed Peas with Spinach)

This is from the 'Indian Instant Pot Cookbook' by Urvashi Pitre. Highly recommended.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ghee or peanut oil
1/8 tsp cumin seeds
1/8 tsp black mustard seeds (or omit and use 1/4 tsp cumin seeds)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger (NOTE: I found a jar of pre-minced garlic and ginger mix at my local Asian supermarket. Giant time-saver)
1 cup diced tomato (canned is fine)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to your preferred heat level)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1 cup dried black-eyed peas (no need to pre-soak)
2 cups water
4 cups raw spinach (I used a 5oz package of baby spinach)

Directions:
1) Preheat the Instant Pot using the saute function. When hot, add the ghee or oil. When shimmering, add the cumin and mustard seeds. They'll probably sputter a bit. Do not be alarmed. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 30 seconds.
2) Add the tomato and cook for 1-2 minutes until they get a little soft.
3) Add the turmeric, cayenne, coriander, cumin and salt. Mix.
4) Add the black-eyed peas and water. Stir. Place the raw spinach on top of everything, don't mix.
5) Cook on High pressure for 10 minutes. Allow 'natural release' for 10 minutes, then release remaining pressure.
6) Stir, taste and adjust salt or cayenne if necessary.
7) Urvashi recommends serving with rice, naan or chapatis. Basically any starch will do. Even mashed potato.

Spicy Lentil Stew/Soup for the Instant Pot

So. It's really cold today, and I wanted something warming, quick and relatively painless. And this is it.

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 bag baby carrots (you can use regular carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2" slices. I couldn't be arsed)
1 lb small red potatoes, cut up if they're bigger than 2" or so
1 cup dried green lentils
1 cup dried red lentils
1/4 cup black rice
8 cups stock (beef or chicken, whichever)
1 28oz can crushed, or diced, or whatever, tomatoes
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Berbere spice mix (optional - it's spicy)
3 tbsp vinegar of your choice

1) Put a little oil in the Instant Pot, hit 'Saute' and let it heat up
2) Saute the onions until soft
3) Add all the spices. Give it a good stir to let them 'bloom'
4) Throw in the broth, the tomatoes and all the other ingredients except for the vinegar. Give it a good stir.
5) Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes
6) Stir it up, add the vinegar, and serve with some sort of bread
7 Damn, that's good.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

I have a friend who owns a farm. I know, I know, you all want to be me.

This friend (who shall remain nameless to preserve my source) gifted me with a 30-pound box of tomatoes that weren't quite perfect enough for the farm stand. As I am also not perfect (stop whispering in the back, there. I can hear you) they were the ideal match for me.

Of course, my schedule and lack of motivation being what they are, these babies got very ripe as they sat in my kitchen. Dark red, just starting to get a little soft. Not bad, mind, but not at their peak. So, plans to can fresh tomatoes went out the window. Instead, it struck me that I could roast them and make them into a simple sauce that I could can and use later to create whatever kind of sauce I wanted.

The recipe is simplicity itself: Tomatoes. Salt. That's it.

After roasting, you yank off the skins, put them in a stockpot, boil, whiz with an immersion blender, then can using the hot water bath method. Simples!

And being so basic, you can customize it later. Add oregano and garlic and some olive oil for a marinara. Jazz it up with some pepper flakes. Or add some za'atar or berbere for a shakshuka.

Depending on the tomatoes and how much you reduce, this can make anywhere from 5 to 7 pints.

Ingredients:

20 lbs. tomatoes - whatever you've got, basically
2 tbs kosher salt
Citric acid or lemon juice

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425F/220C/Gas Mark 7
2) Wash tomatoes, core and cut off blossom end. Cut in half
3) Sprinkle salt on a sheet pan covered with foil or silicone pad. Divide if using more than one pan at a time.
4) Place tomatoes, cut side down, on pans
5) Roast for about 45 minutes, or until the skins are mostly brown and kinda puffy. You'll probably want to rotate about halfway through.
6) Remove from oven, pick the puffy skins off and discard
7) Throw into a large stock pot, heat, and then liquidate the hell out of your tomatoes with an immersion blender.
8) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until you get the consistency you want.
9) While the tomatoes are cooking, prepare you jars, lids and rings as you normally would for water bath canning.
10) Add 1/4 tsp citric acid or 1/2 tsp lemon juice to each jar (for pints. If using quarts, double it).
11) Fill with sauce, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal and process in boiling water bath, 35 minutes for pints, 40 minutes for quarts.

Cheesy Corn Muffins

Savory baked goods are where it's at. I lost my taste for sweets shortly before I graduated from high school. Given a choice, I'll take savory over sweet anytime. Try to hand me a cinnamon bagel and I'll cut you. Cheddar & jalapeno, with a schmear of sundried tomato cream cheese? You just might live to see another day.

So, I found this recipe on Food52 and I'm posting it here for later. You're welcome.

Yield: 9 normal sized muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup crumbled/grated cheese. Suggestions include feta, parmesan, cheddar. Even blue cheese would work. Hell, try some Emmenthaler and go nuts.
1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs. Parsley, thyme, rosemary, even chives.

Preheat oven to 400F

In a large bowl, whisk together the corn meal, flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Add milk, oil and beaten egg. Stir to combine, but don't overwork.

Let stand for 5 minutes.

Add cheese and herbs and stir just enough to combine.

Pour the batter into standard size muffin tin (greased or lined with paper). About half-way is fine.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until light golden brown on top. Cool for a bit in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

These would be great with just butter, or you can use up some pickles, or tomato jam would be really good too. (Photo Credit: Posie Harwood)

Brussels Sprouts - the best you ever et.

So. Brussels Sprouts. They got a really bad rap in the 60s and 70s. Honestly, I used to love them. Steamed, with some butter and vinegar, salt & pepper. Yum.

But now, this is how I eat them. And I swear by all that is holy that you will love them too. Even if you normally hate them.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise.

1/4 cup olive oil

1 slice bacon (or as the Brits would refer to it, 'streaky' bacon)

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

2 tablespoons really good balsamic vinegar

Salt & pepper.

Trim & split the sprouts, and then toss in a large bowl with the oil, salt & pepper.  Dice the uncooked bacon very fine, and toss with the sprouts. Pour the whole thing onto a baking sheet. In a 400 degree oven (200C or gas mark 6), roast the sprouts for 20-30 minutes until tender.  Remove from the oven, put into a casserole or gratin dish. Sprinkle the parmesan over the top, then the balsamic. Back into the oven for another 20 minutes or so. (If you're doing a roast, you can just throw it in during the last 20 minutes with the meat.)

Roasting tends to get rid of the sulphur-ish taste, but leaves the lovely sweet-bitter flavor that sprouts are so good at. Trust me, you will love these.

Onion Soup, Lyonnaise Style

So this is completely ganked from Jacques Pepin. There was a repeat of a 2011 episode of 'Essential Pepin' on PBS this afternoon and I just had to try it.

Oh. My. God.

Onion soup is pretty much mindless. So is this one. But the late addition of egg yolk with wine makes this a total winner. I just had a giant bowl, and I can't wait to have it reheated for lunch tomorrow.

Serves 6 to 8

15–20 thin slices (1/4-inch-thick) baguette
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 3 cups). I used the mandoline for this and it took 2 minutes tops.
6 cups homemade chicken stock or low-salt canned chicken broth (I used a 32 oz box of unsalted chicken stock from the store, plus 2 cups of water)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups grated Gruyère or Emmenthaler cheese (I used a mixture of both).
2 large egg yolks
½ cup sweet port. If you don't have port on hand (as I didn't) you can substitute pretty much anything. I used 1/4 cup of leftover sake, plus some dry vermouth. You could also use sherry, or a sweet red. Go nuts.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Arrange the bread slices on a cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Leave the oven on.) Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and sauté for 15 minutes, or until dark brown. Resist the urge to keep the burner on high: You want the onions caramelized, not burnt.

Add the stock, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Pepin advises pushing the whole mess through a food mill. Don't bother. If you're really bothered by onion pieces, you can run an immersion blender through it if you want. I wouldn't.

Arrange one third of the toasted bread in the bottom of an ovenproof soup tureen or large casserole. Sprinkle with some of the cheese, then add the remaining bread and more cheese, saving enough of the cheese to sprinkle over the top of the soup. Fill the tureen with the hot soup, sprinkle the reserved cheese on top, and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for approximately 35 minutes, or until a golden crust forms on top.

At serving time, bring the soup to the table. Combine the yolks with the port in a small bowl and whip with a fork. With a ladle, make a hole in the top of the gratinée, pour in the wine mixture, and fold into the soup with the ladle. Stir everything together and serve.

Have some extra bread on hand. Trust me.

Pasta alla Norcina

This September, I will have the great good fortune to spend a week in Tuscany with wonderful friends. As a side-effect, I've been trying some more non-traditional Italian fare. Oh, I still love a good Bolognese (and mine kicks ass, if I do say so my own self) but I wanted to try a pasta that did not include either tomato or pesto.  And lo and behold, I came across Pasta alla Norcina.

The sauce is based on pork. And cream. Yes, you heard me right. Pork and cream. Add in a naked soccer team and you have nature's most perfect food. But I digress...

Here's what you need:

1 lb ground pork
10 oz cremini/baby bella mushrooms
1 lb orecchiette pasta (would also work with rotini or cavatini)
3/4 cup cream
1 cup white wine
3/4 cup pecorino
Rosemary
Basil
Garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Baking Soda

So, the authentic Norcina uses a pork sausage from Norcia, a little town in Perugia. Since I'm not in Perugia, and I'm guessing you're not either, it's time to improvise. Take your pound of ground pork, and throw it in a bowl. Add a little bit of water, about a half teaspoon of salt, and maybe 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Take a spatula and smear it around in the bowl until it's all combined.  Add some garlic, black pepper and rosemary, mix it again and set it aside to sit for about 15 minutes or so.

While the pork is resting, throw the creminis in a food processor and pulse a few times until they're pretty finely chopped. You could do this by hand, of course, but then you'd have forearms like Popeye and really, what's the point?

In a large skillet or saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil until it shimmers but doesn't smoke. Throw the pork into the pan and brown, about 5 or 6 minutes. Remove the pork, place in a bowl and pour in the cream. Let it sit there getting good and creamy/porky.

Now, throw the mushrooms in the pan with a pinch of salt and some more garlic. Cook until browned and dry, about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine, scrape all the brown bits (fond, if you're pretentious) up, and cook on medium-high until the wine is 95% evaporated. OK, I made up the percentage. Just cook until it's almost dry.

Then, pour the porky cream mixture into the pan. Cook on medium until it starts to thicken. Take it off the heat, and add the pecorino and some fresh basil, chopped or chiffonade, if you intend to keep on being pretentious. I don't judge.

Of course, while all of this is going on, you also have to cook your pasta. 1 gallon water, 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, dump in the pasta and cook it how you like it. I will admit, in print, that I am not a fan of al dente.  Perhaps it's my New England upbringing, but I'm not really fond of something that's not cooked all the way through when it comes to noodles.  If the box says "11 minutes" for al dente, I'll cook it for 12.

Drain the pasta, reserving a cup or so of the pasta water. Dump the pasta in the pan with the sauce, and stir to coat it well. If it's a little thick, add some of the pasta water.

Salt & Pepper to taste, and add a sprinkle of the pecorino on top, just to be fancy.

Toad in the Hole

Toad in the Hole!

I was introduced to this gastronomic version of a flannel robe and a hug by my friends The Brit Bitches. It is not to be confused with the American "Toad in a hole", known to my relatives as "Egg in the Hole" - that's a slice of bread with a hole in the middle, into which you crack an egg and fry in a pan. Oh, not at all.

"Toad in the Hole" is sausages encased in Yorkshire Pudding. Which is not actually pudding, but a batter much like a popover. Confused yet?

Short history lesson: Yorkshire pudding is an unleavened batter that was traditionally cooked under a roast. The roast was cooked right on the grate (no pan, thank you.) Below the grate, you placed a pan full of a flour/egg/milk batter. As it cooked and puffed up, the juices from the roast above would drip down into the batter, adding flavor.  My mouth is actually watering this very second.

Anyhoo, on to "The Toad".

This is a great midweek meal. It is easy, fast comfort food that doesn't really require much thought or effort. The most exacting part is putting together the batter. And how hard can that really be?

A couple of things I've learned along the way: Don't skimp on the resting time for the batter. 30 minutes is 30 minutes, no less. Also, get some fairly good sausages. Proper bangers if you can find them, but if not, any reasonably good pork sausage will work.  If all that's available is Italian style, I'd go for hot rather than sweet, but that's just me. The batch pictured was made with some Big Y pepper & cheese sausages that were going to expire the next day - so I got a pound for $1.99. Deal!

If you're trying to be The World's Best Mom, you'll probably want to serve this with a side of simply steamed veg. With vinegar on top, as this is, after all, British.

Toad In The Hole

Ingredients:

1 lb pork sausage of your choice (in casings)

1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups Whole Milk

3 large eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp dry mustard (I use Coleman's. Of course)

2 tbsp butter

Cooking oil (Canola, Vegetable, something with a high smoke point. Not olive oil)

1. Combine the flour, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, mustard and butter in a bowl (or in a blender if you have one) and whip the shit out of it until well blended. Put this in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

2. Preheat the oven to 425.

3. Use a 9x9 cake pan (or really, whatever pan you have that is about that size - this is comfort food, not brain surgery). Put 2 tablespoons oil in the bottom of the pan, and put it in the oven to heat. We want the oil screaming hot when we throw the ingredients in, so you can just leave it there as long as you want.

4. Brown the sausages in a skillet. They won't get much color once they're in the batter, so we want to make them look purty.

5. When the pan in the oven is screaming hot, pull it out of the oven. Dump the chilled batter into the pan (sizzle noise is good here), then drop the sausages on top of the batter. Be artistic if you want with the arrangement, but nobody'll really give a shit in the end, anyway.

6. Pan goes back in the oven. Close the door. Do NOT be tempted to open the door for the next 20 minutes. If your oven does not have a light and a window so that you can check the progress... what the hell are you cooking in?

7. Cook for 25 - 30 minutes until the Yorkshire pudding part rises up and gets golden on top.  If you're really lucky (which I am about 2 out of 3 times - as in the picture above) it should actually puff up over the top of the pan like a souffle.

8. Serve immediately with onion gravy (or brown gravy, or whatever. I'm still trying in vain to find Bisto in this country) and whatever sides you think you may need to feel better about yourself.

You can refrigerate/freeze any leftovers, but be aware that while it'll still taste OK, the light fluffy quality of the Yorkshire pudding won't quite be the same as it is fresh out the oven.

When you've finished dinner, nip down the pub for a pint.

White Guy Kimchi

So. Kimchi. Also spelled Kimchee or Gimchi according to Wikipedia. The first time I tasted it was when I lived in San Diego. I can't remember the occasion, but I remember the sensation vividly. Spicy, hot, sour, crunchy. If you left it in the fridge for a couple of days with the top of the container tightly sealed, it would bubble when you opened it.

I didn't grow up with a tradition of fermented foods, so it was alien and wonderful all at the same time.I would buy it on and off when I would see it in the market. It was hellishly expensive so I would never keep it as a staple. That has come to a screeching halt.

I've been perusing kimchi recipes online for a while. A friend at work has a lovely Korean mommy who made some kimchi which I got to taste. That was it. I had to make some.

Here is the recipe I followed. It's kind of an amalgamation of several different recipes with a little slap-dash invention that I came up with just because I'm sort of slap-dash as a rule. I put mine in a couple of mason jars to age, as that way I could control the fermentation a little better than I'd be able to in a bucket or some such.

White Guy Kimchi

1 head (1.5 to 2 pounds) napa cabbage or green cabbage, cut into 2 by 1-inch pieces.  I cut the cabbage head into quarters, cut out the core and thinly slice it and add it back to the pile of cabbage.
1 daikon radish, if it's really big cut it in half
1 leek, cleaned and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
3 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
1 1/2 teaspoon peeled, finely grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon sugar
3-5 tablespoons Korean chile pepper flakes (gochugaru). This is completely up to you, based on your tolerance for heat. I tend to go for really hot, as the heat mellows as the kimchi ages.

Cut up the cabbage and place in a very large bowl. Cover with water and add the salt. For the daikon, I peeled it, and then, using the peeler, cut long strips of the radish and dumped that in the bowl with the cabbage. For the leek, cut off the root end, slice the rest into rounds. Be sure to wash the leek well because those suckers will ALWAYS have dirt in them. Always. Let the whole thing brine for a minimum of one hour, more time is better. Maybe 3 hours tops. Some people say brine overnight, but to me that makes it a little too soft.

Meanwhile, you can prepare the red pepper paste.  In a separate bowl, combine the other ingredients. You may need to add a little more fish sauce than indicated in order to get a really loose pepper paste.

Drain and rinse the cabbage/daikon/leek mess, and put it back into the big bowl. Add the pepper paste and toss. I used rubber gloves to do this. Put a little water into the bowl you had the pepper paste in to slop it all up and pour this into the cabbage mix as well. Toss this all around by hand until everything is coated with the red pepper goodness.

If you're using a large container to cure the kimchi, just dump the whole thing into the container and cover loosely. I used a couple of quart mason jars. If you're doing that, just pack the cabbage mixture into the jars tightly, leaving yourself about an inch of headspace. I then put a lid and ring on the top of the mason jars and left the ring loose. You'll find out why.

Whichever type of container you use, you now just need to leave it out at room temp. For 3 days. If using the mason jars, be aware that the jar WILL 'outgas' and bubble over with liquid. This is normal for food that is fermenting. Bubbling is good.  I put the jars on top of my stove on a big plate with a lip, to keep the juices from running rampant when the inevitable bubbling-over happens. Every night I would rinse off the jars, rinse off the plate, and use a clean utensil to pack down the kimchi in the jar to keep everything covered.

After the 3rd day, you can put the kimchi in the fridge. The fermentation will continue in the fridge, but at a much slower pace. The online wisdom is that it should keep for 6 months or more in the fridge, and the flavor will deepen over time. I've never been able to keep it around that long.

Cast Iron Mac 'n Cheese

I have a rather mixed history with mac 'n cheese. As a kid, I wouldn't touch it. Meanwhile my brother lived on the Kraft 'blue box' version for most of his childhood. Go figure.

Cut to several years later. And by several, I'm counting in decades. I found a recipe that sounded good and tweaked it back and forth until I got to where I really liked it. And this is what resulted:

Cast Iron Mac 'n Cheese

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 pound of shredded cheese (I use a mix of regular and sharp cheddar, but go nuts and use what you like).
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dry mustard (I use Coleman's)
6 strips of bacon, sliced into small pieces
1 small onion
8 oz of pasta (I prefer cavatappi, otherwise known as cellentani or spirals)
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

In a 12 inch cast iron skillet, brown the bacon, then toss in the onion, diced. Cook until the bacon is rendered and the onion is browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the butter to the skillet with the remaining bacon fat. Add the flour, stir until combined, then add the milk slowly. (This is also known as a quick 'n dirty Bechamel sauce. Don't stress, it's not that hard.)

While doing this, boil some water to cook the pasta.  You'll want to cook it for about 8 minutes, so it's almost but not quite done.

So, your Bechamel is bubbling at this point, so now you add the shredded cheese a bit at a time until it's melted and delish-looking. Also at this point you add the cayenne pepper and the dry mustard. Remove it from the heat while the pasta is finishing.

Drain the pasta, and throw it into the skillet with the cheese sauce. Mix until all the pasta is coated.  Sprinkle the top of the whole mess with the breadcrumbs, parm regg, and the onion/bacon mixture that you set aside earlier.  Pop the skillet into a 350 oven for about 20-25 minutes. You may want to put a cookie sheet under the skillet so any bubbling-over (and there will be some) doesn't hit the bottom of your oven.

When the skillet comes out of the oven, let it sit for at least 5 minutes. Then try not to inhale the whole thing.

Korean Tapenade

No, your eyes do not deceive you. I am neither Korean, nor Spanish. However.

However.  I had one of those "clean out the fridge" moments and came up with this recipe. I just had it with some potato wedges I cooked in the halogen oven. It. Was. Yummy.


1/2 cup Kimchi (storebought or even better, homemade)
1/2 cup oil-cured olives
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Tamari

Dump all of the above in the food processor. Pulse a few times until it's a rough paste.

Try to resist slathering this directly on your body.  I dare you.

Kedgeree!

On paper, this stuff should be awful.  Rice. Hardboiled eggs. Smoked fish.  Really?

Best. Hangover Breakfast. Evar.

According to Wikipedia, Kedgeree is a Brit Bastardization of an Indian dish called Kichri. Brought home to Britain during the Raj and adjusted. Another version says that it's actually a Scottish dish that went to India with Scottish troops, then back home to England. I'm more inclined to believe this version of the story because of the use of smoked fish, which is very Scottish and not very Indian at all.

And it's pretty simple.

Get the rice cooker out from under the counter.  Cook 1 cup of rice with 2 cups water, plus add 1/2 tsp of curry powder and 1/2 tsp cumin.

Meanwhile, hardboil a couple of eggs.

In your trusty cast iron skillet, cook an onion in some olive oil. I used really thin half-moon slices of onion so they'd cook fast. Once they've started to brown, add your smoked fish.

Now, there's many different versions of this using many different kinds of fish. Most often it's smoked haddock.  I didn't have any, but I was able to find smoked herring fillets at the fish counter at my local supermarket. Super cheap.  They're quite salty, so you may want to soak the fillets in water for a bit to get rid of some of the salt. I didn't bother, I just made sure not to add any additional salt. Throw the fillets in on top of the onions, and once they're heated through so they're soft, shred the fillets into bite size pieces using a couple of forks.

Chuck the rice in on top of the whole mess and mix it up with the fish and onions.  Scrape the whole mess out into a serving bowl. Chop up the hardboiled eggs and plonk them on top of the dish.

Done.

(UPDATE) It's even better a day or 2 later. Obviously, you should keep it in the fridge. Obviously.

Salt & Vinegar Smashed Potatoes

So, as many of you know, I'm a confirmed Anglophile. I remember as a child, when the only voices I normally heard had very "New England" accents, listening to veddy English voices on shows that used to air on PBS, and thinking "I like those people".

 I was raised knowing that I was Irish on my mother's side. Very. My first exposure to Gaelic was listening to The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem records at my Nana's house. Of my dad's side of the family, I knew pretty much nothing. But for some reason, I knew I liked the sound of English english. 

Cut to 2010, when I scammed 30 days free on "Ancestry.com". Found out most of my dad's family came here from England in the late 1600's, landing in Barnstable Mass. Imagine how freaked to the core I was when I found out that (again, according to Ancestry.com... and who can doubt a Mormon?) Elinor of Aquitaine is my 25th-great-grandmother. Less excited to find out that I descend from the 'idiot son' John. Hey, Plantagenet blood still counts if your 24th-great-grandfather was a mouth-breather, right? Being the queen that I am, I was convinced this meant I was somehow related to Katherine Hepburn, who played Elinor so brilliantly in the film version of "The Lion In Winter."

 Nobody said I was a rocket scientist.

 In any event, this is a roundabout way to introduce this recipe. You can't get much more Brit than fish 'n chips. The chips, of course, are what Americans call fries. And you can't have chips without vinegar. Malt vinegar, to be exact. It is nearly impossible to find proper chips in the US - even here in New England, which judging by the name, you would think would have a chippy on every corner. Not so much. So, here's a sort of kind of version of them that can be made with stuff you can find here in the States. As I said, this is a 'version', not meant to be the real thing. But they're pretty damned good.

1 1/2 pounds red bliss or new potatoes. You want them on the smallish side - like 1" x 2".
1 1/2 cups salt (a little more if you're using kosher or sea salt)
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup malt vinegar (don't even try to fake this part. Malt or nothing.)

 Preheat your oven to 400 and have the top rack one down from the highest it can go.

 Put about a half gallon of water in a medium pan. Add 1 1/2 cups salt. (I know. Trust me.) Wash the potatoes, remove eyes with a paring knife if necessary. When the water boils, dump the potatoes in. Boil until they're about halfway cooked (say, 8 minutes or so). Use a slotted spoon or a spider to pull the potatoes out of the water, set on a wire rack or towel to cool & dry.

When they're dry, they'll look a bit frosted from the shitload of salt you put in the water. This is what we want. This is good.

Get a rimmed baking sheet. Pour about half of the oil in the bottom of the pan and spread it around. Place the potatoes on the baking sheet. Now, if you've got another baking sheet or casserole pan, use this. Otherwise you can use the base of a pint glass.

Smash the potatoes until they're about 1/4 inch thick. Take a brush and brush the top of each of the smashed spuds with the malt vinegar. Be generous.

 Put the potatoes in the oven and cook for 20 minutes or so, until they look good. Take out the pan, flip the potatoes and repeat the vinegar treatment. Then put the rest of the oil over everything. Back in the oven, for another 10 to 15 minutes.

 If you have it, and you really want to gild the lily, you can put a final, sparing sprinkle of Maldon salt over the whole batch when you pull it out of the oven to get that extra crunch. Yes, this will be your entire day's RDA of sodium. It'll also be the best feckin' potatoes you've ever et.

Gougères - little puffs of magic

OK, I think I mentioned before that I'm addicted to the "Create" channel. It's a secondary cable channel produced by PBS, and it contains mainly cooking, craft, travel and DIY shows.

I'm about to invoke a name that has many connotations, both good and bad:

Martha Stewart.

I know. I KNOW! But back in 2009 she produced a series of shows called "Martha Bakes". It goes over several basic, classic recipes. One episode is entirely devoted to "pate a choux", which is a very versatile basic batter that can be used for sweet or savory baked treats.

Here's the recipe from her website:

http://www.marthastewart.com/339149/gougeres

I, of course, made a couple of changes. First, Gruyere or Comte is a bit expensive. Being a Yankee, I substituted Cabot Sharp Cheddar. Because it has a stronger taste, you can cut down on the amount used. I went with a cup of the grated cheddar rather than 1 1/2 cups. Second, I don't happen to own a pastry bag, so I used a 1-gallon ZipLock bag and just cut a corner off the bottom of it. Presto: instant pastry bag. Other than that I followed the recipe to the letter.  The results were tasty.  They were not as puffy as they're supposed to be, so next time I might add another egg.

And so it begins...

So, here's the deal. I'm a middle-aged guy, single, gay, and for lack of something better to do with my time (curing cancer or solving the ongoing problem of poverty being beyond my particular skill-set) I decided to start cooking.

 It's a selfish pursuit, one could say. I prefer to cook alone. I don't work well with other people in my kitchen. I actually don't work well with other people in my house, period. (See: 'single', above). What I do have is an upbringing informed by my very hard working Mom who, as much as I love her, was not the world's best cook. She's absolutely OK with this and will tell anyone and everyone that she's always hated cooking and never wanted to be good at it. I admire her for that. But as a result, I was always the "eat to live" rather than the "live to eat" type. I could get through mealtime at the college cafeteria in less than 6 minutes, including the time it took to clear my tray.

 Sometime in the last 2 or 3 years, though, I started thinking about what I was putting into my body, food-wise. In 2009 I suffered a (very thankfully) minor heart attack, quickly followed by a bypass. Heart disease is rampant in both sides of my family (neither of my grandfathers ever saw age 60) and it quickly became apparent that continuing my usual diet (most of which was restaurant and/or fast food because I just couldn't be arsed to cook for myself) would have to have a major overhaul.

 I'll admit, immediately following the health scare, I went off the deep end. I bought a rice steamer and for about 6 months all I ate was rice, steamed salmon and brussels sprouts. The less said about that period of my life the better.

 I've since come to my senses. I've also started taking lots of medications to control blood pressure and cholesterol. So you will not see any recipes for steamed millet or edamame fritters.

 What I like to do is take recipes as I find them - whether they're in cookbooks, food magazines, or (my current obsession) cooking shows on the "Create" PBS channel, and tweak them so that they're 1) something I'd be willing to eat and 2) Not completely in the "coronary-on-a-plate" category.

 I'm not a nutritionist, I'm not trained in food science and I certainly wouldn't set myself up as a food expert. I'm just a cranky guy who found out rather late in life that he likes to cook. So. With that said, what I'll be posting here are recipes, links to recipes I like, general information, probably some bitching and moaning and general assholery. You're welcome to join me for the ride.