Batts grill

Batt's Grill is our favorite sea food place anywhere in the world...may be anywhere in the world other than British Columbia!  Located in Surf City, NC; this is the highlight of our summer beach trips.  We found this place in the summer of 2007 when we were at the beach for our friends Matt and Crystal's wedding and had a strong recommendation from the locals. 

Batt's is a no non-sense fried seafood place.  You can have a plate of fried shrimp, oysters, fish, clam strip - alone or in various combinations.  They also make chowders and baked stuffed crabs and such but honestly, nothing beats a plate of seafood.  Their hush puppies are great and come with the seafood plate along with two other sides.  There is a wide variety to choose from - green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, fries, peas, black eyed peas, cole slaw, rice and more.  What Salil loves is the fact that you can get desserts as sides and they make some good banana pudding!! An endless cup of sweet tea on a hot summer day is a bonus.

All in all, a highly recommended place.  Though the prices have gone up in the last couple of years, they are nowhere close to the other touristy places.  For $6-8, expect a good comforting meal without too many frills.  Fortunately, they dont smoke in the restaurant anymore!! Surf City/ Topsail Island area is very accessible from the triangle and is much less crowded than Wilmington or Myrtle Beach.   

In addition to our summer trip, we went to the beach this year for thankgiving.  Batt's had an amazing thanksgiving spread for $6.  Salil had his best birthday meal that day.

Kebab roll

Kebab roll at restaurant Kashmir, corner of 8th ave and 39th street
for 3.99 not bad wish the Naan was fresh :(

Coconut soda

 

Why can't we get this in NC it's awesome.

Hot sausage sandwich

Primanti brothers sandwich in Pittsburgh - this Pittsburgh establishment is famous for the fries being inside your sandwich, instead of their usual role as a side!

Mango Salsa

Mangoes came up in a discussion and I decided to have a bite.  Being a "self proclaimed mango snob" I refuse to eat anything but the best.  And the best is found in India during the harsh summer months.  In the US, there is Brazilian mangoes....not quite the same but will work in a salsa.  Even if I have offended you, do try the salsa recipe.  Its good.

1 mango ( just shy of completely ripe, we need the tarty sweetness)
3 medium sized tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup green onion (white and green parts)
1/2 cup chopeed cilantro (sorry, parsley wont work!)
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers (you can reduce the heat level by removing the seeds and using only the green flesh)
Juice of half a lemon (again, based on preference)
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon Olive oil

Just chop all the vegetables finely and mix in lemon juice, olive oil, condiments etc.  Salsa is done!  I personally think it tastes better the next day when the flavors have had a chance to mingle.....but can you really wait that long?

The same recipe will also make peach salsa....just use peaches in the place of mangoes!

Sorry folks no picture, ate it all :).  

Iggy's at Providence

Had a quehog....baked stuffed clam for the non Rhode Islanders.  We are big fans of "family guy" and must try anything with that name! 

Have been busy lately and the lack of our experiments in the kitchen is obvious, but we are trying to log the restaurant adventures.  Iggy's is highly recommended if you are in the area.  Notice the address in the picture!

Quehog (?)

at Iggy's!

Clam shell stuffed with clam, bread crumbs, parsley, spices....just needs a squirt of lemon juice :).

Lobster roll

Finally had the famous lobster roll.  Was in RI for work but I think this lobster roll would be worth the trip by itself.

Need to make one at home...will keep you posted about that as and when it happens!

Fish filet in Bashu sauce

Am just going to say one thing - Gourmet Kingdom has never failed!

Clamcakes

For a southerner, these are hush puppies with bits of clam and think they make the batter in clam juice.  They were absolutely yummy, especially when hot but if you are going to Iggy's once, focus on the lobster roll.  Eat 2 lobster rolls if you can, that will undoubtedly be a better use of the appetite.

If you are like Salil with a very flexible appetite, go for these ;).

3 pepper chicken

Not for the weak at heart, this one packs a punch!

Chiba special roll

Spicy tuna and cucumber inside, seaweed and roe on the outside.  Served with a "salsa" of crab, cucumbers, scallions and lemon juice.  As always, a work of art!

Vietnamese crepe at Jujube

Vietnamese crepe with sweet and sour pork at Jujube, Chapel Hill.

Here is the link:
http://jujuberestaurant.com/

Banhmi at jujube

Its a crime that they serve this only for lunch on weekdays!  But, we made it there recently and finally tasted the menu which we used to look at and drool.

I had a vietnamese chicken sandwich (in the picture).  Salil had vietnamese crepe with sweet and sour pork.  Amazing flavors, fresh ingredients!

Only in carrboro

Dosa is a thin, crispy crepe made from fermented rice flour, a specialty in the south of India.  Typically, a dosa is stuffed with curried mashed potatoes but people in Carrboro are creative.  They had eggplant and chicken in addition to the traditional potato filling.  Will have to taste one soon.

Ba Shu Chicken

This is a follow up to the Gourmet Kingdom review from a few weeks back.  We tried the Ba Shu chicken and it lived up to the sky high expectations!  Extremely hot, not for the weaker souls.  Salil ate most of it.  I had an eggplant dish to balance things a bit.

Also went to Gourmet Kingdom for lunch with the lab-mates.  The menu is standard chinese lunch menu with Broccoli and Beef, Kung-Pao Chicken and the works.  The lunch entree came with a bowl of soup and a small salad.  The taste was refreshing, unlike the usual oily chinese fare.  Portions were generous and the price was exceptional.  I think my chicken and brocolli was priced at $ 5.75.  Highly recommended, especially if you are a graduate student who is getting tired of the regular chinese take-out.

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Eggplant in garlic sauce

at Gourmet Kingdom.
http://www.thegourmetkingdom.com/

Home-made Shrikhand

Shrikhand is a renowned dessert from Maharashtra.  This is a Marathi person's answer to Gelato.  We followed a recipe from Salil's dad and it worked perfectly for us.  We cant take the credit for this one though.  Being a true scientist, he gave us the "formula" and not a recipe! We had 9 people coming over for lunch and so the scale is much more than we normally have on the blog.  But the Shrikhand will keep well in the fridge for a at least a couple of weeks and will make you come back for more.  Shrikhand can off course be a stand alone dessert  at the end of a meal.  But we like to make shrikhand-puri. 

Puri is a fried bread and I cant believe that wikipedia actually has an entry to describe puri.  They have done a much better job of describing it that I would ever do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puri_(food)
But, I am surprised to see that shrikhand is not mentioned in the accompaniments :(. 

The thing is actually quite easy to make, especially in the US where the yoghurt and sour cream is easily available.  My mom starts from fresh milk, makes her own youghurt/curd.

50 oz plain youghurt ( extremely important to use full fat, cream on top kind) - this is not the place to save some calories.  If you are going through the trouble of making it, might as well enjoy it to the fullest.

50 oz sour cream (again full fat - gives a nice mildly sour punch)

2 cups raw/refined sugar (this makes relatively mildly sweet - most Indians will complian  that its not sweet enough, but I study diabetes for a living!)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardomom

1 cup nuts (we used crushed toasted hazelnuts which are not to be found in India.  More common will be pistachio, almonds or cashews or all three)

saffron ( how much saffron is difficult to tell.  If you have the real good one - which may not essentially be the most expensive one, as we found out the hard way - little will go a long way!  Its best to soak it in a TBS or two of warm milk, let it seep through the milk for about half an hour and then add the golden yellow milk to the shrikhand.  We are not looking for much color, but just the fragrance of saffron)

Muslin/ cheese cloth - a clean 100% cotton scarf will work as long as you are okay with it smelling like a baby/ old milk for a long time even after many washes!!

Hang the youghurt and sour cream in the cheese cloth and let it hang overnight, to get rid of the excess moisture.  We did it in two batches given the amount we had.  Once the mixture is hung, get it out in a bowl, add sugar, saffron, cardomom and nuts.  Chill it in the fridge for 6-8 hourse allowing for all the flavors to come together.  

I promised you, its easy to make.

Gourmet kingdom - a pleasant surprise

Gourmet Kingdom in Carrboro. Awesome fish in Schezuan bean sauce!


Gourmet Kingdom in Carrboro - a not particularly attractive looking chinese buffet.  Many locals go past it without giving it a second look.  I went there a long time ago, when it newly opened and was actually pretty good.  The fact that I was new to USA and the novel concept of a bountiful buffet must have also played its part to attract me here.  But as the days went by, the quality of the buffet went downhill and I explored and found many other deserving places in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area.

But now the locals are in for a hot surprise.  Gourmet Kingdom has a new management and they have ditched the buffet.  The place now serves a schezuan cuisine and they seem to be really very good at that.  We went there on a sunday evening and the place was packed.  Many asians, always a good sign if the locals are eating there!

We had the fish in schezuan bean sauce which is one of their signature dish.  Hot is an understatement!!!  I am wary of hot dishes because I always feel that the heat kills all the other flavors.  But this one was good.  The fish was perfectly cooked on a bed of chinese cabbage and topped with this spicy hot chilli-garlic schezuan secret paste.  We got some bok-choy and black mushrooms, turned out a great choice to cool the tongue down which was literally on fire after the fish.  The two plates were served with a generous portion of white rice. 

Great food but the service was slow.  Next time - Ba Shu Chicken!  

Bhindi fry

Bhindi or Okra is a favorite of both Salil and I.  With its tremendous potential to become slimy, okra need to be handled with some love and care.  This is my version of a popular Indian vegetarian okra dish.  Its simple, yet packs some good flavor and great nutrients. 

Before I go into the ingredients, I wast to introduce everyone to Fenugreek seeds.  Known as "methi" in India, this is a green vegetable - a bit bitter and honestly, not my favorite.  The seeds also have the same bitterness but if used in reasonable small quantities, it adds a complexity to the flavors.  Below is the wikipedia link for the geeks - notice that its packaged and sold to many "supplement-loving-healthy-eaters" and it will be nice instead to just incorporate in our diets in some tasty way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenugreek

Now coming to the ingredients:

1 pound okra, cut legthwise into long thin strips
15 fenugreek seeds crushed into a corse powder in a mortar
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida or hinga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida)
2 TBS vegetable/ canola oil
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teapsoon sugar
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
salt
coriander leaves for garnishing

In a flat and wide saute pan, heat oil.  Test to see if it is hot enough - drop a cumin seed and the oil is hot if it foams.  To the hot oil, add the cumin, methi powder, hinga and turmeric.  Once the oil foams move things around for about 15 seconds and add the chopped okra.  Saute the okra for about 10 minites stirring occasionally.  By this time, there will be mucousy strings going through the pan.  Add salt, sugar and chilli powder, mix well and cober for about 10 minutes.  The duration of cooking will vary depending the okra.  I personally never use the frozen okra - its too wet for me and the point of bhindi fry is to get a semi-crisy end product. 

Remove the lid and add lemon juice.  The acid gets rid of the slimyness and helps to dry things up a bit. Let the okra sit on slightly high heat to crisp up.  The surface area of the pan and thin-ness of the vegetable will be the key here! Garnish with chopped coriander/cilantro.

Lemon juice and sugra cut through the bitterness of the fenugreek/methi seeds and makes for complex, multiple layers of flavor.

Pistachio gelato with Fig-Ginger-Caramel sauce

8-10 dried figs
2x1 cm piece of ginger
4 oz ginger ale
2 TB brown sugar

Chop up the dried figs into small pieces and mash them a bit (in a mortar).  Finely grate the giner into a paste.  Add them to a sauce pan with sugar and ginger ale.  Bring to a simmer on low-medium heat.  Let it cook the figs have softened and wilted into the dark brown caramelized sugar sauce.

"Ciao-Bella" pistachio gelato topped with the sauce made for a fantastic desert - made our ordinary wednesday night extra-ordinary!

Jambalaya

I was watching Food Network this suday, trying to keep myself occupied while Salil was working and saw this incredible Jambalaya recipe on Ina Garten's show.  I admit that this is the first time I paid complete attention to a cooking show, took notes, bought fresh ingredients and made lunch.

2 links of Andouille sausage, chopped to bite size pieces
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup roasted green peppers (use 1 cup if they are not roasted since roasting concentrates the flavors significantly)
1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper
3 big garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups long grain rice (I used Basmati)
10 big shrimps, peeled and deveined
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped scallions

Heat some olive oil in a deep, heavy bottom pan and saute the sausage on medium high heat.  Once the sausage turns brown on the edges (about 10 minutes) take it out of the pan and set aside.  In the same pan, add a couple teaspoons of olive oil and saute onions and celery untill they are soft.  Add the roasted green peppers and warm them through for a couple of minutes. 

Make a well in the bottom of the bowl by moving the vegetables to a side and add a teasoonful of olive oil.  Add the chopped garlic and jalapeno peppers.  Stir in with the rest of the mixture after 1 minute.

Wash 2 cups of Basmati rice, remove excess water and add it to the pot.  Warm the chicken stock in a separate sauce pan and add 3 cups of stock to the rice.  Cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the sausage and the rest of the stock depending on the consistency and the level of done-ness of the rice.  In my hands, the ratio of rice to liquids at 1:2 works best.  Season with salt and pepper and simmer for another 10 minutes untill the rice is tender.  At this stage, turn the heat off and add the shrimp, cilantro and scallions to the pot.  Bury the shrimp delicately under a layer of hot rice and cover.  The shrimp will steam and turn curvey and pink in about 12 minutes.  Garnish with some scallions and jalapenos!

I loved the results..the cooking time for shrimp turned out to be perfect.  This was my first attempt at the Jambalaya and I can see it becoming my go-to comfort food fairly quickly.

Overconfident cook!

This is a follow-up to yesterday's post "Stuffed Banana Peppers - Italian Style".  Now that I have become quite the over-confident cook, I posted the recipe here while the peppers were in the oven without quite waiting for the final outcome.  (Notice the picture in the original post is raw stuffed peppers waiting for the oven to heat up.)  Here is the little story of the aftermath.  Needless to say, Salil teased me to no end calling them "Pooping Peppers" and even made my failure public via facebook.  But, I am an honest cook and for the scores of friends and family who follow our blog and depend on us for the next big idea., I had to come out clean ;).

After spending so much time to carefully pipe the filling in the peppers through the small hole on the top, we baked them.  The stuffing swelled and out it came through the same little hole.

Well, I saw the recipe on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and decided  to make my own version.  After stuffing, they battered the peppers and deep fried them.  I guess the batter and an appropriate oil temperture held the stuffing inside.

I needed to skip the frying part and decided to bake them instead and found these delicate little stuffable peppers.  Lesson learnt - slit them lengthwise and stuff.  Apart from the accident, the whole thing was quite yummy :).

Thats what I love about failed experiments in the kitchen over failed experiments at my lab bench.....I can still eat them!!

Turkey Chilli

Its a 105F outside and I decided to make a bowl of chilli.  Have a bad bout of cold and desperately need some comfort food.  If it gets too hot, may be I will go get an ice cream to balace it all!

1/2 pound ground white turkey
3 large cloves of garlic
2 serrano peppers
1 medium onion
4 medium tomatoes
kernels from 1 fresh corn
1 8oz can of black beans
1/2 bottle dark beer
2 cups vegetable/ chicken stock
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
shredded cheese
olive oil
Salt

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep pan and add ground turkey to it.  Break up the meat stirring constantly untill it becomes opaque white and turns slightly brown at the edges.  Add finely chopped garlic and serrano peppers.  I de-seeded one of twon peppers to control the heat.  Saute for 2 minutes and add finely chopped onion.  Saute on medium low heat for 15 minutes till the onions become translucent and then become pinkish-brown. 
Meanwhile, quarter the tomatoes, sprinkle salt, peppers and olive oil and slow roast them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.  It will concentrate the tomato flavor without drying them out completely.  I used fresh tomato from the farmers market but canned crushed tomatoes will also work. Once the onions start to turn brown, add the chopped roasted tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes till the tomatoes cook completely.
Add corn, black beans and beer and let it come to a boil for another 10 minutes.  Now, add stock and milk and let it come to a final bubble.
For a thicker chilli, add a small can of tomato sauce with the chopped tomatoes.  I prefer a subtle tomato flavor but this recipe makes a rather soupy chilli.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Banana Peppers - Italian style

For 2 portions

4 small banana peppers (choose small, straight for ease of filling)
2 tablespoons ricota cheese
2 teaspoons pesto (I used home made frozen pesto, store bought will do)
Zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup ground roasted cashewnuts (or whichever nut you like)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 finely chopped de-seeded serrano peppe
olive oil to make a tooth past consistency stuffing

Cut the top off from the pepper and patiently de-seed it through the small opening at the top.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients to make the stuffing.  Using a piping bag (small plastic bag with a corner cut), fill the peppers with the stuffing.  It takes some patience to push it all the way to the end.  I used the blunt end of a skewer to push the stuffing deeper.

Brush some oil and bake in an oven at 350C for 10-15 minutes.

Caviar and Salmon-dill dip

A great side dish.  All the ingredients can be found at the international isle local grocery store.
Nice Italian round bread (buttery and dense). Layer the bread with a thick spread of butter and top with salmon caviar.  Or top with smoked salmon, dill dip.

Beef with Plum Stew and Oven-roasted Rosemary Potatoes

The star of the meal at the dinner at our friend Svetlana's house.  Too complicated to guess the recipe but too good to not share and remember!

Mmmm. Sundae

A Sundae from Maple View Dairy ice cream store in Carrboro downtown.
Had the roasted almond ice cream, with dark chocolate fudge, strawberries, and pecans.  Offcourse topped with whipped cream and a cherry :)

A Georgian Dinner Night

Due to my ignorance about Georgian food, I have no idea what the name of this dish is. So, I am going to call it Spinach-Walnut Balls. We had this at my friend Svetalana's house when we went over for dinner. Guys, this is Georgia ex-USSR not the south of USA! The meal was excellent and this was a first opportunity for Salil and I to sample authentic Russain food. When we go to Genya's house, its all about Halwa and Tea. His mom and aunts need to visit more often :). Svetlana had prepared quite a spread but for me, this dish was the star for the surprise quotient. I approched it gingerly....big green balls! But I took a bite and was blown away. Below is the recipe which Svetalana told me and I guessed from the taste and flavors.

Fresh Spinach - washed and boiled
Garlic
Walnuts
Pomagranate seeds
Salt and Pepper
Sauted finely chopped onions

I eyeball everything and the quantities below are my educated guesses. So, am hopping that some of you are like me and will figure out a way to make it.

Boil the fresh spinach leaves, squeez the water out and put in a blender. For about 2 cups of processed spinach, add one big clove of garlic. Process it in a blender. To the spinach mixture, add half a cup of onions sauted - just transparent and soft, dont let them turn brown. Add about a cup of ground walnuts and  a tablespoon of pomogranate seeds. Season with salt and pepper and make into balls. Svetlana served them in a lettuce cup. I think it made a great side dish with our meal of beef and plum stew, salmon, bread with caviar and salmon-dill dip, russian salad with beets, carrots, potatoes and pickles and oven roasted rosemary potatoes. End of the meal was a mild green tea in Royal Albert tea-cups with a slice of a berry-torte.

Thanks Svetlana!

Fifteen minute, kicked-up Pasta

(Post by Avani)

Although I love Italian food, it has taken me some time to warm up to anchovies and more so to start cooking with them. Decided to brave it and developed this simple recipe inspired from Rachel Ray's 30-minute meals show.

A small can of Anchovies fillet (6-7 small fillets), chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups store bought marinara sauce
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
1/2 pound pasta (spaghetti/penne whatever you like)
10 small meatballs (I used sun-dried tomato and basil chicken meatballs from Trader Joes. Guys, dont frown...its a fifteen minute, kicked-up pasta!!)
Parsley
Shredded Jarlsburg cheese
Chopped black olives (optional)

Heat olive oil in a shallow, wide pan. Once the oil starts to ripple (dont let it smoke though), add chopped anchovy fillets, garlic and chilli flakes. Its important to add the fish before the garlic...we are not going for the burnt garlic flavor here! Feel free to change the amount of anchovies/chiili flakes and garlic to suit your palate. Whisk the mixture with a fork gently and reduce the heat to low.

The anchovies will almost melt in the oil and aroma will fill up your kitchen. At this stage, add the sliced mushrooms, chopped olives and the pasta sauce. If you have some extra time on hand, use grilled mushrooms (400C for 15 minutes in a thin layer with a splash of olive oil). Once the sauce heats through, add the de-frosted chicken meatballs and pasta. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Remember, the pasta sauce is already well seasoned. Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley and grated cheese. I chose jarlsburg for its creamy, milky, neutral taste to cut through the strong anchovy flavor.

I have to admit that I am a convert now. Anchovies are yummy and if used in the right proportion, they will give a lot of depth to your sauce.

Summer Sling

1/4 teasp tamarind concentrate (tamicon) with water - stir into a 1 ounce shot glass. Toss into a shaker.
Add 2 ounces frooti drink
4 ounces Ceres Lychee juice
Shake with ice in a shaker
pour into two glasses with ice
Top each glass with 4 ounces of Hansens cane sugar Giner Ale
to make it alcoholic - add 1 ounce of Vodka or Gin (both work great).

Great drink - tropical flavours without the sugary sweetness.

Super Spud

Went to a deli on Franklin Street this friday and got a spud...was a little disappointed with the hugh amount of cheese but lack of other interesting toppings. So, Salil and I decided to come up with our own recipe for an overflowing potato!  You can get as creative with the toppings, but here is what we had last night.

The POTATO:  2 good, uniformly cylinder shaped russet potatoes about half pound each.  Clean the potatoes under running water to get rid of all the dirt. Dry them well, and poke deeply with a fork about 5-6 places so the steam can escape. Coat them with oil and sprinkle salt liberally all over. Pre heat the oven at 350C and set the potatoes in the top rack for 60 minutes. Keep a tray in the bottom rack to collect the drippings if any.
At the end of baking, the skin should be crispy but the flesh inside should remain soft. Cut the potato in half and you can mash/ slash it a little with a dab of butter. Its ready for the toppings now.

TOPPINGS:

Mashed gruyere cheese: This was the first layer and it melted instantly on th soft hot potato. Gruyere has a bold taste - slightly bitter. But I put very little cheese, just enough to make a thin layer on the potato and the bitter taste paired perfectly with the starchy sweetness of the potato.

Sausage: I used 2 chicken andouille sausages but any spicy sausage will work here. Take the sausage out of its casing and chop up real fine. Put a teaspoon of olive oil in a saute pan and once the oil heats up, add the sausage. Let it cook on medium heat untill the sausage browns and you see some oil/fat separateing out into the pan. Should take about 15 minutes.

Mushrooms: I used regular white mushrooms, chopped finely about 2 cups raw. Sauted them in the same pan after the sausage was done to get the yummy flavor of the pan drippings. Seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Mushrooms will shrink conbsiderably after cooking but the flavor will concentrate, so a little goes a long way.

Chick-peas: This was mainly to bump up the protein content of the meal, but potatoes and chick-peas are a classic combination in the Indian Street food scene (paani-puri), cant go wrong with that! Heat a teaspoon of oil and saute a finely chopped shallot or a very small onion. Once it starts to turn brown, add finely chopped fat big clove of garlic. Let the garlic cook for about 30 seconds (dont let it turn brown, completely changes the flavor profile) and add 1 cup chicke peas (soaked overnight if using fresh or use a can). Once the chickpeas are coated with the onion garlic mixture, add a tablespoon of water and cook for 10 minutes till the water evaporates. For a dash of color, add a small pinch of turmeric to the onion. Season with salt.

Finely chopped jalapeno peppers, deseeded: Dont take off the seeds, if you are brave. Want more heat, use the small and thin Indian chillis or the thai chillis. Want a milder flavor, skip this topping.

Finely chopped green onion.

Assembly: Once the potao comes out of the oven, add a layer of cheese that will melt on the potato and hold all the toppings like a glue. After this, go nuts! Dont forget to add a dollop of sour cream or whipped curds, especially if you have the chillies.

I figure that this is a great dish for entertaining. As long as you have an oven, you can bake any number of potatoes at the same time. Get creative with the toppings and the guests can build their own! Other topping ideas - chopped olives, salsa, italian pickeled vegetables...

Pick a theme and run with it :).

Baked Oysetrs learnt from Jacques Pepin

(Post by Avani)


A few months back, Jecques Pepin showed this very simple yet sophisticated recipe for baked oysters. On our recent trip to British Columbia, we bought fresh oysters and I remembered the recipe. This is my take on it since I didnt recall the exact details. The thing I definitely remembered was that oysters have a mild and delicate flavor profile, so we dont want to use too many ingredients to overpower them.

12 fresh oyseters, freshly shucked, in the shell
1 green onion, chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper. deseeded and chopped very fine
fresh lemon juice
Olive oil

Arrange the oysters on a baking sheet and drizzle with a couple of drops of olive oil per oyster. Sprinkle with a small pinch of jalapeno and green onions and a couple of drops of lemon juice. Bake at 350C for 4 minutes. Serve hot.

A lot of foodies claim to love raw oysters. I honestly didnt enjoy the experience. I thought I will be okay with the texture since I love sashimi, but overall it felt like seawater, sand and slime! But the baked oysters were amazing - the oven changes the texture completely and the mild jalapeno and lemon juice flavor neutralizes the saltiness of the oyster to make it a party in the mouth!!!

Fifteen minute kicked-up Pasta

(Post by Avani)

Although I love Italian food, it has taken me some time to warm up to anchovies and more so to start cooking with them. Decided to brave it and developed this simple recipe inspired from Rachel Ray's 30-minute meals show.

A small can of Anchovies fillet (6-7 small fillets), chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups store bought marinara sauce
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
1/2 pound pasta (spaghetti/penne whatever you like)
10 small meatballs (I used sun-dried tomato and basil chicken meatballs from Trader Joes.  Guys, dont frown...its a fifteen minute, kicked-up pasta!!)
Parsley
Shredded Jarlsburg cheese
Chpped black olives (optional)

Heat olive oil in a shallow, wide pan. Once the oil starts to ripple (dont let it smoke though), add chopped anchovy fillets, garlic and chilli flakes. Its important to add the fish before the garlic...we are not going for the burnt garlic flavor here! Feel free to change the amount of anchovies/chiili flakes and garlic to suit your palate. Whisk the mixture with a fork gently and reduce the heat to low.

The anchovies will almost melt in the oil and aroma will fill up your kitchen. At this stage, add the sliced mushrooms, chopped olives and the pasta sauce. If you have some extra time on hand, use grilled mushrooms (400C for 15 minutes in a thin layer with a splash of olive oil). Once the sauce heats through, add the de-frosted chicken meatballs and pasta. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Remember, the pasta sauce is already well seasoned. Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley and grated cheese. I chose jarlsburg for its creamy, milky, neutral taste to cut through the strong anchovy flavor.

I have to admit that I am a convert now. Anchovies are yummy and if used in the right proportion, they will give a lot of depth to your sauce.

Visit to Port Alberni - Crab recipe

Had an amazing trip to Port Alberni, British Columbia.  Where you ask is Port Alberni?  It's a 3 hr drive from Victoria the capital of British Columbia, Canada.  While it isn't isolated it takes a loooong time to get to.
First we took a long cross country flight to Seattle, then the light rail from the airport to Seattle downtown, then walked to the ferry terminal.  From the ferry terminal we took a 3 1/2 hr ferry to Victoria.  In Victoria dad picked up up for a 3 hr drive to Port Alberni...  Was it all worth it. Yes for multiple reasons.  Got to see family after a long time and also the natural sights around Port Alberni are spectacular.

Food:
Day 1: Sisters home made Tiramisu & Lasgania
Day 2: Morning - fresh corn and quinoa porridge - yes pretty tasty.  Lunch - Left over Lasgania, poutine . Picked up fresh crabs & shrimp.  Dinner: Sauteed Crab with Singaporean Chilli crab sauce, pan fried garlic-lime shrimp, pan fried indian style Salmon, Corn bhel, roasted bell pepper yogurt raita.
Day 3: Picked up Salmon from a fisherman in China creek - came home and had sashimi... was very fearful of getting Salmon parasites but phew no parasites. Dinner - crab cakes from left over crab meat and sabu-dana kichidi
Day 4: Lunch - Matterson House Restaurant in Ucluelet, BC  - I had Oyster burger (yum), Dad had a yummy Halibut burger, others had Clam chowder with fresh baked bread, shrimp quesadillas, and amongst the best hand made burgers (mmm beef).  Dinner - skipped it and had left over Tiramisu
Day 5: Lunch - Goats on the Roof lunch - mmm poutine, chicken pastries, clam chowder, fish & chips, ... Dinner - Seafood bisque made by sister and more Salmon Sashimi, Salmon-Fig-Parmesan bruschetta, wild rice salad.

On the way back my sister made us some salmon sandwiches - thank god, we were able to keep ourself stuffed during the looong ferry ride and the flight.

Unfortunately other than the Crab and Sashimi I didn't cook much and therefore have no recipe's. Have to say it was amongst the best food vacations even though we didn't go to any star chef restaurants and mom didn't have to slave away cooking indian food in the kitchen!

Crab Recipe:
Ask the fisherman to kill the crab by breaking it in two and cleaning out the guts.
Heat oil on medium, toss in 1 tbsp of onion (diced), and a 1 chopped thai chili.  Let the oil pick up the flavour for 30 sec and toss in the Crab. 
Cover and shake the pot to make sure the oil coats the Crab.  Time for 2 min.
After 2 min pour in 1/2 cup of water cover and cook for 4 min. 
Done !!  The Thai chili gives the crab meat a nice mild heat - an awesome additon to the sweetness of the Crab meat.

Sauted Green Pea Sprouts (Post by Avani)

Saw Food Inc and King Corn in quick succesion and my trips to the Farmer's market suddenly became more frequent. In search of interesting "greens" which we will like, we came across Pea Sprouts. These are actually from the young sweet pea plant with small green leaves sprouting off soft stalks. They cook fairly fast and have a mild taste unlike many of the other greens which are a bit too strong for my taste. The same day we discovered this amazing vegetable, we also picked up some fresh green garlic which became a perfect condiment for the delicate taste of the pea sprouts due to its mild taste and aroma.

Pea sprouts - since they are so light, its hard to judge the weight but the bag was probably the same size as the pre-packaged grocery store salad bags.
1 stalk of green garlic ( looks similar to a scallion/ green onion)
2 tsp soy suace
2 tsp vegetable oil

Heat vegetable oil in a shallow, wide saute pan. As the oil heats, add finely chopped green gralic (bulb and top) to the oil. Saute for 30 seconds and add pea sprouts. I did not cut them, the leaves are so small that I left them as is and just plucked some of the bigger bunches into smaller ones. They will cook down in about 2-3 minutes and I prefer to undercook them where they retain the bright green color. Finish off the cooking by adding a swirl of soy sauce.

This dish is a great side with a spicy meat or fish dish. Will go great with the shredded chicken with tofu and hot peppers and steamed rice.

Fwd: Sweet Corn Soup

Salil's Sweet Corn Soup (perfected by Avani)
This is a quintessential star of an Indian Chinese meal and needless to say we love it.  The soup is garnished with a liberal drop of soy sauce, chilli sauce ( the Indian version is usually made with green
chillies) and chopped green chillies in vinegar.

1 can (15 oz) cream style sweet corn
1 can (15 oz) white corn
2-3 cups chicken stock/ vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon grated ginger
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
3/4 cup mixture of finelly chopped carrots and bell peppers
1/3 lb boneless ckinless chicken breast cut into thin stripes (optional)
1 egg - lightly beaten (optional)
1-2 tsp corn starch
Finely chopped green onions for granish

In a sauce pan, mix both the cans of corn, stock, ginger, salt and put
it on a low flame.  Stir the mixture and let it heat slowly without
coming to a boil.  Add chicken and vegetables to the soup and let it
heat slowly untill the chicken cooks up which should take about 7-8
minutes.  (Vegetables can be added at a later stage depending on the
desired rawness). At this stage, you can adjust the thickness of the
soup with additional stock/ water and add the corn starch dissloved in
water to bring it all together.  Once the soup has come to a gentle
boil, add the beaten egg with the help of a fork to make thin, long
egg filaments. Season with green onions/ green chilli vinegar/ chilli
sauce/ soy sauce/ freshly ground black pepper.

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Chckn dopiaz

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Made chicken do-piaz on Sunday. Turned out awesome

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Alivias in Durham

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Shredded chicken with baked tofu and hot peppers

We had this dish at Red Lutus, our favorite chinese restaurant and fell in love instantly. Its hot, its clean, its simple! Broke down the taste and created the formula in my head. Here is my version.

1/2 lb Chicken tenders/ breast (boneless)
6 Jalapenos
1/4 lb Spicy tofu
1 1/2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 tbspn Rice Wine vinegar
Small pinch of brown sugar
Green scallion tops

Cut the chicken and tofu in thin strips about (3-4 cm by 0.5 cm to be precise). Remove seeds from 4 out of the 6 jalapenos, make sure to remove the ribs completely since thats where the heat lives. Halve them lengthwise and cut into thin stripes. Without deseeding, prep the other two jalapenos in the same way. Depending on your heat tolerance, you can change the number of seeded vs deseeded peppers. That takes care of the prep work, now on to the actual cooking.

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a saute pan, as it heats up, add a tsp of sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, add the jalapeno peppers with seeds intact. Saute for 30 sec and add the chicken. Since the chicken is in thin long pieces, it should cook up fairly quickly - in about 3-4 minutes. Follow it with tofu and the rest of the jalapeno peppers and mix well. After another 4 minutes and making sure that the chicken is completely cooked, add soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and green scallion tops and take it off the heat.

Best served with a steaming bowl of plain white or brown rice.
(Post by Avani)

Fish in chili bean sauce

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Sashimi roll

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Course 1

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Kanki tonight

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Long time no post - Wine

Its been a long time since we posted anything. Past few weeks have been great - we've cooked quite a bit, since most of the cooking has been by Avani here haven't been any posts.
To get back into blogging I am going to start by a Wine review.  We had a wine tasting party last weekend - a great time for everyone.  Food flowing out of the kitchen, bottles being uncorked and the conversation getting louder until late in the night when the volume slowly goes down... 
Larry taught me to think about wine similar to the way I think about investments.  If I can get two wine bottles for the same price, I dont want to settle for the good one, I want the great one!
Here's a few of the wines in the recycle bin
1) 2008 Alamos - the wines of Catena, Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina (Harris Teeter) - Review good but not great, tannic, not worth other wines at a similar price.
2) 2007 Pillar Box Red, Blended red, Australia (The Fresh Market) - Review good, will buy again.
3) 2008 Horse Heaven Hills Columbia Crest, Chardonnay, Patterson, Washington State (The Fresh Market) - Review  very good, good white, crisp not-too-sweet, comparable to Robert Mondavi (next).
4) 2008 Robert Mondavi Private selection, Chardonnay, California (Harris Teeter) - Review great! We like it!
5) 2008 Deakin Estate, Shiraz, Australia (Whole Foods) - Review good, not too spicy/ peppery. I like that in a shiraz.
6) 2007 Spanish Sons,  Tempranillo, Vino De La Tierra of Castilla Y Leon, Spain (The Fresh Market) - Review great, among the best of the evening - will definitely buy again.
7) 2008 St Donatus Estate Balatonboglari, Merlot, Hungary (? store) - review very good.
8) 2006 Pine & Post, Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington state - review very good, had most of it the next day and glad that we got so much of this one left over as it was one of the last couple of bottles opened.
9) 2009 Cristalino Metodo Tradicional, Rose Brut, Spain (? store), sparkling wine fermented in the bottle - review good, standard Rose!
10) 2009 Childress Vineyards, Starbound Blueberry Dessert Wine, North Carolina (? store) - Review good.  A sweet ending with a tar heel special!

Pan roasted Salmon & Fennel

Indegredients:
Salmon
Fennel
2 cloves smashed Garlic
Toronto Steak seasoning
Pepper
Salt

Process:
Heat oil at 4 - medium heat, put in 2 smashed cloves of garlic (peel and smash down with knife).
Once garlic has started to brown remove it from pan. 
In this oil put in finely chopped Fennel (take bulb of fennel and slice it into thin rings - remove core.  Then quarter these rings)

Take skin off salmon, sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. toss on some toronto steak seasoning

After 5 min of sauteeing the fennel toss in the salmon - time for 2 min
Turn over salmon - and sautee other side for 2 min

Pour in a dash of Chablis or good white wine.
done!

Kari Ayam - Malay chicken curry.

It snowed all Friday night and Saturday during the day.  Couldn't go out anywhere and was craving Roti Canai from Merlion - a local restaurant specializing in Singapore/Malay food. We're not that bad at cooking and we have the world at our fingertips!  Decided to look-up a recipe for Roti Canai curry. See my previous rant blog on trying to find a recipe.  Finally found something called Kari Ayam which seemed to fit the bill.  I took the recipe and adapted it to my kitchen - and decided to document the recipe with more detail.    I don't know why recipe's use measurements in grams - WTF - am I supposed to have a weight measure in my kitchen?  I use cups, spoons...etc.  I don't have a laboratory with a milligram weighting scale!

Results:
A good tasting curry - not quite what is served in Merlion :(
Something is missing or too much. My hypothesis is that the shrimp paste is essential and I went overboard on the corriander seeds.

Am going to now eat this with some Malay roti (bought frozen from store) and stare out the dining room window at the snow.
... After eating - Holy Yum!  Pretty good - will make again.

Ingredients:
Curry paste ingredients-
2 cloves
2 peppercorns
8 dried chilis - seeds removed
1/2 tbsp corriender seeds
1 teasp fennel seeds
1 teasp cumin
bottom of stock of lemon grass (2 in piece) chopped in small pieces
1 1/2 cup onion
1/2 teasp ground turmeric powder
1 teasp galangal minced

oil saute ingredients -
2 cloves
2 pepper corns
1/2 cinamon stick
1 star anise
12 curry leaves
2-3 in piece of lemon grass chopped finely

1/4 teasp anchovy paste - I didn't have dry shrimp paste
1 teasp fish sauce - again I don't have shrimp paste

Other ingredients -
3/4th tbsp salt
1 teasp brown sugar
1 teasp regular sugar

Process:

Put chilis in 1 cup of water and soak - 20 min - don't throw away water use later.
Start sauteeing onions - 20 min
Roast cumin, corriender, lemongrass in pan - once fragrance grind in coffee grinder with peper corns, cloves and turmeric powder

Put sauteed onions, teasp of galangal, soaked chilis and 1 teasp of spice powder into a blender and grind.

In a pan heat up oil - once heated thrown in cloves, peppercorns, cinamon stick, star anise, and curry leaves
sautee for 5 min

throw in the anchovy paste&fish sauce into the oil sautee - throw in chicken and sautee for 5 min.
Toss in the onion paste and the spice powder

after 5 min add in the the water from the chili seeds
add in 1 can (165ml) coconut milk
add salt & sugar

Simmer till chicken is cooked

Serve with rice or roti paratha (malaysian roti - found in frozen section of indian store)

Aargh... sooo hard to find Malaysian chicken curry recipe

Why soooo hard you ask? every recipe uses 'curry powder' or 'curry paste' - does no one make food from scratch knowing what the ingredients are?  Well it turns out you have to know what you are looking for - can't be looking for Roti Canai - seems that's just the roti and it is served with many many different types of curries.  If you search for Roti Canai Curry or Malaysian curry you get all the recipes with 'curry paste'.
Finally I found one of the curries names 'Kari Ayam' and found the curry paste recipe!!
Going to try this out tomorrow: Nonya Food - Kari Ayam
Perfect recipe when its snowed outside and am stuck at home - going to eat a nice spicy chicken curry with flaky roti paratha.  mmm.

Avani’s Mexican Tortilla Soup with bitter chocolate and chipotle peppers

I saw Rachel Ray make this recipe on her show. But since I never write things down, I didn’t note down this one. Today I am making my own version with some bitter chocolate. We made some chicken stock last night and am using that for this soup.


Chicken stock: Got a rotisserie chicken breast last night to make some sandwiches. We shredded up the meat and used the bone and skin to make the stock. In a cold pot (I think this is important), put the chicken bones, skin, carrots, bay leaf, peppercorns and a couple cloves of garlic. Pour about 6 cups of water and let it simmer on slow heat. I happened to have carrots on hand but celery, onion etc will be wonderful. Let the stock simmer for a couple of hours, let it cool, strain and its ready to use.

The soup

2 small shallots or a quarter of a red onion

1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded

2 small or 1 large chipotle peppers

2 large cloves of garlic

Olive oil

1 cup black beans

1 cup corn

1 cup shredded chicken

½ cup mushrooms

½ cup green peppers

Chicken stock

Bitter chocolate

Brown sugar

Cumin powder

Tomato paste

Fresh avocado


In a saucepan, take about 2 cups of stock, and add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped bitter chocolate, same amount of brown sugar and pieces of deseeded chipotle pepper. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes while we make the soup base. We will later strain this into the soup.

In a soup pan, heat some olive oil and add finely chopped garlic, jalapeno pepper and onion. Let the onions sauté, add 1 teaspoon of cumin powder as the onions turn brown. Stir in the mushrooms and peppers, after they have softened a bit, add the beans and corn. Stir for a couple of minutes followed by the shredded chicken. Follow the chicken with 1 heaping tablespoon and no more of tomato paste. We don’t want the tomato to overcome the “mole” taste from the chipotle and bitter chocolate. By this time, things will be sticking to the bottom of the pan….thats a good thing . Now, strain the simmering stock with chocolate and peppers in. Add 3 more cups of chicken stock. Season with salt and let it boil one last time so all the flavors come together.

Meanwhile cut the tortillas in thin strips, drizzle some olive oil and crisp up in the oven for a few minutes at 350C. In a serving bowl, put the crisp tortilla chips, and small cubes of avocado (optional) and top off with the soup.

Chiba's special roll

Special roll made by Chiba at Kanki.

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