Peach Tomato Radish Salad Bowl

 

I’m not much a salad-for-lunch person. Give me something heartier. And yes it can be paired with a salad! Summer peaches, garden grown cherry tomatoes and a huge basil plant have me making this salad often. There are no precise amounts. If you love peaches, add as many as you want. If sweet cherry tomatoes are your Achilles heel, use those in abundance. Thinly sliced radishes, goat cheese, basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil and a thin stream of pomegranate molasses enhance the salad. For me, this salad is on repeat mode.

PEACH TOMATO RADISH SALAD BOWL

Serves 2

2-3 ripe Peaches

6-10 Cherry Tomatoes

3-4 red Radishes

1/2 cup Goat Cheese crumbles

1/2 cup Basil Leaves

Kosher Salt

Fresh ground Black Pepper

Extra virgin Olive Oil

Pomegranate Molasses 

Wash and dry peaches. Slice them thinly.

Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

Trim radishes and slice them very thin.

Arrange peaches, cherry tomatoes and radishes in a bowl.

Scatter goat cheese crumbles and basil leaves over the fruit.

Season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle olive oil and pomegranate molasses over salad. 

Toss and eat.

Not Quite Golden Diner Pancakes

The NYT article claims the lines are out the door at the Golden Diner for this breakfast treat. Since I have no intention of standing in line for them, I attempt a homemade version.

Many steps need to be worked through. Not my kind of morning rigor, but I endeavor. After reading the recipe a few times I am taken aback by the copious amounts of maple syrup and butter. This calls for some simplification.  Not small in size, they really turn out delicious, with a robust yeasty aroma and are immensely satisfying. Give them a whisk.

NOT QUITE GOLDEN DINER PANCAKES

Adapted from NYT Cooking

Serves 4

PANCAKES

2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 packet active dry Yeast

2 cups all purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups Buttermilk

1/4 cup Water

2 tablespoons Sugar

3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

2 Eggs

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

SYRUP

2 tablespoons Butter

1/3 cup Honey

1/4 cup Maple Syrup

1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

Strawberries 

Blueberries

Start the pancakes an hour before you want to eat them.

In a large bowl whisk yeast with 1 cup flour. 

Heat buttermilk and water over low heat till lukewarm.

Pour buttermilk into the flour and whisk till smooth. 

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour to ferment.

Make the syrup by combining butter, honey, maple syrup and soy sauce in saucepan.

Heat syrup for 3 -5 minutes till butter has melted. Stir often.

Heat oven to 350F/180C.

Mix remaining 1 cup flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl, break eggs and whisk. 

Add oil to eggs and whisk well.

Pour eggs into the fermented flour mix.

Add remaining flour mix in as well. 

Use a spatula to mix everything till there are no specks of flour to be seen. The batter will be lumpy.

Heat a 7inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. You will not be using any oil or butter so it is essential to use a nonstick skillet.

When it is hot pour 1/3 cup batter into the pan.

Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Check the underside. It should be golden brown. Flip and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes. 

Take it off the pan and place on a baking sheet. 

Place the baking sheet in the oven. 

Repeat with the remaining batter, placing the pancakes on the baking sheet in the oven to keep them warm.

Serve 2 pancakes stacked on top of each other, bathed in the warm maple syrup with strawberries and blueberries.

Hariyali Paneer and Peas

My son has a penchant for paneer in spite of being lactose intolerant. I make some. He swallows a tablet and relishes it. 

I try something different. I have a bushel of mint leaves in my garden. A bunch of these leaves, a handful of cilantro, some fresh fenugreek leaves, green chiles and ginger garlic paste makes a zesty base for my subji. The end result is a verdant green accompaniment for dinner. 

HARIYALI PANEER AND PEAS

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups Paneer cubes

15-20 Mint leaves

1/2 cup Cilantro leaves

3 tablespoons fresh Fenugreek leaves OR 1 teaspoon Kasuri Methi

2 Green Chiles

1 teaspoon Ginger Paste

1 teaspoon Garlic Paste

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1/2 teaspoon Coriander Powder

1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 cup Peas

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Blend mint, cilantro, fenugreek, ginger and garlic paste with water till you have a smooth sauce. The sauce can be runny.

Heat oil in a saucepan.

When it shimmers, add cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander and garam masala to oil. Saute for 30 seconds. 

Pour the green sauce into the saucepan. Stir and cook sauce for a minute. 

Drop paneer cubes and peas into sauce.

Season with salt. 

Add a little water to the saucepan.

Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes. 

If you are going to make the paneer earlier, add a little water to the saucepan as you reheat the subji. This lets the paneer soften up.

Enjoy it hot with rice or roti.

Bulgogi Beef Fry

 

Korean style grilled beef is delicious. When the urge hits and you are far from your favorite restaurant, it is time to come up with an alternative.

Beef filet makes a good stir fry. I slice them thinly and marinate them for a short bit. The marinade is a blend of spring onions, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. A cast iron pan gives the meat a good sear. Steamed rice goes well with the charred meat. All in all, this recipe is a delicious substitute for the original. 

BULGOGI BEEF FRY

Serves 3-4

2  8oz Beef Tenderloins 

4 Spring Onions 

6 Garlic cloves

2 teaspoons light Soy Sauce

2 teaspoon Sugar

2 tablespoons Water

1 teaspoon Sriracha

1 tablespoon Sesame Oil

2 teaspoons toasted Sesame seeds

2 tablespoons Canola Oil

Cilantro Leaves

Slice the tenderloins thinly and place them in a nonreactive bowl. 

Blend spring onions, garlic, soy sauce, sugar water, Sriracha, sesame oil and seeds to a fairly smooth paste. 

Pour paste over beef and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

Heat a cast iron pan till screaming hot.

Pour oil into the pan and add the meat. Let meat sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. It will splatter and splutter. 

Stir fry meat till all the liquid has evaporated and the meat starts turning brown. 

Spoon meat onto a plate and garnish with cilantro leaves. 

Serve with hot steamed rice.

Lemon Blueberry Loaf

Gifting food is hard. But when you have a friend who will eat anything I give her, it is easy. Rosa appreciates and loves all kinds of food. So, when her birthday comes around, I don't have to go far...just to my kitchen!

My sis encourages me to bake a favorite lemon cake she makes. I turn it into a loaf. The yogurt-based loaf has an intense lemon flavor with both zest and lemon juice. I add fresh blueberries to her recipe. 

My gift is baked with love!

LEMON BLUEBERRY LOAF

Serves 3-4

1/2 cup Yogurt

1 scant cup sugar

3 Eggs

2 Lemons

1 1/2 cups AP Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup fresh Blueberries

3/4 cup Confectioner's Sugar

Heat oven to 350F/175C.

Mix yogurt, sugar and eggs in a wide bowl.

Zest the lemons into the bowl. Keep lemons aside for syrup.

Add flour, baking powder and salt to bowl. Fold flour into the mix using a spatula.

Add oil to bowl. The oil will get incorporated into the batter as you lift and fold.

Add blueberries into batter, mixing them in gently.

Scrape batter into a buttered or oil sprayed loaf pan.

Thump the loaf pan a few times and bake for 55-65 minutes. Poke the center of the cake with a skewer. It should come out clean.

Invert loaf onto a wire rack. Cool for a few minutes.

Put confectioner's sugar into a bowl.

Juice the lemons into the sugar. Mix well. 

Spoon all the syrup onto warm loaf.

Let the loaf cool for a few minutes before you cut into it.

Enjoy!

Akuri on Chutney Toast

When your sis sends you a reel, she knows I will give it a go. Which I do. Akuri on toast is common enough. But akuri on a chutney slathered sourdough toast is heaven. Top the egg with grated Amul cheese which melts into the nooks and crannies, and you have a sure- fire winner. Thanks Prassy!

AKURI ON CHUTNEY TOAST

Serves 2

5 Eggs

2 tablespoons Butter

1-2 Green Chiles

1/2 cup Cilantro Leaves

1/2 cup Onion Birista or Fried Onions

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Sourdough Bread

Green Chutney

Amul Cheese

Slice green chiles finely. 

Give cilantro leaves a rough chop.

Heat butter in a saucepan. 

Break eggs in a bowl and whisk them well.

Season with salt.

Add eggs to butter. Cook on a low flame. 

Drop chiles, cilantro and fried onions into eggs. Stir gently and cook over a low flame till eggs are set. 

Grill sourdough bread over an open flame. Or toast the bread. 

Cover the slices liberally with chutney.

Pile the warm akuri on to the toast. 

Grate Amul cheese over the eggs and watch it melt. It has to be Amul cheese for an authentic Indian taste and also because of how it melts.

Feast with your eyes and eat with your taste buds!

 

Grilled Beef Rolls (Bo La Lot)

We sampled and relished these small grilled beef parcels in Hoi An, in Vietnam. The restaurant specialized in grilled foods, the hot smoky atmosphere adding to the exotic ambience of the Far East. How do you go about recreating that food memory? I find perilla leaves at H-Mart so I give it a try. 

Perilla or sesame leaves are blanched in hot water, cooled in ice water and then patted dry. Minced onion and garlic are sauteed till light brown, cooled and added to ground beef. Five spice powder, fish sauce, turmeric powder and palm sugar enhance the beef. A tablespoon of beef is rolled tightly in the perilla leaf. Skewered on bamboo sticks, the rolls are grilled stovetop and served warm. All they need is a squirt of Sriracha and you have an exotic beef roll!

GRILLED BEEF ROLLS (BO LO LOT)

Serves 2

1/2 lb Ground Beef

2 tablespoons minced Onion

1 Garlic clove, minced fine

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

3 teaspoons Fish Sauce

1 teaspoon Five Spice Powder

1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Palm Sugar OR Jaggery OR Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Lemon Zest

A Pinch of Kosher Salt

12-15 Perilla or Sesame Leaves

Bamboo Skewers

Oil Spray

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. When oil sizzles add onion and garlic and saute till light brown. Cool.

Place ground beef in a bowl. 

Add fish sauce, five spice powder, turmeric, palm sugar and cooled onion to beef. Mix well. Add a pinch of salt.

Heat water in a saucepan. 

Keep another bowl of ice cold water nearby. 

Dunk one perilla leaf in hot water for 30 seconds and then drop it in the cold water. Do the same for all the leaves. 

Spread a kitchen towel on the counter. 

Shake off as much water as you can and place the leaves on the towel. Pat them dry. 

Take a leaf and put one tablespoon of ground beef in the lower part of leaf. 

Fold lower part over beef. 

Fold the sides over the beef and make it into a log. Roll as tightly as you can. 

Repeat with the same process with all the leaves. 

Place two logs together. 

Use 2 skewers to hold them together.

Heat a grill pan. 

Spray pan with oil spray.

Place the skewers in the pan. Spray logs with oil spray. 

Grill for 7-10 minutes over medium flame, turning the skewers a couple of times till meat is cooked and rolls have grill marks.

Serve warm.