Zucchini and Lima Beans

Two misadventures result in a culinary delight! The first one was no fault of mine. Instead of planting my favorite Blue Lake pole beans, I inadvertently bought three lima bean seedlings, a vegetable I loathe. They then have multiplied into a huge swath of green. The trick is to find those beans, camouflaged so well. Having reaped a considerable harvest I have to find  a suitable option. These were Mum's cherished veggies, though my childhood memories of tough, leathery beans still holds strong. 

The second  misfortune is another overlooked vegetable.....zucchini. If you've ever grown them, then you know how easy it is to find a baseball bat sized  gourd hidden under spiny leaves. This is in spite of searching for them everyday! The big one is still good, no seeds, fleshy and tender. 

Marry the two misfits and what do you get? A mélange of soft flavors, lightly spiced so the stars shine though.

ZUCCHINI WITH LIMA BEANS

Serves 4

1 large Zucchini

1 cup shelled Lima Beans

2 tablespoons Ghee

1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon Chile Powder

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 cup grated fresh Coconut

1 green Chile, minced fine

1/4 teaspoon Garam masala

1/4 cup chopped Cilantro

Trim and cut zucchini into 1/2 inch chunks.

Heat ghee in a saucepan. 

When it is hot drop cumin seeds in. Let them color a little. 

Add chopped zucchini and lima beans into ghee. Stir. 

Sprinkle turmeric, chile powder and salt over veggies. Stir well. 

Pour about 3/4 cup water into the saucepan. 

Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Put coconut, minced chile, garam masala and cilantro in a bowl.  Mix well.

Uncover the saucepan. Raise the flame and dry up any residual liquid in the pan. 

Add the coconut mixture to veggies. Saute for a minute.

Serve hot. 

The delicate flavor of lima beans banishes those ghastly memories and one of my Mum's favorites graces our table with pleasure.

Matcha Panna Cotta

The Louis family deserves another round of applause for all that they have done for and during my son's wedding. So once again I thank them the way I know best..by cooking them a multi-course meal. 

An asparagus and leek soup paves the way for cevapi, lobster with artichokes and mushrooms, along with peaches, roasted corn, burrata on a bed of arugula. To satisfy that sweet tooth I make a cool panna cotta, liberally flavored with matcha tea powder. It is an intriguing taste. Mossy and refreshing at the same time. Green panna cotta and orange peaches on a white plate, lend themselves to another thankful event.....it is August 15,  India's Independence Day. 

MATCHA PANNA COTTA

Serves 8

2 teaspoons unflavored Gelatin powder

2 tablespoons Water

1 cup Milk

1 cup Cream

6 tablespoons Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 tablespoons Matcha

Peaches and Blackberries

Dissolve the gelatin in water. Let it sit for 5 minutes till soft.

Heat milk and cream till warm. 

Stir in sugar. Keep stirring till sugar melts. Take it off the fire.

 

Whisk gelatin into warm milk. Keep whisking till gelatin melts. 

Add vanilla to milk. 

Whisk matcha into milk making sure the powder dissolves completely. 

Divide the milk between 8 ramekins. (I made 12 smaller portions)

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4-6 hours till set. 

Unmold by dipping the ramekin in hot water. 

Unmold onto a plate. 

Or serve the panna cotta in the ramekins with some fruit on the side. 

Serve fresh fruit along with the panna cotta. 

The meal is enjoyed by all. The unusual dessert is the icing on the cake. 

Chicken with Artichokes and Caperberries

I have a portion of boneless chicken thighs which I try to translate into dinner. Some artichokes and caperberries lend much needed flavor along with white wine. The result is a tasty stew, an amalgam of garden fresh tomatoes and  garlic, butter accented  gravy and moist tender chicken.  Crusty bread is all I need.

CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKES AND CAPERBERRIES

Serves 2 -4

1 lb boneless skinless Chicken Thighs

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

5 Garlic Cloves

3/4 cup frozen or canned Artichokes

1/4 cup Caperberries

1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 cup White Wine

3-4 Thyme Sprigs

1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Fresh Parsley

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan. 

Add chicken to oil and let it brown undisturbed for 3-4 minutes. 

Once it has browned, turn the pieces over and brown the other sides.  Once browned , take them out of the saucepan. 

Press all the water out of the artichokes. 

Smash garlic cloves. 

Cut caperberries in half.

Add artichokes and garlic to olive oil and saute for 3-4 minutes.

Add red pepper flakes. 

Halve cherry tomatoes and add  to artichokes along with caperberries and thyme sprigs. Saute for a few minutes. 

Pour the wine into the saucepan. Allow it to come to simmer. 

The add the chicken back to the pan.

Add salt.

Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes. 

Uncover chicken. 

Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread. 

This is a simple meal...chicken and artichokes... so good . Add sour caperberries for that much needed tang......all it needs is some bread to sop up the juices. 

Shev with Coconut Milk

The recipe is vintage. The contraption, a shevara,  I use to make the shev is three generations old, passed down from Aji, my grandmother,  to Mum and is now is with me. It is large, two feet tall, a brass tripod, that presses rice flour into delicate strands.  

Shev is usually made on  special occasions as it is a lengthy process. Rice flour is cooked in boiling water, much like making pate choux. The hot dough is cooked over low fire, after which it is kneaded into a smooth ball. The hotter the dough, the smoother it becomes as you knead and the redder your hands get!  Luckily I call mine asbestos hands! The dough is then made into small balls and steamed. The steamed balls are inserted into the shevara and pressed into neat nests.  As a child I loved holding the brass legs while Mum managed the press. Now my daughter helps me. 

Today's attempt starts disastrously. I don't have the coconut milk to make the accompaniment to the shev. So I run out to buy some. Once I start making the shev, I discover that I have no rice flour! Not an easy item to find. Serendipity is having your daughter live close by. She has plenty and comes to my rescue! Onward ho!

SHEV WITH COCONUT MILK

Makes 10-12

1 cup Rice Flour

1 cup Water

A pinch of Kosher Salt

Ghee

1 can Coconut Milk

2 teaspoons Rice Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

Nutmeg Powder

Cardamom Powder

Bring water to boil in a saucepan. 

Once it boils, drop rice flour and salt into water and stir vigorously. The dough will look shaggy. 

Make a few holes in the dough, cover and cook over a low flame for 5 minutes. 

Uncover and scrape the dough onto the counter or in a bowl. 

Wait as long as you can as the dough is piping hot, then knead the dough for 3-4 minutes until it is smooth. 

Break off lime sized balls of dough. Roll them into small cylinders. 

Heat water in a saucepan and set a steaming rack over it.

Place the dough balls on the rack, cover and steam for 15 minutes. 

While the dough steams, make the coconut milk.

Heat coconut milk and rice flour in a saucepan, stirring often. Once the milk comes to a boil it will thicken. Take it off the flame.

Add sugar  and a pinch of salt to coconut milk, Stir so sugar dissolves. 

Sprinkle a little nutmeg and cardamom powder over coconut milk. Keep aside.

Get your shevara ready. Brush the inside press with a little melted ghee. 

If you don't have this traditional shevara, use a chakli maker.

Place a plate under the holes and smear a little ghee in the center of the plate.

Keep another glass plate smeared with a little ghee close, 

Keep the steamed dough covered while you make the shev.

Take one ball of dough, Place it on the ghee smeared plate under the hole press and roll it a bit. Then insert it in the press container. 

Start turning the handle till it stops. The dough will have extruded into small strands onto the plate. Use a knife to trim the strands. Lift the nest and place it on the glass plate.

When you twist the press upwards, a little dough will come out. Reuse the dough the make more shev if needed.

Repeat with the remaining dough. 

Keep shev covered until you are ready to eat. 

Heat the coconut milk. If it is too thick, thin it out with a little water. Adjust the salt accordingly.

Microwave the shev. 

Serve shev in a vati or plate. 

Ladle coconut milk over the shev and enjoy.

Our shev making tradition is as old as the hills. I hope my heritage is carried on in the future...Shauna loves shev so I dare to dream on.  

Peach Hand Pies

I look forward to peach season eagerly. A bite into a ripe, juicy peach is sublime. I can wax lyrical for a while as I love them so. Today I try my hand at hand pies. 

In an attempt to declutter, I have been getting rid of old  foodie magazines, keeping recipes that catch my eye. This is one. Intended for blueberries, now amended for peaches, the dough is an easy mix. A quick cool in the fridge, it rolls out beautifully with a little bench flour. Rectangles of dough are topped and covered with chopped peaches, flavored with sugar and cornstarch. Hand pies come in all shapes...squares, rectangles, half moons and circles. Mine are not so neat rectangles, pressed with the tines of a fork to make a tight seal. Baked till toasty, they emerge as small pockets of sweet peach filling, encrusted in a crisp dough. Mouthwateringly good.

PEACH HAND PIES

Makes 8-10

1 1/2 cups all purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/2 cup cold Butter, cut into small pieces  

1/2 cup Water

2 ripe Peaches

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 heaped teaspoon Cornstarch 

A pinch of Kosher Salt

Place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. 

Scatter cold butter over flour. Pulse till the dough has a sandy texture. 

Spoon water into the dough and pulse. The dough should gather together in a lump as you pulse. Add more water a teaspoon at a time till the dough comes together.

Spread a bench flour on the counter. 

Scrape dough onto flour. Use your hands to gather the dough together and shape it into a small rectangle. 

Put the dough into plastic wrap or a bag and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Peel peaches and slice into small chunks. Put them in a bowl.

Add sugar, kosher salt and cornstarch to peaches and stir to mix. 

Take dough out of the fridge. 

Spread some flour on the counter.

Roll the dough out into an approximate 14" by 10"rectangle that is 1/5" thick.

Use a knife and ruler to trim the edges into a 12"x 8"rectangle. 

Divide the dough into 8 rectangles.

Gather the scraps of dough and roll and trim them into more rectangles.

Heat oven to 350F/180C.

Spoon about 3-4 peach chunks onto the lower portion of one rectangle. Bring it over to cover the peaches and press the edges down. Use the tines of a fork to make a tight seal.

Do the same for the rest. 

Place pies on a baking sheet covered with parchment or a silicone mat. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes till golden. 

Cool on a rack for 5 minutes. 

Take a big bite of the hand pie. Reward enough!

How rewarding are these small peach pockets. A pie in hand is worth all the wait!

Schezwan Eggplant

 

This eggplant is one of my favorites. You could eat this at room temperature or warm it up a little. Geets made this a while ago. I followed suit and now its on the roster. A Serious Eats recipe, this Asian classic packs a loud punch. I make some adjustments but for the most part the original ingredients stay the same.

Eggplants are cut into batons, salted, patted dry and shallow fried till golden. Rice vinegar, green chiles, dried chiles, soy sauce, black vinegar, salt and sugar make up the sauce. Cornstarch gives it a fine gloss. Scallions and cilantro add freshness. It has distinct flavors ....spicy, salty and sweet... take one bite to taste them all.

SCHEZWAN EGGPLANT

Adapted from Serious Eats

Serves 3-4 as part of a meal

1/2 large Eggplant

2 tablespoons Canola Oil

3 Green Chiles, cut fine

2 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

2 Chile Pequin or Arbol

2 teaspoons Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon Sugar

2 teaspoons Chinkiang Black Vinegar

1 heaped teaspoon Cornstarch

2 Scallions 

Fresh Cilantro

Kosher Salt

Cut eggplant into 2 inch batons.

Salt the eggplant and let it sit for 10 minutes.  Pat the batons dry with a paper towel. 

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet.

Add eggplant to hot oil and cook till all sides are golden brown. 

In a saucepan heat rice vinegar. When it comes to a simmer add chiles, chile pequin, soy, black vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil. 

Add cornstarch to sauce. If it is too thick add water to thin it out. 

Pour  sauce over eggplant and heat the eggplant over a low flame. The sauce will thicken and turn glossy. 

Take the eggplant off the flame. 

Slice scallions thinly. 

Mince cilantro. 

Scatter scallions and cilantro over eggplant  and serve.

Satisfaction ensues.  I have leftovers. Tomorrow will be another happy day.