Go green!

Continuing with my end-of-summer series, I made pesto this week. Now that the weather is turning cooler, it will soon be curtains for the large pots of basil that I tended through the summer...though maybe a small one will live through the winter on the windowsill!


I tend to think of pesto as less of a recipe than a technique. The idea lends itself so well to multiple adaptations - think arugula-hazelnut, or red pepper-walnut, or cilantro-cashew...you can swap in pecorino or piave cheese as well. This time, though, I decided to stick to the classic trio of ingredients: basil, pine nuts and parmigiano-reggiano cheese. Add garlic and olive oil, and you're well on your way to making something tasty and versatile that needs only 5 ingredients!


I'd like to say I made this the traditional way, hand-chopping it with a mezzaluna, but alas...I don't own one. It's on my list of hmm-looks-great-but-do-I-really-need-this kitchen gadgets! I did, however, chop up all of the ingredients by hand first, using a knife, before tossing them all into the food processor to finish off the whole thing with a few pulses. This helps preserve the identity of the individual ingredients without blending them all into a featureless mush. And it doesn't take too long either.


Pesto can be used in so many ways - dip hunks of crusty bread in it, or serve over pasta, or mix with some goat cheese for a sandwich spread. Here, I've used it as a dressing for a salad featuring some of my favorite health foods: quinoa, broccoli and green beans. Quinoa is one of the superfoods that everyone is talking about these days. It is one of the few vegetable sources of protein that has all the amino acids, with the goodness of whole grains too. Legend has it that the Spanish invaders in Latin America tried to destroy quinoa fields to rob the Inca warriors of this source of their strength!

The quinoa had bright flavor from the pesto and was accentuated by the crunch of the broccoli, green beans and slivered almonds. A pinch of chili flakes added some heat, and the whole was finished off with some salty, tangy feta. Healthy and delicious!


Recipes:
Basil pesto (makes about 1 cup)
1 large bunch basil, leaves only
1 large handful pine nuts
3-4 cloves of garlic
Small hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated
Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed (about 3-4 tablespoons)
Chop the first three ingredients using a sharp knife, then toss into a food processor. Add half the cheese, then process in a few short pulses. Add the rest of the cheese and pulse a few more times. Scrape into a bowl, stir in the oil and check for seasoning. Drizzle some more oil over the top, cover and refrigerate up to a week.


Green quinoa (Serves 2)
3/4 cup quinoa
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
1 large handful green beans, trimmed and cut into 1" lengths
1 1/2 tbsp pesto
Pinch chilli flakes
2 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine-mesh sieve and place in a pan with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down, cover and simmer till the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Fork the pesto and the chili flakes through the cooked quinoa and leave to cool a bit.
While the quinoa is cooking, blanch the broccoli florets and green beans in boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Drain and refresh with cold water. Shake dry and then add to the quinoa. Toss the salad together and divide on to plates. Serve topped with the feta and slivered almonds.

One peach, two ways

The peach season is sadly drawing to a close - where did summer go? So I thought I ought to write about my experiment with two peach desserts before we move into fall. The good news, though, is that these would be pretty good with apples or pears too! Now that's a reason, if any, to look forward to the season ahead.
Peaches are my favorite summer fruit. Well no, mangoes are, but sadly, if you grew up eating mangoes in India, the ones you get here in the US pale in comparison. So you might say peaches are my mangoes now! They present a similar sensory experience, plump and perfumed, with the same sensuous mouth feel, and they come with hot weather! I had some beautiful peaches from a trip to the farmers' market - big and juicy, their fuzzy blushing cheeks just begging to be bitten into. After devouring several, I set one aside for this dessert experiment.
Have you ever been out to dinner with people who don't even glance at the dessert menu? Happily, I don't count myself in their ranks. Even on the days I feel I've eaten enough, I always accept the proffered menu in the hope that some of the offerings will change my mind! That said, I do believe in cooking and eating healthy, so that you don't have to feel guilty about those occasional indulgences (a buttery croissant, a macaron or two, panna cotta...). The two fruit desserts I've featured here are, I'm happy to say, just right for those days when you need your sweet fix without feeling like you need an extra 15 minutes on the elliptical the next day. They are quick and easy to put together as well.
The first half of the peach was diced, sweetened with a whisper of honey, and baked under a crisp topping. Unlike many others, this is not loaded with butter, but is packed with heart-healthy ingredients like oats and walnuts. I swapped in orange juice for some of the butter, to keep it crumbly enough. The topping comes together super-quick in a food processor - I've included a picture of the cute mini-processor I used, so handy when you have a small quantity.

For the other half of the peach, I did a cheat's version of pesche ripiene, the Italian dessert of baked peaches stuffed with crushed amaretti cookies. Well, I didn't have any amaretti, but I did have ground almonds and amaretto liqueur, so that was what went into the center of the peach half, topped by the thinnest sliver of butter to keep things moist and flavorsome. Into the oven they both went, and emerged looking like this:

Okay, I must confess, I caved in to my baser instincts and added a scoop of ice cream - but there was that empty spot on the plate, just begging to be filled! All in all, this was a great dessert plate for two to share, you get some variety without the portion being too large or the desserts being sinful. A glass of Muscat (or Prosecco, for a lazy Sunday brunch!) would be good with this, I might venture to add.


Recipes:
Honeyed Peach Crisp (Serves 1 or 2, but can be scaled up)
1/2 of a large peach, diced
1 tsp honey
1 tsp cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tbsp rolled oats
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp coarsely broken walnuts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp orange juice
Pinch salt
Preheat oven to 375F(190C).
Toss the peaches with the honey and cornflour and place in a ramekin. Meanwhile, whizz all the other ingredients together in a food processor till crumbly. Crumble the topping on to the peaches, packing it down firmly. Run the tines of a fork on the top lightly a few times, then bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.


Stuffed peaches, my way (Serves 1 or 2, but can be scaled up)
1/2 of a large peach, stone removed (You can blanch the peach before using if you like)
3 tbsp ground almonds
1 tbsp brown sugar
Pinch salt
1 tbsp amaretto
2 tbsp dark rum
Thin sliver of butter
Mix the almonds, sugar, salt and amaretto with a fork till crumbly. Pack this filling into the center of the peach half. Place in a ramekin, pour the rum over, place the sliver of butter on top, and bake alongside the peach crisp for roughly the same length of time.

Mmm...muhammara!

I love mezze platters. They are wonderful to share with a crowd, sipping wine, nibbling on salty olives or feta, enjoying the crisp cool salads and crunchy falafel, and feeling the whoosh of steam when you tear off a bit of warm puffy pita bread to dunk in those delicious dips.
My favorite of the dips is muhammara, a roasted red-pepper and walnut dip that sadly doesn't feature as often on mezze platters as its more familiar cousins like hummus and baba ghannouj. While I love them all, they don't come close to this one for complexity of taste and texture. Silky roasted red peppers are wonderful when combined with earthy, nutty toasted walnuts - red pepper pesto or romesco sauce, anyone?
The balance of flavors is rounded out by some fairly common ingredients - vibrant garlic, smoky cumin and a little heat from crushed red pepper flakes. Some versions have breadcrumbs in there as well, but I didn't use any and I liked it that way! You can make it thicker or thinner depending on your taste. What lifts this dip from the mundane to the simply sublime, though, is a splash of pomegranate molasses that adds a subtle tart-sweet background to everything. It is available at most Middle Eastern grocers and is an inexpensive purchase - a little goes a long way. I acquired a bottle on a recent visit to Sahadi's in Brooklyn, and I now add it to vegetable stews and salad dressings.
Muhammara is good as a dip, or you can use it in any number of other ways. It all comes together in the food processor in a flash. It makes an excellent sandwich spread too. Slather generously on some nice crusty bread, top with greens of your choice, some crunchy vegetables and feta or goat cheese for an exotically delicious tartine. The picture below is of my lunch: Multi-grain bread spread with muhammara, piled with arugula and topped with a slice of pan-fried eggplant. I placed a slice of fresh goat cheese on the eggplant for the last minute of cooking so it would get all nice and oozy with the heat. A tall frosty glass of fresh watermelon juice completed a delicious repast.

Recipe: Muhammara (makes about 1 cup)
Two large red peppers, roasted and peeled (I roasted my own but you can use bottled ones)
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped fine
1 fat garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses (available at Middle Eastern grocers)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and process till a puree forms. Transfer to a bowl, taste and season if necessary. It's really that easy! Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Tastes good, good for you!

I have been wanting to make my own granola for a while now, and I'm pleased to say I finally did! Since moving to the US, I've adopted the convenient practice of eating cereal for breakfast, hoping that the extra milk will make my bones stronger when I'm old and grey ;) Although I must confess to fantasizing about fluffy idlis and crisp dosas every now and then - sadly, these items are now relegated to the "on weekends only" category!
Breakfast cereals may look healthy, but they can actually be l-o-a-d-e-d with sugar. It is also an exhausting task to read through their lengthy lists of ingredients! Making granola at home is almost ridiculously easy. It's also very economical, and makes a good amount, so you'll have some to give your friends as well. I used rolled oats, wheatgerm, flax seeds, and almonds, all toasted together with pure honey and a drizzle of vegetable oil, and then mixed in dried cranberries and chopped apricots. This yielded a mix with a satisfying crunch, not too sweet - just the right way to start your day! 

You can ring the changes endlessly, using different combinations of fruit, nuts and seeds to suit your taste. Coconut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, pecans, dried blueberries, dates, raisins...your imagination is the limit!


Recipe:
Honey-toasted fruit and nut granola (makes 10 cups, or about 20 servings)
6 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheatgerm
1/2 cup flax seeds
1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped (you can also use ready-slivered ones)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup honey
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Preheat the oven to 300F(150C).
In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients excepting the fruit till well mixed. Heat the oil and honey together over low heat till the honey loosens up completely. Pour the warm honey mixture over the dry ingredients and stir till evenly moistened. Spread the mixture over two rimmed baking sheets and bake in the oven, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Stir in the fruit for the last 5 minutes of baking, just to dry up any excess moisture in them.
Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Simple yet stylish brunch for two

The incredible edible egg. That's the slogan of the American Egg Board, and I love it! (Though I am less fond of their efforts, or lack thereof, to end battery farming of hens) Eggs are among my favorite things to cook for brunch on weekends. They're inexpensive, versatile, and best of all, quick to cook. Perfect for those mornings after a night on the town! Omelets, pancakes, frittatas, scrambled eggs...you can ring the changes endlessly and come out looking like a pro!

One of my favorite ways to cook eggs is to make a tortilla - also known as a Spanish omelet. This is for those days when you have a wee bit more time to lavish on your eggs, but it is a great dish to whip up if guests stop by unexpectedly, since you're quite likely to have potatoes and onions at hand.

Tortilla is good on its own, or with a nice green salad. Cut into small cubes and serve with drinks as part of a tapas platter, or sandwich with some crusty bread and head to the beach for a picnic! For today, though, I settled on a bright, lively salsa to accompany it - what better way to make use of those home-grown tomatoes and serrano peppers? I added some black beans as well, for a color and texture contrast.

The tortilla is proof that you don't need expensive ingredients to produce a truly delicious dish - just a little bit of love and care. Make sure to cook it on a low heat, running a butter knife around the edge every now and then. Flipping it may seem tricky, but all you need is a heatproof oven glove and a flat plate larger than your pan for it to work properly. The result? Thick, satisfying wedges of omelet, each bite laden with mellow sautéed onions and buttery-soft potatoes. You can make it thicker or thinner, well-cooked or a bit runny, depending on what your taste is.

And for dessert, I made one peach, two ways - an experiment at using a single peach to make two simple, light and healthy desserts, perfect for my husband and me to share! (Okay - I confess the ice cream was an added indulgence) I was pretty pleased with the results, so I will share that in a separate post.

Recipes:
Tortilla de patatas (Serves 2-3, depending on how hungry you are)
5 large free-range eggs
3 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
Extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Peel the potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise, then slice them thinly. Do the same with the onions.
In an 8" pan, heat a generous slug of olive oil, then add the potatoes and some salt. Fry briefly, then turn the heat down, cover an cook till the potatoes are almost done. Add the onions at this point, and fry till softened but not colored. The traditional method involves deep-frying the potatoes, then draining the oil away, but for health reasons I prefer to use this one. I think it tastes pretty good as it is.
While the potatoes and onions are getting done, crack the eggs into a bowl, season to taste, and beat with a fork until combined. Once the potatoes and onions are done, let them cool briefly, then add them into the bowl along with the eggs and stir till well mixed. Pour the mixture back into the pan, turn the heat to low, and cook for about 20 minutes, running a butter knife around the edge every now and then. When the surface looks like it is almost fully set, turn the tortilla out on to a flat plate larger than the pan, and slide it back in to cook the other side, about 10 minutes. Cut into portions of the desired size and serve.
Tomato and black bean salsa (Serves 2-3 as an appetizer with chips, or as a condiment)
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup cooked black beans (canned is fine)
1 serrano pepper, chopped fine (You can use any hot pepper of choice, seeds in or removed, depending on how much heat you can handle)
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp each ground cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper
Juice of half a lime
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before eating, for the flavors to meld.

Lemon-almond loaf cake, for a New York weekend

New York is a city any foodie would love. Spend an afternoon wandering through any of the neighborhoods, and stop to eat whatever strikes your fancy - ever so often, it turns out to be something you've never had before, or the best-ever of some food you always liked. Or poke through the many ethnic grocery stores, their shelves piled high with exotic herbs, spices and relishes! I had a wonderful time this weekend sampling Brooklyn's best and then some: capuccino at Cafe Pedlar, fresh hot sandwiches at Ted & Honey, lovely Italian small plates and wines at Frankie's Spuntino, myriad veggie dumplings at Dim Sum Go Go, sweet treats at Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and Sweet Melissa.

Needless to say, I did not do much cooking over the weekend. I did, however, make this lemon-almond loaf cake, which made for a great snack in between all of the other eating (!). I am so glad I went for that run across the Brooklyn Bridge and back!

Lemon and almond is another of my favorite flavor pairings. Fresh, lively and perfumed, the lemon brings out the nutty sweetness of almonds beautifully. Here, I use them together in a tangy loaf cake that's perfect for the summer - not too sweet, not too sour, equally at home in a picnic basket or dressed up with a pile of juicy berries and whipped cream for dessert!

The luscious lemoniness (yes, I may have just made that word up) of this cake comes from finely grated zest, as well as a lemon syrup that's poured over when it comes out of the oven. I am planning to try an orange version too, with a splash of orange blossom water in the syrup for a flavor boost.

Recipe:
Lemon-Almond Loaf Cake (makes 1 medium or 2 small cakes)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup + 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground blanched almonds (I used ready-ground but you can grind your own as well)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
6 tbsp milk
Juice of 2 lemons
A few drops almond extract (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease a 4 1/2"X8 1/2" loaf pan. I used 2 disposable aluminium foil pans, each of 1 3/4 cup capacity.
Sift the flour with the baking powder, then stir in the salt and ground almonds. Cream the butter and 1/2 cup sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed, followed by the zest and almond extract. Lightly fold in the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour into the prepared pan(s).
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Combine the lemon juice and the remaining sugar in a non-reactive saucepan. (You can use more than 1/2 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you want your cake to be. Taste the syrup once the sugar is dissolved, and if it seems too tart for you, add more sugar to taste.) Bring to boil over high heat, then turn the heat down and simmer for 2-3 minutes. The syrup should be light and quite runny. You can stir in some limoncello, light rum, or even an orange liqueur like Cointreau, into the syrup at this point if you like.
When the cake comes out of the oven, poke plenty of holes all over it with a toothpick. Slowly pour the warm syrup over, trying to make sure most of it goes in the holes and not running down the sides. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before cutting, as it may be soggy until the syrup is fully absorbed.

From farm to table

As I mentioned before, I love farmers' markets. When I first moved to  New York from India, I excitedly planned a visit to the famed Union Square Greenmarket in my first week - only to be crushed to find nothing but a few apples, pears and cut flowers on sale. The month was April, and it dawned on me that the growing season was yet to get underway! Once it did, I delighted in the new tastes it threw up - delicately garlicky ramps, weirdly beautiful romanesco, or fiery manzano peppers, anyone?
The picture above is of some of my wares from this weekend's trip to the farmers' market - so naturally, I had to plan my lunch around the contents of this basket. Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables so it was no surprise that I gravitated towards it. Roasted, grilled, stuffed, braised... I can think of so many ways to enjoy it. For today, though, I settled on pan-fried eggplant with a lentil salad.

I used French green lentils, which hold their shape very well even when fully cooked - but brown ones would be fine too, or chickpeas (which are always great with eggplant). I cooked them with some of the green onions and cherry tomatoes, but you could leave those out, or use whatever vegetable you had on hand - onions, shallots, carrots, leeks, celery would all work well. While the lentils were cooking, I made the dressing, and sliced and salted the eggplant. There seems to be a permanent controversy about whether or not to salt eggplant before cooking, but I always do so. I find it absorbs less oil when cooking, which is always a good thing!
Just for a bit of fun, I built a stack with the eggplant and the lentils, on a bed of greens. I used three slices out of a medium-size eggplant, alternating them with the lentils and a bit of Greek-style yogurt. It made for a tasty, filling and healthy lunch, with all kinds of interesting layers! Fresh, peppery arugula; fried eggplant, crisp on the outside and silken inside; soft, earthy lentils with the crunch of walnuts; and cool mint and yogurt.

And finally, here are some of the fruits of my labor - my first tomato of the season, grown painstakingly from seed. I've been watching eagerly as it went from bud to flower to fruit, slowly fattening itself up on the vine, shiny and green at first, then blushing delicately, before turning into this ripe and juicy summer treat. The serrano pepper plants valiantly fought back a slug attack to produce these - and my curries have had more zing ever since!

Recipe:
Eggplant and lentil stack (Serves 1, but can be scaled up easily)
3 1/2" thick slices from a medium-sized eggplant, salted
2 handfuls french green lentils, rinsed (or other lentils of choice)
1 green onion, halved lengthwise and sliced
7-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbs walnuts, chopped and toasted
1 cup water or vegetable stock
Extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Greek-style yogurt and arugula leaves, to serve
Dressing: 1 1/2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tsp walnut oil, 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, 3-4 mint leaves, chopped fine, 1 tiny clove garlic, mashed to a paste with some salt
Drizzle a pan with olive oil, toss in the green onions, cherry tomatoes and lentils. Saute for a minute, then add the stock or water and bring to a boil. Simmer until the lentils are soft and the liquid is absorbed.
While the lentils are cooking, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Season to taste, add the warm lentils and the walnuts and toss well. Leave for a few minutes to absorb the dressing, while you pan-fry the eggplant slices in a little olive oil, about 2 minutes on each side.
To serve, pile some arugula (or any other salad green of choice) on a plate. Place a slice of eggplant in the center, top with some of the lentils and a dollop of yogurt. Build a stack with the rest of the eggplant and lentils, scattering the remaining lentils around the plate. Top with a dollop of yogurt and a sprig of mint, and some of the sliced green onion tops, if using.