Family home evening

A tradition has been established: Monday night family home evening.  This borrowed term describes the gathering of friends, the drinking of wine, and the only night I have to cook.  These shared meals are an antidote to the dreaded case of the Mondays.  

This week's meal was particularly fun because I employed the assistance of my roommate and my neighbor.  We also employed the assistance of Indian food queen Madhur Jaffrey for inspiration.  We perused the cookbook and the fridge choosing dishes that helped us clean out the bounty of vegetables from the past week's CSA shares.  

We chose seven dishes and two condiments.  Seven main course meals that required an enormous amount of slicing, dicing and blending.  The three of us, armed with numerous instruments of vegetable mutilation, managed to produce this feast in just two hours.  I kept asking the girls, "I am not sure if we have enough food."  I was sincerely concerned.  

Friends, we cooked the equivalent of an Indian Thanksgiving dinner.  We will be eating Indian food until I come home next Monday.  We had plenty of food.  

Here's the menu: carrots with dates and raisins, peas with tomatoes, creamed spinach, mung bean sprout salad, cauliflower and zucchini, corn and coconut milk, lentils with tomatoes, yogurt raita and cilantro chutney.  

After this meal, I am confident I can orchestrate just about any family eating event -- Thanksgiving, Christmas or Monday night family home evening.  

Excuse me while I heat up a plate of leftovers.  Until next week!

The bounty.  

I chopped three HEADS of garlic and six inches of ginger.

Thank you Pampered Chef.

Cilantro chutney lovingly assembled by my kitchen partners in crime. 

No dish, pan, plate or fork was left unscathed.

As a result, dessert required some creativity: 

butter knife, baby spoon, melon baller, serving spoon.

These two dishes seemed to be the favorites.  This corn is out of this world.  Please try it.  The peas, well, the peas will make your toes curl.  Just saying.

Corn with coconut milk

adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian Cooking

4 cups corn

1 large onion, sliced in rings

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 tbs vegetable oil

2 cans coconut milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large oven-safe pan with a lid, combine corn and coconut milk.  Bring to a boil and then set aside.  In a separate pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until caramelized, stirring frequently -- about 10 minutes.  Remove and set aside.  Meanwhile, combine the garlic, cumin, tumeric, cayenne and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl.  Add this mixture to the same pan as the onions.  Fry for about a minute.  Add the onions, sugar and spice paste to the coconut and corn. Bring to a boil.  Cover and place in the oven.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Peas

also adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian Cooking

1 gigantic bag of frozen peas

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 inch chunk of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3 large tomatoes, diced

1 tbs red chili flakes (or more if you like it spicier)

1 tbs ground coriander (I had coriander seeds and it was delicious)

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbs vegetable oil

Put the chopped onion and ginger along with 1/4 cup water in a food processor.  Blend until you have a smooth paste.  Heat the oil in a large pan.  Add the spices and stir until fragrant, then add the onion/ginger paste.  Cook until the paste begins to caramelize -- about 5 minutes.  Add the chopped tomatoes.  Fry for another 5 minutes.  Add the peas, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes or until the peas are cooked through. 

Round two: Eau de garjalinger

Remember this dinner:

This was the radical dinner that included the potato dish that Madhur Jaffrey claimed to love with "irrational passion." Well, here's the other two recipes that showed up to the party.

The first one has an equally witty name: lentils with garlic and tomatoes. The other is a little more exotic: saag paneer, minus the paneer (paneer is a fresh cheese that doesn't exist for purchase in my little town). Saag paneer is a Northern Indian dish of paneer and greens, most often spinach. This is bar-none my favorite dish in an Indian restaurant. F.A.V.O.R.I.T.E. If you've never had saag paneer, imagine the best creamed spinach you've ever tasted and then multiply that yumminess by, well, a lot.

My saag paneer was pretty damn good; granted, I was missing a fairly fundamental ingredient, but the smell of the blended garlic, jalapeno, ginger base for the dish made my eyes roll into the back of my head. If I could make a perfume it would be Eau de garjalinger. I would rub this shit on my neck it smelled so good. I could not keep my head out of the food processor.

The lentils were tasty, as well. You'll notice the recipe is fairly straightforward -- a dish that could easily be thrown together on a regular basis. This lentil dish would be a great place to start, as it does not call for any expensive spices or ingredients. Try it! You will like these lentils. You can thank me later for introducing you to such a healthful, inexpensive food staple.

Well, not sure what I should do now. Vacuum? Exercise? Nah. I think I'll crawl into bed and find something salacious to watch on hulu. I love not having homework.

Diced tomatoes.

Soon these little babies will come from the farm;

not soon enough, though.

Rinse your lentils. Sucks to bite into a pebble.

Bad photo. Good smell.

Peeled and diced ginger.

Every kitchen needs some form of a Cuisinart.

Coming soon to a boutique near you: Eau de garjalinger.

Serious shrinkage.

I wish I could eat this right now.

Lentils with garlic and tomatoes

from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking

1/2 lbs tomatoes, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs lemon juice

1 cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked over

4 tbs vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

As told by Madhur: Heat the oil in a heavy, wide, 2 1/2-quart pot over a medium flame. When hot, put in the garlic. Stir and fry until the garlic browns lightly. Put in the tomatoes. Stir and cook about five minutes or until tomatoes turn into a paste. Put in the lentils and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer gently for 1/2 hour. Add the salt and lemon juice. Stir to mix.

Saag (minus the paneer)

1 1/2 lbs spinach, washed, trimmed and very finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

1/2 to 1 fresh hot green chili, sliced roughly

3 tbs heavy cream

6 tbs vegetable oil (ouch, I know. It was delicious.)

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

salt

Madhur: Put the ginger, garlic and green chili into the container of an electric blender of food processor along with 1/4 cup water. Blend until you have a smooth paste. You may need to push down with a rubber spatula once.

Heat the oil in a large, wide, preferably nonstick saute pan over a medium flame. (Paneer info. Insert sad, teary face here)

Put the paste from the blender into the hot oil in your pan (keep face averted) and fry it, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. Now put in the spinach and 1/2 tsp salt (and the garam masala). Stir the spinach around for 1 minute. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and let the spinach cook gently with the ginger-garlic past for 15 minutes. There should be enough water clinging to the spinach leaves to cook them. If all the water evaporates, add 1 to 2 tablespoons and continue cooking.

Now put in the (paneer) and cream, stir gently, and bring to a simmer. Cover, and continue cooking on low heat for another 10 minutes. Stir once or twice during this period.

Round one: irrational passion

I love ethnic food -- the spices, the unique combination of ingredients, the richness of flavors, the leftovers! I have dabbled a bit with Indian cooking, but I've never followed a recipe (no surprise).

Enter: Madhur Jaffrey:

I actually thought Madhur was a man until about five minutes ago when I googled her. (Should have known with a woman on the cover). She is an Indian actress, chef and all-around goddess whose recipes and cookbooks have won such meager accolades as James Beard Foundation awards. I used the word radical yesterday, and I'll used it again to describe this woman's book: it is radical.

A friend and I decided it would be fun to cook a recipe from said book. I decided it would be fun to make three recipes meal from Madhur's book. For those of you who are not accustomed to absolute chaos in the kitchen, I would not recommend juggling all of these in unison.

Being that I am not a trained cook, this sort of production required enormous foresight. I had to scrutinize the recipes to figure out my timing -- what dish should be started first, how many cloves of garlic needed to be minced (15!), and then began the prep-work. Dicing, slicing, grating, rinsing, stirring, MEASURING! (I actually measured all of the spices).

Amazingly, my timing working out perfectly. We didn't eat until nearly 8:30, but all told, it was a blazing success. The. Food. Was. So. Good. I was in disbelief that I had just made the meal in front of me. I felt like leaving myself a tip!

As promised, here's the lowdown on the first of the three recipes.

The following is cleverly named: potatoes and tomatoes cooked with fresh coconut. BUT don't be fooled by this ingenious title. Madhur writes that "[she] loves this dish with an irrational passion." You guys think I'm nuts in describing food -- irrational passion is by far the most wonderful description I've ever heard/read.

The fresh coconut made the dish. Potatoes and tomatoes are good friends. Potatoes, tomatoes and coconut are something all together naughty. Yes, naughty. This dish was worthy of Madhur's eloquent description. Be brave and buy a fresh coconut. Cracking it open and scrapping out the flesh was part of the fun. How often do you get to smash something open, drink its juice and then eat it? Wow, I'm clearly on one today. I've been writing about Shakespeare and pioneer women far too much lately.

Anyhoo, try this dish. I want a full report on your irrational passion.

Happy Friday!

Grated coconut.

Don't let the grater trick you. The food processor did the job.

No vampires were invited to dinner.

The recipe called for three large taters,

but true to form, I had to tweak it a teensy bit.

Garlic, coconut, red pepper flakes and cumin.

Taters join the party.

This photo is no bueno, but at least you get a glimpse of the stewed-passion.

Totally irrational.

Potatoes and tomatoes cooked with fresh coconut

from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East: Vegetarian Cooking

3 medium-sized potatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds, cut into 3/4 inch dice

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups grated fresh coconut

1 20 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 whole dried red pepper

4 tbs vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp red wine vinegar

As told by Madhur: Heat the oil in a heavy, 3-Quart pot over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the minced garlic. Stir for about 5 seconds. Now put in the red pepper and the cumin seeds. Stir for another 3 seconds. The garlic should brown lightly, the red pepper should darken, and the cumin seeds should sizzle. Lower the heat to medium, put in the grated coconut and stir it around for 10 to 15 seconds.

Add the potatoes as well as the turmeric, ground cumin and tomatoes (including any juice), the salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir gently every 7 to 8 minutes during this cooking period.

Put in the sugar and vinegar. Stir again and cook, uncovered, for 1 minute.

Sundays have always been a day reserved for chores around the house: laundry, yard work, bathrooms, floors. Yesterday I spent my morning cleaning out flower beds and raking leaves in preparation for winter's arrival. Berkley and Benny incessantly romped in my leaf piles requiring my project to take twice as long as it should have, but the skies were blue and the wind was not blowing. Here in Eastern Idaho, that is nothing short of a miracle. Poor Heather was laid up with a migraine -- the curse of our clan. Beyond that, it was a near perfect morning.

After more chores and some time spent on homework, we made our Sunday pilgrimage to Winco. A brief description of Winco for those who are unaware of the store's awesomeness and at the same time horrificness (yes, I made that up). Winco is kind of like Walmart in the sense that it brings out all walks of life -- the young, the old, the rich, the poor, those missing teeth, those missing brain cells, those lacking birth control, those lacking fashion sense.

I am not ashamed to admit that I am totally broke and need to shop at a store that caters to a low socio-economic group. Thank you, Winco. Not only do you help me with my food costs, but visiting your store is kind of like going to the fair -- you bring out all the crazies and you give out samples!

Along with the risotto that I served the other night, I made the WORLD'S BEST roasted chicken. I put that in all caps to emphasize that fact that this chicken really is the WORLD'S BEST. I give food a lot of hype on this site, but people, seriously, this is out of this world. The best part is that it requires only THREE ingredients: chicken, salt and thyme. Done. I can't take credit for this crisp skin, mouth-watering chicken recipe, as it hails from the one and only Thomas Keller. I make this chicken a couple times a month, as it is so simple and whole chickens are so inexpensive. Plus, as you'll see, you can use one chicken for multiple meals.

There are so many fun things you can do with a chicken carcass. (I just had to pause, reread that sentence and laugh out loud.) The following recipe is a family favorite that my mom made when I was a kid. The smells last night transported me back to her kitchen. She used to have this soup waiting for us when we returned home from ski trips. This soup is so aromatic and flavorful. We served it over basmati rice with a bit of sour cream on top, which I will forever repeat. It was fabulous. You could certainly omit the chicken and use vegetable stock, too, as it would make a lovely vegetarian dish.

If you ever come to visit me, I'll take you on a field trip to Winco. One of the many entertaining aspects of my new life :)

Chicken carcass ready for its transformation into broth.

8 cups of water, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaf.

Allow to cook down for 30-45 minutes, strain:

best chicken broth this side of the Mississippi.

Heather's a much better assistant than Berkley.

My mom gave me this recipe book when

I went away to college, the first time :)

Like I said, only the finest. Royal rice.

Indian-style potato spinach soup with chicken

2 cups cooked chicken, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups potatoes, cubed

1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and chopped (or in my case, 1 bag fresh spinach, chopped)

1 can diced tomatoes, including juice

6 cups chicken broth

2 tbs curry powder

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp caraway seeds

2 tsp canola oil

s/p

In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook onions, garlic, chicken and caraway seeds until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in curry, coriander and cardamom. Cook, stirring constantly, about a minute more.

Stir in broth and potatoes. Bring broth to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add spinach to pot along with the tomatoes. Simmer about five more minutes to allow the flavors to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.