Merry Christmas - Liz's Cranberry Sauce for Grown Ups

Today has been rather unusual as holidays go, but then again maybe not quite so unusual. The weekend was deliciously long, since I was at home on Thursday. The daughter had a concert in school, that I had to attend and I felt I deserved a couple of extra hours off. The husband and I tried a new rrestaurant a quick kind of place. I shall hopefully tell you all about it before the weekend is over.

Yesterday, we had a nice group of people over. Anju and Melanie, my aunt and cousin and a couple of other friends were over. I cooked some really good stuff. However, the cat too, decided to run out and spend a day in the backyard and came back with a wound. So this morning was spent at the emergency veterinary hospital.  Now, that was the tip of the problem. Benji was generally OK, but I now have 14 tiny tablets that he needs to be fed 2 times a day.

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A candy store for spice lovers - Kalustyan's

How or why would you pick an isolated spice store, particularly when the store is located in New York City. A city that never sleeps (had to put that in) and has anything a foodie could want. Well, Kalustyan's on Lexington Ave, in the upper 20's is what I call a candy store for spice lovers. The store has the most amazing selection spices, teas, coffee, and cookware that I can think of.

Most of the equipment and spices cover the Middle-East, and South and Far East of Asia. The store has organized shelves that stock the spices in categories and  then in Alphabetical order. I love to get there at any excuse that I can think of, when I am lonely and feeling blue, when I am excited, when I really need something and of course most of all, when I am taking my students over. The last week when I was over I picked up some oat flour, mosty because I had never seen it before, pink peppercorns because they looked so pretty and ancho chili powder. I sustained myself with some of the tea and delicate sandwiches that they were selling in their cafe, which in itself is a very worthwhile place to visit. I dolefully eyed the tagines, that the husband will not let me buy until I clear up some space for them in the house.

So if you want to browse spices or want a place to check out spices, cookware and cookbooks be sure check out Kalustyans. While you are at it, feel free to walk further up and grab some Indian Food further up on Lexington.

Kalustyans                                               

123 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10016
USA

http://www.kalustyans.com/

Wilted Spinach with Carmelized Onions and Raisins

I loved reading Little Women and all the rest of the series, like a lot of people my heart was captured by Jo, the independent almost tomboyish sister. Jo had lovely hair, refered to as her one beauty in several places, I think like Jo, my one reedeeming eating habit is my love for greens. I love them year long.

These dish was a quick side dish that I had put together the othernight with a package of baby spinach. It really is a good idea to buy organic spinach, since the leaves taste significantly better and need less fuss in terms of cleaning.

Wilted Spinach with Caramelized Onions and Raisins

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes
Cook Time: 20 -25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons fruity extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 medium sized red onion, halved and cut into thin slices
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup raisins (I like the green Persian variety)
3 cups (about 5 oz) baby spinach leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and the ginger and cook for 20 seconds to let the ginger cook very lightly.
2. Add in the onion, sugar and the turmeric and turn the heat on low and cook the onion, stirring frequently for about 12- 15 minutes. The first 5-6 minutes do not need much attention as the onion softens and gently wilts. Gradually, the onion turns pale golden and then eventually it is nice fragrant and a healthy caramel color, as it starts darkening it is important to make sure that the onions do not burn or crisp unevenly.
3. Add in the raisins and cook for 30-40 seconds.
4. Gently stir in the leaves in thirds to let the leaves shrink just a little.
5. Stir in the salt and the walnuts and stir the leaves until they are just lightly wilted. Do not overcook the leaves or they will loose their vivid green color.
6. Stir in the walnuts and the red pepper and serve immediately.

Wilted Spinach with Caramelized Onions and Raisins

Harvest Latkes and Spiced Date Apple Sauce

At the risk of offending some of the Microsoft engineers in my life, I sometimes think working with Microsoft Office is much like my husband. It is pretty much a part of my life, and on most days it works,  some days it completely drives me crazy and other days, it totally surprises me with its multidimensional possibilities. 

Well, back to the husband, he actually is not as excited about the blog as he used to be, especially on a weeknight when he has to wait for me to take pictures before he eats, so I was quite surprised when he asked me whether I had blogged about these latkes I had made last week. So, I was pleasantly surprised and curious and it turns he has a co-worker whose latkes smell bad but taste great.

Traditionally latkes are potato pancakes that celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah.

My version actually makes them with carrots, rutabagas as a smaller amount of potatoes. I served this with a spiced applesauce sort of a hybrid between applesauce and chutney. So let now tell you all about the recipes.

Apple Sauce with Dates, Star Anise and Red Chili Peppers

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour (mostly unattended)

Ingredients

5 granny smith apples

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup chopped dates

1 large stick cinnamon

2-3 star anise

3-4 red chilies

Method of Preparation

1. Core the apples (I do not peel them) and process in a food processor.

2. Place the apples, vinegar, dates, cinnamon, anise and red chilies in a medium sized sauce pan and cook on low stirring occasionally until a nice thick mixture is formed. As you are stirring the mixture mash in the  dates into the mixture.

3. Cook for about 40-50 minutes until the mixture is a nice thick caramel colored mixture.

4. Cool slightly and remove the cinnamon and star anise.

5. Place the mixture again in the blender and puree.

6. Strain through a sieve and store in a small jar.

Harvest Latkes

If you are unsure about welcome this wonderfully pretty pale saffron vegetable into your hhouse. OK, so it does not look quite so pretty on the exterior. It is like a large brownish vegetable covered with a somewhat strange layer of wax. Nonetheless, pry a little deeper and you shall be rewarded.

My latkes do have a nice spike from the green chilies, which can be skipped if you wish. The only thing that I do insist on is to please hand grate the vegetables, or the texture is not the same. I shallow fry the pancakes and think they yield a nice crunch to the pancakes this way.

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Serves 4 (about 20-25)

Ingredients

1 mmedium red potato (please use an organic potato, if like me you want the skin on)

2 cups grated rutabaga

3/4 cup grated fresh carrots

5 pods of garlic, minced

1 medium red onion, cut into a fine dice

1 teaspoon salt

2 green chilies, finely chopped

3 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons all purpose white flour

Oil for shallow frying

Method of Preparation

1. Grate the potato with the skin on and set aside in a colander for about 15 minutes, to drain the water out. The potato oxidizes and turns a little dark in color, but it tastes just fine.

2. Squeeze out any additional water and then place the potato in a large bowl. Add in the rutabaga and carrots and mix well.

3. Add in the garlic, onion, green chilies and cilantro.

4. Mix in the salt, egg and the flour.

5. Heat the oil on medium heat. It is important to fry the pancakes on a medium low heat.

6. Shape the mixture into medium ( about 3 inch) sized oval or round pancakes and lower into the oil. Let them fry undisturbed for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Gently press down to flatten and ensure a crisp texture.

7. Remove from the oil and drain lightly.

Note: The proportion of the vegetables in this recipe can be varied based on taste and it can be made with more potatoes if desired.

One of those bad good dishes...

I might as well warn anyone, for the most part the next few posts shall be all about bad good food, in case you are wondering what I mean by that, I mean food that tastes good, but not quite so good for you. But hey, tis the season. Also, it is going to be way to busy for me at work, so not really that relaxing in terms of the time of the year. What would normally be Santa's workshop, the office dowstairs is currently a podium for the new I-POD and the edges of the TV stand are begining to get all cluttered with mail.

However, it never stops me from cooking. One of my many weaknesses is fried calamari, actually fried food in general but I can actually get my partner in crime (PIC), to share the fried calamaris and enjoy them with untimate relish.

These were our dinner a few days back, I edged them with lime wedges and sliced ripe tomatoes of course topped them with lots of freshly ground black pepper. Quite delectable!

Crispy Coconut Calamari

Prep Time: 30 minutes (includes 15 minutes for resting)

Cook Time: 30-40 minutes

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

3/4 cup all purpose flour

10 curry leaves very finely chopped (I actually use the scissors to thinly chop them)

4 green chillies minced

1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1.5 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound calamari, cut into rings and separate tentacles

Oil for deep frying

To garnish

2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Tomato slices

Lime Wedges

Lots of black pepper

Method of Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, finely chopped curry leaves, green chilies, coconut flakes, ginger and salt and mix well.

2. Add in the calamari and dredge the fish to coat the fish well with the coating.

3. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.

4. Heat the oil in a skillet, if you have a deep fryer, it is actually great for this recipe.

5. Cook the fish in batches at medium heat to allow the coating to gently turn golden brown.

6. Drain the fish and place on a serving tray.

7. Garnish with the cilantro, tomatoes and lime and add a few good grind of the fresh pepper and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Fish Curry

A curry has actually earned a bad reputation as being boring, but in all fairness a curry is about as boring as a sandwich or a soup, let us face it, these days we have the simple tuna fish on toast variations, or a classic and comforting BLT, to a down right impressive and stunning goat cheese panini. The curry for me too is much like a bowl of soup that ranges from light and comforting to rich and decadent. To truly bring out your curries flavors needs care and time rather than butter and cream.

This recipe is one of those that seem and taste like I nursed it with loads of precision, mostly due to the slow and well formed texture of the gravy balanced by the moist just done taste of the fish, this is why I love my slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Fish Curry

Prep/Cook Time: 4 hours (mostly unattended)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons oil

1 large red onion

1 inch- piece of peeled ginger

3 pods garlic

4-5 cardamoms

2-3 cloves

5 tomatoes, cut into a dice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon ghee

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 red chili crushed

1 teaspoon powdered coriander

1 pound of fish (I have used wild salmon), cut into pieces

1 teaspoon turmeric

1-2 tablespoons cilantro

Freshly ground black pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Place the onion, ginger and garlic in a food processor and grind to a paste.

2. Place the oil and the onion mixture in a slow cooker with the cardamoms and cloves and place on a 4 hours setting.

3. Remove the cover of the cooker after about 45 minutes, the onions should be sweaty and aromatic and beginning to turn golden, add in the tomatoes, salt and mix well.

4. Cook the mixture for about 2 hours undisturbed, by this time the sauce should be on a nice slow simmer.

5. Stir in the honey and the coriander seeds.

6. Heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop and add in the crushed pepper and mix well.

7. Mix into the tomato mixture.

8. Rub the fish with the turmeric and lower into the tomato sauce and poach lightly for about 20 minutes.

9. Check the seasonings.

10. Garnish generously with the cilantro and fresh black pepper and serve.