Indian Dinner

Saag paneer

I used the saag paneer recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. Since I ran out of spinach from the garden, I substituted kale, which was surprisingly good. I might use it instead in the future. Also, I omitted the heavy cream because it didn't seem necessary.

Saag Paneer
serves: 4-6

Ingredients
1-in. cube of ginger (peeled and coarsely chopped)
3-6 garlic cloves
1/2 to 1 hot green chili, sliced roughly
paneer
salt
1/4 tsp. garam masala
1/8 tsp. cayenne
6 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. spinach
3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Lunch at Chautara

Lamb palungo

I had the pleasure of lunching at Chautara recently. I'd heard they were closing in July, so I was determined to get there before they left. From the waitress, I learned that they'll be closed for 6-9 months, but then are moving into the Shakti space next door. This was a welcome discovery since I'm very fond of Chautara. Their fish dishes are especially lovely.

Greek Egg Lemon Soup w/ Chicken and Spinach

I first encountered this Greek specialty at Nick's. (Shout out to Nick's!) They have it a few times a week, and I'm told that the matriarch of the family makes it. I love that. Avgolemono is the proper name, but I have the damnest time saying it. The Real Simple recipe (see below) employed only egg yolks, but other recipes don't seem to require that.

 

As a general rule, I don't like separating eggs. Not because it's challenging, but because I rarely end up using the remaining part. And I abhor wasting food. So I threw in the entire egg.

I encountered a small texture obstacle. Initially, I thought it was because of using the whites in addition to the yolks, but now I think it's because the soup was too hot. You're supposed to prevent it from boiling when you add the eggs. Despite the strange texture, it tasted phenomenal.

Oh, and I tossed in spinach for a little extra nutritive power. Go, go, iron and calcium!

Serves 4 | Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup orzo
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Add the pasta and boil until tender, 8-9 mins.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of hot broth. Add the egg mixture to the saucepan, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until thickened, 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the chicken and lemon juice to the saucepan. Season with ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper.

Cooking Up a Storm

I was downloading some photos and realized I hadn't shared some of the dishes I'd made this winter, so here goes.
Cranberry, Honey, and Ginger Biscotti
I made this biscotti for the Partners in Giving (our workplace charitable giving campaign) silent auction and bake sale. Mine contained crystallized ginger, cranberries, and honey, but there are tons of variations on this thrice-baked Italian cookie. 

Aren't they pretty?

When it comes to food, I generally like to keep it simple. (It makes up for other aspects of life that are overly complicated. :)) I will probably never concoct an elaborate old-school French meal, and baking is generally too precise and fussy for me. In that spirit, I use a fusion of basic biscotti recipes and alter it according to my whim:

2 c. flour (For baking, I usually use whole wheat pastry flour instead of bleached white flour. It's not as heavy and drying as regular whole wheat flour, but adds more nutrition than the white.)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
2-3 eggs (It calls for 2 eggs and 1 egg white, but unless it's absolutely necessary, I don't separate eggs. I hate having leftover egg components because they usually go bad before I can use them.)
1 c. sugar (I use brown, rather than white.)
generous swirl of honey
~ 1 c. Craisins
~ 1 c. finely chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, and then combine together. Mix until smooth, then transfer dough to a baking sheet, and shape into 2 logs, measuring about 12 inches long and 4 inches wide. Bake 25-30 mins. Reduce the oven temperature to 325. Cut the logs into 3/4-inch slices, turn the slices cut side down, and bake for 10 mins. Flip the slices and bake for 10 more mins. The result should be a gloriously crispy, somewhat sweet treat perfect for dunking into your cappuccino.

Spinach, Mushroom, and Feta Pizza with Phyllo Crust
I made this to use up the large box of phyllo dough in my freezer, although some of it still resides in the frozen depths. (It's from the half-successful Nigella's chicken pot pie experiment.) As is generally the case if you have a crust consisting of flaky phyllo lathered with butter, it was decadently yummy. The phyllo was a little destroyed from being defrosted and refrozen too many times, so I layered strips of it in alternating directions, brushing each layer with melted butter, until I had a thick crust. Then I topped it with sliced cremini mushrooms and spinach. I used a recipe from Epicurious.

Spaghetti Carbonara
Jason took the culinary helm on this effort, and I was the kitchen helper. I'd never had this before, but I was blown away by its fantastic flavor. I think this recipe from Amateur Gourmet was the one we used.

Spaghetti carbonara

Sweet Potato Soup with Garlic Chicken Sausage
Here, leftover curried sweet potatoes that I wasn't terribly impressed with in the beginning were transformed into a lovely soup. A spin with the stick blender and the addition of some garlic chicken sausage from Trader Joe's made all the difference.

Sweet potato soup with garlic chicken sausage and a dollop of yogurt

Red Lentil Dal
I've made this dal, originally from Cooking Light, several times now, and it's always satisfying.

The last of the red lentil dal

Ribollita

Ribollita

Ribollita, meaning "reboiled," is a hearty Tuscan stew made with white beans, tomatoes, greens, other veggies, and stale bread (to thicken the soup). The recipe from 101 Cookbooks calls for cavolo nero, which is sometimes labeled lacinato kale, Tuscan kale, or dinosaur kale. Whatever you call it, it's a particular favorite of mine. It has deeply green, curly, striking leaves, and its flavor is more robust than the regular kale favored in southern cooking. Despite that, I used mustard greens because I wanted to use them up. The black olives may seem like an odd touch, but try it. I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised. The salty, briny olives work really well against the buttery cannellini and creaminess of the bread. And sometimes, I feel like the greens overpower the dish, but not so in this case.

While the ribollita cooked, I indulged in smoked gouda on Triscuits
with black olives...and a glass of red wine.