Monday, February 09, 2009
What have we been up to in the kitchen...
Well, our endeavor to eat local sure is turning into a tasty treat! I love getting up on Saturday morning and perusing the San Mateo Farmer's Market. Since we have been really making an effort to eat in season, and that can be a little more time consuming regarding finding recipes using only in season ingredients, I thought I'd post what we've been doing with our food as well as share a few of the recipes we have tried that turned out really amazing... I also thought I'd share with you some of the yummy treats we have been using our Marin Sun Farms meat for.
Bengali Cabbage
Keema
Kebabs
Collard Greens Pachadi
Chicken iStew (Sounth Indian Style)
Bengali Fingerling Potatoes
Keema
Anupam made a variation of this recipe that just turned out awesome! It happens to be potato season for us, so we used the fingerlings that came in our veggie box. And since potatoes and tomatoes aren't in season at the same time, we used canned tomatoes. Also, it is truly worth the effort of grinding fresh spices. It barely takes any time, but makes a noticeable difference in the outcome of the food. This is a recipe from Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India by Maya Kaimal MacMillan.
Ingredients
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1-2 tsp oil
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 1/2 lbs minced beef/lamb (we used beef)
6 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1-2 Thai chillies
2 tsp salt
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes (optional if using seasonal ingredients)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned will due)
1 cup water
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Fry the onions in oil over medium high heat until edges are nicely browned. Add the garlic and ginger, fry for 2 minutes before adding the meat. Continue frying till it is completely brown.
Stir in all the ground spices from the ingredient list, the chillies and salt until well blended. Add the potatoes, tomatoes and water. Simmer partially covered for 30 minutes.
Add the peas and cook uncovered until the mixture is neither dry or watery. Add water or continue cooking as necessary.
Finally, stir in lemon juice, remove from heat and taste for salt.
Collard Greens Pachadi
Not only did both of us love it, but I was really pleased with this dish when my 3 year old daughter (who is a fairly selective eater) came to me a day or two after we served this dish and said, "Mama, collard greens are yummy." Need I say more? This is a recipe adapted from Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India by Maya Kaimal MacMillan.
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp oil
2 bunches of fresh collard greens (spinach or other would be fine too)
1 Thai green chillies
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
1 cup plain yogurt (homemade)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 dried red peppers
10 curry leaves (if you are out, 2 bay leaves make a suitable subsitution)
1 tbsp oil
First, wash, trim and chop your greens. You can either lightly blanch them or cook them in a pressure cooker. Once they are thoroughly drained, chop them finely. You can leave it fresh also, but allow for a bit of extra cooking time. Using a pressure cooker will preserve the vitamins over blanching in hot water.
In a sauce pan fry the onion in oil until lightly browned. Add collard greens, thai chilli, cumin, salt and water. Cook until the greens are soft and almost all the water has evaporated. Remove from heat and stir in the yogurt.
In a separate pan, heat the remaining ingredients in the oil till the mustard seeds begin to pop. Stir the spices into the collard greens, taste for salt and serve warm or at room temperature.
For left overs, eat them cold or reheat them gently. The yogurt will curdle if you re-cook it.
Fresh Bengali Cabbage
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp panch phoran
mustard oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt
Fry the garlic, ginger in mustard oil till they start to brown. Then add the mustard seeds and panch phoran. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the cabbage. When the cabbage has started to soften, add the turmuric and stir well. Cover the dish for about 5 minutes and add salt to taste. Continue cooking, covered, till the cabbage is very soft. If there is lots of liquid in the bottom of the pan, cook uncovered for the last few minutes to dry it out a bit.
Bengali Cabbage
Keema
Kebabs
Collard Greens Pachadi
Chicken iStew (Sounth Indian Style)
Bengali Fingerling Potatoes
Keema
Anupam made a variation of this recipe that just turned out awesome! It happens to be potato season for us, so we used the fingerlings that came in our veggie box. And since potatoes and tomatoes aren't in season at the same time, we used canned tomatoes. Also, it is truly worth the effort of grinding fresh spices. It barely takes any time, but makes a noticeable difference in the outcome of the food. This is a recipe from Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India by Maya Kaimal MacMillan.
Ingredients
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1-2 tsp oil
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 1/2 lbs minced beef/lamb (we used beef)
6 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1-2 Thai chillies
2 tsp salt
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes (optional if using seasonal ingredients)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned will due)
1 cup water
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Fry the onions in oil over medium high heat until edges are nicely browned. Add the garlic and ginger, fry for 2 minutes before adding the meat. Continue frying till it is completely brown.
Stir in all the ground spices from the ingredient list, the chillies and salt until well blended. Add the potatoes, tomatoes and water. Simmer partially covered for 30 minutes.
Add the peas and cook uncovered until the mixture is neither dry or watery. Add water or continue cooking as necessary.
Finally, stir in lemon juice, remove from heat and taste for salt.
Collard Greens Pachadi
Not only did both of us love it, but I was really pleased with this dish when my 3 year old daughter (who is a fairly selective eater) came to me a day or two after we served this dish and said, "Mama, collard greens are yummy." Need I say more? This is a recipe adapted from Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India by Maya Kaimal MacMillan.
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp oil
2 bunches of fresh collard greens (spinach or other would be fine too)
1 Thai green chillies
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
1 cup plain yogurt (homemade)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 dried red peppers
10 curry leaves (if you are out, 2 bay leaves make a suitable subsitution)
1 tbsp oil
First, wash, trim and chop your greens. You can either lightly blanch them or cook them in a pressure cooker. Once they are thoroughly drained, chop them finely. You can leave it fresh also, but allow for a bit of extra cooking time. Using a pressure cooker will preserve the vitamins over blanching in hot water.
In a sauce pan fry the onion in oil until lightly browned. Add collard greens, thai chilli, cumin, salt and water. Cook until the greens are soft and almost all the water has evaporated. Remove from heat and stir in the yogurt.
In a separate pan, heat the remaining ingredients in the oil till the mustard seeds begin to pop. Stir the spices into the collard greens, taste for salt and serve warm or at room temperature.
For left overs, eat them cold or reheat them gently. The yogurt will curdle if you re-cook it.
Fresh Bengali Cabbage
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp panch phoran
mustard oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt
Fry the garlic, ginger in mustard oil till they start to brown. Then add the mustard seeds and panch phoran. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the cabbage. When the cabbage has started to soften, add the turmuric and stir well. Cover the dish for about 5 minutes and add salt to taste. Continue cooking, covered, till the cabbage is very soft. If there is lots of liquid in the bottom of the pan, cook uncovered for the last few minutes to dry it out a bit.
Labels: Food, healthy, organic
