Monthly Archives: August 2010

Cold Spiced Buttermilk Drink with Cucumber

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Spiced, salted buttermilk drink, also called mor, sambaram, majjige or chaas, is a popular thirst quencher in India. At its humblest form, this drink can simply be buttermilk served with a pinch of salt. I’ve added a little twist by using some refreshing, crunchy bits of cucumber in this recipe. With all the ginger, cumin and asafoetida in this drink, its also a great digestive.

If you dont have buttermilk, you could use 1 part yogurt and 1 part water. Or just thin out yogurt to your liking.

Similar spiced buttermilk recipes:

Sambharam, majjige or mor recipe on Edible Garden
Spiced buttermilk recipe on Vegetable Platter
Majjiga or salted yogurt drink recipe on Sailu’s Kitchen
Spicy buttermilk on Aayis Recipes

Spiced Buttermilk Drink with Cucumber (chaas, mor, moru, majjige, sambaram) Recipe

serves about 2

2 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup yogurt diluted with 1 cup water)
1/8th teaspoon cumin  seeds
4-6 curry leaves
1 teaspoon sized knob of ginger, peeled
1 small green chilli or according to taste, optional
2 sprigs of cilantro
a pinch of asafoetida
salt

2 tablespoons finely chopped cucumber

Pour the buttermilk into a bowl and set aside. In a mortar and pestle, roughly pound the cumin seeds, curry leaf, ginger, chilli, cilantro and asafoetida. Add the pounded spices to the buttermilk and add salt. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors marry. Strain before serving and garnish with chopped cucumbers.

Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper and Olive Gazpacho with Creme Fraiche

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This has to be one of those recipes where I say “If I give you the recipe I have to shoot you”. Because its that good. But because I love you all, I will share this recipe with you, without any shooting involved.

Summer may be winding down, but its still super hot. This easy to make, raw, cold, refreshing gazpacho is just what you need to beat the heat. If you like this tomato and roasted red pepper gazpacho recipe, be sure to check out my other no-cook recipes.

If you are entertaining, serve the gazpacho in mini martini glasses or shooter glasses. For a more casual meal, simple bowls or mugs will be perfect.

A dollop of creme fraiche adds richness to this gazpacho. Creme fraiche is a thick soured cream from France. It tastes a little like sour cream, but thicker and richer. Substitute creme fraiche with sour cream or thick yogurt. Vegans can use coconut cream to top their Gazpacho..remember Aarti made gazpacho with coconut milk on the next food network star?! 

For some variations, check out Matt Bite’s two Gazpacho recipes. There is a gorgeous gazpacho recipe on Simple Recipes. This almond gazpacho recipe in La Tartine Gourmande looks unique. However you make it, Gazpacho is a quick, easy, no-cook summer soup that you will love. Make a meal out of it or take it along on a picnic!

Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper and Black Olive Gazpacho with Creme Fraiche

inspired by Ina Garten’s gazpacho recipe
serves about 6

2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small cucumber peeled, seeded, roughly chopped
1 red pepper or store bought roasted red pepper, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons pitted black olives (or green olives)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
6 basil leaves

one 11oz can tomato juice (I used Campbells)
a few drops Tabasco sauce, or to taste, optional
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or any other type of vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

for topping

6 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
a few basil leaves cut into strips

Place tomato, cucumber, red pepper, olives, garlic in a blender or food processor. Pulse to a coarse puree. Add basil, tomato juice, tabasco, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pulse once or twice till everything is well combine. Cover and refrigerate the gazpacho. Serve chilled, topped with basil and creme fraiche. Gazpacho tastes better the next day!

Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Mango and Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

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Another no-cook recipe – these Vietnamese summer rolls or Goi Cuan are bursting with fresh herbs and vegetables. And they will be perfect to take along for a vegetarian picnic.

I used mangoes here for some summery, fruity, sweetness. But you can use pretty much any combination of vegetables in this summer roll. I’m not a fan of mangoes, so I made this recipe for our guests (they loved it) and I made myself a roll with carrots and purple cabbage.

Set up all the ingredients on a clean surface. Dip a rice paper wrapper into a large bowl of water. Make sure all sides get wet. Then remove the rice paper and gently shake it dry. The rice paper will now be pliable. If it isnt, let it stil on the table (not in the water) for a few more seconds.

Place the softened rice paper wrapper on a clean surface. Place filling ingredients on the front (closest to you) 1/3rd of the rice paper wrapper in this order – cilantro, mint, lettuce, noodles, carrot, mango.

Now fold the front part over the filling and roll. Then fold both the sides in. Roll gently but firmly.

Its that simple! With practice, you will get better and better at rolling. Serve these Vietnamese summer rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce. Regular Vietnamese dipping sauce or Nuoc Cham has fish sauce. See below for my vegetarian Nuoc Cham recipe.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls or Goi Cuan with Mango Recipe

makes 6 rolls

2 oz dried rice sticks or rice vermicelli (available in Asian section of most grocery stores)
6 rice paper wrapper sheets (called ‘bahn trang’ - available in Asian section of grocery store)
a large bowl of water to dip rice paper sheets
6 sprigs cilantro
6 sprigs mint
6 leaves lettuce, rib/stem removed (I like boston lettuce)
1 small ripe mango, peeled and cut into strips (substitute with shredded purple cabbage, cucumbers, savoy cabbage, bean sprouts)
1 carrot, peeled and cut into match sticks

Soak rice sticks in boiling water for about 3 minutes or till soft. Drain well.

Dip the rice paper sheets in water, making sure all sides are wet. Shake off excess water. Place on a clean work surface. Place a sprig each of cilantro and mint in the front 1/3rds of the rice paper sheet. Then place lettuce leaf, a little rice noodles, carrot, and mango slices. Fold and roll the summer roll – see photos above for details on how to roll vietnamese summer roll.

Serve immediately with vegetarian vietnamese dipping sauce (recipe below). To store, put rolls on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel. Then cover plate completely with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce or Vegetarian Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce) Recipe 

makes little less than 1 cup

4 tablespoons light soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
Red pepper flakes or chopped fresh chili to taste

Whisk everything together till the sugar dissolves.

Ethiopian Mushroom Sauté or Ingudai Tibs

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Ingudai tibs or Inguday tibs is an Ethiopian mushroom sauté that is simple to make but tastes wonderfully complex. Ingudai means mushroom and tibs means to saute.

 

Traditional tibs recipes use an Ethiopian spice blend called berbere. My berbere recipe is here.

 

If you can’t find Ethiopian berbere spice for this recipe you can make your own berbere. Or you could get away with substituting Berbere with Indian garam Masala and a little cayenne or paprika. Take a look at the spices in Ethiopian berbere powder and Indian garam Masala powder.

Ethiopian Berbere    Indian Garam Masala
Coriander                           Coriander
Cumin                                  Cumin
Cinnamon                          Cinnamon
Cloves                                 Cloves
Cardamom                        Cardamom
Pepper                                Peppercorns
Nutmeg                              Nutmeg
Fenugreek
Cayenne pepper or paprika
Ginger
Garlic

The spices are almost the same, expect for the added fenugreek, cayenne or paprika, ginger and garlic in berbere. If you used equal amounts of garam masala and cayenne or paprika, you will get pretty close to Berbere flavor ( not traditional, but still tasty).

This mushroom ingudai tibs recipe on mushroom info by Ethiopian restaurant chefs uses portobello mushrooms and sounds delicious.

 

Ethiopian Sautéed Mushrooms with Onions and Peppers or Ingudai Tibs Recipe

serves about 6 as a side dish

2 tablespoons clarified butter or olive oil
1 large green pepper, cut into strips
1 large red onion, cut into strips
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 lb button mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

for the spice mix  (Awaze sauce)
2 teaspoons Ethiopian berbere (substitute with 1 teaspoon garam masala + 1 teaspoon paprika)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon white wine (substitute with lemon juice)

Heat butter or oil in your largest skillet. Add onions, peppers and tomato. Cook on medium high heat till the vegetables have softened a little, about 4 minutes. Then add mushrooms. Crank up heat to high. Mix all ingredients for spice mix and add to the mushrooms.  Sauté on high for about 3 minutes or till mushrooms are done. Add salt at the end. Garnish with cilantro or parsley. Serve with rice, bread or Ethiopian Injera.

How to take food photos with a bright, white, seamless background

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I like taking food pictures on a seamless, bright, pure white background so that they look sunny and clean. “How to take food photos on a white background?” is the one question I get asked the most, so here is my set up and how I do it..

 What you’ll need

-         The food you are going to photograph
-         Background - large white foam board, white bed sheet or table cloth or white card board
-         Bounce or reflector – another piece of white foam board, or card board wrapped in aluminum foil
-         A camera with manual mode on a tripod. If you dont have a tripod, try using a higher ISO setting.

 

Choose a window with good sun light. This window is in my living room where I get plenty of sun light. I left the blinds closed, because the sun was very sharp, and I got plenty of light for this shot even with the blinds down. Remember, you don’t want direct sunlight falling on your subject.

If you feel the window light is too harsh, drape a white bed sheet over the window to mellow and diffuse the light.

Place a table close to your window. Place a white foam core, white card board or white bed sheet on the table.

My basic food photography set up with natural light

For a seamless white background for you pictures, I use a large white surface. Anything will do – white foam board, or cloth.

A bounce or reflector is just a piece of white material that is used to reflect light back on to the subject. A bounce or reflector will fill any shadows and lighten dark areas on your shot. Use a piece of white foam core or white card board. For a stronger bounce, you could also use a piece of card board that has been wrapped with aluminum foil.

Natural lighting for food photography and light placement

Think of your whole set up as a clock. You are standing with your camera at around 6 o’clock. You want the light coming any where from 9 o ‘clock or 3 o’clock. And the bounce should be on the opposite side of the light. Here, the light source (window) is around 1 o’clock and the bounce is placed at around 8 o’clock.

Now, put your camera in manual mode. Read your camera’s instruction book to learn how to use manual mode; its easier than you think!

For the cherry shots, I picked an aperture setting of f/4 on my canon 50mm 1.8 lens. An aperture setting of f/4 lets me keep the front two cherries sharp and clear while throwing the cherry in the back out of focus.

Keeping the aperture setting constant at f/4, lets try shooting with different shutter speeds. Read your camera manual to see how you can change aperture and shutter speeds.

Exif info for photos below:
lens: Canon 50mm 1.8
aperture: f/4 for all photos
shutter speed: varying; look at pictures below
ISO: 200 for all photos

Keeping aperture value at f/4, lets start experimenting with shutter speed. At a shutter speed of 1/125 seconds, there isnt enough light. The picture is dark. Lets reduce shutter speed to 1/100 seconds. A little better, but still dark.

Lets try reducing the shutter speed even more, so that the camera lets more light in. Look at the picture with 1/60 seconds shutter speed. The white background is starting to look nice and bright. But the cherries are still a bit dark.

Notice how things are starting to look crisp and bright at 1/50 or 1/40 seconds shutter speed? This is what you want.

But at sutter speed 1/40 seconds, we are entering camera shake territory. Any lower, and my pictures will be shaky. This is where a tripod is useful, to stabilize the shot.

Now you make a creative decision. We have achieved a white enough background. Do you want it even brighter? I did. So I lowered the shutter speed one more increment, to let more light in.

At aperture value f/4 and shutter speed 1/30s I am satisfied with the brightness of the image. How bright or dark you want it is your own creative decision.

More..

- Tips on food photography by Helen of Tartelette
- Learn food photography blog by Neel
- Food photography tutorial series by White on Rice Couple
- Food photography setup on Steamy Kitchen
- Food photography setup series by Wrightfood
- Lara Ferronis ‘still life with’ food photography

Have you tried replicating this shot? If so, share a link to your pictures in the comments section below!

Fresh Cherry Cardamom Pie

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Take the everyday, all-American cherry pie, add some cardamom to it, and turn it into an exotic flavored pie. The cardamom scented filling is easy to make – just mix cherries, lemon juice, suagr, corn starch, and cardamom. 

I dont have a cherry pitter, so I just cut around the pit with a knife.

I made Ina Garten’s pie crust recipe which is buttery, flaky and delicious. You can keep things simple and use a store bought pie crust. However, keep in mind that most store bought pie crusts, pie shells, and pie dough are not vegetarian, they may contain lard. The only vegetarian pie crust I’ve seen is Mrs.Smith’s pie shells.

Here is a cherry pie recipe on joy of baking using some kirsch (a type of cherry liquor) on the filling – a great idea! This baked fresh cherry pie recipe on all recipes  also sounds delicious. If cherries arent in season and if you want a more fall time recipe, 6 bitter sweets blog has a lovely apple cherry pie recipe

Notes

- make sure the butter, shortening and water for the pie crust are very cold, this is what makes a flaky crust

- if you are not crazy about cardamom in the pie filling, use almond extract instead

- you can make the same recipe with apples instead of cherries

- if you dont want to use shortening, try this all butter pie crust recipe from simply recipes 

- Vegan yum yum has a vegan pie crust recipe using Earth Balance

Fresh Cherry Cardamom Pie Recipe

serves about 8

for cherry pie filling
4 cups pitted sweet cherries
6 cardamom pods
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or a few drops of rose essence

other
1 recipe (two 10 inch crusts) home made pie crust (see recipe below) or store bought pie crust
1 egg, beaten with a teaspoon of water
1 tablespoon sugar to sprinkle on top

Pre-heat oven to 400f.

Place pitted cherries in a large bowl. Smash the cardamom pods using the back of a wooden spoon. Remove the little seeds from inside the cardamom pods. Place these seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a powder. Add cardamom powder and all other ingredients for filling to the bowl, mix well. Refrigerate while you work on the pie crust. See pie crust recipe below.

Place one pie crust on a 10 inch pie dish. Pour the cherry filling into the dish. Place second pie crust on top. Cut away over hanging bits. Tuck edges in. Crimp the edges to seal.  Make a few slits on top to vent steam. Brush the top with the beaten egg wash. Sprinkle sugar all over. Cover the crimped edges with a strip of foil to prevent from burning. Place on a baking sheet and bake till the crust is golden, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove foil half way through baking.

Ina Garten’s Pie Crust recipe

makes two 10 inch crusts

12 tablespoons ( 1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
1/2 cup ice cold water
Ina uses a food processor. I used a pastry cutter and my hands.

Place a large bowl in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Cut butter into small cubes. Add all ingredients except water to the cold bowl. Using a pastry blender, mash the butter and shortening. Dont over do this, stop when the butter is pea-sized. You could also take hand fulls of the flour mixture and rub it in both your hands to form a coarse dough.

Add cold water to dough and gently mix just until it forms a crumbly ball. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take out the dough and divide into 2 portions. Roll out each portion on a well floured surface. Proceed with cherry pie recipe above.

Pineapple Rasam and Tender Coconut Rasam (South Indian Soup)

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When I called my grandmother to get a pineapple rasam recipe, the culinary genius she is, suggested that the same recipe will also work with tender coconut. So here you have it – a pineapple rasam recipe and a tender coconut rasam recipe.

Roast and grind these ingredients for rasam spice powder & cook with sweet juicy pineapple

Rasam, also called charu or saaru, is a spiced, thin soup from South India. You can buy rasam powder at any Indian store; but I like home made rasam podi or powder better. Once you’ve made it, it will keep for months in an airtight container.

Serve rasam with rice or in cups like soup. There are several rasam recipes on the internet, the basic spices are the same, proportions and other additions vary according to family and region. This pineapple rasam recipe on Jugalbandi looks great, as does this pineapple rasam recipe on Veg Inspirations, Samayal Arai blog also has a pineapple rasam recipe.

  

If I want a sweet and savory rasam, I always turn to pineapple. I havent tried my grandmother’s idea of adding tender coconut pulp and coconut water to rasam; but I love the idea and if any of you try the tender coconut variation (see below) I’d love to hear how it turned out.

 

Pineapple Rasam Recipe

Serves about 4

for tempering
½ teaspoon ghee or clarified butter or oil
¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 dried red chili
A pinch of asafoetida
A few curry leaves

for rasam
a small lime sized ball of tamarind pulp (about a tablespoon)
5 cups water
1 ½ tablespoons rasam powder (recipe below)
1 cup pineapple chunks (I used canned; make sure you buy pineapple chunks in 100% pineapple juice)
½ cup pineapple juice (from pineapple chunks can)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Salt

Heat ghee or oil in a deep pot. Add mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add all other tempering ingredients. Cook for about 30 seconds.

Soak tamarind in 1 cup hot water for 5 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind with your hands, extracting the juices.

Add tamarind juice, 5 cups water and rasam powder to the pot. Boil for about 7 minutes. Add pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, cilantro and salt and boil another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with rice or drink like soup.

Rasam Powder or Rasam Podi Recipe

makes about ¼ cup

for dry roasting
2 tablespoons whole coriander
½ tablespoon cumin seeds
½ tablespoon peppercorns
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 tablespoon toor dal or yellow lentils

for oil roasting
Few drops of oil
1 dried red chili, torn into small pieces (this will yield a mild rasam powder, use more chillies if you want it hot)

other ingredients
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

In a small skillet on low heat, roast all the dry roasting ingredients one by one for about 1 minute each or till the spices are fragrant and turned color slightly. Place each ingredient in a coffee grinder as you finish roasting.

In the same pan, heat a few drops of oil, and roast the red chili for about 30 seconds. Add to the coffee grinder.

Add asafoetida and turmeric to the coffee grinder. Grind everything to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container. Rasam powder will keep for several months.

Tender Coconut Rasam Recipe

Use the pineapple rasam recipe above. But instead of pineapple chunks, use tender coconut pulp. Instead of pineapple juice, use tender coconut water. Add these right at the end of cooking.

A Different Way to Serve Fresh Watermelon. Watermelon ‘Cake’

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I saw this watermelon cake idea in the August issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. This is a cute, fun, unique way to serve fresh watermelon. And I’m not the only one who excitedly tried this; checkout ‘messy thrilling life’ blog who also tried Martha Stewart Living Magazine watermelon cake. Thankyou Martha!

Martha Stewart Living Magazine serves the watermelon cake plain, thats what I’ve done too. But if you want to jazz it up, here are some suggestions:

- sprinkle a little lime juice or lime zest on top

- top with chopped basil or mint

- sprinkle some feta cheeseand balsamic vinegar over the watermelon “cake”

- drizzle a little tequila or rum or cachaca

 Wash and wipe a seedless watermelon.  

Lay it down horizontally. You need to cut about 2 inches from the center of the watermelon (the middle third of the fruit). Using your largest knife, cut away one thirds from the end.

Cut about one thirds from the other end. Level off the middle third if needed.

Lay the middle third (the watermelon ”cake”) on a serving platter. Cut it into 8 wedges.

Now take the two ends of the water melon. Using a melon baller or any rounded spoon (I used a measuring teaspoon) scoop out balls of watermelon.

Now arrange these balls on top of the water melon ‘”cake”. Garnish with mint. Cover and refrigerate till ready to serve. Use any leftover watermelon and scraps for juice.

This will serve about 8, with left over bits of watermelon from the cut ends.

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