Come into my red kitchen

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

I have a red kitchen. I love warm colors, I just cant help it. Reds and oranges are my the favorite section of any paint shop color deck. After much vacillation last year, we decided to go with a brickish red paint for the kitchen walls. Its not a crazy, danger sign kind of red. But a rich, warm red. I dont actually have a lot of wall space in the kitchen, so there isnt a lot of red either. The color red increases metabolism, so I think its very apt for the kitchen! Also, the kitchen is my favorite part of the house. Visitors seem to be gravitated to my red kitchen. No matter how many people we have over, everyone seems to congregate in the kitchen.

I took these pictures over the weekend to show you where all the cooking, eating, entertaining and so much more happen..

I would have liked darker cabinets and floors, but I’m not complaining as long as the walls are red.

We have some what of an open plan. This is the view of the living room from the kitchen. I love that we have gas burners, they heat up so much quicker and more evenly than electric.

We eat on the island. The swivelling bar stool type chairs are S’s favorite. I love that the stove is on the island; that frees up a lot of counter space. But see how the microwave is sitting on the counter? And the space meant for the microwave under the cabinets has spices in it? We bought the wrong size microwave, it doesn’t fit in the space meant for it.

See the square green scotch brite sponge cloth by the left side of the sink? My grandmother introduced me to those; they are super absorbant and great for cleaning surfaces. To disinfect them (or any non-metallic sponge), just pop the sponge in the microwave for 1 minute.

The pantry. My friend’s 3 year old walked into this pantry and said “you have a pretty interesting fridge”.

That dent on the wall near the pantry is a long story. Its too embarrassing to explain. But let me just say that it was caused by an air borne sauce pan You are free to guess the rest.
Incase you are wondering why we havent fixed it: a)we arent handy like that. b)we can live with a little dent in the wall. c)we are waiting for some good soul (aka, my father in law) to offer to fix it.

See the trash can on the floor at the end of the counter? Even though I keep a trash can in the kitchen, I prefer to hang a plastic bag near the counter. As I’m prepping and cooking, the trash goes in the plastic bag. When I’m done, I tied up the plastic bag and put it in the kitchen trash can.

A bottle of room freshener is permanently stationed near the trash can. We spray the kitchen trash can. So in my house, vegetable peel smells like apple cinnamon febreze.

Dining area of the kitchen. We are still using folding chairs because I hate shopping and I’m putting off buying dining chairs for as long as I can.

This is the ‘transaction’ area of the dining table. This is the spot where we leave each other money, notes, lists etc. There is a designated area in the house for this stuff, but somehow it lands up on the dining table.

View from the kitchen window.

Carla’s Pecan and Oat Crusted Tofu from Top Chef

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

carlas pecan crusted tofu

Did you watch Top Chef this week? Are you as excited as I am about Carla’s tofu dish?!

I didn’t quite expect her to make a vegetarian, tofu dish and win her round! I have to say, I wasn’t a big fan of Carla…till I made her tofu, that is! It’s not that I don’t like Carla, but my focus was on other contestants. Like Jamie, who consistently makes good dishes and is a no-drama kind of girl. Or Fabio. Oh, Fabio! I think he’s pretty cute in all his Italianness. And who else can say things like “give me a monkey’s a*s to stuff with fried banana and I’ll make it taste good” or “I’m 30 years old and sleeping on this bunky bed”.

So with cool Jamie and quirky Fabio around, I kind of didn’t notice Carla. Then Carla made this wonderful vegetarian dish that put her in my radar. I couldnt wait for the week to end so I could try this recipe for friday night dinner. The pecan and oat crust is simply brilliant. I can think of a lot of uses for it. So thank you, Carla! I did make some changes to this recipe, see the notes at the end of this post.

Carla’s Pecan and Oat Crusted Tofu
Makes about 9 pieces
Adapted from Carla’s recipe on Top Chef, season 5, episode 10

For Tofu and Marinade
1 block (18oz package) of Tofu, firm or extra firm
3 tbsp soy sauce
¼ cup water
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp chili paste (I used sriracha)
1 Orange, zest and juice. Reserve ½ tsp zest for the crust
1 lime or lemon, zest and juice

For the crust
¼ cup Oats (the quick cooking kind)
¼ cup vegetable stock
1/4th of a bay leaf
¼ cup chopped pecans
½ tsp orange zest
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp Olive oil

Drain the tofu block and wrap it tightly in 4 layers of paper towels. Place a plate over the wrapped tofu and let it sit for about an hour. This will help remove some of the moisture from the tofu. You could skip this step if you wish; Carla didnt do this.

Cut the tofu into equal sized squares. For an 18 oz pack of tofu you should get about 9 squarish pieces. Place the tofu pieces in a zip lock bag or shallow dish. Pour in the soy sauce, water, garlic, chili paste, orange juice and zest, lime juice and zest. (At this point you can taste the marinade and add more lime juice or soy sauce if needed). Make sure all the tofu is coated in the marinade. Place the tofu with marinade in the fridge for atleast 30 minutes. I marinated the tofu for 1 hour.
Pre heat oven to 375F

Heat a large non stick pan. Spray some olive oil or non stick spray on the pan. When the pan is hot, remove the tofu cubes from the marinade and place in the pan. On high heat, sear the tofu on all sides. The tofu must be browned on all sides.

Transfer the tofu to a non stick baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the tofu for 25-30 minutes. Turn the tofu pieces over half way through.

To make the crust
Bring the vegetable stock and bay leaf to a rolling boil. Turn off heat and immediately add the quick cooking oats to the stock and stir.

(If you are not using quick cooking oats or instant oats, you will have to cook the oats in the stock for a few minutes).

Mix in all other ingredients for the crust. Mix well using your fingers. Then crumble the oat mixture onto a baking sheet. Spread it evenly. Bake in a 375F oven for about 10 minutes or till the mixture is slightly brown and dry.

To assemble the dish, place tofu cubes on a plate and top with the oat pecan crust.

This photo goes to Jugalbandi’s Click event, this month’s theme is Tofu/Cheese.

Notes
This recipe is slightly different from Carla’s original recipe that appeared on the Top Chef show, season 5, episode 10.

I baked the oat pecan crust separately in the oven. Carla’s recipe calls for the seared tofu and crust to bake together.

I also increased the baking time of the tofu to 25-30 minutes because I wanted a crispy exterior. Carla’s recipe only bakes the tofu for 10 minutes.

I thought the original recipe might be a bit too salty and citrusy. So I cut down on the soy sauce and citrus juice. Taste the marinade and adjust the soy sauce and citrus according to taste.

Don’t let the marinade go to waste. Place the marinade, along with one tablespoon of brown sugar in a pan and bring to a boil. Boil for about 1 minute or till the sauce thickens a little. Use this sauce on vegetables, rice or tofu.

Ethiopian Berbere Spice

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

berbere
(This photo is my entry to Jugalbandi’s Click event; this month’s theme is ‘red’)

When it comes to complex, spicy flavors, there is nothing to beat Ethiopian food. The heady aromas of fenugreek, cardamom, cloves and cumin constitute some of my favorite flavor combinations. And I love their communal eating concept – everyone sits around and eats from the same plate. (For my Ethiopian fix, I go to Meskerem Restaurant in Washington DC and highly recommend it).

I had always assumed that the Berbere spice mixture used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisines was difficult to make. But then I saw an easy, almost authentic version of Berbere in the ‘Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant’ cook book. (I say ‘almost’ authentic because traditional Berbere has ajwain and rue berries, this recipe does not.) I tried the recipe and it was really good. And my kitchen even smelled a little like Meskerem Restaurant!

I made a few changes to the recipe – I call for less cardamom than the original recipe. I felt the cardamom was a little too dominant in Moosewood’s recipe. I also used less dried chiles.

Ethiopian Berbere Spice
about 3 tablespoons
Adapted from the cook book, Sundays At Moosewood Restaurant

Cumin Seeds – 2 tsp
Whole Cloves – 4
Cardamom Seeds – 1/2 tsp (crush cardamom pods with a wooden spoon to remove the seeds)
Whole Black Peppercorns – 1/2 tsp
Whole Allspice – 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp
Coriander Seeds – 1/2 tsp

Dried Red Chiles – 5
Fresh Ginger, minced – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Sweet Hungarian Paprika – 2 1/2 tbsp
Ground Cinnamon – 1/8 tsp
Ground cloves – 1/8 tsp

Heat a skillet on medium-low. Add the first 7 ingredients (cumin seeds through coriander seeds) to the skillet. Toast the spices, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes.

Cool the toasted spices and add them to a spice grinder. Add all the other remaining ingredients to the spice grinder as well. Grind to a fine powder.

Store Berbere in an air tight container in the fridge.

A slightly different version of Berbere is on the Congo cook book site.

How to use Berbere

The classic use for Berbere is in Wats (stews). Make Yemeser Wat by cooking lentils with some Berbere
Try sprinkling Berbere on french fries
Or make spicy ketchup using Berbere, recipe here
Do a Berbere stir fry using assorted vegetables or tofu
Berbere will also work well in any recipe that calls for Garam masala because Berbere and Garam masala have several ingredients in common.

Exotic Eats Giveaway, We have TWO Winners!!

Posted on January 25, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

Thankyou all for entering the random drawing for the Exotic Eats Giveaway! Before I reveal the lucky winner, let me tell you how I picked the winner… I counted everyone that commented in the Exotic Eats Giveaway post. In addition, everyone that blogged about the giveaway and linked to my post were counted twice. I also decided to pick not one, but two winners!

I was initially going to be very scientific and use Random.org to pick a random winner. But then S convinced me that the old fashioned pick-a-name-from-a-hat method was more fun. We didnt use a hat, but we put everyone’s names in a very pretty draw string bag my mother sent from India. We decided S should pick the lucky winner. .

Now, when it comes to stuff like this, S brings a lot of good luck. He has a Forrest Gump like ability to attract all things positive. Seriously. He picked 90% of this year’s Golden Globe winners correctly. And he hadn’t seen even a single one of the movies!

Still not convinced about S’s magical powers? How about this…

When S was 8 years old, he used to pretend to read people’s palms for fun. He read the palm of Mr.M, a family friend. S predicted that Mr.M will own a ship one day. Sure enough, a few years later Mr.M bought a ship (I think he started a shipping company)!

Here are the two winners S picked.

The lucky winner is….

Heather won Malbec Jam!

The bonus winner is….

Hondaray6 won Dulce de Leche with Hazelnuts!

Congratulations to both winners!! Please email me your addresses!

Thai Tapioca Pearl Dumplings (Saku Sai)

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

saku sai

For a long time now I’ve been wanting to try out a savory tapioca pearl recipe. Until I made this dish, Ive only had tapioca pearls in puddings or in bubble tea. But Saku Sai (or sakoo sai) is a great way to enjoy the chewy texture of tapioca pearls in a savory dish. ‘Saku’ means tapioca and ‘sai’ means stuffed. Traditional Thai saku sai is filled with pork (saku sai mu) and the filling is slightly sweet. I made a savory filling with peanuts and morningstar crumbles and served the dumplings with a dipping sauce. This makes a great appetizer. I served the dumplings on a platter lined with a banana leaf. They were all gone in 5 minutes!

This is is my entry for the AWED Thailand event.

Thai Tapioca Pearl Dumplings (Saku Sai)
about 20 dumplings

Tapioca pearls – 1 cup
Boiling water – 1 1/4 cups
Morningstar Crumbles (frozen) - 1 cup (or crumbled tofu or your choice of minced mixed vegetables)
Peanuts – 1/4 cups
Onion – 1 very small
Ginger, minced – 1 tbsp
Garlic – 2 cloves
Soy sauce – 1 tbsp
Cilantro – 2 tbsp chopped
Vegetable Oil – 1 tbsp
Sesame oil – 1 tsp to coat dumplings

Finely chop the onion. Mince the ginger and garlic. Chop the cilantro. Coarsely chop the peanuts in a food processor.

Heat a skillet with oil. Add the onion and saute till brown. Then add the ginger and garlic and cook till fragrant, about 45 seconds. Stir in the morningstar crumbles, peanuts and soy sauce. Cook till the crumbles have thawed and become soft. Mix in cilantro and turn off heat.

Place the tapioca pearls in a bowl. Add the boiling water a little at a time. Knead the pearls to form a mass. They should not be dry but must resemble tight dough.

UPDATE: some readers have had trouble forming the tapioca ‘dough’. You may need more or less water depending on the brand and size of tapioca pearls you are using. Its important to add the boiling water a little at a time, untill you get a dough like consistency that you can stuff and form into balls easily.

Keep a bowl of water near you. Dip your fingers into the water. Then take about a tablespoon of the tapioca pearls mixture and form a disc. Place a small amount of morningstar crumble mixture on the center of the disc. Bring the sides up and form into a ball. Dip your fingers in water as you go to prevent sticking.

Place the balls in a steamer, make sure they don’t touch each other. Steam for about 30 minutes or till the tapioca pearls are completely transparent.

Don’t go by the pictures in the post, where you can still see some white tapioca pearls. I realized they were under done after taking the photos. So I put them back in the steamer till they were completely transparent.

When you remove the dumplings from the steamer, spray or coat them with a little sesame oil so they don’t stick to each other.

Serve dumplings with cilantro, Thai chillies, crushed peanuts and soy-sesame dipping sauce.Soy-Sesame Dipping Sauce

Soy sauce – 1/4 cup
Sesame oil – 1/4 cup
Water – 1/4 cup
Peanuts – 2 tbsp
Rice wine vinegar – 1 tbsp
Honey – 2-3 tbsp
Ginger, minced – 1 tsp, optional

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till well combined.

Note: You can find tapioca pearls in any Asian store. Buy the white, small sized pearls.

Baked Pear Parcels with Lemon Chamomile Sauce

Posted on January 19, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

baked pear

The MLK weekend and the Presidential Inauguration tomorrow have put me in a festive mood. Despite the freezing temperatures, I’m feeling celebratory. So much so that I took the trouble to make the crust from scratch for this dish. The crust is actually easy to make, it just takes time. Its worth the effort though. The pears wrapped and baked in the dough look gorgeous. I got the idea from this recipe on the BBC Good Food website. This tastes like a pear pie but looks infinitely better!

Baked Pear Parcels
makes 2 generous servings

Bosch Pears -2 (ripe but firm)
Walnuts – 3 tbsp
Brown sugar – 2 tbsp
Flour – 1 tbsp

For the crust
All purpose flour – 4 oz
Butter – 4 oz (I used Land O’ Lakes light butter)
Sugar – 1/4 cup
Salt – a pinch
Vanilla extract – 1/8 tsp

Preheat oven to 375F.

To make the crust, combine all ingredients (flour through vanilla) in a bowl. Using your finger tips, rub the butter into the flour. Do not knead. Rub the flour and butter till it forms a crumbly mixture. Press the crumbs into a ball. Cover the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the dough is in the fridge, work on the pears. Peel the pears. Make a thin slice on the bottom of the pears so that they can sit stably. Core the pears and remove the seeds. I used the tip of a potato peeler to do this.

Crush the walnuts lightly. Combine them with the brown sugar and flour. Fill the cored inside of the pear with the walnut-sugar mixture. Pack the mixture into the pear cavity.

When the dough is chilled, take it out of the fridge and divide it into two. Roll out each portion into a rough round. Place a pear in the middle of one dough round. Lift the sides of the dough up and press together over the pear to form a parcel. This doesn’t have to be perfect. Pinch off any excess dough. Patch up any empty spots (dip you finger tips in water to seal edges).

Brush the pear parcels with milk or egg wash. Bake in the over for 50-60 minutes or until the pear parcels are golden. Cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Serve with lemon chamomile sauce (recipe below), ice cream or whipped cream.

Lemon Chamomile Sauce

Water – 1 1/2 cups
Chamomile tea bags – 2
Lemon juice – 1 1/2 tbsp
Malbec Jam - 3 tbsp (click here to win a bottle of Malbec Jam!). Alternatively, use 3 tbsp of honey and 1 tbsp of red wine.
Brown sugar – 1 tbsp, you can use regular sugar instead. Use more sugar for a sweeter sauce.
Lemon zest – 1/8 tsp

Boil the water in a sauce pan. When the water comes to a boil, add the chamomile tea bags. Boil for 30 seconds. Turn off heat and let the tea steep for about 7 minutes. Remove tea bags.

Turn the heat back on and add all the remaining ingredients to the tea. Simmer till the sauce has reduced to about 60% of its original volume.

Serve with baked pear parcels.

Malaysian Roti Jala (Net Bread)

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

tofu curry

One of the benefits of being Tamil is a strong connection with Malaysia. For about thousand years, Tamils have traded with Malaysia. And for over 200 years Tamils have lived in Malaysia and made the country their home. So many of my friends and relatives live in Malaysia or have connections with the country. To me, that means easy access to Malaysian cooking ingredients and equipment! Just last week I had a roti jala (net bread) mould sent to me. Ive been experimenting with making roti jala and it turned out great – like a lacy, coconut flavored crepe. (You don’t really need the mould to make roti jala, you could just as well use a squeeze bottle.) I made a tofu curry to accompany the roti jala. The curry had enough Indian elements that it tasted familiar to me. At the same time, the soy sauce and lemon grass give it an exotic feel.

Roti Jala, Malaysian Net Bread. (Serve with Tofu and Broccoli Curry)
about 4-6 servings

All purpose flour – 2 cups
Egg – 1
Coconut milk – 1 1/4 cup
Water – 1 cup
Turmeric – 3/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Vegetable Oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pass the batter through a strainer to remove any lumps.

Heat a non stick skillet and spray some oil or non stick spray. Use a roti jala mould or squeeze bottle and pour the batter onto the skillet making a lacy pattern (see video below by youtube user zuppe1e).

Cook till the bottom side is slightly brown. Fold the roti jala into four and remove from skillet.

Serve hot with Malaysian Tofu and Broccoli Curry

Dont have a Roti Jala mould?

You can buy a mould online through the Rasa Malaysia blog. Here is the link to Rasa Malaysia’s product page.

You can also easily make roti jalas with a squeeze bottle like this one:

__________________

Exotic Eats Giveaway!

Have you entered yet?

You can enter the random drawing to win one of these Exotic Eats from Argentina

Malbec Jam

Dulce de Leche with Hazelnuts

Go to this post to enter!
____________________________

Malaysian Tofu and Broccoli Curry

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

Malaysian Tofu and Broccoli Curry. (Serve with Roti Jala)
about 4-6 servings

Star Anise – 2 pieces
Cinnamon – 1/2 stick
Cloves – 4
Tomato – 1
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Water – 1 cup
Coconut milk – 1 can
Tofu – 1 block
Broccoli cut into small florets – 2 cups
Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Oil – tbsp

Grind to a paste
Onion – 1/2 a medium onion
Garlic – 6 pods
Ginger, finely chopped – 2 tbsp
Lemon grass – 4 stalks
Cashew nuts – 6 pieces
Chili – 2 (I used thai green chilies. Use less for a less spicy dish)
Oil – 1 tbsp

Prepare the tofu
First drain and squeeze out excess water. Wrap the tofu in several layers of paper towel. Then wrap the tofu parcel tightly in an absorbent cloth. Place the tofu in the cloth on a flat surface, put a plate on top of it and put 3 cans (canned tomatoes, beans etc) on top of the plate. Let the tofu weigh down and compress for atleast 2 hours (I left it overnight).

Remove the cloth and paper towels and slice the tofu into flat squares. Heat a large, flat nonstick pan. Spray non stick spray. Place the tofu in a single layer on the pan and cook on medium-high heat. Don’t move the tofu around. When the tofu is golden, turn the pieces over and cook the other side till golden. While cooking, press the tops of the tofu slices to squeeze out any remaining water.

Grind the paste
Remove the outer layer of the lemon grass stalks and discard. Use only the tender white parts in the paste.

If any part of the lemon grass is tough to cut, don’t use it in the paste, but reserve it and add it whole to the curry. You can fish out the lemon grass pieces before serving.

Chop the tender, white parts of the lemon grass. Chop the ginger and onion. Place all the ingredients for the paste (onion through oil) in a blender and blend to a smooth paste.

For the curry
Heat a deep pan with oil. When the oil is hot, add the star anise, cinnamon and cloves. Fry for about 30 seconds. Then carefully add the ground paste to the oil. Fry the paste on medium heat, stirring often, till the paste is fragrant and light brown – about 15 minutes.

Add the chopped tomato, turmeric and salt and saute 30 seconds. Now add the water and reserved lemon grass stems (the tough ones you didn’t grind up) and simmer for about 20 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk. Immediately add the soy sauce, broccoli florets and prepared tofu. Simmer on low for about 5 minutes or till the broccoli is tender. Pull out the lemon grass before serving.

Serve hot with Roti Jala.

__________________

Exotic Eats Giveaway!

Have you entered yet?

You can enter the random drawing to win one of these Exotic Eats from Argentina

Malbec Jam
or
Dulce de Leche with Hazelnuts

Go to this post to enter!

____________________________