Chana Masaledar

I love Indian food. I can think of no exceptions. The other week I had some chana masaledar (spiced chickpeas) with kulcha. Since I already had most of the spices at home, I gave Madhur Jaffrey's recipe a try. Easy. Simple. Make sure do you your mis en place first.

Ingredients

• 1 Tb vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
• 1 Tbs ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper 
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 Tb amchoor powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 c. tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-oz can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
• 2/3 c. water
• 4 c. cooked chickpeas or 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 lemon (juiced) 

Preparation

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, add lemon juice and salt to taste.

Jacob's Meat Market

In making the move back to the US, I've been looking for some exciting food opportunities that still remind me of the Old World. I cannot recommend Jacob's Meat Market more. They make their own dried sausage on site--even my German friends think it's some of the best they've had. It comes out every three months (how long it takes to age) and goes quickly. It's worth the rush...

Spicy Lamb and White Bean Chili

Chili never wins any beauty contests. This week I was still attracted to this recipe from the New York Times. It's easy to find mince lamb in England and I do love beans--in this instance, I used a mixture of butter, haricot, and cannellini beans. Poblano peppers, on the other hand, are not something you can find even in the most exotic supermarket in the UK. I modified the peppers in the recipe to include a bell pepper (to replace the poblano), a green chilli, and a small piece of Scotch bonnet (chopped as tiny as you dare to imagine.)

I also believe that good chili has depth of flavour. To bring that out, I added 2 Tbsp of white wine vinegar at the beginning and the juice of half a lime just before serving. The importance of the lime, coriander, and yogurt for this recipe cannot be overstated. The yogurt in particular does not diminish the spice so much as spread it out evenly along your palate.

As for preparation, I made mine a day in advance and refrigerated it in my dutch oven until I was ready to serve it. Chili only gets better the longer the ingredients get to know each other.

Yorkshire Pudding

Britain knows Sunday roast, and Sunday roast needs Yorkshire Pudding. I've always wanted to try to make it at home. Here's attempt number one... and I'm pleased with the result. This recipe made 4 good size portions.

Ingredients:

• 2 large, fresh eggs, measured in a jug
• Equal quantity of milk to eggs
• Equal quantity of plain flour to eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lard, beef dripping or vegetable oil

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to about 230ºC (but not so hot that the fat burns!).
2. Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the salt. Whisk thoroughly and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
3. Add the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture (mine worked out to about 100ml of each), again using a hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream.
4. Leave the batter to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible - up to several hours.
5. Place a pea-sized piece of lard, dripping or ½tsp vegetable oil into a large-muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. (I used vegetable oil to experience here.) Give the batter another good whisk adding 1 tbsp of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.
6. Leave to cook until golden brown around 16 minutes.

Oxtail Stew with Rioja and Chorizo

Autumn is in full swing--and it's a good thing. My wardrobe loves it, and I love the food that comes with it. I was making a recipe that I have featured previously on this website when I came across this recipe for oxtail stew. Thankfully, I live in a country with professional butchers and meat galore. Now mind you, I've never had oxtail before, and I was surprised at how expensive it was given it's less than glorified status (1.5kg was £6.50). But after two days of cooking, it turned into something magical, and I heartily recommend it. It was the first new dish that I've cooked in a while, and the result prompts a new entry.


Ingredients:

For the initial cooking

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5kg/3lb 5oz oxtail, sliced into 5cm/2in
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 carrot, cut into chunks
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 celery stick, cut into chunks
• 5 black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 cloves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 bottle red Rioja
• 10 parsley stalks

For the second cooking

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 120g/4½oz chorizo, cut into 1cm/½in rounds
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ¼ tsp hot paprika or dried red chilli flakes
• ¼ tsp fennel seeds, ground
• 1-2 tbsp tomato purée
• salt
• mashed or fried potatoes, to serve

Method:

1. The day before serving, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium to high heat. Season the oxtail pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper and brown well on all sides - you will probably need to do this in two batches.
2. Remove the oxtail from the pan and pour off the excess fat before adding the carrot, onion and celery. Fry for five minutes until starting to colour, then add the peppercorns, bay, thyme, cloves and garlic and fry for two minutes more.
3. Return the oxtail to the pan, add the Rioja and parsley stalks, and cover with water. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook until tender - about two hours, or longer if necessary, adding water if the liquid boils down below the top of the meat. Season. The meat is ready when it can be easily pulled from the bone, but not so soft as to fall off of its own accord.
4. Transfer the oxtail to a bowl or suitable container and strain the juices through a sieve over the meat. Cool and put in the fridge overnight.
5. On the day of eating, remove as much fat as possible from the chilled oxtail. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium to high heat. When hot, add the onion and carrot, and cook for about 10 minutes until they begin to caramelise, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the chorizo and fry for five more minutes. Now stir in the flour, fry for a couple more minutes and add the paprikas, fennel seeds and tomato purée.
7. Add the oxtail with its stock to the pan and season with salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
8. Serve with mashed potato or, as is usual in Spain, with fried potatoes.

Chilled Fennel Soup with Halloumi Croutons

Today a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi for a chilled summer soup. Fennel is one of those vegetables that I never used at home, but I've fallen in love with it. (If you have a chance, look at Simon Hopkinson's entry on 'fennel' in Second Helpings of Roast Chicken.) The fennel is softened with leeks, blended and combined with flavoured Greek yoghurt that adds a smooth creaminess and the freshness of summer herbs. Top the soup with some deep-fried cheese, and you have a winning combination.

Ingredients

• 70ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
• 21/2 tsp fennel seeds [I didn't have any, and they were no where to be found.]
• 3 large fennel bulbs, roughly chopped into 2cm dice
• 2 leeks, roughly chopped into 1cm slices
• 100ml arak, ouzo or Pernod [I improvised. See below.]
• 1.1 litres water
• 2 tbsp chopped thyme
• Zest of 1 lemon, half of it shaved into strips, the rest grated
• 20g chopped dill
• 10g chopped mint
• 5g chopped coriander
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 200g Greek yoghurt
• dry breadcrumbs
• Sunflower oil, for frying
• 200g halloumi, cut into 1cm dice [He recommended 2cm, but that's too big to get the right flavour combination.]
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt and white pepper

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the fennel seeds for 30 seconds, until they start giving off their aroma. Add the chopped fennel and leeks, and sauté on a medium-low heat for 10 minutes or so, until soft and sweet – don't let them take on any colour, so add a little water if need be.
   
   
2. Pour in the anise-based liqueur, raise the heat and cook for two minutes, so the alcohol evaporates. Add the water, half the thyme, the lemon strips, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and some white pepper, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove the lemon, blitz the soup with a hand-held blender (or in a food processor) and leave to cool. [As I said, I didn't have any Pernod, or ouzo--and at £20/bottle it was too much to ask. Knowing how both taste, I made work around by soaking star anise in hot vodka and adding about a tablespoon of sugar and letting is soak for a couple of hours. If you had more time, it would be even better. Remove the star anise and use as Pernod, etc.]
   
   
3. Once cool, stir in the grated lemon zest, herbs, garlic and yoghurt. Taste (and try not to eat too much); adjust the seasoning, then refrigerate. About 20 minutes before serving, take the soup out of the
   fridge so it's chilled but not fridge-cold.
   
   
4. To make the croutons, mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining thyme. Pour enough oil into a small saucepan so that it comes 2.5cm up the sides and place on medium heat.
   Once bubbles begin to rise to the surface, turn down the heat to medium-low and leave for a minute. Dip the halloumi in beaten egg, shake off any excess and then roll in the thyme breadcrumbs. Deep-fry in batches for a minute, until golden-brown – make sure the oil isn't so hot that the cheese sizzles vigorously when it goes in. Transfer the cooked croutons to kitchen towel to drain. (These are also a temptation to eat. Plan to make a few extra.)
   
   
5. Divide the soup among six bowls, drop in a few warm croutons, drizzle with olive oil and
   serve.

Originally published in The Guardian on 8 August 2011.

Chicken Bog

Ok, you're right. The name doesn't sound appealing. (Some have mistakenly called it 'chicken swamp.') It's not particularly pretty either. But this dish is pure, unadulterated Southern comfort food.

Ingredients

• 1 small chicken, whole, cleaned
• 1 onion, diced
• 300g polish sausage, sliced
• 4c water
• pinch of sage
• salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Boil the chicken with the diced onions, sage, and some salt and pepper in the water for approximately 90 minutes in a covered stock pot. (I used a Le Creuset Dutch oven.)
2. Remove the chicken and de-bone. 
3. Return the meat, sausage and 2 cups of rice to the broth and cook as you would rice. Season and serve hot.