Tacos!

Ingredients
One recipe for taco seasoning
Ground Lamb or Beef
Taco shells or tortillas
Raiyu (optional)
Sichuan Peppercorn Oil (optional)
Tomatoes
Avocados
Onions
Cilantro
Fresh Lemon
Guacamole






Dice the tomatoes, avocados and onions. Chop the cilantro. Rub the lemons really hard for a few minutes and then cut them into wedges (rubbing the lemons with soften up the flesh inside, making it easier to squeeze out their juice). Add the vegetables to a plate or place into separate bowls.

Generously sprinkle the lamb or beef with taco seasoning. Add a little oil to the meat and mix the seasoning into the ground meat with a fork. If you have Raiyu or sichuan peppercorn oil and want to give the meat a little more spice, add a spoonful or so. 

Heat Sichuan peppercorn oil or regular oil in a wok until hot and beginning to smoke. 

Add the meat and stir fry for several minutes.

Remove from heat and plate.

Add the meat to the taco and place your vegetables on top!

Simple and delicious!

Taco Seasoning

This is an awesome recipe for taco seasoning, that I got from Alton Brown. It really works great with ground beef and lamb! I changed it slightly replacing regular chili powder with korean kimchi powder, and added Harissa. The cornstarch really adds something to this seasoning!


Ingredients
2 tablespoons Korean kimchi powder or chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1.5 teaspoons hot smoked paprika
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon Harissa

Pour all the ingredients into a glass jar and give it a good shake.

Store in a airtight container for a month (or place some wax paper over the container). If you have one of those glass dispensers, that would be cool! 

Cutting a Mango (Island Style)

Cutting a mango can be a messy adventure. When I was going to grad school in Hawaii, one of my cousins taught me how to cut a mango "island style". 

Mangos have a oblique shaped stone running through the center of them. Cut the mango around this stone. 


This leaves you with 2 mango halves and a stone surrounded with the mango fruit. 





































Take one of those halves. Take a sharp pairing knife and cut deeply into the flesh of the mango, scoring it horizontally and vertically. Then, push the mango from the skin, "popping" it inside out. 






































The mango should come off the skin, nicely diced. Repeat with the other half. 

Take the remainder of the mango (the stone surrounded in flesh) and make an incision into the mango, letting the knife follow the contours of the stone. The flesh should "roll off" the mango, in a strip. 


Make several incisions in the strip, cutting just to where the skin of the mango is. 


Now, this is the tricky part. Insert the knife into one of those cut groves and with the blade of your knife, run the knife through the strip. The mango should come off into dice. 

Uncle Harold's Flank Steak Roll

When I was growing up, this was one of my favorite dishes! This is a recipe from my uncle Harold, who is the steak master of the family! Every reunion, he always cooks up the most wonderful steaks!

A cut of flank steak is rolled with bacon and other herbs, then roasted in the oven! The steak comes out juicy and delicious. This is a really simple recipe: score the steak, add salt, pepper, herbs, mushrooms and bacon, roll it up and broil it for several minutes until cooked.  I like to serve this with freshly mashed potatoes and a side of mushrooms sauteed in butter. 

As with all my meat, I will usually purchase from a repubable source. These days, you really don't want to be taking a risk with your meat. Spend a little extra and get a grass fed, locally raised product. The flank I used for this recipe is from Marin Sun Farms, which is located up in Marin County. They have really flavorful cuts! 







Ingredients
1 flank steak, around 1 lbs
Salt and Pepper, 1/4 teaspoon each
1/4 teaspoon marjoram leaves

Mushrooms, 8 oz (about 1 cup)

Butter, 2 tablespoons

4 slices of Bacon

Butcher's string

Procedure

Pound the flank steak with a meat mallet until slightly flat. If you don't have a meat mallet, that's okay. I like to use a large rolling pin and just wack the steak with it. A heavy iron skillet will to the trick too! It helps to keep it wrapped in the original butchers paper it was wrapped it, otherwise you will have pieces of raw meat all over the kitchen! If your steak wasn't wrapped in butchers paper, you can cover it with wax paper, saran wrap or another plastic wrap. 











Score the flank steak diagonally on both sides.


















Gently wash the head of the mushrooms with a wet paper towel to remove any exterior dirt. With your fingers, twist off the stems of the mushrooms. Chop the stems into dice. Slice the heads of the mushrooms and set aside.

Rub the flank steak with salt, pepper and marjoram.  Sprinkle  on the diced mushrooms stems.  

Cook the bacon in a fry pan until done. Remove from fry pan and lay the bacon on top of the mushrooms.

















Roll the flank steak tightly from the short side. Secure with butcher's string, or skewers in a pinch. You want the string to be fairly snug. Cut off any loose ends on the butcher's string after you have tied and secured the roll. 

Place on a greased cookie sheet or oven pan. You want to place the roll in a shallow pan, not a deep pan.












Set a boiler rack 3-4 inches below the heat source.  Turn your broiler on high. Broil the flank steak roll for 20 minutes, rotating the roll every 5 minutes. 

Broil till desired doneness. I like mine a little rare. If you want the flank well done, I suggest putting aluminum foil over the roll to prevent burning the outer layer. You can also try and lower the rack away from the broiler.

If you have a meat thermometer, it would really come in handy for this recipe!

Rare 130-140 F
Medium Rare  140-150 F
Medium  150-160 F
Well done  160-170F

In the meantime, Saute the sliced mushroom heads in a fry pan with butter for 3 minutes, or until browned.



















When the steak roll is done, garnish with freshly snipped parsley and serve with the mushrooms.

Chicken Chile Verde

OK. I have been accused of making dishes which are too complicated...Some of you might have a point. So I give you this dish...Its super simple to prepare and delicious to boot! Ha!

Homemade salsa verde is delicious and really makes this dish. If you don't have the energy to make your own (or do not have a ready supply of Tomatillos), use a store bought variety. I have used Trader Joe's and it works out really nice. But given that it is so easy to make fresh salsa verde, for far less than what you could buy at the store, I say make your own!





Ingredients
1 batch of Salsa Verde
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (remove seeds if you don't want it too spicy)
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 cup cilantro, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1.5 teaspoons cumin powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1.5 cups rich dark chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil


Directions
Cut your vegetables. A food processor really helps in this recipe! Just peel the onion, quarter it. Roughly chop the cilantro into 3 parts. Smash the garlic to remove the skin. Chuck the onion, cilantro and garlic into the food processor and blend it until the onion is diced very fine. Don't overblend it--you don't want some sort of onion soup mixture! 












Add oil to a cast iron pot (I got to use my trusty Le Creuset Flame Braiser, 3 1/2 qt) and heat. I have to say, the Le Creuset was really fantastic! Its a shallow pan, and it is perfect for braising). Add the chicken in one layer. Season with salt, pepper and 1 teaspoon cumin powder. Brown the chicken on both sides and remove (You can do this in two batches if you pan isn't big enough).

Lower the heat to medium, and add the chopped onions. Add salt, pepper, the remaining (1 teaspoon) cumin powder and oregano. Scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the chicken drippings and pieces. Stir fry for 15 minutes, until the onions are soft and have lost their raw taste.













Add the chicken back to the pot. Add the chicken stock. Cover and cook until the chicken stock comes to a boil.

Add the salsa verde  and cook for another 30 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.













Serve with rice and tortillas.  I cook my rice in a rice cooker, but add fresh tomatoes to give the rice a little spice).

Thai Corn Fritters

Corn is in season and this is a great way to have it! I first had these corn fritters at a food stall in Bangkok. Fried in a large cast iron wok, my mouth watered in anticipation. I could barely hold out to get into one. One bite and I was hooked! I quickly made a whole lunch out of them. Dipped in a Thai chili sweet sauce, they make a wonderful snack or appetizer for a larger dinner.

Mochiko is rice flour which is used to make mochi, a Japanese confectionery. You can substitute regular flour, but the mochiko is stickier and makes the corn bind together better.

This recipe makes around 10 fritters

Ingredients
3 corn cobs, around 9 oz
1 garlic clove, crushed
small bunch of coriander, chopped
1 small fresh chili (red or green), seeded and finely chopped
1 spring onion (scallion), finely chopped
1 teaspoon soy sauce
3/4 cup mochiko rice flour (or plain all purpose flour)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons water
oil for frying
salt and pepper
sweet chili sauce

Special equipment
Cast iron skillet or cast iron wok
Brass slotted spoon
Ryoribashi (Long chopsticks) or tongs
Oil thermometer





Directions
Using a sharp knife, slice the kernels from the cobs and place them in a large bowl. Reserve the cobs for making corn stock later.

Add the garlic, chopped coriander, red or green chili, spring onions, soy sauce, beaten eggs and mix.
















Slowly add the flour. Slowly add the water to incorporate. Depending on the humidity, you might need more or less water, so add a little water at a time. Season with some salt and pepper. The mixture should be firm enough to hold its shape (and not fall apart), but not stiff.














Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or wok. Because you want the fritters a little flat, I prefer a cast iron skillet. If you have a thermometer, you want the oil at or around 320 F. If you don't have a thermometer, heat oil until it is hot and shimmers.

Gently add spoonfuls of fritters with a wooden spoon, being careful not to splatter oil on you. Flatten out the fritters with the spoon.

Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. The fritters should be slightly browned by the frying.

Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and or a long pair of chopsticks (Ryoribashi) and drain on paper towels.

Serve with sweet chili sauce.

Rainbow Chard Tea Leaf Salad

There is a restaurant here in Oakland called Burma Superstar. I think their best dish is the Tea Leaf Salad. The ingredients are simple: Fresh tea leaves from Burma (yes, they do go to Burma regularly to pick them up), fried garlic, peanuts and freshly squeezed lime juice. Its absolutely delicious! Crunchy, spicy and tangy it is the perfect way to start off a meal.

Our friend Lindsay, who is a dietitian, loves this salad and spend many a long hour perfecting it. She was gracious enough to share it with me, so I felt it is only right to share it on this blog. To make it healthier, this recipe calls for rainbow chard.

This salad is delicious, but not very filling. I suggest having it with fish or another protein source.


Ingredients
3 cups rainbow chard, sliced into thin ribbons (no stalks)
7-8 tablespoons garlic, minced and fried in 1 tablespoon of peanut oil or sesame seed oil
3.5 tablespoons shallots. sliced thin
2 tablespoons+1 teaspoon of Twinning's brand Earl Gray loose leaf black tea leaves
3-4 tablespoons peanut oil or sesame seed oil
1 cup of yellow lentils, washed, picked over, and cooked in 2 cups of water
4 teaspoons chopped Indian green chilies, with seeds (or 3/4 cup jalapenos, canned or from a jar, rinsed and diced)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup peanuts, dry roasted then chopped
1.5 cup cherry tomatoes, each sliced in half (or 1 regular tomato, diced)
2/3 cup sesame seeds
Juice from 1 lime
Fish sauce (4 tsp)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

Procedure


With a sharp knife cut and remove the leafy part of the rainbow chard. Cut the stalks into bite sized  bits and reserve for making vegetable stock later. Stack the leafy part of the chard on top of each other in a single layer.









Tightly roll the chard layers and then cut. You should have several ribbons of chard.

Pour 3 tablespoons of peanut oil all over the black tea in a large bowl. Mix with your fingers to get the oil to soak into the tea leaves.

Heat 1 tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok or skillet. Pan fry the garlic until it is golden brown and crunchy, about 4-5 minutes. DO NOT BURN!

In a separate pan, dry toast the sesame seeds until they turn a nice golden brown color. Again, do not burn.

Add the garlic and sesame seeds to the bowl with the soaked tea leaves.

Add the chard, cooked lentils, green chilies, shredded carrots, peanuts and cherry tomatoes. Juice 1 lime and add that to the mix. Gently mix all of that together.

Add the fish sauce. The fish sauce makes this dish tasty and savory, and complements the jalapenos. You can add fish sauce to taste, but I like around 4 teaspoons.

Finally, add the shredded coconut.

Moroccan Lemon Roasted Chicken

There is a local Middle Eastern restaurant and market here in Oakland called Oasis Food Market. It is a fantastic place, and they make really good food. They also have a fairly extensive bulk spice section, where you can pick up all sorts of exotic spices.

I got a dried lemon rub from there on a whim a few months ago. It is made by a company called Sadaf, a family owned company in Los Angeles.  It had been sitting around my cupboard, so I decided to do something with it.  The Ras el Hanout I found at the Oaktown Spice Shop







Ingredients
1 roaster chicken
1 lemon
Olive oil
Freshly ground fennel seeds
Ras el Hanout
Dried lemon pepper spice rub
Ground Kabob Seasoning
6 Red Potatoes, cut in half
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.


Combine the fennel seeds, Ras el Hanout, dried lemon pepper spice rub and ground kabob seasoning in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly with a spoon.

Boil a pot of water and add the lemon to the pot.

Once the lemon gets soft, remove and pierce once or twice with a sharp knife.

Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the chicken and put the lemon in the cavity of the bird.

Prep the chicken with the spices and olive oil. This is my standard roasted chicken recipe, I just changed up the spices. I followed all the same protocols: Let the chicken come up to room temperature for 1 hour, make a rack for the chicken with carrots, add celery, fennel and carrots to fill out the cavity. Place some of the potatoes all around the chicken. Sprinkle the potatoes generously with salt and pepper.




Place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the bird (on the underpart of the bird) Roast for 1 hour to 1.5 hours at 400 F. You need the bird to come to an internal temperature of 160 F. Prick the chicken with a fork. If the juices run clear, the chicken is done!

Half your plate fruit and vegetables

White Lemon Pickle

As some of my readers will know, I have a love affair with pickles, Japanese, Chinese, Moroccan and Indian. 

A few posts ago, I shared a recipe for Moroccan Preserved Lemons that I had made. Around that same time, I made a batch of South Indian Pickles, which I was also craving. 

My love affair with these pickles can be traced back to lunches and dinner of Sambar and Rice. A little extra pickle really adds a punch to a meal. In my house, we always had an odd assortment of pickles: mango, red lemon, gooseberry...the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, these were for the most part store bought and not very tasty at all. Still, it sustained me. 

When I went to back to India on an occasional visit, I was treated to freshly made pickles. There really is no comparison. Pickling is a natural outcome of the weather: with a tropical climate, food goes bad rather quickly in South India, and salt preserves the food. 

My aunt and uncle made the most delicious white lemon pickle I have ever tried. Tangy, spicy and refreshing they really can make an ordinary meal extraordinary. 

On one of my visits a few years back, my aunt gave me a jar of her white lemon pickle. What a princely gift! I ate the pickles everyday, but sparingly--only a few slivers at a time. 

When my supply was running low, I discovered Moroccan preserved lemons, which were a poor substitute...but better than nothing. 

I finally screwed up enough courage to make my own...After several consultations with my cousin and reading up on different lemon pickle recipes, I ventured into that brave new world of pickle making. 

These pickles turned out very good. A few things I have learned: 

Any lemon will do, but I think this pickle would be tasty with the larger types of lemons. I think Meyer lemons would be too sweet. I used a larger lemon, which had much more juice in it. They worked out great, but I still can't seem to recreate the exact same taste as my aunt and uncle's lemon pickle in India. 

The salt is going to preserve the lemons (as well as the carrots, garlic and jalapeno pepper). How much salt to add is the question. I think it is mostly preference as to how salty you want your pickles. I placed the lemons in the container and sprinkle  one or two pinches of salt over them. 

Ingredients

6 large lemons, cut into quarters or eighths

Salt

1 carrot, cut into julienne

3 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and cut into julienne

Ginger, peeled and cut into julienne (about 1 inch)

Add the lemons and salt to a large container with a strong seal. The salt will cause the lemons to bleed out their juices, so don't fill the container to the brim, otherwise the liquid will leak out. 

Add the other ingredients and seal.

Leave the jar out for around 2-3 weeks. Taste the lemons. If you want them to develop more flavor, you can leave them out longer. 

I think you can store these inside the refrigerator or outside the refrigerator. Although I store them in the refrigerator. 

Tomato Rasam

Rasam is great to have around when you are making south Indian food. A simple dish of water, tomatoes and spices, it is often combined with other dishes to lend some depth and complexity to the palate.

You can buy commercial grade Rasam at Indian stores, it comes in packets and stores fairly well and is fairly tasty.

But it is also really easy to make your own. This recipe came from my cousin Malu (of Malu's Chicken Curry).

I like to add tomatoes to my Rasam, and I prefer Vietnamese Tamarind over the Indian variety (Indian tamarind is very dark and has a bit of a burned flavor). I love Vietnamese Tamarind because it is lighter and has a beautiful red color. Adding the tomatoes and Vietnamese Tamarind to this Rasam reminds me of a Tomato Tamarind soup which I had while traveling in Vietnam, albeit this version is pure vegetarian!

When I was working in Chennai, this was a lifesaver! Just Rasam and rice and that was a full meal for me!


Ingredients
One lime sized ball of Vietnamese Tamarind paste
1-3 tomatoes, diced
Coriander powder
Asafoetida

Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Black Pepper powder
Salt

Freshly cut coriander leaves, chopped (both stems and leaves are ok)



Place tamarind ball in a small soup cup and fill with water. Let it sit for a few minutes.

In the meantime, heat a pan on medium to high heat. Add cut tomatoes and cook for a few minutes, until the tomatoes begin to "sweat" and release their juices.

With you fingers gently break up the tamarind ball. There should be a tamarind seed somewhere in the ball, find and remove it. Continue to squeeze the tamarind ball with the tips of your fingers until you have extracted most of the juice from it. The water should turn red.

Strain the tamarind juice and add it to the pot.


Add the coriander powder, Asafoetida and lemon juice and give it a good stir and remove from heat.


Add the salt and pepper and give it a good stir.

At this point, you can adjust the seasoning with more coriander powder and Asafoetida powder as you see fit. You can also add more water if you want to. Rasam is to have a soup-like consistency, so adjust accordingly.

Garnish with freshly cut and chopped coriander leaves.

Strawberry Cardamon Tartelette

Strawberries and Cardamon are a natural combination! The cardamon really brings out the sweetness of the strawberries. It works especially good in pie! I had made some cherry rhubarb pie, but because of the lattice crust, I had leftover dough. I fortunately had some strawberries and cardamon as well so I decided to re-roll the dough and make some tartelettes! I guess this would be called Les tartelettes aux fraises avec rose sirop??

Strawberries are related to roses--they are both part of the Family Rosaceae, the rose family. The rose syrup really brings out the strawberries in this dish. Fresh strawberries and rose syrup are also an excellent combination.






Ingredients
Single recipe for tart and pie dough
Fresh Strawberries, stems removed and diced
Rose syrup
Dash of cardamon
Tartelette pans
Freshly whipped heavy cream

Procedure

Roll the dough out into a small circle.

Grease the tartelette pans with butter or a little bit of oil.

Gently place the dough circle on top of the tartelette pan. It could lay over like this:












Turn the the tartelette pan upside down and gently press into the dough to cut out a shape. Remove the excess dough and gently flip the pan over again. With your finger and thumb gently press the dough so it fits into the mould of the pan.

















Brush with a little butter.

Fill the tartelette pans with dried black beans and place in the oven. The beans will serve as a weight and prevent the dough from rising up.











Pop them into the oven and bake at 375 for 5 minutes. Check on the tartelettes regularly, making sure that their crust does not turn yellow, brown or burn. You want the crust to look almost white, but dry.

Remove from oven and let cool completely, about 45 minutes to an hour.

In the meantime, combine the strawberries, rose syrup and cardamon in a bowl and gently mix with a spoon.

After the tartelettes are cool, remove them gently from their molds.

Add the strawberry mix and serve with freshly whipped heavy cream, ice cream or gelato!

Delicious!