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21. pseudoerasmus - 10/16/1999 7:04:48 AM Please disregard #17. Here is a revised and improved version.
STOCK
3 litres water
8 whole black cloves
2 sticks cinnamon, 2" long
2 cardomom seeds
1 tablespoon, cumin seeds
1 tablespoon, coriander seeds
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
10 cloves of garlic, chopped
4" ginger root, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
OPTIONAL
5 small leaves, mint
Simmer until the liquid is reduced to between 900ml or 1 litre. Strain out the solids. Then use for cooking basmati rice.
RICE
500g basmati rice
900ml stock
2 tablespoons, rosewater
1/2 teaspoon, saffron
salt to taste
Put the contents in a large pot and bring to boil. Do not use rosewater if you used mint leaves in the stock. Reduce heat to very low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. After it's done, let it sit covered for 5 minutes.
Keep the fan running above your stove, unless you want your whole house to smell like a harem at the Mughal court.
Buy your basmati rice at an Indian or some other ethnic grocery store, and make sure it's the longest-grain variety you can find. Do not something out of a box in a supermarket. 22. pseudoerasmus - 10/16/1999 7:05:44 AM #21 is a recipe for Flavoured Basmati Rice, not pilaf. 23. pseudoerasmus - 10/16/1999 7:18:21 AM Yet another thing I forgot: 2-3 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) are optional when making the rice. Note that ghee avoids the scumminess of fresh butter. 24. pseudoerasmus - 10/16/1999 7:27:32 AM Seguine: Since you're so into chilis, try râyu, a Japanese chili oil. It's used in a variety of ways, especially to mix with soy sauce as a base for (Japanese) dumplings. 25. Seguine - 10/16/1999 10:59:55 AM PE,
I'll look for rayu next time I visit my favorite Asian supermarket. (They carry a variety of frozen dumplings; those I've bought so far have been very tasty.)
I'm comforted to see you're taking a less cavalier attitude these days toward ordinary-supermarket basmati rice. 26. pseudoerasmus - 10/16/1999 12:45:00 PM Yes, but the supermarket I go to stocks very good basmati rices, and I didn't know any better about the supermarkets other people go to! I wouldn't recommend that people buy their basmati rice, or any rice, from a box.
By the way, in place of rosewater, you can also use vanilla extract. 27. Seguine - 10/16/1999 2:06:24 PM Vanilla. That's an interesting idea. I assume you would use a smaller quantity than you've listed for rosewater?
Diva's chicken recipe looks very nice. However, the fresh oregano makes it out of season, or nearly so, in cooler climates, dammit.
So is the following:
Pick or buy about half a bushel of tomatoes that have never been refrigerated. When they are very ripe, cut them up, along with an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic, and put them and all their juice into a 4-quart pot. Cook on medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by about half.
Remove the pot from the heat and set aside to cool (the fridge speeds up this process). When you can handle the contents comfortably, pour them, a little at a time, through a large strainer, pressing the tomatoes and their compatriots mercilessly as you do, either with your fingers or a spatula or spoon. (This process is very time-consuming and annoying, but worth the effort as it removes seeds, skins, onion pieces, etc., and produces a sauce whose texture is fine and smooth, is perfectly emulsified, will not separate as it stands, and is not at all foamy as tomatoes pureed in a food processer tend to be.)
Salt to taste, add a few tablespoons of virgin olive oil. You now have the basis for a simple, very nearly perfect "gravy" for many kinds of Italian pasta. Add greek or Italian olives (no more than ten), pulled from their pits; whole sprigs of fresh basil (remove before serving); chopped fresh flat parsley; and four or (preferably) more cloves of crushed garlic. Return the sauce to medium-low heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the flavors have blended. Correct seasonings as needed and serve poured over spaghetti, ravioli, or linguini. Top with freshly grated sharp provolone or romano cheese and a little ground black pepper. 28. harper - 10/22/1999 3:12:43 AM Snow Owl:
The Pavlova sounds very much like a medieval recipe called "A Dishe of Snowe." Funny how good things get around. 29. pseudoerasmus - 10/24/1999 12:05:19 AM Hummus Report
I don't much care for hummus, since I believe chickpeas should be spicy, but last night I had 2 pounds of chickpeas left over. (Don't ask me why.) So I decided to play around.
1 lb. chickpeas
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup of olive oil
10 garlic cloves, raw
1 tablespoon of tahini (sesame paste)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon, salt
It's best when all the ingredients have been chilled first. Then grind everything in a food processor until smooth.
I made 1/2 lb. portion of the above, and the result: FANTASTIC! but the flavour is very very potent, the aftertaste can be overpowering, the garlic can even burn the insides of your mouth, and you might get a slight stomach ache.
I made another 1/2 lb portion with only half the garlic. Disappointing.
Then another 1/2 lb. portion with the ten garlic cloves roasted. Then the hummus turned out too sweet, no tang, no bite.
Then for last half-pound portion,I fried the garlic cloves in oil and added 2 subcon green chilis to the mix. The result was decent, but the first version, the fire-in-the-belly version, was still the best.
Does anyone need two pounds of experimental hummus? 30. Seguine - 10/24/1999 12:43:44 AM "Does anyone need two pounds of experimental hummus?"
Hahaha!
Hummus doesn't keep. Well, it keeps somewhat better than guacamole, which should be eaten within half an hour of being assembled.
But this chilling of ingredients sounds highly suspicious--how can you know that the consistency is right if the chickpeas are not at room temperature?
I learned to make hummus at the knee of a Lebanese molecular biologist who once worked for the Red Cross clearing Beirut of stray body parts. Basically, you start with the soaked, pureed chickpeas, add a little water if necessary, olive oil, lemon juice and salt to taste, plenty of garlic, some tahini (your measure, PE, sounds about right), and that's it. No black pepper.
My own version is dressed with some extra olive oil on top, plus something red--cayenne or sweet paprika, depending on my mood and the sensitivities of those who will be eating the hummus--which I sprinkle on and, using a knife, swirl into a pattern resembling a computer generated image of a strange attractor.
BTW: there's really only one good commercially prepared hummus, and that's Bobbi's. It is satiny in texture, contains no tahini, and is very, very garlicky. Made in Philadelphia. I have not been able to reproduce it at home.
Finally: any hummus containing jalapenos is not hummus but rather a gross violation of hummus rights. 31. pseudoerasmus - 10/24/1999 4:39:26 AM I've never had any commercially made or restaurant hummus worth a second bite. 32. pseudoerasmus - 10/24/1999 4:41:38 AM I learned to make hummus at the knee of a Lebanese molecular biologist who once worked for the Red Cross clearing Beirut of stray body parts.
An interesting posture for a cook's assistant. 33. Seguine - 10/24/1999 5:26:49 AM He was a Christian. 34. Seguine - 10/24/1999 5:30:21 AM "I've never had any commercially made or restaurant hummus worth a second bite."
You have not tasted Bobbi's. However, lacking tahine, and considering its ultrafine texture, it does not quite reallyqualify as hummus. It's just the only store-boughten substitute worth eating.
I've had good restaurant hummus in Berkeley. 35. Angel-Five - 10/25/1999 12:43:25 PM Aladdin's makes very tasty hummus though I think they add more tahini.
I make homemade hummus with more tahini and lots of garlic and salt, lemon juice and olive oil, and chickpeas, and cumin, cayenne, and a tablespoon of fresh yogurt, mostly because I don't give a rat's ass if it's authentic or not. I like it.
Then again, I make zaatar pitas with tahini and kosher salt and generous amounts of olive oil. 36. Angel-Five - 10/25/1999 12:45:39 PM Where's a good recipe for stuffed grape leaves? The only ones around the house are out of one of those cursed 'Med Lite' cookbooks, where they've managed to recreate the dish with half the flavor and nine tenths the calories. And I don't bother searching the Net for recipes because in my experience most aren't any good. But this crowd ought to be able to give a good one. 37. Angel-Five - 10/25/1999 3:51:13 PM Angel's Fresh Pesto Stew: a recipe which may have been posted before.
I'm told that a little pesto goes a long way. That line of thinking doesn't appeal to me.
1 large onion
8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup fresh pesto
1/2 cup white wine
(Now we're into that well-known approximation realm of garden chefs)
3-4 mid-sized summer squashes (zucchini, yellow crookneck, or even young acorns -- whatever)
About a quarter peck of green beans
eight or so mid-sized tomatoes, skinned
Enough tomatoes to render 2-3 cups of juice or puree
1-2 heads of broccoli
Some greek oregano (fresh if possible), black pepper and salt
You may add or subtract as you wish with garden vegetables. The beans and tomatoes are a must. It's a stew, though, and therefore forgiving.
Scrub the garden vegetables and chop into bite-sized pieces. You can leave the tomato pieces a bit larger, as they will cook down of course. Chop the onion and mince the garlic.
Heat oil in a big stockpot until hot. Toss the onion in and stir about for a bit, then add the garlic. Cook until the garlic is turning tan, then add the white wine and give a quick, thorough mix.
After about half a minute, add the tomatoes. Stir about a bit, let cook for about four minutes, then add the vegetables and juice all at once, stir until all is coated, and then cover and let steam for a bit. Once you have a boil going again, reduce heat and make sure you occasionally stir it. It will start out looking like a bunch of raw vegetables and slowly transform into a stew, I promise. If it isn't liquid enough for your tastes after twenty or thirty minutes, feel free to add more tomatoes and/or juice. 38. Angel-Five - 10/25/1999 3:51:31 PM Part of the reason you add so bloody many vegetables to this is that you must constantly sample them . You want, for example, the broccoli to still have some crispness when you serve it. Salt anytime during this process to your taste, and add black pepper sparingly. Add the oregano at this time as well -- not too much, but enough for a hint when you taste the broth. If you like having large savory chunks of tomatoes in stews, then add some of the tomatoes later on. About five minutes before you're going to be done, stir the pesto in. Your stew will acquire a greenish cast. Taste and adjust the seasonings -- if you want more pesto, add it, because it's hard to add too much in my opinion to this dish. (The garden has, on average, ten or so basil plants, so we don't run out of pesto.)
Serve over homemade noodles and sprinkle with fresh parmesan. Or you can just eat it out of a soup dish with some croutons. Fresh bread is nice in accompaniment. I traditionally make this dish the first time I have pesto available in conjunction with squash and tomatoes. I have also made a winter version with frozen pesto (it freezes okay) and vegetables that have either been put up frozen or canned. Stewed tomatoes in juice lend themselves well to this enterprise -- the winter version is not anywhere as good as when you pick the vegetables a few hours before you eat, but it will still do. 39. pseudoerasmus - 10/26/1999 11:40:51 PM From an Armenian, a dolma recipe:
Ingredients:
Ground beef 0,5kg; rice: 200g, grape leaves, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, dill, cilantro, basil, one large onion.
LEAVES. You should get the right grape leaves. It is a problem, because in this country (if you are posting from the U.S.) all the grape leaves that you can harvest are certainly poisoned with all pesticides and other toxins one can imagine. If you have a Greek, Lebanese or Armenian grocery store in your neighborhood, get it from there. If you want to pick the leaves yourself, try to find the variety of grapes commonly known as "kishmish". You know, those grapes with little round fruit with no seeds inside? Those are the best. The leaves of this plant look like maple leaves, with spear-like edges. The leaves must be young, yellowish-green and not dark green. This is too late in the season to harvest them, anyway. Cleanse the leaves with cold water, cut the stems and put them aside.
STUFFING. Beef. Only beef for dolma. To the ground beef add: rice, and minced onion, dill leaves, cilantro, basil. See if you can find basil with burgundy-coloured leaves, those have better aroma. You have to chop everything real fine. Then add two or three teaspoons of tomato paste, this is mostly for colour. Salt and black pepper. Mix it all thoroughly. Voilà! You have your stuffing.
40. pseudoerasmus - 10/26/1999 11:41:05 PM WRAPPING. This is the difficult part. It requires technique, but for the starters a messy outcome will be excused. It's hard to explain by words but I'll try. Spread the leaf on your board, belly up (the darker side down), the middle spear of the leaf pointing away from you. Put some stuffing (about the size and form of your thumb) at the base of the leaf and start rolling. Don't make the dolma too big it will be messy when it's cooked. Make sure you envelop the stuffing from the sides while you are rolling. The wrapping must be tight. Have a pot ready next to you so you can put each finished dolma into it. It is advisable that you cover the bottom of the pot with grape leaves, so the lowest layer does not stick to the bottom. Stick the dolma pieces close together, like the sprats in the can. Just don't squeeze them too much or you'll destroy it. Fill up with water so it covers the dolma and let it cook for appr. an hour. (If you live somewhere at sea level, make it less). Anyway, you can tell when it's done by tasting one. If the rice inside is cooked, it's done. And it's not over yet.
TOPPING. This is easy. Get some yogurt (the artificial yogurt that the supermarkets sell will not do, but it's OK for starters. I'll tell you how to make your own home-made yogurt. Chop a few cloves of garlic and mix it with yogurt. Top the dolma when served. And forget about all that lemon juice, curry and cumin. It's designed for unsuspecting American and Swedish visitors.
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