Roasted Eggplant and Dill and Potato, aka Baigan Ka Bartha and Aloo Soa Ki Subzi

It was Saturday night and the husband and I planned to make some dinner using recipes from our new(ish) cookbook "Everything Indian Cookbook by Monica Bhide, 2004.

I LOVE Indian food but am always hesitant to make it home because some the ingredients are hard to get, or because I don't want to buy a whole jar a of tamarind paste or whatever and have to eventually throw it out. Also, it never tastes like what I have at the restaurants. But with the 2 recipes in this title, I felt it was doable because we happened to have all the ingredients on hand, or knew we could get them at the local Safeway (BTW, Thriftway, we miss you!)

Roasted Eggplant (Baigan Ka Bharta) from "Everythin Indian Cookbook"



3 pounds eggplant (we used 2 large ones)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped roughly
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste (recipe below)
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Fresh chopped coriander, for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 475. (I used the broiler and but the oven rack to the second highest position).

2. Rub 2 tablespoons of the oil on the eggplants on a baking sheets and place in the oven. Cook until the eggplant is soft and the skin is charred. Turn occasionally so all sides get charred. Remove from oven to cool.

3. Once eggplants are cooled, peel and discard skin. Mash the eggplant with a fork into a smooth pulp. Set aside.

4. In a large skillet, heat the reamining 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat. Add th eonions and saute until they are transparent. Add the Ginger-Garlic Paste, red chili powder, and coriander powder, saute for 30 seconds.

5. Add the tomatoes and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Use the back of your spoon or spatula to mash the tomatoes. When the mixture is ready, oil will start to separate from the mixture (mine never did this so I went ahead to the next step).

6. Add the eggplant and mix well. Add salt to taste and fry for about 7 - 10 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat, garnish with fresh coriander and serve with basmati rice.

I order this every.single.time. at our local Naan 'n Curry and love it so much. This version was OK. Don't get me wrong, the balance of spice with the eggplant and tomato was really nice, but I was looking for something with more oomph, more kick, more flavour. I think next time, I'll add more ginger-garlic paste or maybe add curry powder or garam masala or something. Maybe even a chili.

Ginger-Garlic Paste From "Everything Indian Cookbook"

2 serrano chilies (optional)
1/2 cup gingerroot, peeled
1/2 cup garlic cloves, peeled
1 tbsp cold water

1. Remove the stems from the green chilies (if using)

2. Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree to form a smooth paste. Add mo more than 1 tbsp of water to help form a smooth consistency.

3. Store the paste in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. The paste will keep for up to 2 weeks.

We put ours in a glass Pyrex container with lid. We put plastic wrap to keep any air out and have kept it in the freezer for about a month now. You could probably halve or quarter this recipe since you really only seem to use about a tsp or so for each recipe!

Dill and Potato (Aloo Soa Ki Subzi) From "Everything Indian Cookbook"



2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (we only had ground cumin so we used about 1/8 tsp of that)
2 green chilies, seeded and minced (we used serrano chilies)
2 large russet potatoes (or 3 medium) peeled and diced
1/2 cup frozen peas (we omitted these)
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 tsp turmuric powder
salt, to taste
water, as needed

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium. Add the cumin seeds (or ground cumin). When they begin to crackle (or when ground cumin becomes fragrant), add the freen chilies; saute for 10 seconds.

2. Add the potatoes and saute for about 2 minutes. Add the peas, dill, turmeric, and salt; saute for another 2 minutes.

3. Add a few tablespoons of water (the husband added 4), cover and cook on low heat until the potatoes are cooked through, about 10 - 12 minutes.

How can you go wrong with potatoes and dill? This dish was fine, but next time, I might add some curry powder or garam masala for more flavour. We kind of added salt as we ate since the recipe doesn't tell you exactly how much to add.

Wine Night

The hubs and I have been keeping a particular bottle of wine for a special weekend. By special, I don't mean an anniversary or birthday but a weekend where we have no plans, can start drinking early in the evening so we can enjoy the sunset, and can have enough time to make some food to go well with the wine.

Matthews Estate 2005 Claret:



This wine was described to us as a "big, chewy red" (see my earlier post titled, "The Wines of King County" for details) and I really don't know enough fancy shmancy wine lingo to describe it. It definitely had a full flavour with enough acidity to make your mouth water a little while you held it in your mouth.

I can truly say that I researched high and low for what would go well with this special wine. I know what you're thinking, "easy, some cheese and crusty french bread!" Well yeah, but what if we don't eat wheat or cow products? "Ohhhhh... well that makes a big difference!"

The one with the black wax (?) is manchego, and the one that is diced finely is the pecorino romano.



Have no fear, we found 2 sheep's milk cheeses: pecorino romano, and manchego. Here was our menu for our much anticipated night with Matthews Estate 2005 Claret:

Tomatoes with olive oil and fresh basil atop slices of manchego cheese
Grilled portabello mushrooms and red bell peppers
Rice pasta in olive oil with garlic, olive tapenade, and pecorino romano.



The tomatoes should be self explanatory! We used 2 medium sized vine-ripened ones.

For the grilled mushrooms and bell peppers, I brushed them with olive oil, seasoned them with salt, and sprinkled a bit of balsamic vinegar on them. We used them on the George Foreman because our BBQ wasn't working (boo!) so if you can BBQ them, do it until all the liquid evaporates from the mushrooms.

For the pasta, it didn't quite work as planned. We used rice spaghetti and the water we cooked it in got really sludgy, and so the spaghetti was pretty sludgy. I rinsed it with cold water to wash the sludge off but now the pasta was cold! The idea was for the hot pasta to warm the olive tapenade and melt the pecorino romano a little. Not ours. It just sat there looking cold so I threw it in a frying pan to heat it up a bit. After it heated up, it was delicious!

If you're using wheat pasta, you won't have this problem so cook as much pasta as you need, drain and while still hot, toss it with olive oil, a few tablespoons of olive tapenade, and as much or as little pecorino romano (or similar cheese like parmesan) and let stand for a few minutes while the cheese softens and melts.

Of all out dishes, I though the tomato/fresh basil/manchego went best with the Claret, but the Hubs thought the pasta paired best.

Sorry for the unspecific quantities for the dishes, but just keep tasting adn testing until you get the level of saltiness you like!

Chickpea spinach salad with feta

*Disclaimer: I've been copying and pasting recipes from all kinds of blogs for years now and had been keeping them for my own use. I never thought I'd start a food blog so I never cited the source. If this recipe is from your blog, please leave me a comment so I can properly credit you.

Chickpea spinach salad with feta:



I love chickpeas and I love feta. I decided to indulge the other day at the supermarket and but a block of high quality (or at least the price made me think so) goat feta. Not as salty as the stuff in the brine, which is kind of a bummer because I was hoping the feta would add some saltiness to this salad. Not the end of the world that it didn't though, because it still added a creaminess to it.

I'm not the precise measuring type so all ingredient quantities are approximate.

1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked until soft (you could use 1 can instead)
2 bunches of spinach, blanched, squeezed dry and chopped roughly
1 tbsp good olive oil
juice of 1/4 - 1/2 a lemon (depends on how lemony you like it)
1/4 - 1/2 cup crumbled feta (depends on how feta-y you like it)
Salt and pepper

Place the blanched, squeezed and chopped spinach in a bowl, making sure it's evenly spread out, and leaves are not squeezed together. Pour the chickpeas over top. Drizzle with olive oil, making sure it is evenly distributed. Add lemon juice, tossing to coat all of the spinach and chickpeas. Sprinkle the feta cheese over top and again, toss to distribute evenly. Have a taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

You could keep the spinach raw if you like, but the spinach I had on hand was pretty beat up so I decided to blanch. Your call...

The Wines of King County

Who knew? Wineries (or satellite wine shops, I believe they're called) just a few minutes drive outside of Seattle!

The husband and I were hosting from out-of-town friends who somehow brought sun-filled, warm days with them from Minnesota (love them!) and we somehow ended up going wine tasting. It wasn't necessarily planned but somehow, someone threw out the idea, the husband googled, and on a Monday morning, we were bound for Woodinville to visit some well-known wineries, and some less-known (well, at least to us.)


For our first stop, we chose Chateau Ste Michelle. We've had quite a few of their wines before and liked their Indian Wells labels quite a bit. The grounds are well-manicured and the gift-shop was really nice, too. I don't want to give away too much about the tour other than to say it's free and you get a free tasting at the end. You can pay a bit more to taste their Indian Wells label but considering you can buy these labels at Safeway (and sometimes they're on sale), this didn't seem worth it. To taste their vintage reserve wines, you have to make an appointment. Overall, I liked the CSM tour and the Chateau provides a really nice "vineyard" atmosphere. There are picnic tables on the grounds, too! We bought some BBQ at a restaurant nearby and had our own little picnic there.

Next, we went across the street to Columbia Valley Winery. It was under construction so the ambiance was lacking. The woman at the counter was really helpful and friendly. Actually, everyone was very cheerful and welcoming. It created a comfortable, un-intimidating atmosphere for asking questions. They didn't have a "tour" per se but you could pay something like $5 for a few different wines. I don't think the hubs was very impressed with any of them but just a matter of taste.



We got in the car (after drinking lots of water, eating , and releasing fluids :) and drove around the corner to Januik Winery / Novelty Hill Winery. The building is very lofty with high ceilings and big windows, that kind of thing. Again, the woman at the counter gave us some great recommendations for the wines, and some of the other wineries in the area.



"Big, chewy reds" is how the woman at Januik/Novelty described Matthews Estate. The "Estate" looked like a temporary construction office. Inside, there are some handsome bottles of reds nestled in cool wooden boxes. The reds were definitely big and chewy. Hubs was very impressed and bought a bottle of claret. No pic of Matthews Estate wine shop because the shop itself was really not very impressive.

Next off, another recommendation by the "big, chewy reds" woman was Brian Carter Cellars. Again, the woman there was super-friendly. At this point, I think I was just plain"happy" and not really paying attention to the wine.


Final stop, as per the recommendation of the Brian Carter, was Bookwalter Winery. It looked like a car garage (in a cool way) and was decorated nicely. I was still quite "happy" from all the tastings to pay attention to the wine. We did buy one bottle wine but I think the cork was contaminated.

Outside the wineshop (used to be an annex to an old schoolhouse?) Note the car-garage like doors as we conferred about the wines...


All in all, it was a summer-like day in early April. With our good friends, we spent the day laughing, chatting and relaxing. I had to say goodbye to our friends the next day. It was the perfect way to end a fun week with them.

Black Bean Soup

After a long weekend (gotta love Easter) full of rich foods and wine, my body was craving something simple, nutritious, and filling. Black bean soup! This is something I threw together with things I had lying around the house. SO not in the mood to shop on Easter Monday. I added miso paste for depth and saltiness.

Being of Japanese descent, this is something I always have in the fridge. You could definitely use chicken stock or some other kind of stock but would have to play around with the seasonings a bit. Oh, I also used an immersion hand-blender (gotta love those things!)

Lazy day black bean soup

1 1/2 cups dried black beans (soaked over night, simmered for 2 hours until soft, drained)
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 - 1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons miso paste (I think red or white would be fine)
soy sauce, to taste.
Cilantro sprigs (optional)

In a large pot, heat up some oil over med-high and saute the garlic, onions and ginger until the onions are translucent.
Add the black beans, stirring in incorporate onion/garlic/ginger flavours for about 2 minutes.
Add 2 cups water and miso.
Bring to a boil stirring occasionally to help miso dissolve.
After miso has dissolved, simmer for about 5 minutes. Add as much or as little soy sauce depending on how salty you 'd like it to be. You can add more water for for a thinner soup.
Being very careful that the blender is fully submerged in the liquid, pulse until desired consistency is reached. I like it pretty well blended. It's better to stop the blender before moving it around the pot. And never life the blender up while you're still blending, otherwise you'll end up wearing the soup!
Garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy!

You could even add some heat to this by adding a few green chiles. I decided to keep mine heat-free to help my body cleanse a little but will definitely be trying this recipe again with some chiles.

Thai-style Coconut Soup

Emphasis on the "-style" as I don't think this is very authentic. I love Thai coconut soups. The combination of creamy, sweet, salty, hot and sour is just heaven for me. In this version, I left out the "hot" part because I was making it for my mom and she doesn't do hot. At all. Ever...

I used stuff I had around the house: carrots, celery, onions, lemon grass (actually I saw that at the store and decided to pick it up) and of all things, green lentils. I don't think I've ever had a Thai dish with lentils in it. But anyway, as I said, this soup is not Thai, just has some "borrowed" elements from it.

I'll probably try to recreate the soup and add noodles or seafood another time. I'll also add some spice to it, too!

Thai-style Coconut Soup

1 large yellow onion
1 1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, sliced into strips
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup lentils, rinsed and drained
1 stalk (?) lemon grass, chopped into three pieces and smashed with the dull side of a knife
1 can coconut milk
juice and grated rind of 1 lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
salt and/or pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat (I used coconut hoping to capture its fragrance) and fry the onions, carrots, celery, and ginger until softened. Add lentils.

Add 2 cups water, the lemon grass pieces and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until lentils are soft. Add chicken pieces and simmer until they are white and cooked through.

Add coconut milk and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and zest. Stir to combine flavours. Add salt and/or pepper to season to your liking.

Serve with cilantro sprigs and enjoy!

*I'm not really sure how to use the lemon grass. I should look that up!

Japanese Hot Pot aka Nabe

That's pronounced "nub-eh" not "nayb". Nabe can be a dish or a dish. What I mean is, it can be a meal and it can also refer to the ceramic pot you cook it in.

I grew up on this comfort food and anytime I was away from home for long periods of time, it was one of the foods I'd really miss. There are as many variations on this dish as there are for "meatloaf" or "tuna casserole" so other people will do something completely different than what I do. And that's OK! There's no right or wrong way. As long as it tastes good and gets the family or friends around the table, the recipe doesn't even matter. It does consist of a few parts though: protein, vegetables, and starch/carbs.

For protein, my mom would usually use chicken thighs or wings to make a stock(with the skin and bone on for more flavour). Then she'd usually get a few variations of Chinese greens like bok choy, choy sum, napa and cabbage. Most leafy or stalky greens will work.  I always slice some carrots on an angle for colour and flavour. I also like to add enoki mushrooms (the long skinny white thingys in the pic below), tofu, and konnyaku thread bunches (and sometime udon, if we have guests). You can also add leeks and other greens you'd normally put in a soup.


To start off, I put about 2 -3 sheets of kombu (dried sea kelp) in a large stockpot of water. I let this sit on a low-med heat while I chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. The kombu is very concentrated with flavour and you'll see the water turn a golden tinge after it's been sitting in there for a while.

Something I did recently is make pork meatballs using about 1/2 - 1 pound of lean ground pork, 1-2 chopped garlic clove (depending on how garlicky you like it), 1 tbsp of finely chopped ginger and salt and pepper. You can leave the bowl of raw ground meat at the table and cook as you go (using 2 large spoons to form balls, dropping them into the pot as you go), but if the sight of raw meat makes you sick, you can boil these meatballs in the kombu broth ahead of time so that they're all ready to go and the broth is nicely flavoured. Your choice.  If you can find sukiyaki style beef or pork (sliced thin), that cooks very quickly and is easy, too.

I like to use the nabe (the pot) for aesthetic purposes but if you don't have one, you can use a stock/soup pot. Just be sure you can easily reach into it to grab stuff out. It would be best to use one that's not too deep.



We've got it on a single burner (behind the sauces) and bring it to a boil. Then put in your meat (unless you are using pieces with skin and bones attached. Those will take longer so you'll need to cook them in the stock before you start serving), vegetables, tofu, noodles, etc and wait until the meat is cooked thoroughly. Add whatever condiments to your bowl (we usually go for kimchee base [centre] and roasted sesame paste[left]) and when the meat and veggies are ready, dig into the big pot and grab what you like (you can designate a pair of "pot only" chopsticks for germophobes) and ladle in some of the soup, too. Make sure the sauces are well mixed in and enjoy! Usually someone is on refill duty (in our home, that's me) and will stock up the pot so the next batch can cook while everyone's eating.



I grew up finishing the meal off with noodles (like cooked vermicelli and udon) but some like to use cooked, cooled rice (like leftover rice). By the end of the meal, the soup is very nicely flavoured with meat and veggie essences and all this seeps into the starch and makes for a delicious filler-of-the-cracks in your tummy. If you're using rice, some people like to crack an egg into the pot and let that cook in the broth. The leftover soup-egg-veggie bits makes for a really good breakfast the next morning!

There are variation on the nabe stock, too. People also use soymilk in the stock for a creamier broth, and I've even heard that curry nabe is somewhat of a rage in Japan. There isn't really a right or wrong way. The most important thing is that it tastes good to you!