Lahmahjun - Indian Style

My first job out of college was in midtown Manhattan and opened up a whole new world of food for me.  During those years, I was able explore so many cuisines and restaurants and thus began my love for food.  My boss was of Armenian heritage and had also lived in Egypt and France and introduced me to foods that I'd never even heard of.  Every year, her mother would visit from California and would make something called Lahmahjun (pronounced Lach-maa-joon).  It is a thin flat bread topped with a thin layer of ground lamb, tomatoes and spices.  It was delicious and something I will always remember.

Thirty years later, as I planned my annual holiday party menu, I thought of the lahmahjun and decided to give it a try, but with my own twist of course.  During a two hour drive for work the following week, I came up with this recipe which modifies the original into a more Indian version.  It was a huge hit, but I couldn't give out the recipe because I had just made it up in my head as I went along.  So, I made it again the following week for another dinner and this time wrote down the recipe.  With success a second time around, I decided it was a keeper and worth posting

Ingredients

1 lb ground lamb (you can substitute beef or chicken also)

1 medium red onion grated

2 -3 cloves garlic mashed to a paste

1 inch piece of ginger grated

2 thai green or red chiles finely chopped (seeds can be removed for less heat)

2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp finely chopped mint

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala (I make my own but store bought is fine too)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp sea salt

10 tandoori naan (available at Indian markets but can also substitute pocket-less Greek pitas)

Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the naan and mix well.  With a spoon spread a thin layer of ground lamb mix onto each naan and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and cut into strips and serve with a cucumber & yogurt raita or with a small dollop on plain yogurt.  If you prefer a more crispy result, bake for an addiitonal 5 minutes. 

Unfortunately I took no photos of my dish but here's a photo of traditional Lahmahjun so you have an idea of how it looks.  Enjoy!!

Guest Blog : Nori’s Bread Pudding with Vanilla Bourbon Crème Anglaise

Dear Readers,

This is my very first guest blog.  A big thank you to my contributor & friend, Nori, who was kind enough to share this recipe with us.  Hope you will try it and let us know what you think.

The first time I ever had bread pudding was at an all-you-can-eat buffet in Reno, Nevada. I was about 12 years old, and from what I recall, I was not impressed. I didn’t understand the appeal of the almost mushy texture that was occasionally interrupted by the chewiness of the raisins that were mixed in. I was convinced that I strongly disliked bread pudding from that day onward.

Fast-forward to my early 20’s, when I was in college and officially allowed to hang around the casinos for late night food with friends. One night, something strongly called me to order the bread pudding that was being offered as a special at Hash House a Go Go, and I succumbed. I think that’s one of the best 2AM decisions I’ve ever made as that marks the start of my affinity to this deliciously dense dessert. This recipe is one of the many versions I’ve created, based on some of my favorite flavors.

INGREDIENTS

Bread Pudding –

1 ½ cups 2% milk

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup bourbon

¼ stick butter (melted) (+more for greasing pan)

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp pure maple syrup

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup brown sugar (+ more for sprinkling on top)

1 pinch salt (I use Jacobsen Vanilla Bean Sea Salt)

½ tsp cardamom

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp fresh ground nutmeg

1 small loaf of day old crusty bread (I use Grand Central Piccolo Como), cut into 2-3 inch cubes

2 eggs, beaten

Vanilla Bourbon Crème Anglaise –

1 vanilla bean

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

¼ - ½ cup granulated sugar

5 egg yolks

¼ cup bourbon

PREPARATION

Bread Pudding –

·         Heat oven to 350 degrees

·         In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk, butter, vanilla, sugar and salt – stir until incorporated

·         Let cool

·         Butter a 2-quart glass baking dish

·         Add eggs and spices to cooled milk mixture and whisk

·         Slowly whisk in bourbon

·         In a large mixing bowl, pour mixture over bread and let soak for 10-15 minutes

·         Pour everything into the baking dish and sprinkle with brown sugar (I like to paint a little melted butter on the mixture before sprinkling the sugar)

·         Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until custard is set but still a little wobbly and edges of bread have browned

·         Make Crème Anglaise

Serve warm with Crème Anglaise

Vanilla Bourbon Crème Anglaise –

·       Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into a non-stick saucepan before putting in the entire pod

·      Pour in milk and cream.

·       Over medium heat, stir with a wooden spoon

·      Before the milk is brought to a simmer, whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until the mixture is fully incorporated

·      Slowly pour a little of the hot milk into the yolk mixture while whisking to slowly warm the eggs and sugar (be very careful not to do this too quickly so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs!)

·      Slowly do this until all the warm milk is incorporated into the egg mixture

·      Slowly whisk in bourbon

·      Pour everything back into the saucepan

·      Turn the on low and continue to cook, stirring with the wooden spoon and making sure to scrape the corners of the pan

·      Keep stirring over low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon (about 2-3 minutes)

·      Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve back into the bowl

·      Fill a larger bowl with a few inches of ice water, and set the bowl of Crème Anglaise on top of the ice bath to cool for a minute

Serve warm with bread pudding (if possible, right away—but you can store this in an airtight container for up to 3 days and reheat gently before serving. Make sure to place plastic wrap directly on the liquid before placing the top of the container in order to prevent a skin from solidifying on the crème anglaise)

What is Curry?

Maharashtrian Lamb Curry

“I don’t like Indian food because I don’t like curry.” This is a statement I’ve heard all too often and perturbs me each and every time.  Sometimes I will go on to challenge the statement and other times, I don’t bother. It’s like saying I don’t like Italian food because I don’t like pizza, or I don’t like Mexican food because I don’t like salsa. What I’ve also come to surmise is that most people don’t really even understand what curry is, including some famous chefs on TV shows.

Last night, my friend and I were trying to decide what to do for the evening after determining that there were no movies playing of interest to either of us.  Since there was a potential of rain, we decided that we would spend our evening making Beef Rendang, a Malaysian curry that takes several hours to cook after quite a bit of prep time.  Rendang has a blend of Indian and Thai flavors and is deliciously rich.  It was well worth the time and we had fun talking and drinking wine while we cooked together. 

On my long, delayed flight to the West coast this morning I began to think about curry and that statement I’ve heard so many times, and decided to demystify the concept for you.  So let’s start off with the most important concepts you need to understand about curry:

• Curry is NOT a spice – Indians and Southeast Asians do NOT use anything called curry powder in their cooking.  This is very much a concept adapted by the British and popularized in the West Indies.

• Curry is NOT one universal dish – Curries come in many forms, colors and flavors so to dismiss them all as one thing would be a huge injustice.  The Malaysian rendang we made last night is very different from a Thai green curry or a Maharashtrian curry or a Goan fish curry or an Indonesian curry or Rogan Josh or Vindaloo or Laksa or Kofta curry.  Each of these is made with very different ingredients and each has a flavor all its own. North Indian curries are heavier with their use of cream and butter while South Indian curries tend to be lighter and sometimes use coconut milk. The spices and other ingredients used vary also.

• Curry IS a synonym for sauce or gravy.  So a dish with no gravy should NEVER be called a curry. Curried vegetables or curried chicken salad are American in their roots.  No such dishes exist in India so if that’s the flavor you don’t like, I suggest you try real curries from the various countries before deciding you don’t like curry as a whole.

• The word “curry” is derived from the Kari leaves that are used in many Indian sauces.  In Hindi they are called Kadhi Putta.  The Western interpretation of the word used an “R” instead.  And soon anything with a gravy was referred to as a curry.  It is very much an English word not used by any of the Indian languages

• Indian food is NOT just curry!!! Neither is Thai or Malaysian food. 

Even if this post doesn’t convince you love curries instantaneously, I hope that it will at least open your mind a bit and make you think about exploring the world of curries before dismissing them all because you were served curried chicken salad once and didn’t like the flavor of “curry”.  For the record, I don’t like the flavor of the curry powder spice either.

Please feel free to comment or ask questions below.  I’d love to hear about your experiences or thoughts on the subject. 

Recipe: Orange-Cardamom Panna Cotta

Last weekend, I invited a couple of friends over for a last minute dinner.  With my travels, I don't get much time to entertain any more so spur of the moment plans are easier.

I wasn't sure I would make a dessert but then thought of Panna Cotta since it's a fairly easy and quick dessert to make.  As I started pulling out the ingredients, I decided to put a twist on the classic recipe. The end result was a huge success and got rave reviews from my guests and my son, who ate it a day later.  I hope you will try and make this one and let me know how it turns out in comments below.

Ingredients

2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup Coconut Milk
1/3 Cup Sugar
Grated Zest of 1 Orange
Juice of 1 Orange
1 Tbsp unflavored Gelatin
6-8 pods Cardamom - slightly smashed to open
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
1 tsp Vanilla

Recipe

In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat the heavy cream, coconut milk and sugar until just hot (do not bring to a boil) stirring often.  Add orange zest and cardamom pods and allow to steep for about 20-30 minutes.  In a small heat proof pan, add the juice from the orange and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over it.  Allow to stand for 1 to 2 minutes.  Heat the pan over a low flame constantly moving the liquid until the gelatin has melted.  Do not allow to boil or overheat.  Set aside.  Reheat the cream mixture on medium high to just under a boil stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Add the gelatin mixture to the cream and stir well to combine.  Strain into a large measuring cup through a fine mesh sieve to remove the pods and zest.  Add cardamom powder and vanilla and stir well.  Divide evenly into 8 ramekins and chill for at least 4 hours.  When ready to serve, you can certainly eat right out of the ramekin but for a great presentation and to show the flecks of orange & cardamon as in the above photo, place each ramekin into a larger bowl of hot water for 30-45 seconds.  Invert onto a serving plate to un-mold the Panna Cotta.

Enjoy!!

 

Mushroom "Pappardelle" w/ Sundried Tomato Pesto

Last weekend, a friend suggested we walk over to our local winter farmer's market since it was a beautiful day.  It's not quite as large as we have in the summer months, but it's a good way to support some local businesses. The winter market is housed in one of the many churches in our little suburban town where if you walk around, you're bound to run into someone you know.  

First we stopped at the farm stands outside to pick up some interesting produce like Hannah Yams which I'd never tried before and some watermelon radishes which I generally only see served in restaurants.  We moved inside and perused through the many offerings of prepared foods like kielbasa, pastas, and baked goods eventually winding up at The Foraged Feast stand which highlights all different kinds of mushrooms.  I discovered mushrooms late in life, and today absolutely love them.  I was eyeing the King Oyster Mushrooms and began talking to the gentleman at the stand.  He suggested that I could cut the stem to resemble pappardelle pasta and make a healthier version of any dish where it is used. So of course I was on a mission because I'm always looking for healthy recipes.  I love pasta but only eat it as a rare treat any more. The next night, my son wanted steak and since I try to avoid too much red meat, I decided to treat myself to the mushrooms instead.  I would roast the Hannah yams as a side for us both along with some sauteed broccoli. 

So here's the recipe of what I made.  It came out delicious and I didn't feel overstuffed after eating.  I kept the mushrooms a bit firm so the texture wasn't quite like a pasta, but they can be boiled a minute or two longer if that is your desired result.  

For the "Pasta":

1/2 lb of King Oyster Mushrooms cut lengthwise into thin slices.  I removed some of the outer cap to make this work and saved them to use in an omelette for breakfast

Bring a pot of water to a boil adding salt to taste.  Once the water is boiling, add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.  Drain and place into a serving bowl.  Add 2 tbsp pesto (recipe below), stir to coat and serve.

This recipe makes one serving

For the Pesto:

4 ozs Sundried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
1 clove garlic roughly chopped
1/4 cup raw Walnuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 basil leaves
Olive Oil

In a food processor combine all ingredients except olive oil and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. With the food processor on low, stream in olive oil through the feeding tube and continue until  you have the desired consistency.  While I like my traditional pesto to be fairly fine, I prefer this one a bit more chunky.  It's entirely up to you.  Leftover pesto will last in a jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.  This one works well as a spread on whole grain bread with some cottage cheese too.

The Complete meal - "Pappardelle", Hannah Yams & Broccoli