June 2015 – Indian Culinary Center, NYC

SIMPLE ROAST CHICKEN OVER VEGETABLES

June 30, 2015March 8, 2016Leave a comment

There is nothing more comforting than a roast chicken for dinner.

While it is the easiest thing to prepare, it is also the test of a good cook. When I was in cooking school, we spent a lot of time learning how to roast the perfect chicken and I think I have mastered it.

I would like to share some of the things I learned.

Get the best chicken you can afford – from a butcher or Whole Foods.

Kosher chickens are fabulous as they are treated with salt and cook faster and have a wonderful flavor without having to work at it.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Dry the chicken with paper towel and remove any innards that might be in the cavity.

Cut up vegetables that you like – for example potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, squash – anything.

Season with salt and pepper and your favorite herbs like thyme, rosemary or marjoram.

Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper and add an onion, lemon and herbs in the cavity.

Now massage it generously with olive oil or butter.

Place the chicken over the vegetables and bake at 450 degrees for 40 minutes.

Turn the heat to 300 and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.

Check with a meat thermometer and it should read 160 degrees.

Let the chicken rest on the counter, tented for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Carve it and serve with vegetables.

You can removed the vegetables, add broth and or white wine to create a sauce if you like. If you add wine, make sure you cook it out on a high heat and finish with a pat of butter for a luscious sauce.

Spoon over chicken and vegetables and dinner is served.

Until I eat again!

Aloo Tikki (potato croquette)

June 29, 2015September 11, 2017Leave a comment

Who doesn’t love potatoes?
If that’s you, I’m sorry – then I feel I don’t trust you 🙂
Potatoes are cheap and versatile – take on the flavor of just about anything. I urge you to play around with this blank canvas and add your favorite flavors to it.
Aloo (potato) tikkis (croquettes are a common snack in India. They can be found in most neighborhoods as a quick and delicious street food, and most people also make them at home.

6 idaho potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 cup frozen peas
1 Tbs. coriander powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. salt
4 tbs. chopped cilantro
2 green chilies chopped (optional)
2 tbs. oil
Mash the boiled potatoes and add the salt, coriander, cumin, cilantro and chilies (don’t worry about any lumps for this recipe. Also, you can use left over mashed potatoes, if there is such a thing 🙂 )
Mash the peas with a fork.
Now take about a golf ball size of the potato mixture and form it into a flattish disk. Make an indentation with your thumb and put in a scant tsp. of the peas. Close the potatoes around the peas and you have a tikki.
Do this for all the potatoes.
Heat a non stick skillet with the oil and place the tikkis.
Cook on each side for about 5 minutes – all the ingredients are cooked – so you are basically heating the potatoes through. To get a wonderfully browned and crispy crust, leave the tikkis in the skillet on a low flame.
The above pictures were taken in a class I taught and we didn’t have the time to brown them too much.
Last night, as we watched tennis I created the above.
I smashed left over tikkis from the night before and browned them in a skillet. They taste amazing with the larger surface area that is browned and remind me of spicy hash browns.
Serve hot with cilantro chutney.
If you put them between a bun with some chutney, then you have an amazing slider.
Enjoy.
Until I cook again!

A traditional Indian Brunch

June 26, 2015Leave a comment

… these dishes are also made on special occasions – pooris (fried Indian bread), black chickpeas, potato curry and paneer (home made cheese)

SALMON TARTARE

June 24, 2015Leave a comment

You reblogged indianculinarycenter

I absolutely love every kind of tartare

SALMON tartare is one of those dishes that acts as a canvas for a chef’s culinary sensibilities. Add a little soy and ginger and an Asian-infused flavor emerges. Mango or pineapple yields a gustatory trip to the tropics. At its most basic it is a cooling, relatively light repast, playing off of the smooth, firm texture of the fish, but in smaller, more toothsome bites than other members of the raw-fish pantheon like sushi or carpaccio.

The key to this dish is the freshest fish you can fish – your fish monger is your friend here.

1 lb. salmon

1 tbs. soy sauce

1 tsp. yuzu or mirin

½ tsp. kosher or sea salt

1/8 tsp. toasted sesame oil

For the garnish:

thinly sliced red radish

½ cup wasabi aioli (mix a tsp. wasabi to mayonnaise)

2 tbs. salmon roe (optional)

radish shoots (optional) or cilantro leaves

2 tbs. chopped cucumber

Keep all ingredients cold.

Right before you are ready to eat, chop the fish into 1/8 “ dice or have your fish monger do it. Mix soy sauce, salt and yuzu and sesame oil. Mix and taste for seasoning.

To serve: make a beautiful swirl of the aioli on your plate. if you want to get fancy, place a round mold on the place and spoon the tartare or just spoon it onto your place. Sprinkle the cucumber, red radish and garnish with cilantro of radish shoots. A little salmon roe should guild the very beautiful lily.

Serve right away with a crisp white wine like a chardonnay or a reisling.

Until I eat again!

HOME MADE PIZZA (with a slight cheat)

June 23, 2015Leave a comment

I love pizza.

Luckily, living in New York I have access to really good pizza at all hours of the day.

But sometimes I want to make my own pizza with my own toppings and mostly no tomato sauce.

I will teach you a very easy way to make pizza at home with a little cheating.

I make my own dough often and I will share the recipe one of these days. More often though, I buy pizza dough from my local pizzeria. I get a nice amount for $5/-

That makes a medium size pizza.

I encourage you to buy a pizza stone – it makes a whole lot of difference mimicking the high heat of the pizza oven.

I heat the stone at 450 degrees.

Then I spread the dough on the hot stone. You don’t have to put any oil – the pizza will release easily. Sometimes I do sprinkle some corn meal – it gives a lovely crunch to the crust.

Drizzle some olive oil and kosher or coarse salt. Then the sky is the limit. I like to top my pie with roasted peppers, onions, sausage or pepperoni. Most importantly, whatever you put on the pizza – add some freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Mozzarella of course if always a great thing.

Cook for about 10 minutes in the 450 degrees oven and you have piping hot pizza.

Once you have the dough, you can always make calzones, individual pizzas or foccacia which is thicker and chewier.

I hope you try this – you will love it.

Until I eat again!

A Very Simple Sunday Pasta with Anchovies, Garlic, Fennel and Tomatoes

June 22, 2015Leave a comment

Anyone who reads my posts knows that I love pasta.

I love it for its versatility – it takes on any flavor you are in the mood for.

It is so simple and quick to make.

It is also very economical and most importantly, it is delicious and I just love it.

This dish is a staple in my household.

By the time your water comes to a boil and the pasta cooks, you have a sauce and so a perfectly delicious meal in about 20 minutes.

Add a generous amount of olive oil to a skillet. On low heat cook some fennel seeds, a can of anchovies (trust me, you won’t even know they are there and just get this rich umami flavor – please trust me on this one), crushed red pepper and a copious amount of whole garlic. Cook for about 5 or 7 minutes to perfume the oil and break down the anchovies. Now add a 16 oz. can of whole, peeled tomatoes. Crush them with the back of a spoon or sometimes I use a potato masher.

Add some water to wash out the can or a dash of red wine or nothing at all.

Add a little salt – careful, since the anchovies are plenty salty.

Once the pasta is cooked (I like linguine as the sauce clings to it well – use your favorite pasta).

Mix in the pasta with the sauce and add a little pasta water if you need to loosen the sauce.

Put in bowls and grate fresh Parmesan generously over the pasta.

You have dinner.

Enjoy.

Until I eat again!

Bharta – roasted eggplant with peas

June 19, 2015May 6, 2016Leave a comment

This is one of my favorite dishes. It is eggplant that is roasted over an open flame and then cooked with onions, tomatoes and spices.

Traditionally we eat it as part of a meal with lentils (daal) and roti (flat bread) but I have also served it in cocktail parties over pappadums or crackers.

The process might be a tad messy but I believe life is messy as is cooking but the rewards are o so delicious.

And this is the messy part.

I roast the eggplant on an open flame till they are fully charred.

You can put them in the oven or over a grill if you are lucky enough to have one. The charring gives it the smoky flavor which you and looking for and gives this dish its unique taste.

While the eggplants are charring, chop a couple of onions into a fine dice and a couple of ripe plum tomatoes. Chop up as many green chilies as you desire – I like thai bird chilies but serranos or jalapenos work well too.

In a pan heat up some oil and add the onions, sprinkled with salt and saute over medium heat until the onions are slightly browned and translucent.

Next add the tomatoes and chilies. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add 2 tablespoons of coriander powder and a table spoon of cumin powder. If you didn’t add green chilies – add a 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper or to your taste.

This is what your charred eggplant should look like. After it has cooled remove the burnt skin and you will have the flesh remaining. If some skin remains it is fine as it adds to the smokiness in the dish.

Add the eggplant to the onion tomato mix and cook for a few minutes until the eggplant is warmed through. Next add green peas and cook another 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve as part of a meal or a snack.

I really hope you try to make this dish – it is so flavorful as well as healthful and I am sure you will enjoy it.

Until I cook again!

Corn and Seafood Stew

June 18, 2015Leave a comment

IT’S CORN SEASON AND SO MAKE A SEAFOOD STEW WITH IT

Corn is the great American vegetable – there are hundreds of ways of making it (ok tens of ways) – this stew is easy and o so good.

4- 6 ears of corn, husked

1 cup chorizo sliced ( optional)

use bacon if you like – the pork provides a great depth of flavor to the broth

2 cups prosecco, white wine or broth

1 lb. mussels

1 lb. little neck clams

(use as much or as little seafood as you like)

6 new potatoes, cut into quarters

1 cup hatch chili paste

(I am lucky to have a friend in New Mexico who supplies me with hatch chilies that I freeze and make a paste in the blender with water to use in different dishes – if you can’t find those chilies, roast any of your favorite chilies like jalapenos, serranos and or poblanos)

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of a lemon

cayenne pepper to taste

2 tbs oil

Heat a casserole with the oil. Brown the chorizo till caramelized. Add the chili paste, potatoes and corn. Season with salt and pepper – be aware that the chorizo is salty – add more later if need be

Cook for about 15 minutes or till the potatoes are soft.

Sprinkle with cayenne if using and add the prosecco. When it comes to a boil add the clams and mussels.

Cover and cook till the shell fish is just open.

Squeeze lemon juice – taste for seasoning and serve hot with crusty bread.

Enjoy.

Until I eat again!

2 notes

Seafood and Chicken Paella

June 17, 2015Leave a comment

I love one dish meals. This one is simple and beautiful – delicious of course.

This dish is reminiscent of yesterday’s pulao – I really hope that you try it and let me know what you think.

Feel free to add more ingredients of your choice.

6 Chicken thighs, bone in

2 tbs. oil

½ tsp. saffron steeped in warm broth

2 cups rice of your choice (long grain is best)

4 cups broth (chicken, shrimp or even water will do)

a variety of seafood (about 2 lbs)

shrimp, scallops, mussels, fish, clams, etc

1 cup frozen peas

2 lemons cut into wedges

salt and pepper

Season the chicken sear on both sides till nice and golden brown.

Add the rice and coat with the oil. Add the stock and the saffron. Cook about 20 minutes. Just as the rice is almost done, layer the top with the seafood and cook another 5 to 7 minutes or till the seafood is just cooked.

Serve hot with wedges of lemon

Until I eat again!

Pulao with Paneer (home made cheese, potatoes, split peas and green peas)

June 16, 2015Leave a comment

indianculinarycenter:

Every culture has a comfort food – soup, pasta, roast chicken. Mine is Pulao (rice casserole, traditionally made with Basmati rice and some vegetables and spices).

It is so easy to make and you can make it in just about 20 minutes.

This dish includes my most favorite vegetarian protein – Paneer. It is a home made cheese that is so easy to make – recipe one of these days. You can also buy a packet of it in most Indian grocery stores.

1 onion sliced

2 cups Basmati rice

1 tsp black mustard seeds

6 curry leaves (optional)

4-5 dry green chilies (or jalapenos)

2 tbs. oil

4 potatoes diced

1 cup frozen peas

½ cup split yellow peas

1 lb. paneer diced

2 cups canned tomatoes, crushed, or 2 tomatoes diced

3 cups water

salt to taste

Heat a pot over high heat and add oil. Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and chilies.

You will hear the mustard seeds pop – as soon as they stop popping add the onions and sautee for about 10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Add the potatoes, peas, rice, paneer and tomatoes. Add the salt and water.

Bring to a boil uncovered.

As soon as the liquid comes to a boil, lower the heat to the lowest that your stove will allow and cover.

In 20 minutes the rice should be ready and the liquid should have all evaporated.

Turn off the heat and leave covered for about 10 minutes.

Fluff with a fork and serve hot with yogurt.

Enjoy.

Note: substitute with other vegetables or use chicken and fish.

Be creative.

Until I eat again!