my cup runneth over...

I came home tonight after spending a fabulous time with my friend, Rosie, up in Harlem (and eating the dodgiest Mexican food ever!), to find a lovely package waiting for me at home. My gorgeous friend, Vi, has sent me Tom's first book, Just like mother used to make. I was so excited to see 'how it all started', so to speak... A quick glance at the book revealed how fantastic it is -- so many lovely recipes, and I love the action shots and photographs too! I really think this is another contender for a blog.. Now I don't want to sound like I'm getting ahead of myself, because I haven't even begun to really demolish Cupboard Love, and speaking of which, I better get my ass moving as time is ticking, but I think I could definitely cook loads out of this book... Maybe I won't do a timeframe thing, and maybe I won't cook every recipe... there's a recipe in there for something very very British, and thus very very frightening to a meak Yank such as myself. It starts with a 'K' and ends in an 'R', and rhymes with slipper!! Uh huh, ya know what I'm talking about. No can do! Sorry Tom, if you're reading!
So I thought I'd post a little note into the infinite space of the Internet to say that hope and love and friendship is not dead -- so there, cynics! It is everywhere and it is all around us. A year ago Vi and I did not know each other. Today I receive this beautiful book from her... Quite funny that I should get this now, as it is Mother's Day on Sunday, and the book is about what mothers, at least in the UK, often cook, and how I was planning on making Vi's mother's oatmeal cookies for my mother on Sunday, and that now I'm simultaneously writing to my mom over messenger (in transliterated Russian, I should mention!).

Fira (my mom) says:
shura skazala chto budem delat sanday?
(Translation: Shura (that's my sis!) told you what we're doing on Sunday?)

ilana says:
ana skazala shto paydzom v'diner
(Translation: She said we're going to the diner.)

Fira says:
da xorosho ya soglasna
(Translation: Yes, good, I'm OK with that.)

ilana says:
ya tozhe
(Translation: Me too.)

So thanks to Vi... and thanks to all of you for reading my tired musings.. It's been a long week!

Cheers! xoxo

A Very Quick Supper for One

After an invigorating half-hour at the gym (YES!), I came home HUNGRY!!! I had it in mind to make one of the smaller dishes from the Indian chapter, rather than save them for another curry fest, because I didn't have a specific date in mind and didn't want to let the opportunities to make them slip by. So, I was on my own for dinner, and in the mood for dhal!

50. A Very Quick Tarka Dhal - *Indian*

'Dhal', Tom points out, literally means any kind of pulse dish -- not necessarily lentils. But this particular dhal did include lentils, my faves, split red lentils! So, the first step was to boil up some water, lentils, a couple of slices of ginger, curry leaves (Tom says either a bay leaf or curry leaves, but since I was going Indian, I figured why not use the curry ones), and a whole dried red chilli.

This was allowed to come to a rapid boil, and it was cooked at this heat until done, skimming off any scum on the top. I started at 7pm, and by 7:20, the lentils were cooked completely. On a separate pan, I fried up some garlic (sans cumin seeds, as they look too much like fennel seeds to my liking!), in some oil and butter until lovely and caramelized.

Then, I removed the ginger, leaves, and chilli from the lentils and seasoned the dhal with salt to taste, and added the garlic. The final part was just to serve it up and garnish the lentils with some chopped parsley. My mini-curry fest was ready with some toasty naan and mango chutney!

All the elements worked really well together. The crunchy and smoky garlic worked perfectly next to the soft and warming dhal. I used the naan as a sort of spoon and ate the dhal that way too.. Fantastic!

I could see why many people wouldn't think of dhal dishes as very pretty, but dolled up as it is above, I can't find any another word for the dish other than 'beautiful'.

I was going to have one of Tom's Afters following dinner, but I figured if I worked so hard at the gym, there would be no point in having ice cream to work against that. My sweets eating days are not over, they're just not as frequent as they used to be.

What's eating Ilana?

Or rather, what's Ilana eating? Well the answer is a little bit of everything! I've been feeling in the dumps these last couple of months as have seen my weight skyrocket. I don't think it is due to this project, as I don't see Tom's recipes very fatty per se. However, my energy level is at an all-time low, and couple that with feeling really ogre-ish compared to the beautiful people walking the streets of Manhattan (this is why I like to stay in Brooklyn!), I have decided it is time for a change. I will still continue cooking and eating out of this fabulous book, but I will also try to exercise and go to the gym more often. I am 27 years old! There is no bloody reason for me to have a tire around my waist now! I am healthy and I am vivacious, and I refuse to feel sorry for myself anymore!! So there you go.

Feeling bad for myself is out, and doing good things to my body is in. Stay tuned for tonight's recounting of my attempt at healthy eatingl!!!

Holy tubers, Batman!

Well what follows is the Blonde Person's Guide to Cooking because I am the blondest they come (I hide it well with my brown hair, ey?)!! I thought again how Tom said that the Vegetable Cutlets would be best with a waxy potato. I never really thought much of this, because the potato I buy most often is the Russet variety. Well thanks to foodsubs, I am now completely educated in anything potato-related. Russets are good for baking, as they are high-starch, but they don't hold their shape very well after cooking. However, white potatoes are low-starch (and waxy!) and are perfect for potato salads and are meant to be boiled. So I should have used a round white potato last night, not the Russet... Durr! No wonder the cutlets were soft!!!

Ok so here it is, one more time, really for myself!

White potato - waxy!

Russet potato - for baking!

Mama says, 'Eat your veggies!'

I waxed lyrical way back how I could never understand why veggie patties were called 'veggie burgers.' They aren't burgers, and the worse kind are the ones that try to look and taste like burgers. Tom writes in the Junk Food chapter how his version of the patties are called 'cutlets' because that is how they are referred to in India. And I've come to learn they are a far cry different from the pseudo-burgers plaguing the frozen food aisle of health food stores!

48. Vegetable Cutlets - *Junk Food*
49. Cured Cucumber - *Junk Food*

Tom includes a recipe for Cured Cucumber for people that often find gherkins too sweet for their sandwiches. I am not much of a lover of pickled stuff; though my dad is the ultimate kind. I think it's a Russian thing as there is nothing in this world he and my uncle wouldn't pickle. In fact, my dad is so proud of his pickled tomatoes he brings it along with us to restaurants. (I can't believe I ever owned up to that in something so public as a blog!)

But I decided to make the cucumbers tonight as Tom notes they mesh well with the cutlets, so why not?! I mean, I'd have to eat them eventually!

The cutlets involve a lot of steps -- this is not something you could whip up at a moment's notice when you are starving, but these do freeze well, so are perfect for advance cooking.

First, I boiled a potato whole -- Tom stipulates a waxy one. To this day, I am not sure what that means but got some russet potatoes as they are the ones that you end up with the gunk on your fingers.. is it wax?? So the potato boiled until tender, and I let it cool slightly so I could peel it. Meanwhile, I grated a carrot and put it into a pan with some water and thawed frozen peas. These cooked down for about 20 minutes until soft.

To the pan I added the potato and mashed the whole darn thing together! I seasoned with ground ginger and cumin, and then some salt and pepper. I let the whole thing cool for a bit, and then let it harden for a bit in the fridge.

While all this was going on, I got started on curing a cucumber. I halved a cucumber and scooped out its seeds. Then, I sliced it into diagonal crescents and sprinkled it with salt. I let it sit in a colander while I was making the vegetable cutlets.

Once it was done curing, after about an hour or so, I sprinkled it with white wine vinegar and chopped dill.

I got on with frying the patties. First, I coated the mixture in breadcrumbs. (I had asked Rafa to get polenta, which is quite close to fine cornmeal around these parts, but he got coarse instead, and I didn't want to spend dinner making crunching sounds! -- anyway breadcrumbs were another option.) I used butter to fry the patties, as Tom indicates it is the tastiest option.

I am really rubbish at flipping burgers, or really flipping anything, so I was not too excited by the soft texture of the mixture. But I managed to work it out, and the patties stayed intact. I served up the cutlets with the cucumber.

This was really good, and much better than I had expected. I had a bad experience with a veggie burger in the past as the texture was just way too soft for me. But this cutlet worked really well, especially with the cucumbers. It was perfectly seasoned, and quite lovely and filling. I had made two, one for me and for Rafa. Of course, I should have realized, Rafa's appetite usually equals two servings, so he could have done well eating two burgers! Who would have thought he was such a fan of veggie....cutlets!

Homestyle America

Many people are curious what 'American' cooking really is... I myself am perplexed with this, because although I live in America, I'm not sure New York could be considered the 'true' America. Almost everybody here is an immigrant; 1st generation, and onwards.

I came across this interesting article in today's NY Times, that talks about a woman, Phyllis Pellman Good, that has sold more books than Jamie Oliver, Giada De Laurentiis, and Ina Garten combined. She doesn't have a cooking show or book signings at posh bookstores in various cities. She is just a normal, down-to-earth American, that has gathered a series of cookbooks based on what people in America are cooking and baking.

The author of the article talks about that there are those people that love cookbooks that show foodgasm pictures as is usually associated in a glossy food magazine. The writer characterizes these people as ones that eat out '6 times a week.' Well I have to heartedly admit, I love foodporn books, such as the likes of Bill Granger and Nigella Lawson. But I certainly can't or even want to eat out all the time. These cookbooks are not display items for me; they are used, and battered! So I think there is some kind of middle-ground. Truthfully, as much as I am impressed and intrigued by Ms. Pellman-Good's success, I don't think that type of cooking would be for me. I came here as an immigrant, never really associated myself with Americana, so I guess that is why I am so open to British and Australian cuisine, among many others.

But for those that are interested in down-to-earth American home cooking, read that article (quite good reading!) and get yourself immersed in the rustic images of meatloaf and peach cobbler!

CL not feelin' the luv!

Today was another successful day of cooking, but again, no CL recipes. It's not that I ran out of recipes to try, I guess I just have felt like I've been neglecting my books a bit. But I'm back on the wagon this week for more cupboard lovin'.

So today I made Bill Granger's Baked Risotto with Zucchini, Tomato and Parmesan from bill's food but I varied it a bit based on what I had on hand... I used passata instead of chopped tomatoes and mushrooms instead of zucchini. I am not the type to change things too much, but I am trying to use up what I have instead of having to go out and buy new ingredients. And let's face, I'm just too lazy to go out anyway. :)

I'm particularly impressed by my poorman'sgrana shavings -- go Ilana!

Then, for dinner, I joined a cookalong I am participating in with some folks over at Nigella.com. We're cooking out of Feast, and this month are the Breakfast and Wedding Feast chapters. I decided to make an old favorite of mine; actually, it's my favorite Nigella chicken recipe full stop, the Golden Cardamon Chicken!

I guess it doesn't look like much, and for some people who haven't tried it, they're probably thinking, 'yeah, so what, it's fried chicken.' But, it's oh so special! The marinade for it is super delicious and is then fried inside-out so all its lovely juiciness stays in the chicken. It is served with crispy-onion spiced rice but this is a toned-down version with no crispy onion, but still plenty of flavor to the lovely fragrant rice! Two big thumbs up!

Watch this space for CL recipes to come shortly!!

Cupboard Shove

The conditions in my cupboard and fridge are a sad state of affairs. I have things in there that I may have used once or twice, and then never again found a need for. My cupboard is the Bermuda Triangle; ingredients come in and never leave again. This morning, in a rush of a feeling of domestic goddesstisity, I decided to do some early morning baking!

(Warning: No CL recipes follow!)

I love Tom’s book for its lovely savory meal ideas, but unfortunately Tom doesn’t offer many baking recipes. And sometimes a girl, or boy, just needs to bake! I had a box of walnuts in the cupboard, god knows what I used them for, and some dying bananas in the fridge from when I made Tom’s Tropical Shake. This called out to me, ‘Banana Bread’!!! So, I went to my trusty Nigella Lawson How to be a Domestic Goddess, and proceeded to make her lovely banana bread. I honestly didn’t have any intention of eating it myself, and this is for two reasons:

1. Even something as ‘wholesome’ as bananas and walnuts in a cake did not mean that it wouldn’t be about a million calories per slice, and U.S.S. Ilana really didn’t need any more calories making themselves permanent residents of her bum.

2. I loathe nuts in cakes. Loathe them! Nuts are lovely; cakes are lovely. Never shall the two meet. But, my brother-in-law, Roman, absolutely adores nuts in cake, and absolutely loves banana-nut bread. Though, in his case, it’s nut-banana bread as the nut to banana bread ratio should usually be about 5:1. This cake was for him, and it was an excellent opportunity to clean out my fridge and cupboard.

But my goddesstisity did not end there! I was feeling quite peckish late-morningish, and couldn’t be arsed to make eggs. So I gathered up some lovely rolled oats (not even cooked – how lazy am I?!), non-fat yogurt (from Curry Night) and honey, and made a sort of Lazy Woman’s Breakfast. Thinking about it now, I’m not exactly sure if I should be eating raw rolled oats. My left eye has been itching all day; should I be concerned?? :)

After my baking and creating marathon, I went into the city with hubby to spend a glorious day out… We ate at the most fantastic, retro Mexican café. It was wonderful – haven’t eaten that well in a long time. I should have taken my camera, the dessert was a masterpiece in itself. It was a spicy molten chocolate cake made from Valrhona, the Rolls Royce of chocolate, with a topping of cinnamon ice cream. If this blog was in Hebrew, I would say that that dessert was Haval Al Ha Zman, which literally means it was a waste of time… but in Hebrew, that’s a good thing!! LOL.

We came home and I just had this feeling like I needed to bake again! I had some dried cranberries leftover from a Nigella recipe from Christmas, that is Christmas 2004!! I had leftover white chocolate chips from the same recipe, also circa 2004! I didn’t manage to use them all up for the summer berries and white chocolate sauce recipe. So, I decided to reprise Nigella’s Feast recipe from 2004, and make the Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies. I didn’t have any dark brown sugar, so used light, and didn’t have enough white chocolate chips so also used the semi-sweet ones I had from Toll House. The result was fantastic; so much better than my first attempt at it. I followed the recipe to the letter, apart from the above variations, and I’m so impressed with them. These also utilized some rolled oats, which means they’re good for you… not! They’re going to Rafa’s swimmers tomorrow at practice. They are probably the fittest people I've ever come across, and that really needs to be remedied -- simply not fair! I have a feeling they'll like them!

** Restaurant Recommendation (and no, I don't work there!):

The restaurant mentioned above is the Rocking Horse Café. It is definitely more upscale than the Mexican many people think of, as retro ingredients are used in a quite different way.

I had: Enchiladas de Pollo with pomegranate charred free range chicken, pomegranate-guajillo salsa, refried beans & pickled cabbage

Hubby had: Ensalada de Calamares, which was crispy calamare-citrus salad with chorizo croutons & frisee

Price-wise, to give you an idea, I had a sort of huge main dish, hubby had the salad which was a good size. For drinks, I had a lime-ade and he a Corona. We shared that chocolate cake. Nachos and salsa were unlimited and on the house. The bill came, with tip, to around $50. Not bad for upscale food in a trendy area of Chelsea.

The website: Rocking Horse Café @ 182 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street), NYC 10011

The chocolate cake.....

The café....

The Forgotten

If there was a culinary equivalent of Child Services, then I would be the worst offender; those mugshots you see of people that have abused and abandoned their kids, well I've done to the same, to veggies! I honestly don't mean to (take out your small violins!), but I buy them with the best intentions, use a tiny bit of them, and then leave the rest to slowly die in my fridge.

I decided to dive into the Stir-Fries chapter tonight because I really needed to use up the leftover veggies I had in there...

47. A basic vegetarian stir-fry - *Stir-Fries*

The above recipe requires, among other things, a red onion and fresh ginger. When I had remembered this recipe on my way home tonight I had forgotten that these two ingredients were needed. (I really need to carry CL with me!) When I had read the recipe shortly after coming home, I ran to my fridge with hopes there was a red onion and ginger to save... I'm sad to report that the red onion did not make it. I don't know how long the 1/2 red onion has been there, it was hiding behind the milk. But, after many attempts to peel off layers, the red onion was not able to saved. The ginger, however, I did have, leftover from curry night. The world can't be saved by one person alone. :)

The stir-fry was stoopid easy! I just cut up some broccoli into small florets and sliced some carrots very finely with a vegetable peeler.

Then I made the sauce which is just some soy sauce, hot water and honey. The sliced onions went in first (I had white onions), and the chopped garlic and ginger followed. Finally, the broccoli and carrots joined the rest of the crew, shortly followed by the yummy sauce. I made some Perfect Rice to go with it, and it was a lovely accompaniment to soak up all the juices from the stir-fry.

This was a truly yummy stir-fry!! I felt so proud of myself for saving that lone and forgotten ginger in my fridge, and all virtuous after eating some veggies, and then I celebrated my good behavior by eating some Cookies & Cream ice cream. :)

Omelette Aux Fines Herbes

I have to say, I am kicking the Toast chapter's ass! I have made so many omelettes and eggs on toast already that I only have a few more to go... I guess this is a testament to how I love simple food and simple cooking. Tonight I had a pretty shitty day at work, so I couldn't be arsed to make anything too complicated for dinner, hence my return to the omelette.

46. Herby Omelette - *Toast*

Tom's 'classic' omelette aux fines herbes includes chervil, tarragon and parsley, but since I didn't have any of those herbs, I decided to use what I had on hand -- rosemary and thyme. (As Tom would write, I was having a 'Mother Hubbard' moment.) The Herby Omelette in CL is just the Basic Omelette with the herbs added at the end when the omelette is setting.

just-added herbs

set omelette

To pair off the omelette, I decided to use the leftover risotto from the other night to make arancini - a lovely Italian dish of fried risotto balls. Making arancini is super easy, and lucky for me I have a clever friend, by the name of Lisa, that taught me how to make these last year when I had leftover risi e bisi! Basically, all you do is roll up risotto into walnut-size and stick a piece of mozzarella in the center. You dunk the ball into flour, then a beaten egg, and finally in breadcrumbs. I think proper arancini is deep-fryed, but I don't have a deep-fryer or particularly like using all that oil, so I just shallow fry in EVOO. I used some of the rosemary oil leftover from the other night, as well!

The two together were delicious!! Afterwards, I lazily sat back on the couch and read the latest Delicious. Just how a Tuesday night should be spent!

Picky Eaters Club: Month 1

Well it's May 1st, so I reckon a summary report is appropriate now. In the first month of my project, I just have to say how much fun I am already having. I liked a lot more recipes than I ever thought I would, because even though I really have the best intentions, I am a pretty picky eater still, after many years of rehabilitation. Each month I will list my faves, plus all the things I have not bought or eaten previous to this Cupboard Love project.

Ingredients for a picky eater

Leeks
Paneer
Poppadums
Tofu
Orecchiette
Bean Sprouts
Rice-Stick Noodles
Dried Shitake Mushrooms
Parmesan/Poorman'sgrana

Not bad, ey? I am sure I will have a lot to add in the coming months as there is a whole world of ingredients I have never even seen or heard of, yipee!

And now for the faves, and these are the recipes that really stood out this month!

8. Chilli and Herb Risotto - *Risotto*
11. An easy lentil soup, the Turkish way - *Soup*
13. Cheese and Tomato Omelette- *Toast*
15. Bean Curd with Peanut Sauce and Cucumber - *Stir-Fries*
22. Oven Chips - *Junk Food*
42. An Easy Pilau - *Indian*
44. Tropical Shake - *Afters*

Also, I have made a total of 45 recipes in 30 days, which brings my rate to exactly 1 1/2 recipes a day!! I'm doing pretty well, and I hope to continue on this path!

Rosemary's a start...

After a gorgeous Spring day, I felt inspired to cook with some lovely herbs and vegetables! I had already decided I was making a lovely bread roll recipe from Delicious UK called Pandiramerino. It is a sort of Tuscan bread roll made of olive oil, rosemary and sultanas. A combination of the best flavors in the world, no?

I must have read CL's Risotto chapter countless times because just from memory I had remembered that one of Tom's risotto recipes involved rosemary, and I knew that this particular risotto would go wonderfully with the mellow-flavored pandiramerino.

45. Leek and Sheep's Cheese Risotto - *Risotto*

The rosemary does not show up in the title of the risotto because it is a very subtle flavor! I had some leftover homemade rosemary oil from making the bread rolls, so I decided to use that as my base, rather than ordinary EVOO. (In a Rachael Ray type of way, I will tell you for the hundredth time that it means Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.)

The base of the risotto involved leeks (durr!), garlic, and rosemary. Here is where I make my blog confession that I am not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to 'newish' ingredients. I have never bought, nor ever eaten, leeks, ever! In fact, I didn't even know what they looked like so I had to do a Google Image sort of thing for them, sent the pic to Rafa's Blackberry, so that he could pick me up four leeks at the grocery store on his way home. He did a great job, and we did indeed have leeks that night!


some lovely rosemary oil (isn't that green fabulous!) and the spring colors of the leeks (I think leeks are actually a winter veg, as Tom says the risotto is a wintry meal, but they look Spring-like to me) ;)

I sweated down some leeks and garlic with rosemary in the rosemary oil and butter. After just a few minutes, the leeks became lovely and soft and ready for the rest of the risotto ingredients.



I then added arborio rice, tomato pureé, and mixed it all around the lovely leek juices, before adding some white wine to fizz and bubble for about a minute. The rest of the risotto was quite simple; I kept topping up the risotto mixture with chicken stock, and it was ready after 30 minutes or so! I added grated pecorino romano (the sheep's cheese of the evening!), but didn't add any more butter as I don't like my risotto too buttery.

Finished risotto with bread in the background.

Close-up of bread

The risotto was very lovely, though I think it was a bit saltier than I am used to. I think this was due to the fact that I made the stock too concentrated -- see, I bought a big jar of it at Costco a while ago, with instructions of how many teaspoons per cup of water. But I threw out the jar when I transfered the powder to my lovely Living Kitchen storage jar, and it's been guesswork ever since then. I think I've learned my lesson, and have an inkling of how much powder per liquid there should be in the future!

However, the richness of the cheese with the rosemary went perfectly with the bread!! Since the bread had only a touch of sweetness and provided an unbelievable crunch from the olive oil, it was the most wonderful accompaniment to the soft and warming risotto. Another risotto hit, courtesy of Tom N-D!

(And in a couple of days shall make arancini with my fabulous mozzarella!)

Spring in Full Swing!

Springtime in New York, or more specifically, at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I went there today with my sister and mom and nephew, and we spent a lazy Sunday among the tulips and cherry blossoms... Just to show you that Brooklyn is not just a bunch of concrete, a flower does grow in Brooklyn!

My favorites - tulips!

In full bloom

The cherry blossoms

Eating al fresco is the best way to eat, isn't it? Even with our modest picnic we managed to do alright. Ever had pretzels dipped in natural peanut butter and jam? Perfection!

Hope you like curry!!!

Friday night had finally arrived, and it was time to get my curry cooking underway! I had decided to invite my wonderful friend Rosie, who is probably the most appreciative person in the universe when it comes to food, and my sister and brother-in-law with nephew in tow. My bro-in-law couldn't come because my nephew wasn't having a good day, so was instead put to bed early, and my B-I-L stayed with him.

I knew that all of my guests love some good Indian food, so I knew that the meal would be a hit, provided nothing went totally wrong!

39. A (kind of) Prawn Korma - *Indian*
40. Peas Braised with Indian Cheese (Muttor Paneer) - *Indian*
41. DIY: Make Your Own Paneer - *Larder Salads*
42. An Easy Pilau - *Indian*
43. Mint and Onion Chutney - *Indian*
44. Tropical Shake - *Afters*

You may recall that I had already made the Mango Chutney, but I needed to get the rest of the stuff done just before eating so that it could be lovely and fresh. Usually curries are best left in the fridge for a couple of days, but since I was working with prawns and cheese, I didn't want to cook the meals too far in advance. So the whole thing was a bit of a rush but I am not one to shy away from a challenge.

As soon as I got home from Queens, we started getting ready as we weren't sure when my sister would arrive. I chopped up the onion for the chutney as it needed to sit in milk for about an hour to get rid of its acrid taste. (After the hour, all I did was add chopped mint and salt, and that was it!)


I then sliced up another onion for the garnish for the Easy Pilau. I added the thinly sliced onion to a pan of warm vegetable oil and slowly fried it until golden brown.

In the short time it took to brown, I defrosted the prawns for the korma. Once the fried onion was done, I removed it with a slotted spoon to a plate, and then I started on the actual pilau. Using a few of the tablespoons of the oniony oil, I slowly fried a cinnamon stick, cloves, and some cardamon pods to release their aromatic flavor. To this I added the rice, sultanas, a saffron-infusion made of water, and enough water for the rice to steam. I let the mixture boil and then reduced the heat and covered the rice. After about fifteen minutes, the rice was lovely and fluffy, and I let it sit covered until the rest of dinner was done. (The final stage was to add some butter and salt to the rice, but I did that last, shortly before serving.)

While the rice was cooking I was sweating some onions, garlic, and loads of spices for the Muttor Paneer. Once they had released their juices, I added passata, water, and peas. This simmered gently for about fifteen minutes. I then took it off the heat, so that I could add the paneer (lovely Indian cheese) later. You will notice that I added the DIY version in my recipe count and included it in here, as well. Well, Tom has a few DIY recipes; I gather they are a way of showing anyone they can make lovely shop-bought ingredients from things you have at home. I'm taking these suggestions with a grain of salt, as I find sometimes shop-bought would be ten times better than my concoction. I am not being overly modest; I am just really clumsy, and a bit lazy! So although I will be only making some of the DIY recipes, I have included all of them in my recipe count -- how naughty am I! Before you start throwing your CL's at me, I have to say I have counted some recipes in the count that I now find aren't actually separate recipes, like the 'raw toppings' for the pizzas, which I intend to make. So the count still stands at 201 as it is approximately how many separate recipes there are in the book... Phew, back to cooking!

It was at about this time that my sister arrived, and quite hungry, so I put the pedal to the metal and really cranked it up a notch! We put the naan and samosas in the oven to warm a bit, and then it was time to cook the korma, which didn't take very long at all. It involved also sweating some onion and garlic with water. To this I added some spices, and then the prawns. The final additions were yogurt, ground almonds and some water. The korma thickened slightly, I added the paneer to the muttor, Rosie did an excellent job with her pyrotechnics while charring the poppadums, and then it was time to serve it up!

muttor paneer - absolutely luscious and delicious -- fantastic!

Clockwise from far left -- fresh naan, mango chutney, easy pilau, mint and onion chutney, prawn korma, and lovely poppadums prepared by my pyromaniac friend (and aren't the chutney bowls so cute - courtesy of Patel Brothers)

Fabulous Rosie -- lover of fire, eater of everything, and the perfect sous chef always asking how she could help -- that is the pilau on the left, my favorite part of the meal

Another view of the table - better view of the pilau

My plate - poppadums with mango chutney and the spiciest samosa known to man!

Well dinner was a complete success!! Everyone seemed to really enjoy everything, but as usual I made too much! Tom's recipes served 2, so I doubled all of them, but I think since we had extras like naan, poppadums, and chutney, we could never finish everything, though the prawns and the rice were almost finished. I have to say I enjoyed everything except for the prawns. Tom commented in the beginning of the recipe that his was not a typical Anglo-Indian korma that many Brits, and Americans I daresay, are quite familiar with. I found his particular korma too watery; perhaps I didn't thicken it enough, or maybe I should have added a thicker type of yogurt, like greek yogurt. It was still pretty darn good though, piled high on top of the pilau. Speaking of which, the rice was so perfect, lovely with the scent of cinnamon and cardamon, and the added sweetness of the fried onions and sultanas. I am going to be making this again, curry night or no curry night.

After some lovely dinner conversation and lots of laughing, I got started on dessert. I hadn't planned on anything heavy due to the large amount of courses, and wanted something cooling after the heavy curry. The Tropical Shake was the perfect candidate. It was a blended mixture of vanilla ice cream, pineapple juice, ice cubes, and bananas. It turned into a perfect, cooling shake, and so unbelievably yummy!

We all had a fair share of the shakes, and then my sister finished all of them off in her lovely slurping manner.

So the verdict from last night's curry night: Yum, and fun! And I was lucky that my guests loved to eat, a lot!

Magical Culinary Tour: Little India

After work on Friday, I met up with my good friend, Rosie, to take a small excursion to a very unique part of New York, Little India. So we met on the F train platform at 57th street, and headed to Jackson Heights, Queens, home to fabulous Indian supermarkets, sari shops, and the best Indian food in New York.

The beautiful colors of the sari shops on 74th street, Jackson Heights.

I wanted to head to Jackson Heights after work because I needed last minute goodies for the curry banquet that night. We headed straight to Patel Brothers, which is an Indian grocery super-store. It has literally everything you could ever imagine you'd need for curry night!

whole wall full of dhal (lentils)

and rice!

I picked up some paneer, poppadums, naan (packaged) for impromptu curry nights, and a couple of condiment bowls for the chutney!

On the way to get some fresh naan and samosas, we did some more window shopping. Check out the bling, Bollywood-style.


We finally got to a nearby restaurant to get some takeout naan and samosas for our dinner.

The lovely man at the restaurant let me take a shot of him. Here is retrieving some naan from the tandoori. The procedure, I observed, was to take that dough to his left, dimple it a bit, put it on that white spongy thing in front of him, and use it as a sort of mit to stick it into the oven. Then he would retrieve the cooked naan with that stick. The result is a lovely, fluffy, and warm piece of perfection!

We got back on the F with bags in tow to get home and start cooking!

101 Ways to F*** Up a Pizza!

I really should have known better. On a night when I literally had no time to spare to make dinner I choose one of the most consuming of all recipes in CL. Why, why, why??? Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment, or perhaps I am just a space cadet that doesn't think time exists in this world. Well I was determined to make it, so last night, I made pizza!

35. Pizza Dough - *Junk Food*
36. Quick Tomato Sauce - *Junk Food*
37. Margherita - *Junk Food*
38. Raw pizza topping (ham, rocket and parmesan) - *Junk Food*

Before I go into detail (because, as we all know, brevity is not a quality I possess!), let me just show you the aftermath of the evening.

Before I reveal how such a thing happened to my poor book, let me start off the beginning of the night. I still needed to get lots of things for tonight's dinner, and also for last night's dinner, so I decided to take the subway to Stop 'n' Shop after work. I can't ever spend just a few minutes there. Happily, I found all the things I needed but time did not stand still and it was getting quite late. After schlepping home with my unbelievably heavy bags (lots of canned goods, adds up!) I set to work making the pizza dough at 6:30pm. That is usually when we eat dinner!! I was feeling faint and quite hungry at this point, but I didn't let that stop me.

So I got on with the dough. I have to say the recipe for the dough worked a treat. I just mixed up flour, yeast, salt, tepid water, and some olive oil. After the dough kneaded for about five minutes in my KitchenAid, it was gorgeous and silky.

Basic Pizza Dough

I let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour, and then started on the Quick Tomato Sauce. Basically, I warmed some garlic slices in a bit of olive oil over a low heat. Meanwhile, I squished some canned, peeled tomatoes to oblivion until I got a sort of pureé. I had forgotten what juicy little suckers these were, so while I squished to oblivion, I also got tomato juice squirted on myself, my hair, the floor, the sink, etc. The sink looked like I had just stabbed someone to death.

Massacre in south Brooklyn!!!

Then the 'assaulted' tomatoes were added to the garlic with some salt. I chopped up some parsley and added this as well to make the sauce.

basics of the sauce: tomatoes, garlic, oil and parsley

This sauce was allowed to simmer for a few minutes, and it was done!!! Looked fabulous, if I do say so myself.

Quick Tomato Sauce

At the time the sauce was done, the bell in my oven dinged that the dough had enough rising. At this point, I was also chopping up mozzarella and talking to my gorgeous friend, Lisa, on the phone. Multitasker, I am!

It's important to mention now that my kitchen was running out of space, and fast!!! The one reason I like to keep dinner simple is because I just do not have a lot of room to have a few cooking stations. Everything basically needs to be done in the little space between the oven and the sink and on my tiny counter space near the fridge. Bad planning, being extremely exhausted (I had swept the entire apartment while the dough was rising too!), and hungry, made me really start freaking out at this point.

I put in a couple of pizza trays into the oven and cranked it up to its highest setting. Those who have heard me describe my nuclear reactor oven should get an idea of how hot it got in my kitchen at this point.

So I started working on the pizza dough. I punched the dough down and divided it into four. It is at this point that I read in the recipe that each circle was to measure around 24 centimeters!!! What???!!!! When I had drooled over the pictures in CL I had never noticed the pizzas were so large, I mean relatively. I thought they were little personal pizza types, so to make four would mean a lot of counter space for rolling. I did the best I could but I honestly was getting very annoyed with myself at this point. With limited space I could only get about 18cm diameter for each, and then I was really cursing myself because there was no way I could get a baking sheet to hold all four. I had put in two baking sheets into the oven, but I couldn't work out how I could transfer the pizzas when the sheets were so hot already. I guess all of this could have been figured out if I was in the right mind, but I just wasn't. It was already something like 8:30pm and dinner was nowhere near ready.

But I perservered. I got the toppings on the pizza. I left the toppings off two of the pizzas as they were going to have the raw filling, meaning they would go into the hot oven for about 10 minutes and then get the raw fillings put on for another 5 minutes of cooking.

The Margherita had fresh mozzarella and grated poorman'sgrana, while the raw pizza toppings, suggested by Tom, were parma ham (I used serrano!), rocket (arugula), and shaved parmesan.. Whoopsie, forgot the parmesan, even though it was right there and I had already used it on the other pizzas. Sheesh!

Raw pizzas ready for cooking

The raw ingredients

So the cooking did not go well at all. Only one of the pizzas seemed to brown and I couldn't exactly figure out how to get each to brown evenly since I was working with two very hot pizza trays. Then, I realized that I did put the oven to the highest setting, THE GRILL/BROIL SETTING, so of course the pizzas weren't getting brown, they weren't being cooked, only the grill part was functioning!!! Errgggh! Or maybe they were, I don't know, I still haven't figured out this oven after three years of living in my apartment. I quickly switched it to the highest setting, but not the Broil setting.

So instead of the raw toppings being, well, raw, they were instead cooked to a fine crisp. I guess in the end all pizzas looked OK. Rafa seemed to like them; but at 9pm I was so hungry and tired I didn't care anymore!!!

If you're wondering what happened to my poor book above, well I was seriously running out of room when rolling out the pizzas and I thought a book would be an ideal place to continue rolling out pizzas... Erm, well it wasn't. Thinking about it now, I have no idea what I was thinking. Oh well, a sign of love for a book is that it looks completely demolished, so I have achieved my purpose!

I am not usually this manic; last night just wasn't my night. It's OK; Tom has another sauce recipe for pizzas and loads of other topping suggestions, so as Arnie says, I Will Be Back!