Sassy Radishtag:www.sassyradish.com,2007-08-31://12008-07-17T12:21:43ZMovable Type Publishing Platform 4.0a short breaktag:www.sassyradish.com,2008://1.3122008-07-17T12:15:25Z2008-07-17T12:21:43Z Dear readers, I've got some good entries sitting on the back burner that I just can't seem to finish up at this point in time. The kitchen has been somewhat abandoned lately, in favor or trying to soak in...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
Dear readers, I've got some good entries sitting on the back burner that I just can't seem to finish up at this point in time. The kitchen has been somewhat abandoned lately, in favor or trying to soak in the summer nights, friends, wine and the ever-addictive spin classes. And on top of everything, there's been some bumps on the road, a bit of turmoil here and there that is increasingly needing more of my attention, which, sadly, comes at the cost of cooking and writing.
I'm taking a short'ish break and hope that you all will be here when I return. I'm sorry to just up and disappear, but I need some bandwidth to tend to more pressing matters at the moment.
I leave you with two pictures (and I must apologize for their quality as they were taken with my blackberry!) that I took while wading around a Chinatown grocery store. I found them pretty humorous and hope you do as well. I think they speak for themselves and any commentary, witty or otherwise, would detract from them. So enjoy.
Now, I might just go ahead and post a recipe in the next few days (proving myself wrong), but I wanted to at least partly explain my radio silence.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summers and taking advantage of all the bounty that's currently in season!]]>
potato, onion and swiss chard pizzatag:www.sassyradish.com,2008://1.3102008-07-03T19:17:55Z2008-07-03T19:18:48Z Sometimes letting the recipe speak for itself if the best thing ever. Which is why I will keep this short and sweet and flood your screen with pictures and just the recipe. Pizza dough is one of the easiest...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
Sometimes letting the recipe speak for itself if the best thing ever. Which is why I will keep this short and sweet and flood your screen with pictures and just the recipe. Pizza dough is one of the easiest things to make, and yet it gives you an amazing sense of accomplishment and this certain satisfaction of working with your hands.
I was very scared of working with yeast, and I'm not sure why. For some reason I thought it was a temperamental thing, yeast, that would not yield to me. But it did and so beautifully too. Pizza dough is going to be a regular thing, I tell you. And if you are short on time and can't wait 2 hours for it to rise, just stick it in the fridge overnight and the next day it'll all be ready for you. You just have let the dough come to room temperature, which could take a bit of time, but at least you have your work already done.
I can't tell you how easy this was and how much fun! Clean-up, I'll confess was way less fun as scraping the doughy bits off the granite counter took Herculean patience - they are sticky little buggers. But it's well worth the effort, I promise you. And unlike delicate pastry dough that fears humidity, this dough is way more robust. Just prepare for your apartment to heat up substantially - as the temperatures you'll be using to cook your pizza will be scorching hot!
And speaking of scorching hot, July is finally upon us and with it are the scorching temperatures. I hope everyone's 4th of July is festive, hot, and filled with picnics!]]>
Potato, Onion and Swiss Chard Pizza
Inspired by Deb at Smitten KitchenIngredients:
1½ cups flour (can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
½ cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 Russet potato - thinly sliced
½ medium onion thinly sliced
3 tbsp Swiss chard, sliced in thin ribbons
Preparation:
Stir flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring the mixture into a somewhat homogeneous lumpy sphere. Dump the lump onto a lightly floured counter and knead into a ball.
Deb mentions that if the dough is not cooperating with you right away,you should give it a few minutes' pause. Leave the dough in a lightly-floured spot, put the empty bowl upside-down on top of it and come back in 2 to 5 minutes. You will find the dough a lot more cooperative and pliable by then.
Knead the dough for just another minute or two. Lightly oil the bowl where you had mixed it, place the dough back in in, make sure all sides are coated with oil. At this point you should cover the bowl it in plastic wrap and leave it be for an hour or two. The dough should roughly double in size at this point.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and gently press the air out using your palms. Fold the dough back into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.
Preheat your oven - I followed Deb's advice and raised the temperature to its highest possible. Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal, and roll out the dough in a circular or rectangular shape.
Place on top thinly (thinly!) sliced pieces of potato, onion, and Swiss chard. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with a few ribbons of remaining Swiss chard and drizzle with a bit of the finest olive oil you have. Enjoy immediately! ]]>
chilled corn and cucumber souptag:www.sassyradish.com,2008://1.3092008-06-25T10:01:33Z2008-06-25T11:05:40Z One of the best things about summer is that it's full of produce so good, it's almost a shame to cook it. Every time I buy berries or fruit I wince at the thought of transforming them into something...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
One of the best things about summer is that it's full of produce so good, it's almost a shame to cook it. Every time I buy berries or fruit I wince at the thought of transforming them into something other than their natural state. Sure, I love pies and crumbles and jams as much as the next fruit junkie, but in this season, fresh and raw are sometimes best. Of course, it doesn't stop me from baking and cooking fruit, I just always have second thoughts about it. And yes, pies and crumbles just don't taste the same when the fruit is not in season or is frozen. I did however, manage to pull together a fresh corn soup that keeps the freshness of corn intact, while allowing you to do something different with it.
This soup is many things: fresh, raw, refreshing in the muggy heat of summer, vegetarian and vegan friendly, and best of all - a cinch to make in the kitchen. You could make this late at night after getting home from a grueling day at work and it will take you no more than 15 minutes! In the time it might take you to order a pizza, you could make this soup. Without even approaching your stove and making your already-hot apartment or house even hotter. Are you intrigued?
Other than the slight messiness of cutting the kernels off the cob, this is fun and easy. Yes, you need a blender or a food processor for this, perhaps the soup's only drawback. But all in all, this is a pretty energy-efficient soup if you think about it. With all the talk as of late of reducing your carbon footprint and with energy costs sky-high, you help the environment by not using the stove and thereby leave a few extra dollars in your pocket to treat yourself to a summer margarita - which, if the soup fails to take the edge off after the long day at work, the margarita surely will.
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Chilled Corn and Cucumber Soup
Ingredients:
3 ears of corn on the cob
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cucumber
juice of 1 lime
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 jalapeno pepper with seeds and pulp
1 tsp salt
Method:
But the corn off the cob - this may be messy and your kitchen might be covered with a few kernels here and there. You can clean it up later, but just be forewarned. Puree the corn in a food processor adding half a cup of vegetable stock to facilitate the process.
Peel and cut the cucumber in 1 inch pieces. Add the cucumber to the corn mixture and continue to pulse until pureed. Add the remaining stock to help emulsify.
Continue to pulse through and add the lime juice, the jalapeno pepper, and cilantro until well blended.
Season with salt and chill before serving. The soup actually tastes better the next day after the flavors had a chance to develop and blend together better, but it's also exceptionally good as soon as it's made.]]>
new and improvedtag:www.sassyradish.com,2008://1.3072008-06-23T09:59:36Z2008-06-23T11:48:10Z Welcome to Sassy Radish 2.0 -- this has been a project in the works for quite some time. And you will still see some additions, changes, tweaks. The categories, I know are slightly out of order - so they'll...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
Welcome to Sassy Radish 2.0 -- this has been a project in the works for quite some time. And you will still see some additions, changes, tweaks. The categories, I know are slightly out of order - so they'll be fixed.
But what you get instead of the old design are the following improvements:
1. Recipe Index - perhaps the most useful feature of the newly redesigned site.
2. Cleaner, breathe-easy design - I'm a big fan of whitespace and hope you are as well.
3. Better categorization.
4. Tag cloud, so you can search you an ingredient or a theme (also being tweaked as clearly you can't see it at the moment).
5. Last 5 entries/comments.
6. About me page - which is still blank, mostly because I can't come up with anything interesting to write about me.
7. Conversions page - being tweaked.
8. I'll add Archives by Month on the left hand side too.
9. Logo -- the little radish outline is now the official logo!
I will be tweaking this more in the upcoming weeks, but in the meantime let me know your your comments and suggestions.
Last, but not least, this site could not have been made possible without the hard work of my friend Katy, a designer par excellence who put this site together and to whom I owe a debt of gratitude and beyond!]]>
braised baby turnipstag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.3062008-06-20T13:00:41Z2008-06-23T13:43:58Z I think baby-anything is cuter than its adult version. Puppies, kittens, baby seals, baby pandas, regular people babies. Baby vegetables, especially turnips, are cuter than their adult counterparts too - just look at these baby turnips - aren't they...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
I think baby-anything is cuter than its adult version. Puppies, kittens, baby seals, baby pandas, regular people babies. Baby vegetables, especially turnips, are cuter than their adult counterparts too - just look at these baby turnips - aren't they just adorable?
Just look at them - aren't they adorable? So little and white and perfectly-rounded - bursting with spring freshness! As soon as I saw them at the market, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them and it wasn't anything complicated. Why mess with perfection?
So what I did was a simple braise - in olive oil and lemon juice with a few garlic cloves thrown in for flavor. Some herbes de Provence a little salt and white pepper - and that's it. And then I had the turnips with a little white wine, closing my eyes in bliss. They didn't taste of the earth like mature turnips do, but of the sun and rain, filled with juice, bursting with a sweet flavor - unhardened by the seasons and the temperature. Babies they were - so unpolluted and pure - and so darn cute on my plate, I almost paused to eat them. Almost, of course. And then a few minutes later, they were gone, with a lemony taste lingering in my mouth for a few more moments.]]>
1 bunch baby turnips (about 1 lb)
1 lemon
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (not your most prized stuff, but pretty good should do)
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp herbes de provence
Wash the turnips and trim their greens so only the little green stumps remain. Place them in an ovenproof clay dish and combine with the remaining ingredients. Mix everything around and be sure to have the turnips evenly coated. You want there to be roughly 1/2 an inch of oil/lemon juice combo.
Cover the dish and cook in the oven for aroun 40 minutes - when turnips are done, they should be soft when you pierce them. They might also burst a little with juice.
You can eat them plain like I did, or as a side dish to whatever you happen to be making. They're terribly good, these turnips and we wished we had more of them to go around. I also discovered that you can eat the green stumps on them - they get all lemony and soft and are very tasty!
bourbon-spiked banana breadtag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.3052008-06-16T18:28:27Z2008-07-02T16:36:20Z My love-affair with the South is multi-fold and I can wax poetic for hours putting most normal folks to sleep, but if I had to pick my three favorite things, it would be what I refer to as the...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
My love-affair with the South is multi-fold and I can wax poetic for hours putting most normal folks to sleep, but if I had to pick my three favorite things, it would be what I refer to as the Three B's: bluegrass, barbecue and bourbon. And if ever I could combine all three, it would be pure heaven. It's very hard to me to resist bourbon in food as well. The famous tipsy-cakes is probably what started the love-affair and the Jack Daniel's ice cream at this place didn't help the matters. I've sampled quite a few bourbons in the past, and have finally found my favorite, but I'm always on the lookout for new, small-batch-made bourbon.
I'm not sure where the idea of putting bourbon into banana bread came from, but I'm glad I did it - the bread gave off a deep caramel aroma and it accentuated the sweetness of the banana. In my now-predicable move, I substituted cranberries for walnuts as I greatly prefer more tart to my quick-breads and because I have my cranberry supply to go through.
I suggest pouring out a slightly more generous portion of bourbon than the recipe calls for - it's quite possible, if not probable, that you might want to have a taste prior to adding the bourbon to the batter, you know, to make sure it hasn't gone bad or anything. Quality control is so important nowadays.
UPDATE: Kris in the comment section, very accurately pointed out to me that JD is not bourbon but is sour mash whiskey - a very good point indeed. For those of you looking for a quick primer on the difference, I found one here!]]>
Martha Stewart
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 tsp bourbon
1/2 cup cranberries
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, bourbon and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.]]>
green garlic and spinach souptag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.3042008-06-09T17:34:38Z2008-06-23T13:46:31Z Oh hi, it's me, it's seems that I've yet again fallen into crazy days at work, days that are interminable. My last push towards getting better from the endless cold involved getting a second course of antibiotics and last...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
Oh hi, it's me, it's seems that I've yet again fallen into crazy days at work, days that are interminable. My last push towards getting better from the endless cold involved getting a second course of antibiotics and last week was all but a blur, with 15 hour work days and general chaos notwithstanding. The antibiotics are also making me very tired as a result, but one of the side-effects is that of having trouble sleeping. Lovely, lovely stuff, I tell ya.
However, I have to, however briefly, tell you about this soup I made a few weeks back that was just beyond heaven. I was quite inspired by Molly's dreamy write-up on it and ever since I read her post on this soup, it's been on the foreground of my mind.
And so when I spied the green garlic at our Saturday local greenmarket, I was quite overcome with joy because this soup was now well within my reach! My enthusiasm scared KS a bit because once I set my mind on something food-related, I am very ebullient about it. He is more of a subdued force and acts as a very good foil to my otherwise irrational exuberance. But I think this time my glee was well-founded - we loved the soup so much, we finished all, but a single bowl of it in one hungry sitting.
I added some seductively fragrant extra-virgin olive oil to our bowls as we try to go as much dairy-free as possible. I highly recommend a dollop of the finest olive oil you have in the house to enhance it.]]>
Orangette
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
½ to ¾ lb. green garlic, thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only - the really green parts are too stringy and a bit woody in texture, so I recommend tossing them)
Salt
1 qt. vegetable or mild chicken broth (I use organic broth from Whole Foods as I never seem to make my own stock)
8 to 10 oz. baby spinach leaves
1 Tbsp. crème fraîche
Warm the olive oil and butter in a large and deep saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the green garlic and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic turns soft and translucent. As the garlic cooks, its scent will change from sharp and pungent to sweeter, almost caramel-like and more mellow - don't worry about looking for that moment, you will definitely smell it.
When the garlic is ready, add the stock, raise the heat, and bring the stock and garlic to a boil. Immediately lower the heat to bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes more. Toss in the spinach and immediately turn off the stove. Let the soup sit for about 5 minutes - no more and then, purée the mixture in a blender. If you are pouring the soup into a blender, you will be working in batches. However, if you're a little lazy like me, you will use your immersion blender (a tool whose value I can't even describe!) and blend everything in the pot.
The soup should be a rich shade of green and very smooth.
Return the soup to the pot, and place it over low heat to rewarm gently. Add 1 Tbsp. crème fraîche and another pinch or two of salt. Taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary.
Serve warm or hot, with a drizzle of olive oil or a dollop of crème fraîche, if you like.
Notes:1. If you are working with a blender, remember never to fill the blender more than a quarter or a third full, because the hot liquid will expand when you turn on the motor.
2. If you think you want to experiment with the dark green leaves, learn from me and toss them before even contemplating their cooking. When you try to blend them whether by an immersion blender or a traditional one, you will find that the stringy parts get caught on the blade and are a real pain to remove.]]>
lemon yogurt cake with cranberriestag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.3032008-05-27T19:10:47Z2008-06-23T13:49:21Z The day after I wrote about the delicious Korean pancake, I came down with the cold to end all colds. And 12 days since the day I fell sick, I am still dealing with its remnants, which manifest themselves...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
The day after I wrote about the delicious Korean pancake, I came down with the cold to end all colds. And 12 days since the day I fell sick, I am still dealing with its remnants, which manifest themselves in pressure in my sinuses so bad, I have an upper jaw toothache. The same cold that managed to make me cough up a lung, develop a case of nasty pink eye, that very same cold has been unresponsive to antibiotics and other medicine. I'm seeing my doctor today again for hopefully stronger meds - I should be getting frequent flier miles there. I've used up numerous tissues and might be on the government's special monitor list for buying too many decongestants. I swear, I'm not making anything out of them!
And so without a doubt, this long weekend was to be spent at home, recuperating and gaining my strength back. My boss also asked me to babysit her two pugs for a day, and while the dogs are very cute and friendly, I must say, I am a large dog person after all. For one reason or another, we couldn't leave the pugs at home to take a walk outside - one of the dogs looked as if he was going to have a heart attack when he realized we might be leaving. So I sent KS off to watch the new Indiana Jones, while I puttered around the kitchen. We had some lemons left over and some yogurt I had to put to some good use in order not to throw it out, and so I once again, relied on Ina Garten's recipe for her lemon yogurt cake, which I have made with blood oranges and Deb over at Smitten Kitchen made with grapefruit and other citrus things.
I omitted the glaze from my cake because I find that glazes generally ruin baked goods for me. I dislike glazed cakes the same way I dislike frosted cookies - I find them overly sweet. Without the glaze, the cake is a wonderful morning accompaniment to coffee, or stands as a snack on its own. And were I to make any other enhancements, I would say, use about half the oil the recipe asks for and you will wind up with a lovely, moist, seductively-scented cake. I can't resist lemons in anything - and with the sun shining and the warm weather finally settling in, this lemon cake just makes me want to grin from ear to ear.
Of course, no cake of this nature for me would be replete without cranberries, as I like a little bit of tartness in the otherwise sweet dough. As some of you might know, each November, I buy about 6 bags of cranberries, use about 2-3 bags on the holiday itself, and then freeze the remaining 3 bags. They last me about a year and make a fantastic addition to things like pumpkin bread, apple pie and the above creation.]]>
Barefoot Contessa
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Gr
ease and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.
Note: I find the glaze to be overly sweet and it ruins the cake for me, but I realize that most people enjoy glaze on their cake. So I kept it as part of the recipe, but omitted it on my cake.]]>
korean pancaketag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.3022008-05-15T21:35:14Z2008-06-23T13:50:58Z People, it's been a busy week and it all started on Monday when KS and I attended a wonderful benefit, which was inspirational and motivating. I've been asked to try to create a Russia-based branch - so we'll see...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
People, it's been a busy week and it all started on Monday when KS and I attended a wonderful benefit, which was inspirational and motivating. I've been asked to try to create a Russia-based branch - so we'll see if I am successful in launching a Russia chapter. Would be swell!
The other weeknights, tonight included, KS has been galavanting around town for business-related functions, and I (sigh) have been left home alone, forced to fend for myself and cook single portion meals, which could at times be daunting. Well, not this time!
While catching up on my daily food blog reading, I came upon David Lebovitz' recipe for a Korean pancake. And it looked so good that I resolved to cook it that very evening for my own single-portion dinner.
Except, when it comes to cooking for myself, I am quite shockingly lazy. I mean really lazy. Lazy enough that I had to stand in the kitchen making a mental list of pros and cons of whether or not I should cook this dish for myself. We're talking about a five minute dish, here. But I was all, "Meh, I have to clean up after myself and I don't wanna," and "All I want to do is watch Freaks & Geeks on dvd, not cook and clean up!" People, I mean stupendously lazy. But I was so ashamed of just how lazy I was, that my own self-shame, propelled me to get off my behind and make this pancake.
Which. Was. Amazing.
I know that David instructed to let this pancake cool before eating it, but in my book, that just wasn't happening - I was far too hungry to wait. I ate it warm, drizzled with Sriracha sauce (ok, so not really Korean, but still) and a side of kimchee, which I could eat daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And it was heavenly and I was even more ashamed of having even debated making it.
And so, tonight, with KS being out and about again, I am left to my own devices. I have a bunch of scallions left over and a jar of kimchee in the fridge. I think another pancake is in order for dinner. I just hope that I don't have the same internal laziness debate when I get home - that would be truly embarrassing.]]>
David's Instructions below:
Korean Pancake
Make one 9-inch (23cm) pancake
There's plenty of variations on this recipe and you can certainly make your own up, using some of my suggestions above. I find a non-stick skillet yields best results, but if you use a cast iron, be sure to add enough oil to prevent the pancake from sticking. I use relatively high heat since I want a nice, browned crust.
A large spatula works best for flipping it, although you can slide it onto a dinner plate and flip it that way, or even cut it in half, then flip each piece separately.Next I'm going to experiment using sparkling water, or maybe add a pour of beer in place of some of the water.
1/2 cup (70g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (125ml) ice-cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large or extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 bunch of scallions
a spoonful of soy sauce
optional: dried red pepper slices
vegetable oil, for frying
1. Stir together the flour, water and salt until just mixed.
2. Chop the green parts of the scallions into 3-inch (10cm) lengths. Reserve the white parts for another use.
3. Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil in a 9 or 10-inch (23-26cm) skillet, preferably non-stick, until hot. Fry the scallions until they're completely cooked through and soft. Add a touch of soy sauce to the pan when they're almost done, to season the scallions.
4. If using other ingredients, any vegetables, kimchi, or prawns--what have you‐add them now, then toss a few times to heat them through.
5. Pour the pancake batter over the scallions (and other stuff in the pan), spreading the batter, and cook a few minutes until the bottom is nice and brown underneath. Lift the edge to peek.
6. Pour the beaten egg on top then swirl the pan to even out the egg a bit, still keeping it pretty uneven. Distribute the dried pepper strands over the egg, if using, and cook until the egg is just beginning to firm near the edges.
7. Using a wide spatula, flip the pancake and cook for another minute or two until the egg is set and preferably crispy at the edges. (I tend it cook it pretty well, although I like hard-cooked fried eggs, which I know ain't "gourmet", so use your judgment.)
5. Slide pancake onto a cutting board, then cool to room temperature. Cut into six or eight wedges, and serve with dipping sauce made by mixing 3 parts soy sauce with 1-2 parts rice vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil. A bit of chile oil can also be added.
Radish Note: I didn't have the dried peppers a la David, so I used hot red pepper flakes instead; and I used the white parts of the scallion because I love them so. I also want to try making the pancake with rice flour and see how it tastes. Lastly, my flipping skills]]>
chocolate-covered matzotag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.3012008-05-01T17:05:23Z2008-06-23T01:12:34Z I’m going to make this short and sweet for several reasons. First of all there is little I can say about chocolate-covered matzo, other than it’s super easy to make, it tastes really good, and it gives you a...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
I’m going to make this short and sweet for several reasons. First of all there is little I can say about chocolate-covered matzo, other than it’s super easy to make, it tastes really good, and it gives you a great way to use your leftover matzo, which you probably have grown sick of in the 8 day span when Passover ran your life and diet.
Me, I had a few boxes left over, reminding me of my over-zealousness in preparation for the holiday. Also, chocolate-covered matzo is so easy to make, it’s almost embarrassing to dedicate a whole blog post to it, let alone give you the recipe for how to make it. It’s almost as if I would talk down to you all, it’s that easy. And talking down to you is the last thing I want to do.
But here’s the thing – this simple snack tastes so good, I want to tell the world, you don’t have to eat your matzo plain, or with cream cheese or butter – you can have it with chocolate. (As if I needed another reason to have chocolate.)
And lastly, I want to keep this short because today is my 30th birthday(here come the wrinkles!) So I want to go and revel in the day – I think I deserve it. Maybe I'll make myself a chocolate-covered matzo and stick a candle in it.
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1 slice matzo
6 squares of good-quality, dark chocolate such as Michel Cluizel
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, or if you are lazy like me, a microwave
Spread the melted chocolate over the matzo slice until the slice is thoroughly covered and place the matzo in the fridge until the chocolate cools and solidifies. Remove from the fridge and enjoy.
chicken soup with matzo ballstag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.3002008-04-25T14:46:38Z2008-06-23T01:12:34Z I meant to post this earlier this week – KS was sick this weekend and I made him this chicken soup. But I myself came down with a horrible stomach bug on Wednesday and could do no more than...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
I meant to post this earlier this week – KS was sick this weekend and I made him this chicken soup. But I myself came down with a horrible stomach bug on Wednesday and could do no more than lie in bed and sleep while trying to shake of a fever. But now that I’m better, I have to post this recipe before it gets way too hot for chicken soup. Because this was KS’s favorite soup to date and besides the porcini mushroom soup which I can’t speak highly enough of, this might be mine too.
Everything in the soup just worked, the flavors were deep, developed, perfect. It possessed a thick heartiness to it, and filled your belly with warm, comforting, familiar flavors. I call it my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup. I put a lot of various things in it and it does take some time to make, but it is totally and wholly worth it.
Don't forget to skim the frothy part of the broth when the whole thing boils for the first time - for that I've included a rather unappetising picture of the froth - so you know what it looks like and are compelled to skim it ever-so-vigilantly.
I would also steer you in the direction of buying a whole chicken, rather than chicken parts. I’m convinced that there’s something magical in the proportion of white meat and dark meat and it makes the broth just right texture wise. It’s just as simple to pull the bones out of a whole chicken as chicken parts – when it’s so fully cooked it’s falling off the bone, the whole process takes mere minutes. Besides, when you get a whole chicken, you get the neck, the giblets and the tiny chicken liver – and aren’t those the best parts?
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for the soup:
10 cups of water
1 chicken
1 large onion, unpeeled, washed
10 sprigs of dill
4 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
3 tbsp chopped ginger
1 turnip, cubed into ½ inch pieces
1 parsnip, sliced up in semi-circles
8-10 baby carrots
juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp salt
2 potatoes, cubed into 1 inch pieces
for the matzo balls
½ cup matzo meal
2 eggs room temperature, lightly beaten
2 tbsp vegetable oil or schmaltz
2 tbsp seltzer water
½ - 1 tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp finely chopped dill
prepare the soup
Thoroughly wash the chicken and place it in the pot. Add the water, the onion, the bunch of dill (tied with a string), celery and salt. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam that will form on top. Discard the foam, continue to cook on medium-high heat until the foam stops appearing. Lower the heat to medium-low and add ginger, the turnip, the parsnip, carrots and the lemon juice. Cover and cook over very low heat for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, taste the broth and see if you want more salt, or other seasonings in it. Pull the chicken out. It should be falling apart and falling off the bone. Pull the bones out and discard, and cut up the chicken in pieces. Place half of the chicken back in the soup and half put aside for chicken salad the next day. Ever-so-slightly increase the heat and add the potatoes.
While the potatoes cook, start on the matzo balls.
prepare the matzo balls
Mix all the matzo balls ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Take the matzo ball mix out of the refrigerator and place by the stove where your soup is simmering. Place a bowl of cold water next to your matzo ball mix – you will need to dip your hands in it so that the matzo meal won’t stick to your palms.
Grab a bit of the mix and roll it in your palms to a ball about 1 inch in diameter. Drop the matzo balls in the soup one at a time. When out of the mix, cover the soup and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the soup from heat. Serve in bowls immediately with freshly cut dill sprinkled on top.]]>
chicken piccatatag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.2992008-04-18T12:41:56Z2008-06-23T01:12:34Z There comes a point at every Passover when I begin to grow tired of the traditional dishes, the gefilte fish starts looking revolting, and no matter which way you slice it, all I really want is a bagel, or...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
There comes a point at every Passover when I begin to grow tired of the traditional dishes, the gefilte fish starts looking revolting, and no matter which way you slice it, all I really want is a bagel, or a bowl of pasta, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; simple and gratifying,. They are all humble foods, honest and filling, and I miss them terribly. The eight days begin to seem interminable. What can I say - I like my leavened starches!
But truth be told, I doubt I would miss any of those things, if I could take the entire week off and just focus on Passover cooking, if I didn’t have to balance it with a 12-hour workday. I could get creative and just spend my days creating holiday appropriate dishes. I have always wanted to host a Mediterranean seder, serving some Italian and Greek-inspired dishes. Maybe a roasted rack of lamb, or a branzini.
Oh, but there’s also my version of chicken piccata. I’ve deviated a bit from the traditional way of making it in that I roast my chicken with all the ingredients. Perhaps that’s an insult to the traditional method of preparation, but I like my way better. Sautéed chicken always leaves me a bit lackluster, but roast chicken – now that’s a whole different story altogether.
I also find that on a night when you come home from work, tired and hungry and with a laundry-list of to-do items around the apartment, this version is fantastically easy to put together and not worry about until it’s time to pull the chicken out. With the exception of a singular trip to the oven to turn the chicken breasts over, you are free to buzz about your home, tidying up, paying bills, folding laundry, or simply kicking back on the couch with a glass of wine, watching Seinfeld reruns. The latter happens to be my preference, but somehow errands get in the way.
By omitting butter from the recipe here, you magically transform this every-day dish into kosher-for-Passover dish. I should do a bit more research, but I believe capers are permitted to use during the holiday. Everything else in the recipe, lemon, wine, garlic, olive oil, salt, are permitted for Passover use.
So there you have it, an easy-peasy Passover recipe that isn’t gefilte fish. How fabulous is that? And I dare say that most of these ingredients should already be in your pantry, save perhaps the capers, but those are easy enough to locate. And maybe adding another dish into your Passover repertoire will make the week go by a bit faster. And before you know it, you’ll be enjoying that bagel or that bowl of pasta all over again!]]>
Gourmet, October 1991
Serves 2
Ingredients:
a 3/4-pound whole skinless boneless chicken breast, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon drained bottled capers, chopped
3 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
Salt
Method:
Halve the chicken pieces horizontally with a sharp knife and flatten them slightly between sheets of plastic wrap. Marinade overnight with oil, lemon juice, wine and garlic. In a glass baking dish put the marinated chicken skin side down and add the capers. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. Bake in the oven at 350-375 for about 45 minutes removing the chicken once to turn it skin side up. Chicken will be done when pierced with knife and juices run clear. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle some chopped parsley before serving.]]>
meringues, sort oftag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.2982008-04-13T21:29:15Z2008-06-23T01:12:33Z When I think of the phrase “spectacular disaster” I think of an implied double meaning. Is it a disaster so notable that it will be long remembered? Or was it as disaster that turned out rather well, unexpectedly? In...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
When I think of the phrase “spectacular disaster” I think of an implied double meaning. Is it a disaster so notable that it will be long remembered? Or was it as disaster that turned out rather well, unexpectedly? In my case, this Sunday, it was the latter.
I tried to make meringues and failed. Failed miserably as they were the flattest, saddest looking things you’ve ever laid eyes on. Fluffy and cloud-like they were not. Instead, they were crispy, flat, thin, two-dimensional. They were so deflated and when I took them out of the oven, they deflated even more, thus crushing my already-fragile cooking ego to a paper-thin level.
Growing up, my mother would make meringues that dreams are made of. They were impossibly airy, beautifully crumbly and dissolved on your tongue like a fairy-tale dessert. In fact, my favorite way to eat them would while reading Grimm Brothers’ Fairytales – stories, I am still fond of to this day. All she used were egg whites and sugar. And they were perfect every time.
I decided to give my meringues a little edge and added vanilla and lemon zest. I’m not sure whether it was the timing of adding sugar to the egg whites or the lemon zest itself, but I never wound up with stiff airy peaks like you’re supposed to. And perhaps I should have stopped right there, but I decided not to trust my gut and bake these guys anyway.
After I pulled the out of the oven, they were a pathetic bunch. I might have heard a sad sigh from one of them, or it could have been all in my head. Still, I refused to throw them in the garbage and when I bit into one, I was pleasantly surprised. They weren’t bad.
Now, I’m the first to admit failure when I am faced with one. If I took a class on meringues, and this was going to be my final product, I would expect an F. And yet, these egg white crisps were not bad, they were quite tasty, but in a completely different way. I might even try to make them again because they were quite intriguing, these crisps.
And so I wonder, as I bite into another crisp – a spectacular disaster? Perhaps not spectacular per se, but certainly a palatable one.]]>
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
Preparation:
Combine eggs whites, vanilla, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff but not dry.
Beat in sugar gradually until mixture forms stiff peaks and has a satiny sheen.
Fold in lemon zest.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.]]>
couscous with peas, mint and cilantrotag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.2972008-04-08T11:43:26Z2008-06-23T01:12:33Z While the beer-braised lamb was nothing to get excited about, the couscous I made to complement the dish - was. I'll be as brief about it as the time it takes to cook the whole thing. It was exactly...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
While the beer-braised lamb was nothing to get excited about, the couscous I made to complement the dish - was. I'll be as brief about it as the time it takes to cook the whole thing. It was exactly what I was looking for in a spring dish - the peas sweetened the couscous, while the mint and cilantro added freshness and the promise that this rain and cold are not permanent elements of the season, but rather fleeting ones. That the sunshine and the warmth I was longing for, are just around the corner. I'm still waiting.
This side was wonderfully easy to make and will have to be made again soon - I couldn't get enough of it! If you're planning a last minute dinner party and are looking for something fantastic yet simple, this is something to consider. If you plan ahead (something I've not been able to do lately given work's insanity) you can even use fresh peas, which undoubtedly would make this couscous even better!
And of course, if you happen to dislike either mint or cilantro, there's no reason not to try other herbs in their place. How about dill or parsley? Maybe some chives and cucumbers instead? If none of those options appeal to you, try adding some lemon zest to your couscous and watch it come alive!]]>
For the couscous:
1 cup couscous
1 1/4 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups frozen peas cooked according to the package instructions
3 tsp mint
3 tsp cilantro
For the yogurt dip:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp cilantro
1 tsp mint
salt/pepper to taste
Heat water, oil and salt in the pot until boiling and stir in couscous and peas. Let stand for 5 minutes until the water absorbs into couscous completely. Stir in mint and cilantro.
While the water is absorbing into couscous, mix cilantro and mint in yogurt and season with salt and pepper.
Serve couscous with the yogurt mix, alongside the lamb (if you so desire), or on its own, or as a complement to another dish you have made. The couscous tastes just as great the following day, however, watch out for mint - the leaves brown quickly.]]>
beer braised leg of lambtag:www.sassyradish.com,2008:/redesign//1.2962008-04-03T00:50:17Z2008-06-23T01:12:33Z I'm not sure how to segue into this post I've written and rewritten this post nearly half a dozen times and I'm just not feeling it. Perhaps because making this dish left me pretty bleh to begin with. Not...radishhttp://www.sassyradish.com
I'm not sure how to segue into this post I've written and rewritten this post nearly half a dozen times and I'm just not feeling it. Perhaps because making this dish left me pretty bleh to begin with. Not terrible, not great - it was simply "meh" on the scale of "ewww" to "mmmm". It was just so-so. And it was largely my fault.
I'm very picky with lamb. Almost ridiculously so. Back in high-school when I ate Easter dinner with my then-boyfriend's family, it was the one holiday meal I kind of dreaded. Out of politeness for the mother, I would break my strict vegetarianism to take a symbolic bite sized piece of lamb, flavored only with salt and rosemary. But what made me quiver was the mint jelly, which to this day reminds me of eating toothpaste. But give me a fragrant Uzbek plov, or Persian manty, and I can't get enough lamb. It's all in the flavoring I suppose. Like I said, I'm tricky with this meat.
And so when KS and I picked up a leg of lamb (on sale!) at Whole Foods on Sunday, fresh from our Carribean get-away and eager to fill up our fridge and pantry with edibles, I was rather indecisive of how I wanted to cook it.
Part of me wanted to roast it. Part of me wanted to braise it. Part of me wanted something simple and a part of me wanted a dish full of complex spices. In short, I was asking for the impossible and I wasn't going to take it.
After failing to find a recipe I liked, I decided to marry a few of my own. I was going to braise the lamb in beer, but add more spices and herbs than what the recipe called for. And perhaps that's where I went wrong because the dish just didn't know what it wanted to be. And so it was just so-so.
Tyler Florence recommended a Roast Leg of Lamb with beer, honey and thyme and while I liked the idea of beer, but not of honey or thyme. Another recipe with my favorite Alton Brown, suggested a grilled leg of lamb with pomegranate molasses. But we lacked an indoor grill, and for some reason, KS is not a fan of sweet/salty combinations. I managed to sneak some of it in anyway and he still doesn't know about it (or he will once he reads this post).
We ate this dish in its entirety and are completely now lamb'ed out. And though this recipe was a bit of a letdown, the couscous I made along-side it was nothing short of incredible. But that's for Sunday night. We're off to DC for a wedding some the cherry blossoms festival. If anyone has any fantastic brunch recommendations in the Georgetown area or beyond, please let me know!
]]>
Adapted from Tyler Florence
Ingredients:
7 to 8 pound leg of lamb, thighbone removed, and shin bone in (have your butcher do this)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoon fresh rosemary
3 tablespoon fresh cilantro
3 cardamom pods, ground
3 cloves, ground
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1 tsp white pepper, ground
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups stout beer or porter (recommended: Guinness)
1/2 cup honey (I used pomegranate molasses)
1 teaspoon juniper berries, crushed (optional, I didn't have those)
2 bay leaves
1 onion, sliced
10 baby carrots
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Open the leg of lamb and season the inside with half the garlic, half the thyme leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, rosemary, pepper, cilantro, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper. Tie the lamb closed with string. Place it in a roasting pan, season with salt and pepper, and brush it with olive oil. In a bowl mix the beer, honey, remaining garlic and thyme, juniper berries, and bay leaves. Pour this over the lamb and put the roasting pan into oven. Throw in sliced onions and baby carrots.
Immediately turn the oven down to 325 degrees F. Baste every 10 minutes. Cook 12 to 13 minutes per pound for medium rare or until internal temperature reaches 130 to 135 degrees F. Remove the roast from the oven, cover it loosely with foil and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before carving. Serve with pan drippings.]]>
Dear readers, I've got some good entries sitting on the back burner that I just can't seem to finish up at this point in time. The kitchen has been somewhat abandoned lately, in favor or trying to soak in the summer nights, friends, wine and the ever-addictive spin classes. And on top of everything, there's been some bumps on the road, a bit of turmoil here and there that is increasingly needing more of my attention, which, sadly, comes at the cost of cooking and writing.
I'm taking a short'ish break and hope that you all will be here when I return. I'm sorry to just up and disappear, but I need some bandwidth to tend to more pressing matters at the moment.
I leave you with two pictures (and I must apologize for their quality as they were taken with my blackberry!) that I took while wading around a Chinatown grocery store. I found them pretty humorous and hope you do as well. I think they speak for themselves and any commentary, witty or otherwise, would detract from them. So enjoy.
Now, I might just go ahead and post a recipe in the next few days (proving myself wrong), but I wanted to at least partly explain my radio silence.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summers and taking advantage of all the bounty that's currently in season!]]>
Sometimes letting the recipe speak for itself if the best thing ever. Which is why I will keep this short and sweet and flood your screen with pictures and just the recipe. Pizza dough is one of the easiest things to make, and yet it gives you an amazing sense of accomplishment and this certain satisfaction of working with your hands.
One of the best things about summer is that it's full of produce so good, it's almost a shame to cook it. Every time I buy berries or fruit I wince at the thought of transforming them into something other than their natural state. Sure, I love pies and crumbles and jams as much as the next fruit junkie, but in this season, fresh and raw are sometimes best. Of course, it doesn't stop me from baking and cooking fruit, I just always have second thoughts about it. And yes, pies and crumbles just don't taste the same when the fruit is not in season or is frozen. I did however, manage to pull together a fresh corn soup that keeps the freshness of corn intact, while allowing you to do something different with it.
Welcome to Sassy Radish 2.0 -- this has been a project in the works for quite some time. And you will still see some additions, changes, tweaks. The categories, I know are slightly out of order - so they'll be fixed.
But what you get instead of the old design are the following improvements:
1. Recipe Index - perhaps the most useful feature of the newly redesigned site.
2. Cleaner, breathe-easy design - I'm a big fan of whitespace and hope you are as well.
3. Better categorization.
4. Tag cloud, so you can search you an ingredient or a theme (also being tweaked as clearly you can't see it at the moment).
5. Last 5 entries/comments.
6. About me page - which is still blank, mostly because I can't come up with anything interesting to write about me.
7. Conversions page - being tweaked.
8. I'll add Archives by Month on the left hand side too.
9. Logo -- the little radish outline is now the official logo!
I will be tweaking this more in the upcoming weeks, but in the meantime let me know your your comments and suggestions.
Last, but not least, this site could not have been made possible without the hard work of my friend Katy, a designer par excellence who put this site together and to whom I owe a debt of gratitude and beyond!]]>
I think baby-anything is cuter than its adult version. Puppies, kittens, baby seals, baby pandas, regular people babies. Baby vegetables, especially turnips, are cuter than their adult counterparts too - just look at these baby turnips - aren't they just adorable?
Just look at them - aren't they adorable? So little and white and perfectly-rounded - bursting with spring freshness! As soon as I saw them at the market, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them and it wasn't anything complicated. Why mess with perfection?
My love-affair with the South is multi-fold and I can wax poetic for hours putting most normal folks to sleep, but if I had to pick my three favorite things, it would be what I refer to as the Three B's: bluegrass, barbecue and bourbon. And if ever I could combine all three, it would be pure heaven. It's very hard to me to resist bourbon in food as well. The famous tipsy-cakes is probably what started the love-affair and the Jack Daniel's ice cream at this place didn't help the matters. I've sampled quite a few bourbons in the past, and have finally found my favorite, but I'm always on the lookout for new, small-batch-made bourbon.
Oh hi, it's me, it's seems that I've yet again fallen into crazy days at work, days that are interminable. My last push towards getting better from the endless cold involved getting a second course of antibiotics and last week was all but a blur, with 15 hour work days and general chaos notwithstanding. The antibiotics are also making me very tired as a result, but one of the side-effects is that of having trouble sleeping. Lovely, lovely stuff, I tell ya.
The day after I wrote about the delicious Korean pancake, I came down with the cold to end all colds. And 12 days since the day I fell sick, I am still dealing with its remnants, which manifest themselves in pressure in my sinuses so bad, I have an upper jaw toothache. The same cold that managed to make me cough up a lung, develop a case of nasty pink eye, that very same cold has been unresponsive to antibiotics and other medicine. I'm seeing my doctor today again for hopefully stronger meds - I should be getting frequent flier miles there. I've used up numerous tissues and might be on the government's special monitor list for buying too many decongestants. I swear, I'm not making anything out of them!
People, it's been a busy week and it all started on Monday when KS and I attended a wonderful benefit, which was inspirational and motivating. I've been asked to try to create a Russia-based branch - so we'll see if I am successful in launching a Russia chapter. Would be swell!
The other weeknights, tonight included, KS has been galavanting around town for business-related functions, and I (sigh) have been left home alone, forced to fend for myself and cook single portion meals, which could at times be daunting. Well, not this time!
I’m going to make this short and sweet for several reasons. First of all there is little I can say about chocolate-covered matzo, other than it’s super easy to make, it tastes really good, and it gives you a great way to use your leftover matzo, which you probably have grown sick of in the 8 day span when Passover ran your life and diet.
I meant to post this earlier this week – KS was sick this weekend and I made him this chicken soup. But I myself came down with a horrible stomach bug on Wednesday and could do no more than lie in bed and sleep while trying to shake of a fever. But now that I’m better, I have to post this recipe before it gets way too hot for chicken soup. Because this was KS’s favorite soup to date and besides the porcini mushroom soup which I can’t speak highly enough of, this might be mine too.
Everything in the soup just worked, the flavors were deep, developed, perfect. It possessed a thick heartiness to it, and filled your belly with warm, comforting, familiar flavors. I call it my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup. I put a lot of various things in it and it does take some time to make, but it is totally and wholly worth it.
There comes a point at every Passover when I begin to grow tired of the traditional dishes, the gefilte fish starts looking revolting, and no matter which way you slice it, all I really want is a bagel, or a bowl of pasta, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; simple and gratifying,. They are all humble foods, honest and filling, and I miss them terribly. The eight days begin to seem interminable. What can I say - I like my leavened starches!
But truth be told, I doubt I would miss any of those things, if I could take the entire week off and just focus on Passover cooking, if I didn’t have to balance it with a 12-hour workday. I could get creative and just spend my days creating holiday appropriate dishes. I have always wanted to host a Mediterranean seder, serving some Italian and Greek-inspired dishes. Maybe a roasted rack of lamb, or a branzini.
When I think of the phrase “spectacular disaster” I think of an implied double meaning. Is it a disaster so notable that it will be long remembered? Or was it as disaster that turned out rather well, unexpectedly? In my case, this Sunday, it was the latter.
I tried to make meringues and failed. Failed miserably as they were the flattest, saddest looking things you’ve ever laid eyes on. Fluffy and cloud-like they were not. Instead, they were crispy, flat, thin, two-dimensional. They were so deflated and when I took them out of the oven, they deflated even more, thus crushing my already-fragile cooking ego to a paper-thin level.
While the beer-braised lamb was nothing to get excited about, the couscous I made to complement the dish - was. I'll be as brief about it as the time it takes to cook the whole thing. It was exactly what I was looking for in a spring dish - the peas sweetened the couscous, while the mint and cilantro added freshness and the promise that this rain and cold are not permanent elements of the season, but rather fleeting ones. That the sunshine and the warmth I was longing for, are just around the corner. I'm still waiting.
I'm not sure how to segue into this post I've written and rewritten this post nearly half a dozen times and I'm just not feeling it. Perhaps because making this dish left me pretty bleh to begin with. Not terrible, not great - it was simply "meh" on the scale of "ewww" to "mmmm". It was just so-so. And it was largely my fault.
I'm very picky with lamb. Almost ridiculously so. Back in high-school when I ate Easter dinner with my then-boyfriend's family, it was the one holiday meal I kind of dreaded. Out of politeness for the mother, I would break my strict vegetarianism to take a symbolic bite sized piece of lamb, flavored only with salt and rosemary. But what made me quiver was the mint jelly, which to this day reminds me of eating toothpaste. But give me a fragrant Uzbek plov, or Persian manty, and I can't get enough lamb. It's all in the flavoring I suppose. Like I said, I'm tricky with this meat.
