Author Archives for Swati Raje

Kimchi Fried Rice

My obsession with Kimchi Fried Rice began at the Departure Lounge in Portland, Oregon during one of my many business trips to that city.  I sat at the bar for one of my many dinners alone and started a conversation with the bartender around cocktails.  I explained that I don’t like cocktails that are too sweet or have too many different liquors in them and so he suggested the Tasho Macho which is made with chile infused vodka, thai basil, lime juice and a touch of simple syrup.  It was spicy and delicious! He then recommended that I try the kimchi fried rice since I liked spicy foods, and so I ordered it.  All I can say is I was addicted.  So much so that I would find some way to eat it at least once on nearly every trip to Portland, and there were many.

I no longer travel to Portland for work and miss so many things about the city, including this wonderful bowl of spicy goodness.  But while you can’t duplicate the people in your life, a plate of food is certainly something I can work with.  And so, I’ve been on a mission – to learn to make great kimchi fried rice.  My favorite so far is the Francis Lam recipe published in the  NY Times (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018097-kimchi-fried-rice) which has been a hit at several parties.

The below recipe I made up in my head yesterday while walking through Whole Foods trying to figure out what to make for dinner based on what I had at home and could make quickly.  I must say it came out quite delicious and I would definitely make it again.  Traditionally it is made with ham or spam but with tofu substitute, it’s a great option for vegetarians too.

Kimchi Fried Rice

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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A great side or weekday dinner


Ingredients

  • 1/2 canola oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion – chopped
  • 3 large cloves garlic – finely chopped
  • 2 Thai green chiles – finely chopped
  • 5 stalks fresh asparagus – trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces on the diagonal
  • 1/2 Cup grated carrots
  • 1 1/2 Cups extra firm tofu cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 Cup chopped kimchi
  • 2 Tbsp kimchi juice
  • 2 Cups cooked rice (I used basmati)
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
  • Salt to taste
  • Black sesame seeds for garnich

Directions

Heat a large saute pan or wok on medium heat.  Add the oil.  Once the oil has heated thru (test by adding a small piece of onion – it should sizzle), add the onion, garlic and green chiles.  Stir and cook for 1 minute.  Then add the asparagus and carrots stirring to combine.  Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes stirring occasionally.  Then add the kimchi, kimchi juice and tofu.  Stir and cook for 2 minutes until heated through.  Lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 3 minutes or until the asparagus is crisp tender.  Add the rice and turn up the heat to medium high.  Stir to combine and continue stirring for 4 – 5 minutes until rice is hot and has soaked up the flavors.  Add salt as needed (I didn’t add any) and stir.  Turn off heat, add lime juice and cilantro.  Serve in a bowl garnished with a sprig of cilantro and black sesame seeds.

Optionally you may add a fried egg on top and/or drizzle some sesame oil.   

What’s up with all the Quinoa?

Ever since the quinoa craze started several years ago, I’ve tried to learn to like this grain that is supposed to be healthy for me – low carbs, low glycemic index & high protein.  But try as I did, I just could not embrace the taste or the texture.  Believers would coax me into trying it this way or that way and try to convince me to try their own favorite versions, but my palate just wouldn’t budge.

As a general rule I try any food at least three times before I write it off since preparation, location and mood are factors in how one evaluates a dish.  Mostly I tend to eat almost anything and everything (even offal in small quantities) and encourage my son to do the same.  Quinoa I’ve tried many many times and still had issues with until recently.

A friend made a quinoa salad and brought it to my house for a lunch I was hosting.  It was the first time I ate quinoa and found it to be palatable, and I realized it was all about the proportion and balance of other ingredients she added which made the quinoa, not the star but more of a cast member in the salad.  This eliminated my textural issue with the grain.  She made a honey lime dressing for the salad and the acid from the lime had penetrated the quinoa enough to reduce the flavor issue.

So, while I liked and ate that salad, I still didn’t enjoy it enough to make quinoa and eat it regularly.  Until I experimented with this recipe one day and figured out that I had only ever eaten quinoa cold as a salad.  I’ve now discovered that it is so much better served hot and with lots of flavor. Now I make a batch of this nearly every week and eat it for lunch several times throughout the week.  Sometimes topped with a fried egg, or warm grilled chicken. At other times, just the way it is.  I don’t have a photo but the recipe is below.

But the war is not yet won.  The quinoa challenge will be truly won when I can get my son to love it too.  That will take many more battles!!!

Spicy Vegetarian Quinoa

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Nutritious Weekday Lunch


Ingredients

  • 1 Cup white quinoa
  • 1 Cup frozen shelled edamame
  • 1 medium onion – chopped (I prefer red onion)
  • 2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper – cut into large dice
  • 4 leaves Tuscan kale – chopped roughly
  • 2 carrots – cut into large dice
  • 1 or 2 dry red chiles (chile de arbol)
  • 1/4 Cup olive oil
  • 1/4 Cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • Juice of 1 lime

Directions

Prepare the quinoa per package directions.  In a separate pot, boil 2 cups water with 1/2 tsp salt. Add edamame, return to a boil and allow to cook for 5 mins. Drain and set aside. Heat a saute pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil and red chile and cumin seeds.  When the seeds start to start to sizzle and turn darker, add the onion & garlic and stir for about a minute until onion is translucent.  Add the bell pepper, kale and carrots.  Stir and cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp tender.  Season with salt and add the edamame. Stir to combine.  Add the prepared quinoa and stir well.  Then add lime juice and cilantro and stir again to combine.  Enjoy warm.  If storing in fridge, be sure to warm up before serving.  Tastes really great for brunch with a fried or poached egg on top.

Tip: You can substitute almost any vegetables in this including spinach, asparagus, peas, etc.  I almost never make the same one twice.

Making Momos

People who love to cook, often bond over this mutual interest. I have some friends who enjoy cooking and food as much as I do and we are always at each other’s homes sharing meals or swapping food when we “accidentally” make too much.  Recently we decided to form a cooking club so we can each learn from one another.  It is a bonus that we all come from different ethnic backgrounds and so are able to cook a wide array of foods from around the world.

Our first cooking adventure took us to Nepal as we learned to make Momos, a Nepali dumpling often served at family gatherings and as a street food.  Our hosts come from Nepal and had the prep work done before the rest of the crew arrived to help with the actual making of the momos.  We had so much fun mixing up the filling and getting little tips on the ingredients while we sipped on wine, beer or scotch and gabbed our way through the process.  We rolled some of the wrappers out with a pasta machine (#5 setting) using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, and rolled some by hand to get the full experience.  The most fun of course was eating the fruits of our labor.  The momos are served with a relish called “achaar” that has a base of roasted tomatoes.  Below I’ve shared some photos and a video of our adventure.  The recipe follows.  I estimated the recipe as my friend makes it the old fashioned way (without measurements), or what is referred to in Hindi/Marathi as andaaz.  Though my friend made the dumpling dough from scratch, this recipe calls for store bought thin dumpling wrappers as the dough is not easy to perfect.  If you make these momos please let me know if it needs any adjustment or if you do something different.

 

Momos

  • Servings: approx. 6
  • Difficulty: medium
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Credit: Monika S

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey (you can substitute ground chicken, lamb, goat or beef. Traditionally made with goat)
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped Chinese chives
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated or chopped
  • 6 scallions finely chopped
  • ¼ head cabbage, finely chopped or ground in a food processor
  • ½ Cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 Thai bird or green chiles finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp salt or to taste
  • up to 1 cup of water
  • thin, round dumpling wrappers

Directions

  1. Fill a large pot with a steamer insert with enough water so as not to touch the insert and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce to simmer.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the water and mix well.
  3. Add water 1 Tbsp at a time and continue mixing until the meat mixture is fairly loose and wet. You should not be able to make a firm meatball with it.
  4. Cook a tester meatball in a pan and taste for seasoning.
  5. Adjust seasoning if needed and remix thoroughly
  6. Add 1 Tbsp of meat mixture onto a dumpling wrapper and roll per the video above to form the momo.
  7. Place momos in the steamer basket until filled
  8. Steam momos for 10-12 minutes until cooked
  9. Serve hot with tomato achaar (recipe follows)

Tomato Achaar

  • Servings: makes approx 2 Cups
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4-6 Roma tomatoes roasted in oven until skin is slightly charred
  • 1 Cup Cilantro leaves and stems
  • 3-4 Thai or green chiles (adjust for heat preference)
  • 4 Cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp Szechuan peppercorn
  • 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 2 tsps roasted white sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in a blender and grind to a fine puree

 

Lahmahjun – Indian Style

My first job out of college was in midtown Manhattan and opened up a whole new world of food for me.  During those years, I was able explore so many cuisines and restaurants and thus began my love for food.  My boss was of Armenian heritage and had also lived in Egypt and France and introduced me to foods that I’d never even heard of.  Every year, her mother would visit from California and would make something called Lahmahjun (pronounced Lach-maa-joon).  It is a thin flat bread topped with a thin layer of ground lamb, tomatoes and spices.  It was delicious and something I will always remember.
Thirty years later, as I planned my annual holiday party menu, I thought of the lahmahjun and decided to give it a try, but with my own twist of course.  During a two hour drive for work the following week, I came up with this recipe which modifies the original into a more Indian version.  It was a huge hit, but I couldn’t give out the recipe because I had just made it up in my head as I went along.  So, I made it again the following week for another dinner and this time wrote down the recipe.  With success a second time around, I decided it was a keeper and worth posting

Lahmahjun - Indian Style

  • Servings: approx 20
  • Difficulty: easy
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A quick & easy appetizer for impromptu entertaining


Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground lamb (you can substitute beef or chicken also)
  • 1 medium red onion grated
  • 2 -3 cloves garlic mashed to a paste
  • 1 inch piece of ginger grated
  • 2 thai green or red chiles finely chopped (seeds can be removed for less heat)
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped mint
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala (I make my own but store bought is fine too)
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 10 tandoori naan (available at Indian markets but can also substitute pocket-less Greek pitas)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the naan and mix well.  With a spoon spread a thin layer of ground lamb mix onto each naan and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and cut into strips and serve with a cucumber & yogurt raita or with a small dollop on plain yogurt.  If you prefer a more crispy result, bake for an addiitonal 5 minutes. 
Unfortunately I took no photos of my dish but here’s a photo of traditional Lahmahjun so you have an idea of how it looks.  Enjoy!!
 
 

 

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

Dear Readers,

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

 

 
 
The first time I ever had bread pudding was at an all-you-can-eat buffet in Reno, Nevada. I was about 12 years old, and from what I recall, I was not impressed. I didn’t understand the appeal of the almost mushy texture that was occasionally interrupted by the chewiness of the raisins that were mixed in. I was convinced that I strongly disliked bread pudding from that day onward.
Fast-forward to my early 20’s, when I was in college and officially allowed to hang around the casinos for late night food with friends. One night, something strongly called me to order the bread pudding that was being offered as a special at Hash House a Go Go, and I succumbed. I think that’s one of the best 2AM decisions I’ve ever made as that marks the start of my affinity to this deliciously dense dessert. This recipe is one of the many versions I’ve created, based on some of my favorite flavors.
 

Nori’s Bread Pudding w/ Bourbon Crème Anglaise

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Credit: Nori DeVega

Ingredients

    Bread Pudding– 1 ½ cups 2% milk
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup bourbon
  • ¼ stick butter (melted) (+more for greasing pan)
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp pure maple syrup
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar (+ more for sprinkling on top)
  • 1 pinch salt (I use Jacobsen Vanilla Bean Sea Salt)
  • ½ tsp cardamom
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
  • 1 small loaf of day old crusty bread (I use Grand Central Piccolo Como), cut into 2-3 inch cubes
  • 2 eggs, beaten

Vanilla Bourbon Crème Anglaise

  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ¼ – ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • ¼ cup bourbon

    • Directions

      Bread Pudding

    • Heat oven to 350 degrees
    • In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk, butter, vanilla, sugar and salt – stir until incorporated
    • Let cool
    • Butter a 2-quart glass baking dish
    • Add eggs and spices to cooled milk mixture and whisk
    • Slowly whisk in bourbon
    • In a large mixing bowl, pour mixture over bread and let soak for 10-15 minutes
    • Pour everything into the baking dish and sprinkle with brown sugar (I like to paint a – little melted butter on the mixture before sprinkling the sugar)
    • Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until custard is set but still a little wobbly and edges of bread have browned

    Make Crème Anglaise

    – Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into a non-stick saucepan before putting in the entire pod
  • Pour in milk and cream.
  • Over medium heat, stir with a wooden spoon
  • Before the milk is brought to a simmer, whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until the mixture is fully incorporated
  • Slowly pour a little of the hot milk into the yolk mixture while whisking to slowly warm the eggs and sugar (be very careful not to do this too quickly so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs!)
  • Slowly do this until all the warm milk is incorporated into the egg mixture
  • Slowly whisk in bourbon
  • Pour everything back into the saucepan
  • Turn the on low and continue to cook, stirring with the wooden spoon and making sure to scrape the corners of the pan
  • Keep stirring over low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon (about 2-3 minutes)
  • Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve back into the bowl
  • Fill a larger bowl with a few inches of ice water, and set the bowl of Crème Anglaise on top of the ice bath to cool for a minute

    •  

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