WBB #9- Eggstra-Ordinary Breakfast Round Up

Filed Under Blog Events, Breakfast and Brunch, Eggs | 16 Comments

Weekend Breakfast Blogging is a wonderful event started by beautiful and talented Nandita of Saffron Trail. The theme for March was to come up with a breakfast/brunch dish with eggs as the main ingredient. Without further ado I give you the amazing recipes the egg lover foodies -and some egg haters too- have come up with, just in time for Easter.

That is our round up for WBB #9. Hope you got some great ideas for this weekend.

Indira of Mahanandi is hosting WBB #10. Stay tuned for the theme announcement at Mahanandi and Saffron Trail.

Technorati tags: WBB, Weekend Breakgast Blogging, Eggs, Blog Events

Bloody Mary Dipping Sauce

Filed Under American, Chutneys and Dips and Pickles, Recipes, Shrimp or Prawn, Tomato | 15 Comments

I am not a big Bloody Mary fan, I like the taste, but don’t really like to drink a glass full of it. So when I saw Rachael Ray whipping up a Bloody Mary dipping sauce on Food Network for Halloween, I had to try and recreate it at home. After several tries, I got one mix that I really liked. This makes a great dipping sauce for Shrimp instead of regular cocktail sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 finely chopped shallot
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp hot Tabasco sauce
• 1 cup canned tomato sauce
• 1 tsp horseradish
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp cayenne powder
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup vodka (optional)
• salt for taste
• 1/2 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add chopped shallots and saute till the shallots turn soft. Add vodka and reduce by about half quantity. Add all the sauces, horseradish and the spices. Stir well to combine and let the sauce boil. When it starts to bubble stir well and season with salt and pepper. Let it cool down to room temperature.

Serving Suggestion

Cut out a small portion from the top of a firm round tomato of desired size, so that it looks like a cup. Clean the inside by removing the flesh and seeds from inside.  ( I normally chop up the top part and the inside of the tomato and use it in the sauce while cooking.) Pour the Bloody Mary sauce to fill about 3/4th of the tomato. Arrange cooked shrimp inside the tomato as shown in the picture. Squeeze a lime on the shrimp and season with salt and pepper.

A bunch of tomatoes filled with shrimp is a very pretty arrangement for a party. The sauce can be prepared a day in advance, and read-to-eat cooked shrimp is available in stores, an easy appetizer course.

This is my entry for JFI - Tomato hosted by RP of My Workshop. Read more about Jihva For Ingredients at Mahanandi.

The Salad Cup

The tomato I used for the bowl is a hybrid variety called Dulcinea™ Rosso Bruno™.  It is available in all the organic grocers at least in Seattle. These are very tasty tomatoes and are excellent in salad. More info here: http://www.dulcinea.com/rosso_bruno_faq.html .

Fried Kibbeh Balls - Lebanese cuisine

Filed Under Appetizers and Snacks, Lamb or Goat, Middle Eastern, Nuts, Recipes | 12 Comments

The best Lebanese food I’ve ever had was in Ireland of all the places! I was in Dublin on a business trip and my Irish colleagues took us to their favorite Lebanese restaurant for dinner - may be because there were people from four different continents in our group - and the food was amazing! Next day I was out shopping , I wasn’t looking for it, but it so happened that there was a tiny pocket sized Lebanese cookbook next to the check-out counter and I had to buy it. This was two years ago, then I promptly forgot about the book until I saw Meeta’s Monthly Mingle theme - Arabian cuisine. I’ve never made any middle eastern food at home, even though I love the cuisine! Thanks to Meeta, I dug out my cookbook and decided to make the national dish of Lebanon - Kibbeh.

Situated between the Middle East and Mediterranean, Lebanon is a cultural crossroad between east and west. Lebanese cuisine is very unique in the sense that it combines the subtleties of European cuisine with the exotic eastern ingredients. Like the other Mediterranean cuisines, Lebanese cuisine is considered very healthy. 

One of the main ingredients widely used in most of the Lebanese dishes is bulgur (also known as burghul or bulghur) , it is made by parboiling wheat, then drying and coarsely grinding it. The outer bran layers are removed and the grain is cracked, and then steamed or boiled to make the nutty tasting bulgur.

Kibbeh, the national dish of Lebanon in its simplest form is oval shaped nuggets made with a mix of ground lamb and bulgur, and can be made grilled, boiled or fried. I love everything fried, and my book had the recipe for Fried Kibbeh balls, so here it is.

I didn’t alter the recipe much, other than adding some black pepper and salt,  since the original recipe didn’t call for much heat, and I think they forgot to mention salt. :) 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup bulgur
• 1/2 lb lamb
• 1 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice (pimento)
• 1/2 tsp ground oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• salt for taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• vegetable oil for shallow frying
• Filling
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup ground lamb
  • 1/4 cup chopped onions
  • 1/2 tbsp pine nuts
  • 1/2 tbsp silvered almonds
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
  • 1/2 tbsp pepper
  • salt for taste

Method

Place bulgur in a bowl and pour cold water to cover. Keep for about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water, and squeeze well to remove the moisture.

Make the Filling: - Heat oil in a small frying pan, add the onions and cook till soft, add the pine nuts and almonds and cook till they start to brown. Add the spice powders, salt and ground lamb and cook till the meat is cooked through. Remove from the stove and stir in the mint leaves and keep aside.

Add the bulgur, ground lamb, chopped onions, olive oil and the spices to a large bowl and mix well to combine. Add a little water if necessary.

Shape the mixture into equal sized balls, this will make about 8 balls. Insert your thumb to make a hollow space in the ball, place the filling in the hollow and flatten out the balls and shape into ovals so that the filling is completely covered.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the Kibbeh balls till all the sides are browned and the meat is cooked through.

Recipe adapted from Australian Women’s Weekly Lebanese Cooking.

I made a a dipping sauce by mixing 1/4 cup creme fraiche with 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp of chopped mint leaves to go with the Kibbeh.

The Kibbeh turned out pretty good for a first trial. I loved the texture of the bulgur-lamb combo and the nutty filling inside was a surprising pleasure to bite into. Next time I would spice it up a little more.

This is my contribution for Monthly Mingle #9 Arabian Nights hosted by lovely Meeta. Thanks Meeta for the wonderful theme.

Note: Coincidentally I just learned about allspice from Asha today. I had allspice in my spice rack, but I always thought it was a mix of spices like Garam Masala as in All + Spice. My cookbook says it is called Lebanese Pepper in Lebanon, Wikipedia calls it Jamaican Pepper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allspice 

Eggstra-Ordinary Spanish Tortilla

Filed Under Breakfast and Brunch, Eggs, Potato, Recipes, Spanish, Sweet Potato or Yam | 17 Comments

Spanish Tortilla or tortilla de patatas or tortilla española is one of the signature dishes of Spain. Unlike the name suggests ,there is no flour in this; it is a potato omelette. This thick and delicious simple omelette is such a favorite in Spain, it seems in olden ages country girls in Spain could improve their chances of finding the perfect husband by making an excellent tortilla! Spanish omelettes can be eaten hot or cold or at room temperature, this makes a wholesome brunch, and the left overs can be used for a quick snack.

I hope the Spanish will forgive me for modifying their traditional recipe! I used purple potatoes and added some sweet potatoes and red bell peppers for color and used some Indian spices to kick it up a notch.

Ingredients

• 5 Eggs
• 2 large potatoes peeled and thinly sliced
• I medium sized onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup sweet potato cubes
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 tsp milk
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• olive oil

Method

Heat oil in a skillet and add onions and potatoes and cook covered on low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the spices and salt to the pan and mix well till the potatoes are well seasoned. Then add the bell peppers and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes till the potatoes are soft.

Beat the eggs along with 1 tsp of milk in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove cooked potato mixture from the pan and add to the beaten eggs in the bowl.

Wipe the pan clean and heat some more oil. When the oil is hot, pour the egg mixture and cook for about 4 minutes. Cover the pan with a flat plate and invert the omelette onto the plate. Then slide the omelette back into the pan so that the cooked side is on top.

Cook for another 4-5 minutes until brown. I like mine a little runny. Insert a fork to check the moisture and cook till the desired doneness. 

Serve the omelette in wedges with a side salad and bacon and topped with a dollop of creme fraiche.

Check out wikipedia for some more Spanish Tortilla info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_tortilla

Here is another look

This is my Eggstra-Ordinary Breakfast entry for Weekend Breakfast Blogging #9 which I am guest hosting this month for Nandita of Saffron Trail. Fellow foodies have sent in some eggcellent entries, come back and check out the round up on Friday, March 30th just in time for some breakfast ideas for the weekend.

I is for Ilaneer (Tender Coconut Water)

Filed Under Coconut, India - Kerala, Mocktails, Recipes | 17 Comments

Ilaneer as Tender Coconut water is known in Kerala is one of the most delicious natural thirst quenchers in the world. On long road trips during the hot summers back home, the roadside Ilaneer vendors were like gods to us. At less than Rs. 10/. (less than 25¢) for a coconut, this very affordable drink is a great alternative to the expensive colas which are full of chemicals and artificial sweeteners. The refreshing tender coconut water is sweet in taste and has a lot of medicinal values. 

For those who are not familiar with coconuts, don’t confuse coconut water with coconut milk. Check Wikipedia for more information on coconut water. 

Ilaneer is best on its own, but it is okay to mix it up once in a while for a little variety. Here is a tender coconut water drink recipe adapted from Mrs. B.F Varughese’s book “Recipes for All Occasions Part 3″. This one is so refreshingly tasty, make sure you make enough for seconds.

Tender Coconut Drink

Ingredients

• 2 cups tender coconut water
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup tender coconut pulp
• 3 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• a pinch of powdered cinnamon

Method

In a blender, grind the tender coconut pulp to a smooth paste. Add the water , tender coconut water, sugar and lemon juice to the blender and process till the ingredients are well blended.

Strain using a fine sieve and chill in the refrigerator, it taste better ice cold. Sprinkle powdered cinnamon before serving.

Note: Make sure you start with a tender coconut with a soft white pulp. If the coconut is too young, the pulp won’t be eatable, and if it too old, the pulp will be hard.

This is my contribution for the letter “I” for Nupur’s A to Z of Indian Vegetables event.

Nishino

Filed Under Japanese, Madison Park/Madrona, Sushi | 5 Comments

Nishino has been on my radar ever since the Zagat Guide to America’s Top Restaurants 2007 came out. According to the Zagat survey, five restaurants tied for the top spot in Seattle in 2006 - The Herbfarm, Nishino, Lampreia, Rover’s and Mistral . We have been to three, and been planning to go to Herbfarm for our anniversary this year, but had never thought of Nishino. So when the 25 for $25 announcement came out, I was really excited to find Nishino in the list and we finally went there Thursday night.

The restaurant is pretty big, but was still crowded, must be really popular. We didn’t have reservations, and were lucky to find two seats at the Sushi bar within 15 minutes of reaching there.  The sushi bar was hustling and bustling with regulars, there were about six chefs preparing sushi, socializing with the customers while churning out custom made pieces of sushi one after the other. It was so cool to just sit and watch the masters in action. I am not a Sushi fan, I can occasionally have a California roll, but could never make it a meal. But after watching the variety they had, I’ve decided to give sushi another chance during our next visit.

We went there to try the 25 for $25 deal, but after looking at the menu decided to skip the prix fix deal and order out of the daily special menu and share the dishes. More often than not the $25 menu is not on par with the regular menu in most of the places we’ve been to. I think we made the right decision, since the food was just amazing, except for one dish! Here is the line-up:

Seared foie gras, maguro and shitake mushrooms with red wine soy reduction:

This was just amazing! The foie gras and the mushrooms were both buttery and smooth with slightly different textures, and there were tiny pieces of peppercorns in the sauce, the flavors just blend together so well! My only complaint is that the portions were small. I wish I could lick the sauce of the plate.

Fried Oyster with lemon chili garlic sauce:

Another mouth watering dish. The oysters were just dipped in tempura batter and deep fried, but along with the lemon chili garlic sauce, it was awesome.

Curry seared halibut cheeks on sauteed Swiss chard and mushrooms with cilantro aioli

My favorite dish of the night, yumm….take each bite with a little bit of halibut, chard and mushrooms and dip in the cilantro aioli, it is a burst of flavors in your mouth. Just the halibut pieces alone were so flavorful, I guess because of the curry searing. This is a recipe I’m going to try to recreate in my kitchen.

Spicy chicken and mushrooms in garlic sauce:

I didn’t care for this dish at all… It was spicy and had a lot of veggies in it, but it didn’t feel like all the flavors really went all that well together. Moreover it is chicken, and it is pretty hard to get chicken to taste great in a dish like this. The sauce was okay, may be with rice it would have gone well, but we didn’t get any this time. I would stay away from this dish and stick to seafood.

Tapioca in Coconut Milk:

This dessert was the special of the night, and was very nice, the coconut milk tasted so fresh and was not too sweet. The tiny fruit salad with mangoes, kiwi and strawberries gave such a contrasting sour flavor to the light sweet taste of the coconut milk. A definite winner.

All in all, we loved the place. If I can talk myself into trying Sushi, this will be the place that I’d choose to try it, looked so fresh! Nishino is the latest addition to our favorites list.

Ginger-flavored Roasted Pineapple Sorbet

Filed Under Desserts, Ginger, Pineapple, Recipes | 18 Comments

French love their desserts, that is why they invented courses like Avant Desserts (pre-desserts) and Petits-Fours (a small cake generally eaten at the end of a meal). Normally the avant desserts are small in size, and contrast the taste of the main dessert to follow. Here is a perfect avant dessert recipe to serve before a sinful chocolate lava cake or some other form of death by chocolate. This will make a nice dessert on its own if you just need something light for that sweet tooth after a heavy meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups skinned, cored and diced pineapple.
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup whipped yogurt

Method

Mix the pineapple with ground ginger and sugar till the pineapple pieces are well coated.

Broil the pineapple pieces for 10 minutes.

Puree the broiled pineapple pieces with lemon juice in a food processor. Taste and adjust sugar if needed.

Freeze the puree in a shallow dish till almost frozen.

Process the frozen puree in batches until smooth in the food processer, and refrigerate.

To Serve

In a shot glass, layer chilled yogurt and pineapple puree. I like to drizzle a weeny bit of rum on top.

This is my entry for Pineapple - A Fruit A Month event hosted by Maheswari of Beyond the Usual.

Lychee Martini - Saturday Night Cocktail Hour

Filed Under Cocktails, Lychee, Recipes | 20 Comments

Lychee is one of my favorite fruits; I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like lychee. I love the sweetness and the texture and it brings back a lot of childhood memories of palm fruits and young coconuts. Harvested during early summer, fresh lychees are available in Asian stores in spring and summer, and in canned form throughout the year. Lychee makes a wonderful addition to fruit salads and can be used to make a bunch of desserts and cocktails. A web search also revealed a collection of recipes including main dishes and appetizers using Lychee. Check out http://www.lycheesonline.com/recipes.cfm 

Learn more about Lychee in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee

Since I am married to a great mixologist, who maintains a well stocked bar, our cocktail hours are never dull. This week he made this wonderful Lychee Martini on my request, it was so great I couldn’t help but share the recipe to the world. 

Ingredients

• 2 oz Grey Goose Vodka
• 1 tsp Lime concentrate
• 2 oz Lychee Drink (Available in Aasian stores)
• 1 tsp Triple Sec (Cointreau or Grenadine could be used for extra flavor if needed)

Method

In a cocktail shaker half filled with ice, mix all the ingredients and shake well.
Strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with one or two lychees on a skewer. (We used mint leaves since we were out of lychees.)

Tip: The secret to any great tasting martini is to start with a high quality vodka, it makes a big difference. We love Grey Goose.

BTW, the best thing about a Lychee Martini is that you can spill an entire glass on your couch, and it doesn’t stain, trust me, I can show you a picture of my couch :-).

H is for Hara Bhara Cutlets

Filed Under Appetizers and Snacks, Potato, Recipes, Vegetarian | 15 Comments

When I invite friends home, normally there is one vegetarian among ten hardcore non vegetarians.  Since the only vegetarian in the group is my best friend, she gets to make a personal request, and she always ask for my spinach cutlets. It is a very easy recipe, and the patties can be made a day in advance, so I’m more than happy to oblige. These cutlets are so yummy, even the hardcore carnivores hog these, I always end up making enough for the whole group in addition to the countless non-veg dishes we cook for any party. 

I’ve been raking my brain to come up with an Indian veg dish that starts with H for Nupur’s A to Z of Indian Vegetables event, and  had almost given up when I saw Asha’s HARA PYAZWALI GOJJU WITH RICE ROTI. I borrowed her idea, (thanks Asha :-)) and decided to make something green. Today is St. Patrick’s day , so it is all the more appropriate to make a green dish, don’t you think? So I re-christened my spinach cutlets to Hara Bhara Cutlets and this is my contribution for the “A to Z of Indian Vegetables” event. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup  frozen chopped Spinach
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup frozen french cut beans
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 2 green chilies finely chopped
• 2″ ginger grated
• 1 large potato
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp red chillie powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• A few curry leaves finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Method

Defrost the frozen spinach in the microwave to break up the chunk.

Boil the potato, skin and keep aside to cool.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a shallow pan, and fry the chopped onions. When the onions starts to brown, reduce the heat and add the salt, turmeric powder, garam masala, chillie powder and coriander powder and saute till all the spices are cooked. Add all the vegetables to the pan, increase the heat and cook till all the moisture is completely gone.

After the vegetables and the potato is cooled down enough to handle, mix the two together using your hand. if the mixture is too wet and soft, add some breadcrumbs till the mixture is strong enough to be held together on its own. Divide the potato-vegetable mixture into equal sized globes, and flatten with the palm to make patties.

Dip the patties in bread crumb, and shallow fry till they start to brown.

Serve with ketchup and hot sauce.

Dim Sum - Little pieces of Chinese heaven

Filed Under Bellevue, Chinese, Dim Sum | 7 Comments

The Cantonese term Dim Sum refers to an assortment of fried or steamed food served in steamer baskets or small plates and are consumed as part of breakfast or brunch. I found different translations for the term like “A Little bit of Heart” , “Heart’s delight” and “Touch of the Heart”. All these make sense, since these little pieces of heaven touches your heart, and you can eat these small delights to your heart’s content. All the dim sum plates are meant to be shared, sharing the Sunday dim sum brunch with family and friends is a big tradition for the Chinese community.

Dim Sum dishes consist of seafood (mainly shrimp, also squid, scallops and other varieties), meat (mainly pork and beef), some vegetables and a variety of desserts. I haven’t seen many chicken dishes other than the deep fried chicken feet - if you think that is gross, then I shouldn’t even mention beef’s tongue or jellyfish or cow’s udders. Don’t worry, they don’t even bring those items to your table if you are not Chinese, I have tasted some peculiar items when I had dim sum with a Chinese friend in China town, Vancouver BC. She spoke Cantonese and ordered some delicacies for the entire table, I tasted everything just to know what those are like. If you are wondering, Chicken feet does taste good, but it is very chewy, eating beef’s tongue is exactly like chewing on rubber and the fried jellyfish is not that bad. There are some vegetarian options in dim sum, but not that many, steamed vegetables with soy sauce is pretty common everywhere. The sticky rice normally has pork in it. A typical dim sum plate consists of three or four pieces of a particular dish. The more people on your table,the merrier, since you get to try a lot of dishes.

Siv and I are huge dim sum fans. After a long trial and error period, now we know exactly what we like, and stick to mostly the same dishes, a combination of fried and steamed items. We sneak out from work and get lunch at least bi-weekly at our favorite dim sum place on the east side - Noble Court restaurant in Bellevue. Dim sum is a great choice for a week day lunch, since you don’t have to order from a menu and wait, instead they bring carts full of dishes to you, so if you know what you like, just point and order and you can finish off the meal pretty quick. Last week I had my camera with me when we went to Noble Court and got to capture our favorite dishes.

Shrimp stuffed eggplants deep fried, served with black bean sauce:

Steamed Shrimp and Cilantro dumplings:

Deep fried pork and scallion dumplings:

Green Pepper slices stuffed with shrimp and pan-fried, served with black bean sauce:

Steamed Shrimp rice noodles served with Soy Sauce:

Steamed Pork Spare ribs with black bean sauce and jalapeno:

Steamed shrimp and spinach dumplings:

Shrimp coated with a creamy sweet mayonnaise sauce and pecans- our dessert:

To learn more about dim sum check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_sum

If you have never tried dim sum, do give it a try, it is a must have culinary experience. Gather a bunch of friends and find a dim sum restaurant near you, there must be one in every US city. For us in Washington, there are way too many choices, and my recommendation for the eastsiders is Noble Court in Bellevue.

Technorati tags: Dim Sum, Bellevue Restaurants, Seattle Restaurants