Summer risotto with zucchini and mushrooms

One of my favorite habits is bringing my own lunch.  It helps that I love leftovers.  Sometimes, it is a simple vegetable salad, like roasted beets and fennel, a bit of local mozzarella with a piece of bread from my favorite Orwashers bakery.  Other weeks, its leftovers from weekend cooking or something I prepared for the week on Sunday.  Almost always, it is better than anything I could buy in one of many "cafeterias" with salad and sushi bars right next to each other (does anybody else find it odd?).  Granted, there are many days when I don't bring lunch, but this week I'm looking forward to a lovely risotto with local zucchini, mushrooms, herbs, finished with freshly grated Parmesan.

Now, I know that we are all very busy and the idea of packing a lunch may seem overwhelming.  Not to channel Jamie Oliver, but I want food that helps me get through a very busy day.  So next Sunday, I urge you to hit the farmers' market (or your local grocer), pull out a skillet, dump some rice, sip on a summer white and stir yourself some lunch.  It is a 45 minute effort (think of it as 9 minutes per workday, which is faster than standing in line at Europa cafe) that will reward you every day of the week. 

Risotto with zucchini and mushrooms

1 large or 2 medium zucchini, rinsed and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 pound of cremini mushrooms, scrubbed and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 medium onion (I used the bulb and the greens of a mild spring onion), diced

3 cloves of garlic or 1 head of spring garlic, chopped

The leaves of 6 6 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary or savory (I used dried savory from Keith's Farm)

6 - 8 cups of chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 cup of white wine (no need to be fancy, but use something you would drink)

2 cups of risotto rice, such as Arborio

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan

8 sprigs of parsley, chopped

A dozen basil leaves, chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium pan, bring the chicken stock to the boil and then reduce the heat to a bare simmer.  Warm a large saute pan over medium-high heat with one tablespoon of olive oil.  Saute the zucchini, stirring occasionally and salting at the end, until yielding and slightly browned.  Move to a bowl.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil and cook the mushrooms over high heat, stirring once in a while until well-browned.  Do not disturb the mushrooms for the first 3 - 4 minutes in the pan.  They will release a lot of water and you want that water to evaporate so that the mushrooms can brown nicely.  Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and move them to the bowl with zucchini.

Wipe or rinse the pan, then heat the remaining 1 tablespoons of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of butter over low-medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, thyme, and rosemary or savory, and cook until softened and fragrant, but not browning.  Add the rice and stir for 2 -3 minutes to coat the rice with the fat in the pan.  Pour in the wine and stir until most of the wine is absorbed or evaporated.  Now add the hot stock, 1 ladle at a time, stirring frequently, until the rice is plump with a slightly chewy center and the "sauce"  leaves traces on the bottom of the pan.  You don't want rice soup but you also don't want rice pilaf.  Think of the desired texture as that of rice pudding, but with stock instead of milk.  This usually takes me at least 20 minutes.  Before you add the last ladleful, fold in the zucchini and the mushrooms.  Add the last of the stock and stir for a bit to let the flavors combine.  Turn off the heat and stir in Parmesan, the last tablespoon of butter, the parsley, the basil, and some pepper.  Taste and add more salt, if needed.  Serve immediately and garnish with more Parmesan, if you like to spoil yourself like that.  Pat yourself on the back for making a delicious and healthy lunch that is a lot better than a turkey club sandwich.  

Remembering Indonesia over a bowl of gado gado noodles

DC sunset from my window

About a month ago I was in Indonesia, where I met a group of wonderful Fulbright scholarship recipients, who are teaching English in Malaysia. We watched stunning Bali sunsets, ate at the night market, partied in a 5 floor nightclub, and spent hours at the pool...ah-h-h enjoying DC sunset and a bowl of udon gado gado, Indonesian raw salad, I want to thank people who have made my vacation in Bali truly unforgettable. 

This recipe is for you guys and for all Fulbright recipients, Peace Corps volunteer, students, and anyone who is searching for a delicious South East Asian recipe that can be easily prepared in a microwave.

Spicy peanut sauce (1 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup roasted peanuts or, if you don't have a food processor, 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1inch ginger finely chopped
1 glove garlic crushed
1 generous pinch of salt
1 tbsp brown sugar/honey/agave 
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until smooth

if you do not have a food processor

Place ginger, jalapeno,  and garlic on a chopping board, sprinkle sugar and salt on top. Press sugar and salt into the ingredients with a side of your knife until the mixture turns into a paste.
Mix the paste with the rest of the ingredients.

Noodles (serves 4)
1/2 cup string beans trimmed 
2 large carrots cut into 1" sticks
4 eggs
1 lb. udon or other long noodles
1 cup cabbage/ spinach shredded
4 scallion chopped 
1/2 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cup peeled cucumber cubed
1 lb tempeh/extra firm tofu cubed
pinch of salt
Fill a microwave safe bowl with hot water and 1 tbsp salt. Place beans, carrots, and eggs in the bowl. Cook on high for 5 minutes until vegetables are tender. Blanch vegetables in ice water leaving eggs in the bowl with hot water. Set vegetables aside.

Add noodles to the bowl. Cook on high for another 7 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through adding more water if needed. Remove eggs from the bowl. While eggs are cooling, strain the noodles. Toss hot noodles with cabbage/spinach, bean sprouts, scallions, and 1 cup of sauce. 

Peel and slice eggs. Top with vegetables, eggs, and tempeh/tofu. Poor the remaining sauce on top and enjoy.

Indian vegetarian food from a Kazakh kitchen

For the longest time, I had a big aversion to cilantro and its relative, lovage, which is used as cilantro in all of Central Asia.  Both herbs tasted like soap and I could not come up with a better way to ruin a dish than to add cilantro or lovage to it.  Fortunately, through years of dedicated practice (riiiight), I came to see cilantro for what it is - a lovely way to add brightness to a dish.  Now, I can't imagine either Baigan Bharta or Chana Masala in this post without a generous handful of cilantro. It adds freshness to cooked spices, bringing them out of the doldrums and back into life.

The Chana Masala, courtesy of Orangette is a staple in my house, a perfect easy meal pulled together from pantry staples and trusted spices, comfort at the end of the day.  The Baigan Bharta has long been an obsession, but I disliked the greasy version often found in take-out.  Fortunately, with the eggplant season still in full swing, I've had plenty of time to experiment with multiple recipes and find the one that I liked.  My mom especially loves this dish and has been a content Kazakh tucking into Indian vegetarian food.

Baigan Bharta

1 medium - large eggplant

1 medium tomato

2 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion

1/2 inch knob of ginger

1 medium jalapeno or 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne

2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil or ghee

1/2 teaspoon of black mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

1 teaspoon of garam masala

Sale to taste and a generous handful of cilantro to finish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Wash the eggplant and prick it all over with a fork or a tip of a knife. Roast it (I like lining the baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up) for 45 minutes or until it is soft and sort of collapses into itself.

Meanwhile, heat up a large deep skillet with a couple of tablespoons of oil or ghee over low-medium heat.  Chop the onion and tomato into cubes, finely chop garlic, ginger and jalapeno, if using.  Drop the onion in the pan and fry until it starts turning golden, then add the garlic, ginger, and jalapeno.  Fry for another minute or so, until your kitchen starts smelling like the promise of dinner.  Add another tablespoon of oil and fry the spices for a minute also, moving them around, so that they do not burn until fragrant.  Drop in the tomato, letting it release its juice for a couple of minutes.  Add a couple tablespoons of water, cover, and simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes to let flavors become friendly.  

Once the eggplant has reached its collapsed state, carefully take it out and let cool, so that you can handle it.  Once cooled, split it in half and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon onto a big cutting board.  Run your knife through the seedy flesh, further breaking down the fibers.  Note how strong eggplant skin is.

Add the eggplant to the pan, mix well and let cook for another 10 minutes under the lid.  Season well with salt and stir in plenty of cilantro.  If you hate cilantro, try a bit of mint or green onion.  Serve with rice and Chana Masala.

Corn soup for mom

Quick, go out to the market now and get fresh corn before its too late. Yes, yes, I know, there is frozen corn year around, but then you won't be able to extract the wonderful corniness (yes, I consider that a word) out of the cobs.  Our mom is visiting now and I really wanted her to try the true essence of the sweet New Jersey corn.  Hence, a simple, creamy, soothing corn soup. This soup barely needs anything beyond corn, a knob of butter, a little cream, and a few shallots or small onions, which makes it perfect for warm Wednesday evening after I've been staring at the sun from the office window.

The dinner was complete with crusty bread and a salad of local tomatoes and mozzarella.  There is really no good reason to mess with summer market produce.

Fresh corn soup

6 cobs of fresh corn

8 cups of water

2 medium shallots, chopped

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2-3 tablespoons of cream or creme frache

Salt and pepper

Remove the corn husks and cut the kernels of the cobs.  Bring the corn cobs and water to the boil in a large pan and simmer for 20-30 minutes to make a quick corn stock.  Feel free to scrape the cobs a bit with a spatula to extract some of that corn "milk".

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan and saute the shallots over medium-low heat until soft, but not browning.  Add the corn kernels and let them toast a bit in the butter with a touch of salt.  Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for l5-20 minutes until the corn is tender and sweet. The only thing you don't want to do with this soup is overcook the corn, which can become starchy instead of sweet.

Off the heat, puree the soup in a blender or with a hand blender.  Please be careful when blending hot liquids; it is best done in batches.  Set a strainer over a large bowl and strain 2/3 of the soup, pressing down on the corny solids.  I like to keep some of the soup not strained for a bit of texture.  Return the soup to low heat, stir in 2-3 tablespoons of cream or creme frache, and season to taste with salt and a bit of pepper.  The 30 minutes I spent making the soup were perhaps the most gratifying in my day.