Fish with Indian Flavors

Recently our meal choices all seem to be dictated by outside forces -- the produce in the weekly Box, the Mexican food on the List, and what grows in the Garden.

Tonight's dinner came about as a result of a generous Gift of mango pickle from a friend at work. I'd enjoyed the tiny cups of pickle that come with lunch plates at India Sweets and Spices, but never owned my own container of Indian pickle. I had to try it right away.

I scoped out the Patak's situation in the refrigerator and found the last of a jar of Vindaloo paste. We had two weeks' worth of vine-ripened tomatoes from the Box, some cod my husband had defrosted and past success pairing the Vindaloo paste with tomatoes.

I grated half a cucumber with some buttermilk left over from Fried Chicken Day for a refreshing Raita. No basmati around, but a pot of long-grain rice would do the job and make enough for fried rice later in the week.

Full Disclosure on quantities in recipes:  I don't measure as I cook (unless it's in baking or when using helpful rice-cooking ratios). I will henceforth abandon the fiction of measurements as much as possible or unless I actually measure the ingredients as I cook.

Fish with Indian Flavors Recipe

Rice
2 cups rice
4 cups water
1 tsp salt

Start the rice first. I used white long-grain rice, but basmati would be even better. Combine 2 cups rice, 4 cups of water, and about a teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, then lower temperature to low/very low, cover with tight-fitting lid and cook for 20 minutes. Set aside, covered.

Vindaloo Tomatoes
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons Vindaloo curry paste

Heat medium nonstick skillet with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. When oil is hot, add onion and sautee until just starting to brown, then add tomatoes. The tomatoes will break down and exude liquid. Once the liquid has evaporated and pan is dry, make a space in center of skillet and add the Vindaloo paste. Spread out the paste so that it can fry for a minute or two. Once the curry paste is hot and sizzling, combine with other the ingredients. Add a few tablespoons of water if the tomatoes stick to the pan.

Fish
Steam the fish on top of the Vindaloo Tomatoes. Add about 1/4 cup of water to pan, and once it is steaming, place the fish on top of tomatoes and cover pan. Steam according to thickness and density of fish.

Raita
1/2 of a cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded, and grated
About 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
Salt

Combine all ingredients. Taste for seasoning.


Serving
Serve the rice alongside a piece of fish topped with Vindaloo tomatoes. Pass the raita and the jar of mango pickle.

Fried Egg

Today is about technique. Very often, I like a fried egg in the morning. However, not often enough that I can tell by feel, smell or touch when the egg is ready. For me, "ready" means a neither too-firm nor too-runny yolk, with a hint of frizzled white edge.

I found an answer to this dilemma in Cook's Illustrated last year. By adding a teaspoon of water and covering the fry pan, the top of the egg cooks, filming the yolk over with cooked white and preventing an embarrassing flipping accident.

Fried Egg Recipe and Technique
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

1 nonstick 8" fry pan
1 cover for fry pan
1 egg
1 tsp butter
1 tsp water
Salt and pepper

Heat fry pan over medium-low heat. When a few droplets of water sizzle in the pan, add the butter. Crack the egg into a small bowl and add water. Once butter has melted and the foam subsided (and to be doubly sure, hold your hand a few inches above the pan surface. You should feel some heat rising), tip the egg and water into the pan.

Cover the pan and stand by. After 2 1/2 minutes, uncover pan and check on eggs. Shake the pan. Your yolk should still shake a bit, but will have a thin coating of cooked white over it. Shake salt and pepper over it, and serve.

Optional accompaniments: two slices of toast, Earl Grey tea with milk, and blackberry preserves


Egg and water in hot butter

Cover pan to let steam cook top of egg

 

Shake pan to gauge yolk's firmness

Oatmeal with Spiced Pears

Last week's Organic Box signaled the transition between summer and fall. Next to the perfectly ripe peaches came three Bartlett pears. By Sunday they were fragrant and just gave to the touch.

We had only a few minutes before heading out for kayaking on the Pacific. I nuked some oatmeal and made a quick compote of sliced pears, maple syrup and fresh nutmeg.

Delicious!

Oatmeal with Spiced Pears Recipe
Makes 2 servings

1 cup regular rolled oats
2 1/2 cups water
2 pears
4 TB maple syrup
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup milk

I made each portion in its own bowl, sequentially. In each bowl, combine 1/2 cup of oats and 1 1/4 cup water. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, or less time if you don't have a 10 year old microwave. Let sit for 2 minutes.

While oats are cooking, peel, core, and slice the pears. Toss with maple syrup and nutmeg.

To serve, mix 1/2 cup milk into each bowl, then top with the pears.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

We have a weekly produce box delivery. Every week we receive a box of organic vegetables and fruits. My challenges is to use the serendipitous contents of the box and turn it into good food.

Lucky for us, we're in California. There is nothing easier than eating fresh local peaches and strawberries as they are, or perhaps sliced and tossed with lemon juice and mint leaves. But when I've got two weeks of broccoli stacking up, it's time to bring out the blender.

I first made cream of broccoli soup out of my earliest cooking companion, the red-checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It became a family favorite.

Today's lunch was a bowl of soup with a swirl of olive oil, a few chives, and a chunk of baguette. A few croutons would not be out of place instead of the fresh bread.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

1/2 medium onion, diced
2 heads of broccoli
1 TB butter
1 TB olive oil
Water or chicken stock to barely cover
1 TB chicken soup base or 1 bullion cube, if using water
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 cup milk, or to taste
1 TB olive oil, to swirl, optional
1 TB chopped fresh chives, optional

Prepare broccoli by peeling outer layer of any tough stems. Chop stems and heads into roughly 1-2 inch chunks.

Add butter and olive oil to large saucepan over medium heat. When butter has melted, add onions. Saute onion until translucent, and add chicken soup base or bullion cube, if using, ground ginger, and salt and pepper. Add broccoli, and water or chicken stock to barely cover. Cover with lid slightly askew and simmer until broccoli is very tender. You can check it with the point of a small knife. Broccoli is ready when the largest stem pieces yield easily to the knife point.

Let cool slightly. Puree in blender until smooth. Be careful that soup is not too hot. Keep the blender lid slightly ajar to let steam escape.

Return pureed soup to saucepan, and add milk. Heat gently over low heat. Bring soup to a low simmer, and taste for seasoning.

Serve with a swirl of olive oil and a sprinkling of fresh chives in each bowl.

The List

I have a list. It's on yellowed notebook paper and is a list of my Mom's greatest hits in the kitchen. It starts with "1. Mole con Pollo" and ends with "45. Sausage + Peppers".

During the years my mother and brother lived alone together, after my father died, it served as a sort of short order menu. At the start of the week my brother would tell my mother the numbers for the dishes to make for dinner every night. For my mother, it solved the problem of trying to guess what my brother wanted to eat, and helped her plan the shopping.

The list is a mix of dishes my mother learned at home (35. Frijoles de Olla, or Simmered Beans), those she learned as a young woman working in a Mexico restaurant (10. Sopes and 16. Enchiladas) and, and those I'd introduced through experimentation and health kicks (43. Curry and 37. Verdura al Vapor, or Steamed Vegetables).

The list resurfaced after a recent move. I showed it to my mother and she laughed to see it. And was eager to add more dishes. We're missing new dishes and new ways of making them -- her Chiles Rellenos are no longer fried, but simmered in a thin noodle soup.

On to the list!