Adapted from Curries Without Worries, by Sudha Koul.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds eggplants, sliced into 1/2-inch thick discs
• olive oil, or garlic-infused olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seed
• 2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 inch ginger root, grated
• 1 to 3 paprika chile peppers (fresh or dried), chopped; substitute with serranos (perhaps fewer since they’re hotter than paprikas), plus 1 teaspoon dried sweet paprika.
• 1 tablespoon dried curry leaves
• salt, to taste
• (optional) chopped cilantro and yogurt, to garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF degrees. In a large bowl, toss the eggplant slices with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the olive oil until lightly coated. Arrange the slices in single layer on a non-stick baking pan, and bake until golden brown and softened. This takes about 20 to 35 minutes, depending on your oven; in the middle of this period, flip the slices so the other side also browns.
2. While the eggplants bake, sauté the onions in 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot, over medium high heat until translucent.
3. Stir the turmeric, coriander, cumin and mustard seed into the onions until they become fragrant. Then stir in the tomatoes, ginger, chiles and curry leaves. Bring to a simmer covered, and set the heat to medium low.
4. When the eggplants are done, stir them into the pot. Keep covered and simmering, but over low heat, for about 20 to 30 more minutes. In the middle of this period, salt to taste.
5. Serve with chopped cilantro and yogurt, if you want. Basmati rice goes well with this dish, as you could imagine.

This recipe symbolizes the intersection solution of two issues: What to do with the never-ending volume of cherry tomatoes, and what would make a comforting soup.

Enough to generously serve one person. To make this as a starter for two people, use 2 eggs (optionally), and increase other ingredients by a factor of 1.5.

You can also jazz up a can of chicken noodle soup, or a bowl of leftover homemade chicken (or another brothy, non-creamy) soup this way.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (about a dozen) cherry tomatoes, each cut in half
• 1 cup broth; chicken highly recommended
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon flavored oil, such as garlic oil
• (optional) 1 egg

Method

1. Place all ingredients except the egg (see step 3) in a small sauce pan.
2. Bring to a gentle boil, and simmer covered over medium low heat for 5 to 10 minutes until the tomatoes have softened.
3. (Optional) Lower the heat to the smallest flame (or lowest setting). Crack the egg into the sauce pan. Cover and simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the egg white has set.
4. Serve in bowls, with toast or crusty bread.

Possible uses: With cheese, on eggs, or in sandwiches. A ketchup substitute. Or even a tomato paste substitute, if you want something with more perk.

This recipe made about 2 cups, enough to fit into an ex-honey jar. I didn’t go through the sterilization procedure for such a small amount; I’d advise doing so for much larger batches that would sit around, though. Our jar is in the fridge now, and will hopefully last a month or three.

Fruits & vegetables

• 1 1/4 pounds fresh tomatoes
• 1 to 2 teaspoons grated ginger root
• 4 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 to 3 paprika chile peppers (fresh or dried), seeds removed and roughly chopped
• 1 to 2 tablespoons dried curry leaves
• 1 small to medium onion, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

Spices & other flavorings

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (black or yellow)
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/4 c + 2 tablespoons white vinegar, more or less, depending on acidity of tomatoes
• 1 1/4 ounces palm sugar, more or less, depending on sweetness of tomatoes
• salt, to taste

Method

1. Peel the tomatoes. One way is to blanch them: Make a cross-cut on the bottom of each tomato, then dunk them in boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds. Cool until easy to handle, then with a paring knife remove as much of the skin as possible.
2. Chop the tomatoes into a small dice, then place them in a bowl. Stir in the ginger, garlic, paprika, and curry leaves. Set aside.
3. In a large sauce pan (or stock pot, for large batches), sauté the onion in the oil over medium-high heat until translucent.
4. Add to the onions the cumin, turmeric, coriander, mustard, garam masala, and fenugreek. Stir until the mixture becomes fragrant.
5. Pour the tomato mixture into the onion pot. Stir in the vinegar and palm sugar.
6. Allow to simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes until thickened to chutney consistency. It might take longer for larger batches. Stir every 5 to 10 minutes so that the chutney doesn’t burn or stick. Midway through the simmering, check the seasoning by adding salt (I used 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt). Also test the level of tartness and sweetness. Stir in more vinegar and/or sugar if the flavor isn’t bright enough for your tastes (e.g., for blander tomatoes).
7. Store in covered jars in the refrigerator.

This makes enough for 2 generous or 3 smallish servings. Go ahead and double it.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons medium or long grain rice
• 2 tablespoons glutinous (sweet) rice
• 1 bouillion cube + 3 cups water, or, 1 cup broth + 2 cups water
• a few pieces fresh ginger root; roughly 1 teaspoon chopped into 2 to 4 chunks.
• garnishes: garlic oil, scallions, cilantro, sesame oil, soy sauce, etc.

Method

1. Rinse both rices a couple times, drain, and place in rice cooker bowl.
2. Add the bouillion or broth, and water. Add ginger.
3. Set rice cooker to the “porridge” setting, and wait ’till it dings completion.
4. Stir, serve in bowls, garnish as desired.

This recipe is highly influenced by a book sent over by my mother-in-law, Best-kept Secrets of the Women’s Institute: Cakes & Biscuits, by Jill Brand. I made some semi-sweeping changes: Used whole wheat pastry flour (yields a nutty flavor, yet not heavy), exchanged rice flour for corn starch (avoiding the raw, grittiness from corn starch), and vanilla sugar for some of the sugar.

Two lessons I learned: First, place a sling made of parchment paper in the pan, to ease lifting shortbread from the pan. Second, wait about 10 to 20 minutes before attempting to remove the shortbread from the pan. By ignoring these steps, the shortbread suffered from horizontal fissures. The taste or texture weren’t affected, of course, but the end result looked kind of wonky.

Next time I might add lemon or orange zest. Although as it is, it’s quite delectable, especially with tea or coffee. Update (15 Sept 2009): The zest and juice from 2 medium-smallish Bearss limes worked out quite tastily.

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 ounces whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 ounces rice flour; flour based on medium or long grain rice is fine, but don’t use sticky (sweet, glutinous) rice flour.
• 1 1/2 ounces powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• extra sugar for sprinkling

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300ºF degrees (unless you do step 5). Grease a small pan (e.g., 8 inch round, or 9 inch by 6 inch rectangular), then line it with parchment paper with some excess paper hanging out — to grab in two places afterwards to lift out the shortbread more easily.
2. Sift both flours, both sugars and salt into a food processor bowl fitted with the plastic blade. Pulse for a second or two a couple of times to mix the dry ingredients.
3. Add the butter, and pulse (10 to 20 second increments) a few times until a crumbly but slightly moist mass forms.
4. Pour into the prepared pan, and pat flat with your fingers or the back of a large spoon.
5. (Optional) Allow to sit for 2 or more hours. This hint comes from Smitten Kitchen, where the resting period helps relax the dough so the shortbread ends up tender. If you do this, start preheating the oven near the end of the resting period.
6. Bake in the oven for 45 to 55 minutes; less for thinner cookies, more for thicker ones. When done the edges will have developed the barest hint of brown.
7. Allow to cool for 10 to 20 minutes. Left shortbread by its parchment paper sling and place on a board; slice into 1ish inch pieces.
8. Sprinkle with sugar, then place on rack to cool and firm up. If you’ve managed not to inhale them all, pack them away in a container after an hour or two of cooling.

My recipe is an adaptation of Deborah Madison’s Zucchini-Cilantro soup from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I added spicing to make it more Mexican-like in flavor, and took the liberty of using chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. (But by all means use veggie stock if you’ve got some good stuff on hand; I didn’t at the time.)

Garnish with queso fresco, or a bit of yogurt or cream or sour cream, if you want.

Ingredients

• 1 to 1 1/4 pounds zucchini, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 small to medium onion, chopped
• 1 bunch (about 1/4 pound) scallions, both pale and green parts chopped
• 1 to 2 tablespoons ghee, or butter, or olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/2 cup cooked basmati rice; if you don’t have leftover rice, use 2 tablespoons raw rice
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3ish cups hot water
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
• lime juice, to taste

Method

1. Sauté the zucchini, onions and scallion in the butter over high heat in a medium-to-large pot.
2. When the onions have become translucent, and the zucchini somewhat softened, stir in the cumin and coriander. When those spices become fragrant, lower to medium high heat, and stir in the rice, chicken stock and water.
3. Bring to an energetic simmer, cover and cook for 25 minutes.
4. Season with salt, turn off the heat, and stir in the cilantro.
5. Purée with hand-blender. Add more hot water if it’s too thick for you.
6. Season with freshly ground pepper and lime juice, to taste. Serve with optional garnishes.

A remedy: Perform the summer version of the tuberous pancakes! The recipe is basically the same, but because summer squash are less starchy than sweet potatoes, you’d need a touch more flour and eggs. For example, for 5 3/4 pounds of zucchini, we used 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 cups flour, and 6 eggs. I should also note that this dish’s existence was encouraged by the fritter recipe at Simply Recipes!

Magic is not only green, but also deep-fried.

Perfect accompaniments: A bit of something creamy (yogurt, sour cream, crème fraîche, mayo, mustard, etc.), with a side of something tart for contrast. Like pickled beets, sauerkraut or curtido.

So what do you do with several pounds of zukes or other summer squash? You make a gratin, with the help of rice and cheese!

Some words about the rice: Make sure it isn’t clumpy before you mix it with the other ingredients. I ran into this when using a medium grain like Thai Jasmine. Break it apart with your fingers, where needed. I’ve also used basmati rice, which separates nicely; but in that case, don’t skimp on the liquid materials. You might even need to add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk when using a drier long grain rices.

Some words about the cheese: Don’t skimp. I made the mistake of using about half (around 3 ounces), and the rice portion turned out far too dry. As for the cheese variety, make sure at least half of it is of the melty orientation, like Monterey Jack or Gruyère. Also make sure at least half is of the strong-flavored orientation, since both rice and zucchini are otherwise bland characters in this dish. For example, good flavor and texture resulted when I used 1 ounce Manouri, 3 ounces Gruyère and 1 ounce Parmigiano Reggiano.

Some words about the herbs: If you don’t have fresh basil, feel free to substitute a (much) smaller amount of tarragon or thyme, fresh or dried.

Possible future variation: Add the zest of a lemon to the cheesy-rice mixture, and its juice at the end of cooking the onions.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 pounds zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch disks
• 2 cups onion, diced into small pieces
• olive oil for sautéing; garlic-infused oil is recommended, if you have it.
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• (optional) 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 2 eggs
• 5 ounces cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup cream
• 3/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt
• 1/2 cup basil, chopped finely
• 1/4 to 1/2 ounce Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF degrees, and lightly oil a 3-quart casserole dish.
2. Sauté the zucchini in the oil over high heat until lightly browned. Season with a little salt while cooking. Set aside.
3. Sauté the onion and coriander in oil over medium-high heat until the onion bits are golden brown. Season with a little salt while cooking. If you have some white wine, add it near the end, and bump up the heat a bit to boil off most of the moisture. Set aside to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, combine and thoroughly mix the rice, cooked onions, eggs, cheese, cream, buttermilk (or yogurt).
5. Season the mixture with pepper, then stir in the basil.
6. Arrange a layer of the zucchini — about a third of it — on the bottom of the casserole. Top it with half of the cheesy-rice. Repeat with the remaining zucchini and cheesy-rice, ending with a cap of zucchini.
7. Sprinkle the top with grated parmesan.
8. At this point, you can store the gratin in the fridge overnight, if you wish to cook it later on. Bake for 40 minutes if cooking immediately, or 50 to 60 minutes if cold, until bubbly and the Parmigiano topping has become golden. Leftovers microwave easily.

Rightside-up upside down apricot cake slice. It’s, uh, better looking when upside-down.

There’s a big advantage of the upside-down habit of baking: the sponge doesn’t become nearly as soggy, like in the old apricot tart recipe. Score! Also, you can easily (er, lazily) serve this without turning out, if you want. Yes! Although serving the cake upside down does hide those mini fruit juice volcanoes which could develop while baking, not to mention display the fruits’ bright colors.

Again, as in the original recipe, you can still use plums. When I do so, I quickly blanch them in simmering water, then peel them, since I’m not fond of the sharpness of their skins. If the fruits are large, I slice them into 1/2 inch thickness. Other untested fruit possibilities: peaches, nectarines, cherries, mangoes, etc.

My version of the recipe should fit a 10-inch dish (square or round). If you halve it, the cake could fit in a 8-inch pan. As usual, I’ve taken liberties with measurements and steps to suit my tastes.

The next time I make this (more likely with plums, this year), I’m going to see if I can get away with using 3/4 to 1/2 a stick of butter in the sugar topping at step 2. Not sure why I need so much butter there. Update (9 August 2009): Yep, using only 1/2 a stick of butter in the sugar topping still results in a good cake!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 3 to 4 ounces brown sugar; variance depends on the fruit’s sweetness.
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 pinches of salt
• 16 fresh apricots, halved and pitted; unpitted, it’s roughly 1 1/2 pounds, give or take.
• 6 1/2 ounces pastry flour; unbleached (white) or whole wheat would be fine, or a mix of the two.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; if you have vanilla sugar, use 1/4 cup as part of the 3/4 cup of regular sugar.
• zest from 1 or 2 oranges
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons plain yogurt or buttermilk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees. Lightly grease the inside of a glass or ceramic dish. Place the apricots in the dish, cut side downwards, covering the base as much as possible. Some gaps are okay, though.
2. Over medium heat in a small sauce pan, melt the 1/2 stick of the butter with the brown sugar, cinnamon and 1 pinch of salt. You don’t need to melt the sugar into a caramel; just gently whisk until there are no more lumps. Some of the butter might not emulsify; that’s also okay.
3. Pour the sugar-butter goop evenly over the apricots.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and soda into a bowl, and set aside.
5. Cream the remaining 1 stick of butter, another pinch of salt, sugar, vanilla (or vanilla sugar), and orange zest until fluffy.
6. Slowly mix in the eggs. Slowly mix in the yogurt (or buttermilk). At this point, the batter may look mighty curdled. Fear not!
7. Stir in the flour mixture, a third or a quarter at a time. The previously scary appearance at the end of step 5 will smoothen out.
8. Gently plop the stiffish batter on top of the apricots. Smoothen out so that the fruits are all covered. Again, if there are a few small gaps around the edges of the dish, that’s fine, since the batter will spread in the oven.
9. Bake until the cake has become golden brown; the sponge should no longer jiggle when shaken, and should be barely pulling away from the sides of the dish. About 50 to 55 minutes. Wait about an hour or so before eating, otherwise it’ll be too crumbly. The cake will shrink away and downwards as the fruit cools, but will remain spongey. Turn it right side up onto a plate, if you want. Tastes even better the next day! I store leftovers in the fridge when the weather’s hot. Leftovers are good at room temperature, or after being lightly heated in a low oven, or even after 30 seconds (per serving) in the microwave.

At step 1: I trimmed out the ickier bruises and blemishes.

At step 3: Brown sugar-butter mixture poured over the apricots.

Upside-down upside down cake, hot out of the oven.

I’ve long been inspired by an appetizer, foul moukala, that we had at a Lebanese restaurant, Al Waha — all the way in Bayswater, London. Their version is much richer (a lot more olive oil), and included chopped cilantro.

This year we tried a variety of fava beans that wasn’t the usual “Windsor” type found in the US. We planted “Stereo,” a smaller variety, less than half the size of “Windsor.” They also seemed less prone to starchiness, so worked rather nicely in this dish.

Ingredients

• 2 cups shelled fava beans; unshelled it’s about 1 1/4 pounds.
• 2 to 3 sprigs fresh spearmint
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup shallots, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• salt
• (optional) freshly ground pepper
• freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

1. Before sautéing the favas, you want to pre-boil them. Put them and the mint sprigs in a pot of boiling (unsalted) water, wait for the water to return to a boil, then simmer (lid ajar) for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. While the favas are boiling, sauté the shallots in another pan in olive oil, along with the coriander and salt.
3. Strain the favas and remove the mint. Stir them into the pan with the shallots, and add a tablespoon or two of boiling water (either from the fava water, or a kettle). Cover and cook on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Season with lemon juice and pepper, if desired, then serve with pita bread or lavash.

Members of the onion family, such as leeks and shallots, pair well with and add an aromatic dimension to dishes with starchy veg. What else is there to do? Would it overcomplicate things to top it all with nuts? Oh, no, not at all. But it is optional, if you wish.

Winter squash gratin with leeks, topped with panko and almonds.

While clearing out the refrigerator at another time, I decided to do another gratin with cauliflower and fennel bulb. How did that turn out? Quite well, thank you very much.

Another fun variable is the cheese. Gruyère has a nice, strong nutty flavor, and great meltability. But if you want something milder, Comté is much more subtle, yet still pleasantly nutty. I’ve also tried a very sharp Cheddar, where the flavor was awesome, but because it doesn’t quite melt as smoothly as Gruyère or Comté, its oil separated somewhat from the curds during baking.

All in all, the results were a kind of hybridization between a Chowhound recipe and a Epicurious recipe. Also, in the future, I might try using carrots or beets.

The Gratin, winter squash & leek variation

• 3 to 3 1/2 pound winter squash (e.g., Kabocha, Butternut, Kuri), seeds removed, peeled, and cut into 1/4 inch slices — about 6 cups total.
• 3 cups leeks, pale and tender green parts thinly sliced, about 1 1/2 pounds.
• 1/2 cup shallots, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, marjoram, tarragon, or savory (fresh is fine, just double the amount)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 4 ounces shredded Gruyère, or similar cheese
• salt and pepper
• olive oil, or melted butter (or a mix thereof)
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, warmed, with 1/4 teaspoon salt stirred in.

The Gratin, cauliflower & fennel variation

Pretty much the same, but removing the squash, leeks and shallots, and instead using:

• 2 to 2 1/2 pound cauliflower, chopped into 1 to 1 1/2-inch florets.
• 3/4 to 1 pound fennel bulb, thinly sliced into half rings
• 3/4 to 1 pound onion, thinly sliced into half rings

The Optional Topping (but you really should)

• 3/4 cup panko (dried breadcrumbs)
• 1/3 cup chopped nuts, such as cashews, almonds or pistachios
• 1 ounce shredded Parmesan Reggiano, or any pleasantly strong dry cheese.
• 1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter
• a pinch of salt, unless the butter is salted

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF degrees. Mix the topping ingredients and set aside until step 6.
2. Toss the squash slices with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, until lightly coated.
3. Sauté the leeks and shallots in olive oil until translucent. Stir in the coriander and thyme, then season with salt and pepper.
4. Arrange the layers in a casserole dish (I used a 9-inch square, 3-inch deep one) first with a layer of squash (about a third), then half of the leeks-shallots, followed by half of the shredded Gruyère. Repeat with the rest of the gratin ingredients, ending — er, topping it off — with a layer of squash.
5. Slowly pour the cream over the gratin. Try to moisten all of the squash pieces on top.
6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, covered, until the squash are tender. Remove the cover and add the topping, then bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until the top has browned.
7. Allow to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

The method for all these, except for the basic marinade and lemon miso one, is to plop all ingredients into a container tall enough to avoid splatters, then whiz with a handheld immersion blender. The amount of dashi or water will vary depending on your desired thickness. I prefer the sauces on the smoother side — and adding more liquid helps with the blending.

Oh, yeah: You can store leftovers in the freezer.

Some definitions:

• White miso (shiro or saikyo) is a yellow to pale beige paste, made from mostly rice and some soy beans. It’s the lightest and sweetest in flavor of the misos. Some varieties are sweet enough to be used in desserts.
• Red miso (aka or sendai) is rusty in color, and has a deeper, more caramel flavor than white miso. It’s made primarily from soy beans, with some rice.

Basic miso marinade

I frequently use this one with broiled fish dishes. In fact, it went very well for some fish in a foil packet I made in a friend’s barbeque! Indeed, this marinade is spectacular with black cod (gindara). For a milder, sweeter taste, use all white miso; for something stronger, add a bit of red miso.

The method is simple: Simmer everything over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring to smoothen it. Remove it from heat, and cool to room temperature; I often hasten this by popping the saucepan in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then I marinate the (typically) fish for 2 to 6 hours, again in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white miso
• (optional) 1 tablespoon red miso
• 1/4 cup sake
• 2 to 4 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
• (optional) 1 to 2 teaspoons brown sugar (golden or dark)

Cashew & red miso sauce

This nutty sauce has a bold flavor with a caramel edge. It goes well with strongly flavored foods, such as eggplant, shiitake mushrooms, salmon, etc. In addition, something needing oomph like chicken breast or grilled tofu would be well-partnered with this sauce.

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup cashews, roasted and chopped
• 1/4 cup red miso
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup dashi or water

Pine nut & white miso sauce

Great to toss into vegetables and salads, such as string beans, potatoes and other mild (or bland) vegetables or protein slabs. It’s somewhat lighter than the previous sauce based on cashews.

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup pine nuts, roasted until fragrant
• 2 to 3 tablespoons white miso
• (optional) 1 tablespoon sesame paste, such as tahini
• 3 to 5 tablespoons dashi or water

Lemon miso sauce

Excellent as a marinade for fish, but also a great topping for tofu and vegetables. Place the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir and simmer for a couple of minutes to smoothen it out, then it’s ready. Cool to room temperature (at least), if using as a marinade.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup white miso
• 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon saké
• 1 tablespoon mirin

Another major change is to no longer boil the tea leaves, which often resulted in something unpleasantly astringent. It might look pale, but make no mistake, the tea really does not need more time to steep! Yet another tip is to avoid powdered spices, especially ginger, since those tend to yield a cuppa that’s either too flat or too bitter.

After testing some spices one at a time, I also ended up simplifying the spice list… somewhat. No more cloves: they just added a medicinal bitterness which couldn’t be either enjoyed or remedied by more sugar. Too much cinnamon makes the chai too tart — although that might be because I use the softer, fruitier Sri Lankan / Mexican variety. Even the aniseed failed to impart the characteristic anise-y flavor (still too tart!); star anise, on the other hand, succeeds quite accurately. Moreover, peppercorns or allspice are optional, if I’m in the mood for a peppery edge.

This makes enough to serve 2 people. Or one very thirsty person in need of spicy warmth and caffeination.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 to 2 cups water
• 3 to 4 heaping teaspoons of green cardamom pods, crushed open to expose the seeds
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, roughly minced
• 1 to 2 inches of cinnamon stick
• 1 whole star anise
• (optional) 5 to 10 whole black peppercorns
• (optional) 2 to 4 whole allspice
• 2 to 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1 can (12 ounces, i.e., 1 1/2 cups) low fat (2%) evaporated milk
• 2 heaping teaspoons tea; or the contents of 2 to 3 teabags. Again, I recommend a strong black tea from India or Sri Lanka, such as Assam or Ceylon.

Method

1. In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the water and spices to a boil, and let simmer covered for 5 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, and stir to dissolve it.
3. Stir in the evaporated milk. Allow it to come to a foamy boil initially — while trying to avoid spilling onto the stovetop. (Vigilance! Remove the lid and/or lower the heat if dairy volcanism appears imminent.) Allow to simmer for another 5 minutes, with lid ajar.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in the tea. Steep covered for about 4 minutes.
5. Serve; add more sugar, if you want.

For many years I’ve lived with a Meyer lemon tree in the backyard. For many years, friends have told me how easy it is to make lemon curd. The tree remains outdoors, providing a generous source of juice, zest and bird watching opportunities.

Why the delay? Because there’s such an wild range of ingredient proportions in lemon curd recipes. Many use 3 to 4 whole eggs, but some use up to 8, and some use only yolks. Butter amounts go from less than a cube to more than 4 cubes. What?! And even the amounts of sugar, lemon juice and zest run the gamut. Sheez!

So, I decided to start with simple amounts which are easy to remember. Luckily, the first experiment worked! It is a very tart recipe, which I prefer, so feel free to somewhat reduce the amount of lemon juice. Meyers are also milder and less sour than true botanical lemons such as Eureka or Lisbon, so you may want to use less juice for non-Meyer varieties. Another piece of good advice was from my mother-in-law: use the freshest, tastiest butter you can find.

Important note: Unlike jams and chutneys, lemon curd is NOT sterilized. (Cannot boil the jars, otherwise you scramble the egg in the curd. Yuck.) Use it soon, like within a couple weeks or so, and keep it in the ‘fridge.

Use suggestions: Spread on scones, toast or pancakes. Sandwich between cake layers. Dip cookies into.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 5 extra large or 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest
• 1 cup Meyer lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chopped into 1 tablespoon chunks
• a pinch of salt

Method

1. Even though sterilization doesn’t occur, get your equipment ready. Wash the jars, lids, strainer and large measuring jug, then put them in a 225ºF degree oven for about 30 minutes before starting to cook (which will help dry them off, too). When you’re ready for the next step, turn off the oven so they won’t be too hot to touch when you need them.
2. Put all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan that’s resistant to acid, such as stainless steel or something enameled.
3. Stir frequently over medium low heat with a whisk. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens into a custardy consistency. You’ll need some patience, as this takes about 10 to 15 minutes, from the time all the butter melts. You want to aim for a custard temperature of 160ºF degrees (70ºC to 71ºC).
4. Pour the curd through the strainer into the large jug. Transfer to the jars, then cap them off. Allow to cool at room temperature, then move the jars to the refrigerator. Yields about 3 cups.

Moreover, savory pancakes can be made from many different root vegetables, in my case baking potatoes and sweet potatoes, with a kick of scallions and onions. The floury Russets, and the yellow, dry style of sweet potatoes work well.

Savory pancakes from New Year’s Eve 2008, served on New Year’s Day 2009. Topped with horseradish-garlic mustard cream.

Makes about 3 dozen, give or take.

For a possible creamy topping, mix together crème fraîche, horseradish and a nice, garlicky mustard. Oh yeah.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 pounds of baking potatoes and sweet potatoes, peeled. I used equal amounts of both tubers.
• 1 medium onion, diced finely
• 4 ounces (about 1 bunch) scallions, both green and pale parts sliced finely
• 3/4 cup pastry or all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon for sprinkling
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried (or 1 teaspoon fresh) thyme
• 3 eggs, beaten
• your favorite frying lipids: goose fat, duck fat, safflower oil, whichever

Method

1. Mix the flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper and thyme and set aside. Preheat oven to 225ºF.
2. Grate the baking and sweet potatoes. Then put them in a large bowl, along with the onions and scallions. Toss with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt, to help leech out more liquid.
3. Using a fine cheesecloth, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the vegetables. The butter muslin from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company is great for this task. It’s okay to do so in batches (in which case another large bow will help); you’ll probably need to squeeze the stuff twice.
4. Toss in the flour mixture, then stir in the eggs.
5. Heat up a frying pan (preferably not non-stick, since you want crispiness to develop) filled with barely an 1/8-inch of fat or oil. If you have two such pans, this will make the frying process go faster. Make sure it’s hot enough: toss in a tiny pinch of pancake batter, and if it sizzles on contact, it’s ready.
6. Form each pancake from about 2 tablespoons of batter, kinda roundish. Once in the pan, I try to flatten them as much as possible (more crispy!) with the back of a large spoon.
7. Fry until golden-brown, about 2 minutes, then flip and finish the other side in about 1 to 2 minutes.
8. When the pancakes are done, transfer them to drain briefly on a paper-lined tray — for only a minute or so, otherwise the trapped steam will make them soggy — then transfer them onto a rack over a pan in the oven to stay warm and crisp.
9. Serve with sour cream, yogurt, crème fraîche, smoked fish or poultry, caviar, and/or ketchup. Freezes and refrigerates well. Reheat in a 400ºF oven until hot and recrisped.

For an added roasty flavor, I bake the chicken carcass beforehand in a 375ºF degree oven until, well, browned a bit. Usually for about 20 to 30 minutes, until you smell roasted chicken in the air. This extra step also eases the removal of skin and meat, which shouldn’t go into the broth anyhow.

In addition, a tip from one of my favorite television chef-teachers, Jacques Pépin: Initially simmer the chicken with the water, without the other ingredients added (yet). This helps out with skimming away rendered fat and scum before adding the other goodies — without accidentally removing small aromatic floatables like herbs and spices.

When you use the stock, you’ll need to season it with salt, since none is added while making it.

Ingredients

• 1 chicken carcass, optionally roasted, with as much meat and skin removed as possible
• 4 to 5 quarts filtered water
• 1 medium to large onion, quartered
• 1 large leek, rinsed of sand and grit; cut in half lengthwise, then chopped into large (3 to 5 inches) pieces
• 2 to 3 fennel stalks, chopped into large pieces
• 3 to 4 medium carrots, chopped into large pieces
• 4 to 6 garlic cloves
• 1 apple, quartered
• 4 to 5 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, or a small handful of fresh thyme
• zest of 1 lemon; wide strips are fine
• a generous handful of parsley, leaves and stems

Method

1. Crack the large bones of the chicken to expose the marrow. Cover the bones with the water in a large stock pot. Once you bring it to a simmer, over the next 30 or so minutes, skim off and discard any fat or scum that rises to the surface.
2. Insert the spice cloves into the onion quarters. Add them and the remaining ingredients to the pot. Bring back to a gentle boil.
3. Cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours.
4. Cool until easy to handle. In fact, if you let the stock chill in the ‘fridge overnight, you can later skim off any solidified fat you had missed earlier.
5. Strain through cheesecloth. I recommend a finely woven cheesecloth that has strength, i.e., can be twisted and squeezed without tearing. New England Cheesemaking Supply sells butter muslin which works quite nicely.
6. Refrigerate and use within a few days. Or freeze and use later on.

For me this bread is basically an easier, lighter (somewhat) version of brioche. Not just less butter, but melted butter which in a snap can be mixed in. Then again, as I had mentioned in version 1.0 of this recipe, the Sally Lunn bun seems to be an English version of brioche anyhow.

Yeah, the ingredients and method are remarkably similar to version 1.0, but I added more details which I think will make the recipe more dependable. Version 2.0 makes enough for 1 hefty loaf (9×5x2-inch pan) plus 4 muffin-sized buns (4-inch diameter cups).

Ingredients

• 21 to 22 ounces (roughly 3 3/4 to 4 cups) bread flour, divided (steps 2 and 4)
• 1 packet of active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup sugar, divided (steps 2, 3 and 4)
• 1 cup warmed milk
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided (steps 2 and 4)
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
• extra butter for greasing pans, softened but not melted
• extra warmed milk for glazing
• (optional) extra sugar for glazing and sprinkling

Method

1. If your kitchen is cold, or unheated in winter like mine, preheat oven to its lowest temperature setting. For example, my oven goes as low as 170ºF degrees. You can skip this step if your kitchen is comfortably warm, i.e., 70ºF or more.
2. In the mixer bowl, weigh out 10 ounces of the flour. To that stir in the yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
3. Stir in 1 more teaspoon of sugar into the warmed milk, then pour that into the flour mixture in the previous step. Stir well so that all the flour is coated — this is your sponge, so let that sit, covered, for 30 minutes. A few bubbles should form during the sponging period, showing that the yeast is alive.
4. In the meantime, combine the rest of the flour, sugar and salt in another, smaller bowl, and set aside. Now is also a good time to melt the butter, and bring the eggs to room temperature. A good way to prepare the eggs is to put them in a bowl of warm water (approximately body temperature, not much hotter) for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Turn off the oven, if you had it on in step 1. When the sponging step is done, mix in the eggs, one at a time, making sure the dough is smooth after each egg. I use the paddle attachment for the mixer here, with the mixer at medium speed.
6. Mix in about half of the remaining flour mixture. Next, slowly pour in the butter, alternating with the rest of the flour, still making sure that the ingredients are incorporated into a smooth dough. The end result should be a very sticky, soft dough. You could also add a bit more flour if it looks too liquidy.
7. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in a warm place (oven or room) until doubled in bulk. This could take from 2 to 3 hours. The eggs, butter and sugar slow things down, so have patience!
8. Stir down the dough, and let it rest for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, generously grease the pans with softened butter.
9. Glop the dough into your pans; a greased spoon or rigid spatula helps here. For a muffin pan, fill each cup less than half full, roughly 35% to 45%ish. For the bread pan, the dough should fill it over halfway, roughly 55% to 65%ish. Attempt to smoothen the tops (again, applying a greased spoon or finger), but don’t worry about getting them perfectly smooth or even.
10. Cover the pans, set aside in a warm place, and let ‘em double in bulk yet again (last time!). This should take about 1 1/4 to 2 hours; you’ll need to remove the coverings about halfway, since the dough should rise above the pans’ rims.
11. Remember to remove the pans if they were sitting there during the final rising — and preheat the oven to 400ºF degrees.
12. Slash the loaf with sharp but greased (or wet) blade, so that it can expand during baking. Mix sugar, if desired, with the extra warmed milk. Glaze the loaf and buns, taking care to avoid deflating them — brushing upwards towards the center helps. Sprinkle with a little bit more sugar, if you want.
13. Pop both buns and loaf into the oven. After the first 10 to 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 375ºF and rotate the muffin pan 180-degrees.
14. After another 8 to 10 minutes, the muffins should be done (remove them). Give the loaf a turn at this time as well.
15. The loaf should be done in another 8 to 10 minutes. Total baking times: 20 to 25 minutes for the buns, 27 to 31 minutes for the loaf.
16. Remove the breads from their pans as soon as you take them out of the oven. Allow to cool on a rack for about 20 to 30 minutes before serving. As with v1.0, v2.0 is splendid with butter, clotted cream, jam, lemon curd, and/or honey. And perfect for tea.

So this brings me to the cassoulet, or rather “cassoulet,” which I recently made. The only vaguely French ingredients are green lentils (from France, yet not the Flageolet beans of traditional cassoulet), duck confit, bay leaves and red wine. Although in my case the last three items are domestic (from the farmers’ market, our backyard, and a Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley, respectively). Highly bastardized, indeed.

But very tasty.

After numerous searches (cassoulet without beans is rare, but not fictitious), I happened upon a recipe from Food Network Canada, which my version is somewhat based upon. A nice thing about green lentils is that they tend to hold their shape, rather than going to mush, compared with red (skinless) or yellow lentils. Moreover, their cooking time is much shorter than most dried beans; hence only about 2 to 2 1/2 hours of your life pass during the making of this cassoulet, rather than… days. Not sure how brown or black (beluga) lentils would work; but if you try this with either of those, let me know how it goes!

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 duck confit legs (3/4 to 1 pound), and about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the fat from them; they’re often packaged with a generous amount.
• 3 thick chicken apple sausages, about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 4 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 1/2 cups green lentils, or lentilles vertes du Puy; the volume is based on a 500g package I had.
• 1/2 teaspoon dried (or 1 teaspoon fresh) thyme
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• salt and pepper, as needed
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups smoked chicken, in large chunks if possible; my local Whole Foods sell a potently smokey bird at their meat counter — enough to substitute for ham or bacon!
• 1 cup red wine; something light or medium bodied.
• 1 quart chicken stock

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF degrees.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed pot (e.g., a dutch oven), melt the duck fat over medium-high heat.
3. Poke the sausages a few times with a sharp knife. Cook them in the pot until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove them, cut in half or thirds, and set aside in another dish.
4. Sauté the onion, carrots and bay leaves until the onions become translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Add the lentils, thyme and garlic, and stir for 2 minutes, still over medium high heat. Season with pepper and salt — although you might not need much more salt due to the poultry and chicken stock.
6. Place the duck legs, chicken chunks and sausages on top of the lentil-vegetable mixture. Pour in any liquid from the sausage dish, followed by the red wine and chicken stock.
7. Bring to a boil on the stovetop. Skim off any scum or large fat droplets. Then transfer the pot, covered, to the oven.
8. Cook in the oven at 425ºF for the first 10 minutes, then lower to 350ºF degrees to continue for another 80 to 90 minutes. You want to ensure that the lentils have absorbed most of the liquid — it’s okay if there’s a little juice at the bottom — and that the flavors of the various bird meats have melded with the vegetable members of the cast.
9. Serve with something light and green (Brussels sprouts, woohoo!), and red wine. Probably enough to serve 4 people very generously. Excellent as a leftover, although I’ve only refrigerated it — not sure how lentils and poultry would survive freezing.

Now if I could just find a source of clotted cream produced in the United States. Yeah, good luck there.

Books

I depend more on links rather than books for information on tea rooms and merchants. I mention a few books here, but do send me recommendations for others. My preferences would include helpful travel guides, reference tomes, or useful cookbooks for teatime munchables.

Hume, Ulrica. San Francisco in a Teacup: A Guidebook for Tea Lovers. Out of print, and contains several tea rooms no longer in business. It is, however, thorough, covering most parts of the Bay Area.

Mackley, Lesley. The Book of Afternoon Tea. This is a handy booklet of recipes for sandwiches, cookies, cakes and other snackables to go with tea. Also includes recipes for scones and lemon curd. And pretty pictures.

Sauer, Jennifer Leigh. The Way to Tea. Official site | Related blog. Easy to read, filled with lovely color photos. Vast majority of the tea rooms are in San Francisco, with a few in Marin County and Berkeley. None from either the South Bay or Peninsula, alas. Sauer does emphasize that she covers the places she frequents, rather than comprehensive reviews. Maps would’ve been really helpful; although addresses, both real world and websites, and hours are provided. Venues are organized into three seemingly arbitrary sections which are not alphabetical, not based on location, nor by style, AFAICT. A good reference, though; I wonder if she’ll continue with future editions.

Online

Since online guides don’t always update their listings, remember to contact a place to ensure that they’re open and still in business. Moreover, these guides often list bubble tea places, and cafés which just happen to offer tea (not that either are a bad thing, mind you), in addition to the more traditional tea houses.

If you have a favorite international / travel guide (not listed here) which covers tea, please let me know.

• Upton Tea Imports. Excellent loose-leaf teas, in bulk, from around the world, a vast range including some organic and fair trade teas. Upton has great prices and fast shipping, which is why I usually don’t bother with the more boutique tea sellers like Adagio, SpecialTeas or Teavana.
• TeaGuide.net. The grandmother of Internet tea room and tea merchant guides. Somewhat messy to read — all information for a given state or country is on a single page, and there’s no search field. But it’s the only international online guide I’ve found so far.
• TeaMap.com. A nicely laid out domestic guide to tea rooms and tea merchants. Although the navigation gets hairy because, like the Tea Guide, they list every place within a state on one page — rather than allowing to search within a state or by city. But they do allow string searches and searching by zipcode.
• Great Tearooms of America. Another domestic tea room guide. Does allow narrowing your search by city.

Brick & mortar tea merchants

When I’m in London, I usually purchase teas at Harrod’s in Knightsbridge — likely at a premium, but how could I resist those food halls? Yet I still welcome suggestions for other tea merchants in the UK.

• Mountain View Tea Village, downtown Mountain View, CA. I was given a pleasant introduction to Pu-erh by one of the owners. Lots of teas from China and Taiwan, including excellent Oolongs.
• Mariage Frères, several locations in Paris. Also a lovely place for a drink and tasty pastries.
• Le Palais des Thés, various shops in France (many in Paris). A nearly daunting choice of teas to smell and buy. They have a wide variety of sampler box sets, based on country of origin, styles, or blends — both educational and pleasurable.

If you really don’t like mussels, just substitute more clams for ‘em. Serve with a nice crusty sourdough.

I’m not a fan of celery, so I left it out of the chowder. (Celery certainly has its place, like in stocks.) But perhaps next time I’ll use fennel bulb, since I do like its anise flavor; same family as celery, but with more personality. I’d chop it up into small pieces, then sauté it along with the leeks and onions. (Update 19 Dec 2008: The fennel turned out to be a really nice addition!)

Ingredients

• 3 ounces bacon, chopped into 1-inch slices
• 1 1/2 pounds leeks, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped into a small dice
• (optional) 1 small fennel bulb, chopped into a small dice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon fresh)
• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold, peeled and chopped into pieces roughly 1 inch long by 1/2 inch thick
• 1/2 cup dry white wine; one which goes well with creamy foods or shellfish, e.g., I used a Chardonnay from Carneros Valley. Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Albarino, or even a dry Riesling would work as well.
• 2 cups hot water
• 3 to 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup pastry or all-purpose flour
• 2 cups warm milk
• (optional) 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups clam juice
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 6-ounce cans of chopped clams, including juice
• 2 6-ounce cans of mussels, including juice
• freshly ground pepper

Method

1. In a large pot, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon to drain in a paper-lined bowl. Remove all but 2 to 3 tablespoons of the fat from the pot.
2. Sauté the leeks, onions and fennel, if using, in the pot until translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the coriander seed, bay leaves, thyme, potatoes, white wine, and hot water. Bring to a simmer and cover.
4. Prepare the béchamel in a separate sauce pan. Melt the butter until bubbly, stir in the flour until a lightly browned roux is formed, then slowly whisk in the warm milk until smooth.
5. Add the béchamel to the main pot. Season with cayenne, if desired.
6. Add the clam juice, and again bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the potatoes become tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.
7. Stir in the cream, clams, mussels, and their juices. Bring back to a simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. Season with black pepper, garnish with bacon, then serve it forth.