Confident Kitchen

I found this gem of a recipe here and adapted it slightly.  The pasta was so vivid in the photos that I just had to make it myself.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 and 2 tablespoon sections
• 3 large red beets, peeled and grated (save the greens if you have them)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1lb fusilli pasta
• crumbled feta cheese
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (2 and 2 tablespoon portions)
• freshly minced mint leaves for garnish

Heat water for pasta.  When water is boiling, add fusilli and cook until al dente.  While pasta is cooking, heat a dutch oven or large saucepan.  Add poppy seeds and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant.  Pour into small dish and set aside.  Add 4 tablespoons butter and brown for 5 minutes in the same dutch oven.  Add beets, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.  Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

When beets are ready, add pasta, 2 tablespoons butter, poppy seeds, and the rest of the vinegar.  Stir until noodles are a bright red. Serve with feta and mint garnish.

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Ingredients:

• 1 lb beet greens, rinsed and chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• beet green stems, cut into 1-inch sections
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• splash of cider vinegar

Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet. Add onion and beet green stems. Saute until soft. Add garlic, saute one minute. Add beet greens, sugar, water, and crushed red pepper: cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add splash of cider vinegar and serve hot.

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This recipe is a bit daunting, but well worth the effort.  Adapted from Monsoonspice.

Kofta:

• 2 large potatoes, peeled, cooked, and well mashed
• 1½ cups grated paneer
• 1 medium onion, very finely chopped
• 2 tbsp coriander (otherwise known as cilantro) leaves, very finely chopped
• 2-3 green chillies, very finely chopped (I used Serrano chilies)
• ¼ cup bread crumbs
• 3 tbsp corn flour
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 8 cashew nuts, smashed
• Salt to taste
• Peanut oil for deep frying

To help conserve time, grate paneer, cut onion, and measure the spices while the potatoes are boiling.  Combine in a large bowl, then add mashed potatoes when ready.  Mix by hand very thoroughly, it should stick together but not feel tacky.  Form mixture into balls, a little smaller than a ping pong ball.  Set aside.

Onion Paste:

• 2 large onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 inch ginger, peeled
  
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
  
• 3 green cardamoms, smashed with the side of a knife blade.

In a small saucepan, add ingredients and 3/4 cup water and bring to a simmer.  Stir occasionally so that all onion pieces soften. Remove cinnamon stick and puree in blender or using an immersion blender.  Set aside.

Tomato Sauce:

• 5 large tomatoes
• 1 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• A pinch of asafoetida
• ½ tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (we liberally added 90,000 scoville unit cayenne, but use your own personal preference)
  
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp cashew butter
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
  

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Remove core from tomatoes, cut the bottom of each tomato with an “X”, and boil for 1 minute.  Immerse each tomato in ice water to stop the cooking process.  When cool enough to handle, remove tomato skin with hands.  Using a blender, puree tomatoes until smooth.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat peanut oil.  Add cumin seeds and asafoetida and saute for 3-4 minutes.  Add onion paste and stir occasionally for 5 minutes on medium heat.  Add sugar, stir for one minute, then add tomato puree.  Cover and simmer for 5 mintues, stirring occasionally to ensure the mixture does not burn.  Add garam masala, tumeric, paprika, and salt.  Boil gently for 5 minutes.  Add cashew butter, heavy whipping cream, and 3/4 cup water.  Cook on low for 5-7 minutes.  Add coriander leaves and remove from heat.

To fry the kofta, we used a large wok and most of a bottle of peanut oil. Heat to very high temperature, watching for the point in which the oil starts to smoke. Fry the kofta balls, 2-3 at a time max, until golden brown. The larger the ball, the longer it takes. Remove from wok and drain oil on paper towel. Keep warm in oven on low temp (200F). When all the kofta balls are cooked, you are ready to serve.

We served this with a base of plain white rice, with the kofta on top of the rice, then ladled a large spoonful of the tomato sauce on top of that. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Comments(1)

I don’t know what else to call this. I started with a recipe in one of my vegan cookbooks but in the end, the only thing that remained the same was the salt, pepper, and white beans. Go figure.

Ingredients:

• 1 can white beans, drained
• 1/2 can garbanzo beans, drained
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter
• generous pinch thyme
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4lb asparagus, cut into thirds
• Vermicelli pasta, about 1 cup

Directions:

I brought some water to a boil and reheated some leftover vermicelli noodles in it.  Also blanched the asparagus in the pasta water (it’s silly to use two pans when the blanching process takes a minute).

Melt butter in cast iron skillet.  Add garlic, saute for 30 seconds.  Add thyme, saute for 30 more seconds.  Add beans, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until heated, about 2 minutes.  Remove from pan.

In remains of butter, saute asparagus pieces with salt, pepper, and thyme (to taste).

In bowls, layer 1/2 cup noodles, 1/2 cup bean mixture, asparagus, and top with Parmesan cheese.

Comments(1)

Our CSA sent a container of cherry tomatoes last week. They are out of season and not really full of flavor like one expects of a cherry tomato. I asked around for some ideas on how to prepare them and this was one of the recommendations: slow roast in the oven on low for 3 hours with crushed coriander seed and a little bit of olive oil. The halves of each cherry tomato lose quite a bit of moisture and turn into little flavor packages.

I mixed the olive oil and tomatoes with 4 cloves of garlic, pitted kalamata olives, and a generous pinch of thyme. I warmed the mixture in the hot pot after removing the pasta, then added the freshly cooked vermicelli and 1/4 cup grated Parmasean cheese back into the pot and tossed to combine.

As a side, I had blanched some asparagus spears (halved) in the pasta water before cooking the noodles, then sauteed in a cast iron skillet with 1/2 tablespoon butter, a few grinds of salt and pepper, and another pinch of thyme.

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See recipe here

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We attended a private party at Dinette Friday night. This place is amazing. We’ve never been before, but we’ll definitely be back. I’m not sure what is on their full dinner menu, but we had a variety of vegetarian dishes that were amazing.

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Quick and dirty post:

In a small saucepan, take two large spoonfuls of honey, a big glug of soy sauce (about 1/4 cup), a splash of sesame oil (say, a tablespoon), add crushed garlic cloves (4-5), chunks of peeled ginger, and a shake of red chili pepper flakes. Warm and stir until the honey is combined. Pour into container and use to marinade tofu, chicken, or beef. Also good (if not used with raw meat) as a dressing for baked sweet potatoes and carrots.

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Based on this recipe.

• 1 package rice noodles, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1/2lb pork, cut into small bite-size pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 dried chilies, chopped, seeds included or excluded based on heat tolerance (I used Thai red chili peppers, w/ seeds)
• 1/2 chopped yellow onion
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 teaspoons Madras or other curry powder (original recipe called for 2 tablespoons, but it was too much.)
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 3/4 cup chopped basil
• 1 handful greens (see photos)

Heat wok until hot. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and bring to temp. Add pork, garlic, and chilies, stir until almost cooked. Remove from pan. Add onion and bell pepper with remaining oil, saute until soft.

Add pork mixture and curry powder. After 1 minute, add the drained noodles, fish sauce, herbs, and greens. Stir 1 minute, then serve hot.

These are the greens we received from my mother in law. The tops look like broccoli, the leaves are sweet.

If anyone knows what they are, please let me know.

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From Trophy Cupcake in Seattle:

Lemon cupcake

Red velvet cupcake

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