Happy New Year!Four cheeses from Bobolink Dairy
Baguette
♦
Chilli-topped Parmesan Biscuits
♦
Candied Walnuts with Rosemary and Lavender
Almond-stuffed Medjool Dates sautéed with Lavender & Sea-Salt
♥
Champagne
Showing posts with label dates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dates. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
New Year's Party
It's that time of the year again and the CC is hosting his annual party again after a hiatus of a year.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Lamb Tagine with Apricots, Dates & Almonds (Mrouzia)
Let's face it, chez CC, we are crazy but not insane. There is a massive difference. We recognize the limits of our ambition.
This dish is a classic of Moroccan cooking and it is great in winter. It needs to be made in a tagine ideally. The lamb is organic, the almonds were peeled by hand, the dates are authentic. The pita, however, at the right comes from Astoria. As we said, we're crazy but not insane. We can't do everything.
This is a rich winter dish. It takes time, effort and excellence of ingredients. Ironically, it's not hard. You throw everything into the tagine and then the dish makes itself while you enjoy a soothing drink.
It's medieval-ness should be obvious. The combination of meat and nuts, sweet and savory in the same dish gives it away on the first reading.
Ingredients
1 lb lamb (cut into chunks)
1 large carrot (cut into large chunks)
1 onion (diced fine)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/3 tsp. dried ginger
1 stick cinnamon
2 tbsp. ras el hanout
1/3 cup blanched almonds
1/3 cup dates (pitted and quartered)
1/3 cup dried apricots
6 cups water
butter
pinch of saffron
salt
pepper
Recipe
In a tagine, heat up some butter and fry the onions and garlic. Add the lamb but fry it just for a minute. Add everything except the saffron and let cook at a low heat until tender (roughly 40 minutes.)
Add the saffron. Stir and serve.
This dish is a classic of Moroccan cooking and it is great in winter. It needs to be made in a tagine ideally. The lamb is organic, the almonds were peeled by hand, the dates are authentic. The pita, however, at the right comes from Astoria. As we said, we're crazy but not insane. We can't do everything.
This is a rich winter dish. It takes time, effort and excellence of ingredients. Ironically, it's not hard. You throw everything into the tagine and then the dish makes itself while you enjoy a soothing drink.
It's medieval-ness should be obvious. The combination of meat and nuts, sweet and savory in the same dish gives it away on the first reading.
Ingredients1 lb lamb (cut into chunks)
1 large carrot (cut into large chunks)
1 onion (diced fine)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/3 tsp. dried ginger
1 stick cinnamon
2 tbsp. ras el hanout
1/3 cup blanched almonds
1/3 cup dates (pitted and quartered)
1/3 cup dried apricots
6 cups water
butter
pinch of saffron
salt
pepper
Recipe
In a tagine, heat up some butter and fry the onions and garlic. Add the lamb but fry it just for a minute. Add everything except the saffron and let cook at a low heat until tender (roughly 40 minutes.)
Add the saffron. Stir and serve.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tamarind Etymology
The fruit and the taste are well known enough. Less well known is the etymology.
The Arabs encountered it first, and found they visually resembled dates (tamr). Hence, tamr-al-hind (dates of Hind = India.)
From there on to Latin - tamarindus and tamarind in English.
The botanical name is tamarindus indica which would equate to "dates of india from india".
Shades of Major Major Major Major?
The Arabs encountered it first, and found they visually resembled dates (tamr). Hence, tamr-al-hind (dates of Hind = India.)
From there on to Latin - tamarindus and tamarind in English.
The botanical name is tamarindus indica which would equate to "dates of india from india".
Shades of Major Major Major Major?
Friday, October 9, 2009
Ragda Pattice
Most people know Mumbai (or Bombay) in connection to either Finance or Bollywood. What is less known is the sheer plethora of completely scrumplicious street food on display. You could spend months there just eating those alone.
This recipe here is one of those delights that make you want to slap your mom† in sheer glee!
Ragda Pattice (as traditionally spelt) clearly derived from Ragda Patties are fried mashed potato-disks (patties) topped with a lentil sauce (ragda) which you can then tailor to your taste by adding a variety of sauces - traditionally, at least three - a sweet-sour date-tamarind chutney, a cilantro chutney, and a fiery mint sauce. Also, the Indian love of raw onions mixed with lime and cilantro means these are added on top.
There is nothing subtle about this recipe. Both the date-tamarind chutney and the mint one have one of those over-the-top "hit-me-again" tastes.
The long list of ingredients and sauces may put you off but this is better suited to a party where the guests can mix-n-match whatever toppings they like for themselves.
You might see minor variations of this recipe on the web but if you see a recipe that calls for yogurt, it is bogus!
Clearly those people have never been to Mumbai. Yogurt in this dish is akin to mayonnaise in traditional Chinese food - an act of heresy which should be followed up by actually slapping that person's mom!
† just an expression, folks!
.jpg)
Ragda
Ingredients
2 cups vatana (dried peas)
1 onion
1 piece ginger
3 green chillies
1/2 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tbsp ground cumin seeds
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp amchur (ground mango powder)
1 tsp ground red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt (to taste)
Recipe
Soak the dried peas overnight. Cook in a pressure cooker or in 6-8 cups water until tender but not mushy.
Chop the onions, ginger, garlic in a food processor. Heat some oil, and fry the lot. Add the cooked dried peas along with the ground cumin-coriander mixture, and the chilli powder and the turmeric. Add some water if necessary. The mixture should just be slightly sloppy. Towards the end add the garam masala and the amchur.
You can cook this ahead of time. It actually improves overnight.
Patties
Ingredients
4 potatoes
salt
Recipe
Boil the potatoes in salted water. Peel and mash. Mix with your hands to get a smooth-ish mixture. Do NOT add extra water. The mixture should be shapeable by hand.
Make into disks and pan-fry. The CC has also had great success with brushing them with oil on both sides and baking them in a 450°F oven for 45 minutes, flipping them half-way. (The latter method is clearly the scalable one!)
A modest advice to the baking-kind. Poke a few fork-pricks in the patties to release moisture. That's what frying does. Nobody will notice the pricks but the lot will cook faster. (Shocking how basic science manifests itself in food!)
Date-Tamarind Chutney
Ingredients
6 tamarind pods (de-seeded)
12-14 dates (coarsely chopped)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground red chilli powder
1 tsp black salt (kala namak)
Recipe
The black salt is absolutely indispensable. Without it, you will simply not get the tang that is this chutney!
Blend all the stuff with water in a blender into a sauce which is easily pourable. Use less water initially; you can always dilute it later.
This is also the only one of the three chutneys that can be successfully frozen to no detriment.
Cilantro Chutney
Ingredients
2 bunches cilantro
4 green chillies
1/4 cup peanuts
salt
Recipe
Blend in a blender.
Mint Chutney
Ingredients
2 cups mint
8 green chillies
1/8 cup peanuts
salt
Recipe
Blend in a blender. This chutney is noticeably thinner than the previous one. Also, packs a lot more fiery punch!
Onion Mixture
Ingredients
1 red onion (finely diced)
2 limes juiced
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
salt
Recipe
Mix. What else?
.jpg)
This recipe here is one of those delights that make you want to slap your mom† in sheer glee!
Ragda Pattice (as traditionally spelt) clearly derived from Ragda Patties are fried mashed potato-disks (patties) topped with a lentil sauce (ragda) which you can then tailor to your taste by adding a variety of sauces - traditionally, at least three - a sweet-sour date-tamarind chutney, a cilantro chutney, and a fiery mint sauce. Also, the Indian love of raw onions mixed with lime and cilantro means these are added on top.
There is nothing subtle about this recipe. Both the date-tamarind chutney and the mint one have one of those over-the-top "hit-me-again" tastes.
The long list of ingredients and sauces may put you off but this is better suited to a party where the guests can mix-n-match whatever toppings they like for themselves.
You might see minor variations of this recipe on the web but if you see a recipe that calls for yogurt, it is bogus!
Clearly those people have never been to Mumbai. Yogurt in this dish is akin to mayonnaise in traditional Chinese food - an act of heresy which should be followed up by actually slapping that person's mom!
† just an expression, folks!
.jpg)
RagdaIngredients
2 cups vatana (dried peas)
1 onion
1 piece ginger
3 green chillies
1/2 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tbsp ground cumin seeds
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp amchur (ground mango powder)
1 tsp ground red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt (to taste)
Recipe
Soak the dried peas overnight. Cook in a pressure cooker or in 6-8 cups water until tender but not mushy.
Chop the onions, ginger, garlic in a food processor. Heat some oil, and fry the lot. Add the cooked dried peas along with the ground cumin-coriander mixture, and the chilli powder and the turmeric. Add some water if necessary. The mixture should just be slightly sloppy. Towards the end add the garam masala and the amchur.
You can cook this ahead of time. It actually improves overnight.
Patties
Ingredients
4 potatoes
salt
Recipe
Boil the potatoes in salted water. Peel and mash. Mix with your hands to get a smooth-ish mixture. Do NOT add extra water. The mixture should be shapeable by hand.
Make into disks and pan-fry. The CC has also had great success with brushing them with oil on both sides and baking them in a 450°F oven for 45 minutes, flipping them half-way. (The latter method is clearly the scalable one!)
A modest advice to the baking-kind. Poke a few fork-pricks in the patties to release moisture. That's what frying does. Nobody will notice the pricks but the lot will cook faster. (Shocking how basic science manifests itself in food!)
Date-Tamarind Chutney
Ingredients
6 tamarind pods (de-seeded)
12-14 dates (coarsely chopped)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground red chilli powder
1 tsp black salt (kala namak)
Recipe
The black salt is absolutely indispensable. Without it, you will simply not get the tang that is this chutney!
Blend all the stuff with water in a blender into a sauce which is easily pourable. Use less water initially; you can always dilute it later.
This is also the only one of the three chutneys that can be successfully frozen to no detriment.
Cilantro Chutney
Ingredients
2 bunches cilantro
4 green chillies
1/4 cup peanuts
salt
Recipe
Blend in a blender.
Mint Chutney
Ingredients
2 cups mint
8 green chillies
1/8 cup peanuts
salt
Recipe
Blend in a blender. This chutney is noticeably thinner than the previous one. Also, packs a lot more fiery punch!
Onion Mixture
Ingredients
1 red onion (finely diced)
2 limes juiced
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
salt
Recipe
Mix. What else?
.jpg)
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Chanterelle Dinner
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Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sautéed Almond-Stuffed Dates
Ever see a recipe and you instinctively know it's going to be brilliant?
Ingredients
24 dates
24 whole blanched almonds
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
fine sea salt
(Source: Patricia Wells)
Recipe
Pit the dates but don't cut all the way through. Stuff with the almond.
Heat the oil in a pan over moderate heat. Add the stuffed dates and sauté until they are lightly browned. Season lightly with sea salt and serve.
Ingredients
24 dates
24 whole blanched almonds
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
fine sea salt
(Source: Patricia Wells)
Recipe
Pit the dates but don't cut all the way through. Stuff with the almond.
Heat the oil in a pan over moderate heat. Add the stuffed dates and sauté until they are lightly browned. Season lightly with sea salt and serve.
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