Grating Tomatoes

In my last recipe, for cheese enchiladas, I said that the tomato for the chili gravy should be "grated". (We also use a grated tomato in our saag paneer recipe as well as the forthcoming recipe for Mexican rice). This has caused some confusion and consternation amongst the legions of fans of the Beckyan Deli, so I am posting this here as a primer.

Grated Tomato

Ingredients:
1 Tomato

For the method, it's easiest to go back to the source: Madhur Jaffrey's excellent World Vegetarian cookbook. Take it away, Madhur!

How to grate a tomato: When a coarse tomato puree is required, the easiest way to get it is to hold a ripe tomato over a bowl and grate it on the coarsest part of a grater. The skin stays in your hand while the puree collects in the bowl. Sometimes the tomato slides along the grater and does not engage with the sharp holes. In such cases all you do is cut a thin slice off the tomato. This will get it going.

We use a box grater, and it works great!

Worst. Cookies. Ever.

Last week, Mark Bittman posted a new recipe for The Mother Of All Butter Cookies. His point was that this recipe was akin to a mother sauce and an easy and flexible base that could be turned into butterscotch cookies, chocolate chip cookies, citrus cookies... Sounds great, huh?

Some of you might ask: the Tollhouse Cookies are an all-time classic for a reason, how can you possible improve on them? Good question. I'd like the cookies to be a little more fluffy, but I'm not sure how to do this without using shortening, which I don't like.

There were a few things in the recipe that are certainly unusual, but conventional wisdom in cooking is not always right. First of all, the dough is mixed in a food processor. But this works well for pie dough. Second, it has a lot of cornstarch. Cornstarch? The reason Bittman gives is "to avoid overdeveloping gluten" and to add a "silken quality" to the cookies. Finally, it has unsalted butter, but only calls for a "pinch" of salt. Is that enough? On the other hand, it has a larger butter-to-flour ratio than the tollhouse cookies, and butter is good.

Well, the food processor appeared to work reasonably well; it was definitely cookie dough that came out (though my kitchenaid was standing there watching forlornly). But the cookies? The recipe suggests baking for 11 minutes at 375 F (and our oven is reasonably well calibrated). After 10 minutes, the bottoms were brown and the tops were uncooked. The chocolate chips weren't even melting. After a total of 15 or 16 minutes we just took them out. They were completely uncooked in the middle; the chocolate chips were barely warm; they had the texture and flavor of raw cornstarch; there was no flavor (possibly related to the lack of salt).

I wouldn't serve these cookies to my worst enemies. I put a comment on the Bitten blog, and it's still awaiting moderation. My guess is that the moderator is overwhelmed with people complaining that these are the

Worst. Cookies. Ever.

UPDATE: My comment has finally made it through moderation, along with a few more comments agreeing that these cookies suck.

Mac & Cheese

At long last, here is my Mac & Cheese recipe. It's not fancy, but it certainly gets the job done. Unless, of course, you are lactose intolerant. Sorry Becky! This can be made with any firm cheese. I usually use sharp cheddar, but I've found a mix of garden-variety cheddar and smoky English farmhouse cheddar is very good.

Ingredients:
1 lb macaroni
5 Tbs butter (salted)
5 Tbs flour
3 cups milk
0.5-0.6 pound cheddar cheese, grated (Trader Joe's English Coastal is delicious)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
worcestershire sauce
freshly ground black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Put the baking dish in the oven to preheat it.

Put water for pasta on the stove. When it is boiling, add the pasta, cook until al-dente, and drain.

Meanwhile, bring milk to a simmer on medium-low heat (try not to scald the milk). As the milk is heating, melt butter in a saucepan or saucier pot on medium-low heat. When it is melted, whisk in flour to make a roux. Whisk and cook for a few minutes. Slowly pour in hot milk, whisking constantly to keep lumps from forming. Keep whisking while the sauce is cooking; if it starts to boil then turn down the heat. Add cayenne (adds a nice kick!), nutmeg (apparently a hint of nutmeg brings out the j'ne sais quois-ness of the sauce), and several drops of worcestershire sauce to taste. Grind in black pepper and salt to taste. After 5-10 minutes the sauce should thicken. When it has thickened, turn heat to low, and add the grated cheese and mix it in.

Take pre-heated dish out of the oven, and pour in sauce (it will probably boil a bit).  Put in macaroni and stir thoroughly.  Grate cheddar and parmesan cheese on top.

Turn oven to 375F (conventional) or leave at 350F (convection).

Put it in oven for 30 minutes.  Enjoy a tasty, non-low-fat treat!

Arugula for all!

While the Obama campaign has had lots of fun mocking McCain for not knowing how many houses he had, the McCain campaign came back with . . . an arugula reference. Because a year ago, Obama had the nerve to mention the price of arugula.

I find it unbelievably frustrating that worrying about the price of vegetables makes one elitist. I don't know why someone would take pride in not being able to spell it. It's healthy! It's tasty! And it is a goddamn crime in this country that organic arugula is $4 for 5 ounces (or $7/lb for non-organic), while mac and cheese is $1.58 a box. Vegetables should not be luxuries, and I wish someone would actually say that for once.

Saag Paneer

We've made saag paneer (or palaak paneer, as they call it in Southern India) many times, using a combination of two recipes. Both recipes are from Madhur Jaffrey: one in World Vegetarian and the other in World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. We don't like either one by itself, so now that we've finally adjusted it to our liking, here goes:

The paneer:
2 quarts whole milk
3-4 Tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne

Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth, making sure you have plenty of cloth.

Bring the milk to a boil over medium high heat. When it begins to boil, turn the heat to low, and add 3Tbsp of vinegar. Stir. If the mixture does not begin curdling (the thin, yellowish whey separating from the white curds), add the last tablespoon of vinegar. Stir again, then pour into the colander. The whey will drain out and you'll have the curds left in the colander.

Gather up the ends of the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much water as possible. Tie the bundle shut, and lay the cloth on a plate. Place another plate above it, with a heavy book, for about five minutes. Just five minutes is all you need!

At this point it will keep for a day or two in the fridge. But once you're ready, slice it into cubes and fry it in a bit of oil. After slightly browning all sides, set aside. Sprinkle with the salt, cayenne, and garam masala. (The frying is optional, mostly because it sticks to the pan like crazy, no matter how much oil you use.)

The saag:
2 10-oz. bags of spinach
1 Tbsp of dried fenugreek or 1-2 handfuls of fresh fenugreek (if you can get fresh fenugreek, it is SO worth it)

2-3 Tbsp peanut oil
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
A 1-inch cube of ginger, chopped finely
1/2 - 2 small green chilis, chopped finely. (we use 2 Thai chilis, but whatever you have that you like)
1 tomato, grated

3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne

Bring 1/3 cup of water to boil in a large pan. Put in the spinach and fenugreek, and cook gently, covered, for 25 minutes.

START MAKING RICE NOW. (We have forgotten to make rice on at least three occasions.)

About 10 minutes after you've put the spinach on, start heating 2-3 Tbsp peanut oil in another frying pan. Add the ginger, garlic, and chilis, frying them until they start to brown. Then add the tomato, and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the texture thickens.

After the spinach has cooked for 25 minutes, mash it a bit with a potato masher or wooden spoon. Stir the tomato mixture into the spinach mixture, then add the salt, cumin, and cayenne. Stir to mix, cooking gently for 5 minutes. You may need to add a tablespoon of cornstarch here, but we usually just try to remove any excess water.

Add the paneer, stir, and cook gently covered for another 5 minutes. Taste for salt.

Serve hot, with rice.

Yum!

Birthday tradition!

Yesterday we went out for sushi for Eli's birthday. In honor of the yummy sushi, here is the very funny "Japanese Tradition" video about how to eat sushi:


I'm not sure if they're aimed at Japanese people, or people learning Japanese, or what, but I really enjoy the "Japanese Tradition" videos. There's also a very funny one about chopsticks, and one about origami that starts off funny but then meanders.

Is there a Top Geeky Chef?

On tonight's Top Chef finale (no spoilers here, don't worry), Richard bragged that he was using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream, and that "only a dozen top chefs in the country" do that sort of thing.

Top chefs, pffft. Even I've made liquid nitrogen ice cream on multiple occasions. In fact, other than procuring liquid nitrogen, it's one of the easiest desserts out there. Clearly Richard should have noted that "a dozen top chefs and thousands of physics geeks" use liquid nitrogen in their cooking.

Spicy Corn

As the summer grilling season begins (but in Santa Barbara it never ends!) corn on the cob starts to appear at the market. And there's nothing we love more than Indian-style spicy grilled corn. I learned this recipe and technique from my neighbors on Tappan St. in Ann Arbor, some time in the last millennium. And after Madhan and Pravina showed me how to make this recipe, it's been my favorite way to eat corn on the cob.

Ingredients:
Corn on the cob, husked (see below)
Coriander chutney (from a jar, available at Indian grocers)
Fresh lime
Salt
cayenne pepper, to taste

Fire up the grill. Husk the corn, and save a few inner husk leaves (whatever they're called), which we will make into a basting brush. Cut the very thick, white end off the leaves, and then make 1-inch slices into the ends of the leaves to make a brush-like head. Peel off another 1/2 inch wide strand of husk, and use this to tie the base of the brush together. Or, if you're feeling lazy, you can just use a regular brush, but the husk-brush is disposable and biodegradable!

Squeeze the juice of 1 lime (enough for 3-4 ears of corn; this recipe scales well) into a small bowl. Put a tablespoon or more of coriander chutney, a healthy pinch of salt, and ~1/8 teaspoon cayenne (to taste) in with the lime juice. Stir. If it's too thick it can be loosened with more lime juice, water, or whatever beer-like beverage you happen to be drinking.

Put the corn on the hot grill, and baste the top of the corn with the mixture. After a few minutes the bottom of the corn will begin to blacken, rotate the corn, and baste the top again. Repeat until the corn has been roasted and basted all the way around.

Enjoy!

Tandoori or don't we?

Tonight Becky and I made Mark Bittman's Twice Cooked Mock Tandoori Chicken. We've previously tried Madhur Jaffrey's Tandoori Chicken from An Invitation to Indian Cooking (a classic from 1973 with the world's longest subtitle).

What's new and interesting about Bittman's version is the cooking method: baking the chicken in the sauce first, and then grilling it to finish. We think this worked well, but (a) the baking time was waaaay too long (b) there was about 3x too large yogurt to spice ratio and (c) it didn't actually taste like tandoori chicken (it must be noted that we never got the Jaffrey recipe to taste like tandoori chicken either!). One of the problems was that the chicken was still too wet when we put it on the grill. When Bittman says to scrape away the excess sauce before grilling, he means it!

We had it with fresh-baked naan which came out very tasty, which we finished on the grill.

No, let me tip my 20-gallon hat to you!

The city of Santa Barbara is promoting a 20 Gallon Challenge, listing ways to reduce your water consumption by 20 gal/day. I find the list frustrating, however, because many of the suggestions are either bleedingly obvious, or only helpful for owners, not renters.

So the things on the list that we already do to save water:

• Turn off water when brushing teeth.
  
• Take short showers (At 2 gal/min on a good day, there's a limit to how much shorter they can get).
  
• Don't use the toilet as a wastebasket (who does that?).
  
• Wash only full loads of laundry.
  
• Wash outdoor furniture by hand instead of just hosing down.
  

The things that are not applicable to us:

• Leaky faucets and toilets.
  
• Flow restrictors on faucets (definitely not needed on days when we're only getting 0.7 gal/min).
  
• Replacing the washing machine
  
• Dishwasher usage
  
• All the landscaping suggestions. I love the landscaping suggestions -- I just wish we had the power to implement them.
  

That leaves one suggestion that we probably could use, which is to be more careful about running water when washing dishes.

(I don't want to think about how much water is wasted in watering our front yard. If it were up to me, our front yard would consist of palm trees, lemon trees, aloe plants, and gravel. Instead, like every other yard in our neighborhood, it has grass. Not exactly native to southern California. But I'm pretty sure our landlord is not about to re-landscape the front yard.)

I'm not saying these suggestions aren't a good place to start -- they're fine. But if you're going to talk about reducing water, you can't ignore the vast quantities of water involved in agriculture or ethanol production. Saving water doesn't stop at your front gate, and I just wish that people talked about this more.

On the bright side, this means that if you're reducing your gasoline usage or high-fructose corn syrup intake for other reasons, you're probably already reducing your water usage, too.

La-Zed Spaghetti

One of our favorite easy dishes is Marcella Hazan's "Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter". It highlights the flavor of fresh tomatoes and is easy to boot. There's no garlic, no oregano, no basil, no gimmicks. Just a simple, delicious tomato sauce.

2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes	1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
5 tablespoons butter	3/4 pounds pasta
Salt

We usually do this with spaghetti, but Marcella recommends Potato Gnocchi.

Core tomatoes and blanch them in boiling water for 30-60s. Put them in cold water to cool, and then the peels should fall right off. Chop the peeled tomatoes into coarse pieces and put them in a large saucepan with the butter, onion, and a couple pinches of salt. Cook uncovered at a slow simmer for 45-60 minutes. After 30-45 minutes put the pasta water on to boil with lots of salt. Before the pasta is ready, remove a few tablespoons of cooking water.

When the pasta is ready, remove the onion from the tomato sauce and discard. Taste and correct for salt. Mix the drained pasta with the sauce and a little of the pasta water. Serve with grated parmesan.

Worst Beer Ever!

I've had a lot of beer in my life, but which is the worst?

Is it the Sam Adams Triple Bock, which Eli described in two words: soy sauce?

Is it the Trader Joe's Hefeweizen, which promises flavors of "banana, bubble gum, and clove", and more than lives up to the threat?

Is it the Arbor Brewing Company's Smoked Lager, which tasted like bacon? I can tell you all right now, that beer and bacon are not two great tastes that go together.

Or is it some other beer that I've been fortunate enough to avoid so far?