Edamame Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette

Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as soybean. The word Edamame means "Beans on Branches," and it grows in clusters. To retain the freshness and its natural flavor, it is usually sold parboiled and quick frozen. In East Asia, it has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame is consumed as a snack, a vegetable dish, used in soups or processed into sweets. As a snack, the pods are lightly boiled in salted water, and then the seeds are squeezed directly from the pods into the mouth with the fingers.

I came across this recipe from one of my favourite blog site – 101 Cookbooks. Heidi Swanson does an amazing job with the pictures and recipes.I have made some adjustments here - I used regular lemons rather than Meyer lemon and added some chili flakes for some kick. You could also substitute the olive oil with sesame oil( or whatever oil you have one hand). I usually have at least 4 kinds of oil in my pantry at any given time :) This salad is lemony, refreshing and satisfying. I tossed the leftovers over some zesty baby greens for lunch.

Edamame Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette

4 cups shelled edamame ( equals to one bag of frozen, shelled edamame)
2 lemons or regular lemons
6 basil leaves, sliced into a chiffonade
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

½ tablespoon chili flakes

Cook the edamame in boiling water for five to seven minutes. Drain in a colander. Place drained edamame in a serving bowl and let cool to room temperature.

Zest one lemon and set aside. Squeeze the juice from the lemon (about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon). To make the dressing, add the lemon juice (and zest), chopped basil leaves, olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup and chili flakes. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Gently mix the dressing with the edamame. Zest the other lemon and sprinkle it on top. Serve cold or at room temperature. I prefer the latter.

Pumpkin Loaf

This is a wonderful moist pumpkin loaf recipe. I have had a can pumpkin in my pantry for awhile and decided to whip this up. B pointed out that pumpkin loaf is not really seasonal..but that does not really matter to me, as long as it tastes good.

This recipe makes two loaves, which is a bonus because I froze one for later. Most pumpkin loaves have the tendency to have too much spice in them. It can be a little overpowering. I worked on this recipe a little and it has just hints of cinnamon and cloves. The molasses makes the loaves taste a bit like honey cake.

I wanted to make the loaves look pretty but did want any creamy icing, so I made a simple glaze with a cup of confectionary sugar and 2 ½ tablespoon of water (I used a whisk to mix the ingredients to make ensure there were no lumps in the glaze) and poured it over the completely cooled loaves.

Pumpkin Loaf

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, softened

3 tb molasses

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 ½ pumpkin pureed

3 1/3 flour

½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

Sift flour, spices, salt, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.

Cream butter, sugar and molasses. Mixture will be fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin puree and mix well. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for an hour. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle of loaf. It is done if it comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes before turning onto racks.

Cool completely before glazing.

Mushrooms With Besan Flour

Once in a while you come across a recipe that tastes so good that you can’t wait to make it again. This mushroom recipe is one of them. It is a great vegetarian side dish. It is amazing that a few ingredients can deliver such a great tasting dish.

Besan flour (also known as chickpea flour, gram flour or chana flour) is widely used in Indian cooking for sweet and savoury dishes. It is available in most East Indian grocery stores. This flour is suitable for gluten free diets. Here is a piece if trivia for you – it is also widely used as a natural exfoliant by making a paste with water or yogurt.

Have all ingredients ready beforehand, this does not take long to cook.

Do not wash the mushrooms as they will absorb water, just wipe it with a wet towel. As for the mushrooms, I used the white ones that you see at the grocery stores. Criminis would be fine too. I don’t think shiitake would work here as this is a flavourful dish to start off with, it just would be too much. Mushrooms tend to cook down and this recipe serves 3 (this will probably serve two if you want big portions).

Kumbi Aur Besan Ki Bhaji

4-5 cups of cleaned chopped mushrooms

1 tbl olive oil

3 cloves of minced garlic

half an onion, thinly sliced

salt to taste

½ tsp chili powder

2 tbl freshly chopped cilantro (also known as coriander leaves)

1 tbl lemon juice

1 ½ tbl besan flour sieved

Heat oil on medium heat and add sauté garlic and sliced onions till fragrant and slightly brown. Add chopped mushrooms to the pan and stir for 3-5 minutes. Add salt, chili powder, lemon juice and cilantro. Saute for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour to the mushrooms. Stir to mix for another minute. Serve.

Black Rice Pudding

This is one of the versions of rice puddings that I grew up with. My mom would make this on weekends for tea. Sweet black rice is used to make snacks, desserts and even breakfast in South East Asia. It is also known as black glutinous rice or black sticky rice. Its grains are unevenly coloured and tastes nutty when cooked. Most of the black rice found in the US comes from Thailand. It is widely available in Asian grocery stores.

On closer look, you will notice that "black" sticky rice isn't really black at all. After soaking for a few hours, the water will turn into a deep burgundy, showing the rice's true colours. This is the natural colour of the rice, not an additive.It is usually soaked before cooking. It turns deep purple when soaked and cooked. Black rice is high in fiber and iron.

I usually soak it at least 2 hours prior to cooking. Feel free to add more sugar to this recipe if you wish. My mom uses cardamom pods or screwpine leaves - also known as daun pandan to perfume this dish (I have used cardamom here). This rice pudding is a wonderful contrast of textures. It is nutty, sweet and creamy..my idea comfort food. It reminds me of home.

Black Rice Pudding

1 cup uncooked black rice

2 ¾ cup water

¼ cup sugar

1/3 cup coconut milk

pinch of salt

seeds from 3 cardamom pods, finely crushed

Soak rice in a bowl of cold water for 2 hours. Make sure the water covers the rice.

Cook rice in an uncovered pot with 2 ¾ cup of water over medium heat. Once mixture starts to thicken, add salt, sugar and cardamom powder (this will take around 20 minutes). Stir frequently. Add coconut milk. Stir. Cook for another 5 minutes. It is best served warm or at room temperature.

Daisy May BBQ

We are big BBQ fans here, especially B. We headed over to Daisy Mae’s bbq, touted to be the best in the city ( Zagat rated 2005, 2006, 2007). It is designed like a cafeteria with friendly staff. You pick what you want and they gave you the food in take out containers..?! I wondered if we were at the right place. B and I had a little conference by the door to make sure we were at the right place. “This is it”, B says confidently. “Trust me”, he said. I did (I was a little hungry and it was too late to even think of going somewhere else). We ordered at the counter, picked up a tray and went through the line. Then we walked into a small banquet room and dug in.

The Memphis style ribs are popular here and that is what I had, along with brown sugar sweet potatoes, baked beans with burnt ends and red velvet cupcake. The ribs were succulent, tasty and smoky without being overly sweet. Hardly any fat on it at all. I dived into the whipped sweet potatoes. Sweet mercy..those potatoes were awesome!!!!! I can still taste it. The best sweet potatoes EVER!!! B’s chicken was pretty good. Nice and juicy. The red velvet cake was still cold and tasted ok. We took it home and tasted it later, at room temperature. It tasted much better. These guys also take special orders for whole and half hogs, racks of lamb and pork butts.

We headed to the Union Square market to walk off all that bbq. There were beautiful flowers( and a lot of apples) everywhere. Mental note to self – take a backpack and buy stuff as you see them at the farmers’ market. It is not easy to go back to the vendors because the whole place was packed (I did get some vegetables).

We kept on walking and came across a cafe close to the NYU campus. I desperately needed a pick me up. I had an anisette espresso and we shared (what else) a tiramisu. The espresso was quite good, a little boozy but I was not complaining.

Daisy May BBQ USA

623, 11^th Ave (corner of 46^th St)

New York, NY

212-977-1500

Vanilla Cupcakes

It was time for another rock garden club meeting. We had a slide show on primulas. I can’t wait for the weather to smarten up. It was sunny yesterday but it has been cool and rainy..again for another week.

I made some vanilla cupcakes for the event.This recipe is from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. I have reduced the amount of sugar for the icing. The icing I made was a little softer – I like it that way. This recipe also makes a three layer – nine inch vanilla cake. The butter and eggs should be at room temperature. This makes 2 dozen cupcakes. Make sure you use a good quality vanilla extract or better still, a vanilla bean for the cupcakes. These were not bad. I sprinkled some soft green coloured sugar over the icing. Pretty.

Traditional Vanilla Cake

1 cup unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 ½ ups self raising flour

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar till pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Combine both flours and add in alternately. Line cupcakes tins and fill ¾ full. Bake for 20 minutes or till tops of cupcakes spring to touch. Cool completely on a rack before icing them.

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

1 cup softened butter

6 cups confectionary sugar

½ cup milk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar (cup by cup) in a mixer till light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and milk. Beat till smooth. Slather it on the cupcakes!!

Easter Dinner

The chocolates alone were enough for a meal…But B and I had invited a few friends to dinner at our place. As mentioned in a previous post, I made a butterflied leg of lamb, garlic mashed potatoes, wild rice salad, roasted asparagus, squash and spinach gratin and a lovely layered lemon cake for dessert.

I am not going to post all the recipes, I figured it would be too much. The butterflied leg of lamb was from epicurious.com. I changed things around a bit, I made some jus with the drippings and a splash of red wine. It was perfect.

I made the lamb first since it needed to cook the longest. I just kept adding other dishes to the oven when the time required it. In went the gratin (it needed an hour to cook) followed by asparagus the last 20 minutes. I made the rice salad the day before.

I was feeling quite proud because I was ahead of schedule. I poured a nice gin and tonic for myself and settled on the couch while wating for the guests to arrive. When we were eating I kept thinking that something was amiss. It came to me when I cleared the plates, I had forgot the much beloved garlicky, creamy mashed potatoes!! We had it after dessert ( after much encouragement by B).

Butternut Squash and Spinach Gratin

You could also use acorn squash if you are unable to get butternut squash. This dish can be assembled a day ahead. This recipe was inspired by epicurious.com as well. This gratin does not taste too heavy although it has a cup of cream in it. This is a keeper.

2 packages frozen chopped spinach

4 tbl unsalted butter

¾ cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

1 cup cream

2 medium butternut squash, peeled, quartered and seeded

½ cup grated Parmesan

Squeeze thawed spinach to remove excess water. Set aside.

Cut squash into thin slices. (Or use a slicer) Melt butter on moderate heat and sauté onion and garlic till softened, for about 5 minutes. Add cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir well. Turn off the heat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 13 by 9 baking dish.

Layer squash and spinach alternately. You should have 4 layers. Begin and end with squash. Dot the top layer with butter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Cover the top with a parchment paper and cook till squash is tender. This should take about 30 minutes. Remove parchment paper and cook for another 15 minutes to brown the top.

Lemon Layer Cake

This recipe is from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. I was looking for a dessert that had light and bright flavours. This lemon cake is it. It is not dense like most lemon cakes. I reduced the amount of confectionary sugar for the lemon buttercream. The original recipe called for 8 cups. I stopped at 7 and had to add some milk to thin it. If I make it again (I am sure I will), I would just use 6 cups of sugar. I made a 2 layer cake instead of a three layer cake as instructed in the book.

1 cup softened unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 ½ cups self raising flour

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

¾ cup milk

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tsp grated lemon zest

a pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of two 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Grease and lightly flour the pans.

Cream butter and sugar till pale and smooth. Add eggs one at a time and beat till light and fluffy. Add flours, milk and juice alternately. Beat well after each addition. Divide batter in the prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Let cool for 15 minutes before cooling completely on a rack.

To assemble: Spread the luscious lemon buttercream evenly on sides and top of the cake.

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter – at room temperature

6 -7 cups confectioners’ sugar

½ cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp grated lemon zest

Cream butter and gradually add sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat till creamy and smooth. This icing can be stored at room temperature. Yummy……..

Easter treat

It is that time of the year again- to indulge in favourite chocolate eggs. We started with chocolates with breakfast and nibbled the tasty treats all day while cooking Easter dinner (another post coming up right away). It was a good thing. I made decorated eggs, except these were not decorated with a myriad of colours. It was spiced and steeped in tea. It had to sit overnight in the refrigerator so I made it Saturday night. I also could not resist making Nigella Lawson’s chocolate nests. These nests were quick to make, nice to look at and good to eat!

Marbled Tea Eggs

These eggs are best made a day ahead. Leave the eggs in the liquid. These also wonderful addition to the picnic basket. It would would still taste delicious if you are unable to find five spice powder.

Make hard boiled eggs with 6 eggs. Plunge the eggs into cold water. Crack the eggshells gently with the back of a teaspoon. Set aside.

Tea mixture:

6 tbl of black tea

3 tbl dark soy sauce

1 ½ tbl light soy sauce

1 tbl five spice powder

2 tsp black peppercorns, roasted and crushed

2 tsp salt

3 pieces of cinnamon sticks

3 star anise

3 cups of water

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Add cracked eggs to pot and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and leave in the refrigerator overnight. The liquid should cover the eggs. Shell the eggs when you are ready to serve. The eggs are best served cut in half sprinkled with pepper and salt. It will have absorbed the wonderful aroma and flavours of the spices in the poaching liquid.

Chocolate nests

I used a good quality bittersweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate called for in the original recipe. This recipe yielded 6 nests and I topped the nests with 4 chocolate eggs each.

7 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tbl butter

½ cup shredded wheat, crumbled

Multi coloured chocolate eggs

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir when chocolate is melted. Add crumbled shredded wheat to chocolate and mix well. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. Form chocolate mixture into a round shape, like a nest. Make a slight indentation in the centre. Leave to cool and fill with chocolate eggs.

Holiday menu

I have guests coming over for Easter dinner on Sunday. As of last night I did not have a list of things to make other than a leg of lamb.

I peered outside my window as I was making coffee for the house guests this morning and saw some of the white stuff floating around. Yes, it is a little cool for this time of the year in New York. The house guests were taking the train to the city for some good ‘ol “shop til you drop” session. I came home from the train station and decided to make a small batch of carrot soup while I pondered over the Easter menu. Nothing like a pot of something delicious bubbling away on the stove on a day like this.

I made a small batch of carrot soup and it is enough for two people. This recipe can be easily doubled. And it tastes good and freezes well. The kicker here is the addition of Pernod.

Pernod is an aniseed flavoured liqueur. It gets its flavour from star anise and the licorice plant. It goes well with carrots, right Single Spark? ;) Jokes aside, this is a great soup. It also packs some heat from the ginger and jalapeno that will definately warm you up. Every delicious mouthful will reveal different layers of flavours – sweet, spicy and a hint of licorice. I really liked it.

Carrot soup

2 cups of peeled and chopped carrots

1 cup of sliced leeks – white part only

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 tsp finely grated ginger

1 seeded jalapeno, chopped

1 tbls olive oil

1 bay leaf

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

1 bay leaf

2 tbl of Pernod

Saute sliced leeks, garlic and ginger in olive oil till fragrant. Add carrots, bay leaf, jalapeno and sauté for another 4 minutes on medium heat. Add stock and bring to boil, covered. Once the carrots are tender, remove the bay leaf, add salt and pepper to taste and turn off the heat. Process soup till smooth and add Pernod. Enjoy!

I did come up with a menu while doing all that chopping, stirring and tasting the Pernod (weeellll, I had to make sure it was still good – wink) - butterflied leg of lamb with mushrooms, wild rice salad, roasted asparagus, squash and spinach gratin ( there is a vegetarian in our midst and I want to make sure that she has something delicious, hot and nourishing to eat as well), the old stand by garlic mashed potatoes ( we love our garlicky mashed potatoes around here) and since B comes from a long line of lemon fiends, a lovely layered lemon cake for dessert. I have not decided on the wine yet. I will let you know how it turns out.

Pomegranates and rose petals

I have a stack of Persian recipes that I have been meaning to try. I read the recipes carefully beforehand and went to various Middle Eastern grocery stores to gather the necessary ingredients. Actually two important ingredients were rose water and pomegranate molasses.

I made Fesenjoon and dill rice with lima beans. The dessert was not totally Persian ..but I was running out of time. I made Easter walnut cookies (which is still Middle Eastern but the strawberries were not). The cookies were addictive. I could not stop eating them (which is rare- usually I CAN stop eating cookies).

Fesenjoon

I went through quite a few recipes to come up with this one. Most of the Fesenjoon recipes out there called for way too much water.

If you are unable to get pomegranate molasses boil down unsweetened pomegranate juice till thick. If you are able to get pomegranate molasses, check label to see if it is sweetened. Do not add sugar if it is sweetened molasses. I don’t know about you but I do not like jammy chicken. Regular molasses will NOT do the trick. I used mortar and pestle to prepare the walnuts – the result will be a little chunky . This dish takes almost an hour to cook so plan accordingly. Chicken can be substituted with duck.Once it is cooked it looks a little like coq au vin. It has slight tangy and fruity taste. So good....

2 cups ground walnuts

2 tsp olive oil

2 ½ lbs cubed chicken

2 ½ sliced onions

4 tbls pomegranate paste diluted with 2 cups of water

Salt and pepper to taste – I added quite a bit of pepper

1 tbls brown sugar

1 ½ tbls fresh lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick

Saute ground walnuts in 2 tsp olive oil for 5-7 minutes. Set aside. Saute sliced onions till brown and add chicken. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer covered for 45 minutes till sauce thickens.

Ma’amoul B’jowz

The Easter walnut cookies are addictive. It is basically a shortbread cookie with rosewater and walnut cinnamon filling. Some recipes call for orange blossom water instead, so take your pick. You can imagine the seductive aroma that will fill your kitchen when baking these cookies. The dough is a cinch to make but rolling out takes time. This recipe is adapted from The Essential Mediterranean cookbook. Keep in mind that the baking time may not be accurate because oven temperatures may vary.

I served the cookies with strawberries and whipped cream.

200 gm unsalted butter – room temperature

½ cup fine white sugar

2 tbl rose water

2 cups + 2 tbls sifted flour

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in rose water, salt and flour.

Filling

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

¼ cup fine white sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Fill cookies.

To assemble

Roll one tablespoon of dough in a ball. Make an indentation in the middle with your finger and slightly flatten cookie. Fill with chopped walnuts.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brown.