Madhu Knits and Cooks

Kadai Tofu -- Recreating a Restaurant Meal with Success!

I have never had "kadai paneer" before, but recently chose to order it from a local Indian restaurant for take-out one night.  Although I had relatively low expectations (I thought it would be overly creamy, and light on flavor), the dish was surprisingly tasty -- rich flavor that really complemented the chunks of sweet bell peppers and paneer in the dish.  Even though I had leftovers that lasted me for at least two additional meals, I decided later that week to recreate the dish at home.  I found a few recipes online to guide my attempt at this dish - which I decided would include tofu in place of paneer - and adapted them to suit the flavor I thought I wanted.  My first attempt at this dish was pretty fantastic -- it really felt that I was eating the restaurant dish again, and I didn't really notice the substitution of tofu for paneer.  The only change I will make the next time I make this is to omit some of the crushed red chiles I added during the cooking -- I found myself eating a little too much rice and bread to help cool my mouth, and I'd prefer to enjoy more of the dish without those bland fillers.

Kadai Tofu

For approximately 2 - 3 servings.

Ingredients:

• 4 small tomatoes
• 3/4-inch piece of ginger, coarsely chopped
• 2 green chiles
• pinch of hing (optional, available at Indian stores)
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 3/4 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 2 hand-crushed dried red chiles (optional, will likely omit or half next time)
• 2 tbsp. dried kasturi methi (available at Indian stores)
• 1/2 package of extra firm tofu, cubed into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3/4 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 - 3/4-inch pieces
• Salt to taste

Directions:

• Blend tomatoes, ginger, and green chiles in a blender until smooth - I was skeptical of this technique from Manjula's Kitchen, but it really seems to work in the end, so don't let the pale red color worry you!
• In a large saute pan, melt butter on medium heat.  When melted, add cumin, minced garlic, and hing, and coat with butter.  Cook for 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant.
• Stir in onion, and cook until translucent.
• Add tomato mixture, coriander, cayenne, and turmeric and cook down for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the crushed red chiles and kasturi methi leaves and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Tomato mixture should have a gravy-like, not soup-like, consistency.
• Add tofu and 1/2 tsp. salt and cook for 5 - 7 minutes or until warmed through, stirring occasionally.  I think I may have covered the mixture at this point, but don't remember :-(.
• Stir in the bell pepper, and continue cooking until tofu and bell pepper cooked to taste.  Add additional salt to taste.

Homemade Vegan Noodle Soup

I have had a hankering for a good vegetarian noodle soup for some time, but surprisingly, it can be really hard to find a restaurant that will serve a vegetarian noodle soup (as opposed to chicken noodle soup).  And most prepared soup mixes at the grocery store have MSG or other equally undesirable ingredients.  Because I still had a good amount of celery and carrots in the fridge from the Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice attempt, I finally decided to give this idea a go.  I ultimately put together a recipe based on my personal tastes, the Food & Wine Emeril Lagasse Vegetable Noodle Soup, and the Food Network Kitchen's version.

The final product was pretty solid -- not great, but definitely good.  It was noticeably better (even great) the day after (perhaps as the water evaporated a bit more in the microwave?), but I'll probably continue to tweak it to get a richer flavor (which unfortunately, does not seen to be found with adding bouillon cubes).  One alteration though that I would not suggest though - or at least the way I approached the alteration - is substituting arborio rice for the pasta.  I made this soup a second time, and substituted nearly 3/4 cup of dry arborio rice for the pasta.  I definitely used WAY too much rice -- it definitely sucked up much more liquid than I thought it would, and the rice was also just bland (definitely did not absorb the soup flavors).  So at least for now, my future experiments with this recipe will involve pasta instead of rice.

Homemade Vegan Noodle Soup

For approximately 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup pasta (I may increase to 1 cup the next time)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or a few garlic cloves minced - I didn't have any at the time though, so substituted powder)
• 2 cubes vegan bouillon (I may reduce to one cube the next time)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro or other fresh herbs
• 3 tsp. lemon juice (to taste)
• 1 tsbp. olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Water

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat, and add onion, celery and carrot and saute for 3 - 5 minutes until vegetables are softened.
• Add the thyme and garlic (powder), and saute for one minute or until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add 5 cups water, bouillon cubes, bay leaf, and maybe 1 tsp. salt.  Bring mixture to a boil.
• Once boiling, add pasta.  Cook until the pasta is tender.
• Lower heat, add the herbs, lemon juice, and salt to taste.  Remove from heat and serve.

New Orleans-Style Red Beans and Rice (Well, Red Beans and Quinoa) - With Some Tweaks, This Recipe Will Be a Keeper!

I haven't always been a proponent of red beans and rice, but over the past few years -- especially with my recent trips to New Orleans -- this Louisiana staple has been becoming a meal I think (and talk) about more and more.  I attempted my own version by taking a look at a few different recipes on the Internet (thanks Carlos for the recommendations!) and trying to make alterations to fit what I thought would best fit my tastes and requirements - particularly that the dish be completely vegetarian.  The recipes I ultimately followed the closest were from the Gumbo Pages, Emeril Lagasse, and Fat-Free Vegan.  

My first attempt turned out pretty well though the red beans were a little too spicy, and I definitely should have just gone with rice instead of the quinoa.  Unfortunately the quinoa didn't complement the red beans as wonderfully as I thought it would.  Also, something else seemed like it was "missing" but I am not quite sure what -- perhaps the dish was not just too spicy, but also just plain over-spiced with my use of too many spices?  Maybe some lime juice or something would help bring out the flavor?  As you can tell, I need to give this recipe another go - with less spice - and will report back with any updates!

Completely Vegetarian New Orleans Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

• 3 ribs celery, or 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 large green bell pepper and 1/2 small red bell pepper, chopped or 1 cup chopped bell pepper in total
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound red beans, soaked in cold water for 6 hours
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped, or approx. 2 tsp. chopped pepper and 1 tsp. adobo sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Chef Paul Prudhomme Vegetable Magic seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Tabasco
• Cayenne
• Paprika
• Salt
• Pepper
• Red chili powder 
• Water
• Scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in large pot on medium-high heat, and when hot, add celery, onion and bell pepper. Add a pinch of cayenne, paprika, salt, and pepper, and saute vegetables until the onion is translucent.
• Add bay leaves, thyme, and garlic, and saute for two minutes.
• Add the rinsed, soaked beans to the pot with three cups of water and the Chef Paul seasoning.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for one hour.
• After one hour, add another 1/4 cup of water (or to maintain a thick, but soup-y consistency), chipotle in adobo and Tabasco. 
• Cooked for another two hours, or until beans are creamy, stirring occasionally.  At end, add, salt, pepper, chili powder, and Tabasco to taste.
• Serve with cooked rice (preferably not quinoa!).

Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower? Another Good Way to Reduce Calories!

One would not think that the Vegetarian Times of all magazines would continue to hit it out of the park with mac and cheese recipes, but somehow they have done it again with the Mac-and-Cheese-Style Cauliflower from the January/February 2012 issue.  Not one's standard cauliflower or broccoli with cheese sauce recipe (e.g., nutritional yeast is an ingredient), this recipe was a welcome addition to what seems like my non-stop making of the Vegetarian Times Grown-Up Mac and Cheese.  With my modifications, it was fairly easy to make and still fairly hearty.  My changes follow the picture of the baked pasta and cauliflower.

Modifications

• I had one cauliflower head at home, which yielded about 5 cups of chopped cauliflower instead of the 8 called for in the recipe.
• I added in 1 cup dry pasta, cooked al dente.
• I used 2 cloves of garlic
• I omitted the nutritional yeast and egg yolks -- I didn't have nutritional yeast at home, and the egg yolks just seemed like overkill
• I used whole milk though instead of low fat milk because I needed to use it up!
• I substituted 1 cup of shredded extra-sharp cheddar and 1 cup of shredded gruyere
• I used panko bread crumbs instead of fresh breadcrumbs, and only put as much of a covering as I thought was necessary to the dish.

I think the next time I make this, I will probably increase the pasta by another cup or use more cauliflower because the sauce-to-substance ratio seemed a little off.  I may also throw in some cooked hearty greens as well -- why not?

The Great Compost Cookie Experiment

I have finally attempted the Momofuko Compost Cookie recipe.  I have not been to the Momofuko Milk Bar yet (though the Noodle Bar is amazing and highly recommended), but I saw their compost cookies being prepared on Regis & Kelly almost two years ago.  Upon hearing how you can really put whatever you want in them -- chips, candy, and really any savory or sweet snack -- I knew that I would have to make these one day.  I have to admit that when I have thought about really making these cookies in the past, I have actually become a little overwhelmed with the options -- I mean really, if you could make a cookie with ANYTHING, what would you put in it?  Should you play it safe, with the pretzels, potato chips, chocolate chips, etc., or go all out with Doritos, Cheetos, and other completely unnatural food products?  

Well, finally, I pulled myself together to make the cookies -- they are just cookies, right, and not something to get completely stressed about?  Unfortunately, when I actually decided to bake them, my indecision led to day-off trips to the grocery store and lots of thinking in the kitchen about whether my mixture of ingredients was just right.  Additionally, I found a few different ways to find the Compost Cookies online -- one version from the Regis & Kelly show, with a few website critiques of how to best prepare them, as well as a version from the Oprah website, which had significantly different ingredients.  Ultimately, I pulled together something based on these two blogs' versions of the Regis & Kelly-featured cookies.  

Per the websites' guidance, I put in slightly more flour than called for in the recipe - perhaps 1/4 cup.  I also included slightly more of the savory and sweet snacks - 1 1/4 cups of crushed potato chips (Lay's reduced sodium), 1/3 cup of blue corn tortilla chips (Xochitl), 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chunks, 1/2 cup m&ms, 1 cup crushed kit kats.  I also included 1 tsp. of kosher salt instead of 2 tsps. because I was worried about the salt from the potato chips and tortilla chips.  I also used a handheld mixer instead of a stand mixer, and creamed the butter and sugars together for less time than called for in the original recipe.

I baked the cookies in two different batches - one had been been in the fridge for just over an hour, and then in the freezer for 20 minutes, before baking at 375 in the oven for 15 minutes.  I rotated the cookie sheet twice on the same rack during the baking.  The second batch was in the fridge for a day or two, and then in the freezer, but I did not notice a different in the outcomes between the two batches.

The cookies were pretty good, though perhaps a little thin.  I think when I make these cookies again, I'll put in the full 2 tsps. of kosher salt, and also include thicker chunks of snacks that will withstand the baking, e.g., pretzels, pretzel m&ms, or even hard candy chunks?  The chips and chocolate pieces just softened too much while baking, so the cookies just seemed to lack both proper thickness in size and an optimal amount of crunch while eating them.  To the next round!

"Grown Up" (Low-fat) Mac and Cheese with Swiss Chard -- Really Fantastic for the Winter Months

Last year, I made my first mac and cheese.  It was also my first attempt at preparing a bechamel, and this low-fat milk-based bechamel helped ensure that this mac and cheese dish has far fewer calories than the standard mac and cheese.  I recently gave this Vegetarian Times recipe another go, but this time tried to change around some of the directions by:

• substituting a bunch of swiss chard (coarsely chopped) for the spinach leaves
• sauteeing the swiss chard with two cloves of garlic until the swiss chard wilted (approx. 5 minutes)
• using both 1/3 cup of shredded parmesan and 3/4 cup of shredded edam cheese
• substituting 1/8 cup olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter for the 1/4 cup olive oil (I ran out of olive oil, shockingly, that day)
• using two different types of pasta (just to use up leftovers; neither was whole wheat)

The result was really out of this world -- creamy, very flavorful, and particularly fantastic when I added some Sriracha to it while serving the dish.  I will definitely be making this recipe again in the coming weeks, and am happy to have rediscovered (and reworked it) a bit to fit the seasonal greens at the farmers market!

My Aunt's Vegetable Korma -- A Hearty and Flavorful Indian Vegan Meal

Ok, so this post is not what I wanted it to be.  I had two paragraphs of background on korma typed, edited, and proofread, and I had the recipe instructions meticulously copied down from my handwritten notes.  But then, my typepad editor froze and I lost the entire post.  And now, I have presumably learned to save my posts periodically while working on them, but somehow I feel like I won't actually do that.  In any case...

I am not a lifelong fan of vegetable korma -- it's only the past few years where I have tried to seek it out.  One of those occasions was at my aunt Chinna's house, where I had the best korma I have ever had.  Thankfully, she sent me the recipe and it appears with my minor modifications below.  The korma is really flavorful, and this version does not contain any cream or butter, which often appear in North Indian restaurant kormas.  The only issue I had with my recreation of my aunt's korma was that there was one spice that seemed a bit too strong in the dish (and thus resembled the other kormas I have had in the past that I haven't liked that much) -- no one else who tried my version of the dish had this complaint though.  And for some reason, upon reheating, whatever that spice inconsistency was disappeared.  One potential solution -- which Andy came up with -- could be making a spice bouquet of sorts with the whole spices and removing them before the dish is complete.  I'll post an update if I try that approach and it makes a difference.

Chinna Pedhi's Vegetable Korma

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsps. sliced almonds (optional)
• 4 tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tbsps. white poppy seeds (available in an Indian grocery store)
• 1 2-inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves (whole)
• 2 cardamon pods (whole)
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. garam masala
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 1.5 tbsps. ginger-garlic paste (available at an Indian grocery store, or blend equal parts ginger and garlic to a paste at home)
• 3 medium potatoes, cut into 1.5-inch pieces and soaked in salt water for at least 15 minutes
• 1 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces, or substitute baby carrots
• 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 4 - 5 green chilies (to taste)
• 1/2 cup green peas
• vegetable oil
• water
• salt

 Directions:

• Dry roast white poppy seeds in pan on stovetop until they become light brown in color - approximately 5 minutes.  Blend the poppy seeds to a fine powder, and set aside.
• Blend the almonds and coconut into a fine paste.  Then blend 1 tbsp. of the roasted poppy seeds with 4 - 5 tbsps. of the almond/coconut paste.  Add approx. 1/4 cup of water to make a more wet paste.
• In a large pot, heat approx. 3 tbsps. of vegetable oil on medium-high heat.  When hot, add the cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, bay leaves, and cumin.  Saute for approx. one minute or until fragrant.
• Add the chopped onion to the pot, stirring to coat the onion with the spices.  Cover and cook until the onion is translucent.
• Then mix in the green chilies, turmeric and ginger-garlic paste, and cook until the ginger-garlic paste is fragrant.
• Add the potatoes, 1/4 cup water, 1 tsp. salt, and cook with the spices for 5 - 7 minutes or until the potatoes are partially cooked (can be partially pierced easily with a knife).  
• Mix in the green beans and carrots, an additional 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water (to retain a curry-like consistency to the dish, an additional 1/2 tsp. salt, and cook for five minutes or until vegetables are approx. 3/4 cooked.
• Mix in the green peas, the blended poppy seed/almond/coconut paste, and the tomato.  Bring the mixture to a boil, adding up to 1/4 cup of water to ensure the dish retains a soupy consistency.
• Finally, stir in the cilantro, up to 1/2 tsp. of garam masala if desired, additional salt to taste, and cook until the vegetables are cooked to your taste.  If you would like an additional creaminess to the dish, you can stir in a bit of plain yogurt.
• Serve with rice or Indian breads.

Chinni's Brussel Sprouts -- A Surprising Seasonal Delight

I admit that I have retained my childhood fear/dislike of brussel sprouts well into adulthood.  But just as I have been trying to accomplish with other food groups (a post on that topic is forthcoming), I recently bought some brussel sprouts at the farmer's market to try to finally enjoy these healthy vegetables.  Initially, I thought I would make use of my new CooksIllustrated.com online membership, but instead I happened to bring up brussel sprouts when I saw my cousin Chinni.  She and her husband swore by a roasting recipe that she had tested to perfection (the analogy to the resulting roasted brussel sprouts was popcorn), and so I decided to try this approach. 

The recipe turned out really well -- the brussel sprouts were both caramelized and crisp.  I think the next time I make this recipe, I will try to cut the pieces more uniformly in size so they roast more evenly (some of the larger pieces weren't as tasty as the smaller halves) and also tinker with the baking time a bit (not sure if that means more or less time yet!).  I will probably also season the sprouts more generously because I think I was a little too hesitant to do so during this first go-round.  The details on my brussel sprouts attempt follows the picture of the roasted sprouts.

Chinni's Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

• Approx. 3 cups brussel sprouts, washed and halved
• 2 tbsps. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• sea salt to taste
• Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, finely shredded or grated (optional)

Directions:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees, and line large roasting pan with foil.
• Place the halved brussel sprouts in a medium-size mixing bowl, and pour the olive oil over the sprouts.  Sprinkle with the chopped garlic and sea salt, perhaps 1 tsp. to start.  
• Place the seasoned brussel sprouts on the pan in a single layer with the cut sides down.
• Bake for 17 minutes or until browned, and flip the sprouts over.  I baked the sprouts cut size up for approx. 3 - 5 minutes before then sprinkling grated Pecorino lightly over each of the tops.
• Bake for another 3 - 5 minutes, or until uniformly browned.  
• Remove from oven, add additional salt as necessary and serve! 

Another Attempt at Palak Makai (Indian Spinach with Corn)

Earlier this year, I tried my hand at an internet-based recipe for Palak Makai, or Indian-spiced Spinach with Corn.  Unfortunately, as I described in my post about that effort, it was a bit of a disaster -- bland and unhealthy, a fairly unappealing combination.  As the crop of summer corn was winding down several weeks back, I decided to give this dish another try, but this time by utilizing some fresh spinach from the farmers' market and improvising the spices used based on what I use in Mutter Paneer/Mutter Tofu.  The spinach dish turned out far better than the initial attempt -- however, I think I ended up with the opposite issue, which was the dish was a little too spiced!  I think I will make it again, but this time by halving the spice amounts used in the recipe directions below.

Palak Makai (v.2)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
• 1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 1/4 tsp. chopped jalapeno
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 2 3/4 cup fresh spinach leaves, washed
• 1 1/4 cups cooked corn kernels (from approx. 2 cobs or use frozen kernels)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. sour cream
• salt
• water
• vegetable oil

Directions:

• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium-high heat in a large saucepan.
• Add cardamon and let cook for 15 - 30 seconds or until fragrant, and then add ginger-garlic paste and fenugreek leaves.  Saute for 1 minute.
• Mix in chopped onion and jalapeno and cook until the onion is translucent.
• Then add paprika, cayenne, cumin, and coriander.  Saute for 10 - 15 seconds, coating the onion with the spices, and then add 1/4 cup water and cilantro.  
• After mixture starts to simmer (just a few minutes), add the spinach leaves and cook the pan covered until spinach is wilted.
• Remove pan from heat, and place mixture in a blender.  Blend until mixture is smooth.
• Place spinach mixture back in saucepan, and increase heat to medium.  Add the sour cream, and salt to taste, and bring the mixture to a boil, while stirring constantly.
• Add the cooked corn to the pan, cover and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, adding additional salt as necessary.
• Remove from heat and serve!

Best Butternut Squash Soup Ever -- Not Surprisingly, from Cook's Illustrated (and Roasted Butternut Squash Seeds)

The ongoing issue of what to do with leftover leeks continues to inspire new recipe experimentation.  The latest in the series of efforts to use up remaining leeks is the Cook's Illustrated Sept. 2011 Butternut Squash Soup recipe.  The soup is easily the best butternut squash soup I have ever had -- unsurprising given its source.  Very simple to prepare, rich and extremely deep flavor, and incredibly healthy.  The key to developing the flavor appears to be pre-cooking the squash in the microwave, and developing a brown fond while further cooking down the squash on the stovetop.  And to add even more rich flavor - and an interesting contrasting texture to the soup -- I followed the recipe's recommendation to pair the soup with some fried leeks as a garnish.  Additional modifications follow the picture of the prepared soup.

I used slightly less squash than called for in the original recipe -- 5 cups instead of 7 cups, and correspondingly decreased the amount of liquid in the soup to 4 cups of water with 2 vegan bouillon cubes (instead of vegetable broth).  I used slightly more chopped leeks -- perhaps 2 cups -- and used the remaining chopped leeks for the fried leeks, to use in total, just under one leek total for the recipe.  The only modification I would make the next time I prepare the soup is to either add more plain water as called for by the original recipe, or reduce the amount of bouillon used because the soup was a bit salty, despite using only one bouillon cube with sea salt (the other had no salt added).

In addition, instead of throwing away the butternut squash seeds, I ended up washing them, patting them dry, and roasting them in the oven.  I haven't roasted winter squash seeds in years, and ended up following a recipe from AllRecipes.com, though of course, I used far fewer seeds because I only prepared one squash for the soup.  Roasting the seeds was a good reminder to me to be more wary of throwing away the "leftover" parts of vegetables -- every part can have a role!