Madhu Knits and Cooks

Crisped Edge Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies - Easy Weeknight Treat

Hankering for some homemade chocolate chip cookies, but not quite settled on re-making one of my go-to recipes, I decided to try King Arthur Flour's "favorite" chocolate chip cookie recipe.  The recipe combines shortening with butter to produce crisped edge cookies with somewhat pliable interiors.  

And the unexpected bonus of these cookies was how buttery their flavor was - yum!  I don't know why they turned out this way, given the use of shortening (and not the butter-flavored version), but I look forward to remaking these over and over again.

I halved the recipe and used my trusty scale to measure the ingredients.  The only slight inadvertent change I made from the original recipe was that I poured out a little too much egg from my container, so used approx. 21g of a lightly beaten egg instead of 27g (which would have been half of the large egg I used).  

Otherwise, just followed the standard cream wet ingredients together, mix in dry approach, and then ready for the oven!

Cauliflower with Scallions and Black Mustard Seeds - Cauliflower for a Crowd

In what appears to be a 4 - 5 year trend, I picked up Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking off the bookshelf thinking that it's been some time since I last tried this cookbook, maybe I should give it another try? 

This after an initial recipe attempt in 2010 - Potatoes Smothered in Shallots - which I declared "incredibly bland" and "fairly," and a more encouraging 2015 attempt of Gujarati-Inspired Dal, which has since become a kitchen staple (albeit with several modifications). 

Sadly, this latest 2019 effort more approximated the 2010 Sahni experience than the 2015 one. Perhaps because I again followed the directions fairly closely or maybe because this cookbook just isn't my cup of tea. 

In any case, the recipe I settled on - Cauliflower with Scallions and Black Mustard Seeds - was both a little too long to cook and a little too boring to ever really want to make again. 

It took longer than I expected to cook in that it took not only a long time for the cauliflower to become tender on the stove-top, but also for the water to evaporate in the dish to produce a non-soupy consistency (approx. 15 minutes after removing the cover from the steamed cauliflower). This after I tried to drain some of the cooking water out to expedite the process. And then the final result was a slightly too-mushy cauliflower from overcooking. 

The flavors of the dish were also just...fine. The curry leave flavor didn't come out until I reheated leftovers. The mustard seeds, turmeric and scallion flavors all did come through, but they didn't really wow me. If anything, it was too much mustard seed and turmeric - slight bitterness mixed with each of their distinctive aromas - and not enough other balancing flavors. 

So while this didn't require a lot of hands on time, I don't think this will be a recipe repeat unless I am looking for something relatively benign for a crowd.

Black Eyed Pea Tacos - A New Mexican-Inspired Side or Tortilla Filling

I've had a can of black eyed peas in my cupboard for some time (so much time that I think this can was part of an apartment move last year).  And while the can hadn't yet reached it's 2020 expiration date, I decided that enough was enough and I should finally remove it from its perch on the cupboard shelf high above.

The resulting improvised sauteed black eyed peas were a perfect filling for tacos, and I think they would also be good as an enchilada filling or one their own as a side dish.  They had a nice kick from the spices, a hearty yet soft texture, and a nice tartness from the tomato and onion.  And while the spices initially seemed to overwhelm the flavor of the black eyed peas, as the mixture cooled a bit, you couldn't mistake the unique flavor of the peas in this dish.

And of course, this recipe also met a critical criteria for me - it was incredibly easy to prepare.  Took just 15 - 20 minutes to get a great filling meal for two on the table.  

I will definitely be making this again and again.  In fact, I just bought a 2-lb. bag of dried black eyed peas because I was so happy with this recipe.

Mexican-Inspired Black Eyed Peas

Ingredients

• 1 14-oz. can black eyed peas (or equivalent cooked beans from dry)
• 1.5 tbsp. olive oil 
• 1/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1 plum tomato, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh jalapeno
• 1 pinch of garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic, minced)
• 1 pinch of dried oregano
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp. minced cilantro
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

• In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil on medium-high heat
• When hot, stir in onion and jalapeno, and saute until the onion becomes translucent (approx. 4 minutes)
• Stir in the chopped tomato, oregano, and garlic powder / minced garlic, and cook down for 2 - 3 minutes or until tomato is heated through and starts to break down
• Add in the black eyed peas and 1/4 cup of water.  Cook on medium-high heat until the beans are heated through (approx. 5 - 7 minutes) and the water mostly evaporates. 
• Garnish with cilantro, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
• Serve immediately on it's own, or place a desired amount into heated tortillas for tacos or enchiladas

Maple Cider Vinegar Carrots - As Interesting As That Flavor Combination Sounds!

Randomly picked up some rainbow carrots from the farmers market, but what to make, what to make?  Milk Street (yet again) to the rescue!

This time, I chose their Maple Cider Vinegar Carrots recipe because it seemed both relatively hands off and only required ingredients that I have in plentiful supply in my pantry.  I wasn't quite sure what the cooked carrots would ultimately taste like, but if Milk Street came up with this recipe, it couldn't be a crazy result right?

Thankfully it wasn't!  The velvety cooked carrots had an incredibly unique flavor - sharpness from the vinegar, but dulled from the maple syrup and the butter.  This dish though was somehow neither sour not sweet.  I honestly can't identify the flavor profile, but it was definitely interesting and a dish I would make again!

And thankfully, the recipe was also incredibly easy to prepare and largely hands off.  The most laborious part of the process was peeling the carrots!

Super Soft and Moist Almond Flavored Cake

Cake flour, cake flour, did I truly bake wonderful cakes before you?  It's hard to believe that I did given how consistently great my cake flour cakes have been. 

This simple almond-flavored cake was no exception, producing an incredibly soft, moist and dense cake that could be enjoyed by adults and children alike with its smooth, simple flavors.  

I halved the recipe because I didn't have a particular occasion to make it for, and I also substituted low-fat milk, which didn't seem to have a large impact on the outcome of the cake.  I also increased the amount of almond extract to 1 tsp. to get a stronger almond flavor. 

The only thing I would change in the future is to reduce the baking time.  I baked the cake in a 9-inch cake pan for approximately 23 minutes, whereas 21 or 22 probably would have been enough (note how much the sides of the cake pulled in from the tin post-baking).

The recipe utilized the "paste" method of adding in the butter to the dry ingredients to form a sand or paste-like texture, and then adding in the other wet ingredients in thirds.

I don't know if I have done this method before, so it was an interesting approach for me to try.  Not sure if this is what led to the super moist cake?  More research and experimentation is clearly warranted!

Roberta's Pizza Dough - Followed the Directions This Time, But Still a Lackluster Result

Five years ago, I made a sort-of attempt at the famed Brooklyn restaurant Roberta's pizza dough.  As documented on this very blog, this fake attempt was declared as such because I didn't use the right flour, nor did I have a scale at the time to properly measure the ingredients.  The result matched the lackluster effort - a hard-to-shape, sticky dough that produced a poorly shaped and blandly flavored pizza.  

Realizing a few years later that I now possessed the required missing elements - proper flour and a scale, I finally re-attempted this dough (recipe courtesy of Serious Eats) a few weeks back.  

And just to make sure I didn't mess it up the first re-attempt time, I tried it again a few days later using a room temperature rise instead of a fridge one.  Unfortunately, both attempts resulted in a baked pie that just wasn't too my taste.  Maybe I didn't bake the pies at the right temperature, but they were simultaneously very chewy and cracker-like as if both under and over-done.  The slices took a few too many chews to swallow, and the flavor wasn't as developed as some of my other cold-rise pizza doughs.

Oh well.  Back to the drawing board!  But at least with a scale, this recipe was relatively easy to construct.  Combine dough, rest, knead, rise, roll, and then bake!

As I mentioned above, I did one rise in the fridge (the above images) and then let the dough come to room temperature (pictured immediately above this text).  The other rise (pictured immediately below) is from doing a single rise at room temperature on my kitchen counter top.

Sautéed Squash Ribbons - a Unique and Wonderful Summer Treat

I don't remember how I found this recipe, but I am glad I did in the waning days of summer.  This Cook's Illustrated Sautéed Summer Squash with Parsley and Garlic recipe was the most unique preparation of summer squash I have seen. 

The squash is peeled into ~1 inch wide ribbons (beautiful!), flash sautéed, and then dressed with a lemon-olive oil dressing.  That's it!

At first, the squash tasted almost too lemony and tart, but as it cooled, the flavors mellowed out and were fantastic.  I omitted the parsley, which I didn't have on hand, and I think that any sort of herb would be great to add to this dish.  In the future, I can see myself doubling the recipe and serving it as a summer dinner or lunch party side dish.

Milk Street Cauliflower Dengaku - Using Up That Miso for a Sweet-Savory Dish

It's really hard to use a tub of miso.  At least for me.  And the best / worst part is that miso can stay in the fridge for a year without spoiling, so in addition to being difficult to use up, the tub constantly taunts me because there is no reason to throw it away after a few weeks (or months).  

My latest miso-based recipe was Milk Street's Cauliflower Dengaku, a sweet-savory roasted cauliflower dish that also features a nice crunch and sharpness from loads of fresh, chopped scallions and cilantro.

As I was looking at my recipe notes, one of my first entries was "probably won't make again" followed a few lines later, "actually will probably remake."  The difference was that when the cauliflower cooled, more of the flavors came out - from the grated ginger, the rice vinegar, and the honey.  The cauliflower consumed immediately post-ingredient-tossing was a bit more one-note, with the white miso and the scallions being the dominant flavors. 

I also found the recipe a bit mild, so I added some of the Japanese 7-spice chili pepper for more spice and flavor, which I think will be a must add for me moving forward.  I also slightly reduced the amount of scallions to what I perceived to be an appropriate amount, and omitted the pistachios and sake, which I didn't have on hand (instead increased the rice vinegar to make up for the sake exclusion).  I may potentially reduce the amount of sauce moving forward, because some of the sauce pooled at the bottom of the dish post-tossing as well.

The recipe felt more complicated than I would have liked while I initially made it, though in hindsight it really wasn't that bad.  I think the key moving forward is to make sure I am not hungry will preparing the dish :-)

Basically you cut and roast cauliflower in the oven, and then prepare the sauce while the cauliflower is roasting.

Also chop the scallions, cilantros and pistachios while the cauliflower is still in the oven.

Finally toss everything together, cool a bit to get the most nuanced flavors, and serve.

Summer Corn, Radish and Tomato Salad - and to Pull it All Together, Add Tortilla Chips!

While I subscribe to the online version of the Washington Post, I don't think I receive any emails from them about cooking, nor do I regularly check their lifestyle or food sections.  So I am not quite sure how I found their Corn, Radish, Tomato and Tortilla Chip Salad recipe, which looked so fantastic that I was determined to make it before summer produce past its prime. 

So in late August, I made sure to pick up the required ingredients at our local farmers market; boiled and chopped the ingredients; and then mixed everything together in heavy anticipation of what the result would be.

Thankfully the salad lived up to my high expectations - sweet from the tomatoes and corn, spicy from the scallions and radishes, and crunchy from the radishes.  And when I added the final ingredient addition to my portion - crushed tortilla chips - I got a wonderful saltiness in each bite.

I will definitely make this recipe again and again, particularly for large summertime gatherings, because even though I used fewer ingredients than called for in the original recipe, I still ended up with approx. 4 servings.  

I specifically used 3 corns of corn, which I brought to a boil before stripping off the kernels; one bunch of radishes, and one container of sunburst cherry tomatoes.

The only other ingredient modification I made was to increase the amount of apple cider vinegar to get the right level of tang I was looking for.

Summer 2020 can't come soon enough!

Nailed It - At-Home Creamy and Mild Paneer Makhani

Learning from a past blog post, I've finally found success with a recipe I have long wanted to master at home.  Paneer Makhani, this rich North Indian-inspired dish can be mine, all mine!  And this version is probably much healthier than whatever you get at restaurants to boot.

This recipe produces a creamy, smooth light tomato sauce with a nice and unexpected tang from the inadvertent idli podi that I added, thinking it was chili powder.  I'll report back if the podi is a necessary ingredient, or just something that helps mix things up. 

Otherwise though, the below ingredients produce an evenly spiced dish, not the too-often harshly flavored North Indian recipes one finds on the internet or in books.

Ingredients

• 1/2 block of store bought paneer, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 thai green chile, sliced lengthwise
• 2 green cardamon pods, left whole
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tsp idli podi or chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• ~1/4 cup heavy cream (eyeballed amount)
• sea salt
• olive oil

Directions

• Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a skillet or sauce pan on medium-high heat.  When hot, add the paneer and saute, tossing every minute or two, until all of the sides are lightly browned.  Transfer paneer to a plate or bowl.
• In a blender, puree the onion, garlic and tomatoes until smooth.  
• In the same skillet, add another tbsp. of olive oil and heat until warm.  Add the chile, cardamon, cinnamon stick, podi, cumin and turmeric, and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until fragrant.  
• Then stir in the tomato mixture, reducing heat and simmering the sauce for 10 minutes or until lightly reduced.  
• Then mix in the heavy cream and the paneer, and cook until the paneer is re-heated through.  Season with salt to taste. 
• Remove the whole spices before serving.