Madhu Knits and Cooks

Savory Baked Brie en Croute - Quick Crowd Pleaser

In December we decided to thrown an impromptu holiday drinks gathering, and I wanted to incorporate some new offerings beyond my standard party dips.  Seemingly the hunger induced from my increased running the past few months led my thoughts toward the fattiest  options, with one - brie en croute - occupying my mind nonstop once I thought of it.  

The only question I then had to answer (besides how to make a brie en croute) was sweet or savory?  I sought some opinions and decided to go savory, with the most compelling internet approaches involving sundried tomatoes and capers.  I ultimately improvised a "recipe" that included chopped sundried tomatoes, capers, and parsley, stuffed between a horizontally cut 8 oz. brie wheel like a sandwich filling.

The first time I made this brie (yes, I made it twice), I cut out some decorative puff pastry pieces and simply folded up one sheet of thawed frozen puff pastry on top of the brie wheel, pushing the edges into each other to hold them together.  I did not use egg wash.  This did NOT work, and the baked puff pastry slowly unraveled itself so it was a mess out of the oven.  A very, very tasty mess, but an unattractive one.

The second time I made brie en croute, I used egg wash to bind the pastry edges to each other AND flipped the pastry over, so that the edges were on the bottom of the wheel.  That meant no spillage or opening, which was great, but the doubled up pastry on the bottom of the baking sheet meant that the pastry didn't completely evenly cook and was slightly raw on the underside. 

So in the future, I may follow another approach I read online to cut the pastry sheet to cover just the top and sides of the brie wheel and not have any pastry on the bottom, where it won't cook evenly.  

But regardless of approach, stuffing fillings into a brie wheel and covering with puff pastry is delicious, incredibly fast (5 minutes of work, 25 minutes of baking in 375 degree oven, 15 minutes of cooling).  I will definitely be making this again and again for future winter parties!

A More Substantive and Comforting Vegetable Noodle Soup

I recently blanched and froze a lot of celery to use in soups, red beans and rice, and other stew-type dishes.  My first use of this frozen celery was in an updated version of the homemade vegan noodle soup that I've been perfecting over the years.  The key updates I made were adding in some Instant Pot-cooked chickpeas and a bit of turmeric, inspired by a Cookies and Kate recipe.  

This revised recipe was really fantastic - the light carrot, celery, and parsley flavors that one expects in a vegetable or chicken noodle soup, with a lot more substance from the added chickpeas.  This really was a great, comforting one-pot meal, though I couldn't help but serve it with some homemade bread as well :-)  Recipe follows the pictures of the final products.

Homemade Vegan Noodle Soup, v3

Approximately 3 - 4 main course servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup chopped (frozen) celery
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/4 tsp salt, more to taste
• 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, cooked (or 1 can of cooked chickpeas)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 6 cups water
• 4 tbsp. Better than Bouillon, any flavor you prefer
• 3 tbsp. parsley, minced
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup tiny pasta
• Fresh lemon juice, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Parmesan, grated to taste

Directions:

• Heat oil in a soup pot on medium-high heat, and when hot, add the vegetables and salt.  Cook down for approximately 10 minutes or until the vegetables just start to brown
• Add chickpeas, bay leaf, turmeric, water, and Better than Bouillon, and raise heat to high to bring contents to a boil
• When the soup is boiling, add in the pasta and cook according to package directions
• Finish by seasoning with parsley, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.  Add grated parmesan cheese if desired
• Serve immediately

Post 550 and My First Steeked Knit Project - Abstract Leaves Vest

This is a great way to end 2019.  Not only has my hobby blog reached Post 550 (!), but also this post features my most advanced knitting project to date - the Abstract Leaves vest.

I cast on this project back in 2015 (!), and have mostly been ignoring it as other time-sensitive projects have come up.  And honestly, this project has been a bit of a pain.  You really need to follow the pattern as it wasn't easy to memorize the 14-line repeat.  And this was too bulky to be a standard travel project as not only was the double-stranded vest relatively large, but also was carrying around two extra yarn skeins for when the current yarns ran out.  So years elapsed before I finally felt 2019 inspiration to finish this project by the holidays.

Initially I aimed for a Thanksgiving debut, but having blown past that deadline, I settled on Christmas instead.  And I actually made it, with a premiere on Christmas Day of the finished vest.

The hardest parts of completing the vest were definitely the steeking, which required a lot of research for my first time, and then completing the considerable edging at the armholes and v-neck opening. 

Steeking is the knitting technique of cutting colorwork knitting after knitting it in the round.  You do this because knitting in the round leads to a more even knit, and as I found, it's relatively easy to steek your finished knit to then complete the edging.

I used a sewing machine to firm up my knitting before the actual cutting, and it was pretty easy to sew the finished knits once I got the hang of pushing the squishy knit through the machine.

Once completed, the black sewed reinforcements were barely perceptible.

I then did the part that terrifies knitters around the world - took sharp scissors to the knitting.  And while I worked slowly, it also became much easier as I continued, such that I wondered to myself, what was I initially so worried about?

With my knitting cut, I then turned to adding the edging, which involves one of my least favorite knitting techniques - picking up and knitting new stitches.  While I don't have any pictures from that part of the process, it did end up going more quickly than I expected.  I even undid my initial armhole edges because I found the first set of ribbing to be too floppy and comically long on me.  I instead frogged the edging to then have a 2-row grey rib followed by the maroon contrast stitch finished edge.

I am very happy with the end result, though I feel like a project of this scope falls more in the once-in-five-years category than an every year effort!  Happy 2020 all!

Abstract Leaves Vest for Madhu

Pattern:  Abstract Leaves Vest by Veronique Avery, size 32 1/4

Yarn:  Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport Yarn, 4.25 skeins in Bramble Heather, 1.8 skeins in Mink Heather, and 0.2 skein in Currant

Needles:  2 US 3 circulars

Measurements: 

Pre-blocking measurements of:

15.5 inch waist diameter 
20 inches from top to bottom 
8 inch long armhole opening 
11.5 inches wide across top of vest 
6 inch wide back neck opening 
6 inch long V-neck

Post-blocking measurements of:

16 inch waist diameter 
20 inches from top to bottom 
8 inch long armhole opening 
12 inches long across top of vest 
6 inch wide back neck opening 
5.5 inch long V-neck

Jim Lahey's Pizza Dough - Very Good, But Doesn't Displace My Favorite Recipe

I loved Jim Lahey's pizza restaurant Co. when it was open in NYC, and was so sad when it closed.  It was a regular go-to whenever I was anywhere near that side of town.  And so when I saw that Jim Lahey had a pizza recipe book while browsing my local library stacks, I grabbed it with high excitement.  

The resulting two pizzas I made from the half portion of his no-knead dough recipe were very good with nice salty and yeasty flavors in every bite.  I didn't follow any of his pizza topping recipes, rather just the dough and baking method.

The dough required an 18-hour room temperature rise, which led to a slightly sticky dough that was hard to stretch out nicely.  I imagine my lack of experience shaping pizzas by hand v. rolling probably contributed to this difficulty though.  

What I most liked about Lahey's pizza approach is that he calls for pre-heating a pizza stone 8 inches from the top of the oven at 500 degrees before then turning on the broiler to bake the pizza.  That high heat leads to a nicely cooked pizza in just a few minutes. 

Moving forward, to really make use of this technique, I should pre-heat the broiler for longer before putting in the shaped pizza and leave the dough in the oven slightly longer until there are more black spots across the pizza.  I will probably continue to pre-cook the dough, which I generally do, before adding toppings to avoid the toppings overwhelming the thin dough.  

What I least liked about this pizza was the relatively small pizzas that his portions led to.  One Lahey pie is enough for slightly more than one person, but not quite enough for two.  As a result, for the slightly higher effort of an 18-hour room rise instead of a forget-about-it fridge rise, I think I'll probably continue to default to my standard pizza dough recipe, but now coupling it with Lahey's broiler bake approach.

Corn Mini-Muffins - A Great Thanksgiving Side

For a number of years, I've been charged with made corn bread for our Thanksgiving dinner.  I've experimented with traditional versions to those studded with cheddar and jalapeno.  And for this year's corn bread, not fully content with my past efforts, I decided to try a smoother muffin variant from Cook's Illustrated.

The recipe was pretty unusual in you microwaved some of the cornmeal with milk to make a porridge prior to adding in the rest of the batter.  Per Cook's Illustrated, this approach adds more moisture to the muffins.  And it was kind of fun to see the cornmeal and milk form into a cohesive batter as the mixture continued to microwave.

I reduced the baking time to around 9 minutes to adjust to the smaller muffin size, and checked them periodically after 7 minutes with a small wood toothpick.  I really enjoyed the muffins - they were texturally smooth, not sweet, and had a great corn flavor.  And they were the perfect size for an otherwise overflowing Thanksgiving meal.  I look forward to making them again!

Churro Brownies - Great Idea, Terrible Execution

Ah, the self-generated errors that I thought I was past in year 13 (!) of this blog.  This latest one was a doozy - not adjusting the recipe to accommodate a Pyrex glass baking dish instead of a standard metal brownie pan. 

The result - an underbaked, gooey mess.  And because I was on my way to an event, I didn't have time to properly attempt to save it, instead just put it back in the still-hot oven to cook a bit more as the oven cooled down.

At least using that method, some of the edges were cooked through when we came home.  The edible edges were fairly tasty too, though definitely overbaked while the center remains a bit gooey.

So I don't really have much to say in this post, except that the batter came together fairly easily.  Especially with microwaving butter, no need to use an electric mixer, just a rubber spatula to combine everything together.

Hope to attempt this the proper way in the months ahead, with perhaps slightly less cinnamon and sugar to accommodate my preference!

The Delicious Book of Dhal - New Approaches to an Indian Staple

On a recent trip to the library, I decided to browse the cookbook and craft sections before checking out the books I had intended to pick up.  As I was looking through the stacks, I found a cookbook that I was truly not expecting.  The Delicious Book of Dhal, by Nitisha Patel, promised new approaches to a staple of every Indian meal that usually doesn't require formal recipes.  

Curious to see if there could truly be new ways to spice up Indian pulses, I added the book to my check out stack.  

Funnily enough, while the intention to try something new convinced me to check out the book, I ended up making only the book's simplest dal recipe - Patel's version of Dal Tadka, or just a simple cooked dal to which bloomed spices are added.

I cooked the dal in my Instant Pot, and the toor dal required only 6 minutes on high pressure before it was cooked.  Similar to other Instant Pot experiences I've had, using approx. 1.5 liters of water was a bit too much for the amount of dal so I had to drain some of it before proceeding.

I then prepared the tadka, or the stovetop pan with the spices that would ultimately flavor the dal.  The spices heating in oil definitely made our apartment - and entire apartment floor (sorry neighbors!) - smell like Indian food for several hours, but the results were very good.

I particularly liked the addition of lemon juice and brown sugar to add a tamarind-like sweet-and-sour flavors to the finished dal, reminding me that I have tamarind pulp in my freezer that I should be using more often!

So hat's off to Ms. Patel, though I still need to try her more complicated recipes to fully assess whether a cookbook adds much to this Indian staple.

Modern Baby Blanket for a Stylish Baby Girl

What to make for a baby girl who I knew would be as stylish as her modern and artistic mother?  Aaah, I don't know!  Fear sets in.  Fear followed by lots of flipping through knitting books and then Ravelry.com.  Finally inspiration hits when I find the Chevron Baby Blanket pattern. 

But sadly, it's not quite right.  Too many color blocks make it seem too childish, so I check to see if anyone has altered it in any ways I like.  Bingo! A few folks have altered the pattern to do one-color stripes that are thinner and more streamlined than the original pattern.  And two colors rather than five?  Perfect!

And thanks to the husband who helped me pick the perfect color combination that cements this blanket as modern and stylish, rather than frumpy and juvenile.  

The blanket knit up fairly quickly post-swatch-blocking, and knitting a whole blanket in cotton wasn't as hard on my hands as I expected.  Especially as the colors came together, I really enjoyed this pattern and the resulting blanket.  Full project details follow the close-up image below.

Modern Baby Blanket

Pattern:  Chevron Baby Blanket by Espace Tricot

Yarn:  Mission Falls 1824 Cotton in Sage (~2.5 skeins) and Lemongrass (~0.5 skeins)

Needles:  US 7 circular

Measurements:  Pre-blocking measurements of 21.5 inches wide by 25 inches long, and post-blocking measurements of 21.5 inches wide by 24.5 inches long

My First Deviled Eggs - Not a Bad Inaugural Attempt

As dedicated Madhuknitsandcooks.com readers know, I've had a slow introduction to the world of eggs.  I only just started making frittatas and hardboiled eggs a year ago, and I made my first scrambled eggs a few months ago.  But now the dam has broke, and I find myself increasing turning to eggs for more than just baking.  

My latest egg recipe was definitely the most complex - deviled eggs.  I decided to go with the pros at Cook's Illustrated for this recipe because even though their approach was the most complicated, I thought it would probably not only yield the best results, but also help inform my egg-cooking techniques moving forward.

Thankfully, I was right on the second point - their approach of boiling eggs and then letting them cool in a ice bath produced a great hard-boiled egg.  Unfortunately though, that didn't make peeling the shells off the eggs easier than the traditional, non-ice bath approach, but that's fine.

I ended up doing that under running water in the sink, and I covered the eggs by approx. 1 inch of water while bringing them to a boil.

After the eggs cooled, I sliced them in half.  As instructed, I discarded (into my mouth) the two egg white halves that didn't look the best so that the remaining 12 half-whites would be overflowing with filling.

I then mixed together the egg yolks with the remaining ingredients - cider vinegar, (vegan) Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise and mustard.  Instead of using a grainy mustard though, I used dijon mustard which I had in my fridge.

When I tasted the mixture, I thought it has too much mayonnaise flavor so moving forward I will probably reduce the mayonnaise amount by 1 tablespoon.  For this attempt though, I tried to offset that flavor by adding in more Worcestershire. 

That seemed to do the trick as the result was very good - tangy, slightly sweet, smooth, and a bit of umami flavor from the Worcestershire.  I look forward to make these eggs again!

Another Attempt at Dal Makhani - Not the Best, Not the Worst

With whole urad dal in my cupboard, leftover heavy cream in the fridge, and the Two Sleevers Indian Instant Pot Cookbook on my counter from the library, all signs pointed to making dal makhani on a recent chilly night.

The result wasn't the worst dal makhani I've made, nor was it the best.  I again used slightly too much cream.  And while the flavors from the tadka of cumin, onion, green chili, and the splash of lemon juice at the end came through, I was still underwhelmed by this too-beany dish.  It just wasn't enough flavor to stand up to the bland rice, nor enough flavor to stand on its own.

Some technical details are that I used approx. 2/3 cup of urad dal and rajma, which was probably  1/2 cup of urad dal and 1/6 cup of red beans.  I soaked the beans together overnight.  I cooked the beans in the Instant Pot on high pressure for 20 minutes, and did some light mashing, which I could have done more of.   I used 1/4 cup of heavy cream.