Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe Review Roundup - Lose Most, Win Some (Onion Frittata with Sherry Vinegar, Easy Pancakes)

Welcome to the first post of the slimmed down Madhu Knits and Cooks - my recipe notes targeted to an audience of one, me.  Most of these recipe attempts resulted in fine-but-not-repeatable-dishes, but one was a true standout that I look forward to making again.

Sichuan Broccoli 

This isn't so much a recipe review, as a "I should follow the recipe more closely" note.  I improvised the seasonings a bit, though followed the cooking technique.  I should try to make again, the next time actually following the recipe proportions (my attempt seemed heavy on the rice vinegar flavor) and by toasting and finely grinding the Sichuan peppercorns beforehand instead of just mashing them to throw on top of the final dish (too grainy a preparation).

Lentil and Asparagus Soup 

Also a bit of an odd one - I substituted caviar lentils for the barley, resulting in a black soup.  The lemon flavor was pretty good, and it was a nice light soup, but the color and blandness overall means I probably won't make again even if I make it properly with barley for the lentils.

Garbanzo and Spinach Stew

Another bland soup.  I substituted smoked paprika for the pimenton, and made this more into a soup than a stew with more water (4 cups?).  I used fresh spinach instead of frozen, and threw the julienned pieces at the end of the cooking.  I used black garbanzos (approx. 3 cups cooked, 1 cup dry which I pre-cooked).

Spring Minestrone

Another bland soup.  Pesto or another strong herb bomb would have helped (I omitted).  

Cabbage, Tofu, and Red Pepper

Pretty good dish - strong flavors, and great textures from the bell pepper and cabbage, neither of which was overcooked and retained their natural flavors.

I used some Trader Joe's high-protein tofu, which I seared pretty quickly without cornstarch.  I used 2 tbsp. water instead of broth, omitted the walnuts, and just put sesame oil at the end because I forgot during the cooking period.

Excellent Onion Frittata with Sherry Vinegar Sauce

The winner of the bunch - a tangy, relatively easy frittata.  Perfect for a brunch for 4 people, otherwise 2 meals for me and my husband.  I'd pair this with a salad.  I used dijon instead of whole grain mustard, which added more tanginess but still resulted in a great sauce.  I'd probably reduce the sauce ingredients by half because you don't need that much for serving.

Easy Pancakes - Weekend Winner

For some reason, I can't find my past pancake posts so ended up searching for a new simple recipe.  Enter America's Test Kitchen Easy Pancakes, which yes, were both very easy to make and delicious to consume.  Fluffy with a lightly sweet flavor, I will probably make these frequently on weekends.  I halved the recipe, which made the recipe appropriate for 2 adults and a toddler.

After 18 years, some big changes!

Readers - I started this blog in the summer of 2006, more than 18 years ago.  I've been recently thinking about how I spend my time and I've decided to pare down some of my hobbies and obligations.  While this blog doesn't take up too much of my time, this project was sadly a part of that decision to do less.  It's just time and I am thankful I have other outlets for writing and creativity.  

So moving forward, a few changes will happen:

• I will only be posting simple recipe notes or new recipe directions, narrative introductions or commentary will largely be eliminated.
• I will only be posting my knitting projects on Ravelry, under the user name Madhuri
• I will probably be posting sewing project notes
• I will be migrating this blog at some point to another platform

Some may ask, why keep this blog at all?  The answer is what has propelled me to keep this blog going over the years - I actually use it!  This is where I store all of my recipe notes, what I should try again or avoid in the future, and where I refer people for my favorites.  So I will reduce my effort into this blog to meet that utility.  

Hope you have enjoyed reading my posts in the past, and look forward to this new part of the Madhu Knits and Cooks journey!

Pureed White Bean and Tomato Soup - Luscious and Creamy

As I've been working my way through my Rancho Gordo dried bean stash, I've finally had to confront the beans that...I don't like that much.  I know, I know - who doesn't love every single costly Rancho Gordo artisanal bean that one covets for months before finally convincing yourself the price is "worth it"?  

Now that we're (hopefully) past the judgment reaction, we can get to the topic of today's post - Rancho Gordo's Creamy Lima Bean, Tomato, and Feta Soup.  This soup not only used up the giant lima beans that have been hardening in my cupboard, but also produced a fantastic one-post dinner as well.  

I precooked 1/2 cup of dried lima beans in the Instant Pot (soaked overnight, 25 minutes high pressure with a natural release - in the future, I may increase to 30 minutes of cooking time) a day or two ahead of time, which made the soup prep just 25 minutes.  

The result was comforting, rich, salty, slightly briny, and coated your mouth with a pleasing fulsome texture.  I could have sworn this was a heavy cream-based soup, which is a wonderful mental trick from pureed white beans.  I will keep this idea handy for thickening future soups with a healthier protein than dairy.

Some modifications I made - I used traditional feta instead of Valbreso and 1/2 of a 140z can of crushed tomatoes.  I think you can experiment with cheese types here as well - other salty or flavored cheeses will probably add their own special imprint to this soup, even a sharp cheddar or herb-inflected cheese.

A (Humid, Summer) Return to Bread Baking! Pumpernickel Everything Bread

My baking block continues to gradually lift as the months go by.  I'm not sure if it's inertia, boredom, or in this case, guilt from letting my various specialty flours languish, but I've been very happy to slowly return to the scale and the oven.  

My latest recipe attempt finally put to use the pumpernickel flour I had ordered from King Arthur Flour I purchased many moons ago and drove from NYC to New Orleans as a "critical" move item.  I chose KAF's everything bagel pumpernickel bread recipe because of how much I miss pumpernickel bagels (not as common in New Orleans!).  

This ended up being a pretty easy and quick recipe, with start to finish in only a few hours.  I would make this recipe again because the flavor was salty and very reminiscent of everything bagels, though I did not love the stodgier texture.  

 

The bread was probably underbaked because the interior was fairly thick and squishy, with very little bounce back from pressing.  I also may have messed up the texture by adding slightly too much water and not checking the bread for the proper final rise before baking. 

 

The bread's temperature was over 200 degrees from the instant read thermometer after about 39 minutes of baking.  I did not get a huge amount of rye/pumpernickel flavor which was disappointing.  

 

 

I wonder if the humidity and heat of the New Orleans summer also affected the rise and cooling of the bread.  The crust on top was relatively crisp, but the bottom was still sweating a bit and somewhat moist after being fully cooled.  So might be underbaking, humidity, and/or the rye flour which would naturally result in a heavier bread?  I will try this bread again during a cooler day, and see if it makes a difference.

Large-ish Neutral Newborn Hospital Hat

I've had pretty bad luck knitting newborn and infant hats.  They are often way too large, but sometimes they can almost fit correctly, giving me hope that maybe I can master newborn hat sizes.  

Unfortunately my latest project fits into the former category instead of the latter.  This simple newborn hat, which I whipped up in a few days, was too big despite facially meeting several newborn fit guides online. 

Granted, I delivered a small baby but I was pretty sad that I had to put him in the standard hospital-issue hat instead of a homemade one. 

C'est la vie.  I will likely use this hat in winter instead, unless he outgrows it by then.  I can also see myself making more in the future with leftover yarn scraps given how fast this knits up and how cute the pattern is.

Neutral Newborn Hospital Hat

Pattern: Baby Business Set Hat, Size <0

Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK, approx. 0.2 skein in color 131 cream

Needles: US size 5, 22 inches = 4 inch gauge swatch in stockinette stitch

Measurements: post-blocking measurements of 5 inches tall by 5.5 inches wide at the bottom / widest part of hat

Excellent Vegan Red Beans and Rice

While this NYT Cooking recipe no doubt counts as sacrilege in my current city of residence, it does produce an excellent vegan red beans and rice.  Full of umami flavor, I've made this recipe 2-3 times already and plan on making it again this week.  I don't know if there could be a bigger endorsement of a recipe than this frequency of production - especially after what appears to be a decade-long hiatus from making vegetarian red beans and rice.

I've halved the recipe each time I've made it, and omitted the dried sage as I don't have it my kitchen.  I've used dried thyme instead of fresh, and halved the recommended smoked paprika per some of the reader comments. Also per the reader comments, I've added some shakes of gumbo filé at the end of the cooking process (one can't live in Louisiana without some filé in your cupboard!).

I've found that 55 minutes is the optimal pressure cook time for my Instant Pot and Camellia red beans.  I do find that cooking the red beans for a few more minutes on saute is great to get the creamy bean texture that is a hallmark of red beans and rice.  

The recipe uses soy sauce and miso (I know, I know New Orleanians), but the complexity those ingredients add to the final flavors can't be understated.  Salty and savory, this is a great recipe!

"Healthy" Banana Bread - probably not a recipe repeat but good in a pinch!

Another post where the title says it all!  I tried this "Healthy Banana Bread" recipe after searching for ways to use up the two blackened bananas on my countertop, without having to buy more ingredients.

The result was "fine" - pretty moist but with a relatively bland flavor. I will stick to more banana-rich/heavy preparations moving forward.

My recipe modifications:

• Slightly more almond milk (7-10 extra grams)
• Added chocolate chips
• Had to bake for additional time (approx. 63 min in total)
• Forget to pre-mash the 2 bananas before adding them to the other ingredients, so had to do in in the bowl (did not measure the amount of banana that resulted from the 2 ripe bananas)
• all-purpose flour and honey for the flour and sweetener, respectively

Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi - Something New for a Small Dinner Party

I'm not sure how I stumbled on this spinach and ricotta gnudi recipe - the internet, TV, or perhaps a newsletter?  I certainly wasn't looking for a gnudi recipe, or anything in its general food family.  But once I saw a picture of the finished meal, I was captivated with making it.  

It took a few months for me to finally make the recipe, but thankfully it was pretty easy to follow and resulted in a tasty gnudi.  Creamy from the ricotta, slightly bitter from the spinach, and tart from the tomato / vinegar sauce.  

I think this could be a pretty impressive smaller main course for a dinner party.  I would serve with multiple other courses or accompaniments though because after several bites, the gnudi flavors do feel a bit one note and the boiled ball consistency gets a bit old (we ate the leftovers over a few meals). 

An alternative approach I may try is to roll the balls in panko and quickly pan fry them to give a bit more texture to the dish?  Also, making the balls smaller than one inch may help, and allow the chunky fresh tomato sauce to better coat them.  I think adding another herb besides basil to the final dish might also help make this more of an interesting main course.  

So a very good, but not outstanding new recipe attempt!

A Chia Pudding I Like! Overnight Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

With a largely unconsumed bag of chia seeds taunting me with each opening of the pantry doors, I decided to give chia seed pudding another go after a disappointing experience a few years ago.

I chose a Minimalist Baker recipe that fit the critical (only) requirement of adapting to ingredients I had at home.  The recipe included unsweetened cocoa, the bitterness of which I found particularly suited to the chia pudding texture.  No sure why, but it worked!

I made a few modifications to their recipe:

• Increased amount milk by 1/4 cup to 1.75 cups of unsweetened almond milk for 1/2 cup of chia seeds
• No vanilla or cinnamon because I used vanilla maple syrup as the sweetener
• I reduced the maple syrup to 2 tbsp
• I stirred the mixture after 15 minutes before putting it in the fridge

My husband found the bitter flavor to be akin to Mexican hot chocolate, so we are thinking about adding cinnamon or chile powder in the future to complete that flavor profile.

Bag of chia seeds - you will be consumed!  

Shockingly Good Bean, Cilantro + Dill Soup

I'm not sure I have much to add to the title of this post.  The Milk Street version of Iranian Ash Reshteh is shockingly good.  In fact, I'd say this lighter version may be more suited to my tastes than the more authentic variations I've had from excellent Persian restaurants.  

What I also love about this recipe is that it's seemingly flexible to prepare with what you have on hand, as long as there are some beans, noodles, cilantro, and dill involved. 

My modifications included no chickpeas, unsalted butter, a handful of filetti noodles instead of linguini, ~4 tbsp. of a vegetarian Better than Bouillon instead of chicken broth, and adding some leftover julienned baby spinach.  I also used pre-cooked Camellia kidney beans (approx. 1/3 cup dry) that I made in the Instant Pot the day before (17 minutes high pressure, natural release).  

The soup feels lighter than what you'd expect from a bean soup because of the copious amounts of fresh herbs and masoor dal, which is a thinner lentil.  The dill adds wonderful flavor complexity to the otherwise stodgier kidney beans and lentils.  The soup also features great textural complexity from the thin noodles, thicker beans, and thin lentil broth. 

And with precooked or canned beans, this is a weeknight, quick preparation soup that can be served within an hour of starting prep!