Madhu Knits and Cooks

Lisa Fain / The Homesick Texan's Salsa Tatemado - Mild, Smokey Tomato Salsa

With Cinco de Mayo fast approaching, I decided that I wanted to up my salsa game and turned to the excellent Homesick Texan for advice.  I settled on Lisa Fain's salsa tatemada recipe because it seemed sufficiently different from other salsas that I've made.

The salsa ended up being quite easy to prepare, even with my substitution of tomatoes on the vine for plum tomatoes and my use of a foil-lined quarter baking sheet instead of a skillet.  You basically roast the heck out of the ingredients before blending the ingredients with salt and water.

The result was smokey, mildly spicy, and had an unexpected herbiness from the fresh cilantro blended into the salsa.  I added extra salt to to get more of the ingredients' flavor to come out, and moving forward I will likely play with the cilantro ratio.  There was something  unpleasant I found about the fresh cilantro blended in with the roasted ingredients, even though I otherwise like cilantro. 

Regardless, this will likely be a recipe repeat this summer!

Unique Whole Baked Cauliflower that Tastes Like Falafel

Whole baked cauliflowers - they are a thing!  This next attempt from Milk Street, the Cauliflower with Spiced Tahini and Garlic-Chili Oil, definitely was the opposite of the lightly flavored Miznon whole cauliflower.  This cauliflower burst with strong dried spice (cumin, cinnamon, sumac, cardamon) flavors, bright parsley, and an olive oil / tomato glaze of sorts.  And I omitted the pine nuts, which probably would have added another strong flavor!

In all, my husband said this cauliflower almost tasted like falafel, which seems fairly accurate with the deep, dried Middle Eastern spice flavor.  I would make this again for a crowd, but would need to pair it with carefully picked sides as this definitely is a distinct flavor explosion.  

Cooking note:  The cauliflower was 1.6 pounds and I cooked it for 40 minutes in a more tight foil wrap, and it baked up fine!

My First Yeasted Crackers - KAF Soda Crackers

I keep ordering King Arthur Flour (KAF) flour, which means I have needed to use up my existing flour to open up pantry space!  Enter the KAF Gourmet Soda Crackers recipe to use up the last bits of my KAF Italian-Style Flour Blend.  

This recipe had the added benefit of being my first attempt at yeasted crackers.  The dough was incredibly easy to construct, just whisking the dry ingredients together and then adding melted liquids.  I did end up using approx. 30g of all-purpose flour because I ran out of the Italian blend (yay - mission accomplished!).

Then let the dough rise in fridge overnight before resting and rolling out.

I didn't get the dough as thin as called for in the recipe, perhaps because I used a tapered rolling pin instead of one of my (many) flat pins.  I also didn't have pizza seasoning or smoked / seasoned sea salt, so subbed instead mostly Italian seasoning, dried thyme, and Maldon sea salt (approx. 1 tsp. total of seasonings).  I probably could have added a lot more flavoring as the baked crackers seemed like they could have handled more bold flavors.

I baked the crackers for approx. 8 minutes instead of 10 because I was worried about overbaking them after they became golden.  That amount of time was perfect for the smaller crackers, but not the larger pieces, which ended up slightly soft post-cooling.

However, I would definitely make these crackers again.  They were flavorful with a nice yeasted flavor lightly complemented by the salt and herbs.  I also bought some herbes de provence which I think will be great on these crackers.  And the prep was super easy to boot!

El Paso Chile Con Queso - Another Lisa Fain Success!

Feeling insecure about not using my cookbooks (a frequent occurrence as regular blog readers well know), I turned to my shelves several weeks ago for inspiration (and to assuage my guilt).  While I could have easily selected the cookbooks I have never used, or those that have been gathering dust for years, instead I chose the easiest way out - the Lisa Fain (Homesick Texan) Queso book.  

Unlike the queso dips that I have been making from this wonderful book, the recipe that caught my eye was the El Paso Chile Con Queso.  This queso recipe produced more of a queso fundido, or a thicker queso for spooning into tortillas rather than one for scooping up with tortilla chips.

This queso recipe as a cinch to make, basically sautéing the vegetables, adding a bit of heavy cream, and then throwing in shredded Muenster (my choice) or Monterey Jack cheese until it melts.

 

I modified this recipe by halving the ingredients and substituting approx. 2 frozen, roasted Hatch chiles for the 3 poblanos, assuming that the Hatch chile would be much spicier than the poblanos.

I probably could have increased the chile though because while the final queso was well-spiced, tangy, and salted from the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and chile, it could have been a bit spicier for our tastes.  I served this queso with tortillas, stewed black-eyed peas, and fresh chopped jalapeno for additional heat.  I would definitely make this queso ago for a fundido-style queso, albeit with more chile for our spicy tastes.

Modifications Gone Awry - Underwhelming Root Vegetable and Bean Soup

Years ago, I had an absolutely amazing pureed vegan parsnip soup.  Simple, velvety, and luscious.  A beautiful winter soup.

Inspired by that memory, I ordered some parsnips in our December grocery order, figuring that a recipe would be easy enough to find.  However, once those parsnips arrived, I couldn't find a pure parsnip soup recipe on any of my favorite sites.  Instead, the experts seemed to have ever better soups with parsnips, and as such, I decided to make Cook's Country Hearty Vegetable Soup.

Unfortunately, due to what I can only assume is significant user error, my heavily modified version of this soup was a disaster.  I substituted cranberry beans for the cannellini beans, which didn't work at all (the cranberry beans were too large and I think overcooked), and the lack of peas, spinach, and rosemary presumably had an effect too.  Oh, and I also modified the ratio of parsnips, potatoes, carrots, and onions based on what I had on hand.  And used a toasted English muffin in place of "hearty white sandwich bread."  So lots of modifications.

The only good thing about this soup was how good balsamic vinegar tasted in it.  It definitely imparted a nice, sweet tangy flavor to this otherwise thick, depressingly boring, and poorly textured soup.  So I am glad I learned about balsamic's potential role in soup, otherwise this was a soup I was happy to throw away.

Miznon's Whole Cauliflower - Easier than Expected Cauliflower Treat!

A few months ago, my friends Jenny and Dave made the famed Miznon whole roasted cauliflower at home and raved about the results.  One of my biggest pandemic regrets is that I kept pushing off our trip to the NYC Miznon location (last reservation I made and cancelled was for March 13, 2020), so I have yet to try this cauliflower sensation (let alone their other delish vegetarian options!).

Hearing that I could try this dish at home - and that it wasn't difficult - inspired me to look for smaller cauliflower heads that may work with their recipe.  Unfortunately though, our grocery store generally seems to have gigantic cauliflower heads so months passed before I found what seemed to be a sufficiently manageable cauliflower size.

While it took me awhile to figure out the logistics of how to boil the cauliflower (watching the Food & Wine video would have helped!), I ended up using a colander instead of a ceramic plate to keep the cauliflower submerged.  I also substituted kosher salt for the sel gris to fit what I had on hand.

After draining and baking the cauliflower, it wasn't as browned as I liked so I turned on the broiler for 2 minutes which some other websites recommended.  That worked great to get the dark browning throughout the cauliflower head and also made up for my not-quite-even cauliflower base, which meant the cauliflower fell over during baking instead of remaining head up.

While I served the cauliflower with tahini, we didn't quite like the combination (might have also been that our tahini isn't the highest quality) so I may make another sauce for this in the future.  I otherwise though loved this well-salted, soft, and lightly oiled cauliflower.  I look forward to making it again as a great side or meal centerpiece.

My First Couscous - A Bland Disappointment

Last year, I had a perfectly spiced Moroccan vegetable and couscous dish at a restaurant in Minnesota.  Tangy, sweet, and rich with multiple flavors from herbs and the individual vegetables.  And the couscous - what a great grain complement.  

I have never made couscous at home, but inspired by this meal memory, I decided to try my hand at it.  And as I do, I turned to Cook's Illustrated first for recipe ideas and settled on their Moroccan Chickpea and Vegetable Couscous recipe.

Unfortunately, as the post title suggests, I was underwhelmed by this couscous as it tasted quite bland.  Chickpeas, peas, carrots and couscous.  Nothing more, nothing less.  The fresh and dried herbs didn't really come through, and while extra lime juice helped, it still didn't do much.  Oh well, at least I tried couscous! 

And most important, I learned that you don't need to cook couscous on the stovetop, rather just pour boiling water / broth over the dried couscous (toasted in this case), cover, and let the hot liquid "cook" the couscous for several minutes.  Hopefully, I find a better recipe for my next couscous attempt!

Milk Street Black-Eyed Pea Fritters - An Easy Party Snack

I've been eating a lot of black-eyed peas this past year, mostly in tacos.  I really like these flavorful, versatile beans which are also a cinch to prepare with their short cooking time.  When I recently saw Milk Street's West African Black-Eyed Pea Fritters, I thought these would be a logical extension of my new black-eyed pea love.  

These fritters couldn't have been easier to make - no bean cooking required - and the final result was good, though not great.  The fritters tasted like what you'd expect a fried black eyed-pea snack to taste like, nothing more, nothing less.    

While I am not sure if I will make these treats again, I did enjoy the crunchy exterior coupled with the moist and soft interior and the subtle black-eyed pea flavor.  

The fritter batter starts by soaking the beans before throwing them in a food processor.

Then stir in the other herbs to make the final batter.  Finish by dropping spoonfuls into the 350 degree oil. 

Three modifications I made to the Milk Street recipe:  I inadvertently soaked the peas for 27 hours, I halved the recipe, and I subbed jalapenos or serranos for the fresnos, which generally aren't available in our store.  The final fritters also required a fair amount of extra salt for the bean and chile flavors really come out.

America's Test Kitchen French Onion Dip - "Just OK"

Although I previously created a "completely amazing" Sour Cream Onion Dip, several Cook's Illustrated / America's Test Kitchen online onion dip recipes enticed me to try something new. 

The resulting Cook's Country French Onion Dip was good, but not nearly as good as I remember my original dip.  The Cook's Country dip featured not only caramelized onions, but also balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise, which made the dip super tangy despite my reductions of all three (1.5 onions, only 2 tbsp. balsamic, and 2 tbsp. of mayonnaise).  The dip was also sweeter than I expected from both the onions and balsamic, which I didn't quite enjoy.

A strike in favor of sticking to what works, instead of constantly trying new things!

Baked Buffalo Cauliflower - Wow, A Great Homemade Bar Snack

If you can't go to the bar or restaurant, try your favorites at home - volume 2.  This latest effort features a healthier version of one of my bar/restaurant favorites, buffalo cauliflower, which I found I couldn't order on any of our local restaurant delivery apps.  

I found a few recipes online and settled on the Frank's Red Hot version because of its glowing website reviews.  I also decided to use Food Network's blue cheese dip recipe instead of a store bought dip.

While the final result was pretty good - great Frank's spicy sauce flavor offset by the tangy dip - I learned some good lessons that will help make this good dish even better the next time.

First was that I should have used two baking sheets to allow the cauliflower to really crisp up instead of steaming from the pieces being too close to each other.  Second was that I should have used the full amount of Frank's called for in the recipe - 8 tbsp. instead of the 5 tbsp. that I used.

The third and fourth lessons are related - no need to add in panko bread crumbs, which didn't make a difference.  And I will likely retain my 50% substitute of besan or chickpea flour for the all-purpose flour as I thought it added a nice, subtle flavor to the batter.

Finally, for the dip, I will add a lot more blue cheese because that flavor was far more diluted than I would have liked from the Food Network recipe.