Madhu Knits and Cooks

The Queso Book Has Arrived - Southern New Mexico Chile Con Queso

I love chile con queso, the amazing Tex-Mex melted cheese concoction.  While I also like a good queso fundido, nothing beats the more dip-like chile con queso.  

I'll be honest - I'll eat any kind of queso, from the Velveeta / Rotel combination to a fancier roux-based queso.  That's why I couldn't wait to buy Lisa Fain's new Queso! book, which features a variety of queso recipes from around the Southwest as well as a few new globally-inspired queso recipes. 

Unlike most cookbooks I purchase, I didn't feel the need to pre-test this book by checking it out of the library first.  This book was destined to be a MadhuKnitsandCooks go-to, especially because Lisa Fain's natural queso recipe on her blog has already been a favorite.

My first queso recipe from the book didn't disappoint, the Southern New Mexico Chile Con Queso.  I've made this recipe approx. 4 times over the past few months because it requires incredibly little prep and uses ingredients that I generally have at home.

Unlike most queso recipes, this recipe just involves melting the cheese on top of the chile mixture on the stove-top - no milk or sour cream needed at all.

My secret ingredient for this queso is some defrosted, home-roasted Hatch chile, which I still have in ample supply in my freezer.

While this queso doesn't have the super smooth texture of a more sauce-based queso, it is delicious - spicy, bold and cheesy.  Will report back as I make more quesos from this book!

Zahav's Dense Hummus - A Restaurant Sensation that Wasn't to My Liking

Although I have a go-to hummus recipe that I will go to battle for, my wandering eye was intrigued by the version published by the Zahav owner.  Zahav is the Philadelphia Israeli hot spot, which I have yet to get into (granted, I tried only once, and on a summer Saturday night at that).  

The recipe was not only intriguing because of its creator, but also because it was more stripped down that most hummus recipes I have tried. No chickpea cooking water or olive oil included, just chickpeas, tahini and lemon. And with my Instant Pot revolutionizing my bean cooking at home, I had no hesitation in trying out this new approach.

As the pre-soaked chickpeas cooked in the Instant Pot (12 minutes on high pressure), I quickly put together the seasoning ingredients.  I quartered the recipe, but probably include a bit more lemon juice.

The resulting hummus was thick, and had a very strong and rich tahini flavor.  I think it would be a good side to either a bland or perhaps tart main course, but on its own, I found the flavor too overwhelming with my standard dip accompaniments. 

I will probably catalogue this recipe in the "at least I tried it category" and stick to my standard recipe moving forward.

Improved Pearl Barley Risotto - Fantastic Spring or Winter Meal

Having some leftover pearl barley from two recent Ottelenghi recipes, I wanted to use up the remainder before an upcoming move.  It seems like the most popular approach these days, per the internet, is pearl barley risotto, but unfortunately the recipes I found all were a bit more complicated than what I wanted to invest in - particularly with a move coming up.

I ultimately decided to improve a recipe, and I could not have been happier with the result.  The risotto had a bright herb flavor, and the consistency was substantive and creamy.  I also really liked the pearl barley as the main ingredient as it resulted in a vegetarian risotto that felt like a true main course, instead of the arborio rice versions which always strike me as side dishes.

Needless to say, this will be a recipe repeat.  Current recipe below - I will post any updates or modifications as I make them!

Pearl Barley Risotto

Ingredients

• 1.5 tbsp. olive oil 
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup frozen green peas, defrosted
• 1/3 cup parsley, minced
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• parmesan shavings (optional), salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• In a medium pot, heat olive oil on medium-high heat.  When hot, add onion and celery and saute for 5 - 6 minutes or until soft.

• Add garlic and stir for another 30 seconds.  Stir in the pearl barley and saute fairly continuously for 3 - 4 minutes to toast.

• Add the vegetable broth, and bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, and cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed by the barley.  When that happens, add the remaining one cup of water and cook until partly absorbed.

• Stir in the peas, parsley, and lemon juice and cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed and barley dish appears creamy. 

• Add parmesan, salt and pepper to taste and serve while warm.

A Winning Rye Bread - Modifying Another Favorite Recipe

After a few attempts of trying to perfect a rye version of the famed Jim Lahey No Knead Bread recipe, I ended up switching to an entirely new recipe (albeit another favorite).  That recipe - Simple Crusty Bread by Jeff Hertzberg - has been a perfect compliment to rye flour, and I've made the recipe several times over the summer.

To make this bread, I've halved the recipe and included approx. 1/2 cup of rye flour to 2 3/4 cup of AP flour (I may increase the rye moving forward, but the rye flavor still comes through at this ratio).  Baking the bread for the full baking time (30 - 31 minutes) seems key as I initially was baking it for 27 - 28 minutes, which led to a slightly softer crust as the bread cooled.  

Another important tip is to try to let this bread cool as much as possible to "sweat out" the internal moisture and not make the crust / interior too soggy while cutting into it while warm. 

This can be hard to do when the bread smells so wonderfully delicious out of the oven, but letting it cool for a few hours definitely seems key to get that nice firm crust coupled with a soft interior.  This is definitely a new MadhuKnitsandCooks favorite that will take me through the seasons!

Summer Vegetable Snacking is Here - Marinated Zucchini with Parmesan

While I'll caveat that I made this recipe before the advent of summer, this great summer vegetable dish is all I can think about as I prepare for the farmer's market this morning.  

This dish is Cook's Illustrated Marinated Zucchini with Parmesan, which could be the perfect summertime healthy snack.  And it requires virtually no effort (or measurements in my case). 

Just thinly slice zucchini on a mandolin (that tool many of us bought years ago, and has been collecting dust on a shelf...somewhere).  

Drizzle some olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper on top.  Garnish with some shaved parmesan, which also adds a nice salty flavor, and serve.  

That's it!  So easy and so delicious - great way to feature the best of summer!

Roasted Carrots - A Perfect Potluck Side Dish

For a recent potluck celebration, I was asked to bring an appetizer or side dish.  Sick of my usual party appetizers, I decided to bring some sort of vegetable side dish.

But what to bring?  What to bring for a group of 30+ people?  

To Cook's Illustrated I turned, where I found a recipe for simple roasted carrots with lemon and thyme.  I modified the recipe by buying nearly 5 pounds of carrots, omitting the lemon, and significantly reducing the amount of butter to 5 tbsp. instead of the 10 tbsp. called for that amount of carrots.

The recipe was incredibly easy to put together with those modifications - melt the butter, peel the carrots, toss with the melted butter and thyme, and then roast. 

While you may be tempted to end the roasting early when the carrots seem "cooked", I recommend keeping them in the oven for the CI prescribed time or until nicely browned.  The caramelization that takes place during that extra roasting adds an amazing depth of flavor - so follow your timer!  

The carrots reduced by approx. 20% in size from raw to nicely browned.

The result won rave reviews from nearly everyone at the get-together.  I imagine this recipe will become a regular part of my cooking rotation!

No Knead Rye Bread - Nearing in a Winner

Every novice bread baker is familiar - and dare I say - in love with Jim Lahey's excellent No Knead Bread recipe.  In fact, I believe that the No Knead Bread recipe may be the most visited NY Times Cooking page to date?

I have also been a fan of this recipe, and received great results, though I haven't made it for a few years in favor of pizza dough or other bread recipes.  I decided to restart my Jim Lahey affair though after trying a great rye bread at a party a few months ago.  I wondered how the host achieved such a delicious bread, and the response was not what I expected - she used the Jim Lahey recipe!

A few months later, after having this delicious party rye bread flavor and texture settle into my mind, I decided to order some King Arthur Flour Rye flour and restart my bread baking efforts.

My first two attempts at incorporating rye flour into this recipe per Cathy Barrow were a bit stumbling, all due to user error - though the resulting bread still tasted great.

On my first bread attempt, I used active dry yeast instead of instant / rapid rise yeast.  Not realizing that deviation from the recipe, I didn't proof the active dry yeast before adding the dry ingredients.  After several hours of rising, the bread dough was certainly bubbly, but it hadn't doubled in size.  Realizing my error, I then decided to mix in some rapid rise yeast and let the dough continue to rise (thank you Leaf TV for that tip!).  

While this step certainly helped a lot, it still resulted in a somewhat flatter loaf, but lesson learned.  The second time I made this bread, I used rapid rise yeast from the outset which resulted in a fluffier loaf.

The other flaw I made the first time making this bread was to follow the recipe directions to do a second rise of the loaf on a well-floured towel.  That resulted in both a lot of sticking and messiness with both the second rise and then trying to get it into the pot, and I still haven't been able to get my kitchen towel fully clean since then.  

The second time , I followed the Cook's Illustrated approach of placing the bread on parchment for the second rise and just putting the parchment in with the bread to bake, which worked out much easier.

The resulting bread from my two attempts looked like:

(Rye Bread attempt #1)

A few additional lessons learned that I need to correct for: 

1) The first time I baked the bread, my oven heated well past my desired temp (even though I have an internal oven thermometer, the oven gets less reliable at 400 degree+ temperatures).  So we had to scrape off some of the burnt bread bits at the bottom of the loaf before eating.  The second time, I put the oven at a lower temperature but didn't pre-heat the pot enough (I think) at only 35 minutes.  I think an hour is definitely needed in the pre-heating oven, otherwise our second loaf seemed a bit undercooked at the bottom. 

2) I think our dutch oven (largest Le Creuset size) may also be too large to bake the bread, resulting in a longer, flatter loaf than if we used a smaller dutch oven (I read that 5-quart is best for this recipe).  I have been thinking about buying a smaller dutch oven anyways, so will try to do this next in a smaller pot.  Will report back if that makes a difference to make a taller loaf!

Ottolenghi / Jerusalem Parsley & Barley Salad - Delicious Despite My Lazy Modifications

I recently picked up Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem at the local library on a whim, and have been randomly picking out recipes to try while I have it.  My first recipe was the Parsley & Barley salad, which featured an ingredient I've never cooked with before - pearl barley.

The pearl barley was much easier to find at the local grocery store than I expected, and so to the stove I went!  

After cooking the barley, it had a nice chewy and bouncy texture.  I then added the recipe ingredients I had on hand - parsley, green onions, garlic, bell pepper, cumin, etc.  I omitted the coriander seeds largely because I didn't want to go through the effort of toasting them, and the lemon I thought was in the fridge wasn't, so no lemon juice.  I also didn't have any zaatar, so just used parsley to help marinate the feta.

Despite my best attempts to not follow this recipe, it turned out wonderfully.  The marinated feta added a nice tartness to the fresh flavors of this herb-filled dish, and the pearl barley provided a really nice bite to each bite.  I look forward to using more pearl barley (and parsley) in the future!

5-Minute Chinese Cucumber Salad - Refreshing (and Healthy) All-Season Appetizer

For a recent Lunar New Year / Mardi Gras dinner (the dates converged in the same week, so why not?), I prepared a few simple Chinese appetizers.  I didn't have a main vegetable course, so I decided to add a green into appetizers.  The easiest approach seemed to be a simple Chinese cucumber salad I saw in Pinterest. 

The recipe used ingredients I had at home, except cucumbers which I purchased for the dish.  I largely though didn't follow the recipe - I basically just threw in a bunch of ingredients, including rice vinegar, soy sauce, chile paste, and a reddish jalapeno, and added a pinch of sugar.  I thought it turned out fine as is and think it definitely can be an eyeballed recipe moving forward as well!

Quinoa Salad with Bell Pepper and Cilantro - Easy and Healthy Side Dish

Cook's Illustrated keeps bringing me back with their seeming limitless online supply of amazing recipes and techniques.  My latest CI recipe attempt was the Quinoa Salad with Red Bell Pepper and Cilantro, which turned out fantastically despite a number of modifications I made.

First, I shortcut their recommended quinoa preparation approach by washing the quinoa and then bringing it to a boil with 1.5 cups of water instead of toasting, parboiling, and then drying it out on a baking sheet.

Second, I used whatever ingredients I had on hand instead of following the recipe ingredients and amounts precisely.  That resulted in using approx. 2/3 of a green bell pepper instead of 1/2 red bell pepper, lemon juice instead of lime, and omitting the red onion entirely.  

I also didn't quite measure the dressing ingredients, rather eyeballed the amounts.

Despite my best efforts to seemingly produce a sub-par dish, the output was really great and a perfect accompaniment to my work lunches for a few days.  The dijon mustard-based dressing was delicious, the bell pepper added a great crunch, and the cilantro added a nice herbal flavor.

I even ate the quinoa salad for breakfast one day because I was looking forward to it that much.  I look forward to making variation of this dish again and again!