Madhu Knits and Cooks

Subtle Summer Corn and Tomato Pasta from Milk Street

I've had my eyes (or rather tastebuds) on a sweet / spicy Milk Street Corn, Tomato, and Basil recipe for a number of years.  The recipe requires fresh corn on the cob, so I've been waiting for those blissful two months a year when farmers market corn is ever so sweet in New York.  

This past year, I struck during this critical window.  The resulting dish had a sweet, subtle flavor from the corn broth and grated corn kernels.  This sweetness contrasted well with the tartness of the fresh tomatoes and the light spiciness of the red fresno chile.  I wish I could have found the habanero recommended in the original recipe because that would have provided a better kick to this otherwise subtle dish.  

I don't know if I will make this pasta again because the flavors were more muted than I would like, especially after the multiple steps to prepare this dish.  Moving forward, I may just try to use frozen corn and the rest of the ingredients (fresh tomato, basil, chile) as standard sauceless pasta toppings instead of trying to create a corn broth sauce.  

New Weeknight Staples - Simple Indian Cauliflower with Peas and Cilantro Rice

I tried two new recipes this summer, both of which I think can become staples for a variety of meal combinations.  The first, from my new favorite Madhur Jaffrey Vegetarian India cookbook, is a cauliflower with peas that can be prepared entirely on the stovetop.  

The result is savory from the dried spices, slightly tart from the cooked down tomato, and the green peas add a nice sweetness.  The cauliflower is soft when you bite into it, despite retaining a pleasant, slightly firm exterior.  I could truly eat this dish all day.  And of course, per personal preference, I omitted the ground coriander.  

As pictured, I complemented this dish with a Milk Street cilantro rice recipe.  I halved the recipe, and it was much better than I was expecting.  The reason?  A tremendous lightness from the lime juice.  The pureed scallions similarly elevated this rice with a herby sweetness.  If I have a lot of extra cilantro on-hand, this a great dish for any Indian or Mexican meal (and that's just what immediately came to mind!).

A New Mujaddara Approach and Delicious Korean Battered Squash (Hobak Jeon)

I recently had the opportunity to try two new recipes in one night - oh my!  One was a new version of an old favorite, mujaddara, and the other was an entirely new dish, hobak jeon.  

The Milk Street mujaddara was pretty good.  Not good enough to replace my standard recipe, but it did have some added flavorings I may play with in the future, including allspice and scallions.  I ended up making this dish twice because I burnt it the first time (really turn the flame to low once the rice is on!) and I used green lentils instead of brown.  The recipe definitely requires a drizzle of olive oil post-cooking for extra creaminess, but it's very good.

The Korean battered squash, hobak jeon, I made from Joanne Lee Molinaro's The Korean Vegan Cookbook.  I really liked that I could use plant-based milk, which I always have on hand.  I also used cornstarch instead potato starch because I couldn't find potato starch to use.  It was also pretty easy to batter the cut zucchini, though because of my second mujaddara attempt, I let the battered zucchini set a little too long before cooking.  The result was that some of the coating came off prior to the pan frying, but the final result turned out really well.  The turmeric was a great inclusion and added a nice earthy flavor to the crisp and smooth zucchini.  I will make this recipe again!

NYT Instant Pot Khichdi - Simple Recipe Repeat (with modifications)

Seeking an alternative from my standard stovetop khichdi, I recently tried a NY Times version.  Do you need a recipe for khichdi?  Not really, but here we are - and with pretty good results.

I halved the recipe, and then halved the water again because I was worried about the dish being too watery than cooked down - in hindsight, slightly more water probably would have been fine.  I reduced the coriander as well to use approx. one-third of the recipe amount, but moving forward, I would omit entirely because of personal preference.  

The recipe basically made itself in the Instant Pot, and I threw in some chopped up leftover spinach at the end as well which was a nice, healthy addition.  Moving forward, I will probably add some other vegetables and maybe some cilantro or other fresh herbs for more flavor diversification.  Otherwise, this dish as prepare was creamy, substantive, and nourishing.  Perfect cooking time as well.  

I guess you don't need a recipe for khichdi after all :-)

Savory-Sweet Baked Sweet Potato with Lentils, Maple Butter, and Scallions

Hetty McKinnon, how I adore your To Asia, With Love cookbook.  The latest amazing recipe - baked sweet potatoes with lentils, maple butter, and scallions.   Super easy to prepare, incredibly filling, and a range of flavors and textures featured.

The warm sweet potato flesh melts in your mouth, complemented by the subtle sweetness of the melty maple butter.  The dish isn't all sweet with some nice sharpness from the fresh scallions and the simple prepared lentils which add more savory, salty notes.  The lentils and maple butter can be prepped while the sweet potatoes are baked in the oven, so it's a really easy and healthy weeknight meal.  

I've made this recipe twice so far.  The only downside is that once, the sweet potato skin was almost burnt, so I had to largely pick around the charred skin parts.  So depending on the type of sweet potato, I may need to adjust the temperature + cooking time (~50 minutes so far).

Hetty McKinnon's Cumin Tofu and Cauliflower - Work in Progress

Competing with Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India for cookbook supremacy in my household is Hetty McKinnon's excellent To Asia With Love.

One of my latest recipe attempts is her Cumin Tofu Stir-Fry, which is a riff on the Western Chinese cumin lamb that nearby Xi'An Famous Foods is famed for producing in NYC.

I am really happy I tried this recipe as I love cumin and have often wished for a vegan / vegetarian version of this western Chinese favorite.  The recipe was packed full of ground cumin, and that strong flavor was nicely offset by the onions, cilantro, and sesame seed garnish. 

I think the one challenge with this recipe is that the dried spices - cumin, gochugaru - are added at the end of the cooking time and are added just dry, with no water or oil to make into more of a sauce.  As a result, the spices seems to get clumped in certain areas and were dry on the mouth in some bites.  I will experiment with either adding the spices earlier to the cooking time, adding some water or oil to the dry spices to make it more of a paste that gets added, and/or reducing the amount of spices added moving forward.  

I look forward to making this again and adapting it to my tastes!

Madhur Jaffrey's Excellent Saag Paneer

I think I've found a new recipe to displace my recent favorite saag / palak paneer.  The winner?  From Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India, which has also become my favorite cookbook of late as well.  

This saag paneer recipe is also available online and features a deceptively simple approach to get a mouthwatering spinach flavor and consistency - blanching.  The spinach is quickly blanched prior to blending with other ingredients and cooking.  This approach results in the smoothest and creamiest sauce sans ghee / butter, which is a staple of my previous favorite recipe.  

I made just a few recipe modifications - omitted the coriander and used approx. half of the fenugreek the recipe calls for (~1 tbsp instead of 2).  The only downside of this recipe is the number of dishes it utilizes given the blanching, but it's worth it for a great base that I think can be combined with tofu, corn, or other proteins / vegetables.  

Cauliflower with Ajowan and Ginger - Earthy, Simple Indian Cauliflower Preparation

Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India has become my new favorite cookbook with yet another solid, simple recipe. 

Jaffrey's Ajwainwali Gobi or Cauliflower with Ajowan and Ginger is based on the recipe from Aurobindo Ashram, a place we have visited before in India.  It was quite a surprise to find that connection in this cookbook, let alone a recipe that makes use of ajowan / ajwain, a spice I bought long ago to prepare Ethiopian food and have had yet to use!

I found the prepared cauliflower, which was just lightly steamed on the stovetop, very earthy and flavorful.  The ajowan had a lighter and slightly more herby flavor than cumin, and my husband got some caraway flavor notes (though I did not).  I would make this simple cauliflower again and again, similar to the great kalonji greens which have become a frequent homemade staple.  

Deceptively Delicious Capers, Parsley, and Breadcrumb Pasta

I had long bookmarked the Milk Street's Fried Capers and Toasted Breadcrumbs Pasta, because I always have capers and panko around.  However, holding me back has been my perpetual lack of fresh marjoram, which I don't think I have ever bought. 

Finally desiring a new pasta dish this winter, I decided to seek out fresh marjoram to make this pasta, and barring securing fresh marjoram, I resolved to substitute their recommended fresh oregano.

I'm glad I finally took the plunge because this delightfully salty, herby, and crunchy simple pasta was a delight.  I really liked how much the strong flavors came out in the topping, which was a nice contrast to cream or tomato-based pasta sauces.  I do hope to try this recipe with marjoram though at some point as I did find the oregano a bit astringent, per the recipe designer's note.

A few notes - I halved the recipe, and I used a bucatini pasta, which worked perfectly with topping.  The panko cooked much more quickly than the recipe called for - in 2 minutes v. 5, so I'd definitely carefully watch the panko once it's on heat.  

I look forward to making this simple and lighter feeling pasta treat again in the future!

Broccoli Quinoa "Spoon Salad" - Great Lunchtime Meal

We now receive the physical New York Times on the weekends, and one of the benefits of this subscription is being able to rip out appealing recipes from the paper.  For some reason, I get significantly more joy out of carefully tearing out a paper recipe to leave to taunt me on my dining table for weeks or months than just Internet bookmarking a website recipe.  

One of the first recipes I've made from this recent round of ragged-edge tear-outs is the Quinoa and Broccoli Spoon Salad.  With bright hues from the broccoli and dried cranberries, and the addition of quinoa, this felt like a solution to my protein-light weekday salad routine.  

Thankfully, this dish lived up to my expectations!  In fact, as I type this post, I think I should make it today.  The dish has a diversity of flavors from the dijon mustard adding a tart sharpness, apple chunks providing sweet notes, broccoli contributing a grassy earthiness, and the cheddar nice salty and fatty flavors.  

The preparation time is basically the time it takes for the quinoa to cook on the stovetop (~15 minutes?), as you use that time to prep the rest of the ingredients.  I did make a few modifications to the recipe, none of which though affected the preparation time:

• No pecans because of my nut allergy
• Steamed the chopped broccoli in the Instant Pot on 0 minutes, high pressure to make it easier to digest + eat

Moving forward, I may omit the dried cranberries as well because the dish was already sweet enough for my tastebuds with the apples and dijon.

In a sign of how much I liked this dish, I ate the leftovers throughout a few days with nothing leftover throw away upon spoilage.  This is a great Sunday or mid-week meal prep dish!