Archives for January 2007
Me and my mung
I did my shopping today and I bought some mung beans which I knew nothing about except that I loved their color. When I picked up my books at the library there was Monisha Bharadwaj’s book, The Indian Spice Kitchen. Very handy book indeed. It has two pages on mung beans and it became clear that for Indian cuisine I had purchased the wrong mung, as they prefer their mung split instead of whole. However, they are used in Asian cuisines as bean sprouts.
WoooHooo!! I get to make sprouts. I consulted with GH because he used to make sprouts in college. We decided a canning jar with a screen instead of a lid would be a good container. He suggested I water them daily, shake out the excess water, and store the jar on its side in a dark, warm spot. After soaking them for a few hours I’ve set them up in their little home. I can’t wait to see if this works.
Dinner tonight was delicious, healthy and simple. I made Kofta again and this time because we love it so much I doubled it so we can have leftovers. Our ground beef is from Larson’s Green Farm and is organic and grass-fed. Its very lean and flavorful. There was no wind so the grilling went well. I served it with Fage Greek yogurt and sauteed kale.
You know, I’ve tried to love kale for years. I’ve read recipes and cooked it many different ways but if a recipe called for boiling the kale I just wouldn’t do it. Boiling kale seems so wrong, so overcooked, such an ancient way of cooking an ancient vegetable. But today I decided to give it a try. Why you ask? Because every time I’ve made kale its tasted tough, bitter, and nasty. I’m now here to tell you that boiling kale is the way to go, it really is. It was tender, sweet, toothsome, not overcooked. It was fabulous. Here’s the recipes (I’ve posted the Kofta before but here it is again and the recipe is not doubled).
Kofta
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 jalapeño, chopped fine
3 large shallots, chopped fine
1 pound ground beef
Zest of one Meyer lemon
Juice from 1/2 of the lemon
large handful of fresh mint, chopped finely
large handful of fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped finely
Salt and pepper
Mix this all together in a large bowl. Transfer it to a Ziploc bag and let it sit all day.
Soak the bamboo skewers for 30 minutes or so.
Form around skewers. Shape into long, flat logs. Grill over open flame. Serve with Fage Greek Yogurt. These are fabulous.
Sauteed Kale
Adapted from epicurious.com
1 lb kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and leaves cut into 1-inch-wide strips (8 cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 garlic clove, minced
Pinch of dried hot red pepper flakes
Juice from the other 1/2 of the Meyer lemon
Salt to Taste
Bring 4 or 5 quarts of salted water to boil in a large pot. Once its boiling add the kale and let it cook for about 7 minutes. Drain in a colander.
Heat the olive oil up in a skillet. Add the onion and saute until it starts to get a little color. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and turn the heat down. Saute for a minute or so and add the kale. Toss the kale about the hot pan, mixing in the garlic, onion, and pepper flakes. Add the lemon juice, taste, add salt if necessary. Serve.
Spicy Dal with Sunchokes
This is one of those crazy cooking experiences that’s hard to document. It all started with me being really hungry (isn’t that always the case?) and wanting something spicy. I wanted to use Moong Dal, Sunchokes, Kala Jeera, and Charnuska. Do those ingredients play well together? Who knows! How do I cook these Dals? I haven’t a clue! Time to do the research.
I start by researching how to cook Moong Dal. Its simple actually, cover one cup dal with water and let it soak for 30 minutes while you do your other prep, then toss it in a pan with some liquid covering it and let it simmer.
Next I checkout the Sunchokes. They are in the same genus as the common garden sunflower, Helianthus annuus. I decide they would be a good substitute for potatoes and since Moong Dal is often served with potatoes they seem like a good choice.
Research into Kala Jeera and Charnushka suggests that they could play well together along with cinnamon, clove, cardamom, paprika, and galangal. Kala Jeera is black cumin and is used in Northern India, Tajikistan and Iran. Charnuska is really Nigella satavia. The name charnuska was probably introduced into American English by Armenian immigrants. Charnuska is used widely in the same regions as kala jeera.
Now I have a plan. I leave my computer and my browser with its 29 open tabs and head to the kitchen to prep my meez of garlic, ginger, and shallots while the Dal soaks. I saute the meez in some canola oil, add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, kala jeera, and charnuska. Heat that up and let it release its fragrance. Then add the dal and cover with water. This simmers for 20 minutes, add the Sunchokes and some diced tomatoes. Let it simmer for 10 more minutes. Taste for salt and acidity. I add lemon juice. Serve with steamed Jasmine or Basmati rice. We like some parsley and green onions on top with handful of peanuts too.
I explain to GH what were eating, he says “cool” and digs in. He loves it, gives it two thumbs up and so do I. It has great flavor, its filling, spicy, nutritious, and cheap… what more can I ask for in January.
If you think this looks tasty check out Bon Appegeek. Annie’s got the dal down plus she recommends some good books on Indian cuisine. I’ve already requested them from the library so I can cook some more spicy food… even better.
Italian beef…with pepperoncinis, soaked
We celebrated genius husband’s birthday last weekend. Around here birthdays are big deals…we each get a whole weekend to choose exactly where to go, what to do, and where and when to 
eat. On Saturday, GH choose to have breakfast at Lazy Jane’s where one can feast on the most superb scones on earth plus have a few eggs and bacon too. Next was a stop at Trader Joe’s for provisions, then a stop at the comic book store. Then we went to the movies and watched Children of Men, a really good movie that we all enjoyed. The day ended with a dinner of Cheeseburgers.
Sunday was his feast day. Every year its the same feast, Italian Beef sandwiches. This sandwich is a Chicago specialty that inspires heated debates about which beef stand makes the best. If you want to understand how passionate Chicagoans are about their Beef check out the website GreaseFreak.
I’ve been making Italian Beef at home ever since we lived in California so by now I’ve gotten it down. The bread is always the wild card. Authentic Chicago Italian Beef is made with Gonella Club Rolls, is soaked, and features Pepperoncinis. We don’t have Gonella here in Wisconsin so we use Madison Sour Dough Company’s baguette, the beef part is pretty simple to master, and the rest is finesse.
Here’s the beef:
Italian Beef Chicago Style
Beef chuck, round, or arm roast
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1 bell pepper
Beef stock (I use boxed)
1 tablespoon Penzeys Beef Soup base
Red Pepper flakes
Italian Seasoning
Heat a dutch oven style pot on a medium high burner. Season the beef with salt and pepper. When the pot is hot add bit of canola oil and brown the beef on all sides.
While the beef is browning, chop the onion and bell pepper into large chunks. Peel the garlic but don’t chop just remove the germ. Add all of this to the pot once the beef is browned. Cover the beef with the beef stock, add the soup base and stir to dissolve. Toss in the red pepper flakes and bring this to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer, cover, and let it simmer for 2-3 hours.
When its done remove the pot from the heat. Using tongs break the beef up into shreds and chunks. Add Italian Seasoning to taste. To serve it you must spoon some of the stock onto the bread, we soak the inside of both the top and the bottom pieces. Add the beef, then the pepperocinis. Dig in and enjoy.
BTW…it was genius husband’s 50th and he’s quite proud of it, here he is (he’s the cute one on the left) and that is Concrete Man from Dark Horse Comics on the right.
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