Couscous with Caramelized Onions and Feta

After a reasonably long break, I decided to come back with a post about what I had for dinner today. It was a light summer dinner, flavorful and refreshing for the warm summer nights. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised at just how much flavor caramelized onions can add. I've made this caramelized onion bread a few times since I waxed on about how great this cooking technique was.. this time inspiration arrived in the form of this recipe at Vaishali's blog. I made my own tweaks, and made a simple salad with just a few ingredients that is definitely worth sharing.

Ingredients
1 C Whole wheat Couscous (or regular)
1.25 C salted boiling water
1T olive oil
1 large onion (white or red), thinly sliced
1 large tomato, chopped
1/4 C feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 C nuts, toasted and chopped (pine nuts/walnuts/almonds/hazelnuts)
1-2 T balsamic vinegar


Cook couscous separately(add boiling water, stir, cover and fluff with a fork after 15 minutes). Heat olive oil in a saute pan and add the onions. Add salt and pepper to taste and allow to cook on medium heat for a few minutes until onions turn translucent. Now reduce the heat to low and add the balsamic vinegar and stir well. Allow to cook on low heat for a long time - it took about 30 minutes for me on low heat and an occasional stir(once every 5 minutes) for the onions to completely caramelize without burning and turn that gorgeous deep brown color.

Fluff the couscous, add the rest of the ingredients and add salt/pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. The salad tastes better cold and also the chilling allows the flavors to combine thoroughly.

I loved how easy this was to put together. I have always liked the combination of roasted onions and feta and this salad was packed with that flavor.

Red Cabbage Salad

The crunchy, juicy, tangy and refreshing topping of shredded red cabbage on a spicy falafel sandwich... drool! Yeah, that was my inspiration for using red cabbage in a salad, instead of making the usual sauteed cabbage. 101 Cookbooks, one of my favorite blogs, had a recipe for a red cabbage salad that sounded wonderful. I made a few modifications of my own and loved the end result so much, it deserves a place here for future reference.

Ingredients
1/2 Medium Red Cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
1/4 C sunflower seeds, toasted
1 T olive oil
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1 T vinegar
1/4 C dried cranberries
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil gently in a skillet. Add the minced garlic to the olive oil and remove from the heat. Allow this to sit for a few minutes. To save time, the cabbage can be shredded while the garlic infuses flavor in the olive oil. Place the cabbage in a microwaveable bowl and cook on high for about 2 minutes.

Next, add the vinegar, salt and pepper to the garlic oil and whisk well. I would imagine that any vinegar would go well here. Add the dressing to the shredded cabbage and toss well to thoroughly combine. Add the toasted sunflower seeds and cranberries and mix well.

Optional additions:
1. Some dried herb to flavor the oil along with the garlic
2. Crumbled feta cheese added as a garnish

Zucchini Bread

I had never met a Zucchini until I reached the shores of America. As far as appearances go, it is a very attractive vegetable. Dark green skin, occasionally flecked with white or yellow making a pretty pattern and a wonderful contrast to the creamy white flesh. When I first saw a zucchini, I mistook it for a cucumber and purchased a few, only to find realize after being billed that I had a new vegetable on my hands. The first dish I tried preparing with zucchini was a south-indian style kootu. Kootu is a hearty lentil stew and I make any watery squash-type vegetable into a kootu. It is excellent for masking vegetables that don't have a strong flavour. Ever since, I have restricted myself to using zucchini in heavily seasoned soups and stews(like ratatouille) or in chinese-style fried rice. I do not enjoy the bland taste of zucchini all that much. I was very surprised when I encountered recipes for zucchini bread! In making quick breads, I have always had a "star" ingredient - blueberries/lemons/bananas/cranberries that give a flavour punch to the bread.

Still, when I found a large zucchini languishing in the crisper, and I was sick and tired of eating kootu(yes, it happens!), I decided to make zucchini bread! This bread is most certainly not something I would advertise as a must-try. It is a great way to use up a zucchini and that is as far as I would go in describing it. I can also imagine that it would play a great passive partner to any other star ingredient to make a quick bread, all the while silently boosting up the nutritive content in the bread. What can be more satisfying than knowing that your sugary baked treat along with your evening cup of tea is also packing in some nutrients?

Dry Ingredients
1 C All Purpose Flour
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1.5 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg

Wet ingredients
1 Large Zucchini, grated
1 Egg
3/4C - 1 C Milk
1/2 C Sugar
3 Tbsp Butter

Cream together butter, sugar and egg in a medium sized bowl. Add milk and whisk to combine, and then add the grated zucchini. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Making a well in the center, add the wet ingredients and quickly combine. Grease a 9in by 5in loaf pan with butter. Pour the batter in and bake at 375 F for 25-30 min or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn out the loaf onto a cooking rack and wait at least 30 min before slicing. Enjoy with tea or coffee. It is not a very sweet bread, so I liked having it for breakfast as well.

Skillet Potatoes

This post isn't really a recipe. I recently acquired a cast-iron skillet, and I have been amazed by how almost everything tastes better when cooked in this. I made some skillet roasted potatoes as a side, and they crisped better than any other non-stick pan I've cooked in. I used a little more oil than I usually would, but my skillet is new and still getting its "natural non-stick" surface. I imagine that after a few more uses, I can use lesser oil and still get similar results. The great heat capacity of the skillet cooks food quickly, giving it a crunchy outside and a soft inside. It does require a little more care than other cooking surfaces - clean-up immediately after cooking with hot water. I don't use soap. After drying thoroughly, it needs to be coated with a thin layer of vegetable/canola oil and stowed away. I'm looking forward to cooking a lot in this skillet.

Garlic and Rosemary Foccacia

Recipe source: Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen.

Ingredients
1 C Water
3 C All purpose Flour
1.5 tsp active dry yeast
1 T salt
2 T dried rosemary
3 small cloves finely minced garlic
3 T olive oil
3 T parsley

Warm the water slightly and add the yeast. Let sit for 10 min until foamy. Add the salt and olive oil. Next add the flour, in batches, stirring well to incorporate. Add the dried rosemary and knead well. Place in a well oiled bowl, and smear the surface of the dough with oil. Cover loosely and keep in a warm place, until doubled in size. It took about an hour and a half in my kitchen. You can even leave it in the oven with the pilot light on, in winter.

Once doubled in size, punch the dough to release all the air built up due to the yeast, and transfer on to a floured surface. Allow the dough to rest for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1 T olive oil in a saute pan and add the minced garlic. Maintain a low heat, and allow the garlic to brown very slightly. Be careful since the garlic can burn very easily. Knead the dough for about two minutes and transfer onto a greased sheet pan, 13 x 9 inches size. Poke the dough in several places, without tearing into it. The holes will be depressions on the surface of the dough, giving it a dimpled appearance. Brush the top of the dough evenly with the garlic olive oil mixture. Sprinkle coarse salt on the surface of the dough, if desired.  Sprinkle with parsley. Bake at 400 F for 20 - 30 minutes, until browned slightly.

The foccacia was quite good, but dry. The dough may need to be kneaded a little more, or need a little more moisture. Also, I left it in the oven for a little too long, so I should take it out sooner the next time. I will experiment with Olives, sun-dried tomatoes and onions the next time.

Thattai for Deepavali

Among all the festivals celebrated in India, Deepavali - the festival of lights is more of a social event rather than a ritualistic tradition. Friends and families exchange sweets and snacks and greet each other on Deepavali day, making this a cherished occasion. While there are sweet shops aplenty, selling boxed sweets and snacks, packaged conveniently for gifting, homemade comestibles add that special personal touch to any gift.

Anyway, this year for Deepavali, I decided to make Thattais at home. Thattai(Tamil) literally translates to "flat". These are savory flat discs that are deep fried and have a tremendous crunch. They are a really tasty afternoon snack! R is particularly fond of them, and among all the traditional savories prepared for Deepavali, Thattai is one that does not require great mastery and skill (like Kai Murukku), or a mechanical press(like Ribbon Pakoda, Thenkuzhal etc). So, this was the perfect project for me to embark on.

Ingredients
2 C Rice Flour
1/4 C Urad Dhal (roasted and powdered finely)
1/4 C Chana Dhal(or Moong Dhal), soaked in hot water for 15-20 minutes
2 T Butter, melted
1 T Curry leaves, torn
1/4 t Asafoetida
Salt, Chilli Powder and(or) ground black pepper (to taste)
Water

I used freshly made rice flour by grinding rice. The finer the grind, the better. Roast the Urad Dhal and powder finely after cooling. Combine all the ingredients into a dough, adding as little water as possible, until the dough can be pinched off into balls without crumbling.

Pinch off lemon sized balls of the dough and flatten into thin discs and place on greased waxed paper or a cotton cloth(preferred). Perforate each Thattai with a fork 2 or 3 times, to allow even cooking in the center and prevent puffing. Allow to dry for at least 10 minutes. If the discs crack, add a little more water to the dough to bind better.

Fry in hot oil. The Thattais will sink on dropping into the oil, but will rise up after cooking. Flip and cook on both sides. Drain on paper towels and store in an air-tight container after cooling.

Plum Jam

Toast with butter and jam.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs Plums ( about 10 )
3/4 - 1 C sugar
Juice of 1 lemon

I used organic plums, so I just chopped them finely with the skin on. The skin gives a wonderful red color to the jam which was completely unexpected. The plums had dark purple-black skin to start with but it completely morphed into this beautiful red on cooking.

Taste the fruit, if they are mostly tart add 1 cup sugar. If the are ripe and sweet, then the sugar can be reduced to 3/4 cup. Add chopped plums, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Then reduce to medium and stir once every couple of minutes. As it starts to thicken, test over a cold spoon to see if jam is still runny or if it sets. Stir more frequently as it thickens and remove from heat when it passes the cold spoon test. Delicious plum jam is ready.