Make It Yourself Monday: Makeshift Curry

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We needed a last minute dinner, I've never made a curry before, I didn't use a recipe (though I used this one as a loose inspiration guide), and my father and grandmother, who were included in the meal, can't eat spicy things. So here is a recipe for sort-of curry. If you like more spice, you can pump it up with extra curry powder, or red pepper, and you could probably add a bit of salt too, which I didn't, because I was going for sweet and mild. But it's easy and pretty quick and even kids will probably be fine with it!

You will need:

1.5 lbs potatoes
2 carrots
1 yellow onion
1 tbsp curry powder (or more if you want it spicier)
1.5 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 14 oz can coconut milk
1/8 tsp cinnamon (a bit less)
1/8 tsp ginger
1 block extra firm tofu
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 cup white rice (you can substitute brown and follow the cooking directions on the package
pinch salt

This all served 5 with a couple portions of curry left over (but a bit less of the rice)

Before you do anything else, get your rice going. Rice crash course:

Rice is actually just as easy to make as pasta, it just needs to sit on the stove doing its own thing a little longer. For white rice, you will need a 2:1 ratio--in this case, 2 cups water to one cup rice. Put the water in a medium pan, slosh in a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt, and bring the water to a boil. Once it's boiling, add the rice, stir, cover, and reduce to a low temperature. Keep an eye on the time--white rice usually takes around 18 mins, but can easily go several minutes longer or a bit shorter. When all the water has cooked over and the rice is soft and fluffy, remove it from the heat. After it's sat for a bit, lift the cover off for a while to let any extra moisture evaporate. Fluff it with a fork so it doesn't clump.

Now, time to fry the tofu! Cut it up into bite-sized cubes, so it looks like this:

I didn't really have time, but ideally you should press your tofu to make sure it can absorb plenty of flavor. To do this, put the tofu on a cutting board with a layer or paper towels or a folded tea towel (not terrycloth) between the board and the tofu. Then, put another layer of towel on top, and a heavy flat board on top of that. If you have time, stack some things on it for weight (phone books work well) and leave it while you go twiddle your thumbs for a while. If not, you can use my rush method of pushing all my weight onto the top board on and off for a few minutes. 

Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and heat it to medium. Toss in the tofu, and sprinkle it with the powdered ginger and the cinnamon. It will smell like french toast. Fry until golden, then remove and set aside. Turn off the heat, but keep the pan. Reusing saves dishes. 

Chop your potatoes, onion, and carrots into nice bite-sized pieces. I used fingerling potatoes, which made this super easy, but any good potatoes will work. When you are done you will have three beautiful piles.

Get back to that pan. Melt the 1/5 tablespoons of butter into it. Add the tbsp of curry powder, and stir it around for a minute or two on low heat. 

Then, add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. When it is boiling, add the potatoes, carrots, onions, bay leaf, and 1/2 cup water. Then, reduce to a simmer and cover. Boil until the potatoes and carrots are tender and starting to absorb flavor (This will take anywhere from 12-20 minutes or so. If you get impatient to check a potato, run cold water on it AND cut it to cool before you try it. I learned the hard way). Stir occasionally. 

Serve over rice! Take a better picture than I did, without a begging puppy in the background, because I forgot about this post until I was eating outside in poor light. 

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it, and what variations you use. What I really wanted to make was Massaman, a type of Thai curry, but I was missing all kinds of things, beginning with the fact that I had curry powder instead of paste (and they don't even go with the same cuisine), so this was the result. I do highly recommend Massaman, though!

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(Belated) Make It Yourself Monday: Parsnip Oven Fries

I feel like I'm sending out one of those mediocre "Sorry I forgot" birthday cards. This will probably be a somewhat meager week all around, since I'm in the city working, have no one available to take outfit pictures, and convinced myself I didn't need to put out a call for guest posts ahead of time. But, without further ado, a delicious parsnips fries recipe. I vaguely adapted it from somewhere online, and now I cannot find where, but all oven fry recipes are basically identical and I didn't follow it closely, so I don't feel too horribly guilty.

You will need:
3 good sized parsnips
olive oil
spices/herbs of your choice--but for a good first time combo, I recommend garlic salt (lovely as fresh garlic is this distributes the flavor better), rosemary, thyme, and a hint of black pepper or lemon pepper.

This recipe is easy as pie.

1) PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 450 Farenheit.  Scrub off your parsnips, chop off the dried parts of the end and tips, and admire them.

2) Cut them up into nice skinny fry sized pieces. The easiest way to do this is to slice them lengthwise, and then slice those sections even smaller lengthwise. When you are done, spread them evenly on an edged tray, so they look pale and unappealing, like this:

3) Next, coat the fries in about two tablespoons of olive oil, tossing them to make sure it is evenly distributed. Add spices to taste, and repeat the tossing. They might look marginally more appealing, 

4) Put the tray in the oven. The parsnips should at least be golden, which will take at least 10-15 minutes, but if you want them to be crispy, I would let them go longer. Just check them frequently, making sure to shake them around every 5 minutes or so, until they are as dark and crispy as you like. If your oven has a convection bake option, that will make them even crispier.

5) Eat! I like them not dipped in anything, but I suspect an aioli or a good mustard would be great.

Make It Yourself Monday: Caponata!

As promised, here is a recipe tutorial! I was cooking this at my grandmothers house, and she was missing some key utensils, so bear with me here.

Caponata (closely adapted from this recipe, published in Vegetarian Living UK. Caponata is a Sicilian dish. It's basically a warm, hearty cooked salad. It's really delicious (and this is coming from someone who doesn't normally like eggplant!)

You will need:
2 heads garlic
2 large eggplants
2 stalks of celery
2 red onions
4 plum (or vine) tomatoes
1 tbsp capers
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
~16 large green olives (preferably 2 different fillings, ~8 of each)
2 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp butter (3/4 of a stick, leave out to soften a bit)
1/2 a cup plus 1 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh parsley
fresh basil leaves
parmesan
pita bread

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit while you chop the eggplant, onion, tomatoes, and celery down to bite size, and slice the olives into smaller rings.

I recommend using a bigger plate for the eggplant mountain. By the time you've finished this, the oven should be preheated, which means it's time to get the garlic roasted. If you've roasted garlic before, this will be familiar--if not, it's a great thing to apply to all kinds of recipes (or just make plain to spread on bread or crackers)

Take one of the heads of garlic, and cut the top portion off, so the cloves are exposed. Repeat with the second head. They should look like this:

Next, take a piece of tin foil and crunch it up in a little bowl shape around the garlic, leaving plenty of extra at the top. Drizzle it in 1 tbsp of the olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. (If you decide to use this with another recipe, all kinds of herbs and spices are good--rosemary, thyme, anything lemon, to name a few). Wrap the foil completely over the garlic in a little package, and pop it in the oven. It should take about 40 mins, though I think it's fine up to an hour--set a timer for 40 to make sure it'll be done.

Put the remaining olive oil in a LARGE pan on stovetop and heat to medium. Add the eggplant and fry for 8-10 minutes or until golden (or just darker; I don't think eggplant gets very "golden"), stirring. It will start out like this:

 And end up like this:

Remove the eggplant from a pan with a slotted spoon (so that you don't take any remaining oil with it) and set aside on a plate. Add the eggplant and celery to the pan and sauté for at least 5 minutes--it needs to get soft and more translucent. 

Return all the eggplant to the pan. Add the tomatoes, olives, capers, red wine vinegar, sugar, and tomato paste to the pan. Stir it, bring it to a boil, cover it, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring on occasion to make sure the bottom doesn't burn. This is before. It will cook down and there will be more liquid, but I sort of forgot to take pictures until the end after this. When it's done, remove from heat and keep covered.

While the caponata cooks (set a timer if needed), take the garlic out of the oven and unwrap with mitts. Allow to cool. By the time the caponata is done, it will probably be cool enough. It should look like this, soft and anywhere from a golden brown to a darker brown. 

Squeeze the garlic cloves into a small bowl, and mash with a fork. Cut the butter into chunks, and mash it in. Stir/mash until thoroughly combined. Finally, chop 2 tablespoons of parsley (or use my method and snip off little bits with kitchen scissors and stir in. Tear one piece of pita per person in half, and toast pita. When it is done, spread garlic butter over the top of each slice. Serve the caponata with fresh basil leaves and grated parmesan, and buttered pita on the side. 

Enjoy! If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.

Make It Yourself Monday: Comfort Food Edition

So, since I can't seem to get any photos on my computer, I can't give a tutorial for any of my own recipes or projects right now. Instead, I'm going to share some awesome recipes from other bloggers, and my own pictures from when I made them! These are all really delicious, so enjoy.

1) Butternut Squash Gratin

This recipe, from the Etsy blog, is really fantastic as far as veggie comfort food. A couple notes: in order to make it just a little less healthy, I like to pour a teensy bit of cream over the bottom layers. I also think caramelizing the onions the slow, old-fashioned way, over low heat stirring constantly. Finally, I didn't have gruyere, but I liked it so much with the fontal I used that I did it that way a second time (a hint of parmesan is nice, too!)

2) Pumpkin and Fried Sage Flatbread

This meal, from foodiecrush, is an amazing and unexpected combination. My changes: I used traditional pizza dough rather than the pre-made naan, but I baked it with no toppings on it for a little while first, so it stayed crispy, since all the toppings are already cooked and don't need so long. I also didn't have chipotle, so I added a little cayenne and a hint of paprika to some honey instead, which worked just fine, especially if you don't like too much spice. Pecorino Romano is a good cheese substitute as well. 

3) No Time No Knead Bread

 If you have some sort of dutch-oven, this recipe from kitchn is...the best thing since sliced bread? (Sorry). It allows you to make crusty, flavorful, delicious bread at the last minute. I don't really have many notes here, although I do enjoy using cider vinegar in place of balsamic. I also don't have a microwave at home, so I usually increase the rise time to make up for it. A warm place helps too, though.

4) Morning Maple Muffins

From Taste of Home, this is one of the most perfect muffins I've ever tried. Light and maple-y and sweet without being too dessert-like. My only change here was to use brown sugar in the topping instead of white, just because I prefer the flavor.

I couldn't get a real outfit post today, because I was...substitute teaching! Hurrah! So instead, I'll leave you with this mediocre dressing room shot of my work clothes, and a giraffe from the Bronx Zoo gazing ambitiously at a skyscraper:

 shirt: j. crew factory, sweater: american apparel, belt: ???, skirt: forever 21, tights: ???, shoes: bass outlet

Make It Yourself Monday: Homemade Crackers

Homemade crackers are probably one of the easiest, yet most satisfying, recipes in the book. Specially, in the book "How to Cook Everything" by the brilliant Mark Bittman. This recipe is adapted from his.

For a double batch (which you will want, trust me) you will need:

• 2 cups flour
• Scant tsp salt
• 5 tbsp butter (you can use less if you want a healthier cracker, but the flavor won't be as rich)
• 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup milk, OR 1/2 cup water, OR 1/2 cup milk--or you can probably substitute soy, but make sure it's unsweetened or you'll affect the taste. 

If for some reason you want to make a single batch, you can just half this--and the halving can be pretty loose. As you've probably gathered, this is a really hard recipe to mess up. 

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Don't forget! I always forget. 

Cut the butter into the flour until they are mixed to a powdery substance that holds together slightly when pinched. You can do this using a knife and fork, a food processor, or, my favorite, using a pastry cutter, which looks like this:

That particular one, by KitchenAid, is around $12 at Target, but you could probably find one for less at somewhere like HomeGoods. They are very handy!

Then, slowly add the milk and/or water, mixing as you go, until you can make a lump with the dough but it isn't goopy or sticky (you may need more or less). When the dough is at the right texture, lightly flour your counter or a baking board and roll the dough out until it's 1/4 inch thick or less. If you are in a rush, you can just bake it on a lightly floured cookie tray in one big sheet, and then break it up. Personally, though, I like to use biscuit cutters to make pretty little rounds (you could probably use shaped cookie cutters, too). For a more interesting cracker, you can sprinkle spices or herbs on top. Some of my favorites: black sesame seeds, rosemary, old bay seasoning, curry powder, paprika...anything in the spice cabinet, really. 

Here they are all pale and waiting to go in the oven...from left to right, paprika, black sesame, thyme, rosemary, and curry powder.

And here they are all fresh and golden and puffed up! I recommend serving with a soft mild goat cheese, and impressing your guests when they ask where you bought them.  Enjoy!