thanks food network for the recipe

I was in the Essene Market on 4th Street and I saw that cornmeal was on sale for like a dolla a pound so I picked up about a pound of it and what better to make than cornbread??  So I looked for some recipes, but we didn't have any corn, so I just did it without, although a nice crunch or texture difference would have been nice.  This came out super thick, next time I either need to use a larger dish or use butter instead of oil (whoops!), they tasted good though, not extreme sweetness, just a nice touch of sweet, fresh corn would definitely give it that extra oomph it needs.  Note: you should refrigerate the leftovers and reheat in the oven.

Also, it looked a lot thinner when i was done mixing, this is fine, when all baked up, it was all good.

Cornbread

From Food Network Kitchens

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

30 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

about 4 to 6 side dish serving

Ingredients

• 2 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups milk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch cast iron skillet.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer and a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix until light and airy.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition.

Add the cornmeal mixture to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined into a thick batter. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly before serving.

• Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

Curry Vegetable Stir Fry

There were so many vegetables in the fridge that were almost rotten but not quite yet, they were on the cusp of rotten, so I decided to make a stir fry!

Veg:
Carrots
Broccoli
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Onion
Garlic

Seasoning:
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper (fresh from the garden and dried)
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
curry powder
tumeric
dash of cinnamon
cilantro (fresh, chopped up fine)

Other:
chicken stock
tomato juice
butter
corn starch slurry

1) So I started this off by getting my pan nice and hot, then I added some EVOO to the pan and fried my fresh cayenne peppers in the oil for a few seconds, then i added the curry powder and let that open up for a few seconds then the tumeric, then the other spices.  Let these toast up for about a minute, stirring frequently.
2) Add onion and garlic, let them join the flavor party, the oil you're using is soaking up all this wonderful flavor.  After the onions and garlic party a bit and cook a little, add your other veg minus the mushrooms, they cook super fast so near the end.  Let the vegetables meet your lovely flavored oil and other goodies for about a minute or two.  Season your new additions.
3)Add some liquid, I had some tomato juice left over from salsa, and some chicken stock, fill the pan so only half the veg is covered.  Stir.  Season. Add mushrooms. Watch.  You want  this to cook low and slow, like a braise.  You also want all those flavors to soak into the veg and all those little bits stuck at the bottom of the pan are now in your liquid = yummy yummy!  Cook until the veg is tender.
4) Now that the veg has expelled some of its liquid and the cooking liquid has reduced a little bit, it's time to thicken the sauce with some corn starch slurry.  Take about a tablespoon of corn starch and add it with a tiny bit of water (i made the mistake of adding too much water and having to wait for the water to cook off) and make alsmost a paste with it, dump it in the pan and bring to boil, then you can take it down to a simmer again.  Depending on how thick you want your sauce, you can add more or less corn starch, it's up to you.  I do find that too much corn starch and your sauce feels like a diner lemon meringue pie filling, all gelatinous and weird, not yummy yummy.  The sauce will thicken as it cools down.  At the last second, add your cilantro and stir around.

I've been experimenting with Indian flavors lately.  We have some fabulous curry powder that I am obsessed with!  More to come I promise!

Salsa

I made this salsa for Mike's housewarming party, even though Oscar took credit for this creation!!  we had just come back from my friend's house, he has a beautiful garden with super awesome tomatoes and peppers and shiso!!  He was so fabulous that he sent me home with so many peppers and huge tomatoes and shiso leaves and seeds! yay!!

Ingredients:
Tomato
onion
garlic
cilantro
lime (just need the juice)
salt
pepper
hot hot peppers

1)Chop up the tomatoes, take out the cores, put the seeds and juice in another container, use that juice for curry stir fry!  Then put the chopped tomatoes in a fine mesh strainer, then salt the tomatoes and let them sit to expel some of that extra juice.
2)While waiting for tomatoes to drain, chop up the other stuff: fine dice for everything, no one likes a huge mouthful of raw onion! well i kinda do, but that's beside the point.
3) After letting the tomatoes drain for about 45 minutes, shake them around and make sure all of that liquid has come out, you do want some but not as much as you will get.  As you can see in the picture, it is watery, that is because when I was making this batch, I had to add another tomato late in the game and didn't have  time to drain that one.  Mix all your ingredients up, taste and season accordingly.  Don't be afraid of salt, the tomatoes really need it!

This salsa was a big hit at the party, even though Oscar tried to steal my thunder, but then Mike stepped in and told him what's what, thanks friend, at least i know ONE person has my back!

Tuna Cakes

Inspired by this recipe

So I read about food every day and I bookmark all these recipes with thoughts of grandeur that I will make them all...  I love when my brain actually remembers what I have read!!

I didn't have a recipe, just a vague memory of the above recipe.  I remembered it had a mashed potato base and it had canned tuna (weird combo I know).  It tastes like fish cakes you get from a deep fry seafood palce (i know, i used to work in one!).  It's like fish flavored mashed potato and while that may not sound delicious, it totally is, kind of like how scrapple is like pig flavored mashed potato.

These patties have the crispy panko outside and a creamy flavorful filling with some crunch from the onion.  I love texture differences!  I'm eating them right now for breakfast and I am pretty stoked!


Ingredients:
3 medium size russet potato
1 medium onion
1 head of garlic
Handful of fresh herbs (dried will work as well)
Cayenne pepper
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
old bay seasoning
~2 Tbs. butter
2 cans of tuna
2 eggs
2 handfuls of breadcrumbs (Panko preferred)
more breadcrumbs for breading (Panko preferred)
butter for frying
EVOO for frying


So here's what I did:
1) Dice up 3 potatoes and boil them until tender
2)Chop up one onion and one head of garlic and some cilantro or any fresh herb you have on hand.
3)Drain potatoes, put them back in the pot you boiled them in, add salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little Old Bay seasoning, add some butter and mash it up.  Let cool.
4) When mashed potatoes are cool, mix in breadcrumbs, tuna, and eggs, if it is too wet, put more breadcrumbs in there, too dry, add some water/stock.
5)Form this mixture into patties, then bread them.  Stack them neatly and then put them in the freezer to set for 20 minutes.  This helps the breadcrumbs stick to the patties while frying and it helps keep the patties together while cooking.
6)I cooked these in some EVOO and 2 Tbs of butter, flip only once, anymore and these suckers will fall apart, think crabcake for this one.  Let  these patties cook and completely brown on one side.  Don't be afraid to add more oil and butter to the pan, the panko really soaks up all that goodness and gives it such a nice crunch and texture difference.

I hope you all make this, or some variation of this.  I am sure you can make this as potato pancake without the tuna.  You could add peas and make it indian spiced, you can make straight up potato, but make sure to add enough bread crumbs to bind your mixture.

Giveaway at snacksgiving & Beso

Beso shopping widget is here!! I just checked out this website while perusing my daily food blog addiction thanks to Snacksgiving!!  I have been reading snacksgiving for about a year now, and it never fails, there are always great things to read about and food food food.  i am food obsessed...obviously.  

Also, if you click on the snacksgiving link, it will give you the particulars about the Beso giveaway AND on top of that, Snacksgiving is giving away some awesomeness as well!  It feels like a lucky day, let's hope so!

Love Life!

Giveaway at whisk: a food blog

you could win some cheese cuttin machine!!! yay!

not only is this food blog the bomb, there's a giveaway!!

$20 Thali at Bindi

My best friend, sister, and I decided to go to Bindi for their $20 thali special, I get these e-mails every week and was really excited to see that they had lamb chops, so we went.  Below is the menu

goan spiced lamb chop

minted pea puree, local sour cherry chutney

cooked and seasoned perfectly, tender, juicy, everything a lamb chop should be

or

lime-jaggery glazed prawns

summer carrot mash, lemongrass foam, baby thai basil

or

masala brined paneer

yellow tomato kut, creamy quinoa, crispy beet chips

 my friend told me it was quite good and she likes quinoa to begin with

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

each  person will receive the following:

 

heirloom tomato-watermelon chaat

toasted spicy peanuts, chickpea sev, chutneys, yogurt

this was my favorite side, i didn't think i would like it, but the combo worked out quite well

 

south indian spiced bhindi

spiced buttermilk fried okra, charred tomato-saffron aioli

this was my least favorite, the batter on the okra was not fresh, these had been sitting out or double fried, but they were soggy and no longer crispy and the consistency of the okra was off

 

basmati-wild rice pulao

coconut, mustard seeds, curry leaf

very straight forward, nice flavors 

baby fennel and asparagus kosambri

shredded carrot, thai basil dressing, madras curry

this tasted so fresh and clean, i liked it a lot

 

curried coconut cream corn

goat cheese, sambar lentils, crispy masala shallots

anything with coconut and goat cheese and I am sold!  the sweetness of the corn and coconut worked well without being too sweet

 

ginger-lemon raita

yogurt, cucumber, lemon oil

i'm not usually a yogurt fan but i tried it and i enjoyed the texture and flavor of this yogurt

 

farm apple chutney

local cameo apple, fresh mint, lime

i didn't know this was apple chutney until i looked back at the pictures, it was almost like a dried date consistency and too sweet for my taste

 

date-pecan-goat cheese paratha

hand rolled griddle bread, ghee, sea salt

i was apprehensive about this because of the combination but it tasted spot on but it did taste heavily of raw flour

This is the guava juice they had, my sister ordered it and liked it

You get free chips and the sweet sticky chutney, I am a big fan of mint chutney with lots of big flavors

this is the masala brined paneer thali.  we all got the same sides.

the lamb chops were cooked perfectly!! 

Overall, this was a great experience, we got so much food none of us finished it all.  I will definitely go again when they have a main dish that is unusual, I think i remember seeing goat on one of the e-mails, but I could be wrong.  

Sign up for their e-mail and you can get their weekly thali special to your inbox

Bindi Restaurant | 105 S. 13th Street | Philadelphia | PA | 19107 215.922.6061