Potato Feta and Tomato Casserole

1 Red Potato
1 Tomato
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
italian seasoning blend
olive oil
salt and pepper

cut the potato and tomato into into chunks the same size. toss with olive oil, italian seasoning, feta cheese, and salt and pepper. put in small casserole dish. bake at 375, covered with tin foil, for 40 minutes. last 10 minutes leave uncovered to brown on top.

Pork Loin with Lingonberries

I'm a fan of the PBS show "New Scandanavian Cooking". Not so much because of the food, which honestly, most of the times is pretty unappealing, since the host, Andreas Viestad has a fondness for adding herring to everything. No, I like it because of the gorgeous Norwegian scenery and Andreas' goofball presentation. And while the food isn't something I find all that appetizing, it's always interesting and unexpected. One Scandanavian ingredient commonly used on the show is lingonberries. I wouldn't go out searching for them, but I was at Ikea the other day and there it was on the shelf by the cinnamon buns and hot dogs, a jar of lingonberry preserves. I couldn't resist.

Now this ties in with my new approach with cooking, which is much limited because of my 6 month old son and full time job. I now try to cook a large piece of meat on Sunday and feed off of it for at least a portion of the upcoming week. This week was a pork tenderloin. I first browned it in olive oil with salt and pepper, then finished it off by adding some chicken stock and popping on the lid. With the handy probe thermometer I took it off at 160 degrees and got a great juicy piece of pork, flavorful but neutral enough to be used in different dishes. I made a pasta with broccoli, a stir fry with ginger and tamarind chutney and this:

Pork Loin with Ligonberries

Salad Greens
Olive Oil
Vinegar (I used champagne vinegar because I had some, but I think cider vinegar might be better)
S & P
Lingonberry Preserves.
Pork Loin (cooked)

Make a vinagrette with the olive oil, vingar, salt and pepper and a tablespoon or so of the lingonberry preserves. Dress your salad. Add some slices of your pork loin to the top and top with some more lingonberry preserves.

Yardbird Dinner

Here's some chicken cooked with my friend Todd's Plowboy BBQ Yardbird Rub. I rubbed the chicken and let it sit overnight. Then I browned it in some butter and olive oil in my cast iron skillet and finished it in the oven. Dee-lish. Also cooked some corn/onions/chile in the same skillet after then chicken was out.


Good stuff all around.

The Web Does Indian Food

Been on a real big into the Indian cooking kick lately. In search of new recipes I came across Manjula and her recipes on YouTube. The usefulness of the tube increases everyday. Also found a few good Indian cooking blogs:

http://indianthali.blogspot.com/
http://chaipani.blogspot.com/

Also recently read Curry: A tale of Cooks and Conquerors , which was a fascinating history of Indian food as it was impacted by the various invading groups, from the Moguls to the British. A few good little tidbits: Tea was brought to India by the British, not vice-versa. "Essential" Indian ingredients like chilis, potatoes, and tomatoes were actually late arriving imports from the new world. The book also takes a look at the transformation of Indian cooking outside of India. How local tastes and ingredients altered recipes into new standards such as Chicken Tikka Masala (didn't exist in India).

Indian Tacos

Made up a great dish today. It started out because I had a piece of beef sitting in the fridge a few days ago about to go past it's prime. I don't have a whole lot of time these days, what with the new baby, and now a new job, so I decided to pull out my slow cooker.

The beef was a London broil style cut, which I sliced into one inch cubes. I combined them with a cup of yogurt and generous amounts of garam masala. Then into the slow cooker for the day while at work.

Back at home that night, I tasted it and while it was nice and tender it was a little lacking in flavor. So I stuck it in the fridge to decide later what to do with it. Today I had a day off from work and a visiting sister and wife at home with me, so I decided to make us some lunch. I pulled the beef out of the fridge and fried it in some peanut oil until crispy on the outside (would that be called twice-cooked beef?). Then, combined it with some olive oil, lemon juice, chopped parsley, and salt and pepper.

Next we pulled out a package of frozen parathas from the grocery store (the wife's suggestion - excellent), heated them up, piled some of the beef into them, and added some tamarind chutney, yogurt, and chili sauce.

Wow! Totally delicious! The frozen parathas are such a great item, crispy and chewy. The beef was crispy and tender, with just a little of the masala taste. The tamarind chutney added some tang, the yogurt some smoothness, and the chilis the heat. All in all, a great meal, one that will be done again and again, and is a good option for a serve-yourself dinner party.

Chaat-inspired Yogurt Dip

One of my favorite indian dishes is the snack food chaat. I discovered it while traveling in India and constantly eating savory hot mushy dishes (delicious but after a month of it you begin to seek variety). There are all sorts of varieties of chaat, but my favorite is papri chaat, which combines little indian crackers, diced boiled potatoes, diced red onion, chick peas, yogurt, chutneys, and spices. I can get lazy at home (especially with a new baby around the house) and so I wanted to make up a way to get that chaat flavor, without all the prep work. Here's what I came up with:

Chaat-inspired Yogurt Dip

1 small tub of yogurt (five ounces or so)
3 tabelspoons mint chutney
3 tablespoons tamarind chutney
1 teaspoon chaat spice blend (this spice blend is what gives chaat its distinctive flavor - it includes an unusual ingredient called black salt that sort of tastes like sulfur. I wouldn't want to eat it straight, but combined with the other spices it adds a real zing)

Chips for dipping (I use namak para - the indian cumin flavored crackers -- fritos would work well too i think)

Mix all ingredients up sprinkle with chopped parsley or cilantro. Splash a little more of the mint and tamarind chutneys on the plate to fancy it up. Done!

Auntie Lauren's Sweet Potato Soup

So big changes in the Royal Bisquit household these days. We've had a new addition and now there's a baby bisquit hanging around. Mom and Dad are happy and exhausted, and the baby's aunt Lauren came by to help out and feed us lunch. She brought over a terrific sweet potato soup, and some grilled cheese and prosciutto sandwiches. The soup was so great we're sure it will be among the first things served to baby when he starts eating people food.

Auntie Lauren's Sweet Potato Soup

4lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 large cloves minced garlic
2 T minced ginger maybe more/less? Enough so when you’re stirring in the sweet potatoes, each cube has a few pieces of garlic and ginger stuck to it
1 T Olive oil
2 12oz cans low sodium chicken stock
Milk for thinning/taste
Salt and pepper
Yoghurt (optional)

Sauté garlic and ginger in olive oil on medium in large stock pot until warmed through, but not brown, about 30 seconds.

Add sweet potatoes, let sauté for a few minutes to brown up a little.

Add salt and pepper.

Add 1 and half/ three quarters cans of stock, enough to cover most of the potatoes.

Let boil on high heat for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Turn off heat, and using an immersion blender, puree the mixture until mostly smooth.

A blender can also be used.

"Cha Ca" Inspired Fish with Lentils

Here is a recipe inspired by a dish we had in Hanoi called "Cha Ca" fish which featured the local river fish flavored with turmeric and dill. It's a famous recipe there and you can get it in restaurants on "Cha Ca" street (named after the dish - not vice-versa). There it arrives steaming in a pot with a side of rice, but I made it over lentils.

"Cha Ca" Inspired Fish with Lentils

Fillets of firm white fish

Fresh Dill

Garlic

Ginger

Chicken Broth

Ground Turmeric

Split Lentils

In a tall sided pan add about 1.5 inches of chicken stock. Add 4 springs of fresh dill, a couple tables spoons of chopped or sliced ginger, four chopped clove of garlic, a tablespoon of tumeric and salt and pepper. Let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes so all the flavors meld.

Add your fish to the pan (it should be about half submerged in the liquid) and cook, covered, on lowest heat until cooked through.

Remove and keep warm.

Next, add your lentils to the poaching liquid (in a ratio of about 1/3 lentils to 1 liquid). Cover again and let cook until tender, maybe 15 minutes. You may have to add additional chicken stock if it gets too dry.

When done serve fish on top of lentils with chopped fresh dill on top. A green salad with a rice vinegar vinagrette was good on the side.