spicy urad dal soup

Every now and then I try recipes from the journal, Gastronomica, published by UC Berkeley. I’m a big fun of this academic culinary periodical. Primarily the articles are stuff related to food history and culture. Their subjects are always off the beaten path. I savor each of issue.

Here’s what it says on Gastronomica’s about page:

Since 2001 we’ve been renewing the connection between sensual and intellectual nourishment by offering readers a taste of passionate inquiry through scholarship, humor, fiction, poetry, and exciting visual imagery. With its diverse voices and eclectic mix of articles, Gastronomica uses food as an important source of knowledge about different cultures and societies, provoking discussion and encouraging thoughtful reflection on the history, literature, representation, and cultural impact of food. The fact is, the more we know about food, the greater our pleasure in it. Welcome to our table!

And it is true! And no, I’m not receiving a cash payment for promoting this quarterly. Though if a check arrives in the mail I won’t be too sad about it.

Alas, what does all this flattery have to do with today’s post? Before we started this blog (that seems like a while ago!) I made a dosa recipe from a lovely article I read in the magazine etitled The Masala Dosas in My Life.

That one called for a small amount of split urad dal, but overenthusiastic, I bought a large bag. After having stored it in the pantry “for a while,” it was time to get inspired again. This urad dal soup has some of the features of my other red dal soup but with a creamier texture. This was excellent and I really don’t know why it took me so long to prepare this gourmet pulse.

I found a great pic of several kinds of urad dal on this excellent site, Manjula’s Kitchen, which I’m re-posting here.

several kinds of urad dal

spicy urad dal soup

2 cups split and hulled urad dal, picked over and rinsed
½ tsp turmeric powder
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 small russet potatoes, skin on, quartered
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 white onion, chopped
2 Serrano chili peppers, minced (seeds and ribs removed partially)
1 tbsp fresh garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 branch curry leaves
1 bay leaf
½ tsp chili powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 28oz can unseasoned chopped tomatoes and juices
Kosher salt
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Put dal, turmeric powder and 6 cups of water in a saucepan. Place it on stove, temperature on high and boil for 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove any foam that may form at the top. Add carrots, celery and potatoes and continue cooking until everything becomes soft. Add more water if needed. Keep it warm.

Meanwhile put oil, mustard and cumin seeds in a large skillet on high. Cook until aromatic and mustard seeds start to pop. Add onions, Serrano chili and cook until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic, ginger, bay and curry leaves. Continue cooking until raw aromas of the garlic and ginger are gone. Next add coriander and chili powders and salt. Give it a good stir. Fold in tomatoes, add a cup of water, stir and cook for about 12 minutes on medium temperature. Mix it in the dal, taste and adjust salt. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

Just before serving, transfer half of the soup to a bowl. Using a stick blender, blend everything together then return it back to the pot to thicken the soup a bit. Add chopped cilantro and serve! We had it with Brazilian style rice though it would also be excellent with roti.

I always think of stuffed veggies as an elegant treat. When I was younger, they mystified me. How in the world did anyone figure out how to fill these delectable creations just right? Now that I’m officially “middle aged” and thus more experienced in the kitchen, the question no longer interests me. Instead, I’m quite comfortable improvising.

yellow bell peppers stuffed with mung bean, feta and fresh herbs

And that is what these mung bean filled peppers are all about. I had the ingredients at home already and sort of made the recipe up as I went along. I liked it so well, that I kept snacking on the filling while I was preparing the dish. Mmmm.

Typically, poblanos are my favorite pepper to stuff, as I prefer their earthy, smoky flavors over the plain sweet bell peppers. Mine were too tiny for that. So instead I chopped one up and sautéed it to bring those tastes to the dish.

bake any remaining filling in ramekins for an attractive presentation

my big jug of dried green mung beans

yellow bell peppers stuffed with mung bean, feta and fresh herbs

4 to 6 medium to large yellow bell peppers
3 tbsp olive oil plus more
1 poblano pepper; stems, ribs and seeds removed; chopped fine
2 pieces green garlic, green and white parts, chopped fine
4 scallions, green and white parts, chopped fine
1 small bunch Italian parsley, chopped fine
1 small bunch mint, chopped fine
3 cups prepared mung beans
½ lb. French feta or similar that will melt easily
2 tbsp pignioli nuts
12 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne

I usually start with dry mung beans. This time, I had some that I’d already prepared, frozen and awaiting this delicious recipe. These lovely beans don’t require soaking. Just boil in water for about 30 to 45 minutes. That’s it. They should be completely drained before using here.

To prepare yellow bell peppers for stuffing, remove tops and interior seeds and ribs with a paring knife.
Steam for ten minutes then rinse to cool.

Pre heat oven to 350F.

In a large skillet, add olive oil then sauté green garlic, scallion, chopped poblano pepper and a pinch of salt for a few minutes until they soften. Add mung bean, cover and warm through. Add feta, mint, parsley, pignoli, olives and mix everything together. Adjust salt and add black pepper. Remember for the filling to taste right with the unsalted peppers, it should be slightly salty on its own.

Gently fill yellow bell peppers with mung bean mix and place on a baking dish. If you have extra filling (like I did) you can bake that in ramekins for an elegant presentation, or in any baking dish. Finish with some more olive oil and dust the filled peppers with cayenne.

Bake about 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. We had ours with plain basmati rice.

I adapted this marvelous garbanzo bean recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Plenty.

sautéed chickpeas with Swiss chard, spinach and labneh sauce

I like so many things about Ottolenghi’s book: plenty of them. In particular, from reading and trying out his flavorful recipes, I realize now that unknowingly we’ve been using principles from and eating PLENTY at home all along. Ottolenghi focuses my attention on the process and the order in which ingredients are added or combined to a dish to maximally preserve the individual flavor and freshness of each, while combining harmoniously in a final dish that will taste even better. Here the aromas and volatile components present in herbs such as mint and cilantro, and the powerful presence of garlic all play their individual roles, adding layers of complexity to this meal. I feel I am acting sort of like one of the Iron Chefs today, trying awkwardly to explain myself to the panel of celebrity judges. Yet in a simple dish made with ingredients as prosaic as beans sometimes you truly can find poetry.

sautéed chickpeas with Swiss chard, spinach and labneh sauce

6 cups cooked chickpeas
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
6 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks
2 bunches rainbow Swiss chard
2 cups pre washed spinach leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tbsp fresh mint, julienned
2 tbsp cilantro, julienned
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

for the labneh sauce:

¾ cup labneh
Water
Kosher salt
Olive oil

Wash Swiss chard in lots of water. Separate stalks from leaves. Cut stalks into ½ inch segments. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop the Swiss chard stalks in, cover and cook for a couple of minutes. Add chard leaves and cook for a couple of minutes more. Add spinach leaves in the last 30 seconds. Drain.

Add half of the olive oil to a sauce pan on high heat. Next add cumin seeds followed by the carrots and sauté for about 5 minutes. The olive oil will get tinted orange from carrot and the air will be infused with the scent of cumin.

Add chick peas, chard and spinach, give it a good stir. Cook for about 8 minutes. In the last minute of cooking add garlic, cilantro, mint, salt, pepper and the rest of the olive oil. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust flavors if needed. Transfer to a serving platter

To make the labeneh sauce, place labeneh in a bowl, add about 1/3 cup of water and whisk until it reaches the consistency of a thick yogurt. Add salt, pepper and olive oil to taste. Spoon it over the chick peas and serve.

In the summertime, I prefer stuffed peppers, but when the cool fall weather comes, stuffed mushrooms are my homey comfort food. It is particularly easy to enjoy stuffed mushrooms these days, since so many kinds are available. I especially like the meatiness of large portobellos here, as it moves the recipe from a side to the main course and into the center-of-attention.

portobello mushrooms stuffed with gen-ji-mai rice, black-eyed peas and sage

I used leftovers from Hegui’s gen-ji-mai rice with black-eyed peas here and sort of added some things. The combination of the multi-grain rice, black-eyed peas and mushrooms, accented with a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano and sage was incredibly earthy and satisfying.

portobello mushrooms stuffed with gen-ji-mai rice, black-eyed peas and sage

2 large Portobello mushrooms, cleaned, and stems removed but retained
½ onion, coarsely chopped
1 shallot, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 Serrano chile, stem, ribs and seeds removed
3 tbps olive oil plus more
2 cups gen-ji-mai rice with black-eyed peas
¼ pignoli nuts
¼ cup shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano
3 to 4 dried sage leaves
Salt and black pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Coarsely chop Portobello stems.

In a large skillet, add olive oil on high heat. Toss in chopped Portobello stems, onion, shallot, garlic, Serrano chile with a pinch of salt. Cook until onions start to wilt. Pour everything into food processor and run until a smooth thick paste develops.

Return veggie paste to skillet. Add gen-ji-mai rice with black-eyed peas, pignolis, sage and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté a bit longer to heat through and mix flavors. Stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano. Remove from heat.

Place Portobello caps in a baking dish, upside-down. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Stuff with prepared gen-ji-mai rice. Cover and bake about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove cover and broil for a few minutes. Serve warm.

gen-ji-mai rice with black-eyed peas

I’ve been a little bit obsessed with gen-ji-mai rice ever since I discovered this cereal, grain mix at a Korean market in the West Coast D.C.—that’s right, Daily City, California

We’ve already eaten it simply cooked with olive oil, salt, garlic and onions. This time I decided to go for more protein and give it sort of a granola, southern flair with the addition of black-eyed peas. Another success! Super simple to make and a nutritious and satisfying meal by itself.

gen-ji-mai rice package

gen-ji-mai rice with black-eyed peas

1½ cups gen-ji-mai rice
¾ cup dry black-eyed peas
1 medium onion, diced small
1 clove garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Italian parsley

Soak rice and black-eyed peas in two separate bowls, each with plenty of water, for 30 minutes. Rinse.

Heat ½ of the olive oil in a saucepan, add onions and sauté until translucent.  Add garlic then cook for a minute or so. Add black-eyed peas, gen-ji-mai rice and salt. Give it a good mix, add about 3 cups of water, bring to a boil, then reduce temperature and simmer for about 20-30 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Black-eyed peas should be soft.   If not add a bit more of water and continue cooking a little longer. Turn the heat off and let sit, lid on, for about 10 minutes. Remove lid, add remaining olive oil, a few grinds of black pepper, sprinkle with parsley, fluff and serve!

chickpea soup with rosemary

This incredible recipe comes from the new David Rocco cookbook, Made in Italy. We’d not heard of this stylish Italian chef until Hegui happened across his gorgeous cookbook in a shop in Healdsburg while we were wine tasting that weekend. Apparently he’s a Food Network star for their Canadian outlet. There’re tons of videos from the show on U-tube. Here’s one:

I like the food and the excitement that Rocco brings to the subject. Can’t wait for his show to come out in the U.S. For now, we’ll just have to content ourselves with these yummy recipes.

I basically followed his but used more chickpeas. Mine were a mix of canned and dried that I rehydrated, though in the book it calls only for canned. The taste was superb. Too bad the soup, unlike the celebrity chef, isn’t especially photogenic.

chickpea soup with rosemary

4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 cups chickpeas
Salt and black pepper to taste
Water to taste
Parmigiano-Reggiano and more olive oil to finish

Sauté diced onion and rosemary in olive oil until onions start to turn golden. Add chickpeas, salt and pepper. Add water to your taste. I made my soup a little watery. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Use a stick blender to mash some of the chickpeas and onion to thicken the soup. Cook about 15 minutes. Serve warm and finish with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and some olive oil.

Pão-com-ovo, or egg sandwich, was one of my favorites when I was growing up: so simple and delicious. I think it had to do with the eggs coming from happy hens, freely roaming around my mother’s backyard, feeding not only on grains, but all the other stuff chickens like to eat. What do you think? I believe that how the chicken is treated makes a difference in the quality of the eggs produced.

sunny-side up quail eggs and cannellini bean spread on rustic toast

For this simplest of country fare, the egg was just fried sunny-side up, in a cast iron pan with some oil, salt and pepper, then lovingly placed on a big fat slice of rustic bread. These country eggs had unbelievable flavor and a pumpkin-orange colored yolk that was out of this world. It was fun getting messy after the first bite, with the yolk leaking all over the bread and my finger tips and arms and everything. Peasant food rocks! Here I am reminiscing about food and childhood again.

Alas we try not to eat a lot of eggs these days because of the cholesterol content*, but last week I couldn’t resist the little tray of organic quail eggs staring at me at the supermarket. So here’s a version of my childhood favorite, pão-com-ovo. I’ve added the Tuscan style bean spread to make the dish more substantial, for a full meal.

sunny-side up eggs are so cheery, sort of like sunflowers

sunny-side up quail eggs and cannellini bean spread on rustic toast

3 cups cooked cannellini beans with some of their juices
4 cloves garlic (3 minced and 1 for rubbing on bread slices)
Kosher salt
Black pepper
6 thick slices of ciabatta bread, cut diagonally
Olive oil
6 quail eggs
Good extra virgin olive oil for fishing

Heat up 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan, add minced garlic and let it sizzle for a minute. Add beans with some of the liquid, salt and pepper, then bring to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside and keep warm.

Position rack of your oven close to the grill, and broil bread slices on both sides, about 2-3 minutes on each. Remove from oven, rub garlic clove on both sides.

Add a few drops of olive oil to a non-stick pan. Break a quail egg in and fry on medium temperature sunny side up. Remove from the pan and repeat with the rest.

Arrange bread slices on a platter, spread about a dollop of bean paste over each slice, top with a quail egg, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over it all and voilá!

You can serve this as warm appetizer or main course with a side of leafy salad or tomatoes. This goes well with a hearty and bold red wine.

*As for the cholesterol, quail egg is not too bad if you can eat just one. Quail has only 76mg cholesterol, which is 25% of the recommended intake. Compare to chicken, at 213mg or 70%. Duck egg has 619mg or 206%; turkey, 737mg, or 246%; goose, a whopping 1227mg, or 409%. I looked for ostrich but couldn’t find the info on that grandest of edible egg.

Data from recipe tips.

A couple of weekends ago Steven and I spent the afternoon in the quaint northern California coastal city of Half Moon Bay, located just 30 minutes south of SF. It is fun to leave the city for a bit sometimes, just to decompress. The trip alone, down California highway 1, is already a magical experience for the eyes, ears and nose. I am enchanted with the rugged coastline, secluded beaches, beautiful cliffs, marine life, the sculptural Monterrey Cypress trees scattered here and there, and the scented air perfumed by the occasional waft of sea sprays, sea weed and the wild sagebrush that the coastal wind knows how to mix so well. If you have not yet done this quintessential trip you are truly missing out.

mouth puckering mu shu tofu

In the town of Half Moon Bay, we did a bit of window shopping, eventually ending up at the Ocean Books used books store. My favorite section is always where you find the cookbooks, which is where I headed. There I discovered The Complete Soy Cookbook by Paulette Mitchell. It is a bold title, though I’m not too sure about ‘the complete’ part. Nevertheless, it does have a bunch of recipes that I intend to try. This mu shu tofu is the first.

California coast along Highway 1

standing at the California Coast at Half Moon Bay

a grand and very sculptural Monterrey Cypress

ocean pitted rock along the California coast at Half Moon Bay

This recipe caught my eye because I used to enjoy mu shu pork back in the day. Aside from the fact that I misread the recipe and ended up using a ¼ cup of sherry vinegar instead of a ¼ cup dry sherry, two totally different things, the dish came out pretty good.

I am getting a puckered mouth as I remember this…..

I plan on making it again using dry sherry and perhaps with a bit of sherry vinegar because I actually liked the sour component in there. Of course much, much, much less of it lol

mouth puckering mu shu tofu

1 carrot
2 broccoli stalks and stems
4 flour tortillas
½ cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup baby Portobello mushrooms, slivered
1lb tray tofu, cut into finger sized sticks
½ cup water or vegetable stock
¼ cup dry sherry and a splash of sherry vinegar
¼ cup shoyu or tamari
2 tsp corn starch
3 tbsp olive oil
Hoisin sauce

Peel carrots and broccoli stems then pass through a mandolin to make fine sticks. Place broccoli florets in food processor and whiz it for a coarse grade. Mix with carrots and stems. The total amount should be about 6 cups.

raw shredded veggies for mu shu tofu

Place dry sherry, sherry vinegar, shoyu, water or veggie stock and corn starch to a small bowl. Whisk it to incorporate.

Place 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Bring temperature to high. Add broccoli/carrot mix to it and sauté for about 5 minutes. It should still have a crunchy texture. Push mix to the side of the pan. Add remaining olive oil followed by the garlic. Let it sizzle for about a minute. Add mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes. Fold it with broccoli mix. Add sherry sauce to the broccoli/carrot mix and cook stirring until it bubbles and thickens. Add tofu and scallion, remove from heat, keep warm.

Meanwhile bring a skillet to high heat, place one tortilla in the pan and warm it up for about 30 seconds on each side. Transfer to a tray lined with a kitchen towel. Repeat process with remaining tortillas.

ready to wrap mouth puckering mu shu tofu

assembling mouth puckering mu shu tofu

Assemble at table by spreading some hoisin sauce on tortilla, top with mu shu tofu, then wrap it like a burrito and chow down.

This recipe is very aromatic and satisfying for a cool evening. The grilled eggplant gives the dish a lovely smoky flavor. All the herbs, fresh fennel and root veggies provide a supple elegance.

I’ve taken it from the Ottolenghi book, “Plenty,” with only minor modifications. Really tasty.

aromatic lentils with grilled eggplant

lentils with grilled eggplant

3 Japanese eggplant
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
Salt and black pepper
1 cup black lentils
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 bay leaf
2 stalks fennel with some bulb
Small bunch lemon thyme
½ white onion
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Sour cream for garnish

Set grill on highest temperature. Grill eggplant until soft and skin starts to char, turning occasionally, about ten minutes, Remove from heat, cover with plastic and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove stems and skin. Mash eggplant with a fork.

Pre-heat oven to 275F.

Rinse lentils and remove any stones or debris. Place in saucepan with one carrot, half stalk of celery, bay leaf, lemon thyme and onion. Cover and bring to boil then lower heat to simmer. Cook until tender. Remove celery, carrot, bay leaf, thyme and onion. Drain.

Cut fennel and remaining carrots and celery into small dice. I made mine too large. The book recommends about 3/8 of an inch. I mis-read this direction as ¾ inch. At any rate, think small. Toss with cherry tomato halves, some olive oil, the sugar, some salt then roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until tender but not mushy.

Mix roasted veggies with warm lentils. Add more olive oil, black pepper and salt to taste. Top with drilled eggplant and then a dollop or two of sour cream.

This recipe comes from “Plenty” by our new favorite cookbook author, Yotam Ottolenghi. He writes that a good friend first cooked this delightful dish for him as a variation of pissaladière using “socca” dough for the base, a chickpea flour based creation. Like all the pics in the book, the one for this was so mouth watering that I couldn’t resist trying it.

socca fresh from oven with tomatoes and onions

To me, the socca was a lot like pancake batter. So it was really easy to use. The little cakes firm up a lot more than buttermilk flapjacks though. I was able to make six large cakes but didn’t have enough tomatoes for the topping. The recipe calls for 2 cups of halved cherry tomatoes. I think three or four cups are really needed; or perhaps reducing the batter ingredients in half would work, too.

Ottolenghi's socca with tomatoes, onions and sweet pepper garnish

Ottolenghi’s socca with tomatoes and onions

3 to 4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
5½+ tbsps. Olive oil
3 medium white onions, cut into thin rings
2 tbsps. Fresh thyme
Salt and black pepper
½ tsp white wine vinegar
1¾ cups chickpea flour
2 cups water
2 egg whites
sautéed sweet peppers for garnish

Preheat oven to 275F.

Spread tomatoes, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with some olive oil. Roast in oven about 30 minutes to slightly cook. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add 4 tablespoons olive oil, onion rings, thyme, some salt and pepper in a large pan. Sauté on medium high for about 20 minutes until onions become translucent and somewhat golden in color. This took longer for me than Yotam indicated. When finished, add vinegar, adjust seasonings and reserve.

Place chickpea flour, water, 1½ tablespoons olive oil, ¾ teaspoon salt and some black pepper in a bowl. Whisk together. In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Fold flour mixture into eggs.

Raise oven temp to 325F.

Line some baking trays with wax paper. Brush with olive oil. In a small frying pan, add a bit more olive oil and some batter. Cook about three minutes on a side at medium heat. Once both sides are done, place on prepared baking sheet. When all cakes are done, bake for five minutes.

To serve, divide onions evenly between cakes then top with roasted tomatoes. Drizzle with more olive oil. Add some sweet peppers as garnish.