Best of The Best

Monday, March 24, 2014

Thomas Kellers Cured Lemons Part 1 of Who Knows

Theres a lot more to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen than drinking fine wine, eating gourmet food, and attending fabulous parties.

Learning recipes and techniques like this cured lemon from some of the worlds best chefs is also a big part of the reason I wear a smile on my face for about a week after my return.

This recipe was shared by Thomas Keller during his "Worlds Best Preserves" demo, which you may have read about in Part 1 of my top ten highlights recap. This technique is fun, very simple, and youll be surprised at how many interesting things you can do with these salty slices of sunshine.

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for a few follow-up recipes with some great ideas for using the preserved lemons. I think Im going to try it minced in an herb aioli, as well as roasted whole over some quail or other bird. If you want to play along at home, start a batch soon, and be sure to chime in with suggestions for what to do with this stuff. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 lemons, washed in hot water, cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
1/3 to 1/2 cup kosher salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar

Tandoori Mushroom Masala

Ingredients

Button mushroom sliced-1pack

Capsicum medium diced-1

Ginger and Garlic paste-1tsp

Thick curd-1tbsp

Tandoori masala-2tbsp

Kasoori methi( soaked in 1tsp warm water)-1tsp

Salt to taste

Oil-2tsp

Method

In a medium bowl mix ginger and garlic paste, curd, tandoori masala, kasoori methi and salt. Make a smooth paste and add the sliced mushrooms and diced capsicum. Mix well the mushrooms with masala paste and allow to marinate for 15 mins. Heat oil in a pan, when hot add the marinated mushroom and capsicum along with masala. Fry for few mins and cover with lid for 5 mins. Uncover the pan and sauté the mushrooms until semi dry. Serve hot with Roti.

Egg mayso

Egg mayso

Ingredients

Eggs 12 (1 bowl)
Ghee 1 bowl
Sugar 1 bowl
Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Zarda powder ¼ tsp
Saffron ¼ tsp

Method

In a bowl mix together eggs, ghee and sugar, beat well, put to cook in a pan keep stirring continuously until ghee comes on top, lastly add cardamom and color, remove in a greased pan, cut into pieces and serve.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Summer Wishlist

{"Uncle Sam" cocktail from our Jamaica vacation for my birthday last summer}

Here in D.C., we basically have two seasons: winter and summer. We dont get the good ones (fall is my favorite), so generally when youre in the thick of one of the two, all you can think about is the other one. This summer, however, Ive decided to fully embrace the 100-degree heat and humidity and throw myself into a few things. If I havent done everything on this list by Labor Day, I am officially a failure. You can judge me if that happens.

Have a proper picnic with Kyle, complete with picnic basket and baguette.
Go to at least one baseball game a month.
Throw a BBQ with friends.
Make these homemade ice cream drumsticks.
Sign up for a photography class so I can finally tell my aperture from my shutter.
Buy a fantastic high-waisted bikini.
Read an entire guilty pleasure book in one weekend.
Make a necklace holder thats equally functional and aesthetically pleasing, like this one.
Call a friend I havent spoken to in a while.
Head out to Annapolis to eat crabs.

What do you think of my list? Is it self-involved enough?? Please say yes!

So, whats on everyone elses summer "to do" list?

Indo Chinese Chilly Fish Dry

Preparation time-5mins

Cooking time-10mins

Serves-4

Ingredients

Boneless and skinless fish-300gms( Cut into cubes)

Onion medium-1( diced)

Green bell pepper-1( diced)

Green Chilles-2( finely chopped)

Garlic cloves-5( minced)

Ginger-1/2"( minced)

Green onions-6tbsp( finely chopped)

Fish sauce-1/2tsp

Soy sauce-1/2tsp

Ajinomoto-less than 1/4tsp( optional)

Pepper and Salt to taste

Water-2tsp

Rice flour-2tbsp

Corn flour-2tbsp

All purpose flour-2tbsp

Red chilly powder-1tsp

Lime juice-1/4tsp

Method

In a medium sized bowl add the fish cubes, red chilly powder, lime juice, rice flour, corn flour, all purpose flour and little salt. Sprinkle very little water and mix well until the flours are well coated on the fish cubes. Set aside for 10 mins. Heat a skillet add about 2 tsp of oil, when hot add the marinated fish cubes. Stir fry for few minutes until the fish is well cooked. Remove the prepared fish to a bowl. In the same skillet heat about 2 tsp of oil, add the diced onions, bell peppers, green chilles, garlic and ginger. Stir fry for few seconds and season with fish sauce, soy sauce, ajinomoto, pepper and salt. Sprinkle 2 tsps of water and add the prepared fish and chopped green onions. Stir fry the fish until dry. Serve hot as appetizer or serve along with Fried rice and Noodles.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Curd Vadai Thayir Vadai

Curd Vadai

Ingredients

Medhu Vadai( click here for the recipe) – 6 nos

Curd – 1 cup

Warm milk – 1 cup

Curry leaves ( chopped) – 10 nos

Green chilli ( chopped) – 1 no

Ginger ( minced) – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Chana Dal – 1 tsp

Asafetida / hing – pinch

Salt to taste

Minced coriander leaves – few tbsp

Thayir Vadai

Method

1. Prepare medhu vadas as per my medhu vadai recipe and set aside.

2. Soak fried medu vada in warm water for 5 mins, drain vadas, squeeze excess water from vadas and set aside to make vadas soft.

3. In a large shallow dish combine curd, warm milk and salt, mix well.

4. Heat oil in a tadka pan, when oil is hot add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, fry until dals are browned. Add curry leaves, green chilli, ginger and hing to the pan, fry for few more seconds and add this tempering to the curd mixture in the bowl.

Soak the vadas in this curd mixture for 1 hour and serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

The Great All American Burger Dog – USA! USA! USA!

This “burger dog” is far more than a hot dog shaped cheeseburger. It’s a testament to American ingenuity and being close to the right place at the right time. While I’m posting this as a fun, 4th of July grilling idea, my real motivation is to tell this “only in America” story of food stand stardom.

As the story goes, Bill “Burger Bill” Parrish didn’t want to buy two different kinds of buns for his tiny snack stand, which he operated on Lake Merced, near the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Since there’s no such thing as flat, round hot dogs, Bill decided to shape his burgers to fit the hot dog bun, and The City’s most storied cheeseburger was born.

The irresistible and geometrically superior burgers became so popular that golfers at the Olympic Club would send their caddies over to grab as many burger dogs as they could carry. Eventually the very exclusive club offered to let Bill set up his trailer on the course, near the 11th hole, where they’ve been a fixture ever since.

The course is only open to members, so the only way to taste one of these rare beauties is if you’re invited to play as a guest. I’ve had the pleasure twice, and both times the burger experience was just as memorable as the golf. They really are brilliant.

Above and beyond fitting the uni-bun, Burger Bill’s rectangular meat ended up being culinarily superior for all the reasons I brag about in the video. The shape insures a great crust of grill marks, and a perfect meat-to-bun ratio as you eat your way down the length.

With all deference to Mr. Parrish, I’ve added an extra bonus technique of seasoning the inside of the burger before it’s formed. When you add this to the aforementioned attributes, you’re talking about a great, and uniquely American burger experience. I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients per burger dog:

8 oz ground beef (80/20 grind)

1 large hot dog bun

1 slice cheese

salt and pepper to taste

View the complete recipe