These days it’s all about the warm salad for me. When one component of the salad is warm, it provides such an elevated contribution to the whole dish. Take for instance a bed of greens that are tossed together in a warm vinaigrette of mustard and shallots. Just imagine what life is like for those greens as they are given the perfect chance to absorb new flavors. Or a potato salad that is tossed in it’s dressing whilst still warm – isn’t that the difference between a great potato salad and one that makes you say ‘ehh..’

Salads often draw from opposites. Something soft, something crunchy, a little sweet and a little tangy. Well, this holds true for the temperature too. With this in mind, I proceeded to make a warm chick pea salad. The chickpeas were given a searing with some curry leaves, removed from the heat and tossed with with tomatoes, onions and some loose arugula levaes. All of this was given a quick shake with grated coconut and vinaigrette for that sweet and tangy punch and voila, a salad from the gods awaits you.

Warm chickpea salad – A South Indian take on warm salads that satisfy for dinner or as an afternoon snack

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas (12oz)

2 tbsp. crushed tomato

¼ cup roasted peanuts

Salt

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. mustard seeds

1 tsp .coriander seeds

½ tsp. chili powder

15 curry leaves

¼ cup of desiccated coconut

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 green chili, julienned

Handful of arugula

½ red onion, julienne

1 vine tomato, julienne

4 tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves, plus whole leaves to garnish

Method

1)    Heat oil, add mustard seeds. As they pop, add curry leaves and coriander powder. Add chickpeas and allow to brown slightly. Add tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes to lose raw taste

2)    Season with salt and chili powder, add lemon juice. Add in the coconut and peanuts

3)    Remove from heat and toss with onions, tomatoes, cilantro and arugula

Not every good meal needs to be complicated. A well-stocked pantry and a couple of fresh ingredients can work wonders on any given night. That’s when I am thankful for the random purchases I see in my pantry but rarely touch. Take for instance my Marcona almonds. How different were they from the other 10 varieties of nuts already occupying prime real estate in my kitchen? And then there was the jar of preserved lemon I purchased in one of my Moroccan moments.

Over the weekend, my husband bought beautiful shrimps – perhaps 16 pointers (meaning 16 pieces to the pound). With the sweetness of the shrimp, the Marcona almond would lend an additional sweetness and a flavor that hints at marzipan. To balance the flavors, I reached for the preserved lemon – not to add sourness from which it both matured and out-grew, but rather, for that lemony-depth. The 2 pantry ingredients became a play-on pesto in my mind and now all I needed was some fresh greens, garlic and olive oil. For the greens, parsley would make for a perfect reunion.

With a hunk of bread, dinner is ready

With a little pounding from my pestle, the pesto came together with full-on personality. I seared-off the shrimp and then finished them in my sauce of Marcona and Preserved Lemon Pesto. Dinner was fast and easy, yet just a couple of pantry items made it feel luxuriously exotic.

Finishing in Marcona and preserved lemon pesto

Recipe for Shrimp Sizzled In Marcona Almond And Preserved Lemon Pesto

Ingredients

Shrimp

½ pound shrimp, with tails on and de-veined

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. sweet paprika

1 tsp. clarified butter

Pesto

10 pieces of Marcona Almonds

1 tbsp. preserved lemon, finely chopped

¼ cup parsley, finely chopped

¼ cup olive oil

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

Salt to taste

½ tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Method

Pesto

1)   Pound all the ingredients with a mortar and pestle

Shrimp

1)   Marinade the shrimp with the salt, paprika and clarified butter

2)   Sear off on high heat in a sauté pan to get a golden crust (1 minute each side)

3)   Finish cooking for another 3 minutes in the pesto

*this dish is great served with a baguette to lap up that pesto

Last week, the Branzino whispered from its crushed-ice bed, ‘take me home and you’ll be happy’. Branzino is such an attractive fish that breaks apart with a bare nudge of a fork (I like to eat mine with a spoon). This mild mannered fish is like the perfect pair of jeans. Dress it up with bold flavors of ginger and chili and she shines or dress it down with a simple drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper and she will stay a somewhat in the background.

Since I wanted to stuff the fish, I asked the fishmonger to butterfly it (don’t be shy – if you don’t ask, you don’t get). Branzino is on the smaller sider and 1 whole fish serves 1, so why bother getting it filleted? It also has a flesh to fight for, so I recommend keeping that right where it is. Now, the question was, what to stuff it with. The Mediterranean way felt predictable which is perfect for days I can’t handle surprises, but today just wasn’t one of them. I went for something that borrowed from Thai ingredients – vegetables cooked in reduced red curry sauce and served with a mound of cilantro and mint rice.

The tang in this dish from the red curry, the fragrance from the lemon grass, the rounded flavor from the coconut milk and the perfectly crisped skin from the outside protecting the most delicate white flakes made this a dinner to be repeated.

Recipe for Branzino Stuffed With Thai Red Curry Stuffed

Ingredients

Stuffed Fish

4 branzinos, butterflied, washed and towel dried

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup broccoli

½ cup sugar snap peas

1 zuccchni, julienned

1 tbsp. red curry paste

1 can coconut milk

2 tbsp. cooking oil

handful of cilantro leaves

Juice of 1 lemon

½ tsp. sugar

Steamed Rice

1 cup jasmine rice

1 ¾  cups water

1 tsp. salt

Handful of fresh cilantro

10 mint leaves, roughly torn

Method

Steamed Rice

1)   Combine water, salt and rice, bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered with a lid for 15 minutes

2)   Once tender, serve with loose cilantro and mint leaves over the top

Fish

3)   Pre-steam all the vegetables individually until al dente, refresh in an ice-bath and drain on paper towels

4)   In a separate saucepan, heat half the oil and add the red curry paste. Cook until oil separates. Add the coconut milk and reduce the sauce by 1/2. Add the lemon juice, sugar and check for seasoning (the paste already has some salt, adjust accordingly)

5)   Add the vegetables to the sauce and cook until vegetables are tender

6)   The fish: Season the skin with salt and pepper. On a hot frying pan, lay the fish skin side down and open to crisp the skin. On one side of the fish, lay down the veggies and lift the other side over to close the flap. Cook for approx. 3 minutes until fish is barely cooked through

Last month, I taught a class on vegetarian meals. Whenever I approach vegetarian food, it is always through my omnivore perspective. On Tuesdays, I observe a vegetarian diet and on those days, I end up over looking my protein. Putting a class together on the subject brought with it responsibility and I couldn’t omit a major part of the food group. People didn’t need a class on sautéing some broccoli with garlic, what they needed were complete dishes. Dishes with some kind of protein, grains, veggies and perhaps a touch of dairy.

This led me to my favorite chef from London – Yottam Ottolenghi. Here is a chef who find’s celebration in these very ingredients. A while back, I had read a recipe of his on charmoula roasted eggplant with herby bulgar (similar to couscous). Reading the recipe, there was an explosion of flavors that were skillfully layered. The dish was the perfect blend of North African and Middle Eastern flavor profiles. The best part was on balance. Ingredients weren’t randomly thrown together but were compiled through purpose and intention. Bulgar providing not only grain but also protein, pine nuts injecting an additional protein boost, a generous drizzle of  garlic yoghurt sauce and of course the hearty veggie contributor caramelized and scored eggplant.

Bulgar and herbs

Preserved lemons

Preparing the charmoula

Scored eggplant stuffed with charmoula

Charmoula Roasted Eggplant Stuffed With Bulgur

1 eggplant, cut in half along the length

 Charmoula

1 tbsp. preserved lemon, chopped fine

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. chili flakes

½ tsp. sweet paprika

½ cup olive oil

salt to taste

1 tbsp. cilantro

1 tbsp. parsley

½ tsp. mint, chopped

Bulgur

150g fine bulgur

50g sultanas

¼ cup cilantro chopped

¼ cup parsley chopped

2 tbsp. mint, chopped mint, chopped

1 tbsp. toasted pine nuts

toasted
6 spring onions,

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Salt to tast

Yoghurt Sauce

¼ cup of plain yoghurt

1 clove of fresh garlic, minced

1 tsp. lemon juice

Salt

Method

Eggplant and charmoula

Preheat the oven to 400F

1)    Pound all chermoula ingredients together

2)    Scoop out the seeds of the eggplant. Rub oil all around the skin

3)    Make light crisscross incisions. Rub charmoula all over the flesh

4)    Bake until tender and caramelized – about 40 minutes

Bulgur

1)    Lightly sauté the scallions until barely soft, set aside

2)    Soak bulgur with 150ml boiling water. Cover and allow to soften

3)     Soak sultanas and once plumped-up, drain, add to bulgur wheat

4)    Add salt, scallions, herbs, lemon juice, toss well, fill the roasted eggplant

Yoghurt Sauce

1) Combine yoghurt, lemon juice garlic

It’s a no brainer. When you head to your local Moroccan joint, one of you is definitely is ordering the tagine. Right? To the untrained Maghrebian eye, there is drama in it’s very presentation that adds to its luring nature. The earthenware vessel boasting of nomadic silhouette and color whilst imparting a subtle earthiness – it takes you right there.

The tagine creates the perfect habitat for braising. The pot is heavy with a lid that prohibits even the remotest of vapor from escaping. However, most of us do not have tagines and it is possible to make it with a heavy-bottomed pan and a good weighty lid. Vegetable tagines might be widely popular, but making it with chicken and lamb is a whole different experience. As the chicken is lightly browned in a mixture of shallots, garlic and ginger powder, it then cooks at a gentle pace to allow those viscous qualities to be extracted. One of the essential ingredients in this dish is preserved lemon and in fact it solves that mysterious flavor in a lot of Moroccan dishes. The preserved lemon eases-up on it’s tartness over the aging process and it imparts a richer lemony flavor that adds aroma and depth to the dish. To bring the dish in to balance, a few pinches of hydrated raisins or chopped apricots will do the trick (I used figs but it adds a gritty texture).

Whilst I have certainly had various renditions of this dish, I am not a fan of the looser gravy. It creates that ’barely dipped tea bag’ flavor and the ingredients taste boiled rather than taste ‘braised’. But, if you keep excessive moisture at bay, you are left with a sauce that clings to the chicken. Since this is a one-pot dish, it completes the meal by adding a vegetable. Many use russets but potatoes greedily absorb the lemony herby gravy. Instead, throw in zucchini wedges half way through the cooking process. This dish is often enjoyed with a crusty loaf, but I am more of a rice person myself and they pair very well too.

Ingredients

4 tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

½ tsp. hot paprika

½ tsp. cumin powder

1 large yellow onion, finely diced

4 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 tsp. ginger powder

2 vine ripe tomatoes, de-skinned (by blanching in hot water), quartered

1 tbsp. preserved lemon, finely chopped

1 heaped tbsp. chopped parsley

2 heaped tbsp. cilantro

4  chicken thighs and 2 chicken legs (skinless)

¼ cup of water

2 zucchinis, peeled and quartered

1 tbsp. raisins, soaked in water until plump and then drained

Method

1)   In a heavy bottomed pan, sauté onions until they become lightly golden and lose their crunch. Add the garlic and cook until soft

2)   Season with salt, pepper, cumin powder, ginger powder and cayenne. Add the chicken and brown all over

3)   Add the lemon and tomatoes and water Reduce heat and cook covered. After 20 minutes, add the zucchini and raisins and continue to cook covered until fully done

4) Remove lid and cook down until the sauce reduces to coat the back of a spoon. Garnish with parsley and cilantro

The whole dim sum experience is a culture in itself. Glazed eyes that push carts around a room, stacks of bamboo steamers, drizzle bottles filled with soy sauce – these are just some of the necessary components of enjoying dim sum, tight little parcels filled with proteins and veggies. Like a poker game, there is little conversation to place your order. All you need is a dim sum check sheet, a pencil to mark off your choices and a delicate nod to indicate your next hand.

What is so special about these delicate little sheets wrapped around shrimp, pork, chives and veggies? Is it their translucent, moist and mildly chewy skin? Is it the surprise of the ingredients that lie within or perhaps the bite-sized pressies that fit in to the mouth in one go? Whatever drives you to eat them, there is no question that it fulfills it’s promise by the very suggestion of it’s name ‘touch of the heart’.

The challenge with dim sum is the lines in all the best dim sum houses. Whilst they move fast, that just doesn’t always work when you have a 5 year old swiping the order sheets from all the tables whilst the 7 year old eats soft mints by the exit ‘en clandestine’. We all love them and the communal aspect makes it even more enticing, but now we just make them at home. Firstly, it is surprisingly easy (even the folding part), secondly, you fill them with whatever you want and thirdly, you can use left overs in soups and broths. There is no rolling, no fancy pleating; just good old store bought wonton, some shrimp and fresh herbs.

Ingredients

1 package Nasoya wonton wrappers (or any brand, we would think)

1 pound of fresh shrimp, de-shelled and de-veined

3 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro

1 tbsp. chives, finely chopped

salt to taste

1 tbsp. sesame oil

¾ tsp. ginger and garlic paste

Steamer

Dipping Sauce

¼ cup of soy sauce

4 tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 fresh chili, sliced finely (optional)

1 tbsp. ginger, julienne

1 tbsp. scallion, chopped

Method

- Line a plate or tray with saran wrap (to set the dim sum on so they don’t rip off)

- Set a steamer aside to get hot

1)   Roughly chop half the shrimp in the food processor and cut the rest as finely as possible

2)   Combine all the ingredients except for the wrappers

3)   Set the wrapper in front of you in a diamond shape. Place filling in the center of wrap, fold over in half, moisten edges with water. Press to seal and join the wrapper ends

4)   Grease the base of the steamer. Steam for 5 minutes. Serve immediately with sauce

The Upper East Side is kicking it up notches. Within the last couple of years, eating and drinking locales like, The Arlington Club, Hosppoda, Jones Wood Foundry and Vegan Divas have quietly taken their spots and started pulling in a fresh crowd from all over the city (yes, including downtowners!!). Over the last few months, it happened again, this time, with a restaurant that upholds Indian culinary providence, a rich Moghul past and quite frankly with an experience that sends you home distracted for days. It is called Moti Mahal Delux, an outpost of the original Moti Mahal in Darya Ganj, Delhi.

As I sat with restaurant owner, Gaurav Anand, he shared his promise to bring a regal bygone era to life in NYC through his restaurant, Moti Mahal Delux. The restaurant allows New Yorkers to experience a cultural trail from Persia to India by way of the Moghul dynasty – a dynasty that contributed to India’s most cherished dishes such as, buttery onyx –colored lentils, breads stuffed with nuts, meats or just butter and rice and vegetable dishes that are finished in the tandoor along with skewered meats and vegetables.

It would be a no-brainer to talk about Moti Mahal Delux’ stellar dishes like, the neon-free tandoori chickens or the saliva-inducing lamb chops, both of which are organic and locally sourced, but for me, money’s on the Dum Aloo.

Dum Aloo is a  dish of potatoes cooked in a moderately-spiced gravy. And like all things royal, there are nuts pastes, dried fruits and whiffs of cardamom and fennel.  Whilst the ingredients are key players of the dish, it is the process of ‘Dum’ cooking that coaxes it all to its full potential. Dum is the technique of roasting and then steaming. The potatoes and other ingredients are cooked on high heat and then covered with a lid and some dough to tape it around the sides creating ‘um’. This is when the flavors mature as they cook in their own steam, none of which is lost to the world outside.

This is as soulful as a dish can get and when it is ready, you are left with fork tender potatoes in a light tomato sauce and a Sunday afternoon nap.

Recipe Courtesy Of Moti Mahal Delux for Dum Aloo

Ingredients

8 medium potatoes

100 ml oil

1 tsp. caraway seeds

2 chopped onions
•

1 tsp. black cardamom,

5 tbsp. raisins, pounded

5 tbsp. cashew nuts

Salt to taste

For the curry

1 medium-sized onion, finely diced

1/4 cup curd

1 cup tomato puree

4 tsp. ginger-garlic paste

3 tsp. almond paste

1 tsp. fennel seeds

4 green cardamom
pods

6 cloves

½ tsp. mace powder

4 tsp. red chili powder

2 tsp. cumin powder

1 tbsp. coriander powder

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

1 sheet puff pastry

Method

Heat oven at 350 degrees

1)   Peel the potatoes, slice off the tops and scoop out the centers.

2)    Fry the shells and the centers to a golden brown. Allow the centers to cool, then mash.
Heat the oil in a wok, sauté the caraway seeds and the aniseed.

3)   Add onions and sauté till transparent (in an oven proof pan). Add the fried potato centers, cardamom powder, raisins, and the cashew nuts.

4)   Stir-fry for a few minutes. Season with salt and keep aside. Stuff the potato shells with the prepared mixture and keep aside.
For the curry
Heat the oil in a thick bottomed pan and sauté onions till transparent.

5)   Add curd, tomato puree, ginger-garlic paste, almond paste, aniseed, mace, caraway seeds, green cardamoms, cloves, red chilli paste, cumin powder, coriander powder, and salt. Stir fry for 10 minutes.
Place the stuffed potatoes in the curry. Cover the lid and seal the sides with puff pastry

6)   Finish cooking in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with naan or rice.

Last Sunday unintentionally, the morning was calm. No kiddy birthday parties to run to, no soccer practice to get ready for. As the kids anchored down to some stacked paper and a bundle of crayons, I had a chance to hear myself think in my mecca – the kitchen. Some eggs and a half-filled mason jar of cream would do me nicely for a creamy mound of scramble but rather than toast, I decided upon a skillet hash with a few slivers of pepperoni.

Hash browns can provide for a failing experience if the potatoes haven’t been salted and then wrung out to release that extra moisture. When this step is skipped, they may look great from the outside, but nudge it with a fork and it reveals a blue’ish white interior with a gummy texture. Observe the handful of steps below and this will be your gateway to a golden-brown crust with potato strands that tightly knit together yielding a white and tender inside. I added crisped-pepperoni for a little ‘snap’ and set it down before my husband and kids. What a Sunday morning winner!

Recipe for Hash Pepperoni Browns

Ingredients

2 TBSP. unsalted butter

3 large russet potatoes, peeled, grated and combined with 1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)

1 TSP. freshly ground black pepper

2 TBSP. unsalted butter

5 standard slices of pepperoni, sliced in to thin strips

Method

1)   Make little balls of the grated potatoes and squeeze out all moisture. Add the black pepper

2)   Heat a large 12” frying pan with the butter and sauté the pepperoni for a minute (to crisp up) on high heat

3)   Spread the potato hash tighty over the pepperoni and pan surface and pressed down with a spatula to compress and lock stands together

4)   Cover with a lid for 5 minutes and reduce to medium. Insert a knife and when almost cooked through, cover with a plate to help you flip hash pancake over. Cook the other side until golden. Remove from heat and serve whilst hot and crisp

When it comes to Asian cuisines, in my home, we are equal opportunity eaters – Indian, Thai, Japanese, Malaysian – you name it and we’re there. Last Friday, my refrigerator action was in the hands of a sad carrot, scant baby bella mushrooms, a laquer-dly green bell pepper (why do I bother with those?) and a couple of eggs. It was time to pull inspiration from my Asian flavors and transform these loners into a cohesive dish through purpose and intention rather than neglected souls drawing their last breath in a dish.

I thought of making fried rice but just a little different. Rather than cooking neat separate grains that shuffle evenly amongst the vegetables, I was thinking of being more Bim Bim Bop (Korean deconstructed rice) about the dish – . sautéing the rice on high heat so it sticks together in places and forms a crust and throwing on a sunny-side egg. Once all the vegetables were steamed or wokked up, they were pulled out and reserved until the steamed rice was finished. And what a finish! The soft white grains were given a searing in sweet thai chili sauce (often called chicken sauce as it is served with bbq chicken), the veggies were thrown back in to the rice with a rough comb through and the dish was served volcanically hot with a fried egg on top.

Browning the rice in sweet ginger-garlic chili sauce

Combining with veggies

My dining companions were pulled-in by the drama of the presentation (funny how a frilly fried egg could do that). They proceeded to make the dish their own as they broke the fried egg in to the rice, partly spooning the yolk in to there mouth and partly using it as a dressing for the rice.

Breaking in that yolk

Recipe for Adapted Fried Rice

Ingredients

Cooking oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

2 cups long grain white rice, Jasmine or Basmati, cooked

1 medium-sized onion, finely diced

1 medium-sized carrot, finely diced

¼ cup of green peppers, finely diced

¼ cup of baby bella mushrooms (brown-skinned)

¼ cup of green beans or peas

¼ cup of scallion, roughly chopped (white and light green part only)

1 tsp. ginger, grated

1 tsp. garlic, grated

Salt and pepper

4 tbsp. sweet chili sauce

2 tbsp. soy sauce

Eggs (one per person)

Method

1)   Carrots: Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the carrots until barely tender. Drain. Refresh in iced water for 5 seconds, drain and set aside. Cook green beans or peas in the same way

2)   Saute in cooking oil separately the onions for 2 minutes on high heat, then the mushrooms and then the green peppers – Sprinkle salt on each and set aside

3)   In the same pan, heat the cooking oil and ½ a tsp. of sesame oil. Add half the chili sauce and soy sauce. Saute half the ginger and garlic, add half the rice and allow it to brown from the bottom to form a golden crust, turning in places. Cook the second batch of rice  the same way. Consolidate the rice back in the pan

4)   Throw in all the vegetables, onions and scallions and roughly combine. Check for seasoning

5)   Serve with a fried egg on top

In our home, making a quick meal often involves some ground meat, a pinch of herbs, diced onions, ginger or garlic and finally some rough hand-shaping before it is thrown down on the pan. It is then christened burger or kebab. Last night was one of those evenings, except; the predictability of ground chicken was getting dull. A fleeting thought was to use crab but again, the density felt unappealing. The mind and palate feeling a bit weighed down by all this winter business wanted to take a short flight somewhere fun and flirty – perhaps the South. Are you thinking shrimp?

Shrimp is such a wonderful protein to work with. Treat her well and she will show you her ‘lychee’ side; sweet and fleshy. Overcook her and she will seize up like rubber. With such attributes, very little work needs to be done on her. I decided on shrimp burgers. Chives work really well with shrimps adding brightness in flavor and a hint of an oniony taste but without the heavy handedness. The burgers are gently held together with a coating of breadcrumbs and mayo but if you want a tighter patty, feel free to add more breadcrumb as a binder. I served the shrimp burger on sweet and delicate challah bread – a perfect suitor given the delicate flavor of the shrimp don’t you think? Barely 6 minutes later (including prep time) and you will have a juicy and flavorful burger in your hands.

Recipe for Shrimp Burgers

Ingredients

 Shrimp Patties

1 ½ lbs. medium shrimp, shelled, deveined, and chopped
in to ½ cm pieces

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Tabasco

1 tsp. chopped chives

Zest of 1 lemons

Salt and freshly ground 
black pepper

1 tbsp. per burger

1 cup dry bread crumbs for dredging and 1 tsp. for burger mixture

8 slices of Challah bread

Butter (to butter challah bread)

Chive Mayo

½ tsp. of chives

2 tbsp. mayo

½ tsp. lemon juice

 Method

1. Combine shrimp, mayonnaise, onion powder, Worcestershire, tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste and bread crumbs into a medium bowl and mix well. Set aside for if you have time for 10 minutes
2. Heat the oil on medium/high in a sauté pan
3. Lay out 1 cup of breadcrumbs on to a plate. Portion the mixture in to 4 and shape in to patties. Gently dredge patties in to the breadcrumbs on both sides and fry until golden. Cover the pan with a lid when cooking the second side to cook the shrimp through. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel
4. Combine the chives, may and lemon juice.
5. Butter the sliced challah bread and toast on a pan on both sides, spread lightly with chive mayo and serve with burger