Wiki Food

Lemon and oregano lamb kebabs recipe

2013-11-30T14:48:00.001-08:00

Photo: Lemon and oregano lamb kebabs recipe

The Arabic Food Recipes kitchen (The Home of Delicious Arabic Food Recipes) invites you to try Lemon and oregano lamb kebabs Recipe. Enjoy the Arabic Cuisine and learn how to make Lemon and oregano lamb kebabs.

These tasty lamb skewers taste great served with Lebanese bread and a squeeze of lemon.

Preparation Time 20 minutes
Cooking Time 20 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

80ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg lamb leg steaks, cut into 2.5cm pieces
6 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 small red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 1/4 cups fresh continental parsley leaves
100g Greek feta, crumbled
Lemon wedges, to serve
Lebanese bread, to serve

Method

Combine the lemon juice, oil, oregano and garlic in a shallow glass or ceramic dish. Thread lamb onto skewers. Add to marinade and turn to coat. Cover and place in fridge for 4 hours to marinate.

Preheat a chargrill on medium-high. Add half the lamb and cook for 4-5 minutes each side for medium or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining lamb.

Combine the tomato, onion, parsley and feta in a bowl. Divide among serving plates and top with lamb. Serve with lemon wedges and bread.

Notes

Note: Allow 4 hours marinating time.

Source
Good Taste - October 2006, Page 98
Recipe by Michelle Southan

More Arabic Food Recipes:

Build-Your-Own Shish Kabobs
Eggplant & couscous salad with yoghurt dressing
Chickpea Fattoush
Lentil & tomato salad with garlic lebanese bread
Lebanese Fattoush Salad with Grilled Chicken
Mediterranean-style bean salad

Save and share Lemon and oregano lamb kebabs recipe

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Planning for the Hunger Challenge

2013-11-28T15:26:00.001-08:00

Shopping on a tight budget isn't impossible, but it does take work. Yesterday I started planning for the Hunger Challenge, a campaign to help raise awareness about hunger in our community. For one week during Hunger Action Month participants live on a very limited food budget, comparable to what food stamp recipients live on. In 2008 just seven of us participated in the Hunger Challenge and the budget was $3 a day, this year there will be over 50 250 people participating and the budget is $4.72 per day.

Tomorrow I will be shopping with CBS reporter and Hunger Challenge participant Juliette Goodrich at Foods Co. Yesterday I read the Food Co weekly flyer and planned my menu based on sale items and what I know I can afford.

Here is what I plan on cooking and eating, for new dishes I will post the recipes throughout the week:

Dinners:
Panela and Vegetable Kabobs - a new recipe I will be creating for the challenge. Panela is a cheese similar to haloumi but much less expensive.

Chicken and Bacon Quesadillas - another new recipe that I am creating for the challenge.

Chicken and Rice Soup - past participant Vanessa Barrington made this recipe a few years ago l based on a recipe by Andrea Nguyen

Moroccan Chicken & Lentils - I will be modifying a Bon Appetit recipe I found on Epicurious

Pasta Fagioli - truly cucina povera, something I made the first year of the Hunger Challenge, but this time I think I will add some spinach

Chili - I will make this using a variety of beans, corn, onions and peppers

Red beans and rice

For breakfast, I will eat oatmeal or eggs

For lunch I will eat leftovers or quesadillas. In past years, I have eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but I just don't want to do that again.

Of course my plans may change depending upon what I find at the store and how much I can buy...

Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Thanksgiving

2013-09-03T20:02:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving is hand's down, my favorite holiday of the year. I think I even like it better than my birthday, which is really saying something. So here's why:

1. There is nothing you have to do on Thanksgiving, other than share a meal. There are no religious ceremonies or gift giving. You can say a prayer before eating or watch a parade or play football if you want, but you can also take a nap! It's all good.

2. It's inclusive. Anyone who is in America (or outside of America for that matter) can celebrate this holiday if they want to. It's not about race or religion or nationality, in fact, it's about welcoming and helping those who are newcomers and celebrating the harvest.

3. It's about comfort food. I hear a lot of people complaining about traditional Thanksgiving food, they say turkey is boring, pumpkin pie is heavy and stodgy. To them I say, it's comfort food, not fine dining. Get over it. Besides, this holiday is about sharing a meal with friends and family, what you eat is secondary. Go out for Chinese food if you prefer, that is, if you can find a Chinese restaurant that's open.

4. It's two blessed days off. For most people anyway. That is reason enough to be thankful.

5. Leftovers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A few favorite past Thanksgiving posts from the archives:

How Thanksgiving became a national holiday

Brussels sprouts with brown butter and hazelnuts recipe

Cranberry coffeecake recipe

Curried Butternut Squash Soup recipe

Pilgrim onion marmalade recipe

Turkey drumsticks braised in cranberry sauce recipe

THENKUZHAL | MURUKKU - STEP BY STEP RECIPE

2013-05-27T20:10:00.001-07:00

Mostly we all make thenkuzhal for diwali or some special occasions. I love this murukku since my childhood days.I used to do all the pre preparatory works like buying rice and dal , grinding it in flour mill etc..I sit with my mom & paati when they make this for diwali especially for the last batch of murukku .. She makes half cooked murukku( we call it "arai vekkaadu" in tamil) . I love this murukku more than the crispy ones. I eat it hot immediately after taking out from the oil.Even today , my MIL made this specially for me..How sweet !! .I saw so many thenkuzhal recipes in web with different proportions of rice and urad dal . I want to share my version.I tried to take step by step pics for beginners. I really admire our fellow bloggers who blog recipes with step by step pics for each and every post. They have so much of patience and skill to do this. I really don't have both .For sweets and savouries step by step presentation is most essential i feel. Hope this post helps beginners. Feel free to leave ur comments about my presentation.I will improve in my further posts. Now coming to my version..

INGREDIENTS

Raw rice / Maavu arisi – 1 kg or 5 cups
Round white urad dal – 3/4 cup
Fried gram dal / pottukadalai – 1 handful
Butter – 4 tbsp or 100 gms
Asafetida / hing – 1/2 tsp
Jeera / cumin seeds or Black sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
Salt & water – As needed.
Cooking oil – for deep frying..

"""PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT THE "POINTS TO REMEMBER" BEFORE STARTING.."""

METHOD

Heat a kadai and dry roast urad dal slightly without changing its colour. Roast till nice aroma comes from urad dal. Switch off the flame and add the fried gram dal.
Now mix the rice, roasted urad dal and fried gram dal.
Grind in flour mill or powder it in mixie. If u use mixie to grind the mixture, please don't forget to sieve the flour. Flour should be very fine in texture.

Add salt , melted butter, hing , jeera or sesame seeds and water to make a non sticky dough.

Take the murukku press and mould with one whole.

Fill the dough and set aside.Heat the oil in a broad kadai and and press the murukku in circular motion directly in oil or press the murukku in a polythene sheet or in the back of ladle separately and then drop in hot oil. This way u get a nice shape. After u press the murukku , please stand a few feet away from the kadai.Sometimes , very rarely murukku may burst like seedai . If it doesn't burst, then proceed.

Cook for sometime.Flip and cook for some more time till the hiss sound and bubbles ceases .

Do it in medium flame.Adjust the flame whenever needed.

Remove and drain in a paper towel..Store in an air tight container after it cools down.

Don't forget to try the half cooked murukku in the last batch.

For this after u drop the murukku in oil , just flip immediately and remove in 10 secs.. Eat it hot !!

White colored , crispy thenkuzhal is ready to enjoy !!

Points to remember

When u make murukku in large quantities , make the dough in batches to avoid the dough from drying.Also cover the dough with a damp cloth or a lid while cooking murukku. This helps in getting white colored murukku for all the batches. Otherwise color may vary for the last batches.
We have added fried gram dal and butter to get the crispness & white color . But usually fried gram dal is not added in thenkuzhal.Its purely optional.
Adding too much of butter makes the murukku look oily and becomes soggy very soon.Shelf life gets reduced.
Adding more urad dal flour or too much of roasting the urad dal results in dark colored murukku.So make sure u roast the urad dal without changing the color..
If u use store bought rice flour and urad dal flour , the ratio would be 6:1.No need to roast the urad dal flour if it is ready made.
The murukku flour should be very fine in texture otherwise it may burst while cooking. So i always sieve the flour for safer side
Use enough oil for deep frying. Add more oil after few batches if necessary.
Drop or press the murukku only when the oil becomes hot. U can find this by dropping a pinch of flour. It raises up quickly.This is the correct heating point. Do not let the oil fume. Always keep the flame in medium for even cooking.
Instead of pressing in oil directly , u can try pressing it in the back of ladle greased with oil or greased polythene sheets. This way u'll get nice shape..
After cooking when u break the murukku , u can c a hole in the middle of the murukku like funnel. This denotes the murukku is perfect !!

Can u see the hole . Catch u in my next post. Bye. Have a gr8 weekend

Technorati Tags: Thenkuzhal murukku,white Murukku,Diwali snacks,Murukku step by step pics,thenkuzhal recipe with step by step pics.Tips to get white thenkuzhal.

BEETROOT PORIYAL

2013-05-23T20:54:00.001-07:00

I learnt this from my mom.Usually my mom makes this as an accompaniment for keerai kuzhambu.Its my favorite..Last week i made for mor kuzhambu . It was a flavorful and excellent combo.

INGREDIENTS :

Beetroot - 2 nos (big)
Moong dal - 2 tbsp
Salt & water - As needed
Sambhar powder or Red chilly powder- 1.5tsp

To grind :

Grated coconut - 3 tbsp
Small onion - 2 nos
Jeera - 1/4 tsp

To temper :

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Big onion - 1 no (finely chopped)
Curry leaves - Few

METHOD :

Chop the beetroot into small pieces and pressure cook along with moong dal , sambhar powder , salt & water.
Grind all the ingredients given under 'to grind 'into a smooth paste adding little water.
Now temper the items mentioned above and add the cooked beetroot mixture.
Then add the ground coconut paste and saute well till the raw smell emanates.

Enjoy with sambhar/ mor kuzhambu / Keerai kuzhambu with a papad .

KITCHEN CLINIC :

BEETROOT :
Beetroot contains sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iodine, iron, copper, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and C. Each capsule provides approximately 1-2mg of elemental iron.

Benefits and Features of Beetroot

Beetroot provides a good source of anthocyanadins, a natural antioxidant that contributes to its deep red color
Extract is a natural source of vitamins and minerals
Beetroot is used traditionally as a blood building food
Beetroot may aid the natural process of elimination and support detoxification processes
Beetroot has liver, spleen, gall bladder and kidney cleansing properties
Beetroot is particularly rich in Vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus and iron
Each capsule provides approximately 1-2mg of elemental iron
The iron contained in beetroot is organic and non-irritating and will not cause constipation
Beetroot is useful in acidosis due to it being rich in alkaline elements
Vacuum packed to enhance stability and shelf life
Suitable for vegetarians and vegans

Beetroot for Cholesterol Reduction

Beet fiber has been shown to have cholesterol lowering capabilities. In a study on rats with induced high blood cholesterol, a red beet fiber diet caused a reduction of serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels (by 30 and 40%, respectively) and a significant increase in HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol). This diet induced also a significant decrease (almost by 30%) of cholesterol content in the aorta.

Beetroot for Blood Pressure

Beetroot juice has been shown to lower blood pressure in subjects with normal blood pressure. In healthy volunteers, approximately 3 hours after ingestion of 500 ml of beetroot juice, blood pressure was substantially reduced, an effect that correlated with peak increases in plasma nitrite concentration, nitrite being the blood pressure reducing ingredient.

Beetroot and nitrate capsules are equally effective in lowering blood pressure indicating that it is the nitrate content of beetroot juice that underlies its potential to reduce blood pressure. It has also been found that only a small amount of juice is needed – just 250ml – to have this effect.

Beetroot for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Betaine, a nutrient found in beets and some other foods lowers plasma homocysteine, a possible risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Betaine supplements are manufactured as a byproduct of sugar beet processing. Betaine "supplementation" has however been found to increase blood LDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in healthy humans, which may undo the potential benefits for cardiovascular health of betaine supplementation through homocysteine lowering.

Beetroot for Healthy Liver Function

Beetroot contains the bioactive agent betaine, which supports healthy liver function. When the liver is functioning properly, fats are broken down efficiently, aiding weight loss, and preventing fatigue and nausea.

Glycemic Index of Beetroot

In a study to determine the estimated Glycemic Index of various foods, it was concluded that beetroot has a medium GI of 64.

Adverse Reactions from Beetroot

Beetroot and especially beet greens contain high levels of oxalate, and should be avoided by individuals with kidney stones containing oxalate

Beetroot contains nitrates and when they are cooked and left standing at room temperature, microorganisms that convert nitrates to nitrites begin to multiply, and the amount of nitrites in the beetroot rises. The nitrites combine with amines in the stomach to form nitrosamines, some of which are known carcinogens.

The Frugal Cook is away

2013-05-19T20:34:00.001-07:00

No credit crunch drinking recs this week or next I'm afraid as I'm away on a work trip to Australia. (Yes, jammy, I know) Normal service will be resumed after December 11th.

Braised chicory with Roquefort

2013-05-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

Having spent the last 10 days in France it's struck me again what a mystery it is that you can't order more vegetable-based dishes in French restaurants. It's not that they don't have the produce. Down in the Languedoc they have gorgeous leeks right now and great bagfuls of chicory which is something you rarely find in the UK - or not at a reasonable price. Yet the only greenery most restaurants seem to offer - and have done for the past umpteen years - is salade de chèvre chaud (grilled goats' cheese salad).

Anyway I took advantage of some very good prices (about €2.50 a kilo) to buy 5 heads of chicory to make a side dish to go with yesterday's roast chicken. This is roughly the recipe.

Braised chicory with Roquefort
Serves 4-6
5-6 heads of chicory
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
20g butter
About 125ml chicken or vegetable stock
50g Roquefort or other blue cheese. Or almost any leftover cheese for that matter - Comté would be good.

Cut the heads of chicory in half lengthwise and remove any damaged outer leaves. Fill a large shallow pan with water, bring to the boil and add the lemon juice to stop the chicory discolouring. Add the chicory, reduce to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon.

Discard the water from the pan, add the oil and then the butter. Once melted lay the halved chicory heads in the pan and fry until well browned, turning them carefully halfway through so as not to break them up. Lay them cut side upwards in a shallow baking dish, pour over the stock and crumble over the cheese. Cook alongside whatever roast you're cooking for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned and the stock pretty well evaporated.

I also made a dish of leeks vinaigrette for which I posted a recipe on the blog a couple of years ago. Good to be reminded how good it is though and leeks are very tasty at the moment.

Noble Pig, Kamloops

2013-05-17T20:21:00.001-07:00

(december 2010)

deep fried pickles

tropical pizza

cubano sandwich

the noble pig

650 victoria st

website coming soon (?)

Waiter, there's goat cheese in my burrito!

2013-04-15T22:05:00.001-07:00

The first time I saw this recipe it didn't appeal to me at all. Goat cheese and burritos don't seem like they could go together. But the idea grew on me and we gave it a try. Loved it. The tangy cheese is brilliant with the beans and tomatos.

This is a very fast and low maintenance recipe. Other than cooking some rice there's only a bit of chopping and less than 10 minutes of cooking.

I altered the original recipe slightly - I'd say you could get 4-6 nice sized burritos out of this.

Goat Cheese Burritos

adapted from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons

1 tb oil

1 bunch of green onions, washed well and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 tsp ground cumin

3 tomatos, chopped

2 cups cooked rice

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

soft goats cheese (2 or more tb per burrito)

flour tortillas

sour cream

salsa

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the green onions, garlic and cumin to the pan and cook, stirring often for 5 minutes. Meanwhile in another medium pan, heat the black beans and a couple of tablespoons of water over medium heat until hot. Drain off the water. Add the tomatos to the onion mixture and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the rice.

Spread the goats cheese on the tortillas. Spoon the rice mixture on top of the cheese and top with beans. Add salsa and sour cream if desired. Roll up and dig in.

Granola Berry Parfait Recipe

2013-04-15T22:02:00.001-07:00

I can eat the same thing for breakfast day after day. Then suddenly I'm on to something else. At the moment, my breakfast of choice is a granola parfait. I bought parfait glasses for ice cream, but use them for breakfast and fruit salad more frequently. I also got those skinny spoons you need to fit down into the bottom of the glass! This is hardly a recipe, more of a technique. But anything that can help 'cereal' sound more exciting is worth doing. The trick to making a good parfait is to layer the ingredients nicely. Start with the yogurt on the bottom because anything else is too hard to get at with your spoon.

I've been using Driscoll's organic berries, Greek yogurt and The Bunnery granola. I recently got some samples of the granola and I really like it. I make my own granola but you have to eat it when it's fresh so I don't always have it on hand. The Bunnery original granola has relatively few ingredients just oats, honey, sunflower seeds, coconut, canola oil, sesame seeds, water, almonds, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. It's light and crunchy and not too clumpy which is best for parfaits.

You can make parfaits with just yogurt and fruit if you like. Or of course, you can also make parfaits with ice cream and fruit or sauces. But I think this is the best way to put a sexy spin on cereal. It's pretty, healthy and easy to make.

Berry Granola Parfaits

Mixed berries, such as blackberries, raspberries, blueberries
Yogurt, plain or flavored, regular or Greek
Granola

Layer a spoonful of yogurt into the bottom of the parfait glass and top with a layer of granola. Just a little! You want to make sure you leave enough room for multiple layers. Top the granola with one layer of berries. Repeat and end with a dollop of yogurt and a berry on top.

Enjoy!

Grocery Shop, July 10

2013-04-14T15:34:00.001-07:00

Bought at DeMille's Farm Market in Salmon Arm.

Corn, kale, leaf lettuce, 2 kinds of apples, blueberries, cherries, carrots, potatos. Missing: loaf of cheese bread.

Roasted chicken with potato recipe

2013-04-12T17:25:00.001-07:00

Photo: Roasted chicken with potato recipe

The Arabic Food Recipes kitchen (The Home of Delicious Arabic Food Recipes) invites you to try Roasted chicken with potato Recipe. Enjoy the Arabic Cuisine and learn how to make Roasted chicken with potato.

Ingredients

1 Whole chicken (1 ½ kg)

½ Cup fresh parsley, chopped

½ Cup green coriander, chopped

2 Tablespoon dill, chopped

Salt & white pepper

2 Tablespoons soft butter

For stuffing

1 Cup parsley & coriander sprigs

2 Small onions (quarters)

For Potato

1 Kg boiled potato (unpeeled)

1 Teaspoon finely minced garlic

1 Teaspoon nutmeg powder

Salt & pepper

2 Cups cooking cream

1 Cup milk

Method

Wash chicken with water, drain and set aside.

Mix parsley with coriander, dill in a pot,season with salt and pepper,add butter.

Stuff the chicken with parsley, dill and onions.

Season the chicken under skin with herbs and butter using your fingers carefully fold the wings behind.

Heat oven to 180 °c.

Mash boiled potatoes in a deep pot with garlic,season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Add cream and milk and mix the ingredients until we have a thick liquid mixture.

Pour mixture over a rectangular oven tray then place the chicken in the middle and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

Place tray in the oven for one and a half hours or until the chicken is well cooked (the cooking duration depends on the chicken's weight).

Serve it warm with mashed potato.

Chef Osama

More Arabic Food Recipes:

Chicken with Vegetables
Stuffed grilled Colored peppers
Moroccan rissoles
Moroccan potato salad
Lamb Rack With Maghrabia Biryani (served with Torlly)
Chicken tagine with apricots

Save and share Roasted chicken with potato recipe

Want to share this recipe with your family and friends? Click the button below to send them an email or save this to your favorite social network.

The Frugal Cook is away

2013-04-12T17:21:00.001-07:00

No credit crunch drinking recs this week or next I'm afraid as I'm away on a work trip to Australia. (Yes, jammy, I know) Normal service will be resumed after December 11th.

California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2013-02-13T19:14:00.001-08:00

California is producing some very good extra virgin olive oil, some using old European varieties of olives, harvested the old fashioned way, and--some high quality extra virgin olive oil harvested in a very modern way, for a fraction of the price. So how is possible to get high quality extra virgin olive oil at a low price? Last week I visited California Olive Ranch, the largest California olive oil producer, and learned just how they do it.

It all comes down to freshness and quantity. California Olive Ranch plants three varieties, arbequina, arbosana from Spain and koroneiki from Greece. Their olive orchards look nothing like what you may have seen in Europe. The olive trees are pruned into a hedge shape that is harvested mechanically, using a harvester specially developed for shaking the trees to get the olives off without damaging them. Less damage means better quality oil.

Here are some numbers for California Olive Ranch:

Their olive trees grow 6-8 feet high

Trees are planted 5 feet apart

There is 13 feet between each row

There are about 675 trees planted per acre

Each tree yields 7-12 pounds of olives

Only 20% of the olive is oil, 55% is water

12 harvesters run 24 hours a day during harvest season

5,000 acres are owned by the company

5,000 acres are managed by 67 farmers who have long term leases

Each truck holds 66,000 pounds of olives

Each truck is unloaded in 35 minutes

Some more facts:

The tree trimmings are mulched

The ground pits and olives, called pomace, is fed to cattle

California Olive Ranch is using bird boxes and buffer zones to minimize the use of pesticides and tests each batch of olives, and has test plots for organic olives

If you ever get a chance to ride a harvester and see the olives jiggle off the trees I highly recommend it! That I got to share the experience with blogging friends Chef John from Food Wishes, Chrystal Baker from The Duo Dishes, Aleta Watson from The Skillet Chronicles, and Jane Bonacci from The Heritage Cook made it all the more sweet!

Speaking of sweet, all exra virgin olive oil should be a balance of fruity, bitter and pungent. The best way to find your favorite, is to taste them...however...California Olive Ranch uses descriptors like intense and bold and mild to help you find one to your taste.

* If you want the freshest olive oil, known as 'olio nuovo in Italy, sign up to buy California Olive Ranch's Limited Reserve.

* If you like a buttery mild oil without too much bite, look for their basic extra virgin olive oil

* If you like a fruitier variety, try the Arbequina

* The Arbosana is most complex

* The Miller's blend is bold and balanced (and a favorite of some bloggers, food writers and chefs too.)

My thanks to California Olive Ranch for inviting me up to visit during harvest and letting me sample their fresh oils!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/sBff/~3/YfrEWN7Nx4w/hello-from-dunsmuir-california.html

2013-02-12T17:44:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to let you know we're up in beautiful Dunsmuir, California celebrating my father-in-law Al's 70th birthday. We'll be back at it Monday, so pardon any delays in responding to comments and emails. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and as always, enjoy!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpanishRecipesinpictures/~3/DIrX2OhsjBU/fresh-tuna-in-escabeche-pickle.html

2013-02-11T18:46:00.001-08:00

I went to my favourite fish shop and fell in love with a wonderful piece of fresh tuna. It wasn't...

Get the rest in my blog! See you there!

GREEN GRAM RICE UPMA

2013-01-29T19:25:00.001-08:00

I made this upma for dinner yesterday. Its a simple one pot meal. It tastes best with sambhar.I add equal amount of rice and green gram dal in this upma. So its very filling and rich in protein. We wanted little mushy . So i added more water.But if u add the quantity of water given below , u'll get the rice grains separate and fluffy..Please use the water according to ur choice.

INGREDIENTS

Steamed rice or Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Green gram / Pacha payaru - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 - 1.25 cups
Salt - As needed

To temper

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Channa dal - 1/2tsp
Green chilly - 1 no (slit into two)
Curry leaves - A few
Ginger- 1 inch (cut into pieces)
Hing / Asafetida - 3-4 generous pinches

METHOD

Heat a kadai and dry roast the rice till it slightly puffs up.
In the same kadai add a tsp of oil and roast the green gram until nice aroma arises.It may take 5-8 mins.
Now heat 1 tbsp of oil and temper the items given above in the same order.
Then add the roasted rice and dal. Add the required water and salt .Transfer everything into a pressure cooker.
Add a drop of oil and a pinch of hing .Pressure cook for one whistle.

Delicious upma is ready to serve. I served with AAB sambhar.

KITCHEN CLINIC

GREEN GRAM
The green gram is one of the most wholesome among pulses in India. It is free from the heaviness and tendency to flatulence, which is associated with other pulses.

The green gram forms a very nutritious article of diet. It is consumed in the form of whole dried seeds and in the form of dal prepared by splitting the seeds in a mill. The sprouted mung beans are a highly nutritious food. The beans are soaked overnight, drained and placed in containers in a dark room. They are sprinkled with water every few hours and the sprouts are ready in about three days. One pound of dry beans gives six to eight pounds of sprouts. There is an amazing increase in nutrients in sprouted beans when compared to their dried embryo.

Natural Benefits and Curative Properties of Green Gram.

Cooked dal of green gram is a very digestive food for invalid and sick persons. Its regular use during childhood, pregnancy and lactation helps one to get the required nutrition and promote health. It is an aperient i.e. a laxative. when given in large quantities. The soup made from it is the best article of diet after recovery from acute illness.
Applied in the form of powder. it is said to be useful in relieving the heat or burning of the eyes. A poultice of this powder is useful for checking secretion of milk and reducing distention of the mammary glands

Fevers :- Water in which green grams arc soaked is an excellent medicine during cholera, measles, chicken-pox, small-pox, typhoid and all types of fevers. It can be given in a small quantity even during acute phase of appendicitis.
Beauty-Aid :- Flour of the green gram is an excellent detergent and can be used as a substitute for soap. It removes the dirt and does not cause any skin irritation. Its application over the face bleaches the color and gives good complexion. Black gram flour is also used for washing the hair with green gram paste to lengthen hair and prevent dandruff.

Uses of Green Gram

The dried beans are boiled and are eaten whole or after splitting into dhal. They are parched and ground into flour after removal of the seed-coat. This flour is used in various Indian and Chinese dishes. The green pods are eaten as a vegetable. In China and the United States it is used for bean sprouts.

Green Gram (Whole dried Seeds)*

Food Value
Minerals and Vitamins
Moisture - 10.4% Calcium - 124 mg
Protein - 24.0% Phosphorus - 326 mg
Fat - 1.3% Iron - 7.3mg
Fibre - 4.1% Small amount of Vitamin B Complex
Minerals - 3.5% Carbohydrates - 56.7% Calorific Value - 334
*Values per 100 gm's edible portion

Is Hunger a Taboo Subject?

2013-01-24T19:04:00.001-08:00

The first year I participated in the Hunger Challenge, one of my commenters basically said that anyone who was hungry in this country was lazy. I was also told by a blogger that she wouldn't participate in the Challenge because it was her personal goal to support organic farmers and the Hunger Challenge just encouraged support of an already broken food system. In subsequent years I have heard that hunger is a bigger issue in other parts of the world, and that childhood obesity is the real problem we should be focused on.

The goal of the Hunger Campaign is to raise awareness about hunger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants in the Challenge live on the same budget a food stamp recipient would receive, a paltry $4.72 a day. But somehow, I find many people I tell about the Challenge don't want to hear about that. They'd rather focus on something else. All those other issues - politics, sustainable food systems, organics, world hunger and even childhood obesity get way more attention in the media than local hunger. Yes. I said local hunger.

Here in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Food Bank, 197,000 people struggle to feed themselves and their families. In Marin, just over 40,000 people - or 16% of the population - face the same problem.  I find it shocking that in a community as rich as ours (San Francisco and Marin), 237,000 people live at or below 185% of the federal poverty line ($33,873 per year for a family of three). While children or families may be eligible for aid at that level, even with assistance it can be very challenging to provide enough food to consistently nourish themselves.

Won't you think about what you can do help alleviate hunger in your community?

GET INVOLVED!

♥ Take the Hunger Challenge yourself. Sign up here.

♥ Read blogs by people taking the Hunger Challenge. There's a blogroll here.

♥ Follow the Hunger Challengers on Twitter. There's a listing here, or search for the hashtag #HungerChallenge.

♥ Learn more about the San Francisco Food Bank - and make a donation. For every $1 donated the food bank can supply hungry people with $6 worth of food!

♥ Follow the San Francisco Food Bank on Twitter or visit their Facebook page to see how they're fighting hunger every day.

At the top of my wish list

2013-01-08T18:38:00.001-08:00

My God, I would LOVE to try one of these. Do you think it really works?

It would be SO MUCh fun to buy some of these TV products and really test them out in the kitchen.....anyone want to be the sponsor?

Oliveto's Whole Hog Dinner 2012

2013-01-07T18:48:00.001-08:00

After experiencing one of the Whole Hog dinners at Oliveto last year, I couldn't wait to do it again. This time I brought along a friend Susie, who had just moved to the neighborhood. While it may seem like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and doing a whole animal dinner, the one at Oliveto is one of the oldest and surely one of the best. For one thing, it's a la carte, so you can eat and spend as much as you like. This year chef Jonah Rhodehamel focused the selections and there were more rustic options, but it's not all ears and trotters.

First up was a very hearty favata bean soup made from dried fava beans. Restaurant owner Bob Klein is the mastermind behind Community Grains and really knows his beans! The soup had tender chunks of braised pork, a chewy crouton and plenty of lift from a minty herbal puree. This is the kind of soup I would make and eat all week long.

Next up was a spectacularly good lasagna from Calabria called Sagne chine it had the lightest noodles and meatballs, plus a fresh and spicy tomato sauce and thin slivers of hard boiled egg. It was the most ethereal lasagna I have ever tasted. I was tipped off that a similar recipe is in My Calabria:Cooking with Rosetta cookbook so you may want to bookmark it. The recipe includes peas, and the Oliveto version does not.

The main course we shared was not the more common porchetta, but rather spit-roasted pork leg served with roasted carrots, turnips and greens. It was lean but still juicy, full of flavor. The chef told me he gets his pork from several sources including the sustainably raised ones from Magruder Ranch and Riverdog Farm.

After a palate cleansing salad of garden lettuce, we chose a pear strudel for dessert with vin santo ice cream. The leaves of the strudel with crackly crisp, because of course, they were slathered in strutto. Ah porcine goodness from beginning to end!

Note: There may be a few more seats left for this dinner 2/10/12, but call the restaurant to find out.

Oliveto
5655 College Avenue
Oakland, CA
510.547.5356

we made our own double down

2013-01-07T18:44:00.001-08:00

This post was timely.....4 or 5 months ago. You may remember the big fuss the KFC Double Down caused - the 'sandwich' made with chicken in place of the bun?

I wanted to go and try one, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead we made our own.

I cut the chicken breasts in half through the middle, then dipped them in beaten egg while, then panko bread crumbs. And then I baked 'em.

Meanwhile, I crisped some pancetta, and made a honey mustard sauce with honey, mustard and yogurt. When the chicken was cooked we topped one piece with sauce, cheese (I think it was Swiss) and pancetta. Then laid the second piece of chicken on top.

And here is the finished product.

The end result was good - the chicken was flavorful and crunchy. Pancetta is always tasty and the sauce was quite nice. It was fun to try but not something I'd make on a regular basis. How it would compare to an actual double down though, I guess I might never know.

GREEN CHUTNEY / CORIANDER LEAVES CHUTNEY- RESTAURANT STYLE

2013-01-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

I call this chutney as hotel chutney. I've already posted hotel white and red chutney. This is also the same as white chutney but i add little coriander leaves. U can combine mint & coriander leaves in equal ratio and try the same. It tastes great with idly.Let's go to the recipe..

INGREDIENTS

Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup
Green chilly – 2-3 nos
Dalia/ fried gram dal / pottukadalai – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – 1/4 bunch
Ginger – 1/2 inch
Garlic cloves – 2 nos
Lime juice – As needed (optional – Add lime juice if chutney is spicy – i dint add)
Salt & water – As reqd.

To temper:

Cooking oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
Red chilly – 1 no (pinched into two)
Curry leaves – A few

METHOD

Take all the ingredients given above and grind it to a smooth paste by adding sufficient water.
In a kadai, temper all the items given under "to temper". Add to chutney.
Serve with idly adding sesame oil.

KITCHEN CLINIC

CORIANDER LEAVES

The Health Benefits of Cilantro

List of Cilantro Benefits:

Powerful anti-inflammatory capacities that may help symptoms of arthritis
Protective agents against bacterial infection from Salmonella in food products
Acts to increase HDL cholesterol (the good kind), and reduces LDL cholesterol (the bad kind)
Relief for stomach gas, prevention of flatulence and an overall digestive aid
Wards off urinary tract infections
Helps reduce feelings of nausea
Eases hormonal mood swings associated with menstruation
Has been shown to reduce menstrual cramping.
Adds fiber to the digestive tract
A source of iron, magnesium, and is helpful in fighting anemia
Gives relief for diarrhea, especially if caused by microbial or fungal infections
Helps promote healthy liver function.
Reduces minor swelling
Strong general antioxidant properties
Disinfects and helps detoxify the body
Stimulates the endocrine glands
Helps with insulin secretion and lowers blood sugar
Acts as a natural anti-septic and anti-fungal agent for skin disorders like fungal infections and eczema
Contains immune-boosting properties
Acts as an expectorant
Helps ease conjunctivitis, as well as eye-aging, macular degeneration, and other stressors on the eyes.
- Blood Sugar: Due the stimulating effect of cumin on the endocrine glands, the secretion of insulin is increased from pancreas which increases the insulin level in the blood, thereby helping proper assimilation and absorption of sugar and resultant fall in the sugar level in the blood. This property is very beneficial for thediabetes patients and others too.
- Other benefits: Still want more from it? You get it! Coriander helps cure ulcer, inflammation, spasm and acts as an expectorant, protects and soothes liver. It is anti-carcinogenic, anti-convulsant, anti-histaminic and hypnotic. Coriander is believed to be a natural aphrodisiac and previously it was extensively used in certain preparations, combined with other herbs, to enhance libido.

Side Effects or Contraindications of Organic Cilantro

While many sources state that cilantro has little to no adverse side effects, there are some sources that warn that cilantro leaf should not be used during pregnancy, as it may lead to an increase chance of miscarriage in mothers, or may reduce chances of conception in women trying to become pregnant. If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, please consult with your health care provider before consuming cilantro in any form

Technorati Tags: hotel style green chutney,coriander leaves chutney,chutney for idly,dosa.how to make restaurant style chutney,hotel chutney,mint & coriander leaves chutney.

Dukka (or Dukkah)

2012-10-31T20:10:00.001-07:00

If you're someone who never manages to use up the nuts or spices you buy for a recipe dukka (aka dukkah) could be your salvation. Basically it's a ground up mixture of roasted nuts, spices and dried herbs in which to dunk bread or raw vegetables. It appears to originate from Egypt though has become very fashionable in Australia. And it's dead tasty.

To keep down the cost if you're making it from scratch buy one of those packs of mixed chopped nuts. I'm not mad about their flavour normally but if you roast them and mix them with spices they taste fine - just nicely nutty. And - hopefully it doesn't need saying by now - buy your spices from a ethnic grocer rather than from the supermarket. You'll pay a fraction of the price.

Makes about 250g mix - enough to feed a group of six to eight though obviously check no-one has a nut allergy.

100g chopped mixed nuts
75g sesame seeds
25g coriander seeds
10-12g cumin seeds
1 level tsp dried oregano
1 level tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4

Spread the nuts and seeds on separate baking trays or tins and roast them in the oven until lightly coloured and fragrant - about 7-8 minutes for the nuts, 4-5 minutes for the coriander and seeds and 3-4 minutes for the sesame seeds. (It might sound a faff roasting them separately but you don't want to overcook them. You could toast the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan if you like. The main thing is to watch them like a hawk).

Set the nuts and spices aside to cool. Put the nuts and peppercorns into a food processor or spice grinder, pulse a few times then add the coriander, cumin and sesame seeds and oregano and salt and pulse again. Don't overdo it - you want a rough textured mixture that looks like coarse breadcrumbs (see below). If you haven't got a food processor you could use a pestle and mortar to grind everything up but that's obviously harder work.

Serve with good olive oil, chunks of bread or warm pitta bread and raw veg like carrots and radishes. It's also great as a sprinkle over roast vegetables or you can use it as a coating for soft goats' cheeses - or a topping for roast fish. You could add a few chilli flakes if you want to spice it up but this version is better for kids (provided, just to stress it again, they're not allergic to nuts).

You can keep any leftover dukka for a week or two in an airtight tin or plastic box though you might want to refresh it in the oven for 2-3 minutes before you serve it.

By the way the beetroot dip in the rather messy pic above (suddenly remembered I should snap it half way through eating it) is made from a couple of vac-packed beets - a recipe I adapted from Stephen Markwick's A Well-Run Kitchen. You simply chop them up and whizz them with 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, about a teaspoon of ground roast cumin, a pinch of hot pimenton or cayenne pepper and 3 tbsp olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.

VAZHAITHANDU /BANANA STEM JUICE - SWEET AND SALT VERSION

2012-10-31T20:09:00.001-07:00

I really got bored of making thogayal, pachadi and poriyal with vazhaithandu.My husband hates to eat vazhaithandu just becoz it takes so much time to chew n eat ;). I heard drinking vazhaithandu juice in empty stomach is one of the healthiest way to include in our diet. Its a hassle free job too.Last month when i went to my native ,we tasted this juice in a famous restaurant. We loved it.It was mild in sweet and served chilled.We couldn't find out its the juice of vazhaithandu .I wanted to try the same at home.I tried sweet and salt versions. Both were excellent. I dint serve it cold , i made at room temperature.So its ur choice !!

SWEET JUICE

Plantain stem /Vazhaithandu - 1 /2 no (medium size)
Boiled Milk - 1/2 cup (adjust)
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Water- If necessary

Method

Remove the outer layer of vazhaithandu till core ( At this point u dont have layers to remove).
Cut into rings while removing the fibre simultaneously that comes between the rings .
Chop into small pieces .Grind with sugar and milk.Add more milk & sugar if necessary.
Strain in a double cloth filter.Pour in a serving glass.
Serve it chilled or at room temperature !!

SALT VERSION

INGREDIENTS

Vazhaithandu - 1/2 no (medium size)
Sour curd - 2tbsp
Salt & water - As needed
Pepper powder - 2 pinches (optional)

Coriander leaves - To garnish

METHOD

Repeat steps 1 and 2 given in the above version and cut the stem into pieces and immerse in buttermilk to avoid color change.
Grind the pieces along with curd and salt.
Add more water , whisk and strain in a double cloth filter.
Pour in a serving glass and garnish with little coriander leaves
serve chill!!

NOTE

Drinking vazhathandu juice alone doesnot help u to shed ur weight. U have to carry on the other things like diet .excercise etc.
U can prepare the juice in another way .

Grind the Banana stem with salt , pepper powder and lime juice. Filter and enjoy !! Hope this method sounds easier.

KITCHEN CLINIC

PLANTAIN STEM / VAZHAITHANDU

A potassium rich food with high fiber content and it has many other amazing health benefits.

Most people include banana in their daily diet, but very few have ever thought of including banana stem. The banana stem has many nutritive and health benefits. The stem is usually thrown away once the fruit is cut from the plant. So next time if you happen to find one, think of including it in your menu. Here are some good health reasons why banana stem must be part and parcel of your diet at least on occasions.

Banana stem is rich in fiber and helps weight loss. Due to rich content, it helps body to feel full faster. The intake of food gets reduced by including banana stem to diet. It can be taken in the form of juice, but eating it as a whole provides more benefits. Including it once or twice a week can help people looking for ways to cut down extra pounds.

Like banana, banana stem is also rich in potassium and vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 helps production of chemicals such as hemoglobin and insulin. Again, it improves the ability of body to fight against infection. Potassium helps effective functioning of muscles including cardiac muscles, prevents high blood pressure, helps nerve impulses and maintains fluid balance within the body.

It is a diuretic and helps detoxify the body. Some believe that banana stem can prevent and treat kidney stones. This is fact under study and the effectiveness has not been proven by the western world.

It can be taken as a laxative for constipation. Again, the rich fiber content prevents constipation. It cools the body. So overall, banana stem does wonders to our body.

How to include them in diet? Very tender ones can be used in salads and not so tender ones can be added to soups or as a steamed vegetable.

Slicing banana stem for dishes might be hard work, but it provides unmatchable health benefits.Its a cooling agent to our body , so use it weekly twice is recommended.

Technorati Tags: Banana stem,plantain stem juice,Vazhathandu juice,Banana stem benefits,plantain stem benefits.

The Best Apple Pie

2012-10-29T17:37:00.001-07:00

I know I have unfinished business with my filled cupcakes, but it's been so long since I posted that it will take me quite awhile to figure out everything I did with the cupcakes. In the meantime, it's apple picking time, and I wanted to re-post my recipe for apple pie, which I worked on last Fall.

This is a re-post from last Fall when we went to Boston to visit our daughter.
One of the trips she had planned was to a nearby apple orchard for an afternoon of apple picking. The farm had many different varieties of apples, and we came away with more than a bushel of Cortlands, Macintosh, Empire and Macoun apples. With so many apples, the logical thing to make was apple pie, so that's what we did the next day. Expecting great things, we were disappointed when we tasted the pie, that evening. Why wasn't this the best apple pie?

Let's start with the apples. For an 8-inch pie, I usually use 10 cups of apples consisting of about 5 Granny Smith apples, 1 golden delicious and 2 Macintosh apples. It's a blend that I've come up with over the years that satisfies my requirement for texture, moisture and taste. Using the apples from the orchard instead of my usual mix, produced a pie that wasn't sweet enough or juicy enough. I decided to go back to the kitchen and write down what happens to each apple when it is cooked. For my experiment I used 2 ounces of each apple (about 1/2 apple, but I did it by weight for accuracy), 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1/6th tablespoon of butter. Each was covered with foil and baked in a 400 degree F. oven.

When I uncovered the apples there was a striking difference between the amount of liquid in each cup. The Macouns were gushers, giving off 6 teaspoons of juice, the Macintosh gave off 4 teaspoons (but the Macs I bought in the supermarket only gave off 1), the Empires 3 teaspoons (same for the store-bought Empires) and the Cortland only 1 teaspoon of juice. Since the pie we made in Boston was mostly Cortlands, I now knew why our pie was not as juicy as we would have liked. I also tested the apples that I normally use: Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious. The Granny Smiths gave off 3 teaspoons while the Goldens gave off 5. This would account for my pies almost always flooding into the plate when the first piece is removed.

Here's a chart showing my results:

Apple Texture Juiciness Sweetness

Macintosh------- Very soft-----Least------------Sweet/tart

Rome ----------- Very soft-----Least------------Sweet/tart

Cortland--------- Medium------Least------------Sweet/tart

Empire-----------Medium------Moderate--------Sweet/tart

Golden Delicious-Medium------Most------------Sweet

Macoun----------Medium------Most-------------Sweet/tart

Granny Smith----Med-firm----Moderate--------Tart

Fuji--------------Extra Firm---Moderate--------Sweet/tart

Gala-------------Extra Firm--- Moderate--------Sweet/tart

So to start making YOUR perfect pie, you would decide whether you like your pie very moist, medium-moist or on the dryer side, and then you could choose the appropriate apples. If you wanted a very sweet pie, it wouldn't be a good idea to use only Golden Delicious, though, because you'd have so much liquid, you'd never get it thick enough. Instead, you could add a little more sugar to the tarter apples and mix in only one or two of the very juicy, sweet apples. Because we wanted to use only the apples we picked (tarter , drier varieties) we should have added a little extra sugar, and could have added some fresh apple cider to make up for the lack of moisture. There's also a question of tenderness with the filling and you'd want to combine apples that get pretty soft when cooked with those that are firmer. Some apples take forever to cook, and might not be a good choice for a pie in which the crust will be done in about 50-60 minutes. Romes and Macs tend to get very mushy – which I think gives a nice taste and texture when used in combination with firmer apples. Empires, Cortlands, Macouns, Goldens, etc. are medium-firm and Fujis and Galas tend to take longer than 60 minutes to get soft, unless sliced very thinly. Lastly, the amount and kind of thickener needs to be chosen. My mother always used tapioca to thicken her pies. But tapioca (cracked or pearls) leaves little gelatinous globules in the pie that I'm not fond of. Flour is really not a favorite of mine either because if it doesn't get mixed well, it can be very unpleasant, and if the apples don't heat up enough or for a long enough time, the flour will taste gritty or pasty. I usually use cornstarch, even though it doesn't do that well with acidy foods like apple pie – another reason that my usual pie is on the runny side (maybe I should mix in some Cortlands next time). For a pie made with mostly Cortlands, I would cut way down on the amount of cornstarch used – maybe half as much. Yesterday, I tried tapioca starch, which actually gave me the absolute perfect thickness! I bought it in Earthfare, my local organic market. It looks exactly like cornstarch, and the box directions said to use the same quantity as cornstarch. I used the recipe you'll find below, and have never been as happy with the results.

But back to Boston… Could more have gone wrong with my pie in Boston? You bet. The crust was really just mediocre. I knew from the get-go that I probably hadn't used enough water in the dough. I was worried about the crust being tough – a problem I had had the last time I made flaky crust- and water is usually the culprit when crust gets tough. I thought it might be a little dry (it was), but was surprised that the crust was so tender that it barely had any texture in the mouth. As a bottom crust it was fine, but the top crust really didn't work. So, of course, my challenge when I got home was to figure out exactly how to tell when you've added enough water. Here's the answer: The dough should feel supple, but not sticky, and it should hold together. You should be able to pick up the dough ball and hold it above the counter without it falling apart.

When you roll it, you should be able to fold it without it cracking.

If any of these problems arise, add a little more ice water to the dough. If the dough is too sticky, it could be because it's not cold enough, or it might need more flour. If it needs to be toughened a little, you can also fold it and then re-roll it. This works especially well for the top, because it makes it flakier. And so, here is MY Perfect Apple Pie

Serves 6 - 8
MAKE DOUGH 1 DAY AHEAD
Flaky Pie Crust
2-1/2 cups (325 grams) unbleached all- purpose flour, fluffed, scooped and leveled into measuring cups
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
10 tablespoons (5 ounces) shortening, frozen and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons (2.5 ounces) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup (or more) ice water, divided
Filling3-5 medium Granny Smith apples
1 medium golden Delicious apple
2 medium McIntosh apples
1 lemon or 1 tablespoon of Fruitfresh mixed 2 quarts with water
3/4- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Glaze1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon sugar

Place the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor bowl. Pulse-process to mix everything together. Place the shortening and butter on top of the dry ingredients. Pulse-process until the fats are cut into pea-size bits, about 5, three-second bursts. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Sprinkle on 3 tablespoons ice water. Mix with a fork and then, using your hands, press the mixture into a solid mass. If necessary, add more water to bring the dough together. The dough should feel supple, but not sticky, and it should hold together. You should be able to pick up the dough ball and hold it above the counter without it falling apart. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. with a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and flour an 8-inch glass pie plate . (Flouring the plate is controversial, as there is a risk that the dough could shrink off of the pie plate rim. However, it's so much easier to get the slices out of the pan when the plate is floured, that I do it anyway. )

For the filling, peel, core and cut the apples into 1/4-inch slices, using as many as necessary to have 10 cups of apples. Squeeze the lemon into a large bowl of water, or use the Fruitfresh. Place the apples into the bowl of water, drain, and then return the apples to the bowl along with the brown sugar, cinnamon and tapioca starch.

Transfer the dough to the pie plate using one of these techniques: Flip the dough over the rolling pin. Pick the whole dough piece off of the plastic and lay it into the pan.

OR
Flour the dough, fold it in half or quarters, and then transfer it to the pan and unfold it .

There should be several inches of overhang. Trim the dough to 1/2-inch beyond the rim ( I use my thumbnail as a guide).

Transfer the filling to the crust-lined pie plate, mounding it high in the pan. Dot with the butter.

Brush the rim of the crust with water so that the top crust will adhere well.

Roll out the remaining dough, making it larger than the bottom crust, so that it will fit over the mounded apples.

Trim the top crust so it is the same size as the bottom crust. Squeeze the two edges together and then roll the edge up to make a nice border on the pan rim.

Here you can see that I've rolled the right edge of the pie crust, but not the left side, yet. I also experimented with cutting out a diamond shape in the middle of the crust as a steam vent. It also gives me a good place to stick a knife into the apples to see if they are cooked. But I think I liked the round vent hole better (see opening photo). It was easier to get it in the center and it didn't tend to rip the way the diamond did.
Flute the edge using one of the techniques from this post on Pies and Tarts: http://amazingdessertrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/pie-and-tart-crust-shaping.html

Make 4 or 5 slits in the pie with a sharp knife. Mix the sugar with the milk and brush this over the crust ( or brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar – your choice).

Place the pie on a baking sheet. Bake the pie for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F. and bake for another 30 - 40 minutes more until both the top and bottom crusts are golden. Shield the pie rim with aluminum foil if it is getting too brown. To make a simple shield, take 3 pieces of aluminum foil slightly large than the pie. Crimp the edges up to make it less square and to hold the pieces together. Cut a cross in the middle of the foil and bend back the foil, from the center outward, to reveal the pie below. Set the shield on top of the pie – it should leave the center open to brown but will shield the rim crust, which always cooks faster.

Cool at least 30 minutes before eating.

For best results, the pie should not be made more than 8 hours in advance (leave uncovered at room temperature). Rewarm it at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Leftover pie should be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated. Heat at 350 degrees F. to re-crisp the top crust.