Cooking recipes

The weather just keeps getting hotter and hotter, and its making my appetite decrease. In this hot summer days, I want to eat something cold and refreshing. This marinated cucumber does just this, and it is so simple to make.


Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Ready in: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 medium sized cucumber, peeled
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
salt to taste

Instruction:

1. Split the cucumber lengthwise into two halves, then slice them into "half-moon" slices
2. Put the cucumber slices into a medium sized bowl and mix in 2 teaspoon of salt, let the cucumber marinate for 10 minutes
   
3. Pour the excess juice that came out of the cucumber, mix in the sesame oil and serve
   

Its rhubarb glut season here in Scotland, but although I now only have one rhubarb plant instead of three I still find it hard to use up all the rhubarb and the heavy rain we have had has just made it grow even more!

I may have featured this book before, it was one of the first cookbooks that really fired my imagination.  I borrowed it from the library when I was 15 years old and carried it off to Belgium on holiday as my holiday reading.  I then bought a copy and some of the first recipes I made were the rhubarb jams.  This is the second copy of this book Ive owned as the first one fell to bits.

Rhubarb jam is really easy to make and the preserved ginger adds a fabulous kick.  We dont eat a lot of jam now and this quantity will make about 4 standard jars.  The book was first published in 1974 and Im afraid the quantities are in imperial meaures (pounds and ounces) but Ive found a nifty conversion chart here if you want to use metric measurements.

Note:  you need to start this recipe the night before you want to make the jam

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

2 1/2 lb prepared rhubarb
2 1/2 lb sugar
1 oz bruised root ginger (give it a good bash with a rolling pin!)
4oz preserved ginger (thats the kind in syrup)

Wash and trim the rhubarb and cut into 2in sticks.  Weigh the fruit.  Put alternate layers of fruit and sugar in a bowl, cover and leave to stand overnight.


In the morning most of the sugar will have dissolved and the juices will have come out of the rhubarb.


Turn into a pan, add the root ginger tied in a piece of muslin and bring slowly to the boil. Fast boil for 15 minutes.  Remove the ginger and add the preserved ginger, boil for a further 5 minutes.  By this time the rhubarb should be clear.  Test for set. Pot and cover in the usual way.

If you have never made jam before, read this excellent article, published in the Guardian Lifestyle, by Darina Allen which should answer any questions you have.  But really, its not that difficult, you dont need sugar thermometers or liquid pectin, my mother and grandmother never used them. A cold saucer in the fridge, a teaspoonful of jam, let it cool, then push with your finger and if there is a skin then it is set, if not boil for another 5 minutes and try again.

Max often prepares this rustic and comforting stew  during hunting trips for his buddies,  on our F/V Chelsey for deckhands, and at home for us.   Its nothing short of incredible...

Servings (4)
Prep: 10 mins. |
Cook: 1 hr. and
45 mins. total stewing time

INGREDIENTS

· 1 lb. moose sirloin, cut into ½ cubes (or venison, or beef)
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 2 (15 oz. cans) beef broth
· ¼ onion, chopped
· 1 cup celery, chopped
· 4 carrots chopped
· 1 garlic clove, minced
· 1 (15 oz. can) Italian stewed tomatoes – retain juice, and break up tomatoes in a small bowl
· 1 pkg. dry pork gravy mix (mixed with 1 cup of water)
· 1 tablespoon worcestershire
· 2 teaspoons soy sauce
· Freshly ground pepper, to taste
· 1 russet potato, peeled, and cut ½" cubes (keep in cold water to prevent browning)
· ½ cup frozen peas
· ½ cup frozen corn
· 1 cup frozen broccoli, roughly chopped

METHOD

Heat a dutch oven, or heavy-bottom soup pot, to medium-high heat. Coat the moose meat cubes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then add to hot pot and sear meat to a light brown. Add beef broth and bring to boil while scraping bits off bottom of pot, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer moose meat on low for 1 hour.

Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, stewed tomatoes, gravy mixed with water, worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper to pot. Turn heat to medium-high just to bring stew to boiling, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the peas, corn, and broccoli and simmer for 10 final minutes. - Enjoy!

Spring onions or as some may call green onions or Scallions are an interesting vegetable. Mainly used for garnishing/ salads or in Chinese soups, noodles and sauces, I have never tried to use them as a main ingredient in my cooking.

Its available in Bombay vegetable markets almost all year round. They are sold in bunches, one bunch having upto 8-10 sprigs. I have noticed that the smaller the onion bulb, the fresher the leaves are.

You cant store this one for too long as it starts wilting in a 2-3 days.This time a vegetable vendor managed to sell me a really huge bunch. Just using them for garnishing would have resulted in rotten onions in a couple of days and hence this recipe struck. Sometimes, one just starts of chopping a vegetable without having a definite plan in mind and as one keeps adding ingredients intuitively, a new dish is born.

In Maharashtrian cooking, there is something called a zunka-which is basically a cooked gram flour paste. The curry turned out something akin to a Zunka at the end of my cooking adventure.

Ingredients:

1 big bunch of Spring onions-Washed thoroughly and chopped finely
(Rinse the onions thoroughly as dirt may be lodged between the leaves. Trim any wilted parts and the tip of the pink root.)
1 cup gram flour (besan)
2 cups water

2 green chillies-finely chopped
1 dried red chilli crumbled
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 stick of curry leaves
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida powder
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil

Method:

1.Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, chopped chillies, ginger, garlic. Saute for a few seconds.

2.Add the finely chopped spring onions and a pinch of salt. Saute for 1-2 minutes. These onions cook in no time at all.

3.Meanwhile, make a thin paste of the gram flour in 2 cups water with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste. Once the spring onions are sauted, pour the gram flour paste into the pan and keep stirring constantly on a medium flame. In 5-6 minutes the gram flour will get cooked as the curry thickens.

4. Taste and check if gram flour is cooked. (It shouldnt stick to the tongue ) Remove from flame into a serving bowl. Serve hot with Phulkas / Chapatis.

This curry is very flavourful from the mild spring onions and tastes rich too. Its something you can make in a hurry without any prior preparations. Just make sure you have gram flour in your pantry at all times. In one of my posts, I shall tell you why...



Notes:

You will find gram flour in any of the Indian grocery stores.

Spring onions are very rich in Iron, Calcium and Vitamin A, Gram flour has a very low Glycaemic Index and high in protein, which makes this an extremely healthy recipe for weight watchers as well as Diabetics. Read this to know more about how chana dal /Bengal gram benefits diabetics.



Check out:

Nupur of One hot stove gives us the run-down about this traditional delicacy here.

And see what our Bachelor chef has been doing with Ivy gourd. And to think I saw this one only after I had made this dish for Tuesday night dinner.