Molaghu Urulikazhangu Bhajee (Potato Mix with Peppercorns)

I needed to use up sweet potatoes and I wasn't really feeling any of my go-to sweet potato recipes, so I decided to give this one a try. It was pretty good. And the Kidlet liked it too!.

The original recipe calls for peeling the potatoes, but I didn't bother with the russets. I did peel the sweet potato though since they usually have somewhat thicker skins. Peel or don't according to your tastes (and the tubers you have available to you).

Molaghu Urulikazhangu Bhajee

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 3 russet (or other floury) potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1cm cubes
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt¹
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp. whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods)
• 1 (7-8cm long) cinnamon stick, broken
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies²
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tomato, diced³
• 15 fresh curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place potato, sweet potato, and water in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender (~10 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, combine salt, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon pieces in a mortar and pound until the mixture resembles coarse sawdust.
4. Add the ground chilies to the spice mix.
5. When the potatoes are done, reserve 1/2 c. of the cooking water and then drain them.
6. Dry the pot and return to medium-high heat.
7. Add the oil and allow it to heat up.
8. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until the seeds stop popping (30-60 seconds).
9. Add the tomatoes, curry leaves, and spice mixture.
10. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have softened (~3 minutes).
11. Add the reserved cooking water and deglaze the pot with it.
12. Add the potatoes and stir to combine everything.
13. Simmer until heated through (~5 minutes).
14. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ Iyer calls for rock salt here. I didn't have any, so I just used coarse sea salt. ^Back
2 Or use 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne + 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika ^Back
3 Or 12 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved ^Back

Wolfert talks up purslane a lot. She describes it as a "great-tasting weed" and advises seeking it out if at all possible.

Well, I had access to it, so I decided to give this recipe a try. I was pretty good. But I doubt I'll make it again, even so. It's not that I was unhappy with the results. It's just too much effort for too little reward.

The purslane I got was mostly stem. And this recipe only uses the leaves. Combine that with how much volume you use after cooking and how long it takes to pick all the leaves from the stems and... I don't feel like it's a winning combination even for a fairly tasty dish. It wasn't bad. But it would've had to have been phenomenal to make it worthwhile for me.

I'm still glad I tried it though. It meant I got to try a new vegetable and see what it was like. And it lets me check off another recipe in the book.

Purslane Salad

Slighlty adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 4 c. stemmed purslane leaves, rinsed well
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 preserved lemon
• 12 midway olives, rinsed and pitted

Directions

1. Set up a steamer and steam the purslane leaves, covered, for 12 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, uncover, and allow to cool.
3. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess moisture and set aside.
4. With a mortar and pestle, molcajete, or similar, pound the garlic and salt to a paste.
5. Add the chopped herbs to the garlic paste and pound them to a paste as well.
6. Heat 2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-low heat.
7. Add the herb paste and cook for 1-2 minutes.
8. Add the purslane and sauté slowly until most of the moisture is gone (~5 minutes).
9. Empty the pan onto a chopping board and finely chop the salad.
10. Mix in the paprika, cumin, and cayenne.
11. Place in a serving dish and allow to cool.
12. Remove and discard the pulp from the preserved lemon.
13. Thoroughly rinse the rind and cut it into thin slivers.
14. Mix the lemon juice and the remaining 1 Tbsp. of olive oil into the salad just before serving.
15. Adjust salt and lemon juice to taste.
16. Garnish with olives and preserved lemon rind.

Gosht Hariyali (Beef with Greens)

I wasn't sure what I'd think of this curry. It's very unusual. It contains no spices. It has some aromatics like ginger and garlic in the marinade. And it has lots of herbs and greens, but none of the usual spices that I've come to associate with curries. There's not even any pepper! Just salt and a chili pepper.

I needn't have been worried though. This curry was amazing! Seriously. So delicious. The beef was succulent and flavourful and the minty greens complemented it beautifully. I think this is probably one of my favourite beef curries.

Gosht Hariyali

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 450g stewing beef
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
• 225g mustard greens¹, chopped
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh or frozen fenugreek leaves
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine ginger paste, garlic paste, and salt.
2. Add beef and stir to coat.
3. Cover and chill overnight.
4. Preheat a wok over medium-high heat.
5. Drizzle the oil down the sides and swirl to coat.
6. Add the beef (along with any residual marinade) and chilies and cook, stirring, until the meat is seared all over (~10 minutes).
7. Add the mustard greens and fenugreek leaves into the wok and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens have wilted and pan has been deglazed from the released moisture (~10 minutes).
8. Pour in the water and bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until beef is tender (15-20 minutes).
10. Stir in the cilantro and mint and serve with rice and/or flatbreads.

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¹ I had a surplus of kale when I made this, so I just used that in place of the mustard greens. Definitely use mustard if you can get it though! ^Back

This recipe makes either two 9" (23cm) or three 8" (20cm) round cake layers. The same cake layers can be iced, filled, and decorated in a variety of different ways to produce very different finished cakes.

Chocolate Cake Layers

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 125g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 c. hot water
• 1/4 c. Dutched (alkalized) cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 c. sugar, divided
• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 c. buttermilk¹
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs²
• 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1-Tbsp. pieces and softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour your cake tins (either three 8" or two 9").
2. Place chocolate, hot water, and cocoa in a heatproof bowl, set over a pot of boiling water, and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
3. Mix 1/2 c. of the sugar into the chocolate mixutre and stir until thick and glossy (~2 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
6. In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and vanilla.
7. In yet another bowl, beat eggs on medium-low speed for 10-20 seconds.
8. Add remaining 1 1/4 c. sugar to the eggs and beat on high speed until light and fluffy (~3 minutes).
9. If you have a stand mixer, switch from wisk to paddle at this point. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and mix on medium speed for ~1 minute.
10. Add the butter, one piece at a time, mixing for a few seconds after each one.
11. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat until all flour and buttermilk have been added, beating for 20-30 seconds between each addition.
12. Reduce speed to medium-low and beat for another 15-30 seconds.
13. Give a final stir by hand.
14. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins and smooth the top.
15. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-30 minutes.
16. Transfer to wire rack and let cool in tins for 10 minutes.
17. Remove from tins and allow to finish cooling on wire racks.
18. Stack and decorate as desired once completely cooled.

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¹ Or 1 Tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice + milk to make 1 c. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 4 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks. This would certainly make for a richer and more luxurious batter, but I didn't want to have to deal with separating eggs and trying to figure out what to do with the left over whites, so I just substituted an additional whole egg for the egg yolks. If you have surplus egg yolks to use, feel free to revert this recipe to its original form! ^Back

I posted a different recipe for congee a couple years back. However, as noted in the original recipe, there are a lot of different ways to make congee. I did up a slightly different take on congee recently. It's still the same basic concept, but I decided to write it up anyway. As before, this is a very flexible recipe, so do with it what you will.

For this particular congee incarnation, I started with a cooked chicken and made the stock from scratch, so I've included those instructions below. You can, of course, use store-bought stock or even water. Pork bones also work well. Follow your heart!

Chicken Congee

Ingredients

Broth

• 1 whole cooked chicken
• 2-4 c. vegetable peelings and scraps¹
• 3L water
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 (7-8cm) cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• small knob of fresh ginger

Congee

• 1 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1/4 c. short-grain white rice²
• 2-3 Tbsp. dried goji berries
• Broth from above
• 1/4 of the meat from the chicken
• salt, to taste
• white pepper, to taste

Toppings

• sesame oil
• chopped fresh cilantro
• chopped dry-roasted peanuts
• toasted sesame seeds

Directions

Broth

1. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and reserve both the meat and carcass separately.
2. Combine the chicken carcass with all the other broth ingredients in InstantPot (or in a pot on the stove) and slow cook on "high" for 2-3 hours.
3. Strain the broth and discard the solids.

Congee

1. While the broth is cooking, soak the rice. Place in a bowl with enough water to cover for 30 minutes, then drain and set aside.
2. Place all the congee ingredients in InstantPot (or in a pot on the stove) and simmer for 1-2 hours depending on what texture and consistency you prefer. You may want to cook it either partially or fully uncovered for some of the time (again, depending on your preferred consistency).
3. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and white pepper.

Serving

1. To serve, top each portion with a drizzle of sesame oil, then place the peanuts, cilantro, and sesame seeds on top.
2. If desired, sriracha or Laoganma can be added to give a hit of spiciness.
3. Other toppings may be added or substituted. Popular choices include: fried wontons/noodles, chopped scallions/green onions, sprouts, microgreens, and/or sautéed mushrooms. Salted duck eggs and century eggs are also popular congee inclusions.

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¹ I often save vegetable scraps and peels and toss them in a large Ziploc bag in the freezer. When the bag gets full, I toss them in the InstantPot with some water and seasonings (and possibly bones of some sort) and slow cook for a few hours until I have a delicious stock. This time I think my bag contained onion, garlic, bell pepper, ginger, carrot, pink oyster mushroom and lion's mane mushroom (courtesy of Noki Farms), and possibly a few other things as well. If you don't have any vegetable scraps handy, then feel free to just toss in some onions, carrots, mushrooms, and whatever else seems tasty. ^Back
2 I was originally planning to make this congee with only brown rice but, after cooking for a little over an hour, the consistency was still more like rice soup with a clear broth than what I expect for congee. I added the short-grain rice to see if the extra starch would help thicken it up. I also cooked it with the lid off for a little bit. I'm not sure if it was the extra rice or the extra cooking or the time with the lid off that did the trick but, at the end of another hour, it was looking much better! ^Back

No photo for this one because it ended up overproofed and horribly deformed. It was still very tasty though. And the whole orange worked out well, so I wanted to do a quick write-up for it.

Orange Spice Sourdough

Slightly adapted from Sourdough Companion

Ingredients

• 100g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 400g all-purpose flour
• 50g sugar
• 125g sultanas
• 5g coarse sea salt
• 200mL milk
• 1 large orange (~175g)
• 150g ripe/active starter (100% hydration)
• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. mixed spice

Directions

1. Combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, sultanas, and salt.
2. Place whole orange in a blender with the milk and purée.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the starter and the orange-milk mixture.
4. Working from the centre outward, gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet.
5. Smear half the butter onto your work surface and dump the dough out on top of it. Knead on the buttered surface until all of the butter has been incorporated, then repeat with the remaining butter.¹
6. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature, stretching and folding every hour or two.
7. Once the dough feels light and active, press it flat and sprinkle with half the mixed spice.
8. Fold the flattened dough into thirds like a letter and press it flat again. Then sprinkle on the remaining mixed spice and repeat the letter fold on the opposite axis.
9. Press flat again and divide into two roughly equal portions.²
10. Round each portion, cover, and rest for ~30 minutes.
11. Grease two 20cm by 10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
12. Press each portion flat, letter fold, and then roll up like a jelly roll and place seam-side-down in loaf pans. Cover and proof at room temperature until light and well-risen.
13. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F).
14. Bake at 230°C (450°F) for 10-15 minutes.
15. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
16. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.
17. If desired, brush with melted butter, diluted honey, or another glaze of your choice while still hot.

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¹ I didn't actually handle the butter this way this time. TF ended up mixing up this dough for me and just melted the butter and mixed it in along with the other wet ingredients. This worked fine, but I think working the butter in during kneading would be preferable. ^Back
2 I only made a single hearth loaf this time, but I think this bread would work well as pan loaves. I'm not sure whether it would be better to make one very large loaf or two small ones, but my instinct is to go for the small ones. Maybe in the future I can play around with scaling up the recipe slightly in order to get two decent-sized pan loaves. ^Back

There are a great many recipes for lobster mac & cheese, none of which are part of the mac & cheese tradition I grew up with. And of late, with the Kidlet being allergic, I haven't had cause to seek them out. But in a recent grocery run symbol came home with some pre-cooked lobster claws and suggested this as a good thing to do with them.

I based this on a recipe from Spend with Pennies (with significant modifications), and the results were delicious; symbol and I both liked it. I made a half batch; the writeup here is for a full one, with a pound of pasta, but it scales down well.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Adapted from Spend with Pennies

Ingredients

• topping
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• ½ C breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan
• 2 tbsp parsely, chopped
• pasta
• 1 lb dried store-bought pasta
• ~2 C cooked lobster meat, shredded
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4+4 tbsp butter, divided
• 4 tbsp flour
• ½ tsp mustard powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp Old Bay seasoning
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 C milk
• ~1 C grated parmesan
• ~2 C grated cheddar

Directions

1. Grease a 9x13" baking pan and preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl; buffer.
3. Cook pasta al dente; drain, rinse with cold water, and buffer.
4. Melt 4 tbsp butter in a small pot over medium heat.
5. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
6. Add lobster, toss to coat, and cook until heated through. Remove lobster-garlic mix and buffer.
7. Melt the other 4 tbsp of butter in the same pot.
8. Add the flour and make a roux.
9. Add the mustard, salt, Old Bay, black pepper, and milk; stir until thickened.
10. Reduce heat to low and stir in the cheddar and parmesan until melted.
11. Stir in the lobster-garlic mix.
12. Put the pasta into the baking pan. Pour over the sauce and stir to mix.
13. Cover with the topping.
14. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, until topping is browned and edges are bubbling.

Arroz a la Mexicana

This recipe comes from The Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy; it has been adapted to be amenable to single-pot preparation in the Instant Pot using brown rice.

Arroz a la Mexicana (Mexican Rice)

The Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy, pp.288-289

Ingredients

• 1 large tomato, cored
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1½ C long-grain brown rice
• ⅓ C oil
• 1½ C broth, salted¹
• ⅓ C peas
• 1 small carrot, julienned

Directions

1. Blend together the tomato, onion, and garlic; buffer.
2. Heat the oil in the instant pot on sautée medium
3. Add the rice and stir until well coated. Cook, stirring often, until rice is toasted, ~4 minutes.
4. Drain most of the oil.
5. Adjust setting to sautée high. Add tomato blend and cook, stirring constantly, until liquid has almost completely cooked off. (The book claims that this will take 3 minutes, it took me closer to 10.)
6. Stir in broth, peas, and carrots.
7. Seal pot and set to pressure cook high, 20 minutes.
8. Once cooking finishes, wait ten minutes, then release pressure and fluff rice.

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¹ If using commercial broth, prepare 1½ C as-is. If using home-made broth without salt, add 1½ tsp of salt to it. ^Back

I needed to use up some sourdough starter so I was perusing the Sourdough Companion website again. I saw one person talking about making a blue cheese and walnut loaf and another person talking about doing celery and romano and I figured I could take some elements of each of those and try a celery and blue cheese loaf.

I pretty much just built a basic sourdough based on bakers' percentages and worked some inclusions into it. I figured 800g of flour would be a pretty good starting point and rolled with 65% (520g) water, 20% (160g) starter, and 2% (16g) salt. I think I might try for a slightly higher hydration dough next time, but other than that it was great! Although I need to either find a better method of working the inclusions in or make them as pan loaves next time, because they ended up coming apart a bit during baking. Flavour was real good though!

Celery and Blue Cheese Sourdough

Ingredients

• 800g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 550g water
• 16g coarse sea salt
• 160g active/fed starter (100% hydration)
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. bacon grease or butter
• 100g blue cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Mix the water into the flour to form a dough. Cover and set aside for at least an hour and as long as overnight.
2. Add the salt and knead a few strokes to work it into the dough.
3. Add the starter and knead it into the dough. This will be a little messy at first!
4. Cover and ferment at room temperature, stretching and folding every hour or two until dough is light and active.
5. Meanwhile, melt the fat over medium heat and add the celery. Cook until softened.
6. Press the dough flat and sprinkle half the cheese and half the celery over the surface. Letter fold, press flat again, and sprinkle over the remaining cheese and celery before doing a second letter fold on the opposite axis.
7. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
8. Press flat and divide into two equal portions.
9. Round each portion, cover, and rest for 30 minutes.
10. Shape each portion into a loaf and place, seam-side-up in a floured banneton to rise.
11. Cover and proof at room temperature until well-risen.
12. Preheat oven to 250°C (475°F), grease a baking sheet, and sprinkle it with cornmeal.
13. Turn the risen loaves out onto the prepared baking sheet and shalsh as desired.
14. Once the oven is preheated, pour some water into a pan and place it on the bottom rack of the oven.
15. Bake the bread at 250°C (475°F) on the middle rack of the oven for ~15 minutes.
16. Reduce heat to 160°C (325°F), remove the pan of boiling water, and bake for another 20 minutes.
17. Turn off oven and allow bread to rest in oven for 10 minutes.
18. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.

This is a very unusual preparation and one that I think I probably need a bit more practice at. You boil the beef, then fry it, then pound it in a molcajete or similar. It's delicious, but I found that my beef wasn't sufficiently tender to be broken down by the pounding. I ended up putting it back in the pot to cook for a little longer. Next time I think I'd give it a much longer boiling/braising period so that it could be more easily worked with in the final step.

Kachin Pounded Beef

Slightly adapted from Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Ingredients

• 2 c. water
• 450g stewing beef
• 1 tsp. ground Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 Tbsp. chopped ginger
• 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
• 1-2 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 tsp. Sichuan peppercorns¹, toasted
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro or Vietnamese coriander

Directions

1. Combine water, beef, and Sichuan pepper in a wok and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer until meat is tender.²
3. Reduce heat gradually as the water evaporates.
4. Remove from heat once most of the liquid has evaporated and the meat is tender.
5. Set the meat aside and rinse out the wok.
6. Place wok over medium heat.
7. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
8. Add the meat and cook, turnning occasionally until seared on all sides (~5 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside.
9. Combine ginger, garlic, dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, and salt in a molcajete or very large mortar and grind to a paste.
10. Add cilantro and grind to a paste.
11. Add the meat, a piece or two at a time, and pound to break it down and incorporate the flavour paste.

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¹ Be sure to remove and discard any seeds. You want only the husks when working with Sichuan peppercorns. The seeds will become gritty and unpleasant in the mouth. ^Back
2 Duguid starts with 1 c. of water and recommends simmering for ~30 minutes. I've started off with 2 c. and would recommend simmering for at least 90 minutes. (Add more water if necessary.) ^Back

symbol just made a batch of "express" Moroccan khliî, a preserved meat made by simmering beef for a long time in lamb fat (or vice versa). It's not intended to be eaten on its own (or used as a condiment), but instead functions as an ingredient in a lot of Moroccan recipes. The express recipe doesn't keep for as long as proper khliî, so we plan to make a bunch of those recipes in the near future and use it all up quickly; this is the first.

It was delicious, although it makes a fairly large batch; the recipe says it serves three, but I think with a side of toast you could add a fourth egg and serve four easily. Alex declared it a favourite, but couldn't actually find room to finish her portion, and I found mine fairly substantial too.

Fried eggs with khliî and tomato-onion "pancake"

The Food of Morocco, p. 156

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced (~3 C)
• 15mL (1 tbsp) olive oil
• 340g tomatoes, finely diced (~1½ C)
• 120mL (½ C) khliî substitute, or 30mL (2 tbsp) of khliî + 15mL (1 tbsp) of the fat
• 3 large eggs
• black pepper
• 15mL chopped parsley, for garnishing

Directions

1. Toss the onions with the oil a ~10" nonstick pan.
2. Cook over medium heat, covered, for ~10 minutes.
3. Uncover and continue cooking until the onions are lightly caramelized.
4. Add the tomatoes, khlii, and fat, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
5. Uncover again and cook until some of the moisture has cooked off and the dish has thickened. (You can cook it up to this point and save it in the fridge for finishing the following day, if you like.)
6. Crack the eggs onto it, cover again, and cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still slightly runny. Top with black pepper and parsley.

I only cooked a relatively small amount of beef for TF's birthday dinner, so I figured a legume would be a nice way to add some more substance to the meal and make sure no one left hungry. I used cow peas, but Duguid explains that many other legumes would also be suitable. She mentions chickpeas and black-eyed peas in particular. And I think moth beans or brown lentils would also work well.

Peas for Many Occasions

Slightly adapted from Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried legumes
• 4 c. water or broth
• 2 shallots, 1 chopped and 1 sliced
• 1 slice ginger (whole or minced)
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp. fish sauce
• 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Place the legumes in a bowl and add enough water to cover them by several cm. Set aside to soak overnight.
2. Drain the legumes and place them in a pot with the water, chopped shallot, and ginger.
3. Bring to a boil, cover, and then lower heat and simmer for ~2 hours. Add more water duing cooking if peas start to become dry.
4. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the turmeric and sliced shallot and cook for ~4 minutes.
6. Add the shallot-oil mixture to the peas.
7. At this point, if desired, peas can be cooled and frozen for later use.
8. Once ready to eat, stir in the salt and fish sauce.
9. Top with cilantro and lime juice and serve.

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Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried legumes
• 4 c. water or broth
• 2 shallots, 1 chopped and 1 sliced
• 1 slice ginger (whole or minced)
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp. vegan fish sauce substitute¹ (store-bought or homemade)
• 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime

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¹ If you can't find or make vegan fish sauce, then you can try substituting a mix of tamari and coconut aminos. They both offer good umami flavour with the tamari hitting some of the earthy notes and the coconut hitting the sweet notes. ^Back

Gyin Thoke (Ginger Salad)

This was part of the spread for TF's birthday dinner. I wasn't really expecting to like it since I don't really care for pickled ginger. But I wasn't making it for me, I was making it for her and she quite enjoys pickled ginger.

In the end everyone liked this salad! Well, except for the Kidlet who couldn't eat it due to the shrimp powder. I didn't worry about including the shrimp since I was so sure the ginger would put her off anyway. I think next time I'll try it without the shrimp so the Kidlet can eat it too. It's really delicious! And, having tried it, I think she probably would like it after all.

Gyin Thoke

Slightly adapted from Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Ingredients

• 1 c. pickled ginger¹
• 1/2 c. pumpkin seeds, toasted
• 1/2 c. chopped roasted peanuts²
• 1/2 c. roasted or fried split soybeans or split peas³
• 1/2 c. sesame seeds, toasted
• 1/4 c. dried shrimp powder (optional⁴)
• 1-2 Roma tomatoes, cut into thin wedges
• 1 c. shredded Napa cabbage
• 1/4 c. fried garlic⁵
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. garlic oil
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directons

1. Rinse the ginger in cold water, then drain and slice into thin strands.
2. Combine ginger, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, fried soybeans, sesame seeds, dried shrimp powder, tomatoes, Napa cabbage, fried garlic, and lime juice in a bowl and mix to combine.
3. Add garlic oil and salt and mix again.
4. Adjust seasoning as desired and serve.

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¹ Japanese gari works well for this purpose. ^Back
2 You can toast raw peanuts in a dry pan and then chop them or chop commercial dry-roasted unsalted peanuts. ^Back
3 You can substitute an extra 1/2 c. of peanuts for the soybeans if you can't find or make fried split soybeans. ^Back
4 Obviously you would need to omit the shrimp to keep this vegetarian. If you're going for vegan as well, you may need to make your own pickled ginger from scratch as not all sugar is vegan and you generally can't tell just by looking at the ingredients. ^Back
5 Duguid actually suggests slicing the garlic fairly thick when making fried garlic for Burmese recipes. Either way will work; you may just need to adjust your cooking times accordingly. ^Back

I was kind of surprised that you had to rehydrate the shrimp before grinding them into powder. It's almost more of a shrimp fluff. A fluff that adds a bit of delicious umami to dishes it's used in!

Sadly, it doesn't see much use in our due to the Kidlet's shellfish allergy. But I figure it's still worth having the instructions up here for the times when we do get to cook with shrimp.

Dried Shrimp Powder

From Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Ingredient

• 1 c. high-quality dried shrimp¹

Directions

1. Place the shrimp in a bowl and add enough water to cover them. Set aside for 10-20 minutes.
2. Drain the shrimp and path them dry.
3. Transfer to a food processor (or a blender with a "food chop" setting) and process into a sluffy powder. This may take several minutes if your shrimp are tough.
4. Store in a glass jar in the fridge.

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¹ Duguid notes that it's best if you can get "largish" dried shrimp that are at least 1cm long. She also mentions that the darker the colour the better. Try for dark pink or red rather than beige or light pink. ^Back

I haven't had a chance to test this recipe yet, but it looks promising so I'm putting it up here so it's available to reference when making vegan versions of recipes that call for fish sauce. I think the combination of mushrooms, konbu, and tamari/soy should work quite well!

Vegan Fish Sauce Substitute

Slighlty adapted from Clean, Green, Simple

Ingredients

• 4 c. water
• 1/2 c. dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1/4 c. tamari (or dark soy sauce)
• 2 sheets konbu, each 10cm by 10cm
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer, uncovered, until volume has reduced by about half.
3. Strain, cool, and store in a glass jar in the fridge.
4. Use as a 1:1 substitute for fish sauce.

I needed a way to use up a bit of leftover pumpkin purée, so I decided to give these cookies a try. They came out more cakey than chewy, so... not really my preferred cookie texture, but the flavour is good! And it used up the pumpkin and a few other things we had kicking around that needed to be used up, so I'd say it was successful overall. Maybe next time I can find a good chewy pumpkin cookie recipe. (I'm thinking like a molasses cookie but with pumpkin added maybe.)

NB: If these cookies will be eaten by someone with celiac or a gluten allergy, make sure that your oats are gluten-free. (Oats themselves don't contain gluten, but commercially produced oats often have gluten added during processing.

Pumpkin Cookies

Slightly adapted from The Nutrition Junky

Ingredients

• 1 c. pumpkin purée
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. coconut oil, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. almond flour
• 3 c. oat flour
• 8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine almond flour, oat flour, pie spices, baking powder, and salt and stir to combine.
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet. Add a little more oat flour if the dough is too wet.
5. Spoon dollops of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 15 minutes.
7. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

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Variations

Glazed Version

The original recipe included this cinnamon glaze, but the unglazed cookies are quite sweet on their own so I didn't make it. I think I'd reduce the sugar in the cookies if I was planning on making the glaze so that they wouldn't become cloying once iced.

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 c. pumpkin purée
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. coconut oil, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. almond flour
• 3 c. oat flour
• 8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground

Glaze

• 1 1/4 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. milk

Directions

1. Make cookies as directed above.
2. Combine all glaze ingredients and mix well.
3. Once cookies are completely cool, drizzle or dip the cookies in the glaze.

Vegan version

Be sure to check that your sugars are vegan; not all brands are.

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 c. pumpkin purée
• 2 flax eggs
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. coconut oil, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. almond flour
• 3 c. oat flour
• 8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground

Glaze

• 1 1/4 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. oat milk

I had some napa cabbage left over after making the ginger salad for TF's birthday dinner, so I decided to give this stir-fry a try. It's nothing super fancy, but it was quick and easy and gave us a little bit more veg to round out the meal.

Napa Cabbage Stir-Fry

Slighlty adapted from Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Ingredients

• 350g Napa cabbage
• 1/2 c. hot water
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce¹
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1/8 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1-2 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tsp. minced ginger
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Cut the cabbage into 5mm slices, then cut them crosswise to create bite-sized pieces.
2. Rinse well, drain, and set aside.
3. Combine hot water and oyster sauce and set aside.
4. Heat wok over high heat.
5. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat the wok.
6. Reduce heat to medium and add the turmeric.
7. Immediately add the chilies, shallot, and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
8. Increase heat to high and add the cabbage and salt.
9. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
10. Drizzle in the oyster sauce mixture an dbring to a boil.
11. Cook for another 15-30 seconds.
12. Transfer to a shallow bowl to serve.

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¹ Be sure to use vegetarian oyster sauce if you would like the dish to be vegetarian or vegan. ^Back

This is a basic Burmese fried rice. It has some elements in common with other fried rice dishes that I've made but, unlike Chinese fried rice, there is no sauce added at the end. The rice is simple fried with some turmeric, shallots, and peas and served with lime wedges. I appreciate the simplicity and it is very delicious. (Although, if you're willing to add another step, I do think it would be very nice with scrambled eggs!)

Fried Rice with Shallots

Slightly adapted from Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. oil
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 (or more) sliced shallots
• 4-5 c. cooked rice
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. green peas
• scrambled eggs (optional)
• 2-3 Tbsp. fried shallots
• lime wedges (optional)

Directions

1. If you want to add some scrambled eggs, you can make them in the wok, then transfer them to a plate while you cook the rice in the wok.
2. Heat the wok over medium-high heat.
3. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
4. Add the turmeric and shallots and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
5. Increase heat to high and add rice.
6. Add salt, peas, and scrambled egg (if using).
7. Stir-fry until rice is seared and peas are cooked.
8. Add the fried shallots and stir-fry for another 30-60 seconds.
9. Serve with lime wedges if desired.

Couscous with Seven Vegetables

Wolfert gives a lot of variations for this seven-vegetable couscous. The "default" is the Fes version, but she also offers a Marrakech rendition as well as "mountain-style" and "with lamb's head". I haven't had a chance to try the mountain-style couscous with seven vegetables yet and I'm not planning on making the lamb's head version¹ at all, but I've now tried the other two, so I figured it was time for a write-up!

I am not completely confident that I managed to do the Marrakech version as I was supposed to. The Fes version involves separately cooking pumpkin with raisins and then adding them to the couscous afterward. Since I wasn't using pumpkin in the Marrakech version, I omitted the raisins as well, but I now wonder if I should have included them. (The couscous was still delicious either way. I'm just not sure if what I made was what the author intended.)

It's been a while since I made the Fes version, so I'm mostly going to be transcribing the recipe out of the book for that one without much in the way of additional notes or personal commentary. The Marrakech version is fresh in my mind though, so that one should be a little more fleshed out. As for the mountain-style and lamb's head variants, those I can't offer any insights on at all. But I'll include them anyway in case there is any interest. I can always come back and update this post if and when I get around to making the mountain-style recipe.

Couscous with Seven Vegetables in the Fes Manner

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• 2-3 cracked lamb shanks
• 4 chicken wings + 2 backs
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water²
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 200g turnips, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous³
• 200g pumpkin, peeled and seeded and cut into chunks
• ~1/4 c. dark raisins
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 small cabbage, halved
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

Directions

1. Place the chickpeas in a bowl and add enough water to cover them by several cm. Soak overnight.
2. The next day, drain the chickpeas. Peel if desired⁴.
3. Place the drained chickpeas in a pot and add enough water to cover them by several cm. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4. Place the lamb, chicken, salt, pepper, saffron water, turmeric, onions, cinnamon sticks, herbs, tomatoes, and half the butter in a very large pot and cook, covered, over low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Add the water⁵ and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and cook, partially covered, for 3 hours. Remove the chicken wings and backs after ~90 minutes of cooking.
7. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
8. Skim and discard fat from the surface of the broth.
9. Cut the meat into chunks. Discard any fat, gristle, or bones. Return the meat to the broth.
10. Bring broth to a boil and add the carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas. Cook for 30 minutes.
11. Prepare the couscous through to the end of the second steaming (third steaming if using hand-rolled/non-instant couscous).⁶
12. Soak the raisins in water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
13. Label a bit of the lamb broth into a separate pan and add the pumpkin and raisins to it. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook until the pumpkin is tender. Drain and set aside.
14. Steam the couscous once more (just 10 minutes this time).
15. Add the zucchini and cabbage to the broth and bring back to a boil. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
16. Strain the broth, reserving the meat and vegetables.
17. Correct the seasoning of the strained broth and return to a boil. Cook down to a volume of ~8 cups.
18. Dump the couscous into a serving platter and toss with the remaining 4 Tbsp. of butter.
19. Toss with the ghee (if using).
20. Use a fork and/or a whisk to break up any clumps and ensure the grains are all light and separate.
21. Gradually add up to 1 1/3 c. of the lamb broth to the couscous. (Hand-rolled couscous may be able to take up to 1 2/3 c. of broth.) You may find that you do not need all the broth.
22. Toss the grains again, making sure to break up any lumps. Let stand for 10 minutes.
23. Make a well in the centre of the couscous.
24. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat and vegetables to the well.
25. Add the drained raisins and pumpkin on top.
26. Serve with red pepper sauce and any remaining broth.

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Variations

Couscous with Seven Vegetables in the Marrakech Manner

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split fava beans⁷
• 2-3 cracked lamb shanks⁸
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 450g sweet potatoes⁹, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous
• 1/4 c. raisins (optional)
• 2 bell peppers, cored and sliced
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

You may also optionally include pumpkin, turnips, hot peppers, and/or cabbage.

Mountain-Style Couscous with Meat Confit and Seven Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• 450g lamb neck
• 450g shredded "express" meat confit
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water²
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter + 4 Tbsp. meat confit drippings, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 200g turnips, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous³
• 200g pumpkin, peeled and seeded and cut into chunks
• ~1/4 c. dark raisins
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 small cabbage, halved
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

Couscous with Lamb's Head and Seven Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• 2 lambs' heads
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water²
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 200g turnips, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous³
• 200g pumpkin, peeled and seeded and cut into chunks
• ~1/4 c. dark raisins
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 small cabbage, halved
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

The lambs' heads will need to be soaked in water, halved, cleaned, and tied together before cooking. Wolfert does not specify how long they need to be soaked for or how to cut or clean them. Perhaps this is something that is normally done by the butcher?
Once the heads have been sorted out, you may proceed with the recipe as outlined above.

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¹ I'm not put off by the lamb's head itself, but I worry about prions... I'd honestly really love to try brains at some point, but I don't think I ever will because it's just not worth the risk. ^Back
2 I don't use saffron water in large enough quantities often enough for it to be worth it for me to keep it on hand in the fridge. I usually just mix it up as I need it. In this case I crushed a scant 1/8 tsp. of saffron threads and poured over 2 Tbsp. of boiling water. ^Back
3 The original recipe was for 680g of couscous, but I got mixed up and only did 450g. That said, I don't think I would've been able to handle more than ~500g in one go anyway, so it was just as well. Even with just 450g, this produced A LOT of couscous. I'd advise against making more than that in one go unless you a) have a very large steamer/couscousiere, b) have a very large platter and c) have a huge number of people to feed! Seriously, we fed 7 people out of this, sent leftovers to two different households, and still have a huge container of couscous sitting in the fridge the next day. Proceed with caution! ^Back
4 I never bother peeling my chickpeas. I don't mind the skins and I find peeling them annoying (despite Wolfert's clever tips). ^Back
5 I could only fit 3L of water into my pot. Given the reduced amount of liquid, I opted to cook my broth fully covered rather than partially covered. This seems to have worked out fine. ^Back
6 Wolfert notes that the dish can be prepared in advance up to this point. Warm everything back up 30-60 minutes before serving and continue with the recipe as directed. ^Back
7 The instructions for this variation said to omit the chickpeas and chicken, but to optionally include fava beans. It was unclear whether fresh or dried fava beans were intended. Looking at the recipe again, I think it was probably meant to be made with fresh fava beans, but I made it with dried, so that's what I've written instructions for here. That said, feel free to leave out the fava beans entirely and substitute some other vegetable instead. ^Back
8 Although the recipe calls for lamb shanks, we were already having a lot of lamb for dinner and we have a lot of beef in the freezer right now, so I opted to use two beef shank steaks in place of the lamb shanks to make the broth. ^Back
9 I was intending to use sweet potatoes for my couscous, but I was unsure of the quality of my remaining sweet potatoes and I had some lovely fresh potatoes out of my parents' garden, so I just used those instead. Different flavour, for sure, but still very nice. ^Back

Personally, I think this is more of a red pepper broth than a red pepper sauce, but I guess it's used more as a topping or garnish for coucous so that makes it more of a sauce? I'm not really sure.

I think, having tried this a couple times now -- once with store-bought harissa and once with homemade harissa -- I'm more inclined to just enjoy the broth and harissa separately. I do like extra broth with my couscous. And I like harissa on everything, but I don't think you really gain anything by cooking them together and adding lemon and oil and whatnot. I know that's not exactly a glowing endorsement of this recipe. I'm mostly just providing it for completeness. But, in my opinion, you'd be served just as well by serving your dish with broth and harissa on the side and not bothering with the pepper sauce.

Red Pepper Sauce

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 1 c. lamb or chicken broth
• 2 tsp. harissa
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and pour into a serving bowl.