Doi Maach (Fish in Yogurt Sauce)

I made this one a while ago, but I have not been great about writing recipes up promptly lately and it got forgotten. I remember it being tasty, but not as good as the incredible cilantro fish curry that we made a couple months ago. That was a hard act to follow. Still, it was good. We enjoyed it. And it let us check off another recipe in the book (and finally make a bit more progress on the little-used fish and seafood chapter)!

Doi Maach

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 450g tilapia fillets
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 1 Tbsp. panch phoron
• 2 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Sprinkle the turmeric over both sides of the fillets, cover, and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Whisk the sugar and salt into the yogurt and set aside.
3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the panch phoron and dried chilies and sizzle for 20-30 seconds.
5. Add the fish and sear on both sides for ~30 seconds per side then transfer to a plate and set aside.
6. Add the onion and ginger to the hot pan and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the yogurt mixture and stir to mix in the onion and ginger.
8. Bring to a boil and return the fish to the pan.
9. Spoon the sauce over the fish and poach, uncovere, until the fish is cooked through ~5 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

This waffle recipe produces extraordinarily light and crispy waffles. They're fairly neutral in flavour -- despite the huge quantity of vanilla -- and have only a very subtle sour tang to them. I think I like the "Belgian" waffle recipe that I recently tried slightly better, but these are also very good. And they have the added benefits of using up a large quantity of discard and not requiring an overnight fermentation, so they can be whipped up on short notice, which I do appreciate. So, overall, I am pretty happy with this recipe. It might not be my favourite, but it's very good and very quick. Definitely something to keep in mind whenever I have sour cream on hand.

Sour Cream Sourdough Waffles

Slightly adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 450g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2/3 c. sour cream
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Beat eggs into discard.
3. Mix in vanilla, sour cream, butter, and honey.
4. Sift in baking powder and baking soda and mix very well.
5. Pour a portion of batter into the waffle maker and cook according to manufacturer instructions.
6. Top with yogurt, jam, syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit, and/or icing sugar as desired.

This is not the first time we've cooked out of this book, and the results are tasty, but the book itself is weird. There's no authorship information, just the publisher. It wants you to rinse your capers. And the ingredient list asks for "1 anchovy fillet, [...] boned", while the recipe notes urge you to get "the best anchovies available [...] meaty and plump", which carries the worrying implication that they want you to buy whole anchovies, and then fillet and bone them using, I guess, a magnifying lens and a tiny little filleting knife.

All that said, there's no arguing with the results. This isn't substantial enough to be a meal in itself but it makes a tasty side dish and isn't too hard to put together.

Peppers Stuffed with Tuna

The Complete Italian Cookbook [2021] (p. 16)

Ingredients

• 450g miniature bell peppers
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tbsp capers, drained
• 1 (170g wet mass) tin of tuna, in water, drained
• 1 tsp mustard
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2-4 tsp lemon juice, to taste
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 whole anchovy, in oil, minced
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. Arrange the whole peppers on a baking sheet.
2. Roast at 425°F until soft and lightly charred, turning every 5 minutes, ~15-20 minutes. Larger peppers may need longer.
3. Let cool.
4. Meanwhile, use a mortar and pestle to grind the garlic and capers into a paste.
5. Combine tuna, garlic-caper paste, mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, parsley, anchovy, and vinegar in a bowl. Mix to combine and season with pepper to taste.
6. Once the peppers have cooled, slice off the stems and remove and discard the cores and seeds.
7. Fill the hollow peppers with tuna mixture and serve at room temperature.

I love all the flavours that go into this. And the resulting towers were quite tasty and looked nice. But I found the assembly a bit cumbersome. I think they'd be just as delicious with everything piled onto a serving platter where everyone can dish up their own portions, rather than trying to assemble each one individually.

Fried Egg and Eggplant Towers

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 6 (1cm thick) slices of peeled eggplant
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 6 (1cm thick) slices of tomato
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• black pepper, to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 (5-6mm thick) slices fresh mozzarella
• 6 large eggs
• 1/3 c. fresh basil leaves, sliced fine (chiffonade)
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Sprinkle ~1/4 tsp. of salt on the eggplant slices and set aside.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the tomato and fry for ~1 minute on each side.
4. Remove from pan, sprinkle with ~1/4 tsp. of the salt and pepper to taste. Set aside¹.
5. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 30-60 seconds.
6. Pour garlic oil over tomatoes.
7. Reduce heat to medium, add the eggplant to the pan, cover, and cook for a minute or two on each side.
8. Add 2 Tbsp. of oil and cook for another 2-3 minutes per side.
9. Remove from pan and set aside².
10. Reduce heat to medium-low and add 1-2 tsp. of the remaining oil.
11. Crack an egg into a cup and carefully pour it into the pan. Repeat with 2-3 more eggs.
12. Cook, uncovered, for 1 minute, then cover the pan and continue cooking for 4-6 minutes depending on how done you want your yolks.
13. If constructing individual egg towers: Place one slice of tomato on each plate (reserving tomato juices separately). Sprinkle with a little of the basil. Place a slice of eggplant on top and sprinkle with more basil. Place a slice of cheese on top of this, followed by one of the eggs. Otherwise, just transfer the eggs to the serving platter with everything else.
14. If constructing individual egg towers: Scrape the reserved tomato juices back into the pan, add the vinegar, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Drizzle ~1 tsp. of the dressing over each egg tower.
    If making one big platter: Simply deglaze the pan with the vinegar and pour this over the eggs.
15. Sprinkle with a little more basil and serve.

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¹ If you'd like to make one big dish that everyone serves themselves from, then transfer the tomatoes straight from the pan to a serving platter. ^Back
2 If you're not doing individual portions, then the eggplant can just be piled on top of the tomatoes on the serving platter. ^Back

Spaghettini alla Olive Nere

This is a nice quick weekday pasta dish. As usual, we've made some changes. We made it with oil-packed olives, so the olive oil was turned down to compensate. The amount of sauce was also turned up by about 50%, given how Hazan's recipes often have a fairly high pasta:sauce ratio; after trying it we were in agreement that we could have gotten away with doubling it, and that's the recipe I've written up here.

Spaghetti alla Olive Nere (Spaghettini with Black Olives)

The Classic Pasta Cookbook by Guiliano Hazan (p. 74)

Ingredients

• 350-450g dry spaghetti or spaghettini
• ¼ C olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1L diced tomatoes
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 20-25 oil-packed olives, pitted and julienned

Directions

1. Combine olive oil and garlic in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until garlic is just beginning to change colour.
2. Stir in parsley, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes reduce and the oil separates.
3. Reduce heat to low and stir in the olives.
4. Cook pasta al dente.
5. Drain pasta, then toss with sauce and serve immediately.

This recipe makes A LOT of polenta and eggs! You have been warned.

The reipe as written calls for 8 eggs, but I really felt like that would be way too much polenta for the amount of egg. And we had a lot of eggs to use up, so I did it with a full dozen eggs. I think this produced an excellent egg-to-polenta ratio, but it does mean that you have rather a lot of baked eggs to eat. I suggest making them in individual ramekins so that leftovers can be easily reheated in individual portions.

Also, the recipe says that these are to be served with buttered toast. But, since the polenta already provides a nice, slightly buttery, cheesey, starchy backdrop for the eggs, I skipped the toast. I like them much better with a bit of tomato salsa or marinara sauce on top. Delicious!

Eggs Baked in Polenta

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 6 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. milk
• 2-4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3-1/2 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 12 large eggs
• 150g Taleggio or fontina¹, shredded
• salsa or tomato sauce, to serve

Directions

1. Add the cornmeal and salt to the water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, for 25-30 minutes.
3. Add milk and butter and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in the Parmesan and nutmeg.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease 12 ramekins or mini casserole dishes.
6. Divide the polenta among the the ramekins.
7. Make an indentation in the centre of each portion of polenta.
8. Break an egg into a cup and pour it into one of the indentations. Repeat with remaining eggs.
9. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the eggs.
10. Bake until polenta is golden around the edges and eggs are soft-cooked (~15 minutes).
11. Let stand for 3 minutes.
12. Top with salsa and/or tomato sauce and serve.

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¹ My fontina had gone off, so I just ended up using some mild marble cheddar for this go 'round. ^Back

I had been intending to make bread yesterday, but by the time to starter was nice and active, it was late and I was out of energy to do anything with it. So I mixed up the sponge for this waffle batter instead and cooked up a few waffles this morning.

I like this recipe. It made pleasingly fluffy waffles with nice crisp outsides. It was easy to make. And it wasn't overly sour. Pretty much ideal.

Photo goes here.

Sourdough Belgian Waffles

Slightly adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 250g ripe (active/fed) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 1 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Combine the starter, water, and flour. Mix well, cover, and ferment overnight at room temperature.
2. In the morning, preheat your waffle iron.
3. Combine the butter, honey, salt, and vanilla.
4. Beat the eggs into the butter mixture.
5. Sift in the baking soda.
6. Pour the egg mixture into the starter/sponge mixture and whisk until combined.
7. Pour a portion of batter into your preheated waffle iron and cook according to the directions for your particular appliance. Adjust the temperature and cooking time as necessary to achieve a crisp, well-browned outer crust.
8. Serve with fresh berries, jam, maple syrup, whipped cream, and/or icing sugar.

This is a recipe from the "contemporary curries" section of the book. I'm honestly not a huge fan of a lot of Iyer's fusion curries, so I don't tend to use that chapter very much. There are some decent ones, to be sure, but I tend to find the recipes in that part of the book more miss than hit. So I tend to stick with the more "traditional" Indian curries.

Sadly, this recipe seems to follow that pattern as well. TF didn't really like it at all. I found it... okay, but not great. The arugula doesn't really work IMO. I think the sauce would be much better if made with fenugreek leaves or maybe a mix of spinach and fenugreek. Maybe I'll try it again sometime using that mix, but more likely I'll just save my cooking time and energy for different recipes that I feel have a higher chance of success.

Pasta with Arugula and Jaggery

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 450g dry pasta, short variety (ziti, rotini, macaroni, etc.)
• 225g fresh (or frozen and thawed) fenugreek leaves, roughly chopped
• 225g fresh (or frozen and thawed) spinach leaves, roughly chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 2-4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 500-600mL diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c. crumbled jaggery
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Boil the pasta according to package directions.
2. If using fresh greens: add them to the pot of pasta ~1 minute before it's finished cooking.
3. Drain the pasta (and greens) and shock with cold water. Set aside.
4. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and chilies and sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
6. If using frozen greens: Add them now along with the tomatoes and jaggery, reduce heat to medium, and cook for ~5 minutes.
7. Stir in the salt.
8. Add the drained pasta (and greens if you used fresh) and stir/toss to coat and cook until pasta is warmed through (3-5 minutes).
9. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

Chinnay Vengayam Kari (Pearl Onion Curry)

I was already planning on a creamy dal for dinner and thought that this simple onion curry sounded like a nice complement to it. The onions were sweet and tasty and the spinach and tomatoes made it feel a little more nutritious.

Chinnay Vengayam Kari

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 450g pearl onions, peeled
• 1 (425mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 225g chopped spinach
• 1 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1/2 tsp. Punjabi garam masala

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onions and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, salt, and turmeric and reduce the heat to medium.
4. Simmer, uncovered, for ~7 minutes.
5. Add the spinach and cook, covered, for 2-3 minutes.
6. Stir and continue cooking until the onions are tender (~5 minutes).
7. Stir in the sambhar masala and Punjabi garam masala and serve.

I don't make soad breads very often. I tend to like either relatively sweet, batter-based quick breads or long-fermented yeasted breads better. But we've been out of bread for quite a while now and I keep not having the spoons to make more, so I figured I'd try out this sourdough soda bread as a stop-gap until I feel up to making more "real" bread. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it looks nice and I want to get the write up out of the way before it becomes another thing piled onto my backlog.

Sourdough Soda Bread

From Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, chilled
• 350g sourdough starter (fresh or discard) @ 100% hydration
• 1 c. buttermilk¹
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 egg²

Directions

1. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
2. Cut in the butter.
3. Combine the starter, buttermilk, and honey in a large measuring cup.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet.
5. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, working from the centre out ward.
6. Once most of the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto your work surface and knead it for ~20 minutes. Lightly flour the work surface as needed, but don't overdo it! It's generally better for the dough to be a little too wet than too dry.
7. Preheat the oven to 180°F (350°C).
8. Divide the dough into two equal portions.
9. Knead each portion a few strokes and shape into a round ball.
10. Grease a large baking sheet and dust it with cornmeal.
11. Place the dough balls, seam side down, on the baking sheet.
12. Cut a deep cross in the top of each one. Don't be afraid to go most of the way through the loaf. Some people even do cut all the way through and then just leave the four pieces lightly pressed against each other on the baking sheet.
13. Prepare your egg wash as you prefer and brush both loaves with egg.
14. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-45 minutes.
15. When done, transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ As usual, I didn't have any buttermilk on hand. Normally I would have just used some milk soured with a bit of vinegar, but I went with 1/2 c. of sour cream thinned with 1/2 c. of milk for this one. Mostly because I still had a bunch of sour cream that needed to be used up. I think this makes a better buttermilk substitute anyway since sour cream uses the same culture as buttermilk. ^Back
2 I like to mix my egg with a little water (maybe a Tbsp. or so) for my egg wash, but make your wash however you prefer for this. You won't need the whole egg, so save the rest for another use or cook it up as scrambled eggs. ^Back

Moong Dal Kichidi (Rice-Lentil Porridge)

At this point we've made all of the pulaos and fried rice recipes in the curry book, so I decided to try this "kichidi" instead. I'd never had a kichidi before, but it seems very similar to pongal, another Indian rice-lentil porridge. They are so similar in fact, that I decided to Google around to try to find out what differentiates them.

Both these dishes are savoury, Indian porridges commonly made from rice and moong dal and often eaten for breakfast. But, having read up on them a bit, I now feel like I have a better handle on what distinguishes them from each other.

First of all, pongals are specifically a south Indian dish while kichidis can be found all over India. And, while pongals are sometimes eaten for dinner, they seem to be mostly considered a breakfast food. Meanwhile, kichidis can be eaten for any meal of the day.

Pongals, in addition to being more geographically restricted, also seem to be more restricted in their ingredients. They are always based on rice and moong dal (skinned split mung beans). While kichidis may feature that pair as their primary ingredients (as this one does), there are a plethora of variants using both different legumes and different grains/starches. Kichidis will also often include vegetables (usually tomatoes and onions and sometimes other vegetables as well), while pongals generally do not. Interestingly, despite this huge range of ingredients, it is pongals and not kichidis who can also come in a sweet form with jaggery and dried fruit in place of the spices and ginger.

And while Iyer calls for turmeric in both his kichidi and pongal recipes, apparently pongal tends to have less turmeric than kichidi on average and be a little less vibrantly yellow.

Other than that, the main difference seems to be the typical accompaniments. Pongal is traditionally eaten with sambhar (although it can certainly work well along-side other curries as well¹). Meanwhile, kichidis -- being more varied in general -- might go with any number of things, but chutneys, pickles, yogurt, and/or papads are some common choices. While vegetable stir-fries are often served with some of the drier, less porridge-y kichidis.

For this particular porridge, Iyer suggests that its ideal companion would be kheema mutter. And, while I do think that would have been delicious, that's not what I ended up doing.

Since I had both kidney beans and eggplant that needed to be used up, I decided to make katarikai goshtu and dahiwaale rajmah instead. Both curries that I hadn't tried yet, would use up the ingredients in question, and seemed reasonably easy to prepare. (I also ended up making a pasta "curry" to use up some arugula, but since that has its own starchy substrate built in, I don't really consider it an accompaniment to the kichidi; it's its own self-contained thing.)

Anyway, the kichidi turned out pleasantly well. It wasn't super flavourful on its own (although the ghee and cumin were nice), but it made a nice backdrop for the various curries it was served with. That said, I think I would like to try adding some tomatoes and onions next time. And probably some chilies as well. Just to give it a little more... presence. And maybe dial back the ghee a bit. Not that it isn't delicious, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get more deliciousness from vegetables and spices and hopefully be able to rely less on deliciousness from concentrated fat!

So, with that in mind, here is the recipe as I made it, plus a bonus variant with some suggested edits.

Moong Dal Kichidi

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split green lentils/mung beans (moong dal)
• 1 c. long-grain white rice
• 4 c. cold water
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4 c. boiling water, divided
• 3 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds

Directions

1. Rinse the dal thoroughly.
2. Add the dal and rice to a pot with the cold water.
3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and skim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface.
4. Add the salt and turmeric.
5. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has been absorbed (~10 minutes).
6. Pour in 1 c. of boiling water and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until that water has also been absorbed (~10 more minutes). Repeat until all the water has been used.
7. Heat the ghee over medium-high heat.
8. Add the cumin to the hot ghee and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
9. Pour the hot ghee and cumin into the porridge and stir to combine.
10. Serve with pickles, chutney, yogurt, papads, and/or your favourite curries.

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Variants

InstantPot Vegetable Kichidi

Adapted from 660 Curries and Indian Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds, divided
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/8 tsp. ground asafetida
• 1 tsp. bin bhuna hua garam masala or bottle masala (optional)
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies, minced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. green peas (optional)
• 1 c. skinned split green lentils/mung beans (moong dal)
• 1 c. long-grain white rice
• 6-8 c. water

Directions

1. Rinse the dal very well and set aside.
2. Heat 1-2 Tbsp. of the ghee on sauté medium.
3. Add 1 tsp. of the cumin seeds and bay leaves and sizzle for 20-30 seconds.
4. Add the asafetida and masala (if using) give it a quick stir.
5. Add the ginger paste and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
6. Add the onion and chili and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
7. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, and salt and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
8. If using peas, add them now and cook for ~2 minutes.
9. Add the dal and stir-fry for ~4 minutes. (Or toast the dal in a dry pan in advance.)
10. Add the rice and water² and stir once or twice.
11. Pressure cook high for 8 minutes. Allow a 15-minute natural release.
12. Heat 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 tsp. of cumin seeds.
13. Sizzle the cumin for 10-20 seconds, then add the hot ghee and cumin to the porridge and stir once or twice.
14. Serve as above, with your choice of yogurt, pickles, chutneys, papads, curries, and/or stir-fries.

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¹ Iyer suggests serving the ven pongal in his book with aviyal and katarikai goshtu. ^Back
2 Use the lesser amount for a drier porridge and greater amount for a looser, more soupy porridge. ^Back

Maa di Dal (Mother's Dal)

Iyer notes that there are as many variants of this dal "as there are cooks in northwestern India", so this version is by no means definitive. He opts for a variety of whole spices, cream, and ghee in his version and combines the black lentils (mapte beans) with a few kidney beans near the end of cooking.

Maa di Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2-4 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies, stems removed
• 1 c. whole black lentils (mapte beans/sabud urad)
• 1/2 c. yellow split peas
• 6 c. water
• 4 cardamom pods (any colour)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 (7cm long) cinnamon sticks
• 2-4 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 c. tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes)
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1 c. cooked kidney beans
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream or half-and-half (10%)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Mash the garlic, ginger, and chilies in a molcajete (or mince in a food processor) and set aside.
2. Thoroughly rinse the black lentils and split peas.
3. Add the rinsed legumes to a pot with the water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat.
4. Skim and discard any foam from the surface of the water.
5. Add the garlic mixture along with the cardamom pods, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks and reduce heat to medium.
6. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the split peas are fall-apart tender (~1 hour).
7. Meanwhile, heat 1-2 Tbsp. of the ghee over medium-high heat.
8. Sprinkle the cumin seeds into the ghee and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
9. Add the onion and stir-fry until light brown on the edges (3-5 minutes).
10. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the tomatoes, salt, and cayenne.
11. Simmer the sauce, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for ~10 minutes.
12. Once the legumes are tender, stir in the sauce, kidney beans, and cream.
13. Adjust consistency with a bit more water if desired (use it to swish out the sauce pan).
14. Cover the pot of curry and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes.
15. Stir in another 1-2 Tbsp. of ghee and the cilantro and serve.

I've been continuing to work my way through egg recipes in a desperate (and ultimately futile) attempt to stay ahead of the chickens' egg production. I haven't had a chance to make bread since getting back from camping, so all the recipes that call for being served on or with toast are out. But we did have a bunch of potatoes that were getting a bit long in the tooth, so this recipe was perfect to use them up along with a few more eggs.

The original recipe called for the potatoes to be cut into 1/4-1/2" dice. TF was acting as my sous chef for this, so I just asked her for 1cm (~1/2") dice. This was within the recipe spec, but I felt that the cubes were too large to cook nicely and too chunky to meld with the eggs well. Next time I'd go for 5-6mm (~1/4") cubes. It'd be a bit more work to chop, but I think they'd cook up much better.
Photo goes here.

Spanish-Style Fried Eggs and Potatoes

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 900g potatoes, cut into 5mm dice
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 4-6 large eggs
• 1/4-1/3 c. tomato salsa

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the potatoes, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, turning occasionally, until crisp (20-25 minutes).
3. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper.
4. Break an egg into a cup and carefully pour it on top of the potatoes. Repeat with remaining eggs, spacing them out over the potatoes.
5. Cover and cook (without moving the lid) for ~5 minutes.
6. Serve with salsa.

Kokum Moth Chi Dal (Creamy Moth Beans with Coconut Milk)

This is a nice accompaniment curry that isn't too hard to make.

Kokum Moth Chi Dal

660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer (p. 407)

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole moth beans
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 4 pieces dried black kokum, ~2"×1"
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 8-10 fresh green Thai chiles, thinly sliced
• 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped
• 1 C coconut milk
• ¾ tsp salt
• 10-12 curry leaves

Directions

1. Rinse the beans until the water runs clear; drain.
2. Put the beans in the pressure cooker, along with 3 C water, and bring to a boil, uncovered. Skim off and discard foam.
3. Stir in turmeric and kokum. Seal pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes on high pressure, then let the pressure release naturally.
4. Heat ghee in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add cumin and cook until it sizzles and turns reddish-brown, ~10 seconds.
6. Add chiles and garlic and stir-fry until garlic is lightly browned, ~1-2 minutes.
7. Add the tomato, coconut milk, salt, and curry leaves. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the tomatoes appear saucelike but still slightly chunky.
8. Stir the sauce into the cooked beans. Bring to a simmer over medium heat cook, uncovered, until the curry thickens, ~10 minutes.
9. Remove the kokum before serving.

This is pretty easy to put together and is a good way to use up cabbage! I enjoyed it, symbol absolutely loved it.

Red Cabbage and Grapefruit Salad

Cook's Country February/March 2021, by Morgan Bolling (p. 13)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 red grapefruit
• 6 C thinly sliced red cabbage (about ¼ cabbage)
• 1 vidalia onion, thinly sliced (or substitute red onion and rinse after slicing)
• ½ C cilantro
• ⅓ C toasted pepitas

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.
2. Zest grapefruit and whisk 1½ tsp zest to the bowl.
3. Peel grapefruit, separate into wedges, skin wedges, and cut into thirds; set aside.
4. Squeeze 2 tbsp juice from grapefruit and whisk into bowl.
5. Add cabbage, onion, cilantro, and grapefruit segments and toss to combine.
6. Set aside for 30 minutes to melt.
7. Add pepitas and toss to combine.

We're no longer drowning in eggs, but we still have a fair few, so this seemed like a good option for this morning's breakfast. I just used store-bought roasted bell peppers, but feel free to roast your own fresh if you'd like to go the extra mile. I also used turkey sausage and omitted the oil because I'm still trying to watch my weight, but go ahead and use a little oil and pork or beef sausage if you're not calorically constrained. Likewise, I used a low-fat mozzarella cheese, but go ahead and use whichever cheese you like best.

Roasted Bell Pepper and Sausage Frittata

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• up to 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 225g turkey sausage, casings removed
• 2 roasted red bell peppers, peeled and cut into strips
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. grated low-fat mozzarella

Directions

1. Heat the oil (if using) over medium heat.
2. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up with a spatula or wooden spoon, until browned (~5 minutes).
3. Add the bell peppers and garlic and cook for another minute or two.
4. Beat the eggs with the parsely, salt, and pepper and pour the egg mixture into the pan.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 4-5 minutes.
6. Slide a spatula under the edge of the eggs and lift to allow raw egg to flow under. Repeat at several other points around the edge of the pan.
7. Sprinkle with cheese, cover, and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
8. Once mostly set, place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to melt the cheese and set the top.
9. Cut into wedges and serve.

Are you getting tired of egg recipes yet? I probably should be, but luckily there's a lot of variety to what you can do with eggs so I'm not bored yet. That said, I will admit that this was not one of my favourite egg recipes. It was alright and it used up most of the remaining home-made ricotta that had been sitting in the fridge, so it was helpful in that respect. But it's probably not one that I'll revisit. To be fair though, my cheese was somewhat drier and firmer than regular store-bought ricotta, so that probably resulted in eggs with a different final texture than the recipe intended. Still... there are enough really excellent egg recipes out there -- Heck! There are enough really excellent egg recipes right in the same book -- that I probably won't bother trying to make this one again any time soon. This definitely falls into the category of "included for completeness". That's fine though. Not every recipe can be a favourite.

Scrambled Eggs with Ricotta and Tomatoes

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 1 c. whole milk ricotta
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 4 slices buttered toast

Directions

1. Beat the eggs with the ricotta until blended and set aside.
2. Melt the butter over medium-low heat.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook until the juices evaporate.
4. Add the egg mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are just soft set (~3 minutes).
5. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with basil, and serve with buttered toast.

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Variants

Scrambled Eggs wiht Ricotta

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 1 c. whole milk ricotta
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 4 slices buttered toast
• 1-2 tomatoes, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Beat the eggs with the ricotta until blended and set aside.
2. Melt the butter over medium-low heat.
3. Add the egg mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are just soft set (~3 minutes).
4. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with basil, and serve with buttered toast and sliced tomatoes (if using).

This tofu was AMAZING! I mean, with 15 cloves of garlic, how could it not be?! And, of course, the gochujang and sesame oil and frying didn't hurt either. That said, I think it also would have been very good baked.

I over-cooked my egg, but it was still tasty!

Gochujang Garlic Tofu

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. gochugaru
• 1 tsp. dasida
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. gochujang
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 350g extra-firm tofu, frozen and thawed
• 1/2 c. potato starch
• 2-4 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, divided
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 2-4 green onions, chopped, greens and whites kept separate
• 10-15 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 fresh chilies, sliced (optional)
• cooked rice, to serve
• soft-boiled or fried eggs, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the goochugaru, dasida, sugar, pepper, gochujang, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, corn syrup, and mirin in a large measuring cup.
2. Stir in the water and cornstarch and set aside.
3. Drain the tofu and press out as much liquid as possible.
4. Cut the tofu into cubes and dry it a little more.
5. At this point you can either proceed with the recipe as written, or make a batch of extra delicious tofu and use that as the tofu component of this recipe. The tofu won't be quite as crispy, but you'll use a lot less oil.
6. Coat the tofu in potato starch (if not using the "extra delicious tofu recipe").
7. Heat 2-3 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat and add the tofu.
8. Cook, turning occasionally, until tofu is crispy on all sides (7-8 minutes).
9. Meanwhile, steam the broccoli for 3-4 minutes, then shock it in cold water.
10. Toss the broccoli with the garlic paste, dark soy sauce, 1/2 Tbsp. of the sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds and set it aside.
11. Once the tofu is cooked remove it from the pan and set it aside.
12. Add a bit more oil to the pan (1/2-1 Tbsp.) and fry the garlic, ginger, and the white parts of the green onions for a minute or two.
13. Pour in the gochujang sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes.
14. Add the fried tofu and stir until it's well-coated in the sauce.
15. Stir in the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of sesame oil.
16. Place some hot rice in a bowl and top it with tofu and broccoli.
17. Garnish with the green parts of the green onions, toasted sesame seeds, sliced chilies, and a halved soft-boiled (or fried) egg and serve.

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Variants

Vegetarian Version

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. gochugaru
• 1 tsp. vegetable bouillon powder
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. gochujang
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 350g extra-firm tofu, frozen and thawed
• 1/2 c. potato starch
• 2-4 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, divided
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 2-4 green onions, chopped, greens and whites kept separate
• 10-15 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 fresh chilies, sliced (optional)
• cooked rice, to serve
• soft-boiled or fried eggs, to serve

Meen Thenga Paal Kari (Coconut Milk Fish Curry)

It's very late and I'm very tired, so I'm just going to do a super quick write-up for this one. It was quite nice though and reasonably easy to put together. I made some curry leaf rice to go with it and that, along with some leftover vegetable curry and lime pickles made for a nice dinner.

Meen Thenga Paal Kari

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 500g skinless halibut fillets¹
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (mapte beans/urad dal)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 12 fresh curry leaves
• 1 large tomato, chopped

Directions

1. Sprinkle the tumeric over both sides of the fish and set aside for ~30 minutes.,/li>
2. Heat half the oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds and cook, covered, until the seeds have stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
4. Add the lentils and stir-fry for 20-30 seconds.
5. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is browned (~7 minutes).
6. Add the coconut milk, cilantro, sambhar masala, salt, and curry leaves and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until thickened (~10 minutes).
8. Add the tomato and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
9. Heat the remaining oil over medium heat.
10. Add the fish and sear on both sides (~2 minutes per side).
11. Pour the sauce over the fish, cover, and cook, basting as needed, until the fish is done (5-8 minutes).
12. Serve with rice and/or your favourite flatbread.

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¹ I used pollock instead. The fillets were much thinner than the 5cm that Iyer recommends for this dish, but I was still happy with my results. You may just need to adjust your cooking time slightly depending on how thick your fish is. ^Back

I don't normally bother trying to make toad in the hole because I find the appeal is mostly in the novelty and not the taste. I like fried eggs with nice crispy edges served on top of a good piece of buttered toast. But this fancy walnut-and-parmesan-garnished version seemed like it might be a) worth the effort and b) significantly more delicious than a plain fried egg on toast, so I figured I'd give it a go.

You can use any bread you like for this, but the author recommends seeking out something "unusual" and suggests something with olive, herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, or cheese. And, as it just so happens, I recently made a batch of tomato-basil sourdough! Aside from the loaves being a bit on the small side, they were pretty much idea for this.

Posh Toad in the Hole

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 4 slices of bread (cut 2-3cm thick)
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 6 large eggs, divided
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 c. walnuts, chopped
• 2-3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
• 4 slices prosciutto

Directions

1. Cut an oval (maybe 5cm by 7cm) out of the centre of each slice of bread.
2. Whisk the milk with the salt, pepper, and two of the eggs.
3. Place the bread¹ in a shallow dish or pan and pour the custard mixture over it. Set aside and allow to soak, turning occasionally, for ~10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook the walnuts over medium heat until they being to change colour (~5 minutes).
5. Melt the butter with the oil over medium heat.
6. Add the soaked bread slices and cook for ~5 minutes.
7. Flip and cook for another minute or two.
8. Carefully crack an egg into a bowl and pour it into the hole in the centre of one of the bread crusts. Repeat with remaining three eggs and crusts.
9. Reduce heat to low or medium-low and cook, covered, for 7-8 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with cheese, remove from heat, and set aside.
11. Place one slice of prosciutto each on a warmed plate.
12. Place one of the toads in a hole on top of each slice of prosciutto.
13. Garnish with walnuts and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for only using the outer/crust part of the bread for this recipe and saving the cut-out ovals "for another use", but I just soaked them in the custard along with the crusts and cooked them up at the same time to be served on the side. Use whichever approach you prefer. ^Back

We have a lot of eggs right now, which means I've been taking the opportunity to work my way through some more of the recipes from The Good Egg in order to try to use them up. I needed something easy that didn't require too much brain today, so I went with something from the scrambled and fried chapter as most of those recipes are fairly straight-forward.

Scrambled Eggs with Curry and Cardamom

From The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk or cream
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. Madras curry powder
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 slices buttered toast

Directions

1. Whisk the eggs with the cream and salt.
2. Heat a pan over medium-low heat.
3. Add the curry powder and cardamom and cook for 20-30 seconds.
4. Add the butter.
5. Once the butter is melted and begins to sizzle, add the eggs.
6. Cook, stirring slowly, until the eggs are just set (2-3 minutes).
7. Transfer to a plate and garnish with tomatoes and cilantro.
8. Serve with buttered toast.

Dutch Baby (another version)

I already have a couple Dutch baby recipes on the blog and this one is very similar to the others. It's not quite the same as either though. And making it let me check off another recipe in the book, so I decided to give it a go.

It was... fine. But I think I prefer both of the other Dutch baby recipes on the blog to this one. Surprisingly, the recipe that I grabbed off of the Weight Watchers website is actually my favourite of the three.

Dutch Baby

From The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• maple syrup, honey, icing sugar, and/or lemon to serve

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Place the butter in a heavy, oven-proof pan and place in the oven for ~5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the milk and salt.
4. Whisk in the flour until smooth.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and pour in the batter.
6. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until puffed around the edges and set in the middle (~20 minutes).
7. Remove from oven, cut into wedges, garnish with toppings of your choice, and serve immediately.