a couple of weeks ago i scrambled to make the best of the end of summer produce. although i’ll have loads of mushrooms and squash and beets to look forward to, i’ll miss being able to easily make fresh renditions of these:
spring pea falafel with marinated radishes and minted yogurt
grilled beef sates with peanut sauce and jasmine rice
antipasti salad
corn and jalapeno muffins
watermelon-ginger lemonade
here’s the recipe for the falafel:
1/2 cup dried yellow split peas
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 T flour
2 T chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 t ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 t salt
3 T olive oil
1. working in two batches, grind the split peas to a powder in a spice grinder. in a food processor, pulse the thawed peas a few times. add the ground split peas, onion, flour, parsley, garlic, coriander, cumin, baking powder, cayenne, lemon juice and salt and process until thoroughly combined. form the mixture into 12 falafel patties. refrigerate until firm.
2. in a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil. add the falafel patties in two batches and cook over moderately high heat until browned, crisp and heated through, about 3 minutes per side.
3. serve the falafel with flatbreads, yogurt, sliced red onions, fresh herbs, and marinated radishes.
i cooked this nasi goreng a few weeks ago, one of my favorite dishes that i’ve ever made. popular in indonesia and malaysia, this fried rice is easy to make, and best of all, delicious. don’t be put off by the long ingredient list – the results are well worth it.
recipe:
2 1/2 cups jasmine rice
2 cups chicken broth
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1/2 package krupuk (indonesian shrimp crackers)
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 lb skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 lb shrimp, peeled
2 fresh thai red chiles, seeded and minced
1 t salt
4 T ketjap manis (indonesian sweet soy sauce)
1 T fish sauce (nuoc nam)
3 green onions, thinly sliced
sliced cucumber and wedges of hard-boiled egg for garnish
1. rinse rice and drain well. bring rice, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, and enough water to cover rice by 3/4 inch to a boil in a heavy saucepan. cover pan, then reduce heat to very low and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 15 minutes. remove pan from heat and let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes. transfer to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. chill rice, covered, for a few hours.
2. heat vegetable oil for deep-frying in a large pot until very hot. drop a few krupuk into oil and fry until they float to the surface and curl up, about 15 seconds, turn krupuk over and fry until lightly golden, about 10 seconds, then transfer to paper towels to drain. fry remaining krupuk in same manner.
3. heat 3 tablespoons oil in wok over high heat until hot. add shallots and stir-fry 1 minute. add garlic and stir-fry 30 seconds. add chicken and stir-fry until cooked through, about 2 minutes. add shrimp, chiles, and salt and stir-fry until shrimp are just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. add remaining 1/4 cup broth with ketjap manis and rice and stir-fry until rice is heated through, about 2 minutes. remove wok from heat and stir in fish sauce and green onions until combined well.
4. serve nasi goreng on a platter with krupuk, cucumber slices, and hard-boiled eggs.
my aunt and cousins came over earlier this week for a stay. i cooked and we ate – everyone was happy. purveyors of all things delicious, shahriar brought me aloocheh and shahrzad brought a rosewater and pistachio flavored gelee.
sour ropes have nothing on aloocheh. it may not look as pretty, but it tastes delicious. kind of like tamarind paste, but with a more fruity flavor.
speaking of which, i think i still have some lavashak stored away in the cupboard. yum.
i’ve been on east coast time for the past few days. i flew to new york city towards last week for the occasion of the tanya morgan moonlighting release party at opus 22. upon my arrival on thursday, it took an hour to get to the hotel; by the time I got there around six in the evening i had about ten minutes to get ready before the big event. despite my extreme fatigue (by the time the party was over i’d been awake for 24 hours) and hunger (i never did get to eat a meal that day), i was thrilled that it was all a great success.
monica came all the way from dc; von on the other hand calls brooklyn home sweet home.
ilyas!
von pea! (loves dilla!) together they plus donwill make up tanya morgan. duh.
tim and dwine. both are california transplants to the east coast. both are super tall. both are well-rounded gentlemen.
this is michelle the publicist and frank the graphic/web designer.
tara was there too, which was fantastic because she’s fantastic.
after the party a whole bunch of us went to triple crown where i met ali shaheed muhammad. ordinarily i would have been super excited but i was so tired that all i could see was mirages of my hotel bed.
speaking of which, my hotel was an unpleasant experience to say the least. i never could catch up on sleep since every few minutes i’d hear a door loudly (and i mean LOUDLY) slam shut down the hallway or overhear the pseudo-party a few rooms down at four am. and our bathroom was about the size of a shoebox. the room itself wasn’t much bigger. and the staff was rude. i’ll stop before this turns into a hotel review.
our group spent friday exploring record shops and wandering the streets. the highlight of the day was a visit to the offices of scratch magazine. the lowlight of the day was my decision to order chicken soft tacos at a diner for lunch. mexican food in new york city – what was i thinking?
at least i got to pose with dog the bounty hunter. hi melody.
saturday was a bit more eventful. despite the rain, we made a trip to the united nations after a disappointing faux vietnamese lunch. my main reason to visit was to purchase some iran flag keychains; the one i’d bought during my last trip had long fallen apart. it turned out the gift shop was out of keychains for nearly every country that begins with an “i.” i was heartbroken. stupid UN. thanks, kofi.
we got to pose with our favorite secretary generals, though. the UN had an exhibition of persian rugs featuring the likenesses of all the past secretary generals on display, courtesy of the iranian government. (the least they could do is carry their keychains in return.)
me and u thant. how cool is his name?
from there we took the metro to brooklyn.
grand central station. we saw two sets of newlyweds there.
brooklyn was fun but chilly. afterwards i went back to manhattan to meet dwine and his girlfriend for dinner. my tekka maki was the best meal i’d had since my arrival. afterwards tim and frank joined us at a coffeeshop for chess and hot mochas. then came the highlight of the day: our security-laden foray into the offices of hot 97. it was almost reminiscent of the time when i visited the state department.
for my last day in new york, i had gray’s papaya for lunch. i was surprisingly pleased with my humble hot dog and banana juice.
mmm, new york.
i made a disappointing trip to canal street where i attempted to hunt down a pair of lacoste sneakers. even though i was unsuccessful, i did run into a dean and deluca on our way towards brooklyn. from there it was more record shopping and then a quick dinner and everyone parted their separate ways. i had to be up early the next morning to catch our flight back, 3:30 am to be exact.
it was a great trip and i was thrilled to finally meet so many people i’d heard all about and to catch up with ones i hadn’t seen in a while. that said, i’ve been more than a bit sleepy all week long.
while its been pouring buckets outside, i’ve been inside cooking. (well i’ve been outside too, but that’s another story.) the theme this time was chinese.
shandong stir-fry soup noodles
spicy eggplant
sizzling singapore chili shrimp
chinatown roast duck
daikon with bean thread noodles
here’s the recipe for the eggplant:
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 T hoisin sauce
2 t soy sauce
2 t lemon juice
1 t plum sauce
4 chinese eggplants (1 lb)
vegetable oil
2 t minced garlic
1 t minced ginger
1/2 jalapeno chili, sliced into thin rings
basil leaves
sliced green onions
1. prepare the sauce: stir the chicken broth, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, and plum sauce in a bowl until blended.
2. cut the stems from the eggplants, then cut them lengthwise into quarters, then cut crosswise into 3-inch pieces.
3. pour enough oil into a large saucepan to come to a depth of 2 inches. heat over medium-high heat and deep-fry the eggplant until tender. remove and drain on paper towels.
4. heat a wok over high heat until hot. add 1 tablespoon of oil and the garlic, ginger, and chili and stir-fry until fragrant, about 20 seconds. add the sauce and bring to a simmer.
5. add the eggplant and stir to coat. scoop onto a serving platter and garnish with basil leaves and green onions.
