All Things in Moderation

Mark shared with us his Italian Jewish version of Passover soup last night (and I’m looking forward to trying it, Mark!); I didn’t know about the split over rice.  The things you learn on this blog!

At any rate, here is my take on Matzoh Ball Passover soup (which you won’t have time to make for tonight, but there’s always next year!) and a few Easter recipes for your viewing pleasure.

Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls

For the soup (which I usually make a day or two ahead; basically I make chicken stock since I remove all of the solids):

• 1 3- 4 lb chicken (or I often use a bunch of chicken thighs instead)
• Kosher salt
• 4 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 onion cut in eighths
• 2 leeks, thoroughly rinsed and roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
• 3 sprigs dill
• 1/2 tsp peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves

Rub chicken (if using whole chicken) inside and out with salt and let sit for about 15 minutes.  Rinse thoroughly, place in a large stockpot and add water to cover by three inches.  Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off foam until it stops appearing.  At that point, add the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until chicken is falling off the bones.

Remove the chicken from the pot and remove the bones, placing them back into the soup–save the meat for another use.  Simmer for another hour, then strain all solids out through a couple layers of cheesecloth, cover the soup and refrigerate until the fat on top solidifies and can be removed.  Wise and experienced cooks will keep this schmaltz wrapped in the refrigerator for wonderful uses later.

For the matzoh balls (this part of the recipe is from a genuine Jewish grandmother who lives in NYC):

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup seltzer
• 1 tsp salt
• Dash black pepper
• 1 cup matzoh meal
• 1/2 cup melted shortening (or schmaltz)

Beat the eggs, then add the seltzer, salt and pepper.  Add the matzoh meal and shortening, mixing well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil, then wet your hands in cold water and form walnut-sized balls with the matzoh dough.  When the water comes to a boil add the balls and simmer, covered for 45 minutes.  Do not remove the cover until done.

The last line of the e-mail when she sent me the recipe:  “If they are good I get all the credit, if not it’s yours.  Enjoy!”

Lamb with Yogurt Sauce

What is more traditional than lamb at Easter?  This is one of my favorite ways to fix it.

• 1 5 – 6 lb leg of lamb
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

For the marinade:

• 1 tbs garlic, minced
• 3 tbs dried oregano
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (~2 lemon’s worth)
• 1/2 cup EVOO
• 1 cup dry red wine

For the yogurt sauce:

• 2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 small cucumber peeled, seeded and coarsely grated
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbs really good EVOO
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 3 tbs fresh mint, chopped

Make incisions in the lamb and insert the garlic slices into the holes.

Whisk the marinade together and add the lamb.  Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place it over a bowl.  Place the yogurt in the sieve and let drain overnight in the refrigerator. . . or use Greek yogurt for this and skip this step.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, remove the lamb from the marinade, salt and pepper and place in a roasting pan.  Roast, basting occasionally with the reserved marinade until the lamb is 135 degrees.

Finish making the sauce by placing the cucumber in a sieve and salting heavily; let drain for 30 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and squeeze the cucumber dry.  Add the cucumber and remaining ingredients to the drained yogurt and mix thoroughly.

After the lamb rests for 5 – 10 minutes, slice and serve with the yogurt sauce.

Hot Cross Buns

A Betty Crocker Classic

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 3/4 cup unseasoned mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cup sugar
•  1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• Half of 4 1/2 cups sifted AP flour

Add the yeast to the water and stir to dissolve

Stir the remaining ingredients into the yeast until smooth, then continue adding flour, mixing by hand, until the dough handles easily.  Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth.

Let dough rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours), then punch down and divide in two.  Shape each part into 16 buns.  Place in 2 greased 9″ baking pans (or 2″ apart on a greased baking sheet).  Let rise until double (~30 minutes).  Brush with an egg yolk glaze (1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tbs water) and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Cool slightly, then make a cross on top with white icing.

Deviled Eggs

Why?  I have no idea why this is considered a traditional Easter food, but two different people told me that, and one of them is my Mom, so who am I to argue?
 

• 6 hard-cooked eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• ~3 tbs vinegar or salad dressing to moisten filling

Cut eggs in half and remove yolks.  Mash yolks with remaining ingredients, then refill the whites, heaping the filling up lightly. Dust with paprika and serve.
 

A  joyous holiday weekend to all, no matter what your persuasion!  And feel free to edit this post to drop in your own recipes. . .

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I’m a fan of a recipe a friend of mine for sake steamed sea bass. It’s pretty simple. Reduce a cup of clam juice and white wine, toss in some ginger, put some white fish (halibut is wonderful) on a rack on top of it, top with sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds and scallions. Steam for five minutes and serve. It’s particularly good served over sushi rice as the chew of the rice and the flavor of the sauce come together.

I had some mahi mahi in the freezer the other day and took it down with the idea of steaming it in a similar manner. I wanted to make it a complete meal, including the veggies, rather than making a side dish. I recently had the Hong Kong Style Sea Bass at the Carlyle, a favorite restaurant of ours in Shirlington. The fish that night was overcooked (don’t order a dish needing careful timing at 9 p.m. on a Friday), but the idea is great.

I hunted around a little on the web for ideas, using these two dishes as my guideposts. We had some all purposes veggies around that would work well: red onion, red bell pepper, carrots, ginger, scallions. The recipe is quite flexible in this regard as you can vary the veg to whatever you like. My one significant modification was that I wanted to make a proper pan sauce. Hey, it’s an excuse to use some butter. So, here’s what I fashioned.

Asian Steamed Mahi Mahi

 Ingredients:

½ cup white wine

½ cup chicken stock or clam juice

2 cups of thinly sliced root vegetables. I think you could also simply use a bag of whatever you like from the freezer section. Here’s my mixture:

½ lg. red onion, thinly sliced (use white or red if you prefer)

2 medium or 3 small carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (long slices, not quarters)

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of ginger, you guessed it, thinly sliced

Several cloves of garlic, finely chopped (just to mix it up a little)

One bunch of scallions, sliced lengthwise

Greens – I’ve made this recipe with baby bock choi and it worked well. The white portions went in with the root vegetables and the green portions on top. Spinach and  cilantro work well in this dish as well.

1 pound mahi mahi or other firm white fish

Sea salt (or whatever is your favorite)

1 – 2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 – 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Toasted sesame seeds to garnish

Butter!

Method:

1. Pat fish dry with paper towel, salt lightly and put on plate in refrigerator. I like doing this before starting to chop the vegetables. It gives the fish half an hour to season. Right before you starting cooking, heat the oven to 170 degrees. Put a large plate in the warm oven and turn off the oven. This is for keeping the fish warm while the sauce reduces. Alternately, you could probably put the fish on a warm plate and tent with foil.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed skillet. Once shimmering, add in the red onion and carrots. Once softened (1 – 2 minutes), add in the garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 sec. Add the bell pepper (and whatever other veg you want), stir, and add wine and stock. Simmer broth and vegetables for 5 min. over medium heat.

3. While the vegetables are cooking, take the fish out and cover with sesame oil, then soy sauce. Turn a few times on the plate so that it is thoroughly coated. Arrange fish on steamer rack and top with sesame seeds.

4. Place scallions, cilantro, and any other greens (if using) on top of simmering vegetables. Place steamer rack with fish on top and drizzle with remaining soy sauce and sesame oil.  Cover skillet and steam fish until opaque in center, about 5 min. for fresh fish.

5. Remove steamer rack from pan and place on warm plate. Empty skillet through a mesh strainer into a small sauce pan and set the vegetables aside. Reduce the sauce until slightly thickened. Stir in one to two tablespoons of butter. Monte beurre, as the French would say. It’s gooooooood.

6. Time to plate! Coat a plate with rice. Sticky rice or sushi rice is particularly good. I like doing a thin round on the plate as a base. Then place a portion of vegetables on the rice, followed by one service of fish. Coat the fish with sauce and serve.

Enjoy!

BB

Asian Style Mahi Mahi over Sushi Rice

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I started making Saag Paneer when I started dating my wife. It’s cooked greens, principally spinach, along with paneer cheese (think cottage cheese with no liquid). I wasn’t that much into dishes based on cooked spinach, but I was in love. My Indian cookbook didn’t have saag paneer, but it did have a similar dish called Methi Chaman based on spinach and methi leaves. I doubled the greens, adjusted the spicing, and have been refining it ever since. I pretty much hit my standard batch by using half a pound of spinach, a bunch of chopped cilantro, and frozen methi leaves to fill out the pound of greens.

Then I went to a place in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, called Mother’s India Café. I ordered Saag Paneer as a matter of course (I enjoy the dish and it’s useful research). Mother’s saag paneer blew mine away. First, it was chunkier. The recipe I follow calls for adding two cups of water to the cooked and pureed greens, bringing it to a boil, adding the paneer and then simmering down over an hour or two.

I much prefer Mother’s version as it tastes fresher. It also had a flavor to it that I can’t quite pin down. Not just ghee (clarified butter). I use asafoetida (hing) in my version, which adds a little hwang to the mix. I went to Mother’s three times in four nights, the last of which was a Saturday night. I decided to go with takeaway as the place is popular. I put in my order, went to a nearby place for a pint, and then came back. The line had grown amazingly by the time I returned. I happily took my curry back and even got my obligatory ride on the upper level of a double decker bus.

Once back in my hotel room, I decided that the rice and chana daal (lentils) would be adequate, so I treble wrapped the saag paneer and put it in the mini fridge. It survived the trip back to the U.S. and I shared it with my two favorite curry tasters. I also made a batch of my own, improved with some ideas I got. First of which is that I decided the long cook down was not necessary. The water I used to rinse the greens was sufficient for the sauce. Rather than pureeing the batch, I used an immersion blender to leave the batch a bit chunky. Finally, I adjusted the greens. In the past, I’ve used a half pound of spinach, leaves from a bunch of cilantro, and a half pound of methi leaves. I decided to add in some mustard leaves for a bit of a kick and kale for heartiness. It wasn’t really a blind taste test as I brown my saag whereas Mother’s doesn’t and it was my fresh made batch vs. four day old leftovers. Still, Mother’s forced me to up my game. Here’s my new and improved recipe.

Paul’s Improved Saag Paneer

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients

1 pound of greens, coarsely chopped, rinsed, and drained

1 bunch cilantro, stems removed and chopped

1 pound of paneer cheese, cut into 1/2” cubes

¼ cup each clarified butter and vegetable oil

Spice Mix #1

1 tsp. Asafoetida (hing)

2 tsp. cumin seeds

10 cloves (or ½ tsp clove powder)

Spice Mix #2

2 tsp. turmeric powder

1 tsp. red chilli powder

2 tsp. chopped ginger

1 tsp. ginger powder

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 tsp. salt (or to taste)

Notes

Spinach is the base for the greens, but it helps to use a combination. I like ½ pound of spinach, a few mustard greens and some kale, and then methi leaves to fill out. If you don’t have methi leaves available, I’d suggest a combination of spinach, kale, and mustard leaves with at least half the weight from spinach.

Method

Cut one pound of paneer cheese into half inch cubes. Brown in a bit of vegetable oil and set aside.

Put ½ cup of F A T in a med. sized pot or dutch oven over med-high heat. I like using a combination of half clarified butter (it really is needed) and canola oil (because we don’t need it that much). Add in spice mix #1. No biggie if you don’t have any hing, but it really does add something to the flavor. Cook until the seeds begin to “pop”.

Add the chopped greens and cilantro, lower heat and cover until cooked. Add spice blend #2 and cook for a minute or two. There should be a bit of excess water. If not, add up to ½ cup. Partially puree with an immersion blender. If you don’t have one, pour mixture into blender and pulse a few times until partially pureed and return to pan.

Add paneer cheese and bring the mixture to boil. Serve over rice.

BB

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I’ve missed Bites & Pieces, so here goes.

We’re already getting some lovely asparagus at the markets where I shop and at relatively inexpensive price, so I thought this recipe might be timely. It’s easy and quick to make, and I love it with poached salmon.  Adapted from eatingwell.com.

Asparagus Pasta

Ingredients

• 8 ounces whole-wheat penne pasta
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups low-fat  buttermilk
• 4 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
• 4 teaspoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk milk, mustard, flour, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant and lightly browned, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Whisk in the milk mixture. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened. Stir in tarragon, lemon zest and juice.  Remove from heat.
2. When water boils, add pasta and cook for 3 minutes less than the package directions. Add asparagus, reserving tips, and continue cooking until the pasta and asparagus are just tender, 3 minutes more. Drain and return to the pot.
3. Stir the sauce and reserved asparagus tips into the pasta-asparagus mixture. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sauce is thick, creamy and coats the pasta, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Divide the pasta among 4 bowls and top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.

Nutrition

4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each

Per Serving: 292 Cal; 8 g Fat (4 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 1 g Poly; 0 g Trans); 16 mg Cholesterol; 42 g Carb (8 g Sugar; 7 g Fiber); 16 g Protein; 430 mg Sodium

Salad Dressings

The asparagus pasta is great with a cucumber-tomato salad, but it also works well with a simple green salad.  Here are a couple of homemade salad dressings that take minutes to make but are healthier than store-bought dressings.  Both go well with the asparagus pasta.

Parmesan Pepper Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 1/3 cup nonfat cottage cheese
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 teaspoons white-wine vinegar
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper, or to taste

Preparation:  Combine buttermilk, cottage cheese, Parmesan, vinegar and garlic in a food processor or blender; blend until smooth. Stir in pepper.  Makes about 1 cup.

Nutrition: Per tablespoon: 16 Cal; 1g  Fat; 2 mg Cholesterol; 1 g Carb (1 Sugar; 0 Fiber); 2 g Protein; 57 mg Sodium

Goat Cheese & Tomato Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Preparation:  Combine goat cheese, vinegar and syrup or honey in a blender or food processor and blend until combined. Add oil and tomatoes and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in tarragon.  Makes about 1 cup.

Nutrition:  Per tablespoon: 44 Cal; 4 g Fat (1 g Sat; 3 g Mono); 2 mg Cholesterol; 1 g Carb; 1 g Protein; 85 mg Sodium; 24 mg Potassium

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