Serves 2-4 Let’s get up and greet the day like an Indonesian. Stretch your arms to the sky. Touch the earth. Pile your plate with fried rice. And cow’s eyes. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean a cow’s cow eyes. I mean fried eggs. That’s simply what they call them in Indonesia. As far as breakfast goes, Nasi Goreng is incredibly satisfying. Especially if you eat it on top of an 8th century Buddhist monument. And why not? With stove-top travel, we can go wherever we want. Note: This recipe is best made with day-old rice. If you cannot take the time for this, cool your rice in a thin layer on a cookie sheet in the fridge. You should be able to use it after an hour or two. You’re basically looking for it to be dry to the touch. Moist rice will not fry up right – it will get mushy. Also, I left out the chili pepper so Ava could eat it, but locals would often add sliced red chili pepper …
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Serves 4 I’ve officially learned how to blackmail my brother into doing anything I want. Make him a pot of masala chai. He drank this sweet, milky treat his entire visit. A mug was never far from reach. The flavor is as intense as any local coffee shop, but the satisfaction is 200% greater, as we made it ourselves. One more thing – you can serve it hot or cold which makes it the perfect drink in my book. I’m honored that this recipe was featured in Penzy’s Spices’ 2012 early summer catalog. Ingredients: 6 cups of prepared black tea I used 2 Tbsp looseleaf black tea brewed in 6 cups water, but this can vary by brand. Spice blend: 10 cardamom pods, shelled 1 tsp fennel seeds 5 black peppercorns 1 cinnamon stick 2 quarter sized slices of fresh ginger Finishing touches: 1/4 cup sugar, or to taste 1/2-1 cup whole milk Method: Open the curtains. Let in the light. Pile spices into your life. First, brew the black tea. Then remove the tea bag …
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Serves 4 It’s creamy. It’s earthy. It’s one of my favorite dishes from India. Ladle saag panner over basmati rice and it’s also a surefire way to get a picky man to eat his spinach. Ingredients: vegetable oil 1 tsp fresh grated ginger 1 tsp fresh grated turmeric 2-3 tsp homemade garam masala 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic Serrano chili, sliced thinly (to taste) 1 lb frozen spinach, thawed, juices retained homemade paneer, to taste salt pepper finishing touch 2 Tbsp butter 1/4 cup half and half (or more to taste) Method: There’s only one way to get a picky man to love spinach. Load it up with good flavor. Blend it so it’s no longer slimy. And add some delicious cheese to distract him from all the green. First step: gather the ingredients. Whole Foods had fresh turmeric this week (see bottom right), so I did my happy dance. Next, toast the ginger, turmeric, and garam masala in vegetable oil over medium heat until fragrant. Add the onion, garlic, and Serrano chili. Cook until softened, …
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Makes about 3 Tbsp Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Imagine you’re in India. Having trouble? I can help. Let’s make some Garam Masala. Garam Masala is possibly the most well known spice blend from India. Grandmas all over the northern region grind up fresh batches of this earthy goodness for dinner every day. They’ve got the right idea. Grinding whole spices as needed is the secret to bold, flavorful dishes. You, too, can fill your home with the warm, sweet smell of India. And then you’ll be able to visualize. To travel. With nothing more than your imagination. Ingredients: 1 Tbsp coriander seeds 1 Tbsp cumin seeds 1 tsp peppercorns 2 cinnamon sticks 10 seeds from green cardamom pods 10 whole cloves Method: Let’s take a stroll over to an Indian spice market. Forget the car. Parking isn’t really worth the trouble. But the spices are. While we’re there, let’s gather a bounty of spices. We’re going to make a ritual out of delicousness. Buy spices you recognize and spices you don’t. Breathe in the …
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Makes 1 block of cheese Cheese lovers, come closer. I have a secret to tell you. I never thought I’d be able to do this. I thought it would be hard. I thought I’d just waste a bunch of milk. I didn’t. The truth is, the only thing standing between you and great cheese is a half gallon of milk, salt, and a little lemon juice. That’s pretty ridiculous. And empowering. Trust me. If you’ve never made homemade cheese before, you’ll delight in the simplicity of Indian Paneer. And it just might make you feel better if you’re having a rough day. Ingredients: 2 quarts (8 cups) whole milk 1 1/2 tsp salt 4 Tbsp strained lemon juice Cheesecloth Method: Every once in a while life gets frustrating. Everything just… drags. Like you have too much on your shoulders. Maybe you feel a little bit lonely. Maybe you’re bored. Or maybe you’re just hungry. It’s hard to know for sure, sometimes. On days like this it’s nice to take a stroll in the desert – to …
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Serves 6 This is the strangest soup I’ve ever sipped, and I owe it all to Iceland. Actually, “sip” isn’t really the right word. It’s actually somewhere between chew and sip – this soup is thick and hearty. The sugar and raisins give it a sweet, desserty feel, but still it feels like comfort food. Add rhubarb “raisins” if desired. Ingredients: 4 slices light rye bread, chopped (5 cups) 3 slices whole/dark rye bread, chopped (3 cups) 1/2 cup lingdonberry or sour cherry jam 1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste 1/2 cup homemade rhubarb raisins water, as needed Method: Icelanders love rye bread. The love it in the morning. They love it in the night. The love it on the “road”… and they love it chopped up for soup. Let’s create a little Icelandic comfort. Add the cubed bread to a pot and cover with water. Then stir in the jam and bring to a simmer. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Add raisins and sugar, to taste. Continue simmering until the bread …
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Serves 2-4 Friends, when rhubarb season calls, you must answer. This cold rhubarb soup from Iceland is like a big sip of sunshine. It tastes like lemonade. It tastes like rhubarb. It tastes like “good.” We only have a little more time in rhubarb land until next spring, so hop over to the grocery store and get some! Ingredients: 4 cups chopped rhubarb (cut into 1″ pieces) – about 1 bunch 2 cups water 3/4 cup sugar, more as needed 2 tsp lemon juice Method: Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb. It makes me happy. Almost as happy as these pictures make me… just look at his mane. It’s enough to make any pony jealous Once you chop up the rhubarb, there’s almost nothing left to do. Toss everything in a pot, let simmer for 15 minutes and puree. Chill for a few hours, until cold. Crumble on some zwieback biscuits, or you could serve it up with a dollop of something sweet, if you’d like. But I prefer to eat it with someone sweet. Sip slowly and let …
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So you feel like something unsual for lunch… but you just don’t feel like you’re up to Iceland’s famed putrefied shark flesh called Hákarl? You know… the dish made up of poisonous shark flesh that’s been fermented and hung to dry so that it’s no longer poisonous? The one that was traditionally buried and exposed to several freeze/thaw cycles until naturally fermented? The one that tastes like cheesy ammonia? Yeah. Let’s try something simpler. A little more tame. Perhaps something you could bake with? How about rhubarb “raisins”? This is one of those ingenious, resourceful Icelandic dishes that anyone can make at home. All you need is a very hot day (95-100F), or a barely warm oven (150F). Chop up a pile of rhubarb and set it out in the sun (or in the oven), until dried up and shriveled. If you leave it outside, you might cover it lightly with a thin cloth to keep dust and gunk away. Once the rhubarb dries up, pack it in sugar until needed. They get really small, so …
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Makes 2 quarts There’s an old Icelandic saying: “Even though you are small, you can still be clever.” Teeny weenie blueberries, fresh from the bush may be small, but they make the most adorable and extraordinary purple ice cream. And, as you drown in bite after bite of cold, sweet, glorious goodness, you also consume a quarter ton of antioxidants. Clever, indeed. So, churn up a batch. Stick around to watch as it freezes in the belly of your ice cream maker – you’ll be all smiles as the violet blue blends with the rich cream and sweetened by a light touch of sugar and cardamom. Make ice cream. Let joy overwhelm you – become a child, yet again. I’m honored that this recipe was featured in Penzy’s Spices’ 2012 early summer catalog. Ingredients: 2 cups blueberries 1 Tbsp water 1/2 tsp fresh, crushed cardamom (the seeds of about 15-20 pods) 2/3 cup sugar 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup milk Method: Ah, blueberries. There’s no quicker way to revive the inner child. Especially when the winter …
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Serves 2-4 Relaxing has never been so easy. Dive into this cool bowl of deep violet cherry soup and feel the blissful calm of Hungary overtake you. It only takes 12 minutes to make, 10 of which you’ll be daydreaming in a lawn chair with your sunglasses on. That’s the kind of cooking I can get behind on a hot summer’s day. If you can get your hands on fresh tart cherries (a.k.a sour cherries), the soup will be even better. In fact, if you do, you’ll be able to float some whole cherries on top of the soup as a garnish. The season is just getting started – they haven’t made their way to Oklahoma yet – but keep an eye out – they’ll be here any day now. Note: The recipe is vegan if you leave out the sour cream garnish. Ingredients: 1 jar tart cherries in water (29 fl oz), plus the liquid from the jar. 1/3 cup sugar, or to taste 1/4 cup dry red wine 1 cinnamon stick Garnish: sour …
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Serves 2-4 Ah, the glories of simple love. Simple food. Simple summertime breakfasts in Hungary. My mom has been making palacsinta under the guise of crêpes for decades. Despite being half Hungarian, she even calls them crêpes -I suppose because it’s easier to say. Still, like any good Hungarian, she’s made an art of rolling them up with fruit, yogurt, and nuts. Today – in her honor – we make the simplest preparation of all: smeared with apricot jam, sprinkled with crushed walnuts and stacked as high as we can handle. It’s like a Hungarian hug on a plate. Start this recipe the night before you need it. The next morning you’ll have thin, delicate palacsinta, perfect for wrapping up sweet or savory food (you could even wrap up chicken paprika in it). Some will tell you to keep the batter thin – it should pour about like maple syrup. You can thin it as needed with extra milk. Ingredients: 2 cups flour 2 cups milk, plus extra as needed 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp …
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