I had the greatest time with this class. There were five attendees, four in a birthday party, and a fellow who wants to learn how to cook. Everyone was in a good mood, and were surprised that they were going to get to eat. They thought they had come just to watch. The food was a success based on the attendee's immediate reactions. And I was able to pass on some invaluable knowledge and skills.
I’ve taken a little hiatus from writing. Yes, recipes have been posted, but the food knowledge and history and the perspective columns have been suffering. I promise to get back to writing in both these areas later in September.
Recently, I’ve been working on re-developing the website, and that involves taking lots and lots of photographs. Once the photographs are taken they then have to be cataloged with keywords and other such technical fun stuff, and uploaded to the server so that i can eventually share them with you, the reader. It is a phenomenal task, and one that is hard to concentrate on while working a full time job, a part-time job, and writing for this blog.
Save the Date: September 4th, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
I’ll be teaching a class on quinoa — how to make it, how to spice it up, what to serve it with, and I’ll have the nutritional facts and history of quinoa. If you’re in the Phoenix area, and want to check it out, make a reservation at Luci’s Healthy Marketplace for a seat.
The Bonus? Sampling the food we make in class.
There has been an abundance of eggplant here in the Valley of the Sun, so I thought I’d make a vegetable dish without using the cookbook. I followed steps I’ve learned, toasting the seed spices, soaking tamarind, and stacking flavors. I found a name for this recipe, and I think I like it. Let me know if you do.
You are probably wondering how to find some of the ingredients I use in this recipe. I have the advantage of having a Vietnamese Grocer several blocks from the house. I can buy some of the specialty items there, split mung beans and eggplant especially. For the bulk spices I go to the Herbalist down the street. They carry a decent supply of fresh herbs and spices. Their cumin is fantastic. When I need to find the exotic, there is a super chain called LeeLees that specializes in International foods. They have a great produce section as well as a selection of the Indian Spices I use. If you can’t find some of these ingredients in your market, check online, there are several reputable companies with reasonable prices.
It’s been over a year since I shot the last round of videos. I borrowed a high quality camera, and scheduled a production date. I proceeded to do the requisite preparations: I wrote video scripts and shot sheets, and trained the Partner on the language of television production, and how to use the video camera. (We both agreed that the day of shooting is not the time to have a pre-production meeting).
A friend was kind enough to open their home to us as a “set.” (I have a very teeny tiny kitchen right now). They got involved and helped us with lights and placement of microphone. The shooting went well. Between setting everything up, including the food, and tear down, it only took three and a half hours. The total amount of video shot was around 40 minutes. Completed videos will equal 5 minutes. Time-wise we did well.
Sour cream by itself is pretty plain. For me it falls under the same category as mayonnaise, it's that white gooey stuff with no flavor. As I was putting together a class I knew that I couldn't serve just plain sour cream, I'd have to put a Sonoran spin on it. Here's what I came up with.
Long consumed by natives of Mexico and Central America, avocado packs a powerful healthy fat content (the unsaturated kind). As well as a list of vitamins and minerals normally only found in supplement form. You can make avocado soup, avocado cream, put slices of it on sandwiches, and according to Dave Lieberman, sneak it into smoothies or even brownies, to get goodness into kids.
But I am a purist, and when making Tofu Chili Tacos, or Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas, I've got to have some guacamole.
Dur
ing a shopping spree a little over a week ago, I finally found fresh curry leaves, an important ingredient in the cookbook I’m working out of: Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India
The recipes I chose to make were Beans Poriyal, Colocasia Roast (Small Taro root), Small Onion Sambar, and Curry Powder. I also boiled potatoes for potato salad, and chopped cabbage for both coleslaw, and Bund Gobi. Much too much for the 12 feet of cooking space in the apartment.
I made the Beans Poriyal, and scorched the spices a bit, it still came out OK, but not great. Not overly fond of the taste. The Colocasia Roast is a labor intensive process. First you boil the taro root, then peel it, then dice it and cook it in the spices, and then roast it for a few minutes in the oven. I failed to turn on a timer when I put it in the oven and burned the Roast. What little I was able to taste was fantastic, and that just made me sad.
The late summer brings squash season. Yellow, green, crook necks, grey squash. Squash in all it's abundance. But what can you do with these soft and delicious vegetables? New Mexico solved the problem by inventing this dish.
I grew up calling Arroz "Spanish Rice." This followed me into adulthood, and up into my 30's. I found out not too long ago, that what I learned to call Spanish Rice isn't so Spanish. It really doesn't have anything to do with Spain, or how they cook rice in that country (think Paella). Arroz really is Mexican Rice, cooked in a tomato base with peppers, onions, and garlic. I've been making this rice for as long as I remember, back to when I would stay with my grandparents on the farm. I've since perfected it, and made Arroz palatable for the Vegan.
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