Craving Fall Buddha Bowls | A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice

Today I'm hosting a book tour stop for A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice: a Memoir in Four Meditations by Christine Hale. This book is a little different than my usual read, and left me a bit puzzled when it came to writing my review. So, while the review that follows may seem a bit abbreviated, that is exactly the way that I wanted to present it. I hope you'll give it a chance.

Memoir for poetry fans. At first a bit of a turn-off, but the further I got, the more I became accustomed to her writing style.

Read like angst poetry or journal entries. A way to purge and let go of guilt, shame, self-doubt, neediness, hurt, codependence, and shortfalls.

Garbanzo and Brown Rice Burgers

It's not often that I make a point of eating meatless meals. It's usually just done, thrown into the rotation like any other meal. And while it's true that at times one of us will crave a big ol' juicy steak (that's usually me), some messy-face ribs (daughter), a comforting roast chicken (youngest son), some sticky carnitas (the hubs), a fat burger (oldest son), or some good greasy bacon (everybody) - I don't think any of us feels that we have to eat meat at every meal. We always have eggs, beans, lentils, or some other source of protein hanging around.

That said, there are a few meatless meals that I crave from time to time. Broccoli-Tofu is one of them. A platter loaded with roasted broccoli and cauliflower with a giant bowl of garlicky homemade hummus and grilled pitas for scooping everything up is another. And the soft tacos that I ate almost daily about 18 years ago are another - thick, homemade flour tortillas warm and stuffed with Mexican rice, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, guac, and sour cream {swoon}!

Càlia e Simenza inspired by The Shape of Water | Cook the Books

"'What are you doing?' I asked him.  And he answered me with a question in turn.

"'What shape is water?'

"'Water doesn't have any shape!' I said, laughing.  'It takes the shape you give it.'"

For this round of Cook the Books, we're reading something that I probably would have never picked up myself, The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri, as picked by Rachel.  This is the first novel in a series of Inspector Montalbano mysteries.  Now, it has all the makings of something I would gravitate towards.  The tagline on the cover reads "a novel of food, wine and homicide in small town Sicily".  That in itself got me excited to start turning the pages.

Sour Chickpeas {Khatte chhole}

This week at IHCC marks the start of a six-month cooking journey with Madhur Jaffrey.  Now, I'm no stranger to Jaffrey.  I first fell in love with her storytelling when I read Climbing the Mango Trees a couple of years back.  And actually, I was so inspired to try more Indian dishes that I threw a Taste of India dinner party.  And no kidding, four or five of those dishes still make regular appearances in my kitchen.  And then last year I revisited my interest in Jaffrey when she appeared on the 50 Women Game-Changers (in food) list.  So, I was excited when she took the vote by storm and I realized that I was going to be able to spend a solid six-month period exploring and re-discovering her food.  And along with that, her stories and food memories.

I decided to kick everything off with something easy.  Because in all honesty, I still wasn't one hundred percent after traveling.  I never realized how much being an international jet-setter could take out of you.  Chickpeas are a sure win in our house.  If only for the hubs and I.  And I find it pretty amazing how adjusting the spices used and the layers of ingredients can transform something we eat on a regular basis into a completely different experience.  Khatte chhole was typically a "street food" or "bazaar food" in India, but many people now make it at home as not only a snack, but a side dish or main part of a meal.   It carries that signature musty earthiness lent by the chickpeas, but also a layer of slow heat and a welcome sourness from the last minute addition of a lemon juice mixture that contains raw onions, green chiles, and ginger.  We actually served it with brown rice and made a meal of it, though I can see tipping it into my mouth from a waxed paper cone as I walk down a colorful, busy street.

If you enjoy cooking with Madhur Jaffrey, feel free to come over and join us at IHCC anytime from now through March.  We'll be there.  Getting familiar with Jaffrey's food, style, and techniques.  And hey, if you're by some chance not familiar with her, then you should really join us.  Six months is a pretty solid introduction and foundation for getting to know any chef or cook.  We choose differently weekly themes, meant to be a source of inspiration or a way of narrowing down your decisions by the week.  And every month we have a Potluck.  That means anything goes (as long as you're cooking with Jaffrey).  We'd love to have you!

Sour Chickpeas {Khatte chhole}

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 1 hour - overnight (soak time)

Cook Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Keywords: side snack vegan soy-free sugar-free gluten-free beans legumes Indian

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 12 oz. dried chickpeas, rinsed
• 10-11 oz. onion, chopped
• ~2½ tsp. salt
• 1 hot green chile, chopped
• 1 Tbs. finely grated fresh ginger
• 4 Tbs. lemon juice
• 6 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 8 oz. tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Tbs. ground, roasted coriander
• 1 Tbs. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 tsp. garam masala
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

Soak the chickpeas in about 3 pints (6 cups) water overnight or using the quick-soak method (bring to boil for 1 minute, cover and turn off heat, let sit one hour). Drain and replace with fresh water in a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer gently until chickpeas are tender, ~1½ hours. Strain chickpeas, saving 14 oz. (400 ml) of the cooking liquid.

In a small bowl or teacup, combine 2 tablespoons of the chopped onion, ½ teaspoon of the salt, the chile, ginger, and lemon juice. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy, wide pot over medium-high. When hot, add remaining onions. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to caramelize a bit, 8-10 minutes. Add tomatoes and continue to saute for another 5-6 minutes. Press down on the tomatoes with a spoon to start breaking them up. Add ground coriander, cumin, and turmeric and saute for 30 seconds while stirring. Add the drained chickpeas, the reserved cooking liquid, remaining salt, garam masala, and cayenne. Stir to combine then bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the mixture you reserved earlier and turn off heat. Serve hot or lukewarm.

notes:

Khatte chhole are traditionally eaten as a snack in India, you can serve these with rice and veggies to make a nice vegetarian or vegan meal. Or you can serve them as a side dish alongside meats.

slightly adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery

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IHCC theme: Welcome Madhur Jaffrey
My Legume Love Affair host: Desi Soccer Mom

Caldo Tlalpeño (Garbanzo-Vegetable Soup w/ Smoky Broth)

I'm sort of protective of my Sundays. It's like...the final day to get stuff done before the craziness of the week begins.

While I try to start laundry on Saturday and get as much done as possible, I always seem to be folding up the last load while watching The Walking Dead.

And I know I should check backpacks on Friday as soon as they're strewn across living room chairs, but instead I choose to pretend that I don't see them. Which led to an unfortunate missed-birthday-party incident a year or two ago. Who sends home invites on Friday for a Saturday party, anyway!?

And my mom and sisters know way better than to ask me to drive up to visit on a Sunday. I mean, an hour to two driving each way (depending on who we're going to see), plus time to actually catch-up? It's not happenin' on a Sunday. Because I will spend the whole day obsessively running what needs to be done through my head. And therefore I won't enjoy myself. I'll be on edge. Who wants to hang out with somebody like that?

What do "the King", Refrigerator Pickles, and White Truffle Oil have in common? {mish-mosh}

Not a whole lot.  Other than they have all made their way into my first mish-mosh post in quite a while.  If you've never seen one of my mish-mosh's before, basically it's a time when I share a bunch of photos that have been sitting around on my computer for a while.  Taking up space.  Begging to be shared.  For one reason or another, they never earned their very own blog post...but they hung around long enough (some much, MUCH longer than others), that they deserved to be talked about.  Usually in a mish-mosh post, I won't share a recipe, but I will share links to the source with a mention of how I changed it...if I can remember back that far.  This is the first of two mish-mosh's coming your way.  I hope you enjoy!

Some of you may remember that my oldest child...my teenager (!)...has a thing for sandwich making.
  I wonder where he gets it.  Not long after he made that infamous Teenager Sandwich, he decided it was time to make everybody some Elvis Sandwiches.  Not being one to argue with a good idea, I pulled out the bacon, bananas, and peanut butter and heated up the cast iron skillet.  Yum.

When it comes to Pineapple Upside Down Cakes, I am all for them.  But honestly, I do prefer a "made from scratch" version like this particular Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake which used fresh pineapple, cut into chunks instead of the usual rings...and dropped the maraschino cherries all together.  Every now and again I receive an email from Cook's Country to test a recipe that they are working on.  Then I go to answer a survey about the recipe, ingredients, final product, etcetera.  I love the idea that I had a part in "developing" their final recipes.  This was one of them.  And it rocked.  Every time I think about pineapple upside down cake, I'm reminded of a garlic version (think garlic in place of cherries) I made a number of years ago.  Surprisingly, it was pretty darn good.  One of these days I'll make it again...and blog about it.  That's fair warning.

Okay, this one's been hanging around since last Autumn sometime, I believe.  If I remember right, it was a Quick Chicken Cacciatore that I adapted by adding spinach from Nigella.  I think you can find the original in Nigella Express.  But I'm not going to go look now, so forgive me if I'm mistaken.  I remember it being a simple, delicious meal...but nothing so show stopping that it begged to be blogged.  Obviously.

This was one of those "back of the bag" recipes.  You know, right up there with "back of the box" or "back of the jar" food.  Often they are quite good.  And easy for a good family meal, but nothing too extraordinary.  Such was the case with this Chicken Noodle Casserole that I found on the bag of an egg noodles package (Meijer brand, I think).  Everybody gobbled it, but I didn't think it was anything you probably hadn't seen and eat many times before.

When I saw this Crusty Farm-Style Fried Chicken over at Mary's place, I knew I'd be making it soon.  It sounded so good.  And it was.  My only qualm (as I knew it would be), was how the bottoms of the chicken lost their crunch when I put them into the oven after the initial frying.  I even put a rack down first, but this is always my luck when I try finishing fried chicken in the oven.  Oh well.  It was still might tasty, if a bit soft on one side.

When I saw the recipe for Grilled Pierogies and Kielbasa in the July/August '11 issue of Food Network Magazine, my mouth instantly began watering.  Unfortunately, the same didn't happen when I actually bit into the dish.  Don't get me wrong, it was okay.  I love pierogies.  But it wasn't worth writing home about.  It's pretty though, isn't it?

Okay.  Waaaaay back in January or February, I started seeing Charcutepalooza posts everywhere.  Heck, I even did one myself.  I ordered the Ruhlman book Charcuterie with the best intentions of joining in monthly.  You may have noticed my homemade corned beef was my one and only post in this effort.  {sigh}  I just found myself caught up in other things and my trip back to garde manger took a back seat.  But no matter what happened, I do love this book and think it deserves a place on any dedicated cook/chef/foodie's bookshelf.  This Lemon and Herb Brined Turkey Breast comes from the book.  And it is FANTABULOUS! Best intentions...

These Pickles date all the way back to last summer when my neighbor dropped a cucumber bomb on me.  A very large, heavy cucumber bomb.  That's my pickle-lover in pickle-heaven back there.  I have no clue where the recipe came from.  It's on the tip of my tongue, but apparently it doesn't want to jump off.  Let me just say, they were garlicky and gone in no time flat.  I think they were the type that sit in the fridge for 5 days before you can eat them. Hmm.

And can I just take this moment to share my favorite snack with you?  That would be Truffled French Fries.  Which means, take your favorite french fries...I don't care if they are hand-cut and homemade or frozen and cooked in the oven.  Then you sprinkle them with some Truffle Sea Salt.  Then you drizzle them with some Truffle Oil.  Then you dip them in Truffle Aioli.  This is heaven on earth.  Have I ever told you that just unscrewing the lid of a bottle of truffle oil and breathing deeply brings tears to my eyes and a smile to my lips?  True story.

Do you remember those chewy, amazing, addicting Sourdough Bagels that I told you about a while ago?  Well, while I love them as-is, every once in a while, I like to throw in some different flavorings.  You know, switch it up a bit.  Well, a ton of freshly chopped rosemary and freshly grated parm is one of my favorites.  This is them... Rosemary and Parmesan Sourdough Bagels.  You could also throw some raisins and cinnamon-sugar into the original recipe for a different, sweet-tinged batch.

I made this Spice-Rubbed Crockpot Chicken after being directed to this recipe from somewhere else.  Unfortunately, I can't recall that "somewhere else" anymore.  I think I stuck pretty close to the recipe.  I'm pretty sure we liked it.  And it was a cinch in the crockpot.  That's all I remember.  I wonder if I saved it because I liked the color so much?

Toasted fennel seeds, coriander, and black peppercorns.  Sexy, seductive, fragrant.  And I for the life of me, I can't remember what I used them for.  But I remember how much I liked the combination.

I will conclude this big ol' batch of mish-mosh with one of the "go-to" meals in our house, Spiced Chickpeas.  Since we can almost always count on having cooked chickpeas either in the fridge or in the pantry (because they are a favorite of both the hubs and myself), we often just throw them in a pan with some olive oil and a handful of spice.  Hmmm...I think I normally include smoked paprika, garlic powder, dried minced onion, oregano, crushed red chiles, thyme, salt, and pepper.  It may vary a bit, but that sounds about right.  If there's some sort of green around, I'll throw that in with the chickpeas.  Top it off with a fried or poached egg, and it's the perfect, quick, satisfying meal!

Phew!  That's half of the pictures "laying around" on my computer that I can now move.  Watch for a second helping of mish-mosh for the week to be posted in the next few days.  I hope.  So, what's hanging around your computer waiting for its moment-in-the-sun!?

Potato, Chickpea, & Radish Greens Curry w/ Lamb Sausage

Lamb sausage = tasty.  Hearty veg-laden green curry = magnificent.  Both combined = meh.

I thought this was going to be a brilliant combo.  Turns out I was incorrect. Ha!  I mean, it wasn't inedible or anything, but in my head, I pictures such dazzling results.  I imaged a meal that I'd be raving about for the rest of the day.  I'm not exactly sure "why"...but so goes life.  We decided to forge a little lamb sausage this month over at forging fromage and that is how these little sausage meatballs came to be.  I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my lamb sausage after I'd made it.  Links would have been ideal, but I didn't order any casings, so that was out of the question.  So, I thought perhaps patties placed atop the radish salad suggested in our forging fromage challenge.  But I'm not too fond of just radish greens raw and alone.  I suppose I could have combined it with other lettuces and green, but... I do however love any type of green once cooked.  And then I thought green curry and couldn't get it out of my head...so I thought...why not!?

Well, I thought the combo of the potatoes with the chickpeas and radish greens tasted brilliant, but the sausage didn't end up "fitting".  I will definitely eat this curry again, but next time I will bulk-up on all of the veggies.  Really, I'd eat the sausage again, as well...just in a different application.

Lamb Sausage

adapted from Live to Cook by Michael Symon

yield: 1 lb.

1 garlic clove, minced

 2 Tbs. shallot, minced

 olive oil

¾ lb. lamb shoulder

¼ lb. pork fatback

1 tsp. smoked paprika

 scant tsp. cayenne

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. hatch chile powder

 ½ Tbs. kosher salt

 ¼ tsp. sugar

Sweat garlic & shallots in a little bit of olive oil in a pan over medium heat until translucent, ~2 minutes.  Cool completely.  Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.  Grind in a meat grinder, or pulse in batches in a food processor.  Chill for ~30 minutes.  Stuff into casings, or form into patties, etc.  Keeps, refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Potato, Chickpea, & Radish Greens Curry w/ Lamb Sausage

from the kitchen of girlichef

serves ~4-6

1 lb. lamb sausage, formed into ~32 mini-meatballs
(or make it a meatless curry and bulk up the veggies!)

1 sm. onion, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1 jalapeño, sliced thinly

2 heaping Tbs. green curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand)

2 small potatoes, diced small (peel if you wish)

1 c. cooked chickpeas

3 c. water (or use ½ coconut milk)
2-3 big handfuls radish greens (sub other greens, if you wish)

salt, to taste

radishes, sliced thin to garnish

cilantro, to garnish

yogurt, to garnish

Heat a little glug of olive oil in a large, deep-sided pan over medium-high heat.  Add meatballs and sauté until browned all the way around (at which time, they should also be cooked through), ~7-8 minutes.  Turn heat down to medium and add onion, garlic, & jalapeños.  Sauté another couple of minutes, stirring, until softened.

Stir in the curry paste, then add potatoes, chickpeas, and water (& coconut milk, if using).  Raise heat and bring to a boil.  Partially cover, reduce heat to a simmer and let bubble gently for 5 minutes.  Stir in radish greens, partially cover again and continue to bubble gently for another 10 minutes or so.  The sauce should have thickened at this point.  Remove from heat and taste then adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary.

Serve with radish slices, cilantro, and yogurt to garnish.

Jamie's Chicken Korma {soooo...the chicken came first?}

This was a very tasty curry.  However, I'm a bit spoiled for any other Korma than that Murgh Korma that I posted last October.  It seduced me and I haven't been able to shake how I felt when it was around.  That said, this is still tasty in its own right.  The original recipe called for a sweet curry paste, which I switched out for a spicy one...because I already had it in the pantry and I was just too lazy to make any from scratch.  So, with everything else in the house, this made a pretty darn tasty quick meal...with a few leftovers for Mexi to take to work the next day.

Chicken Korma

slightly adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution

serves 4-6

1¾ lb. skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" chunks

2 medium onions, finely sliced

1 fresh green chile, seed & diced fine

thumb-sized piece of ginger, peel & finely chop

small bunch of cilantro

1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained

olive oil

butter

¼ c. hot curry paste, red

1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk

small handful of sliced almonds

2 heaping Tbs. unsweetened, shredded coconut

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

~2 c. plain yogurt

1 lime, cut into wedges for serving

Separate the cilantro leaves from the stems.  Chop the stems fine and set leaves aside.

Put a large, deep pan or Dutch oven over high heat and add a couple glugs of oil and a pat of butter.  Add onions, chile, ginger, and cilantro stalks.  Stir often enough so that it doesn't burn, but turns golden, ~10 minutes.  Add curry paste, coconut milk, half your sliced almonds, drained beans, coconut, and chicken.  Half fill the empty can with water, pour into pan, stir everything around and bring to a boil.  Cover, lower heat to a simmer and cook for ~30 minutes.  Check from time to time to make sure it is not drying out...add a bit more water if needed.  Season with salt and pepper, if needed (be sure to check first, because mine didn't need any further seasoning).

Serve over hot rice, dolloped with yogurt.  Garnish further with the cilantro leaves, remaining almonds and lime wedges.

Our theme at IHCC this week is...The Chicken and the Egg

Sesame Seed Pitas + Chickpea Sauté w/ Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Hummus

Whenever we (husband and I) are craving a hearty meatless meal, this is what we seem to make.  Pungent flavors.  Warm, toasted bread.  Satisfying, belly-filling goodness.  We repeatedly crave this simple dish that came about once upon time, many years back, when I had leftover chickpeas from making a big, honkin' batch of hummus.  Because we looooo-hooove (um yes, that's supposed to be a sing-songy love) homemade hummus, as well.  It may seem kind of redundant.  Eating hummus with another chickpea dish.  Oh well.  It's brilliant together.  The difference in both the textures and the tastes taste need each other.  The meal is not complete with one component missing.  This time, however, is the first time I've ever made the pitas to go with it from scratch.  And now.  Now!  It pushes our favorite meatless meal over the edge....and we're glad to jump off after it.

Sesame Seed Pitas

from The Food Matters Cookbook by Mark Bittman

makes 12 pitas

1½ c. all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1½ c. whole wheat flour

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 tsp. instant yeast

2 tsp. salt

1 c. warm water + more as needed

½ tsp. honey

2 Tbs. sesame seeds

Combine flours, oil, yeast and salt in a food processor.  Turn machine on and add 1 c. warm water through feed tube along w/ honey and sesame seeds.  Process for ~30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch.  If it's dry, add 1-2 Tbs. water and process for another 10 seconds.

Put the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.

When dough is ready, lightly flour your hands and the work surface.  Form dough into a ball and divide into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a small ball.  Put each ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and cover with plastic wrap or a towel.  Let rest until they puff slightly, ~20 minutes.

 Roll each ball less than ¼" thick, using flour to prevent sticking as necessary.  As you work, spread flat disks on a floured surface and keep them covered.  Dough should sit for 20 minutes before baking. When all the disks are rolled out heat oven to 350° F.  If you have a pizza stone, set it on the lowest rack in the oven, otherwise lightly oil a baking sheet and set it on middle rack in oven.

Slide as many disks as will fit on the stone or sheet pan into the oven using a pizza peel or large spatula.  Bake until lightly browned and puffed, then flip to the other side.  They should puff up a bit when ready.  Average baking time is ~5-6 minutes total.

If you wish, you can brush them with a little more olive oil when you remove them from the oven.  Eat right away or cooled, stored in wax paper or plastic bags...gently reheated before eating.  They can also be frozen.

That favorite meatless meal I was talking about earlier?  It's so incredibly simple...yet so incredibly addicting!

Chickpea Sauté with Broccoli, Cauliflower and Hummus
Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.  Add some thinly sliced onion and cook for a few minutes, or until soft.  Add in some minced garlic and cooked, drained chickpeas.  Cook until the chickpeas start to get some brown spots on them.  Add in some blanched cauliflower and broccoli.  Cook until they get little crisp, brown spots on them, too.  Throw in some read pepper flakes, a squeeze of fresh lemon and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with some freshly made Hummus.  Scoop it all up into a hot pita.

Just don't say I didn't warn you of its addictive qualities!

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*Yeastspotting!