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Iced Masala Chai

Posted by Michelle on Mar 8, 2008 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

When I can’t drink coffee, Indian masala (usually redundantly referred to in the US as “chai tea”) is my drink of choice. In its simplest form, it is a sweetened spiced tea with milk. Hot or cold, it is a refreshing beverage to have at any time of the day.

Every afternoon, a bunch of my Indian colleagues will get together and brew a pot to share with whoever wants it. They use a coffee pot, microwave and a bunch of ingredients that they’ve got stowed away in a cabinet in the lunch room. Their chai is a thick and heady with spices including fresh ginger root. Inspired, I decided to make some of my own at home.

I make masala chai concentrate which is nice because each member of the family can sweeten their chai to their taste.

Iced Quasi-Masala Chai Concentrate

• 4 bags of black tea
  You can use the equivalent amount of loose-leaf if you have it
• fresh ginger root, 1″ knob, sliced into 1/4″ slices
• 1 T peppercorns, whole
• 1 T cloves, whole
• 1 T allspice, whole
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat 8 cups of water to just under a boil. Add the black tea and the flavorings and steep for at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes at low or warm heat. Add vanilla and stir. Remove from heat and strain into a pitcher.

To serve (12 oz glass)
Pour 6 oz of the brewed chai into the serving glass. Add 6oz of milk (whatever kind you like) and stir. Sweeten to taste, adding ice if desired.

NOTES:
Spices in your local megamart (AB saying) baking and spices aisle are usually ridiculously expensive. $5 for a few measly cinnamon sticks? In the long run, it may be cheaper than getting $3+ chai lattes at Starbucks but is still hardly truly economical.

When buying spices for chai, I opt for ethnic markets or at least the ethnic aisle. I live in an area with a lot of ethnic and in particular Indian markets so I’ve got plenty to choose from. When in a megamart, though, I steer the cart towards the ethnic aisle where there are usually spices in small cellophane packets for less than a $1.50. Still not as great as if I were to get them from the Indian market but a lot better priced than if I bought them in the little glass jars.

Double Trouble Brownies

Posted by Michelle on Feb 9, 2008 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Even though I’m a gestational diabetic, I can’t help but make desserts whenever the fancy strikes. Here’s my Double Trouble Brownie — a dark chocolate brownie, studded with white chocolate chips and topped with a velvety dark chocolate ganache. These are very rich. My husband could only eat 1/2 of his; I could only eat 1/4! These would be excellent with a good strong cup of coffee. Enjoy!

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Brownies
6oz bittersweet (70% cacao) chocolate, chopped
6oz unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 T kahlua
6oz white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir in sugar and incorporate eggs one at a time. Add kahlua and then stir in flour. Once the flour has been incorporated, stir in white chocolate chips.

Spread in a 9×13 pan, lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes and cool completely.

Ganache Topping
8oz bittersweet (70% cacao) chocolate, chopped
8oz heavy cream
1 T kahlua

Heat heavy cream and pour over chopped chocolate. Let stand for two minutes and then carefully stir the cream and chocolate together. Once incorporated and smooth, stir in kahlua.

Let ganache cool to near room temperature and then pour over cooled brownies, spreading evenly. Place brownies in refrigerator for 1 hour to set topping. Remove from refrigerator and score/cut brownies into 3×3 squares while still cold. Bring brownies to room temperature for maximum yummy before eating.

Okonomiyaki Party

Posted by Michelle on Nov 9, 2007 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

My favorite get togethers involve food especially when someone else is cooking! Despite never having had “real” Osaka-style okonomiyaki (ie. in Osaka or Japan) I love the stuff. I’ve also found that it makes for a great “make-it-yourself” party food. Just prepare the batter, fillings and toppings ahead of time, set out hot plates and instructions and just let your friends cook their own damned food!

For an okonomiyaki party, I provide:

• Okonomiyaki batter
• Eggs
• Shredded cabbage and/or chopped kimchee
• Various batter add-ins, meats, toppings

Here’s a list of stuff I try to provide for okonomiyaki parties, budget and time willing. In addition to this, I also like to make up a batch of yakisoba so that people can make modern-yaki if they so choose.

Batter add-ins

• Cooked bacon bits (optional)
• Shredded cheese (optional)
• Baby shrimps (optional)
• Tenkasu/tempura bits (optional)

Meat

• Bacon (thin sliced)
• Beef (thin sliced)
• Sausage (thin sliced)
• Spam (thin sliced)

Toppings

• Okonomiyaki sauce
• Kewpie Mayonaise
• Aonori (seaweed flakes)
• Bonito flakes
• Chopped Green Onions (optional)
• Shoga (pickled ginger)
• Corn kernels

I confess: I use a ready made mix for the okonomiyaki batter. Just add water. Since I’ve always done okonomiyaki for parties, I haven’t really had the opportunity to experiment with non-ready made okonomiyaki mix lest it come out icky. The most important ingredient in the okonomiyaki batter is the 山いも (yamaimo) or mountain yam. It is what gives the okonomiyaki its texture and taste.

When looking for okonomiyaki batter mixes in your Japanese grocery store, look for it in the section that has other ready made mixes such as pancake mixes. (Don’t substitute pancake mix for okonomiyaki mix. It’s the wrong flavor and texture for this.) I’ve discovered that more general Asian markets tend not to have it in stock but it’s always worth a shot if you don’t have a Japanese grocery store near by. Always make sure that the mix includes “mountain yam” or “yamaimo” in the ingredients list. Otherwise, you won’t have the same texture or flavor that you should.

If you don’t have access to a Japanese grocery store to find okonomiyaki mix, Kirk of mmm-yoso has a great looking recipe that includes yamaimo here:
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/05/okonomiyaki.html

I’ve found that most general Asian markets will have “nagaimo” or “yamaimo” in stock in their fresh produce section. Where I am, they’re usually packaged in pre-wrapped, single packages and may have a covering of sawdust on them.

Fillings and toppings are very much up to everyone’s taste. At the very least, I provide green onions, okonomiyaki sauce and kewpie mayonaise. I have an indecent love for kewpie, as evidenced by the many times I’ve asked for extra mayo at Izumiya in San Francisco and consequently have been given a bowl to dip my okonomiyaki in. It sounds gross but I love it!

For parties, I’ve found it’s good to either demonstrate or (if you have the time/energy/want to) you could print out instructions or designate a short-order chef. What follows are the instructions I wrote up for my latest okonomiyaki party (but didn’t get to use) Feel free to change it to suit your party.

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OKONOMIYAKI お好み焼き literally means “Grill as you like”
Here it means: Cook your own damned pancake!

Often compared to pizza for its customizability, okonomiyaki has several styles, depending on where in Japan you’re eating. We’re going to do the Kansai style of okonomiyaki which is basically a savory pancake filled with cabbage and other yummy things.

Step 1: Mixing it up!

Scoop a ladle full of batter into the bowl
Add one egg
Add some cabbage or kimchee (or both)

You can also add all/some/none of the optional filling ingredients to the batter.

• Bean sprouts
• Chopped Green Onions
• Cooked bacon bits
• Shredded chees
• Baby shrimp
• Chopped fake crab
• Tenkasu/tempura bits

If you find the mixture too thick and chunky, you can add more batter. It all depends on how much dough to filling you’d like.

Mix up the okonomiyaki batter, eggs and fillings in the bowl until well blended.

Step 2: Cooking It!

Oil up the ho

t plate with a good amount of cooking spray and spread the batter evenly.

While the batter is cooking, lay a few pieces of the meat (bacon, sausage, spam, etc.) onto the cooking pancake.

Let it cook on the first side for about 3 minutes and then flip (carefully) and cook on the other side for about 3 to 4 minutes to make sure that the meat is completely cooked. Feel free to squish the pancake every now and then to make sure it’s cooked

Step 3: Topping it!
Once your okonomiyaki is cooked, remove it to a plate (I suggest meat side up) and start topping it.

Your choice of toppings are:

• Okonomiyaki sauce
• Kewpie Mayonaise
• Aonori (seaweed flakes)
• Bonito flakes
• Benishoga (pickled ginger)
• Corn kernels

For traditional Osaka-style okonomiyaki, top it with some okonomiyaki sauce and mayo and a sprinkling of aonori and bonito flakes. Watch as the bonito flakes start to move on their own from the heat. Oooh, spooky.

Otherwise, top to your hearts content and then pig out!

For the advanced folks – モダン焼き(modern yaki)

Fry up an okonomiyaki like you usually would

Next to it, fry up an over medium egg.

Remove the okonomiyaki to a plate. Top with a generous amount of yakisoba. Top the yakisoba with the egg. Top the egg with the various okonomiyaki toppings of your choice.

Pig out and then roll around in the blissful, carb induced coma that you’ll find yourself in later.

Potato Bacon Frittata

Posted by Michelle on Oct 22, 2007 in Breakfast, Main dish, Uncategorized | 0 comments

As a young professional, starting out on her own, I didn’t have much in the way of cookware. My first pot and pan were actually hand me downs from my husband’s bachelor kitchen. His bachelor kitchen was comprised of what we call “survival gear.” He had exactly one pot, one pan and one bowl. Plus a knife, a fork and a spoon and two plastic plates. No, he didn’t cook much. I made him chicken parmigiana on that measly bit of equipment on the first night we actually spent time a good amount of time together.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a few pieces of cookware. The first few years were pretty lean and about the best I could afford was whatever non-stick cookware happened to be on sale at our local Target. As they say, you get what you pay for and I must have gone through three or four sets of sub-par cookware in the last few years.

I’ve always longed for a good set of oven safe, stainless steel cookware but never could afford the All Clad that I salivated over. But serendipity smiled on me this summer. Thanks to a lovely anniversary gift certificate from my parents as well as a massive sale at Macy*s, I was able to get myself a great set of Cuisinart stainless steel cookware. It’s my first set of stainless steel cookware and if the reviews are correct, this set is only second to All Clad. Over the few weeks that I’ve been using them, I’ve been very satisfied and I predict that my cookware and I shall make many happy meals together.

In the spirit of trying to use up some of the random leftover ingredients I have laying about, I decided to make a frittata for my lunch tomorrow. I’d never made a frittata before, mostly because I never had oven safe cookware. But now that I do have oven safe cookware — and had a massive need to make some kind of edible lunch for work — I decided to experiment.

• 1 large russet potato, baked and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
• 2 slices thick cut bacon, diced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 c milk
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Pre-cook your potato by scrubbing it and either boiling it, baking it or nuking it. Let the potato cool and dice into 1/2 inch chunks. Whether you keep the skin or not is completely up to you.

Preheat the oven to 350F

In an 8″ oven safe skillet, fry diced bacon over medium heat until the bacon is crisp. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon. Sweat the shallot and garlic clove in the rendered bacon fat until translucent and fragrant. Add the potatoes and bacon back into the pan and stir to coat the potatoes in the bacon fat. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

In a separate container, beat the eggs and milk together. Stir in the parmesan cheese and season the egg mixture with salt and pepper. Add the egg mixture directly to the skillet. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool and set for 15 minutes. Remove to plate and cut into wedges to serve warm.

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Overall, I’m pretty happy with how this little experiment came out. Like most things, it’s important to season all elements of the dish well or else it will turn out bland. I was a little concerned that the eggs wouldn’t release from the pan easily or would burn but the gratuitous use of bacon fat prevented that. If you’re cholesterol conscious, you could pour off the bacon fat and replace it with olive oil or something but I’m a firm believer in the power of bacon to make just about anything better. However the bacon element does make this a little strong so I’ll be eating this with rice. (Yeah, double starch. I know, I know. Carbs are the enemy… unless you’re me in which case they’re your bestest friends in the entire food world. YUMMY.)

Perfect Iced Tea

Posted by Michelle on Oct 21, 2007 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Iced tea is a staple in our household because it’s wickedly cheap and it tastes good. We make it by the gallon and are usually out by mid-week. The beauty of iced tea for us is that there’s always an endless store of tea to choose from since I’m a tea freak and almost always have the pantry stocked with various black and green teas.

As far as iced tea in the United States goes, it’s a sad state of affairs. Most of the time, pre-sweetened iced tea is a fountain drink, reconstituted from cloyingly sweet syrup. YUCK! I’m firmly convinced that only the American South knows how to brew and serve a decent iced tea. “The table wine of the South” as they call it is the wonderful sweet tea. Why only the South serves it fresh brewed and sweetened, I’ll never know. (Being that my favorite beverages are iced tea and Coca Cola, I was pretty happy with my beverages choices when we visited Atlanta this past summer.)

Practically anywhere else in the US that offers real brewed iced tea offers it unsweetened, with a side of lemon and a plethora of sugar packets to help you on your way. As many a novice iced tea or lemonade maker knows, a cold drink doesn’t help dissolve the sugar. I’ve spent far too many meals waiting thirstily for my sugar to dissolve before being able to gulp down my beloved iced tea.

The answer to this problem is simple. Simple syrup, that is. It’s just a one to one ratio of sugar to water, already dissolved. This takes the work out of sweetening your iced tea or any other iced beverage. I like to keep simple syrup on hand for iced tea because I make unsweetened iced tea. While I love sweet tea, I can’t have it as often as I like and need to watch my sugar intake. My husband, on the other hand, hates unsweetened tea and needs his sugar fix. I keep my sugar syrup in a handy squeeze bottle for ease of use.

The beauty of simple syrup is that you can flavor it however you like. Add lemon or mint if you like those flavors in your tea. Simple syrup also takes the work out of making lemonade or limeade.

For a gallon of unsweetened iced tea

• 8 tea bags
• 8 c hot water
• 8 c cold filtered water

Heat 8 c of water until just under the boiling point. Steep 8 tea bags in the hot water for about 15 minutes to make a very strong tea. Remove the tea bags and let cool for another 5 minutes. Pour half of your cold water into your gallon container and pour in your hot tea. Pour in the rest of your cold water and stir to combine. Refigerate for 3 to 4 hours or until cold. Serve as desired.

For a gallon of Southern style “Sweet Tea”

• 8 tea bags
• 7 c hot water
• 6 1/2 c cold filtered water
• 1 to 1 1/2 c simple syrup

For true Southern “Sweet Tea” try to find “Luzianne” tea and follow their directions.

Otherwise, follow the directions for unsweetened iced tea above, except adding the simple syrup in with the cold water.

NOTE: Depending on where you are in the South, Sweet Tea can mean “tea sweetened with sugar” or “sugar water that looks like tea” (ie. Georgia.) Adding the full 1 1/2 c of simple syrup errs more towards the latter definition than the former so unless you like your tea that sweet, try adding only 1 c of the simple syrup first and adjusting to taste.

Simple Syrup (makes 1 1/2 c)

• 1 c sugar
• 1 c water

Heat your water to boiling and dissolve the sugar in the boiling water. Let cool slightly and then add to your iced tea (for Southern style “Sweet Tea”)

OR

Cool completely and reserve in a serving container.