Cooking With Aj



Lunch at home!



  Many of you reading this know that after many years of living in India, my parents have returned to their house on Long Hill Drive!  Having them close again is wonderful, and being back in the house is surreal.  Sleeping in my old room, sorting through boxes of stuff- notes and journals, pictures and letters, videos, drawings and writings- I am 13 years old again, and 17, and 19, and 22… 

  And as much as 411 has meant to me, I know it also lives in the memories of all my friends- from middle school, high school, college and the CIA.  It has a place in the hearts of my far-flung family, who’ve come from all points of the globe to stay and know the beauty that is New Jersey.  It has ever been a welcoming place, with plenty of booze and good food and glittering blue pool out back.  And the two most giving and generally awesome people who own it are always happy to have you over, I’m just lucky enough to call them my mom and dad.

  It’s nice to be home, and the bestest thing about this summer is that my mother’s mother, Aji, has come to stay for a few months.  Every morning she prepares some delectable vegetable dishes for lunch, and I have been watching her cook, trying to absorb all I can.  This is the Indian cuisine of my youth- simple, flavorful and healthy, with no adverse digestive consequences to face afterwards. 

  There is a feeling out there that Indian food is extremely hard to cook, when actually it should be quite uncomplicated once you get the method.  My Aji doesn’t use a big fancy knife and she cooks everything in small pots and pans, but I’ve never tasted anything near as delicious in any restaurant. 



  In French cooking, we start with a mirepoix- in Indian cooking we start by frying spices in hot oil, then adding chilies, onions, garlic and ginger.  The goal is the same, we are building a flavor base.  Aj rubs the cumin seeds in her hand before adding them to the pot to release the oils.  She then adds onions and turmeric and fries them for a few minutes.



  One of my favorite dishes has always been okra, but the few times I’ve tried to cook it I end up with an unappetizing gooey mess.  Aji suggests adding some acid to the dish to cut the goo, in the form of cut tomatoes, lime juice, sour mango powder, or even some vinegar. 



  She adds coriander and cumin powder, salt and a pinch of sugar, then covers and cooks on low for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  No goo!  She garnishes with fresh chopped cilantro.

  Meanwhile, my mother works on a delicious cucumber “salad” ( I can’t even begin to spell the word in Hindi)



  She grates ginger and adds to the chopped cucumber, chilies, and salt.  She makes a “sauce” with tamarind, fresh coconut and some jaggery, and tosses in a bit of the fried cumin seed and oil.



  The result is a bright salad- tangy, cool, sweet and spicy all together!

  You might be wondering: where are the recipes??  Well, there are no recipes for this type of vegetarian home cooking- I could tell you to add a teaspoon of cumin seeds or a cup of chopped tomatoes, but you could just as easily leave the tomato out or double the cumin- the beauty is the nuance of the cook, so the same dish can appear in a billion different incarnations in homes all across the world.

  The key is to understand the method: hot oil, spice seeds and chilies, vegetables, ground spices and powders.  After that, it is just a matter of getting to know your spices and flavors: garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, mustard, turmeric, black gram, chili powder… the list goes on and on!  Dual Specialty Store is an excellent Indian grocery near me on 1^st Avenue between 5^th and 6^th Streets, where I can find all the necessary spices.  We Indians have spread ourselves all over this country, and by now I’m sure most of you out there would have no problem locating your local source for split lentils and garam masala. 

   I am still far from confident with my use of the spices, but I’ve gotten better with practice.  Like anything else, it takes testing and tasting, and I’m learning as I go.  I have a lot to live up to, but I can’t be too hard on myself if my cooking doesn’t taste as good as my Aji’s- mine is just starting out and hers is flavored with a lifetime of understanding.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

Heirloom tomatoes, zucchini and olives on a puff pastry crust.

  August! 

  It wasn’t until a summer spent in India that I tasted a real tomato.  I had been a self-proclaimed raw tomato hater for all of my 12 years, but suddenly I was asking for them every morning, sliced on buttered toast.  Glittering juicy red, sprinkled with course salt and pepper, these were like no tomatoes I’d ever tasted- bursting with dark sweetness, they tasted tart and earthy and full of vivid flavor.   

 I thought that I disliked raw tomatoes, but that was just because I had never tasted one- not really.  Sure, they sold “tomatoes” at my mom’s grocery store just like they did at yours.  In fact exactly like the ones at yours, where every tomato on every shelf is the same size and weight and shape and color.  Each looks just as you imagined a perfect tomato should, and yet… there is something terribly wrong here.  It looks like a tomato and feels like a tomato, but what exactly does it taste like?  The sad answer is: not much.

 The tomato is ubiquitous in the American diet, and everyone knows how we like to eat.  But what has become of the tomato is perhaps one of the greatest crimes to fruit and vegetable kind.  To keep up with our demand, what have we sacrificed?  Just taste, texture, and the very essence of what a tomato is and can be.  No wonder so many people think they hate tomatoes, they just don’t realize that they’ve never really had one.  I avoid using raw tomatoes for most of the year because once you’ve tasted this gem at its bright peak, there’s no going back.

 So what is a true tomato lover to do?  

 Be patient and wait-  for tomato season, when the sun-ripened beauties come into the markets by the truckload and I can sort through bins and baskets and barrels of tomatoes of every shape, size and color I could imagine, and some I would never have come up with.  I purchased a box of mixed heirloom varieties and went straight home to put together this delight, a Tomato Tarte Tartin.



oh so cute!

  Pick the best tomatoes you can find- they don’t have to be fancy organic or heirloom, just try for local.  This recipe is a great excuse to buy those gorgeous babies that you’ve been dying to take home with you, so go for it!

  Purchase a package of frozen puff pastry dough- if you are ambitious and have some time to kill, you can certainly make your own, but there are some good quality products available.  Make sure the dough is ALL butter- this an essential part of the “puff” in puff dough, so avoid products with anything but flour, butter, salt and water.  (If you can’t find any, you’re better off with Phyllo.)  Defrost for about an hour at room temp. 

  Flour a clean surface and carefully unfold the dough- dust flour on any sticky spots.  With puff pastry, the point is to keep it as cold as possible, so work quickly to roll out the dough a bit. 

   Let it rest on a sheet in the fridge for ten minutes, then use a sharp knife to cut a circle big enough for your pan.  Keep the cut dough in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

Tomatoes

Zucchini, olives, garlic, bacon, capers, thyme, basil, salt, pepper

1 T sugar

1 T butter

1 circle puff pastry dough, chilled

  1.  Start with a cast iron or heavy bottomed pan that can go into the oven, heated to 400° F.  Cook some sliced bacon until it is crispy, then remove it from the pan.  Pour off half the grease to use for later.

 2.  Cook chopped garlic, then toss in sliced zucchini.  Spread out the pieces so that they are all touching the surface of the hot pan- try to get color on both sides.  Throw in olives, capers, herbs, bacon bits, etc into the pan and cook together. 

 3.   Remove the mixture from the pan, then return to medium-high heat with a pat of butter and the reserved bacon grease if you have it.  Sprinkle the sugar and cook it until it dissolves and starts to brown.  Place the tomatoes sliced-side down into the caramel- and watch out for splattering!

  4.  Turn the heat down low and cook for 5-7 mins, until they soften and get some color on one side.  For the prettiest end result, try not to move them- but don’t worry if you do, the tart will still taste great as long as you remember the salt.

  5.  Add the other goodies back to the pan and remove from the flame. 

  6. Place the pre-cut circle of puff dough over the mixture and slice a few short slits across the middle.  Slide the pan into the oven and bake at 400° F for 25-35 minutes, until the pastry has puffed and is baked all the way through.



  Unbaked puff dough is terrible, so don’t pull it out of the oven too soon.  The crust should be golden brown and flaky and stiff all the way through- if the top is getting too dark, cover it with a sheet of foil and continue baking. 

  7. Be careful when handling the hot pan out of the oven!  Allow the baked tart to cool for twenty minutes, then use a plate to invert it.  Some of your toppings might stay with the pan, but you can put them back on top.

  A fairly simple and versatile preparation, and the result?  Well, you tell me.

  Seriously, this thing is so gorgeous I want to laugh, and so delicious I want to cry.  And I know I have to save some for PJ, but somehow half of it is already gone… Ok more than half. 

  Oops.

Summer Mango Tart

  Summertime is fruit eating season, and there’s nothing more summery and delicious than a ripe, juicy mango.  The sweet and supple flesh, the heady flowery fragrance- to me a good mango tastes like pure slices of heaven encased in a fiery-red skin.

  But a good mango is as elusive as a shimmery mirage, and finding one around here can be as frustrating and useless as trying to catch a fistful of bright sunshine.  I’ve been spoiled by too many long afternoons spent on my grandmother’s terrace in Hyderabad with sticky lips and orange nectar dripping down my forearms to be satisfied with stringy fibrous things they sell at the fruit stands at 14^th street, those sad fruits that begin to rot before they’ve ever even ripened. 

  I had all but given up hope on ever capturing that sweet intoxicating flavor on this side of the Atlantic, but my mother has finally come back home and with her return I’ve regained access to some of the best Asian markets in New Jersey, the motherland.  Last time I went to visit she sent me home with a ripe bagful and I’ve been feasting ever since! 

  A ripe mango doesn’t need anything to make it better, and the best way to eat it is raw- to showcase this jewel of a fruit at its very best, I baked off this crispy phyllo shell and topped it with a tangy sweet cream.  The lime zest plays off the sweetness of the mango and heightens the flavor to dangerous levels of knee-weakening deliciousness.  Make sure you are sitting down to eat this one!

Mango Tart

1          ripe mango, peeled and sliced thin

6          sheets phyllo dough

¼ c      melted butter

            sugar

Tangy Cream

4 oz     cream cheese

½ c      low-fat yogurt

¼ c      sugar or honey

1          lime, zest and juice

pinch   salt       

1.  Thaw frozen phyllo pastry dough according to the package instructions- 2 hrs at room temp or overnight in the fridge.  Before you start, make sure your station is set up with a damp towel, a small bowlful of sugar, some melted butter and a pastry brush, and a baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper sprayed with Pam.

2.  Carefully unroll the phyllo dough and immediately cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap and the damp towel.  Phyllo sheets are incredibly thin and will start to crack if you let them get dry, so be sure to replace the towel each time you remove a sheet.

3.  Put the first sheet of phyllo down on the baking tray and gently brush it with a thin layer of melted butter.  Sprinkle a fine dusting of sugar over the pastry, then place another sheet on top.

4.  Repeat the butter/sugar process until you have five or six sheets- brush the top layer with butter but don’t sprinkle it with sugar.  I folded the edges in to give it a finished look, but you also can bake as is.

5.  Bake the tart shell at 350° F for 12-18 minutes, until the pastry has turned a deep golden brown color.  During the baking process, the butter between layers will crisp the crust and the evaporating liquid in it will cause the pastry to rise like a quick puff dough. 

6.  While the pastry cools, whisk together the cream cheese, yogurt, lime juice and zest, sugar to taste, and a pinch of salt.  You can experiment with strained Greek yogurt, sour cream, goat cheese, or anything else you think might taste good with the fresh fruit.

7.  When the pastry is completely cool, spoon the cream mixture evenly over the crust, then placed the sliced mango on top.  Finish with a dusting of lime zest.

  The combination of crunchy pastry, tangy sweet cream and fresh fruit at its peak is a wonder of taste and texture, and this tart is a great quick dessert that will work well with any type of ripe fruit or berry, so get creative and enjoy!

Fried Rice For Rao

   We were raised in the land of plenty where we often throw away more food than we consume-  but being the child of immigrants, there was no sin more heinous than “waste” according to my grandmother.  Maybe that is why there are few things more satisfying to me than cleaning out my fridge.

  I hate throwing out perfectly good food, so when the veggies are starting to wilt in the crisper and the Chinese food containers of hardened rice are accumulating on the shelf, it’s time to throw together a quick fried rice.  Reappropriating leftovers is an exciting challenge that tests the skills of any home cook- how can you make last night’s dinner fun and new?  Get creative with spices and sauces, and don’t be scared- no one is watching but you!

  1. Heat some oil in a pan or wok and sautee onions, garlic and ginger over medium-high heat.  Add your chopped veggies and/or meat and cook them.

2. Break up the rice and add it to the pan with a good knob of butter- sprinkle soy sauce over top. 

3. I don’t have a proper wok, so I use a second pan to fry up a few eggs on high heat.  I use a spatula to chop them up, then add them to the rice. 

4. Cook the fried rice until it is tender and delicious and the flavors have come out to play.

  Cooking is all about practice and tasting, and above all going with the flow.  Forget the rules, just throw it in a pan and see what happens- chances are you’ll be happy with the results, or at least learn what to do differently next time! 

Fried Zucchini Blossoms



Fried Zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and herbs



  When I was 19, my father took me with him on a business trip to Florence, Italy.  For four glorious May days he attended meetings while I spent my time wandering and watching, walking and exploring and getting my first taste of la vita bella.  The sun-ripened tomatoes, the creamy gelato, the sing-song beauty of the language and the general atmosphere of good times to be had made me fall hard for Firenze, as so many millions had before me.  On the banks of the river Arno I made a promise to myself then that I would return, and of course I did...   

  On our last evening I joined my father and his colleagues- we were being taken for a special dinner in an undisclosed location.  Just as the sun started its descent in the clear sky, the ten of us boarded a tiny little bus- I had no idea where we might be headed.  We drove over a bridge headed for one of the green hills that surrounded the city and started our ascent.  As we climbed higher I could see the ancient city spreading out below us, the red tiled rooftops and towering cupolas glowing in the late evening sun, rippling and shimmery like a mirage.

  We disembarked in front of a small cottage on the hill and were seated in the garden, under a wooden pergola twined with leafy branches and tiny white tree lights that flickered on as the sky darkened to my favorite shade of deepest blue.  The air was sweet with the scent of grass and flowers, and the stars twinkling above seemed to be winking down at me as the wine was poured and the first antipasti platters came out- fried zucchini blossoms. 

   Being a suburban girl I had little concept that zucchinis grew with flowers, and that this flower was not only edible, but delicious with a delicate zucchini flavor.  Leave it to the Italians…  The petals were a rich orange yellow striped with bright green, and some blessed person had stuffed them with stringy warm cheese and fried them to crisp perfection.  What followed was one of the top five meals of my life, but all I can really remember is the way those blossoms tasted in the Tuscan evening air. 

  On Wednesday I scored a box of beautiful healthy male blossoms with stems (the females grow at the end of the vegetable) and I knew what must be done.  These are great fried crisp on their own, but I stuffed them with ricotta and herbs and coated them in a batter spiced with garam masala.   

Fried Zucchini Blossoms

12-15             zucchini flowers

Batter

1 c                   flour

1t                     salt

1 t                    garam masala

1c                    club soda, cold

Stuffing

1 c                   ricotta cheese

1 t                    lemon zest

                        Thyme, basil

                        Salt, pepper

1.  Remove stamens from inside the flower, being careful not to rip the petals.  You can use a pair of tweezers or even long scissors. 

2.  Mix ricotta with zest, herbs and spices- these herbs came from right outside my window!!

3. Using a teaspoon, fill the bottom of each blossom with a little cheese- be sure not to overfill them!  Remember, a little goes a long way here and too much filling will burst in the hot oil.  Leave the filled flowers in the fridge until you are ready to fry.

4. Mix the flour, salt and spices together, then add the cold club soda and stir with a fork to get the lumps out.  The batter should be runny but thick enough to hold to the blossoms. 

5. Heat vegetable oil in a deep pot to 375° F.  Set up a frying station with the batter and blossoms, and a rack or plate lined with paper towels. 

6.  When the oil is hot you can start dipping the blossoms into the batter and frying them.  I gave a little twist at the top of the flower to keep the cheese in.  Fry until the batter is golden all around.  If the cheese starts to leak out into the oil, it will cause a burnt mess, so fish out the busted ones- you can crisp it later in the oven for a minute or two.

  Ahhh, fried stuff with cheese… is there anything better?