What I'm Doing This Weekend

Insanely Fresh Asparagus

What am I doing this weekend? Turning these 25 pounds of just-picked, local Washington asparagus into dinner for 16. It is a six course tasting menu, with asparagus in 4 of the courses.

If you are in the Seattle area and are interested in being invited to future dinner parties, drop me a line at herbivoracious [at] gmail.com.

Pictures and recipes soon...

Review: Punjab Sweets

Thali with Bhindi, Chana, Mattar Paneer and a Gulab Jamun

Iqbal and Gurmit Dha and their daughter Harpreet Giil have done something terrible, and I'll never forgive them. Their vegetarian restaurant, Punjab Sweets, offers my favorite Indian snacks, entrees, and sweets. And it isn't in walking distance of my house. I find this to be deeply cruel.

Seriously, I'm always on the lookout for the Indian snacks known as chaat. I love them all, but my favorite is the Pani Puri (also known as Golgoppa) that you see below. A plate of little crispy fried shells is served with a savory filling, and an intensely flavored dipping "water" with lots of tamarind, mint and spices. You poke a hole in the top of a shell, fill it up, dip it in the sauce and hurry it to your mouth before you douse your shirt. The versions I'm most familiar with include potatoes and chickpeas in the filling. Punjab Sweets does a wonderful, more minimalist version with just potatoes. Their sauce is the freshest I've ever tasted.

Pani Puri aka Golgoppa

I wanted to try as many of the entrees as possible, so Harpreet suggested the thali you see in the first picture. I chose the bhindi (okra), matter paneer (fresh cheese cubes and peas), and the chana (chickpeas), which were served with basmati rice, homemade yogurt, homemade pickled carrots, and a gulab jamun for dessert.

These were not the dumbed-down curries that you find on lunch buffets throughout our fair city. Each looked alive and fresh, and had a distinct flavor. The curries at Punjab Sweets are not generally mild. Be prepared for a decent level of heat that complements the other tastes.

Then there is the matter of dessert. As you can see below, you are going to have a difficult decision on your hands. My recommendation is to ask for a mixed box of Harpreet's favorites so you can try them all.

The sweets here are better than the best I had in Delhi, including the famous Haldiram. Many Indian sweets are based on flavored cream reduced to the consistency of fudge, and chickpea flour (besan). Flavorings include shredded carrots, pistachios and other nuts, rosewater, cardamom and other sweet spices. As with everything else at Punjabi Sweets, the desserts are a cut well above average, with smooth consistencies and well balanced flavors. I find them less tooth-achingly sugary than other shops, and that allows the caramelized brown-butter flavors to shine. A box would make a terrific hostess gift or an interesting platter at a party.

The Eponymous Sweets

Can you tell I love this place? All of the food at Punjab Sweets is 100% vegetarian, so that is a major bonus. And everything is prepared with obvious love and care, using first-quality ingredients and no shortcuts. I highly recommend a visit.

Details:

Punjab Sweets
23617 104th Ave SE C
Kent, WA 98031
(253) 859-3236
Open daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m

Recipe: Cranberry Bean "Fool Mudammas" (aka Borlotti Beans)

Cranberry Bean "Fool Mudammas" (aka Borlotti Beans)

I'd never worked with Cranberry beans (also known as Borlotti beans) before. By appearance they reminded me of pinto beans with more spots. I knew they were best known for use in Italian soups. But when I boiled them up and tasted them, the flavor immediately reminded me of dried fava beans. And that got me craving Foul Mudammas. (Which can also be spelled Fool Mudammas, or Ful Medames, or Foul Moudammas, yikes!).

Foul is a dish that originated in Egypt and is eaten all over the Middle East and East Africa. It is most often served for breakfast, with a flatbread. And of course there are many local variations. I've had it with a mix of fava beans and garbanzos (chickpeas), thick as refried beans or thin as a soup, insanely garlicky or totally mild, topped with a hardboiled egg or not, and even served with Italian bread at an Ethiopian restaurant, with lots of sliced chilis.

For American tastes, most people (sadly) wouldn't want this for breakfast but would love it for a healthy, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dinner.

Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure cranberry beans are not an authentic choice! I suppose not by definition since "foul" means favas. But the flavor and texture was so close, I thought it would work, and it did to my taste.

For the recipe below, you can of course use canned beans, just skip to step 2. Feel free to switch back to fava beans instead of the borlotti beans.

Cranberry Bean (aka Borlotti Beans) "Foul Mudammas" 
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
Serves about 4 as a main course, or more as part of a meze

• 1.5 c. dry cranberry (borlotti) beans or 3 c. canned beans of your choice
• 6 cloves garlic
• juice of 1-2 lemons
• 2 T. olive oil plus more for garnish
• salt
• cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• green onions, white parts only, cut in half lengthwise and then 1/4" pieces
• radishes, sliced thin
• black pepper

1. If using dried beans, rinse them, pick over to get rid of any extraneous material, and boil in a large amount of unsalted water until tender. You can also soak them overnight beforehand to reduce the cooking time.
2. Crush the garlic to a paste in a mortar and pestle with a bit of kosher salt. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, use a garlic press or a knife.
3. Drain the beans and return them to a saucepan with water to just cover. Bring back to a boil and reduce to a simmer for five minutes.
4. Add the garlic, the lemon juice, olive oil and 2 t. of salt. Turn off the heat.
5. With the bottom of a glass, or something else large and flat, carefully crush some of the beans to create a thick broth with about 1/2 the beans remaining semi-whole.
6. Taste and adjust with more salt and/or lemon juice.
7. Put the beans in a bowl, and garnish with a good quantity of tasty olive oil, cherry tomatoes, green onions, radishes, and black pepper. Sliced hard-boiled egg is nice too.
8. Serve with pita bread or other flatbread.

 

Recipe: Sesame Corn Muffins

Sesame Corn Muffins

I'm completely crazy for corn. Corn on the cob, corn sautees, tofu corndogs, and of course cornbread and corn muffins. Mini-me and I were plotting some of those muffins the other morning, and the inspiration struck to add sesame seeds. Sesame and corn go great together, emphasizing the earthy flavors in each. We added them to the batter and sprinkled more on top.

A couple of notes about ingredients. This recipe, based on one from Joy of Cooking, normally calls for buttermilk. I didn't have any on hand, but I had Saco buttermilk powder, which is quite convenient to keep in your refrigerator. I used that according to the package directions - 2 1/2 T. of powdered buttermilk to 2/3 c. of water, but that made the batter a bit thin, so in the recipe below I've dropped the water a bit. Add the powder to the dry ingredients and the water to the wet.

Sesame seeds are sold either hulled or unhulled, and either toasted or raw. I used hulled, untoasted ones because that is what I had. But any of the choices will work. If you use untoasted ones,  you might want to give a quick toast to the ones that go in the batter for more flavor. Don't pretoast the ones for the topping, or they might burn.

Recipe: Sesame Corn Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Vegetarian, not vegan or gluten-free

• 1 1/4 c. coarse or medium cornmeal
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. sesame seeds + more for topping
• 4 T. sugar
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 c. whole milk
• 2/3 c. buttermilk OR
  1/2 c. water and 2 1/2 T. buttermilk powder OR
  2/3 c. yogurt
• 3 T. vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Convection is fine if you have it.
2. Line a 12-muffin pan with paper cups or grease with butter.
3. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl. If using the buttermilk powder, include it in the dry ingredients. Stir thoroughly
4. Combine the wet ingredients in a second bowl and stir thoroughly.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix just well enough to moisten. It is ok if there are some lumps. Do not overbeat or they will become tough.
6. Sprinkle lots more sesame seeds on top. See the picture above.
7. Divide the batter in the 12 cups, and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. About 20-25 minutes normal, or 15 on convection.

Recipe: Fresh Spinach Fettuccine With Goat Cheese, Jerusalem Artichokes, Morels And Leeks

Fresh Spinach Fettuccine With Goat Cheese, Jerusalem Artichokes, Morels And Leeks

When we got to the farmer's market at noon last Saturday, I hadn't thought about how little might be left. It is early in the season, and Seattle's throngs of organic produce devotees had snapped up just about everything edible.

Still, I spied beautiful fresh spinach fettuccine from La Pasta. And then there were dried morels from one of the best local foragers. The fresh ones are due soon, but morels are one of the few mushrooms that really survive drying and rehydrating well; if anything the taste becomes more concentrated. Another booth had a few baby leeks and Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes). I was beginning to see a plan, and some fresh goat cheese (chevre) completed the picture.

I hadn't worked with Jerusalem artichokes too much. Oddly, that afternoon I happened to be reading The Curious Cook: More Kitchen Science and Lore and one chapter was about that very tuber. The main takeaway is that they give you gas, and that you can reduce that by boiling them for awhile in plenty of water. I didn't do that, and let's just say I can confirm the diagnosis.

Anyhow, back to the recipe at hand. I made a simple sauce by reducing heavy cream with garlic and melting the goat cheese in it. The Jerusalem artichokes were peeled, sliced and sauteed, which gave them a sweet caramelized exterior while still leaving a satisfying crunch. The morels were rehydrated and sauteed, and then the leeks went in the same pan.

The result was delicious, and satisfying because I'd found a way to go from making-do with the sparse early season produce to a dish I'd be happy to eat anytime. You can use this blueprint to improvise a wide range of fresh pasta dishes by varying the type of noodle, the vegetables, and the seasonings. Just keep in mind that generally speaking, fresh pastas like cream-based sauces better than tomato-based ones. Another option is to simply dress the noodles with olive oil or butter and leave the chevre in chunks.

As I was writing down this recipe, I was struck by how many times I ask you to taste and season one of the elements with salt. I can't stress this enough. You will get a much better dish by salting each component to taste instead of waiting until the end, or relying just on the sauce. It is hard to explain why, but try it and see if you don't agree.

Fresh Spinach Fettuccine With Goat Cheese, Jerusalem Artichokes, Morels And Leeks
Serves 4
Vegetarian, not vegan or gluten-free

• 3/4 c. heavy cream
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. fresh goat cheese (chevre) - Laura Chenel is an excellent brand
• 1.5 oz dried morels or 4 small handfuls fresh ones
• 1.5 lbs. Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes)
• 8 baby leeks or 3 large leeks
• chili flakes
• 1.5 lbs. fresh spinach fettuccine
• olive oil
• flat leaf parsley
• Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta.
2. If using dried morels, put them in a small bowl and just barely cover with boiling water.
3. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer with the garlic, turn heat to low, and reduce, stirring occasionally. Reduce by half or as long as you have patience for. Add the goat cheese and whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. While the cream is reducing, peel the Jerusalem artichokes and slice them about 1/4" thick. Saute in a very hot skillet with plenty of olive oil until nicely browned and somewhat tender. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels, and season with salt.
5. Remove all but the white part of the leeks, slice in half lengthwise and wash carefully. There tends to be dirt between the leaves. Slice thin. Add to the skillet and saute until soft. Season with salt, and remove.
6. Drain the morels if they were soaking (and reserve that stock for something, it is delicious). Slice the larger morels, and leave small ones whole. Add to the skillet, still at high heat, and get a nice caramelize on them. Season with salt and chili flakes to taste.
7. When the morels are about done, add the pasta to the boiling water. Fresh fettuccine will probably take about 3 minutes. Don't overcook it.
8. Add the Jerusalem artichokes and leeks back to the skillet and bring them back up to temperature. Give the mixture a final tasting for salt.
9. Drain the noodles and reserve some of the cooking water. Toss them with the sauce, and add back a bit of the cooking liquid if needed to loosen it up.
10. Divide among four bowls, top with the vegetable mixture and toss lightly. Top with a hearty shot of freshly grated Parmesan, black pepper and a few leaves of parsley.

Oh, and by the way, fettuccine is also often spelled fettucine or fettuccini or fettucini. Yipes!