Friday Frames | Resplendent

Dear Foodies,

...and I get a year older younger today! :)

(Flower:'Tiger Eye' Rudbeckia)

Peach Jam spiced with Crystallized Ginger

Dear Foodies,

When I entered the neighborhood Whole Foods a few weeks back after a long break from the store, the first sight that welcomed me was a huge mound of peaches from a local farm. I picked up a couple of pounds of the golden fruit even before realized it. I do that with almost any fruit in season, but in reality I am not a fruit eater. But pretty fruit are hard to pass up so I buy them in the hopes that they will continue to tempt me when I take them home. I've tried hard and failed to set a routine of having fruit at least once a day. For a few weeks, I made smoothies for breakfast every day & it worked like a charm. A handful of oats nuked for 30secs whizzed up with an assortment of fruits and a sumptuous breakfast is ready to be devoured. But the attraction eventually waned out and I had to find another way to use up the gorgeous fruits that fill the summer months.

Jams are a great way of preserving ripe fruits and extending their shelf life. Even better when you can make it at home tweaking it to your liking. Making small batches at a time takes the worry out of the whole canning process too. So I decided to turn the bounty of peaches into jam. The idea of toast and jam for breakfast though isn't very appealing to me, too sweet. In search of spice I also bought a jar of jalapeno jam once and it was surprisingly good! So when I made jam at home it was obvious that I would find ways to spice things up a bit.

I've been making small batches of strawberry jam over the last two years and it has been absolutely rewarding to make jam at home. Strawberries must be one of the easiest to turn into jam and I've successfully paired them with tart rhubarb, spicy black peppercorns and ripe mangoes. Now it was surely the turn of the peaches to get into a canning jar. When selecting peaches, or any fruit for that matter for a jam, don't worry about appearances, a few bruised fruit will taste just as fine or even better. If you can score a bargain on the ugly fruit, then perfect. The most important thing is to make sure they are ripe, smell fragrant and are seasonal fruit.

With strawberry jam I tried red pepper flakes and crushed black pepper in separate batches and the black pepper won hands down. The occasional bite of pepper in the ham makes it really delicious and brings out the flavor of the fruit too. The same idea did not sound good with peaches so while perusing through the vast number of odds and ends in my pantry my eyes fell upon a jar of crystallized ginger. I love to chew on these sugary bits of ginger when my taste buds need to come alive after a bad cold or heavy meal. I knew I had found the perfect spice agent to pair up with the juicy peaches on hand.

I used pectin for the first batch of strawberry jam but realized that I could easily skip that step for them. A little citrus juice, sugar and a little time on the stove will turn them into a nice thick jam. With peaches I wanted to retain the freshness and delicate flavor in the fruit and did not want to cook them longer than needed to soften them. Adding pectin immediately cuts down the cooking time giving you a jam that has a pure concentrated flavor of the fresh fruit. The amount of pectin you need depends on the brand/type of pectin available. So carefully read through the instructions and use the amount needed accordingly.

Peach Jam with Crystallized Ginger 

Serving: 2 pints
Prep time: 30mins
Cooking time: 30mins

Ingredients:

• 5 - Peaches, washed (~ 2 cups)
• 1.5 cups - Sugar (depends on the fruit)
• 1.5 Tbsp -Crystallized ginger, finely diced
• 1 cup - Mango chunks (optional)
• 1 tsp - Orange zest
• 1/4 cup - Orange juice
• Pectin - as per packet instructions
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Bring water to a boil and blanch the peaches for about 30-40secs to loosen the peel and immediately drop them into ice water. You don't want to cook them at this stage. When cool to handle, peel off the skins, they should easily pull away from the fruit. Discard the pit and give the pulp a rough chop. 
2. In a non-reactive pot, add all your ingredients except the pectin and bring the mixture to a boil. Taste test and add more sugar/ginger to your liking. 
3. Follow the instructions for the pectin based on the brand. I tend to use about 3/4 the quantity suggested because I don't like the jam to have a thick jelly like consistency.
4. Once the fruit mixture returns to a boil turn off the heat. Skim any foam that appears on the surface to get a clear jam. 
5. Allow the jam to cool completely, transfer to dry, airtight containers and store in the refrigerator. If making a larger batch, be sure to sterilize your jars appropriately for canning. I usually make smaller batches and run mason jars through a dish washing cycle with heat before I use them. 

Note: This recipe makes a mildly sweet jam. The peaches were exceptionally sweet and the mango added to the sweetness. Make sure to taste the fruit before you add any sugar, if the fruit is sweet enough you can reduce the amount of additional sugar needed.
- I used Pomona's Universal Pectin, it comes in powder form along with calcium powder that is used to activate the pectin.
- flavoring ideas- cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, apricot chunks...

Peaches work wonderfully in this preparation, the jam has a stronger peach flavor that the fruit themselves. Since you end up concentrating the flavor of the fruit you are left with the very best that the fruit has to offer. The orange zest brightens the flavor of the entire jam and brings out the flavor in the fruit. The tiny bits of ginger that hit you add another dimension and break the sweetness in the jam. On a slice of freshly baked bread this jam is a joy to eat. I'm considering making jam cookies and tarts to show off this jam, but since I've made this whenever I crave something sweet after a meal I find myself reaching out for a spoonful of peach jam. Do try it out and let me know if you have a favorite jar recipe or combination.

I realized that this is a perfect entry to the Veggie/Fruit a month event created by Priya and hosted by Susan this month to showcase lovely Peaches. Looking forward to the numerous recipe ideas that will be coming our way in the round-up! Need to stock up on peaches again.

Zucchini & Yellow Squash Ribbon Salad

Dear Foodies,

Things never seem to go as planned around here with me and the blog! Late last year I took a break from work when I moved to San Diego thinking that would give me all the time in the world to spend on blogging, reading other blogs and making new friends. When I was working and trying to blog regularly I would always wish for more free time, and envy those who were able to take a break and spend time doing what they love. So when I finally did reach that point I had so many more things on my list and I just got drawn into a completely different routine. I cooked a lot and interestingly managed to take some good photographs and added to my collection of food props too. But the actual time I spent on the blog or following my favorite blogs shot down to a real low. I got busy crocheting, sewing, taking craft classes, catching up on books, exploring the new city, photographing and lots of cooking.

Now I'm back to work and with it my itch to blog is back with a bang too! When I was working I had my blogging routine all worked out and it had become a matter of habit, so now I hope to nourish that routine and make it a really work. The last few weeks I worked hard to finally make the move to the new blogger beta templates from the older one that I had. Its easier now to change colors and fonts and backgrounds, but the move itself wasn't easy at all. There were some hacks and widgets that I had learned to tweak to my needs and create a personalized blog space in the older version and now I had to re-tweak them, painfully refreshing my memory and making them work with this new blogger html code. Not an easy task! After an extremely slow and frustrating process I am satisfied with the way it looks now and decided to move on before I go crazy :) And the idea behind the color scheme, if you are wondering, is inspired from a coffee mug that I fell in love with at the store!

This salad that I bring to you today is assuredly one of the prettiest plates I have made! And there was almost zero effort on my part, the gorgeous veggies handled it all by themselves. Its.summer.on.a.plate. The grocery stores are piled high with summer squash and if you are gardener then you surely are running out of ways to consume them before the next batch is ready for picking. I slice them up, char them lightly on the cast iron pan and pile them on my burger like so. Or I use the chunks in some tomato-onion based gravy spiced up with ajwain(carom) and fennel seeds. But those ideas are for later, today I share with you a very simple salad preparation.

Summer Squash & Radish Ribbon Salad

Servings: 2 ( side)

Prep time: 20mins

Cooking time: N/A

Ingredients

• 1 - Zucchini, Yellow Squash and couple of radishes washed and wiped dry
• 2 tsp - Spring onion greens, minced
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

For the lemon vinaigrette -

• 2 tbsp - Lemon juice
• 5 Tbsp - Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Cut the squash in half or thirds for longer ones to get approx 4" pieces. Using a vegetable peeler or a mandoline, carefully shave off ribbons of the squash allowing them to fall into a bowl. The radishes can be sliced as is, taking care of your fingers all along.
2. For the basic lemon vinaigrette, I add all the ingredients into a small bottle with a tight lid and shake it well to get the emulsification going. Taste test for seasonings. 
3. Starting with half the vinaigrette, pour it over the veggies and lightly toss them together. Add more vinaigrette as needed. 
4. Arrange the pretty vegetable ribbons on a plate, sprinkle the minced spring onions and red pepper flakes and serve the crisp fresh salad immediately.

Notes: Carrots can also be made into ribbons in a similar fashion and added to the salad.
- Dry fruits (cranberries/ raisins) & toasted nuts (walnuts, pine nuts or sliced almonds) can be added to enhance the salad.
- Little chunks of ricotta, feta or goat cheese would also go really well with the sharp acidic vinaigrette.

This is a fantastic salad, you get to enjoy the unique tastes of each vegetable but they also blend together to form a cohesive dish. The acid in the vinaigrette adds a sharpness to the salad that makes it extremely light and refreshing to the palate. The spring onion greens and red pepper flakes add varying kicks of spice forcing you to go back for more. I had a bowlful of it and made it again the next day, and the day after until I ran of squash at home. Another great way to enjoy the salad is to pile it on top of crisp toasty bread, smear one slice with a little bit of fiery home-made harissa and dig-in. Brilliant. You will even forget you are eating raw veggies. Make this and enjoy the rest of summer.

Apple Thokku/Pickle

Dear Foodies,

All of you have heard the oft spoken adage - An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I have too, but the apples that I see on the store shelves all year long just don't seem worth it. For a month or so I tried eating them as an afternoon snack, but though I bought organic apples, they still did not taste great. It was eating for eating sake with no real apple flavor in those pieces. Sometimes I forget to use up the last one or two and the apples seem to look the same for weeks! I cannot put trust in fresh fruit that refuses to rot for that long and so I almost stopped buying any more apples. The only form that I have them in my pantry is as applesauce that I use for baking and in smoothies.

The best apples I had in recent times were the ones in Julian, Ca. They also make the best apple pie you'll ever eat. Fresh apples from the farm, cooked just right and served while still warm from the oven == absolute bliss. But that is not the what I want to talk about today..the reason I brought up the topic of apples is when I bit into a Granny Smith it got me excited about apples again. The tart, crisp and juicy Granny Smiths reminded me of the raw mangoes that filled my Indian summers. Cut in slivers, dusted with some salt & chilli powder, gobbled up just as soon as I got my hands on them were our snack through the summer. We had a mango tree in our backyard and the sight of the first mangoes of the season was a celebration. Their tartness makes you pucker up and no matter how much you try you cannot stop yourself from having more.

After the best raw mangoes were set aside for the famous batch of Andhra avakaya, the rest promptly got turned into fresh cut mango pickle and my favorite, thokku to satiate our pickle cravings. Finely grated mangoes are cooked to get the moisture out and then seasoned with typical pickle ingredients like mustard fenugreek, salt and red chilli powder. I could have it with rice & curd, dosa's, chapati or just by itself :) The crisp Granny Smiths brought back all those great memories and I instantly set on the task of turning them into a thokku. They work great also in terms of texture since this variety holds up to cooking. The result was fabulous, and I am thrilled that I no longer have to look for raw green mangoes in the store anymore. And even if I do, I am sure they'll be gone before I can think of cooking them.

I used my mandoline to grate the apples to get them fine enough for the thokku but still not as fine that they turn to pulp. Always use the safety holder when using a mandoline, the blades on those are extra sharp and it won't take more than a second to have your skin scraped off or worse! Unfortunately, I learned from experience :( Just a day after I had moved to SD along with V, I brought out the mandoline to grate a chunk of coconut. In my hurry, I ignored the safety holder and instead of grated coconut I had shaved off a piece of skin on my finger...very painful, so please take care.

Granny Smith Apple Thokku

Prep time: 15-20mins

Cooking time: 15mins

Ingredients:

• 1 nos - Granny Smith Apple, grated
• 1 nos - dried Red Chilli
• 1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp - Fenugreek powder (lightly toast seeds & powder)
• 1-1.5 tsp - Red Chilli Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
• pinch of Hing/Asafoetida 
• 2-3 Tbsp - Gingelly/Sesame Oil (untoasted)
• Salt to taste (~ 1tsp kosher salt)

Method:

1. Heat sesame oil in a non-reactive saute pan, toss in mustard seeds and once they begin to splutter add dried red chilli, breaking it into pieces.
2. Add hing, turmeric and then grated apple to the oil and cook until the moisture in the apple is cooked out, about 6-8 mins. Its done when the grated apple comes together as one mass and oil starts to separate and collect around the corners.
3. Turn off the heat, add fenugreek powder, red chili powder and mix well. Once cooled store in a dry, airtight container and refrigerate. 

Notes: To make fresh fenugreek powder, lightly toast the seeds in a dry pan until fragrant and grind to a fine powder once cooled. I got twice the amount you see in the photographs from one apple. This is still a fresh pickle, so make it in small quantities and refrigerate. When you can find raw green mangoes use the same method to make mango thokku.

I loved it. I had it with curd rice, the absolute best pairing there could be. The next day I had it on crackers and some soft cheese spread as an evening snack. I also spread it on bread while making a burger sandwich for dinner. Its so addictive that once you make it you will come with many more creative ways to sneak it into every single meal you eat. Its been a while since I had the original thokku with raw mangoes to make an exact comparison, but this one surely wasn't lacking in flavor. With apples on almost all grocery stores shelves there is hardly any excuse to not make it.  

Friday Frames | Nature's Bounty

Dear Foodies,

life giving rain

Farmer's Market find - Cherimoya aka Custard Apple/Sitaphal

juicy, tart, freshly picked strawberries

a windy day on the beach

piercing through the winds

all bundled up!

Crocheting is addictive and from past experience I know this interest of mine will fade soon. I'm racing against time to get atleast a few projects done before I lose my fancy. So share with me any craft projects that you are currently working on ? I hope I'm not alone :) 

Have a great weekend!

Friday Frames | Tied up

Dear Foodies,

this was keeping me away...

Happy Weekend all :) I'll be back with treats for you next week :)

Friday Frames | A rose is a...

Have a great weekend!

Fenugreek leaves/Menthi kura pappu

Toor dal in the cooker is like a meal made already for me. You could either add a few vegetables along with it or cook them separately, either ways you have a meal ready in about 30 mins. I usually make tomato/spinach/budamakaya (lemon cucumber) but when I can find fresh fenugreek leaves I use them to make this flavorful pappu. Fresh methi/menthi kura has a pungent flavor and when cooked its aromatic and addictive. I love it in all its forms -seeds, fresh & dried leaves.

The seeds are my best friend while making idli/dosa batter at home and also are a crucial part of pickles, the best condiment ever made. During summer, every morning my mom would force me to eat a cup of yogurt that had the seeds soaking in them overnight. This same mixture when applied to hair before washing acts a  great hair conditioner too.  Diabetics and nursing mothers are recommended a higher intake of these seeds due to their specific nutritive properties. The seeds are known to cool your body internally and even now when I see pimples peeping out, I immediately get some seeds soaking :) I always add a few seeds to the pressure cooker along with the toor dal too because otherwise I rarely use them in other recipes.

The dried leaves are that secret ingredient that adds the restaurant flavor that your north Indian curries made at home have been missing all this time. Crush a spoon of leaves in the palm of your hands and sprinkle it about 10mins before the gravy is done. The aroma that this adds and the flavor it brings will make you a want to hold the secret close to your heart when giving out recipes :) And the fresh leaves, aah, they are a delight to the taste buds. Unlike other greens, these guys have a robust flavor and are not shy to show it off. They are mildly bitter, a little sour and highly addictive :) My favorite way to use them is in aloo methi, thepla and true to my telugu roots, as pappu.

They do take some preparation when the mature plants are harvested. The stems get tough and leaves need to be picked off the stems when used for cooking. For tender plants though you can use the stems & leaves in the recipe. Fenugreek is really easy to grow at home, just soak the seeds in water for a few hours, allow them to drain and rest in a moist cheese cloth/tissue for 10-12hrs. You will see tiny sprouts begin to pop out, scatter them on loose soil and within a week you will see green stems peeking out. The plants in the photograph are < 3 weeks old. I am waiting to see how high they go before harvesting them. Not making any promises though :)

Menthi kura Pappu/Methi dal

Ingredients:

• 1 cup - Toor dal, washed & drained
• 1 cup, packed - Fenugreek leaves, washed
• 1/2 cup - Onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup - Tomatoes, chopped
• 2-3 nos - Green chillies (adjust to taste)
• a pinch of turmeric
• 1 Tbsp - thick Tamarind pulp extract or 1/2 tsp store bought paste
• 1/2 Tbsp - Oil
• Salt to taste
• Popu/flavor oil - 1 tsp ghee/oil, 1/2 tsp cumin & mustard seeds, a few curry leaves, 1 dried red chilli, sliced garlic or pinch of asafoetida/ inguva

Method:

1. Pressure cook the toor dal with pinch of hing. In another pan, heat the oil and saute sliced onions and green chillies. When the onions soften and turn translucent add chopped tomatoes, turmeric and cook until they turn mushy.
2. The washed, drained fenugreek leaves go in next, roughly chop them before adding if needed. Add a little salt and continue to cook until the leaves wilt and lose their rawness, ~ 6-8 mins.
3. The dal should be done by now, once the pressure is released add the methi leaves mixture to the dal along with tamarind pulp and cook for another 10-15mins on low simmer. Taste test for salt and add more water if needed to get to a consistency that you like.
4. Right before serving, add the popu by toasting the ingredients lightly in ghee and top it over the dal. Serve with hot rice or chapati.

Note:
You can cook all the ingredients together in the pressure cooker or, once the methi leaves are wilted in step 2 add the uncooked toor dal to the whole mixture, add required amount of water and continue cooking until done. Use a method thats convenient to you, each might have a very slight variation in taste.

I don't think I have to say how good pappu over a mound of warm rice tastes. Doing the popu in ghee at the very end will add a really great flavor and aroma to the pappu. The ghee mellows out all the high notes in the pappu and brings out the underlying creaminess of the dal. The methi is the real star of the dish though, its complex soury, bitter flavor is hard to explain and you will have to make this pappu to understand why so many of us love it.

Friday Frames | Homemade

Paneer flavored with pudina & jeera

Mint/Pudina Pulao

Dear Foodies,

Pudina is one of the those herbs that I think take time to get to the favorites list. As a kid I was definitely not a fan. My mother would make a fabulous chutney with it or add it to rasam but I just could not get myself to appreciate its strong flavor. I think the only way to get some of the pudina into me was in my dad's sandwich, which is still the best sandwich ever. But over the last few years I've gradually been adding it to recipes, initially just a few leaves sneaked in which did not really exert their presence. But later my love for chaat forced to make large batches of pudina chutney to use in bhel puri & sandwiches. I have even driven 40 mins to the Indian store to stock up on pudina, the measly sprigs sold at the regular stores just don't cut it for me.