I used to regularly make good, hearty bread. Whole grains, various recipes.
All based on recipes from the classic Tassajara Bread Book. I still love the process of mixing and then kneading bread dough over several cycles before baking. It’s so tactile…far superior to using a machine.
Here’s an example from 2002.
I tried something like this once before with mediocre results.
But last night, with vegan friends coming over for dinner, I decided to try again with a vegan curry. This time, success!
This time I had a basic plan.
I chopped the cauliflower, carrots, and mushrooms in advance. Opened a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained, and rinsed. Added some lemon juice to the cauliflower.
Then I chopped a large onion and cooked in a cast iron pan over medium heat for 20-25 minutes until the onion was mostly caramelized, added the cauliflower until browned slightly, then added curry powder, garlic, raisins, a small hot pepper, and chickpeas, followed by some vegetable broth. Then covered and let it simmer for a while. Added carrots and mushrooms, add perhaps a little wine, then let it all simmer again. Then its time to taste and decide what it else it needs. Last night, once the flavors came together, it was really quite good!
Meda added a large fresh green salad, lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado. We added salad dressing, while our friends used simple lemon juice.
Red and white wine were opened.
This was my most successful cook’s foray to date into a vegan meal.
Vegan cauliflower & chickpea curry.
I have to admit that we returned for the second time to a small Thai restaurant about five minutes from where we’re staying in Auckland, and brought the meal back to our room.
It was a simple meal. Papaya salad, chicken larb (sometimes laab), and a noodle dish with chicken and vegetables. A touch of red wine. And a slight step up the hotness scale worked out well.
I think our preference for takeout meals started when reasonable wine in restaurants started costing $50 or more for a bottle that you would buy for under $15. Too much of a premium for us cheapies!
In any case, it was time for a toast!
The news from home is good. Toby is being a good patient, and is eating well as long as he gets his meds. Romeo wants to be a lap cat, Annie is being a princess, and Duke started sneezing. Our cat sitter deserves a medal for dealing with all of that!
Today (Monday in Auckland) Meda stared her more substantive lectures, with something scheduled each day through Friday. And on Saturday we fly home.
No, nothing here made with that sous vide technique I was wondering about yesterday. Just a simple preparation of last night’s yummy meal (vegans, forgive me!).
This was the result as served, hopefully to provide some incentive.
If you click on the photo, you’ll be magically transported to a series of pictures showing this meal in progress.
I know that I’ve probably shared a similar recipe before, but a little repetition never hurts!
So I stared by chopping a medium onion and starting it cooking in one our our rescued cast iron frying pans. The goal here is go get the onion to cook and brown without burning. This usually takes 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, and almost constantly towards the end, to try to prevent or minimize burning. The result is a batch of caramelized onions that will provide a rich base for your curry.
When the onions are almost ready, I add in some chicken to brown. You can use other meats. I’ve done only limited experiments with a vegetarian version, but haven’t yet gotten results that I’m happy with.
While the chicken is browning, I added lesser ingredients. Garlic, raisins, lemon juice, fresh ginger, hot peppers, curry powder (I used Penzey’s Vindaloo), and then some liquid of your choice (water, broth, white wine, etc). When all the basic ingredients are there, cover and let simmer for a while, until the chicken is ready to fall apart and the curry sauce is rich and fragrant.
This time I added in a few mushrooms in the final stage, mainly because they were inexpensive when we wandered through the neighborhood supermarket earlier in the afternoon. Sometimes I’ll add carrots of potatoes, but didn’t this time around.