Tandori Night in Hilo

I love Indian flavors. We do not have a single Indian restaurant on this island and so, like many things it comes down to creating these dishes at home.

What a fun meal. Even if it was just for two, it was one of the best I have had in a while. Tandori shrimp (sourced from the National Energy Labs Seafood Farmer’s Market,) homemade Naan, Mint Coriander Chutney (very spicy,) Mint Coriander Riata (cooling,) Smashed Grilled Yukon Gold Potatoes with Cumin Butter, Corn on the cob with Cumin Butter. Here are the recipes for you:

 Tandori Style Grilled Shrimp

 ©Devany Vickery-Davidson 2002

Mix up this base seasoning and store it for up to two months

 

Tandori Seasoning

6 tablespoons hot smoked paprika
2 tablespoons whole coriander toasted and ground
2 tablespoons whole cumin toasted and ground

2 tablespoons fennel seeds toasted and ground

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt (I use my own smoked Hawaiian salt)
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons ground sumac (optional, if you cannot find it omit it)
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Add the following and mix well:

The seasoning mix

1 cup of organic yogurt

5 cloves of garlic finely pureed in a food processor or mortar and pestle

Juice & zest of one lemon or lime

A 2” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and ground up in a food processor (you can do this with the garlic) or mortar and pestle.

This mixture will marinate up to 2# of chicken thighs or shrimp/prawns or fish.

Stir all together and place in a zip lock bag for 2-3 hours.

Place on a well oiled grill that has been pre-heated and cook through. Chicken will take much longer than fish or shrimp.

Naan

INGREDIENTS:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons minced garlic(optional) or 4 tablespoons sautéed finely chopped onion

1/4 cup butter, melted

METHOD:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy.

Stir in jaggery, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough.

Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth.

Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and set aside to rise.

Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic or onion if using.

Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned.

Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, place in foil wrapped with a towel and continue the process until all the Naan has been prepared.

The dough will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator if you do not want to use it all at once. I prefer to make these fresh for each meal. Though if there are any leftover, you will see me eating them for breakfast with the chutney.

Cilantro and Mint Chutney

This EASY EASY basic chutney is perfect for using as a dipping sauce with cutlets and samosas or to serve with main course dishes like biryani. I love it on Naan.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

·         1 bunch fresh mint (sometimes I use two bunches if they are small)

·         1 bunch fresh coriander/cilantro (or equal amount to mint)

·         1 Tablespoon each coriander and cumin seeds, toasted and ground

·         6-8 cloves garlic

·         1" piece of ginger

·         2 green Serrano or Hawaiian chilies more if you are a fire mouth like me

·         1 Tablespoon grated jaggery or palm sugar

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         3 Teaspoons lime juice

Method:

·         Cut off roots from both mint and coriander, peel garlic and ginger and remove stalks from green chilies then cut into chunks. Wash all these ingredients thoroughly.

·         Grind these and all the remaining ingredients into a smooth paste in a food processor. You can add yoghurt to the recipe in varying proportions. I usually add ¼ cup but if you want more of a riata, add 1 cup. I made both versions for this meal.

·         Chill and serve.

Smashed grilled Yukon Gold Potatoes with Cumin Butter

Microwave or Bake the potatoes till they are just barely soft. DO NOT overcook or they will fall apart.

Smash slightly so that they are about ½ of an inch thick.

Baste with butter that has been seasoned with some ground cumin.

Put on a hot grill and turn after 3-4 minutes. Baste again and add sea salt and cracked black pepper. Cook another 4-5 minutes and remove from the grill. 

Crab Cakes!

I have loved crab cakes ever since I lived in coastal Beaufort, South Carolina. There, I would put traps out off of my dock, baited with chicken necks and haul in a bushelful whenever I did so. Then I had an outside stove and picnic table. I would boil the crabs and pour them out on newspapers where my kids and I would spend hours picking & cleaning the sweet blue crabs. Today I am at the mercy of the fishmonger or in a pinch I will buy a can of quality lump crab. I made these crab cakes for dinner, but since there were only two of us dining, I made the remaining mixture into appetizer sized cakes and froze them. When I am in need of a quick appetizer I can thaw and sauté them in short order. I served the crab cakes over an arugula salad and with a side of Mango Mustard that my friend Janet gave me a recipe for. I also keep a tub of chipotle mayo (just put 2-3 chipotles in adobo in a food processor with a cup of fresh home made mayo & process till the chiles are totally incorporated) in the refrigerator and often use it or wasabi mayo with crab cakes.

Papaya Mustard

Here is the really simple recipe... go for it!

Ingredients:

1# of good quality lump crab meat, cleaned
Zest from a Meyer Lemon (or Eureka if you can't find a Meyer)
1/8 cup of fresh lemon juice (Meyer is preferred)
2 plump shallots, minced finely
1/4 cup of fresh minced herbs, in this case I used garlic chives, chives, chervil & flat leaf parsley
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Japanese Panko crumbs (I use the honey panko for this, but plain are fine too)
Lots of freshly grated black pepper

Method:
Stir all together and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Form into cakes of any size.. for entree portions I make them about 3" across, for appetizers about 1.5" across. Place the cakes on waxed paper as you are forming them. They can be chilled in the refrigerator or frozen at this point, or cooked immediately.

In a large frying pan, gently melt 2/3 stick of butter. When the butter has melted, add the crab cakes, being careful not to crowd them. Let the cakes sauté  until you see a rim of golden crust forming at the bottom of the cakes. Do not try and turn them until they have formed this crust or they will stick to the bottom and fall apart.

Turn the cakes and allow them to brown on the other side. Remove to a rack to rest for a minute and then serve.

Wordless Wednesday: This Week's Sunrises

Siopao : Steamed Buns with Sassy Filling

Siopao (pronounced Shew Pow) is a favorite snack in the Philippines. It comes from the long history of Chinese in the Philippines and as you may know, Bao or Chinese Buns are a classic item in Hawaii. You can find them everywhere and with many varied fillings. Our farmer's markets have stands which sell them. They are in the fresh and frozen sections of our grocery stores and many restaurants feature them here, particularly for Dim Sum. I have tasted versions of these buns from all over Asia. They generally have a savory filling, but the Japanese also fill them with sweet mung bean paste and Okinawan sweet potatoes. While these buns are wildly popular in many Pacific cultures, the fillings are often kept a family secret. With Hawaii being the center melting pot of many of those cultures we probably have more variety of steamed buns than anywhere I have ever been. Some are very good, pillowy soft buns that surround a variety of interesting fillings. My personal preference is a savory filling with lots of layers of flavors that impact the taste buds
Our International Cooking Club theme for this month was Filipino foods, and I actually realized that I knew very little about the foods of the Philippines other than a few foods I have tasted from friends over the years. The Philippines is such a diverse island country with influences to their cuisine from all over the world... Spain, Central America, China, USA and Japan to name a few. 

Because I know who the supreme dumpling expert in the US is, I immediately went to my copy of Asian Dumplings by one of my favorite Asian cooks, Andrea Nguyen. She totally *gets it* when it comes to instruction and sharing recipes along with videos and step by step photos. She has a fantastic website dedicated to the subject of Asian Dumplings. Andrea's expertise is not limited to dumplings of course... her main website Viet World Kitchen is a delight. Vietnamese food is probably up in my all time favorite list of great cuisines. I never tire of it and it seems to me that there is all too little knowledge of this wonderful cuisine that includes intense flavors, fresh herbs, fiery chiles and French influences. I have said all of that to say that Andrea Nguyen is certainly one of my food idols. 

And without further ado... here is the recipe I made for the Filipino night.
I used Andrea's formula for the bun dough which is in her book and was also featured in the LA Times. I doubled it to make 36 medium buns and because I have a professional sized food processor I was able to do so. If you have a standard food processor, you might be better off doing two separate batches. I had leftover filling, so tonight I am making an additional batch.

Basic yeast dough (Famian)
Total time: 50 minutes Servings: Makes enough for 32 small or 16 medium buns Note: All-purpose flour with a moderate amount of gluten, such as widely available Gold Medal, works best to yield tender, yet slightly chewy dough. Unbleached flour produces terrific flavor, but bleached flour imparts a brighter finish that some Asian cooks like.

1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

3/4 cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

Scant 3 cups (12 1/2 ounces) flour  
1. Put the yeast in a small bowl, add the water and set aside for 1 minute to soften. Whisk in the oil to blend and dissolve the yeast. Set aside. 
2. To make the dough in a food processor: Combine the sugar, baking powder and flour in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse two or three times to combine. With the motor on, pour the yeast mixture through the feed tube in a steady stream and allow the machine to continue running until the dough starts coming together into a ball, about 20 seconds. (If this doesn't happen, add lukewarm water by the teaspoon.) Let the machine continue for 45 to 60 seconds to knead most of the dough into a large ball that cleans the sides of the bowl; expect some dangling bits. Press on the finished dough; it should feel medium-soft and tacky but should not stick to your finger. 
3. Alternatively, to make the dough by hand: Combine the sugar, baking powder and flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture. Slowly stir with a wooden spoon, moving from the center toward the rim, to work in all the flour. (Add lukewarm water by the teaspoon if this doesn't happen with relative ease.) Keep stirring as a ragged, soft mass forms. Then use your fingers to gather and pat the dough together into a ball. Transfer to a work surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth, fingertip-soft and slightly elastic. (You shouldn't need any additional flour on the work surface if the dough was properly made. Keep kneading, and after the first minute or two, the dough shouldn't stick to your fingers. If it does, work in a sprinkling of flour.) Press your finger into the dough; the dough should spring back, with a faint indentation remaining. 

4. Lightly oil a clean bowl and add the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm, draft-free place to rise until nearly doubled, 30 to 45 minutes (timing will vary depending on the temperature of the room). The dough is now ready to use. 

5. If not using immediately, cover and refrigerate the dough until needed.


Now for the filling:

I bought Filipino sausages called longanisa, you could also use char su, which is the BBQ Chinese Style Pork. Either of these are available in all Hawaiian Grocery stores, but it may take a trip to an Asian store depending on where you live. This can also be done with boneless chicken thighs. *Note some versions of these rolls have slices of hard boiled eggs in them. I am not a fan of hard boiled eggs, but if you are, that would be a traditional element.

Filling Ingredients:
2 # of Longanisa Sausage fried, drained and ground in a food processor. 
2 medium red onions or 4 shallots finely chopped
1 bunch of green onions chopped (including greens)
2" of ginger skinned and finely chopped1 large jalapeño seeded and chopped
6 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup raisins soaked in boiling water till soft, then drained. 
2-3 tablespoons canola oil


Sauce Ingredients: 
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/8 cup of water
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Salt, pepper, cayenne and lime juice to taste


Double recipe of dough

In a frying pan, add the canola oil and red onion/shallots, sauté for a minute, then find a hot spot and add the garlic. Stir. Add  jalapeño and green onions. Stir. Add raisins. Add sesame oil. In a bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients then pour into the pan and cook till sauce thickens (about 4 minutes.) You do not want too much liquid.

Prepare your steaming vessel. You can use almost any kind of steamer. Bamboo steamers are ideal for these, but I used a 4" hotel pan with a grate in the bottom. Layer the steamer with some parchment paper, but still allow some places for the steam to escape. You could also use banana or ti leaves instead of parchment. 

Roll your dough out into two 14" logs. Cover one with plastic wrap while you work with the other. Cut the log in half and then in half again and again until you have 16 pieces. Your can make the buns larger or smaller, but this was for medium appetizer sized buns. Roll out each piece into a flat disc, about 3-4" across. Place in the palm of your hand and add a generous spoon full of filling into the center. Do not push down on the filling, but close up the bun by pinching it together at the top. Follow this video lesson by Dumpling Queen, Andrea Nguyen. Lay the buns pinched side down on the parchment paper and cover the steamer being sure that the buns do not touch the cover.

Steam for about 20 minutes, slightly more if you are doing large buns, slightly less if you are doing tiny buns. Remove and allow to cool on a rack. These freeze really well, so once you have the technique down, make an extra batch or two and freeze them.

Eggplant Rollatini

Involtini di Melanzane con Salsiccia e Mozzarella to be exact! 

I had two big eggplants, some home made Italian sausages and lots of great herbs and tomatoes from the garden. I sent a note to my friend and fellow blogger Peter Francis Battaglia (whom I also call Saint Peter sometimes) asking him if he had a good rollatini recipe that did not require ricotta. He sent me one via messages on Facebook and I made it last night. I even had some for breakfast. I served it on spaghetti that was simply  tossed with butter, EVOO and some garlic. Here is the recipe pretty much as he sent it to me. I added just a couple of things in the mix.  This is a recipe that can be made *creatively* and you can easily increase the amounts if you want to. I had a little extra filling left, so I just stuffed it in around the rollatini before baking. FYI: I used 1 # of spicy sausage, removed from casings, 2 large eggplants and about 4-5 fresh ripe tomatoes. 

This takes a couple of hours to make, but it is not difficult and it is delicious, even better the next day and the day after! Well worth the time!

Saint Peter's Eggplant and Italian Sausage Rotalini

Involtini di Melanzane con Salsiccia e Mozzarell

Slice the eggplants longwise, and thin..make a francaise batter (2 eggs, 1/8 cup grated romano, fresh chopped parsley, fresh ground pepper), dredge the cutlets in seasoned flour with some fine panko crumbs, then the egg, then into 1/2 " of medium hot olive oil, about 3 minutes per side..drain on paper towels or a rack.

Saute the sausage in some olive oil, when almost done, add 1 sweet onion chopped finely, sauté for a minute. add 4 minced cloves of garlic, cook for a bit, then add 2 tbs. of wine, let this cook for 3 minutes..let it cool..add 1/2 cup small diced mozzarella, some chopped basil and parsley, 1/2 tsp. capers, 1 tbs. breadcrumbs, and 6 tbs. romano cheese, mix well.  Hold a cutlet in your hand and add a nice scoop to each of the cutlets. roll the cutlet around them. Secure with toothpicks.  

Make a sauce with chopped tomato, olive oil, diced onion, fresh parsley, some fennel seeds, salt, pepper...When it has cooked for 20 minutes...check for seasoning...Add a few basil leaves...in a pan, add some oil and sauce to the bottom, arrange the rollatini, pour the remaining sauce over, and cover with foil, bake in 350 for 25 minutes, uncover, add some chopped mozzarella and grated cheese, bake another 8 minutes uncovered till cheese is bubbly...

Polenta Crusted Onion Rings

Polenta Crusted Onion Rings 

Ingredients:

·         2 large Maui onions (or other sweet onions)

·         2 cups buttermilk

·         Teaspoon each seas salt and freshly ground black pepper 

·         1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (can be seasoned with garlic salt, allepo pepper and fresh cracked black pepper)

·         1/4 cup polenta (not instant)

·         1 quart vegetable oil

Method: 

Peel the onions, slice them between 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick, and separate them into rings. Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the onion rings, toss well, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. (The onion rings can sit in the buttermilk for 1-3 hours.) In a separate bowl or container, combine the flour, polenta and the chosen seasonings. 

Set aside.

When you're ready to fry the onion rings, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F or heat your warming drawer on low. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

If you have it, a rack over a second baking sheet is a good thing for draining

Heat the oil to 375 degrees in a large pot or Dutch oven. (A candy thermometer attached to the side of the pot will help you maintain the proper temperature.) Working in batches, lift some onions out of the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture. Drop into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, until golden brown, turning them once with tongs. Don't crowd them! Place the finished onion rings on the rack over the baking sheet sprinkle liberally with salt (I use smoked sea salt), once salted, moved to the paper towel lined pan and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the next batch. Continue frying the onion rings and placing them in the warm oven until all the onions are fried. They will remain crisp in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot. These are very good with chipotle mayonnaise (3-4 chipotles and 1 cup of good quality mayo purred in blender or food processor.)