Garlic is the Spice of Life

Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (1980) - Blank
I usually keep about a half dozen bulbs of garlic in my kitchen at any given time. After watching this doc, I got curious where Koreans' love of the garlic comes from. According to wiki, Korea is the 3rd largest garlic producing country and they eat more garlic per capita than any other country. I didn't know garlic originated from central Asia.

I made this this morning- learned it from a friend from Majorca. Very satisfying meal.
Spanish Tortilla (as a breakfast or lite snack)
Prep and cooking time: 15 minutes

1 russet potato
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
4 eggs
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Cut potato in half lengthwise, then with flat side down on the cutting board, slice into 1/8" pieces. Slice onion into 1/4" pieces. Crush garlic, slice thinly. Heat a medium round frying pan on the stove in medium heat. With a bit of olive oil, fry all ingredients until potato is cooked but not burnt. In a large bowl, beat 4 eggs, pour in the fried stuff, sprinkle in some salt & pepper and mix well. Reintroduce the mixture to the pan, filling the edges with eggs. Cook about 2 minutes. Cover the pan with a large plate, walk over to the kitchen sink, flip it, then slide the tortilla back in to the pan, cook another minute or so.

Makes 4 servings or 2 depending on how hungry you are. Enjoy it with some Tabasco sauce. They go really well together.

Fluffiest Pancakes Ever!

I've heard a lot about Clinton St. Bakery's legendary blueberry pancakes. So I decided to make them myself and found the recipe online. It might not be exactly the same recipe but it came out beautifully and tastes wonderful. So without further ado:

Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Butter


Pancakes:

2 eggs
5 tbsp butter melted
1 cup buttermilk or half & half
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup blueberries

Maple Butter:

3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup maple syrup

Separate egg yolks from whites in two different bowls.

Add butter and milk in egg yolks, beat together. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.

Beat egg whites with a whip until it's foamy and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

Pour liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir lightly until just combined. Add blueberries. Lumps are ok. Fold in the egg whites until just combined. Remember, you want the fluffy pancakes. You don't want to overmix it.

Melt some butter on a hot frying pan. Add batter, each about half a palm size. Pancakes are ready to flip once a few bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook another minute or two.

Microwave butter and maple syrup together for about 30 sec. Pour it on pancakes.

Serves about 3-4. Enjoy!

Beghrir (Moroccan Pancakes) Recipe:

My first Beghrir (semolina pancakes) experience was at an Isreali joint in my neighborhood called Mimi's Hummus and it was fantastic. The fluffy, chewy stack with slightly sour taste was a nice alternative to chalkiness I usually associate with pancakes. So I had to duplicate this at home. I found that it is also honey butter that makes a big difference.

For 14-16 pancakes, you will need:

3 cups warm water
2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups semolina flour
1/3 regular flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
vegetable oil
1/3 cup warm honey
6 tbsp melted butter
half dozen strawberries, cut in small cubes

In 1/4 cup of warm water add the baking powder and mix. In large bowl, mix semolina, flour, yeast and sugar and add 2 3/4 cups water. Add salt and baking powder. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rise for 40 minutes to an hour.

Coat the frying pan with small amount of vegetable oil in medium heat. Pour in the batter one scoop at a time. Cook the pancake until bubbles appear all over the surface and the bottom pale golden, about 2 minutes on both sides. I like mine a little more golden than that of the picture above.

Place them on plates, shower them with strawberries. Mix honey and butter and drizzle it generously. Serve right away.

*My experience with Beghrir is that they don't age well. You might have to eat them all once you made them. Share with everyone!

Perfect Tempura Batter Recipe

Are you sick and tired of trying and failing at duplicating that crispy tempura they serve at your favorite Japanese restaurant? I finally have found the batter recipe that actually produces the bestest, crispiest, lightest tempura you will ever taste!

You will need:

Vegetables of your choice, sliced thinly
Shrimp peeled and deveined

1 cup flour
1 tbsp corn starch
1 1/2 cup cold seltzer water
1 tsp salt

4 cups canola oil

Mix flour, starch and salt and slowly add seltzer. Beat it until everything is mixed well. Dip desired vegetables and shrimp and fry immediately in high heat, 2-3 minutes. Drain on paper towel.

*The secret of the great tempura is pretty simple- freshness: you should prepare for it and serve it right away. The whole process should take only about 10-15 minutes.

For a dipping sauce, I usually dilute regular soy sauce with water 2:1 ratio with half a tea spoon of sugar thrown in.

Enjoy!

Small (almost) Vegetarian Pies

Made them today because I saw our vegetarian friend Menshahat making them the other day and was inspired. It's a little time consuming but the end results are real worth it. Thank you Mensha.

For the filling you will need:

1 bunch kale middle stems removed and coarsely chopped
2 portabella mushroom diced
1 Medium onion diced
5-6 cloves garlic chopped
10 fingerling carrots chopped
a dozen asparagus chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ginger powder
3-4 tbsp Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

*1/2 cup fresh mozzarella cheese cut in cubes, if you desire

For the pie crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick butter or 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup cold water

In a deep pot drizzle olive oil, throw in vegetables with spices, cook it in high heat until the vegetables' volume goes down in half. Set aside.

Preheat oven 390F degrees.

Divide the pie dough in two. Make them into balls. On a lightly floured flat surface, roll them out with a rolling pin, one at a time to thin sheets. Cut the dough into round discs that could fit in the large 12-muffin pan. You have to make at least 24 discs (one for the bottom and one for the top).

Grease the muffin pan with butter or vegetable shortening. Lay down the pie crust discs at the bottom. If they are too small for the muffin pan, you might have to stretch them out individually with the rolling pin. Place vegetable mixture in twelve muffin holes with crust at the bottom. Put mozzarella cubes on top if desired. Cover them with the other set of pastry crust discs. Make sure the bottom and top pastry crust meet at the edge so you can seal them. Brush butter or vegetable shortening on top. Make sure you fork some vent holes on the tops of your little pies.

Bake it in oven for 35-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Then cover the pan with a cutting board and put the pan upside down. The pies should come out easily.

Serves 3-4 people, either as an appetizer or meal. Enjoy.

The Valentine's Day Dinner: Bouillabaisse

I finally got off my ass and made my lady a bouillabaisse (a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille) as I promised when we first started going out 11 years ago and it turned out great. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Recipe for two:
1/2 lb cod cut in 2 slices
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and cleaned
1/4 lb sea scallops
1/4 lb squids cut in rings
1/4 lb mussels
6 clams
2 cup seafood stock
1/2 cup wine (red or white, whatever available)
1 tsp tomato paste

2 tbsp La Morena Chipotle Sauce or any hot sauce of your choice.
4 cloves of garlic diced
1/2 medium onion chopped
3 stalks scallion chopped diagonally
parsley chopped
pinch of saffron
pinch of rosemary
2 medium bay leaves
1/2 cup corn starch
3 tbsp olive oil

Cover the cod pieces with salt & pepper and corn starch both sides. Set aside for ten minutes then pan fry them in olive oil, make it crispy each side.

Sweat onion and garlic with tomato paste in olive oil 1-2 minutes. Add liquids, saffron, rosemary and bay leaves, bring it to a boil. Put clams and cook until they open, about 5-6 minutes. Throw in half scallions and add rest of the seafood, cook 3-4 minutes until shrimp turn pink in color.

Place generous portion in two large bowls. Add cod pieces on top. Sprinkle the rest of the scallions and parsley.

We had our soup with a good hunk of bread and a

Hitachino White Ale. An amazing beer from a Japanese brewery and one of our favorites I might add.

Hope you guys try the recipe some time.

Amber Ale Beef Stew over Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Stew:
2 pounds lean beef or lamb chunks, cut in smaller pieces
2 medium onions diced
1/2 cup peeled fingerling carrots
1/4 cup frozen green peas
1 cup button mushroom stemmed and cut in quaters
4-5 cloves garlic sliced
2 bay leaves
1 bunch parsley chopped
2 cups beef stock
1 cup amber ale or stout (I used a Chocolate Stout once and it was great!)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp sugar
olive oil
salt and pepper

Add some olive oil and butter in a large heavy pot with lid. Brown meat on both sides while sprinkling salt, pepper and flour in high heat. Set aside, juice and all. In the same pot, add onions, garlic, carrots, saute for 3-4 minutes. Put back the meat. Add bay leaves and beef stock, bring it to a boil. Add beer. Boil 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and put cover on. Cook for 1 hour. Add peas and mushroom. Cook another hour. The liquid should be significantly reduced and meat be melt-in-your-mouth tender. Garnish with parsley.

Mashed Potatoes:
2 large potatoes peeled cut in quarters
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp milk
salt and pepper

Boil potatoes and garlic 10-15 minutes or until cooked. Drain, mash potatoes and garlic while adding butter, milk, salt and pepper.

Put some mashed potatoes in a bowl and top it with the beer stew. Feeds 3 hungry men or 4-5 normal people.

Spicy Tomato Garlic Soup with Oyster Mushrooms

It's my recipe so I can't find a picture that would do justice. Anyway, this soup is for cold rainy days. Have it with a hunk of good bread.

You will need:

1 can roasted whole tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
1/2 pound oyster mushroom
4 cups chicken stock
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp butter
1 jalapeño pepper halved and seeded
olive oil

Puree tomatoes in a food processor, not all the way, but just enough so you will have chunky soup.
Pour tomatoes in a large pot, juice and all and add salt . Add chicken stock and bring it to boil, lower the heat. Add jalapeño.
Sauté mushroom in butter and olive oil with garlic until brown. Put them all in the soup. Cook 10- 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy.