Mustard Asparagus (Indian style)

I know that it isn't time for asparagus yet and with winter storm Janus headed our way there is no way we could pretend it was spring even if we wanted to.. yet half a pound of asparagus needed to be cooked, the half that did not get used up for Christine's party soup, and I was in the middle of preparing an Indian lunch. I asked my husband if he wanted some asparagus pakodas(sans beer) or asparagus poriyal to go with the rice and kadhi... He replied back saying, I quote, "Make the thing you make with mustard sauce and besan(chickpea flour)." I do not enjoy deep frying much, so I was glad he opted for the Mustard Asparagus.

Kadhi is a spicy yogurt and chickpea flour based North Indian curry dotted with pakodas or vegetable fritters.  However, when I make kadhi, I usually skip the ordeal of  deep frying vegetable fritters and make a stir fry instead. Mustard Asparagus is a particular favorite in that respect. Rice, kadhi and mustard asparagus is a combination that never seems to tire us...

Christine's simple party soups - cream-topped asparagus, red pepper and broccoli # French Fridays with Dorie

This week the Doristas were scheduled to cook "Christine's simple party soups" for French Fridays with Dorie.. To be more specific we were scheduled to cook three simple soups... asparagus, red pepper and broccoli and top them each with a flavored cream.. Because they are so easy to make I made all three simultaneously and sampled them in my 'cutting-chai' glasses.....

Cutting-chai glasses ? Well they are little glasses in which tea is served in the roadside tea stalls, known as dhaba, in India. These glasses hold 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of chai and according to my husband, are perfect for the likes of me who love the idea of chai more than its flavor. At my request my father-in-law sent a set of these inexpensive glasses from India with my sister-in-law and I thought these little glasses were perfect for sampling all three soups at a go...

O.k. now about the soups... Attracted by the pretty picture alongside the recipe, I had tried the broccoli and asparagus soup before. The ease of preparation and the simplicity of the flavors made me like them instantly. Just simmer broccoli/asparagas and zucchini in water seasoned with chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes, salt and pepper until the vegetables are cooked, puree the mixture and serve with a topping of flavored whipped cream. Husband too had liked the soups, so I often make them whenever the respective vegetables are in season. And every time I garnish the broccoli soup with curry powder and the asparagus soup with dill and mustard. We enjoy them that way... 

As for the red pepper soup, I tried it for the first time last week. Unlike the other two, I only had to simmer chopped red pepper in seasoned water for this one and then puree the mixture. We both liked it with a garnish of crushed red pepper, though we thought that a roasted tomato and perhaps a clove or two of roasted garlic would make the soup more interesting.. Anyway on the whole it was nice and I'll probably make it with or without the adjustments again.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about the soups.

You can the recipe here . For Dorie's original recipe and more such delicious ones order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.  

the Spiked Asparagus Mustard Tart # Spiked ! Recipe Challenge

Do you know about the Spiked ! Recipe Challenge ? 

It is a bimonthly recipe challenge wherein Julie from This Gal Cooks and Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama challenge you to feature an alcoholic beverage of their choice in a recipe of your own or adapted to be your own.... Well, this month they chose American Craft Beers as the featured ingredient... since husband had just filled his growler with Black Duck Porter from Greenport Harbour Brewing Company, NY that Friday (the week when the challenge was announced) and i had  the framework of a recipe i wanted to try featuring that beer, i decided to join in the fun !

The thing is i do not drink alcohol or cook with it much. Not unless a storm visits and i decide to deep fry Beer-Battered Asparagus Pakodas  to brighten our day or  i join a challenge and bake a Loaded Rib- cage or a Spiked Asparagus Mustard Tart just for fun ! 

The recipe i had in mind was Dorie's Mustard Tart from Around the French Table. We love Asparagus in the Dorie's Mustard Tart  as much as we love our  Beer-Battered Asparagus Pakodas. So this time i decided to merge the two recipes and make the spiked tart. now i do not mean to sound pretentious, but it was indeed a good plan. the tart with the added bitter-sweetness of the beer glazed onions and asparagus was rather delicious ! We finished most of it for dinner on day one and Mr MN took the left-over for lunch the next day....

the Spiked Asparagus Mustard Tart Adapted from GÉRARD’S MUSTARD TART (From “Around My French Table”)

ingredients 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 2 cloves  of garlic, finely grated 1/2 lb Asparagus olive oil, for frying 1/2 cup Black Duck Porter Beer 6 tablespoons heavy cream 3 eggs 2 tbsps Dijon Mustard 2 tbsps French grainy Mustard sea salt and pepper, to taste 1/2 tsp red chilly powder 1 10 inch Tart shell, partially baked and cooled (recipe follows)* thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes, for garnish * the original recipe was for a 9 inch tart shell which i stretched to fit my 10 inch fluted tart pan. though i'll mention just in case you prefer a thicker crust ! -   what i did to begin with, I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F. next, I heated enough oil in the skillet and sauteed the onions and one garlic in it.   once the onions became slightly tender, i added 1/4 cup of Porter to it, simmered until most of the liquid had evaporated, then repeated the process one more time. once the onions were caramelized in the beer, i chopped half of the asparagus into 1/4 inch pieces, added it to the onions, seasoned the veggies and let them cook until the asparagus was tender yet crunchy.  then spooning the cooked veggies into the partially cooked tart shell, i added a till more oil in the skillet, added the remaining asparagus and garlic to it it, seasoned the asparagus and cooked it till it was tender yet crunchy. then switching off the heat i proceeded to make the mustard batter for the tart. for the batter, i whipped together the heavy cream and eggs along with the Dijon and grainy mustard and the chilly powder, seasoned it with salt and pepper and poured the batter over the beer glazed veggies.  i then arranged the remaining asparagus over the mustard batter, garnished it with thin slices of sun-dried tomatoes and baked the tart in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.** ** i set the timer and did not check on the tart in between. but from the colour of the cooked tart i am guessing that it might have been over baked by a couple of minutes.

so that was it... a simple and delicious tart spiked with Black Duck Porter Beer from the Greenport Harbour Brewing Company. i am not sure if that bit of information about the brewers is absolutely necessary. my husband insisted that i mention it.. and i obliged !

Dorie's Recipe of Partially Baked Tart Shell Recipe Source: Diner's Journal, NY Times

ingredients 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 6 tbsps unsalted butter, very cold, cut into bits  1 large egg 1 tsp ice cold water -   what i did 6 hours prior to baking, i sifted the flour and salt into a big bowl, added the sugar to it and mixed it well.  i then added the bits of cold butter to the flour mixture and mixed with my finger tips till the flour mixture became crumbly. i then beat the egg and water lightly,  drizzled the mixture over the flour and using my hand kneaded the flour until the dough came together. then gathering it into a ball, i  flattened it with the heel of my palm to form a disc, wrapped it with a plastic cling wrap and put it in the refrigerator to chill for the next 3 hours. after 3 hours, i placed the chilled dough between two plastic sheets and using a rolling pin rolled it into thin sheet ( about 1/4-1/6 inches thick). i then placed the rolled out dough sheet inside a 10 inch fluted tart pan, pressed it along the floor and sides of the tart pan, pricked the dough sheet with the tints of a fork at several points and then put the tart pan in the refrigerator in order to chill the crust for an hour before baking it. 15 minutes before baking the crust, i positioned a rack in the center of the oven and preheated it to 400 degrees F.  i then baked the chilled crust in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, removed it and cooled it completely before filling it up with the glazed onions, asparagus and the mustard batter....

I'll be sharing this tart recipe with a few weekly food events........... will add the links along the way !

Socca from Vieux Nice # French Fridays with Dorie

This week we made Socca from Vieux Nice for French Fridays with Dorie. 

In the book, Dorie describes them as "large pancakes made from chickpea flour". That made me wonder if socca was the Niçoise version of the Indian Besan Puda or Adai Dosa. and indeed, if you spread the batter a little thick, these do taste like our Adais but a little crunchier since they are baked and broiled in the oven rather than being cooked on the griddle. but if you let the batter rest overnight or for a couple of days in the refrigerator, and then bake your socca... then the result is lovely. for whatever reason it is easier to make thinner pancakes from the rested batter and that tastes really good. 

I had decided to make Socca on Monday. however i had not read the recipe in advance. so, on Monday, i ended up making it with a batter that was mixed  just two hours in advance. since i do not have a pizza pan, i made the socca in my trusted iron skillet using exact procedure as mentioned in the book... i.e., baking it in a preheated oven for a few minutes and then broiling it for a couple of minutes to get the authentic  slightly burnt Niçoise-socca look. 

though the recipe recommended it as an appetizer, i topped the socca with spinach (prepared the same same way as i had cooked the escarole here), grilled eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes and feta and happily served it for dinner with a cup of soup and it was a satisfying meal. as i mentioned the crust tasted like stiff herbed adai and i wasn't overly impressed with it. i felt that it was the topping that made the slices delectable and the crust was merely a supporting actor in the show.

though you can't tell from the image above, the socca pizza really looked good and as a result a triangle had to be cut out for the toddler even before we could take a snap. the little one however did not eat beyond the first bite. i think he was put off by both the topping and the crust.. 

since Dorie mentioned that socca batter improves with longer resting time, i decided to try it again and this time i made the batter a couple of days in advance and made the socca  with the well-rested batter last night. the result was radically different. I really liked it. So did my husband. the same quantity of batter yielded 3 thin socca pancakes or crusts which tasted awesome with out little asparagus salad. so yes. socca rocks and so does shaved asparagus salad...

while i cannot post the original recipe in the blog, you can find a recipe for socca in the Kitchn and here is my recipe of the Socca with Shaved Asparagus Salad ... though the recipe does not say so, please let the batter rest overnight for a truly delicious treat ... it really great better with rest.

Socca with Shaved Asparagus Salad

ingredients   a socca crust   basil pesto   1/2 pound asparagus, shaved   olive oil   salt and pepper to taste   1 medium onion, thinly sliced   2 pieces of sun-dried tomato, chopped   shredded mozzarella   crumbled feta   few pine nuts  what i did i shaved the asparagus, added some olive oil, salt and pepper to it and kept it aside.  next i caramelized the onions and kept that aside. finally i prepared the socca using batter that had rest in the refrigerator for a couple of days. once the socca was done i turned the oven temperature to 400 degree F. Meanwhile, i smeared the pesto over it, topped it with the caramelized onion, shaved asparagus, pieces of sun-dried tomato. added the cheese and nuts over it and put the topped socca back into the oven and baked for 5 minutes.

 For the original recipe of socca and many more delicious recipes order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.

I shall be sharing this with the following food events:

Made with Love Mondays

Tuesday Food:  Tempt my Tummy @Blessed with Grace, Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations,  Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home,  Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings, Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop , Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ SS&GF

Wednesday Food : What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of Overworked Mom, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain ,  Wednesday Whatsit @White Lights on , Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2, Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network
Thursday Food:Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage  
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes, Gluten-Free Fridays @ Vegetarian Mamma

Asparagus with Indian Spices

Did you know that May is National  So the other day I cooked some asparagus  to go with our Indian dinner. It was one of the regular recipes that goes well with dal and rice. but just because it is May I took a few shots to feed the blog...

Just so that you know, we Indians do not always measure out the ingredients with spoons and cups (though for the sake of the post i have done it this time..) so if anytime you wish to cook asparagus spears the Indian way do not hesitate to alter the measurements to your liking... if you do not overdo the spices, you'll most likely get the Indian flavors right.

Sealing the freshness...

Asparagus is in season. even a big brunch is pretty inexpensive. a reason good enough for us to buy it in bulk. however the quantity is way too much for our family of two and a quarter. so a portion of the bunch always needs preserving. and the way is do it is by

trimming the ends of the spears....

placing the trimmed stalks upright in a glass with at least an inch of water...

covering the spears loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerating. a very useful tip that i learnt from

Nici  @ Posed Perfection.

Hop over to her space to gawk at her delicious asparagus topped pizza. i have it bookmarked for the weekend. don't you want a slice too ? 

Sending the first photograph to Black and White Wednesday, a photography event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of  Cindystar and hosted this week by Haalo of Cook Almost Anything.

Beer-Battered Asparagus Pakoda

If you follow Chef Giada De Laurentiis... then you have probably seen or tried her Beer battered Asparagus recipe. enticed simply by the idea of using beer in the batter i had pinned the recipe few days back... and last Saturday i probably would have given her version a try if  LIPA, our electricity provider , would have been merciful enough. but as things did not quite turn out that way... i decided to cook by own recipe of Beer-Battered Asparagus Pakodas. ... and surprised myself with the subtle -complexity of  taste that i had created. 

the pakodas were spicy with a hint of sweet-bitterness rendered by the beer... the presence and proportion of garlic and mustard was just right...  and the flavors in the batter seemed to marry so well with the freshness of the asparagus. 

I had never tasted asparagus before coming to US... but driven by my passion to cook with the local products, i started trying out various recipes soon after we moved...  and continued my experiments with it till i realized that Nishi and I liked it best... when marinated in ginger-garlic paste and then cooked with onion, cumin-coriander blend and a paste of wasabi-greek yogurt-and-mustard sauce... so the choice of spices in the batter was not completely random... i knew they would work for asparagus... and for the beer i trusted Chef Giada's expertise and my husband's recommendation of which beer to use .. so that was that... a brief history of how the savory Beer-battered Asparagus Pakodas were born.

 ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus 

1/4 cup besan(chickpea flour)

1 tablespoon cornflour

2 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoon dhana jeera powder(also known as Cumin and Coriander blend)

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 tablespoon mustard sauce(I used Kasundi)

pinch of asafoetida

salt to taste

Dundee Porter Beer 

Oil to deep fry (I used mustard oil)

what i did:

I started by snapping off and discarding the white-hard ends of each asparagus and then cutting them into two halves.

Next I made a batter using all the ingredients from besan to salt, using Porter Beer instead to water. I added the beer a little at a time to get a thick yet smooth batter.(I might have used 1/8 cup of beer. but i wasn't measuring. so i cannot say the exact amount I needed.) The batter was thick enough to be able to 

hold together the spear end and the stem end of the asparagus. 

I then poured mustard oil in a medium sized saucepan to reach a depth of 1 1/2 inches and heated it over medium heat. To check if the oil was ready, I put one drop of the batter in the oil. Once the batter came up without changing color right away I knew that I could start frying my pakodas.

For the Pakodas, I coated the asparagus with the beer batter in batches and dropped them into the oil and fried them until the batter was golden brown. Then transferred the asparagus pakodas to a paper towel to drain of the extra oil.

notes:

On demand, I fried some zucchini and eggplant slices in the same batter the next day... only i substituted the Porter Beer for Dundee Pale Ale this time.  in comparison the taste fell a little flat this time. i am not sure if the batter does not work with zucchini and eggplant or if the substitution of Porter made the difference. Nishi, our house-authority on beer says its the substitution... but right now i can't confirm. for after two consecutive days of fries i was not in the ready for the test-ride..

If you stop by and decide to take the test-ride do fill me with your comments and notes.. I'll love to hear from you and improvise. 

Happy Frying !!

Sharing this with 

St. Patrick's Day Recipe & Craft Linkup @ Jam Hands

Saturday Dishes - St. Patrick's Day - Or All Things Green at Hammock Tracks, Call ME “Call me PMC” and “The Tumbleweed Contessa,” Mop It Up Monday @ i should be mopping the floor, 

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