Chana Masala & Zucchini Curry

London opened our taste buds to amazing Indian dishes, especially classic British-Indian dishes (although finding reputable sources on what truly originated in India is difficult versus what started in an immigrant kitchen in England and spread out from there...) and so my ongoing Indian food quest continued with two dishes: Chana Masala and Zucchini Curry.

I've been hitting the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market weekly for a few months now - even through the dead of summer, there was good produce, fruits, and more to be found. Some weeks I buy a ton of items from my list, other weeks only a few things. I do try to stick to my shopping list, since I definitely have my Mom's gene to stock immense amounts of food...for me, it's less about "what if we get hit by a hurricane" and more of "what if it strikes me to make Lemon Bars or add a Broccoli Rabe side dish?"

But, I do love my Saturday morning ritual and with it comes neat surprises - I had to buy some Zucchini and ended up with too much, so I decided to try two Indian dishes and add the Zucchini Curry onto the existing menu of Chana Masala. Surprisingly, they both have very similar sauces: tomato based, barely spicy, great onion, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, and more. The Chana Masala has grated ginger added, such an underrated flavor, and they work very well on the dish together.


"Chana Masala and Zucchini Curry"

Fall is upon Central Texas - thank god, this Summer was very rough. We tied the record for the most days over 100 and with no vacations, I think we were both drawn into a few mirages here and there. Promptly after we returned from England, it dumped. Poured. A good Texas storm. We all knew it was going to come...but when?


"September Rain in the Backyard"

This started a week of beautiful days and even though it was fairly warm yesterday, in the low 90s...just in time for Oktoberfest! While the real event is going on now in München, next weekend the Central Texas version kicks of in Fredericksburg and we're ready for take Vivienne (the convertible) out for a joyride. (Yes, there will be a designated driver Mom!) Last night, we had a vegetarian german feast with our friends Melissa and Robert...more on that later!

Tschüß!

Continuing the Meatless Cuisine

I didn't expect some of these traditional meat dishes to turn out so well with meat-substitutes! We've had some long-standing favorites on the menu rotation and the traditionalist inside of me can't just archive the recipes. So, we've adapted! Quorn makes these awesome "chick'n tenders" which essentially is a mushroom that looks like, has the texture of, and cooks like cubed chicken. We've tried sauteing it, and it was tasty. The true test - make our classic Cashew Nut indian sauce (made from scratch of course) and use it...the result is in...it's bliss!



In the background is Potatoes in Red Sauce, which is a tamarind/tomato goodie. It would have looked better with small red potatoes, but I only had big russets and stirring everything turned it into a mashed potato glob of sorts. So I added green and yellow beans to make it prettier...



While most italian food is fairly easy to veg out, what does one do for Fettuccine Bolognese?? I submit to you this picture and the fact that Ryan (who does not eat leftovers) at up all of our leftovers of this one:



I used SmartGrounds on this, which we've used for about 3 years now in other dishes to make them low-fat. It's a textured vegetable protein crumble.

We're entering month 3 of a veggie diet and we're feeling great, the cooking is fun, my workouts are still as productive, and I still get red-faced and flustered when someone asks me to explain why. I'm so happy, though, to have friends like Melissa and Bobby who made an awesome Indian Vegetable Curry this week...MMM!!!!

Tschüß!

Asparagus in Tomato Sauce

I still love Indian Food. Yes, I cheat at times and use the canned sauce...but recently have even started applying basics in one recipe to something different. Last year, I first tried Potatoes in a Tomato Sauce. Awesome, awesome, awesome! I used basically the same sauce but added cut Asparagus to it and it was amazing!





I will admit, this picture is from a few weeks ago - we've recently decided to go veggie for a while (which may be a long while). I've always had some serious meat guilt and struggle with my love of cooking and my love of animals. Using the "circle of life" justification only gets me so far...at the end of the day, I know animals are beautiful and deserve to live their own peaceful life. "But what about overpopulation?" There are always going to be meat-eaters and I'm sure I will eat meat in the future. However, we've created an industrial process that raises animals specifically for food, we raise too many of them, we spend too many natural resources to produce it, we kill and reap the harvest when they are too young, and I'm tired of being a contributor to that. It's the same thing with High Fructose Corn Syrup or other corn by-products. I don't have anything against corn or even goopy sugary syrup. I have a thing against nations, cultures, communities, and companies being dead-set reliant on one crop that's ruining the environment and is full of corrupt policies and practices/subsidies.

Wow, I needed that. I've been very trigger-shy lately about posting - this is a travelogue about our journey through food, through cultures, and through a very fun life in Texas - so let's get on with that, shall we?

I'm making good progress on planning our UK 2009 trip, which is coming this September. We'll be focused in London, Bath, and the Cotswolds, along with two days in Bristol for my BFF's wedding. I can't wait!

Tschüß!

Chicken in a Cashew Nut Sauce plus Potatoes in Yogurt Sauce

Oh, yes, that was Valentine's Day dinner! We've had the Chicken in a Cashew Nut Sauce before, but the potato dish was new and well worth it. It's a bit spicy, but I used Anaheim Peppers instead of Jalapeno to keep the heat mid-range, but creamy and a tiny bit tangy.



There is something so unexplainably satisfying about cooking from scratch, especially with lots of spices and unique ingredients. I love having to dig through and pull out all the spices for indian food, using my food processor to pulverize onions, add spices, and then fry it all up.



Over the holidays, we bought a 5 quart Le Creuset pot (on sale at Williams Sonoma, thankfully) and it's awesome! I still use the old one if I have two dishes going in a row, but the Le Creuset is worth the money because it heats evenly, keeps its heat, and makes food delish.

I also baked a cake - German Chocolate Cake - since Valentine's Day is all about a little chocolate. Turned out great, but I should have just baked in a deep pan like my mother since all the frosting on the side slid down and pooled at the bottom. This picture is shortly after it was frosted - you should see it this morning! It's shrugging off its suit!



If a passionate homecooked meal with a chocolate cake wasn't enough celebration of interests, we watched "Strangers on the Train," a 1951 Alfred Hitchcock film based on a Patricia Highsmith (my favorite) book. Great thriller! We also liked that there were two future Bewitched actresses in it, and the mystery that the male lead was born in Salt Lake City, had been committed for psychiatry problems before, and died to an adverse drug reaction given by a psychiatrist one night. Actor/actresses these day are so boring.

Tschüß!

Penpal and Chicken Tikka Masala

I have a new penpal in Germany!!! I signed up via www.mylanguageexchange.com and didn't hear anything for a few weeks...then a wonderful e-mail popped into my inbox.

"Hey Scott,
wie geht es dir?
I have just seen your profile and wanted to leave a note."

OMG, can you imagine the look on my face as I pounded out work at the bank??? She is from Hamburg, 30, and just started at an international company. She wants to learn more business english, I want to learn basic and business german, and we've had several days of fun e-mails. It takes me about 1 hour to write to her...I write in German, read her corrections and suggestions, correct her English and teach her new idioms, and we talk back and forth about culture.

She lived in the US for 12 months and loves US culture and wants to return for a visit but is afraid because it might hurt her...

I said: "I guess the grass is always greener on the other side (which means that we always want what we don't have...but once we get it sometimes it's not as super as we thought) because I want to live in Germany so bad! We are taught to be isolated from the rest of the world, to be in charge and cocky - but I don't like that, I want to meet other people and fit into any culture. Sometimes I'm not proud to be an American because of our awful president and some of our stupid politicians. I look at Germany and the pride everyone has...and the traditions...ahhh, everything is so much smarter there! People in the US have too much attitude and are so fake."

She replied, "Ich musste ein paar mal wirklich schmunzeln als ich deine mail las. (I had to smirk a few times while reading your mail.) Your views about Germans or Germany are so twee." (Editors Note: I don't know that word...I suggested to her that she might use "a bit naive instead.)

She went on to explain that there is little pride, mostly because their political history caused German Pride to be used against them by other countries. I meant the pride of traditions is what I'm most interested in -- and she agreed. Another line I love from her: "Die Wirtschaft hat ein Hoch und die Deutschen sind wieder glücklicher als in den letzten Jahren. Aber viele hier haben auch den Traum vom Ausland, von einem besseren Land, einem einfacheren Leben. Included me."

It means that "the economy is on a high and over the past year, the Germans are more happy. But, many here have the dream of going outside of Germany, to a better land, and a more true life."

How fun. OK, back to food news...I made Chicken Tikka Masala last night...I've dreamed of it since Ryan and I both had it at a british pub in Santa Monica. (We had it at separate times...) It turned out soo good. I've never broiled chicken skewers in the oven but it worked out sooo well!







I also watched a fantastic French film on Pay-Per-View. IFC has some amazing selections...this was a 1994 coming-of-age tale in early 1960s rural france, during the French-Algerian conflict. Les Roseaux Sauvages (Wild Reeds).

Off to reheat my leftover Tikka Masala and plop down for either Olympics or another movie. Oh, I also arranged some flowers...I suck at it but I guess it's kinda pretty.



Tschüß!!!

Chicken Korma (Huhn Korma) and Potatoes in Tomato Sauce (Kartoffeln in der Tomatensauce)

Another night of Indian food -- this one turned out ok, but not as tasty as the cashew sauce. I think they made it ultra healthy and that took a lot of the really neat flavors away. I also think I've had it with Coconut Milk which makes it sweet. I did like learning how to add yogurt (we used Bulgarian Yogurt, something we get locally...it's so good) without curdling it. You add it tablespoon by tablespoon and it just melts into the mixture and props it up.



Not traveling for work can get me in an exploratory mood - it's so easy to get into a funk with work, home, work, home, work, home, that you forget how cool your city really is and all the fascinating places out there. So, we hit the local Indian food market. It actually is rather nice and situated in a new strip mall.



After walking in, two men greeted us and we started puttering around. We were the only people in there - a nice lady (probably the wife of one of the men) asked if we needed help and I explained we were looking for Curry Leaves. I had thought they would be dried like Bay Leaves, but she took us to a fridge and they are fresh beautiful leaves. She also helped me find Onion Seeds (Nigella), which are these little black seeds. We picked up a huge bag of Gram Masala, a mix of spices used in a lot of currys, for $2.50. The woman explained they get it direct from the factory, no middle person.



I really enjoyed the Potatoes in Tomato Sauce -- they were delicious. For both dishes, I used onions from the local farmer's market. These aren't your traditional bulb onions...they have a thicker stalk on it. Almost like a green onion that was allowed to grow very large. I'm not hitting up the market today, since Ryan leaves tomorrow for California, and I'll have to pick the stinkiest, most vinegary food to make. Sauerbraten anyone??



On another note, Germany did fantastic this week in the Euro 2008 - they skipped by Austria and pounded Portugal. Up next is Turkey. I'm heading to Mother Egans to watch Russia play the Netherlands. My last name is dutch so I suppose I should root for them...

OK - I have a preview for you here -- the most important part of our house has finally been finished...and no, it's not the coffee table (where we honestly eat a lot of our carefully prepared meals...especially when Dancing with the Stars is going on...terrible, huh)...here you go:



Tschüß!!

Chicken in Cashew Nut Sauce (indisch essen)

Indian Food. Ahh...nothing quite like it and I know it's found throughout Germany. (Yes that was my attempt to keep the blog relevant and "on topic.") We were at Barnes and Noble and Ryan found a Indian Food cookbook in the discount area. Why not? Let's try! After buying it (along with an espionage spy novel for moi) we sat in our car and picked a dish to make. Chicken in Cashew Nut Sauce.



We rushed to Central Market and quickly bought the rest of the ingredients, cookbook planted firmly in the cart. We had a bit of confusion trying to find Gram Masala (is it a sauce? powder? ahh...blend of spices...) but finally returned home and I started cooking. The food processor was a Christmas present from Ryan and I've used it a ton -- this night was no exception and it did so well.



Yes, it tasted as good as it looks. I didn't know the Indian food has so much Cilantro -- I've always associated that with Mexican food.



It surprised me how easy the dish was - we're moving on to a Chicken Korma, one of my FAVORITE dishes. But I couldn't find Curry Leaves or Onion Seeds at the store...so maybe an Indian Foodstore might be open tonight to help me out.



Bliss. Last night we hit Ranch 616, one of my favorite restaurants in Austin; we've eaten there on my birthday for the past two years. The food was spectacular and the city was abuzz. We hit Molotov to watch the cars and bikes putter on by...it's the bike rally. Most of the time they're nice...but on my way to watch the soccer game yesterday I was crossing the street with a "WALK" sign protecting me...and some turning yuppie roadpigs told me to "Fucking go man!" as in walk faster. Eat shit -- you and your wrinkled broad are nothing but posers and next time we meet at Whole Foods and you're in your dry-cleaned white button-down picking up a Vouvray to go with your take-out pizza from Homeslice...I will still kindly put the rubber "Thank You For Shopping" stick down between your wine and mine.

Tschüß!