Yeah, I know, more lemons. I have been on a bit of a lemon kick lately. I guess it's cuz it's summer. And also, we get them cheap from our beloved Asian market. Here's what I did with them yesterday.
I was about to make a couple of glasses of fresh lemonade with the lemon I had leftover, and remembered that one of the herbs I have in my Aerogarden is lemon basil. Regular basil - usually Genovese basil - could be described as somewhat lemony, but actual lemon basil varieties have a very distinct lemon scent and flavor. I decided to make infused simple syrup with the lemon basil and with the lemon peel.
Making a flavored simple syrup like this is very easy and I'm sure you already know how, but in case you want to hear about it, here's how: simply heat water and sugar (1 part water to .5-1 part sugar) in a stainless steel saucepan until just under boiling and shut off the heat. Don't let it boil. Stir gently if you need to help the sugar dissolve. Add whatever flavorings you are using, cover, and let it steep for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour. Strain with a fine mesh strainer and store in a tightly lidded container for up to a week in the fridge.
For about a cup of syrup I used the peel from one lemon and about 2 tablespoons of lemon basil. Bruising the basil a little before adding it helps infuse the flavor a little quicker. I mixed the juice of one lemon and some water and ice with a few tablespoons of the lemon basil simple syrup and it was absolutely delicious. The bonus is, I have plenty of the syrip leftover to do other silly things with all week! Bring on the silliness.
Happy eating!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Vermicelli With Lemon & Roasted Garlic
A few months ago I watched someone make a lemon sauce for spaghetti and thought it sounded great. They made a simple sauce with fresh lemon juice and cream. I described it to Dan and he said it sounded delicious, and I agreed, so I've been meaning to give it a try.
I mentioned in my previous post that I had zested a few lemons to make limoncello. This obviously left me with these zest-free lemons with which I had nothing to do. So, it was a perfect time to try making a lemon pasta sauce. I also wanted to add roasted garlic to the sauce for a sweetness and richness. I just roasted the garlic the standard way and in the meantime juiced the lemons. I also minced a little onion, and chopped some blanched string beans. Then, as the pasta cooked (I used vermicelli), I began making the sauce.
For the sauce, I heated a few tablespoons of olive oil (including the oil from the roasted garlic) in a medium sized skillet and cooked the onions just until they were soft. To that I added the roasted garlic (which I mashed into a paste), some crushed red pepper, the beans, salt and pepper. I sprinkled on a little flour and then added some milk to make a creamy sauce. After letting that bubble for a couple of minutes, I stirred in the lemon juice. When the pasta was about a minute underdone, I transferred it to the skillet with a little bit of pasta water and tossed it all together for a couple of minutes in the simmering skillet. Tasted and adjusted seasoning, and finished it with a sprinkling of fresh basil. That's it. Pretty simple.
It came out exactly as I expected: very tangy and lemony, with a little background flavor of the sweet roasted garlic. I thought the pasta was good, but it could have used a little more roasted garlic and a little less lemon. It's always so hard to tell exactly how strong or weak the flavor of any fresh produce is going to be, though, so for my first attempt at this type of dish, I think it was well within the successful range. Unfortunately, Dan didn't love it. That is rare - he almost always loves what I cook. He had originally said the idea of lemon pasta sounded delicious, but I guess he didn't really understand what that meant, cuz it was exactly as described but he ended up not loving it. Not that he hated it, he just didn't love it. I, however, thought it was good, although I think next time I'll adjust the lemon and garlic ratios like I said.
I'm glad I gave this a try. I served it as a main dish, but I think it seemed more like a side. I served it with my blue cheese stuffed roasted tomatoes, which was a nice, rich accompaniment to the very brightly flavored lemony pasta.
Happy eating!
I mentioned in my previous post that I had zested a few lemons to make limoncello. This obviously left me with these zest-free lemons with which I had nothing to do. So, it was a perfect time to try making a lemon pasta sauce. I also wanted to add roasted garlic to the sauce for a sweetness and richness. I just roasted the garlic the standard way and in the meantime juiced the lemons. I also minced a little onion, and chopped some blanched string beans. Then, as the pasta cooked (I used vermicelli), I began making the sauce.
For the sauce, I heated a few tablespoons of olive oil (including the oil from the roasted garlic) in a medium sized skillet and cooked the onions just until they were soft. To that I added the roasted garlic (which I mashed into a paste), some crushed red pepper, the beans, salt and pepper. I sprinkled on a little flour and then added some milk to make a creamy sauce. After letting that bubble for a couple of minutes, I stirred in the lemon juice. When the pasta was about a minute underdone, I transferred it to the skillet with a little bit of pasta water and tossed it all together for a couple of minutes in the simmering skillet. Tasted and adjusted seasoning, and finished it with a sprinkling of fresh basil. That's it. Pretty simple.
It came out exactly as I expected: very tangy and lemony, with a little background flavor of the sweet roasted garlic. I thought the pasta was good, but it could have used a little more roasted garlic and a little less lemon. It's always so hard to tell exactly how strong or weak the flavor of any fresh produce is going to be, though, so for my first attempt at this type of dish, I think it was well within the successful range. Unfortunately, Dan didn't love it. That is rare - he almost always loves what I cook. He had originally said the idea of lemon pasta sounded delicious, but I guess he didn't really understand what that meant, cuz it was exactly as described but he ended up not loving it. Not that he hated it, he just didn't love it. I, however, thought it was good, although I think next time I'll adjust the lemon and garlic ratios like I said.
I'm glad I gave this a try. I served it as a main dish, but I think it seemed more like a side. I served it with my blue cheese stuffed roasted tomatoes, which was a nice, rich accompaniment to the very brightly flavored lemony pasta.
Happy eating!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Lime-Limoncello
I learned from Alton Brown that Limoncello is easy to make. (Unnecessary aside: Alton Brown is awesome. I'm a little in love with him. Sorry, Mr. Flay, you've been replaced.) Limoncello is a lemon-infused sweetened alcohol from Italy that has been a bit of a fad lately. It can be made with just vodka, fresh lemon peel, sugar, and time.
I actually learned the process for making Limoncello long ago, although I didn't know it at the time. Years ago when I was living in Kalamazoo a friend explained to me how she made cherry cordial. She soaked cherries in vodka for a couple of weeks and then added simple syrup. Essentially, Limoncello is a lemon cordial. I saw it made on an episode of David Rocco's Dolce Vita, but I didn't feel inspired to make my own Limoncello until I saw Alton Brown explain the steps in detail on his show Good Eats. I realized how simple it is, and the next time I had some leftover citrus with which I had nothing to do, I decided to give making my own alcohol cordials a try.
I didn't have lemons, I had limes, so I went for it with limes instead. It's important to zest the fruit while avoiding as much of the white pith as possible, just getting the green (or yellow) parts - since the pith is quite bitter. Alton had suggested several lemons for about 700 mL of vodka, so using three limes for about half that much vodka seemed about right. After carefully zesting as much of the lime peel as I could get off of them, I added the zest and the 350 mL of vodka to a very clean mason jar. A tight lid and a couple of weeks in the pantry is then all it needed. Obviously, since it's alcohol, there's no reason to worry about it going bad. The alcohol works on the peel to extract all the oil and flavor. Alton said to let the jar sit for at least a week, but I left mine for almost three weeks.
Then, just today, I carefully strained the beverage through a coffee filter and then added some simple syrup. I made the simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water, and added about a third as much syrup to the jar as there was cordial. Dan sampled it and said he really liked it. It also smells delicious. There is no better potpourri than fresh citrus oils.
As an interesting coincidence, I now found myself with extra lemons in the house, and with my successful lime cordial experiement, I decided to try my hand at making actual limoncello, too. So I peeled a couple of lemons, mixed it with vodka in a jar, and into the pantry it went. The lime cordial is now in the fridge to keep it nice and cool for sipping or mixing.
I can't believe it took me so long to give this a try. I have some blackberries in the freezer that I'm eyeing for yet another cordial experiment. I'm excited to share my concoctions with my parents when they visit in a few weeks.
Has anyone else out there made limoncello or vodka cordials? I'd love to know what you made or how it went.
Happyeating drinking!
I actually learned the process for making Limoncello long ago, although I didn't know it at the time. Years ago when I was living in Kalamazoo a friend explained to me how she made cherry cordial. She soaked cherries in vodka for a couple of weeks and then added simple syrup. Essentially, Limoncello is a lemon cordial. I saw it made on an episode of David Rocco's Dolce Vita, but I didn't feel inspired to make my own Limoncello until I saw Alton Brown explain the steps in detail on his show Good Eats. I realized how simple it is, and the next time I had some leftover citrus with which I had nothing to do, I decided to give making my own alcohol cordials a try.
I didn't have lemons, I had limes, so I went for it with limes instead. It's important to zest the fruit while avoiding as much of the white pith as possible, just getting the green (or yellow) parts - since the pith is quite bitter. Alton had suggested several lemons for about 700 mL of vodka, so using three limes for about half that much vodka seemed about right. After carefully zesting as much of the lime peel as I could get off of them, I added the zest and the 350 mL of vodka to a very clean mason jar. A tight lid and a couple of weeks in the pantry is then all it needed. Obviously, since it's alcohol, there's no reason to worry about it going bad. The alcohol works on the peel to extract all the oil and flavor. Alton said to let the jar sit for at least a week, but I left mine for almost three weeks.
Then, just today, I carefully strained the beverage through a coffee filter and then added some simple syrup. I made the simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water, and added about a third as much syrup to the jar as there was cordial. Dan sampled it and said he really liked it. It also smells delicious. There is no better potpourri than fresh citrus oils.
As an interesting coincidence, I now found myself with extra lemons in the house, and with my successful lime cordial experiement, I decided to try my hand at making actual limoncello, too. So I peeled a couple of lemons, mixed it with vodka in a jar, and into the pantry it went. The lime cordial is now in the fridge to keep it nice and cool for sipping or mixing.
I can't believe it took me so long to give this a try. I have some blackberries in the freezer that I'm eyeing for yet another cordial experiment. I'm excited to share my concoctions with my parents when they visit in a few weeks.
Has anyone else out there made limoncello or vodka cordials? I'd love to know what you made or how it went.
Happy
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Last Night At Dinner I Discovered String Bean Theory
Last night at dinner I discovered String Bean Theory. Ha! That's a little joke for all my multiverse-minded friends out there. I didn't really discover anything. But I did buy a big package of fresh green sting beans at my favorite Asian market.
I don't often cook with string beans, even though I do like them. I'm not sure why I don't buy them more often and I think I probably should. But, I don't have many options for what to do with them. I usually just boil or steam them and have them with salt and maybe a little butter. Add a few almond slivers on top and you have green beans almondine. There's always Phyllis Beans, which is my family's name for your standard cream-of-mushroom green bean casserole. (See, when my mom was taught how to make it by her mother-in-law, my gma Phyllis, she didn't know it was a fairly common thing. She thought it was my gma's special recipe, so she always called them Phyllis Beans, and so did we. I therefore didn't know other people made it, either, until I was well into my teens.) Or, I could cook some sort of string bean stir-fry, which was my purpose for this particular bean purchase.
But, I don't know many other uses. Maybe it's time for a search on Epicurious. I wanna know what fabulous ideas you all have for string beans. There must be some good ideas out there.
Happy eating!
I don't often cook with string beans, even though I do like them. I'm not sure why I don't buy them more often and I think I probably should. But, I don't have many options for what to do with them. I usually just boil or steam them and have them with salt and maybe a little butter. Add a few almond slivers on top and you have green beans almondine. There's always Phyllis Beans, which is my family's name for your standard cream-of-mushroom green bean casserole. (See, when my mom was taught how to make it by her mother-in-law, my gma Phyllis, she didn't know it was a fairly common thing. She thought it was my gma's special recipe, so she always called them Phyllis Beans, and so did we. I therefore didn't know other people made it, either, until I was well into my teens.) Or, I could cook some sort of string bean stir-fry, which was my purpose for this particular bean purchase.
But, I don't know many other uses. Maybe it's time for a search on Epicurious. I wanna know what fabulous ideas you all have for string beans. There must be some good ideas out there.
Happy eating!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Little India Review, AKA Nomnomnom
I've mentioned before that when I first moved to the Denver area, one of my first orders of business was to find an Indian restaurant that had a Malai Kofta that I loved as much as the one I regularly had in Kalamazoo. I occassionally get a severe craving for it, and it's important to me to have a place I can count on when that happens. After sampling the food at several restaurants, I finally found Bombay Clay Oven in the Cherry Creek area. Their Malai Kofta is exactly how I like it, and as a bonus, several of their other dishes are just the way I like them, also. I can be picky about food, and especially certain foods, like Indian cuisine. Once I found Bombay Clay Oven, I stopped going anywhere else. Until yesterday.
Dan and I had an Indian feast all day yesterday. It started when a local Indian restaurant, Little India, left a delivery menu on our doorstep last week. Since then we've been looking at it and wanting to give it a shot. They have a daily lunch buffet and so we figured what the heck, that might be a way for us to try out multiple different dishes.
We went yesterday, and we were glad we did. First of all, I was thrilled because out of the 15 or so offerngs in the buffet, only two weren't vegetarian. The Little India buffet had a selection of fresh veggies and fruit, vegetable pakoras, sauces and chutneys as starters, as well as dal soup (which is a lentil soup). For entrees, there was channa masala (masala chickpeas), saag paneer (spinach with cheese), pakora curry, and others. There were also a few desserts. I liked everything I had. Dan had the two meat dishes - tandoori chicken and chicken curry - and liked both of them. My favorite thing on the buffet was the veggie pakoras, with the channa masala as a close second. They also served a basket of fresh naan to everyone getting the buffet. Bonus!
We were happy enough with the lunch buffet that we decided to order some things for dinner. I of course had to try the mala kofta, but we also got papadum, veggie momo with onion chutney, aloo naan (potato-stuffed naan), paneer makhni, and navratan korma, which is a veggie korma. Everything was good, but a few things were best. The aloo naan was just perfect. I even liked it slightly better than Bombay Clay Oven's naan. The papadum was very similar, even down to the dipping sauces, but I have to give the edge to BCO on that one, just barely. The malai kofta was good at Little India, but I prefer BCO's for sure. I'm just so picky. The veggie momo was perhaps my favorite of our ordered items. So good! Especially with the onion chutney. The other dishes were also good. Dan preferred the korma and I liked the paneer.
All in all, I liked Little India very much. I can see why they have received Best Indian Food and Best Buffet from a slew of various places - 5280, Best of Denver, etc. - repeatedly for many years now. However, no matter how good the food is generally, I still have to go to the place where the malai kofta is exactly how I like it, so I'll probably stay with BCO for that. But, I'm sure Dan and I will be eating at the Little India buffet again. There are four locations of Little India in the Denver area, so I highly recommend giving them a try if you live near Denver.
Happy eating!
Dan and I had an Indian feast all day yesterday. It started when a local Indian restaurant, Little India, left a delivery menu on our doorstep last week. Since then we've been looking at it and wanting to give it a shot. They have a daily lunch buffet and so we figured what the heck, that might be a way for us to try out multiple different dishes.
We went yesterday, and we were glad we did. First of all, I was thrilled because out of the 15 or so offerngs in the buffet, only two weren't vegetarian. The Little India buffet had a selection of fresh veggies and fruit, vegetable pakoras, sauces and chutneys as starters, as well as dal soup (which is a lentil soup). For entrees, there was channa masala (masala chickpeas), saag paneer (spinach with cheese), pakora curry, and others. There were also a few desserts. I liked everything I had. Dan had the two meat dishes - tandoori chicken and chicken curry - and liked both of them. My favorite thing on the buffet was the veggie pakoras, with the channa masala as a close second. They also served a basket of fresh naan to everyone getting the buffet. Bonus!
We were happy enough with the lunch buffet that we decided to order some things for dinner. I of course had to try the mala kofta, but we also got papadum, veggie momo with onion chutney, aloo naan (potato-stuffed naan), paneer makhni, and navratan korma, which is a veggie korma. Everything was good, but a few things were best. The aloo naan was just perfect. I even liked it slightly better than Bombay Clay Oven's naan. The papadum was very similar, even down to the dipping sauces, but I have to give the edge to BCO on that one, just barely. The malai kofta was good at Little India, but I prefer BCO's for sure. I'm just so picky. The veggie momo was perhaps my favorite of our ordered items. So good! Especially with the onion chutney. The other dishes were also good. Dan preferred the korma and I liked the paneer.
All in all, I liked Little India very much. I can see why they have received Best Indian Food and Best Buffet from a slew of various places - 5280, Best of Denver, etc. - repeatedly for many years now. However, no matter how good the food is generally, I still have to go to the place where the malai kofta is exactly how I like it, so I'll probably stay with BCO for that. But, I'm sure Dan and I will be eating at the Little India buffet again. There are four locations of Little India in the Denver area, so I highly recommend giving them a try if you live near Denver.
Happy eating!
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