Spiced Crab Noodle Soup

Vietnamese Inspired Spiced Crab Noodle Soup

I was cold, it was a frigid 60 degrees outside our Central Florida home and I needed some soup. The problem is that my favorite Viet place is closed right now and that's what I was craving.

So..... I looted the fridge and threw this together, it's kind of a simpler take on my favorite Vietnamese soup: Bun Rieu, very similar flavor profile but it doesn't need premade broth (though it would certainly be better) and it goes together in just a few minutes.

Serves 2

Ingredients

3 TBS Vietnamese spiced crab paste (I like the jar better than the can)

1 Tbs mashed garlic

1 Tbs mashed ginger

2 roma tomatoes cut into 1/4s

4 eggs

¼ of an onion

soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar to taste

cooked noodles (preferably thin Asian egg or rice noodles)

To Garnish

chopped cilantro

sliced green onion

lime wedges

thin sliced jalepeno

chili oil

Method

Heat a pot to medium and fry up the crab paste, garlic, and ginger for a minute until fragrant.

Add as much water as you would like (I used about 3-4 cups) with the piece of onion and boil for 5 minutes.

Add soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar until it suits your taste. (I probably used 1 TBS of each)

Add your tomatoes and simmer for 2 minutes, then crack your eggs into the broth and simmer until done to your liking. (I like a hard yolk and soft tomatoes in this)

Serve over your cooked noodles with all of the garnishes on top!

Tip: I like to put a little bit of hoisin and sriracha on a plate next to my soup and dip my noodles and egg bites in a little bit of those sauces, it gives you a satisfying taste without wrecking all of the soup you just made.  

Egyptian Sauteed Liver and Ful Medames

So I am a recent convert to eating liver, but oh man I am a believer. I love how its flavor and texture stand up to the strong spices I enjoy so much. I knocked this Egyptian recipe out tonight, and it was the best liver I have ever eaten, and among the best meat dishes I have ever prepared: Rich, oniony, garlicy, cuminy, magical.

To go along with it I made a simple fava beans recipe called Ful Medames. We love this one as well because of the olivey-lemony flavor of the favas. I make this all the time, and changed the recipe with my mood: sometimes its very spicy, sometimes I add smoked eggplant, sometimes I add green onions, really whatever I feel like.

Egyptian food like this is best served with some nice Aish Baladi, which is more or less a whole wheat pita but you can use my Naan recipe with whole wheat flour and puff it over an open flame like a roti, it will be great!

 Yeah I know liver and fava beans, Hannibal Lecter would appreciate it. And sorry for the crappy pictures, I HATE taking them and it often keeps me from posting but this was too good to spare.

Egyptian Liver

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

3 TBS olive oil

½ lb Liver chopped into 1 inch x ¼ inch strips (use whichever kind of liver you have or want)

1 onion thinly sliced

1 small bell pepper thinly sliced

½ jalepeno diced

5 cloves mashed garlic

1 TBS cumin powder

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp turmeric (optional)

½ tsp garam masala

¼ C cilantro choppped

¼ lemon juiced

salt to taste

Method

Heat your oil to med high and fry livers until they change color
Add garam masala, turmeric, onions, garlic, peppers, and salt
Fry until everything has wilted and the peppers are tender, 5 min or so
Add cumin, black pepper, cilantro, and lemon juice and cook for 1 min
Eat it

Ful Medames

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

3 TBS olive oil

½ tsp turmeric (optional)

1 small thinly diced onion

½ jalepeno seeded and diced

2 roma tomatoes chopped finely

4 cloves of garlic mashed

2 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp paprika

1 Can of fava beans

2 TBS chopped parsley

¼ lemon juiced

1 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil to med high and fry onions and peppers until they're golden brown
Add garlic and fry for 1 min
Add tomatoes with turmeric, coriander, and paprika.
Cover and cook until they're very mashed up
Add favas with 1 C of water and cook for 8-10 min on med covered
Remove lid and incread heat to med high and mash up the mixture to about ½ mashed
Add parsley, sugar, and lemon juice.
Eat it.   














P. S. The turmeric isn't necessarily traditional but I like to add it to whatever I can because its very healthy. 

Venn Pongal and Mixed Veggie Sabzi with Coconut

Normally when we have guests around it means that we hit the restaurants we love pretty hard, and when I do cook I will normally go a little richer than I do day to day. Well, after a few days of that I crave vegetables and the flavors I love.

That in mind today I whipped up some Pongal (Thanks again Andi for inspiring me to make that for the first time a little while ago!) and a mixed veggie sabzi with coconut, and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for. I was planning to use cabbage, but for the first time in months I didn't have any so I scrounged up what I had and it was great, the crunchy vegetables along side of the soft and satisfying pongal was a delight.

Venn Pongal

Serves 2

Ingredients

½ C moong dal

½ C rice (I used jasmine but whatever you have will work)

3 ½ C Water

2 TBS oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

pinch hing

½ sprig curry leaves

¼ c coarse black pepper

1 TBS chopped jalapeno

2 TBS peanuts or cashews

1 heaping TBS sugar

1 TBS oil

2 TBS chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Method

Slightly toast rice and dal in a dry pan for a few minutes until they smell nutty then add water and salt to taste.

Bring to a boil and simmer on med/low until done to your liking, probably about 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a small pot to med/high then fry mustard seeds until they sputter, then cumin seeds for a second, then hing, then curry leaves until the crackle, then jalapenos and peanuts, fry this for 20 seconds then add to the rice/dal mix with black pepper.

Stir in sugar, salt if needed, and garnish with cilantro.

Eat it up.

Mixed vegetable sabzi with coconut

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 bell pepper very thinly sliced

1 C matchstick carrots

1 small onion thinly sliced

1 roma tomato cut into thin strips

2 TBS oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

pinch hing

½ sprig curry leaves

1 TBS chopped jalapeno

2 tsp garlic ginger paste

¼ C coconut powder

Salt to taste

2 TBS chopped cilantro

Method

Heat oil in a frying pan to med/high then fry mustard seeds until they sputter, then cumin seeds for a second, then hing, then curry leaves until the crackle, then jalapenos for 20 seconds, then gin/gar paste for 20 seconds, then coconut until lightly brown.

Add your bell peppers and stir fry for 3 minutes, then add carrots and onions with salt to taste, stir fry for another 5 minutes until the texture is crunchy-tender, then add tomatoes and stir fry for 1 minute to heat them up or until the whole mix is whatever texture is to your liking.

Garnish with cilantro and eat while it's hot!

Chicken Bhuna with Lemon Rice

First of all Lemon rice, though it should be called lime rice, is way better than the sum of its parts... way better. Something about the crunchy toasted urad dal and the peanuts with the sweet and sour rice is majestic, so no matter who you are just make it.

Secondly any kind of bhuna preparation is pretty much solidly what my wife would call “Mikey food”, with onions, tomatoes, garlic, and chilis you can't go wrong as far as I'm concerned. If you want it framed in a more Americanized context, it's basically slightly saucier fajitas with more spices. It's awesome! And I know that some of you out there have an aversion to fennel/anise/love/happiness/etc., so if that's the bane you suffer just leave it out or grow up.

Chicken Bhuna

Serves 2-4 depending on how you like to party

Ingredients

3 TBS oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

¼ tsp turmeric

1 heaping TBS ginger/garlic paste

1 bell pepper thinly sliced

1 large onion thinly sliced

1 TBS tomato paste

1 lb of boneless chicken sliced very thinly against the grain (breast or thigh, doesn't matter much here though thighs are always better... ALWAYS!)

1 TBS fennel powder

1 TBS cumin powder

1 TBS coriander powder

red chili powde to taste (optional)

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp black pepper

salt to taste

¼ C chopped cilantro

Method

Heat your oil to med/high and fry your cumin seeds until they splutter, then add curry leaves and turmeric until the leaves crackle, then add gin/gar paste and stir for 20 seconds or so.

Mix in your peppers and cover for 2 min, then add onions with a little salt and cover stirring occasionally until they look slightly translucent.

Stir in your tomato paste and fry for 1 min.

Add in chicken with all of the spices, stir very well and cover for 2- 5 minutes stirring a few times, until chicken is cooked.

Taste for salt and mix in cilantro.

Eat it!

Lemon Rice

Serves 2-4 again depending on your mood

Ingredients

3 C leftover rice (Like making fried rice, you CAN cook it first and then put it on a sheet pan to cool for a little while, but leftover rice has a much better texture)

2 TBS oil

1-2 TBS urad dal (split black skinless lentils)

2 TBS dry roasted peanuts

½ tsp mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

1 pinch hing

¼ tsp turmeric

1 TBS minced ginger

½ finely chopped jalapeno (optional)

Juice of 1-2 limes

1-2 TBS sugar

¼ C chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in pan to med-med/high and toast urad dal until golden, then add mustard seeds until they splutter, then curry leaves until they crackle, then hing, peanuts, and turmeric.

Next add ginger and fry for 10 seconds, then add jalapenos and mix for 30 seconds

Throw your rice in and break up the clumps, stir fry it until it' well coated for about 2-3 minutes and it's nice and hot.

Sprinkle it with sugar and stir, followed by lime juice.

Stir fry until the lime juice has dried up, then add salt to taste and cilantro.

Relish this opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Home-style Bhindi Besanwali and Methi Dal

After being out of town for awhile its always pretty awesome to get back in the kitchen and cook for my wife and I. I still love cooking big caloric feasts for my friends when I go to visit, but I end up missing the healthier, and often less ubiquitously preferred dishes we eat at home.

As much as I do know a ton of awesome open-minded people who enjoy all kinds of stuff, some flavors and textures are pretty polarizing, for example: Okra and Fenugreek! My wife (thank God) and I LOVE okra, and my friend and Indian food co-conspirator recently schooled me on the joy of frozen fenugreek leaves (thank God again) so I wanted to throw together a nice Rajasthani lunch.

We ate this stuff with some plain basmati rice (so I could use the leftovers for lemon rice!), lime pickle and a little yogurt. This is a super tasty, super healthy powerhouse of flavor. Usually, folks will deep fry the okra dish, but after some looking I found some versions that were satueed. Don't get me wrong, it would straight up be better fried, but we're always trying to eat fewer calories than we really want to.

Home-style Bhindi Besanwali

Yield: 4 servings as a side dish

Ingredients

1lb frozen cut okra

3 TBS oil

1 onion in 1 inch thin slices

½ jalapeno finely chopped

1 TBS ginger/garlic paste

¼ C besan (chickpea flour)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 pinch of hing

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 TBS cumin powder

1 TBS coriander powder

1 TBS amchur (dried green mango) powder or the juice of 1 lime

Red chili powder to taste (optional)

¼ C chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Method

Heat your oil to med/high and fry the cumin seeds for a few seconds, then hing, then turmeric, then gin/gar paste for 20 seconds or so.

Follow up with the onions and jalapenos with some salt until they're golden.

Next add your okra with coriander powder and red chili powder and reduce the heat to med stirring often for about 5-8 minutes until the okra is about ¾ cooked.

Now stir in your amchur powder or lime juice, followed by the besan.

Let this sautee until the besan is cooked, maybe 5 minutes or so stirring often. Finish it off with the cilantro, salt to taste, and enjoy!

Methi Dal

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 C sorted and rinsed moong dal (split peeled mung beans)

3 C water

1/8 tsp turmeric

2 TBS oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 jalapeno finely chopped

1 TBS ginger/garlic paste

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 pinch hing

1/8 tsp turmeric

½ C frozen methi (fenugreek) leaves

Red chili powder to taste

Salt to taste

¼ C chopped cilantro

Method

Boil your dal with 1/8 tsp turmeric and water until mushy, adding water to your desired consistency.

Heat oil in pan to med/high then fry cumin seeds until the splutter followed by hing and another 1/8 tsp turmeric then add gin/gar paste and fry for 20 seconds.

Add your onions and jalapenos with salt and sautee until golden, followed by the methi leaves and red chili powder and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Add the methi mixture to the dal and stir, add cilantro and salt to taste.

Eat it!

Rye and whole wheat flat breads

A friend of mine gave me some rye flour the other day to use in a medieval cooking demo, and I figured I would cook it up today to go with some leftover pease porridge and fried greens. I had forgotten the delightful quality rye brings to bread making, aromatic, soft, nutty and overall DELICIOUS! These are no joke one of my very favorite breads I have ever made.

Makes 4 flat breads

Ingredients

1C whole wheat flour

1C rye flour

1 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

½ C water

1 TBS sugar

Method

Mix your flours, salt, yeast and sugar

Add in the water and knead well for about 3-4 minutes

Let rest in a greased bowl for 1 ½ hours or so until it doubles

Preheat a skillet/tawa to between med and med high

Cut dough into 4 pieces and make balls of it.

Flatten each ball down, then dip it in flour and roll out to around 1/8 of an inch

Cook on the griddle on one side until bubbles form and the bottom is browned (Around 1- 1 ½ minutes)

Flip and let the other side lightly brown (30 seconds- 1 minute)

Top with a little butter and devour!

Roasted chicken with powder forte, Medieval Salad, and Barley frumenty

My mom was coming over today for lunch and I was in a medieval mood so I figured I would cook up some frumenty with roasted meat, I let my wife pick the grain and got some chicken legs because I am a cheapskate, and just happened to have enough of the ingredients in the fridge to throw together a salad from the Forme of Cury (the 14^th C English cookbook I have been studying of late). It turned out great, a nice combo of flavors and textures and the salad was spot on!

I'll post the original recipe for the salad too (from Godecookery.com), I didn't have all the ingredients though I know it would be delicious. I just used what I had and sort of view the original as a general guideline for the spirit of English green salads in the 14^th C.

Makes 3 lunches

Chicken with powder forte

Ingredients

6 med chicken legs

1 TBS mashed garlic

1 TBS white vinegar

1 TBS oil

salt to taste

1 tsp powder forte (Mine was ginger, black pepper, cinnamon and cloves)

Method

Preheat oven to 400

Mix all the ingredients except the chicken into a paste

Cut diagonal slits into the thick part of the chicken legs

Rub marinade paste all over the chicken legs and into the slits

Roast until golden brown and very tender (around an hour for mine).

Eat it!

Barley porridge

Ingredients

1 C pearl barley

4 C almond milk

1 TBS butter

1 TBS sugar

Salt to taste

Cinnamon to garnish (Optional)

Method

Rinse your barley well

Put in a pot with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil

Reduce heat to simmer for 1 hour, or until it's the consistency you like, stirring occasionally.

Garnish very lightly with cinnamon, or not

( I poured in my chicken drippings!!)

Eat it!

Medieval Salad

Ingredients

½ head of romaine cut into 1 inch squares

1/3 head iceberg lettuce in 1 inch squares

½ bunch green onions thinly slices

2 TBS finely chopped mint

2 TBS finely chopped parsley

¼ C vinegar of your choice (I used white)

2 TBS oil

salt to taste

½ tsp crushed dried rue (optional)

2 TBS sugar

1 clove mashed garlic

Method

Mix oil, vinegar, salt, rue, sugar and garlic. Whisk well and let sit.

Mix all other ingredients

Toss with dressing before serving.

Eat!

Original Recipe:

78. Salat. Take persel, sawge, grene garlec, chibolles, letys, leek, spinoches, borage, myntes, prymos, violettes, porrettes, fenel, and toun cressis, rew, rosemarye, purslarye; laue and waishe hem clene. Pike hem. Pluk hem small wiþ þyn honde, and myng hem wel with rawe oile; lay on vyneger and salt, and serue it forth.

- Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme of Cury). London: For the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985.

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GODE COOKERY TRANSLATION:

 Salad. Take parsley, sage, green garlic, scallions, lettuce, leek, spinach, borage, mints, primroses, violets, "porrettes" (green onions, scallions, & young leeks), fennel, and garden cress, rue, rosemary, purslane; rinse and wash them clean. Peel them. (Remove stems, etc.) Tear them into small pieces with your hands, and mix them well with raw oil; lay on vinegar and salt, and serve.