le sauce

vadais

I remember being little and not liking vadais. My parents would bring them home once in a while, eat them as a snack with sambol or dried butter chilies, and offer me some every time. I wasn't interested. It might have been that the appeal is in the texture and subtleness of these fried snacks, scented with curry leaves and flavoured with onions and only a scattering of fennel and cumin seeds--maybe I just couldn't appreciate them then. 

Until one day in the car on the way home from a grocery run to the Indian and Sri Lankan grocery store, when a fierce pang of hunger hit me. My parents passed a slightly grease-stained bag of vadais back and forth in the front seats. It was eat one or whine in the back of the car until we got home. I ate my first whole vadai. And then I ate a second. Possibly a third, I'm not sure, but at any rate, I changed my mind about vadai that day.

That day I finally appreciated their golden outer, the crispness, crunch and crumb, protecting a semi-moist centre of split chickpea batter. My family, ever eager to fill everyone around them with the food they love, started buying more for me from that point on, eventually making them at home. My dad started frying big batches of them (often in the open garage--he hates the smell of fried, spiced food penetrating the whole house) and served them with his famous green chili sambol. His vadai and his sambol. That is the definition of someone spoiling you. It's a nice thing to be a guest in my parents home, you should come over some time. In the meantime, fry up a big batch of these vadais--my dad's recipe, enjoy them with a sambol or chili paste and very cold beer. 

winter stew

The thing I love most about eating the food other people make, especially watching them make it, is when they do things totally differently than I might have. When James is in the kitchen, he'll take vegetables I'm used to eating and make them taste refreshing different to me. I love this stew he's been making this winter because the paprika and dijon mustard he throws in keeps it from being bland or expected, yet I'm not sure that I could really pick either of those ingredients out when I eat it. It's also made creamy with the addition of milk at the end.

He serves it over couscous and he always makes extra for lunch. As with most stews, the leftovers are even better, so make more than you need too.

warm chickpea salad with sesame dressing

 

i'm already putting my new cookbook to good use. the vegetarian option by simon hopkinson is full of recipes i want to make. but i promised to bring a salad to a big bbq this long weekend so the warm chickpea salad jumped out at me--easy to make, not many fussy ingredients, and i could see how it could double or even triple to feed a large group. i thought it was an interesting salad because i wouldn't have really thought to combine chickpeas and a dressing that includes what's essentially a sesame butter. but i got even more interesting...

black olives and sesame butter? really? 

really.

did i mention the chili oil? the mint? it was only after trying it that i thought of spicy hummous, tabouleh with mint and parsley, and olives working together perfectly. but a taste of the sesame dressing and black olive in the same bite still woke me up every time i tried it. the flavours didn't compete, they were quite nice together, just different, for me anyway.

the reaction from the crowd? delight. and second helpings. and in case i've made you skeptical, rest assured...

 

 

every extra drop of the delicious sesame paste was scraped into an air-tight container and set in my freezer for a future use. the paste is delicious and i can't wait to use it again, whether with this salad, on soba noodles, or mixed into a curry. you could even use it as a dip--it's so good that you'll kind of want to have it straight from the bowl. i might have had a spoonful or two that way myself.

warm chickpea salad with sesame dressing

from the vegetarian option

sh headnotes: serves 2. this salad is absolutely made by the inclusion of my sesame paste (see below), which also appears in several other recipes. make sure the canned chickpeas are of a good pedigree--ideally a greek or middle eastern brand. also, if the olives are packed in oil, use this for the dressing.

ys note: i made a large batch to bring to a potluck bbq--(served as a salad without bread). i tripled the quantity of chickpeas, sesame seeds and sesame paste used, but only doubled everything else. we ate it served at room temperature which i liked even better than when it was warmer. oh, and i saved the seeds and juice of the tomatoes to use in a sauce the next day. that's the heart of the tomato and it's delicious!

2 1/2 c canned chickpeas

for the dressing
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 ripe tomatoes
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 scallions, trimmed and finely sliced
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sesame paste
1 tbs each chopped italian parsley and mint
1 heaping tbs chopped black olives

for the dressing, lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium hear until fragrant, and cool slightly. peel, seed, and chop the tomatoes and mix together with the rest of the dressing ingredients in a roomy bowl.

tip the chickpeas into a pan, bring to a simmer, and heat briefly for a few minutes. drain in a strainer and rinse with boiled water from the kettle.

add the hot chickpeas to the dressing, stir together, and serve, spooned over slices of toasted sourdough or country bread, if you like.

sesame paste

from the vegetarian option

sh headnote: makes about 1 3/4 cups. you need a powerful, small food processor to make this paste. for the best flavour, i feel it is important to use asian brands of chili and sesame oils.

ys note: i used 1 tbs of chili oil skimmed from the top of my bottle of chili seed oil and it was enough heat for me--and you know how i like heat! try that first and work your way up if you want more.

2/3 c sesame seeds
3 tbs finely grated ginger (juice saved!)
1 large garlic clove, peeled
2 tbs light soy sauce
4 tbs mirin (japanese cooking wine)
1 to 2 tbs chili oil
1/3 to 1/2 c sesame oil, plus a little extra to serve
2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 c warm water
1 to 2 tbs sugar, to taste

lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant, and cool slightly. tip into a small food processor and add all of the other ingredients. grind and pulse until you have a paste that is fully emulsified and super-smooth.

pour into two small, lidded containers, smooth the surface, and trickle over a little extra sesame oil, to preserve the surface. put in the refrigerator, where the paste will keep happily for anything up to 1 month. or you could freeze one of them, if you like.

 

 

the comfort of gourmet

 

this picture above is of a "tunisian soup with chard and egg noodles" that i made with fresh harissa paste. i found this recipe from gourmet magazine at epicurious, one of the only places i turn to on the rare occasion that i look for a recipe. it was delicious, comforting and nourishing, just how i feel about the magazine itself. 

i work in the magazine business and for some of the best consumer titles in canada. on the newsstand, we compete with the best consumer titles in north america, and some from the UK and australia. my particular job requires me to be familiar with our competitors so i read much of what's out there in the city, lifestyle, fashion, parenting, wedding and food categories. it's fun, i do love them. and i love them because they're good. my favourite magazine was domino, closed at the beginning of this very long year in publishing. today two of my other favourite reads were shuttered: cookie and gourmet.

i don't have children and am not about to. but i found myself reading cookie (once they found their footing) regularly and with great interest. most recently i devoured a powerful piece in their september issue on jenny mccarthy, and her quest to have parents think about their kids' vaccinations. it's something i've debated myself and think we should question more. other times i've tried quick and delicious recipes from cookie, including this arepas recipe that i'm glad i will always have now.

i really think bon appetit is a great magazine, but i found myself drawn to gourmet for much more than its recipes. really, i think i was drawn to gourmet for the same reasons i'm drawn to it's editor, ruth reichl. i don't know her except for a couple of articles or blurbs i've stumbled across, but they're ones she's written about her life, her losses, and now from her tweets, get to read a little about her great home, trips to the market and sips of coffee. small things, but she seems like a person who really feels things, at least that's what i find in her voice when i read her writing. there was a lot of feeling in the stories in gourmet. i didn't read them to get information about chilies in remote regions, but because the story about the family drying those chilies was somehow crazy interesting and really personal. the story about a small village in france where the farmer's market turns into a night kitchen didn't make me want to book a flight and descend on that scene, it made me want to slow my life down more and eat more with people who i love and who love food. it was a beautiful and romantic magazine and i will miss it. i hope ruth and the talented people who created that feeling can pursue their passions in their next adventures. i will be waiting eagerly to see what they do next.

a random bite of panelle

my mother, whose food i love, made a recipe of lidia bastianich's, whose food i love. which resulted in love on a plate. panelle, i learned from my mother, who learned from lidia's pbs show, is a very simple chick pea fritter. mango chutney, my father learned while tasting the recipie my mother learned from lidia, goes very well with panelle. pass it on.

oh, and i learned that lidia's recipe for panelle was featured in bon appetit, which my mother adapted to include some fresh herbs. good idea, mom.

chickpea fry (with coconut and green chilies)

i asked my mom what this dish is really called. "chickpea fry". yes, but what is the name of the dish? i hear that it's a very common sri lankan snack, served at cricket games and dinner parties alike. so surely it must be referred to as more than the ingredient + cooking method. "we call it kadala back home". which translates directly to chickpeas. mmkay. "chickpea fry" it is. 

canned chickpeas work fine in this recipe. they only spend a few minutes in the skillet, but that's all they need to mix with the sweet fried onions and aromatic curry leaves and mustard seeds. the curry leaves really are essential to this recipe (and they can be eaten in the final result), as they in many south asian recipes. if you always want to have some on hand, when you have a fresh bunch, wash and dry them well, and then you can freeze them in an air-tight bag.  

after eating this dish for most of my life, it seems i'm still discovering variations on it, and only when i'm able to appreciate them. for instance, when i was younger and didn't tolerate heat the way i do now, my mom made this without chilies or with just a sprinkling of dried red chili flakes. when i able to handle spicier food, she finally cooked them with as many chilies as she would for herself, and even served them to me with crisp butter chilies on the side to munch on between bites. now i'm positively obsessed with chilies and a couple of weeks ago i was at my cousin's house and she cooked these chickpeas as she normally does, sauteed with whole green bird chilies. that was the first time i'd seen that addition and i will always make mine that way from now on. frying the chilies whole means that you can take them or leave them. the heat doesn't have to be a part of the experience but it's there if you dare to bite.

but another thing she included that i'd never seen in this dish before was coconut. and if you dislike coconut, please wait! i know, i hear you. if you asked me about coconut a year or two ago, i would have told you i hate coconut (ignoring the fact that it's at the heart of so many sambols and curries that i love). but i've grown to appreciate it in masked appearance, like great macaroons, for instance. and in the chickpeas i was served that day, i positively loved them! the small chips of fresh coconut were fried with the chilies till just slightly softened and browned. the next day i was at a sri lankan market and bought a cupful of chickpea fry topped with fresh coconut! this will be too much for me, i thought. loved it again. it just really works with this recipe. having said that, you can certainly do without the green chilies and coconut if you're not ready for them yet. i totally get that. you will love this anyway.

paris day 11: angelina's and king falafel

(this one's for elena)

 

hot chocolate at angelina's is not at all like typical north american hot chocolate, which used to taste good until i had this. now i don't think i can go back. this is a little like the middle of a molten chocolate cake, but actually better. super thick, slightly bitter, more chocolate than i could handle. so good that i prefer it without the whipped cream. it's a further indulgence to enjoy this in angelina's on rue de rivoli, in their over-the-top pretty dining room. 

 

to balance out all that pretty, back to falafel row to test the claims "best falafel in the world". we tried l'as (du falafel) and we wanted to try the rest. turns out the rest are pretty full at lunch time on an average weekday. we found a table at king falafel, a few doors down from l'as du falafel. another hot, fresh, packed with the works masterpiece. but the verdict...we both still preferred l'as du falafel. 

 

a random bite of chickpea and carrot salad

 

i had some gorgeous carrots on hand in 4 or 5 colours--the kind i only find at markets, never at the grocery store. and although i'd cooked with them, i really wanted to make something that showed their raw beauty well. so naturally a salad came to mind. i had some fresh green lettuce and parsley on hand, and added chickpeas for a creamy element among all that crunch. 

 

i remembered watching jamie oliver's show "jamie at home" (one of my favourite food shows) and i think he took carrots of different colours, peeled them, and then just kept on peeling to get thin, long strips of carrot for his salad, and i thought i remembered a cumin based dressing too. i have had cumin and carrots many times, as cumin is a strong player in my mom's carrot "curry" recipe, but she also uses mustard seeds a lot, so i toasted both ground cumin and mustard seeds and then ground them in a mortar, and added chopped shallots, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper to make the dressing. tasty and even heartier than it looks.   

i later looked up that jamie oliver recipe and i'd remembered some parts correctly, but he served his salad over ground lamb. i may not eat lamb anymore but i know that would have been a delicious combo!