Orange Couscous Salad

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Great for picnics, potlucks and block parties – this salad is delicious at room temperature, and it makes a lot.  I used to make this often for the 58th Street Block Party – which has been an annual event since the early 1940s!

Making this for the Fourth of July with one variation:  I’m sauteeing the onions in a little olive oil because neither Kumy or Maya like the flavor of raw onions.  It’s still a good flavor in the salad and then nobody has to pick bits out

2 cups boiling water
3/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cup couscous

Blend together in a large bowl, cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

1 can 16 oz. chickpeas, washed and drained
1-2 cups mandarin oranges

drained
1/2 cup diced red onions
1/2 cup golden raisins

Add to the couscous.

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbs orange zest (grated orange peel – just the orange part)
1/8 cup orange juice (I add the juice of one whole orange)
1 Tbsp minced fresh chives
1 tsp salt

Blend in a little bowl and pour over the couscous mixture. Blend gently and refrigerate for an hour. Can be served cold or at room temperature and tastes even better the next day.

Bread Pudding

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I made this for Kumy’s 45th Birthday, but the ones who really loved it were my son Ali and me!

3 cups french bread, cut in chunks
3 cups milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
dusting of fresh nutmeg

Put bread cubes in a casserole dish. Heat milk and butter just until bubbles come up the side of the pan. Mix eggs and the rest in a bowl and add warm milk. Stir and pour over bread. Use a fork to press the bread cubes into the custard mixture. Put the casserole in a larger pan with about an inch of water. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until a bread knife comes out clean.

You can add a cup of blueberries, or other fresh fruit diced up, or a cup of raisins or currants. You can even add a cup of chocolate chips. It’s delicious warm or cold.

Update: to make this dessert for a large group, simply double the recipe and bake it in a 1/2 catering tray. Serve with Warm Bourbon Sauce, or Peach Sauce.

Up-Update:  Cranberry Walnut Version.  Using part of a stale loaf of Cranberry Walnut bread from a great french bakery in town that we love, I thought, why not make a Cranberry Walnut Bread Pudding.?

Used the same recipe as above, but added a handful of Craisins and a handful of chopped walnuts.  It was lovely – tangy and sweet with the added crunch of the walnuts now and then.

Mummy’s Martian Rice

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Kumy’s Mom, Shamim taught me this recipe and we love it with fresh, plain yoghurt. The name is a kind of a joke, since the rice gets a green “Martian” color from the cilantro and jalapenos.  Mummy is a wonderful cook and has been the most loving person – a real blessing in my life.

4 cups rice – 95% cooked. (Just pull a piece of rice out and if it still has a tiny bit of hardness in the center it should be fine)

2 lbs. chicken cut into bite-sizes (I like to use a combo of boneless skinless breast and thighs.)
1 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed ginger
1 1/2 cups water

Bring to the boil in a large pot and let simmer until chicken is cooked through.

1 lb. fresh cilantro (yes, I know that’s a lot)
1 tsp salt
50 gms of jalapeno peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks (about 1 large or 1 1/2 smaller peppers)

Buzz the cilantro, salt and jalapeno peppers in a blender or food processor with 1 cup of the broth from the boiling chicken.

1 Tbsp Oil

Heat oil in a frying pan, and add the cilantro mix.  Saute for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Add to the chicken mix and blend gently, then add the rice and stir gently again. Cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Serve with fresh plain yogurt.

Tayebba Auntie’s Peas

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Kumy’s aunt, Tayebba Auntie is another amazing cook, and she taught me this recipe when we were living in Karachi. It’s zingy and delicious.

1 lb. English peas in shell, soaked for 15 minutes in cold water and then drained
2 Tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp whole cumin
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp)
1/8 cup water
juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat oil on medium heat in a frying pan, and saute cumin for a couple of minutes until lightly brown. Mix garlic, ginger, pepper, salt and water in a bowl, and add to frying pan. Cook for a minute and add the peas. Shake well, reduce heat and cover. Cook 15 – 20 minutes. Squeeze lemon juice over peas just before serving.

Rice Custard

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I have a thing for puddings – especially old-fashioned ones.  When Kumy and I were living in Karachi, one of our treats was to have Blanc Mange (White Food) out of the old Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook circa 1960 which oddly both his and my mother had. I’d make Blanc Mange, an incredibly simple vanilla pudding and we’d curl up with warm pudding and watch movies.

This is another really simple, yet delicious pudding that is hardly served anymore – but it should be.

4 eggs
1 cup sugar  (can use 3/4 cup if you don’t like it too sweet)
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
fresh nutmeg – a dusting
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Mix all but the rice and raisins in a medium-sized oven-proof bowl. Gently fold in the rice and raisins. Put the bowl in a larger metal bowl, with water coming halfway up the sides. Bake at 350 for one hour.

18 Bean Soup

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I have always loved beans and legumes and this soup is so delicious – plus it’s Vegan.  If you know someone who likes soup – you can take the spices, quadruple them and put them in a nice mason jar with the recipe for soup as a gift.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 tsp garlic puree, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Heat oil in a large pot, and saute the veggies for a few minutes, adding the garlic for the last couple of minutes.

1 bag mixed beans, washed and soaked for several hours, or overnight
(I think it’s about a pound, and there is an 18 bean mix)
2 carrots sliced
1 large potato, diced
juice from 1 lemon
2 cups tomatoes, chopped, or 1 15 oz. can
1/2 tsp black pepper
salt to taste
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
2 tsp chili power

Add all to pot, stir, and add water to cover by an inch or so. Cook 2 hours or until beans are soft.

Cajun Version: skip oregano, marjoram and chili power. Add 2 more tsp garlic, 2 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper.

This can also be cooked in a slow-cooker really easily.

Good, Simple Bread

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1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups flour  (I use Pillsbury unbleached)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp olive oil

Mix water, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Let is sit for several minutes in a warm place until it is nice and bubbly. Add salt and stir well. The add the flour and stir until it all comes together.

Pull the dough out and sprinkle flour on a cutting board or counter. Knead the bread for a couple of minutes. Then put a little oil in the bowl, and put the bread back in. Cover it with a towel and let it rise for an hour or so in a warm place.

Remove it from the bowl, and form it into an oval on a baking sheet. Brush it with olive oil, and sprinkle a bit more salt on it. Then carefully slash three horizontal lines across the top. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Martha’s Buttermilk Pancakes

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Martha’s Stewart’s Recipe is the basis for Kumy’s favorite birthday cake: Pancake Cake. Kumy doesn’t much like regular cake, but he loves pancakes so we make a double batch, layer them with fresh fruit and drizzle the top with maple syrup.

I always mix pancakes in a pitcher because it’s easy to pour and saves washing dishes.

2 eggs
3 cups buttermilk (can add a little more if the pancakes are too thick)
4 Tbsp melted butter or oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp sugar

Mix very well in a pitcher with a fork or wire whisk.

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

You can mix these in a bowl if you want. However I just dump the flour in, then the baking powder, soda and salt and gently stir the dried ingredients together before I mix them with the liquid underneath.

Stir gently with a fork until just blended (there will still be many lumps, but no visible pockets of flour in the mix.)  Pour 1/3 cup batter into a  greased frying pan and cook until done. I often just “eyeball” it since the 1/3 cup measure always either falls in or drips batter everywhere.

Great variations: Stir in 1 cup fresh blueberries, or 1 cup diced apples, peaches or pears, (gently sauteed in a little butter and sugar first.) Or you can add a mashed-up banana (mash with a fork) and a splash of lemon juice.

Note: if you’re out of buttermilk, I’ve had good luck with substituting 1/2 plain yogurt and half milk.  Just work with it until you get a nice pouring consistency.

Ina’s Peas & Prosciutto

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Please – if you don’t know who Ina is, stop what you are doing and go straight to the nearest bookseller.  Ina Garten is the Barefoot Contessa, and her Food Network show and cookbooks showcase her truly great recipes.  I saw another chef make this recipe on her show, and I make it slightly differently.  All of Ina’s recipes are good. Really.

1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup prosciutto, chopped (or 4 slices turkey bacon or real bacon, diced and fried)
2 cups frozen or fresh peas
1/3 cup chicken broth
salt & pepper

Saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook a couple more minutes until garlic is done. Add prosciutto or bacon and cook for three more minutes. Toss in peas and broth and cook just until peas are warmed through. Salt and pepper to taste. You can drain off the extra liquid, but honestly it’s pretty delicious so I often just leave it, and let it mix with whatever else is on the plate.

Brown Butter Roasted Potato Hash

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We get the Wall Street Journal, and Jessica Koslow’s recipe from their amazing “slow food fast” section has become one of our favorites. It’s easy, quick and uses things you probably have right in your pantry.

2 lbs. small potatoes, scrubbed well and cut in half
(Red are fine and so are Yukon gold. I try to buy potatoes that don’t need to be peeled, since I hate peeling!)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper
4 eggs, hardboiled, peeled and quartered  (use more if you love eggs)
6 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Scallions,thinly sliced

Set Oven to 450. Add potatoes to a large pan, and boil for 15 minutes in salted water. Drain potatoes and rinse pan well.

Mix oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Layer potatoes face up on a baking pan and drizzle with oil mix. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping over halfway through. I sometimes have to cook it a little longer to get them really nicely browned.)

If you haven’t boiled the eggs, now is a good time to do so.

Add butter to the pan, and heat for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. The butter should become well browned, but not burned. Remove from heat. Dump potatoes and lemon juice in and stir gently. Add scallions and eggs and stir gently once more. Serve.