Monday, May 20, 2013

What to Do with All That Leftover . . . Ham—Asian-style Ham Noodle Salad

Do you have pounds of leftover ham in your refrigerator that you don't know what to do with? Do you find you can't face another plate of, well, sliced ham? Here is an easy and fabulous trick to serve your loved ones leftover ham that has almost no hint of its former origin. You will win praise and admiration, and secretly know you were smart to use up rather than toss out. Also, if you love Asian restaurant ginger-soy salad dressing, you will find this great recipe below.

Ingredients

· 1 (12 ounce) package chow mein noodles (you could also substitute soba noodles, or rice noodles)
· 2 cups cooked ham, julienned
· 1 cup pineapple, julienned (optional)
· 1 cup vegetables (julienned carrots, cooked haricot verts green beans [the skinny kind], mushrooms, asparagus cut in 1-inch pieces, etc.)
· 3 cups salad greens

Directions

1. Cook a 12 oz. package of chow mein noodles (they look like spaghetti noodles), as directed, rinse in cold water to stop them from growing, drain, and then set aside.
2. Julienne about half a pound (a couple of cups worth) of ham--long, thin slices work well with the chow mein.
3. Add in veggies. Make sure if you are using crunchy veggies to cook first if necessary (green beans).
4. If you have pineapple on hand, julienne it, and add to the ham.
5. Toss ham-veggie mixture with Asian Restaurant Ginger-Soy salad dressing (recipe below), along with the noodles, and serve over a bed of fresh greens, such as spinach, romaine, endive, etc.

Asian Restaurant Ginger-soy Salad Dressing

o 1 tablespoon ginger juice , from fresh ginger
o 2 tablespoons soy sauce
o 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
o 1/3 cup salad oil
o 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Grate enough fresh ginger root (a couple of tablespoons) to squeeze out 1 tablespoon of ginger juice. To the ginger juice add 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, and 1/3 cup of salad oil. If you have sesame seeds, toss in a tablespoon (especially love the toasted kind, called irigoma). Remember how to make this dressing--it is to-die-for delicious with so many other salads, and is ridiculously easy to make.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Don't Be Afraid of Goi Cuon: Vietnamese Salad Rolls Demystified



You've probably either had these lovely delicacies or at least seen them—translucent-skinned salad roll-ups with shrimp, sprouts, and who-knows-what-else, served at Vietnamese restaurants. They look too cool for words and have a subtlety that is jazzed up by dipping them into some kind of mystery Vietnamese dipping sauce.
Do not be afraid—you can make these bad boys at home. My four-year-old made one herself (with only a little help from the grown-ups). My suggestion is to array the fillings of choice on a platter, have a big bowl of warm water for dipping the rice-paper wrappers in, and maybe a couple of choices of dipping sauces. So fun for guests to pile their own toppings on the rice paper (look for rice paper wrappers [Bahn Trang] at Asian stores or buy online), roll up, and dip. I'm all about participatory eating: Shabu-shabu, Peking Duck, Fondue, Make-your-own-tacos—you name it. If you help create it, somehow, food tastes even better.

So here's a quick-and-dirty how-to for building a Gui Cuon, Vietnamese Salad Rolls (or Spring Rolls) meal:

Potential Filling Ingredients
Choose the ones you like or have handy, but at least have cucumbers, sprouts, and noodles.
  • Fried tofu strips
  • Cilantro
  • Thai basil
  • Mint leaves
  • Shiso leaves
  • Mung bean sprouts
  • Carrots, julienned
  • Cucumber, julienned
  • Rice noodles or bean thread noodles (I prefer bean thread because you are already eating rice with the rice paper wrappers), soaked in hot water until soft for 10 to 15 minutes and then drained
  • Sirloin strips, marinated in lemongrass/garlic/fish sauce/sugar marinade, and grilled
  • Shrimp, deveined, butterflied, cooked
Dipping Sauces

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Massaged, Rubbed, Subjugated (whatever you want to call it) Raw Kale Salad That Is Palatable, If Not Scrumptious


The title above is a misnomer. As anyone who has eaten raw, unadulterated kale knows, it is not unpalatable. It only looks that way. Intimidatingly curly, tough, bitter—or all three at the same time. But when you taste it, you realize the rugged tangle of green leaves that is kale is not half bad even in its virginal state. But once you do a little doctoring, a wee bit of manipulation, kale can easily be transformed into a delightful rich salad vegetable, like a darker, more ethnic cousin to cabbage.

So how do you do the kale legerdemain? How does one massage kale anyway? Sounds slightly kinky. But it isn’t complicated. There are simply a few rules of raw kale to know. And with those rules, you can be as free as you want in whipping up raw kale salads in many variations that are gobbled down with great relish by even the non-crunchy crowd. And don’t forget one of the big reasons for kale’s burgeoning popularity—turns out it is one of the powerhouses of antioxidants and nutrients that grows in the garden. Now making it delicious too is your new super-power.

Lose the Stems. Kale leaves aren’t so tough—they are easily subdued. But the stems are bad boys, through and through. Get rid of those right away, by ripping, slicing—any way you like. Compost 'em, fearlessly.

Cut leaves into small, easy-to-eat pieces. Like cabbage, which is similar in toughness, kale has a hearty tooth resistance. Cut it into small slivers, though, and like cabbage, it submits to your will. Unlike more tender salad greens, you cannot simply tear and toss and expect good results. Do your diners’ teeth a favor and make kale pieces easy to bite. If the pieces are the size of your mouth, you will find them hard to chew. Let your sharp kitchen knife do the dirty work ahead of time. You don’t have to mince— smallish pieces are good enough.

Marinate ahead of time. Again, unlike salad greens, kale is tougher and actually gets better when doused with salad dressing ahead of time (cabbage does too!). It even tastes great the day after marinating--really! Any combination of oil-acid-salt will work (you probably want to stay away from creamy dressings because kale will turn them green). Be sure to dress your kale at least 20 minutes or more before serving. This softens and lets the leaves be saturated with flavor. It’s lovely—trust me on this. And I don’t mean soaking chopped kale in a bucket of liquid. I mean splashed with dressing, tossed to coat, and left to sit.

Sweeten and go. Because there can be a slight—and I do mean slight—undercurrent of bitterness to kale, you can banish it once and for all with a bit of honey, or sugar, or you-get-the-idea. Just a little is all you need.

Get your hands dirty. After you have done the steps above, dig your hands into your bowl of chopped, marinated, and sweetened kale and stir things up. You do not have to massage it per se. You can simply toss and push and cajole and squeeze occasionally. Do this hand-tossing thing for a couple of minutes without trying too hard and you are finished.

That’s all there is to it. Massaged kale salads are going for double-digits in chichi restaurants all across the country. Congratulations! You have just transformed $2.50 cents worth of grocery store kale (or, my husband says, clipping it from the backyard garden--nada!) into the same thing. Without the fancy name, of course.


Friday, April 19, 2013

Make Your Own Taco Seasoning or Mexican Red Sauce the Easy Way

A couple of things I know for sure and that is that Mexican home cooks do not keep little containers around their kitchen labeled "Taco Seasoning" or "Chili Powder." Same for Indian home cooks and "Curry Powder." They just don't. Both of those are gringo (or gora) interpretations and simplifications (if not perversions) of Mexican and Indian flavors. But if you are one of those people--like me--who doesn't use garlic powder when there is perfectly good fresh garlic just sitting there waiting to be crushed, then read on.

I started learning how to make the Mexican flavor after I noticed, years ago, that the ingredients in any jar of chili powder are basically, dried ground chilies, salt, garlic, oregano, and cumin. Those are items I have in the pantry, so why pay for some dinky and even expensive packet that serves one or two meals and contains a ton of salt? It makes no sense. Also, I have a treasured copy of a 1970s Sunset cookbook called, Mexican Cooking to give me guidance. And it contains non-gringo-fied authentic recipes that contain actual lard (YUM!) and other mainstays of made-from-scratch Mexican cookery. The Sunset recipe for taco meat is that you first make red sauce. Surprise! If you learn to make red sauce you will not only be able to make the sauce that goes on enchiladas (and that tortillas are dipped in for enchiladas), but you will also be able to whip up tacos-any-flavor, using your preferred meat or fish (or vegetarian equivalent--tempeh tacos, anyone?)

The old-fashioned and correct version is to start with those lovely dried chilies you see in the Mexican section of grocery stores. They could be anchos, pasilla, or California chiles. You toast the dried chiles in the oven, remove, cool, rip out the seeds, soak in water, and then blend. But I am lazy and if it requires going through that dried-to-pureed chili cha-cha, I just won't make tacos or red sauce very often. Here's my lazy cheater's version that still tastes authentico and you probably have the ingredients lying around anyway.

  • Olive oil
  • Fresh garlic, crushed
  • Paprika, smoked paprika, any kind of dried ground chili powder you have on hand (you can buy a variety in the Mexican section of most grocery stores for around $1 per packet--a common one is "Chile California Molido" in El Guapo brand)--any combination of mild ground chiles
  • Oregano--fresh if you have it, dried if not
  • Ground cumin
  • Tomato paste if you have it, if not, ketchup. Yes, ketchup--don't get all snooty on me.
  • Chicken stock (if you get a jar of Better Than Bouillon Chicken Stock on hand, it will last months in the refrigerator
  • Salt to taste
  • Corn starch with water to blend it

Start with olive oil in a frying pan. Add crushed garlic and saute quickly--do not allow to brown. Add any combination of mild ground chiles, as listed above. If paprika is all you have, use that. Be generous--you want it to be red colored. Add chicken stock, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, and stir to mix. Add a slurry of cornstarch and water (1 tablespoon cornstarch per cup of liquid). Stir quickly as it will thicken into a gravy. A Mexican gravy. Taste and adjust seasonings. How much you add of each is up to you. You should have a reddish, savory, just-salty-enough red sauce, also known as salsa de chile rojo.

Ready to convert this into taco seasoning? Add your raw beef, chicken, fish, tempeh, etc., and cook while stirring. That's it. Serve with Mexican trimmings and garnish with lime and cilantro.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Lazy Leftovers Reconfigured

Everyone has lazy days--or at least should to insure stress-reduction that can help us have a longer life. But on a lazy day or night, do you want to eat fast food or takeout? Or do you want to stay in and use what's already in the fridge and transform it into something yummy? Yes. Me too.

We all know the trick of leftover roast chicken one night becoming chicken soup the next day. The same goes for roast beef to beef vegetable soup. But what about risotto (or pilaf or jambalaya) one day into rice soup the next day (this is a great trick--the broth that is in the risotto makes the water into broth as it cooks!)? And what about leftover mashed potatoes or potatoes au gratin turning into potato soup the next day? (Add water, cook until it disintegrates, and then puree.)

Another lazy leftovers trick: Cube leftover meat or tofu you are feeling unenthusiastic about eating again. Cook rice and allow to cool. Toss in Mediterranean items to jazz it up (tomatoes, cukes, marinated artichokes, kalamata olives), as well as olive and red wine vinegar (or your favorite dressing). Form the rice into a mound, surround it by a moat of chopped lettuces, and top with sauteed chunks of the leftover meat. Serve with a smattering of cilantro. Okay--that's a tad less lazy than the others, but you didn't have to drive to the store. Use what you have on hand is my favorite lazy foodie manifesto.

What is your favorite lazy day leftover transformation? Send yours to WhatEye8.com and we will post them!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

How Lentils Could Save the Earth, Part II


In the first installment of "How Lentils Could Save the Earth," I introduced the almighty, super-studly, protein-rich lentil, and explored where it came from, how it's used, and why it's a fabulous, inexpensive and should be an important part of our diets. Now, I'd like to share a nifty recipe that has the power to change your mind about lentils forever--if you didn't love them already, you will after one bite of this.

Coconut Lentil Curry, with Garden Vegetables

1 medium onion
2 tablespoons ghee or butter
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
10 cloves minced or crushed garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
6 cups water
1 12 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup lentils (the standard size--not the small ones), rinsed and sorted
2 medium or 1 large zucchini, cut into chunks or half discs, as you prefer
1 can chopped tomatoes, or 2 fresh tomatoes, diced
2 large or 3 medium carrots, cut into half discs
3 cups fresh greens (spinach is particularly wonderful, as it melts right in. If using Swiss chard, remove the spines and use just the leaves, chopped)
Salt to taste, but add only after lentils are cooked

  1. Saute the onions in the butter or ghee until tender and translucent.
  2. Add all the ingredients except the greens and the salt to a pot. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are well-cooked (no more than 30 minutes). Taste the soup and add salt to taste. I recommend using either Vege-sal vegetable salt blend (it's tasty and works like vegetable stock), or Himalayan pink sea salt, which has fantastic health properties. Anyway, be sure not to add salt until after the beans are cooked (this is true of all beans, as salt hinders bean water absorption). If using Swiss chard, add now and cook until tender (five minutes). If adding spinach, add and cook only for one minute, until wilted.
  3. Serve over basmati rice, or basmati rice pilaf. Also include minced, fresh chili peppers, for your guests to add in as they like. This dish is also wonderful when sprinkled with cayenne powder and/or smoked paprika.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Creamed Shrimp with Butter Rice (Ebi no Kurimu ni Bataaraisu Zoe)


A visual treat and a delight to eat, this dish satisfies on every level, and never fails to impress. Although not difficult to prepare, it does require many steps and ingredients. If you have a rice cooker, though, you are halfway there. I took the original recipe from Keiko Hayashi's Japanese Cooking: Try It, You'll Like It, and added more veggies, tarting it up in a distinctly southern California way (I bought the dish a Hurley surf-skirt and some Oakley sunglasses, is all). I'm convinced, though, that despite it's Japanese association, this creamed shrimp dish likely evolved from French cuisine--who else uses so much butter so wantonly (beside me)? Here's what this colorful presentation can look like (above), with many layers and textures. Because salad and starch and entree are all in there together, no need to serve with anything but a large spoon and a smile.

Creamed Shrimp with Butter Rice and Vegetables, a la Tumerica

Shrimp and Sauce
1 pound raw, shelled shrimp
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons sake or white wine
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup mushrooms (crimini, portobello, white, or shiitake--if dried, reconstitute first)
2 tablespoons brandy or cognac
3 tablespoons flour
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup cream

Butter Rice
1 1/2 cups jasmine or other long-grained rice
2 to 2 1/4 cups chicken stock--to prepare rice according to package directions
2 tablespoons butter

Garnishes
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
1 large or two medium tomatoes, chopped
2 cups fresh Swiss chard or spinach leaves, chopped loosely, stir-fried only to wilt

  1. Prepare rice according to package directions (Jasmine rice is 1 1/2 cups of rinsed rice to 2 1/4 cups water), substituting chicken stock for water and adding in butter before the water boils. Set aside, covered.
  2. Sauté shrimp and wine only to cook the shrimp, a couple of minutes, max. Set aside.
  3. Saute mushrooms and shrimp in two tablespoons butter, sprinkle with brandy or cognac off-flame and return to heat. Remove the shrimp and mushrooms and add in the chicken stock.
  4. Melt one tablespoon butter, whisking in flour, and cook until bubbly. Add in the chicken stock mixture., stirring well, and cooking to a smooth consistency. Remove from heat again, and this time add in the whisked egg yolks and cream. Return to heat, add in shrimp and mushrooms, and correct seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Mold the rice in a bowl and overturn the bowl into the center of a serving platter. Create a well in the center of the rice. Pour the shrimp-sauce mixture into the hollow, letting the sauce dribble down the sides of the rice.
  6. Create a circle of sauteed Swiss chard or spinach around the outside of the rice. Spread evenly to make a ring of green.
  7. Just inside the ring of green, create a ring of red by scattering the chopped tomatoes the same way.
  8. Lastly, garnish with the cilantro in the very center and serve immediately.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Super Bowl Treats: Pick-up Food for a Small, Casual Foodie Party


Jiggelos
First of all, I'm making gelatin shooters, "jiggelos," that are NOT made using Jell-o brand. (Who uses that stuff anymore? Ick--we are not kids, nor hospital patients. Artificial what goes in there??) Knox unflavored gelatin, and fruit juice and alcohol. The alcohol proportion is one part for three parts of liquid. Add gelatin to the hot liquid, stir to dissolve, and then when the mixture is cool, add the alcohol. Instead of pouring into cups--so Plebian!--pour into a large mold and cut individual shapes out of the collective. I used twice as much unflavored gelatin as in regular gelatine--thus making, "Knox Blox." The resulting jiggelos stand up well for ages, and need no refrigeration. I made Margarita jiggelos, using Grand Marnier, Sauza Tres Generaciones tequila, and homemade limeade (the limes came from a friend's yard). Also, pina colada jiggelos using coconut rum, coconut milk (unsweetened), pineapple juice, and simple syrup. Decorated with unsweetened shreaded coconut. YUM!


Curried Meatballs in Curry Gravy

Here's the real recipe I wrote for this outstanding--and original--dish. I'll be mixing ground turkey and beef together, along with ground ginger, and other curry spices (cumin. coriander, turmeric), and eggs, to form the meatballs. Then, I make a white sauce, and add in curry spices. I've made this many times for my family--with this original recipe, I am making a variation of Swedish meatballs with a curry flare, instead of making authentic curry--which I often do, that starts from a roux and has an onion base--to take this dish into comfort food category


Homemade Crab Egg Rolls

The secret to making egg rolls is that anything you stir fry can also go into an egg roll. The difference is, the stir-fry bits must be small. After you make the stir-fry, add some cornstarch to thicken--a loose sauce will spoil the egg roll wrappers. Deep fry in peanut oil until golden. I serve with an apricot ginger dipping sauce (to apricot preserves, add water to thin a bit and grated, fresh ginger root--stir thoroughly).


Greek Tomato-Cucumber Salad
Any salad at a Superbowl party has to be able to stand up--hour after hour--and not wilt. So no lettuce need apply. I'm making a Greek salad of chunks of tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and Greek salad dressing (olive oil, wine vinegar, Greek oregano, salt, and pepper).


Raspberry Ice Cream

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Tom Ka with Tofu (Or Tom Yam) Soup: The Perfect Fix for Flu Season, with Variations

When I went to Thailand and had this soup for the first time I think my whole world just flipped right over on me all at once--it was the most remarkable taste experience ever. The flavors just blew me away--piquant, sour, spicy, rich, amazing! You have to try it. And you can easily make either Tom Yam or Tom Ka with a simple substitution. This soup is simple to make, but what's tricky is having the ingredients on hand. Because I love this so much, I stockpile fish sauce, coconut milk and dried shiitake mushrooms (although the original calls for straw mushrooms). My hubby grows lemongrass in the garden year-round, and we have a lime tree that contributes a leaf here and there. You can make this without lime leaf and lemongrass, but add some lime zest to substitute. I think you are going to love this special and wonderful soup--one of the great wonders of the culinary world! And a quick fix when you feel yourself coming down with a flu bug. Nothing clears your head like the piquant vapors of this magical soup. 

Tom Ka Gung with Variations

  • 4 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 (12 ounce) can coconut milk (Not the reduced fat kind. Fat makes it taste DELICIOUS!)
  • 2 cups chicken stock (I use the chicken stock paste that comes in little jars, Better Than Bouillon brand. It has no MSG and is all-natural. Plus, stored in the fridge, it lasts a LONG time.)
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 sprigs lemongrass, root (two inch sprigs, chopped into tiny slices)
  • 1 kaffir lime leaf (or other lime leaf, tossed in whole--like bay leaves, you just fish them out before serving) (optional)
  • 1 lime, juice of
  • 4 garlic cloves (or more depending on your preference)
  • 1 (19 ounce) package silken tofu, drained and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup shrimp (optional)
  • 1 cup mushrooms (Any kind, such as white, shiitake, portobello, straw, white, etc. I mostly use shiitake because I keep a giant container on hand, but the most authentic is straw mushrooms, which you can find canned in the Asian section of grocery stores.)
  • 1 teaspoon red chili paste (I like Sriracha brand. Add more to taste. If serving to kids--my five-year-old likes this soup--then add ketchup instead. A small amount of ketchup tastes good--trust me!)
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root


Garnishes

  • Chopped cilantro
  • Thai basil, for garnish
  • Hot chili sauce, such as Sriracha
  • Diced hot chili peppers

  1. Add the coconut milk, chicken stock, and water to a heavy put, and begin to simmer while adding the other ingredients (except for garnishes and shrimp or other fish).
  2. After the spices have "relaxed," add either the shrimp or chunks of salmon and stir only until cooked (two or three minutes).
  3. Garnish and serve.

Variations


Vegetarian Soup Instead

* To make this soup vegetarian, substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock, and leave off the prawns. You've already got tofu, so that's a great protein source. Lastly, if fish sauce is a no-no, then substitute Bragg's Amino Acids (like soy sauce).

Tom Yam Instead

* To make Tom Yam instead of Tom Ka, do everything the same, except substitute more chicken stock to replace the coconut milk.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Homemade for the Holidays, Part 2: You CAN Make Your Own Curry Powder—and Authentic Curry

What's the best curry powder? Why, it's the one you can make from scratch at home! Don't settle for some store-bought version that's been sitting on a shelf for lord-knows-how-many years. And many of those are too salty or too spicy or both. Real curry powder is neither. 

To completely clarify, what Indians use when making curry is not actually curry powder (which is apparently a British adaptation), it's garam masala. Garam masala is a mixture of ground, dried spices that can be added to other dishes--a spice blend that gives a short-cut to curry. Most Indian families, I believe, make their own garam masala or at least add their own equivalent spices when making curries. But you can, by buying whole bulk spices and using a coffee grinder, make your own garam masalaand your own curry—easily. Remember--feel free to create your own variations. Enjoy!

The spice blend garam masala is such a beautifully fragrant and amazing thing to createand so easythat I have listed it here as one of the perfect "Homemade for the Holidays" gifts that you can create.

Preparation
Gather your spices (you can buy bulk spices online cheaply, or, if you are lucky enough to live near an Indian grocery store, that's even better) and assemble them in a large bowl. Toast them in a non-stick or heavy iron pan (such as Le Creuset) by stirring them lightly over medium heat (with NO oil). Toast just until your kitchen becomes fragrant and the spices turn a slightly darker shade
not until everything is crisped! Let cool and grind in small batches. (See Storage below.)

Garam Masala Powder

  • 1/4 cup black peppercorns
  • 2 tablespoons cardamom pods
  • 1/2 cup coriander seeds
  • 1/2 cup cumin seeds
  • 1 stick of cinnamon
  • A few cloves
  • 2 tablespoons of fennel seeds
  • Turmeric to taste (usually turmeric comes in pre-ground format. It's rare to find it fresh and even more rare to find it dried whole. So for this one ingredient, you'll probably be using it ground. Turmeric is an known anti-cancer agent, so I try to add turmeric as often as I can to many dishes!)
There are dozens of other spices you can add: fenugreek, curry leaves (I use this for fish curry only), asafetida, etc. But if you start with the most important ones: black pepper, cumin, and coriander--you won't go wrong.

Storage
Grind into a powder and store in glass jars or some other container that will not impart a flavor to your powder (better to avoid plastic if you can, as your spice blend will eventually taste like plastic). I like those glass jars with the rubber seals and the flip-top lids--you can get at Cost Plus World Markets, Michael's, or a gourmet store such as Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table. Also, SKS Bottle & Packaging has the best selection of anywhere I have seen. Then, simply label and decorate your little jar of spices and present as a lovely homemade gift.

How to Turn Garam Masala into Curry
When making your actual curry, always start with the roux. Use butter or ghee, large quantities of grated ginger root and garlic and pureed onion (blend these in a blender with a small amount of water, if desired). Cook and stir until the mixture turns light caramel color, and then add your other ingredients (meat, veggies, garam masala that you made, etc.). Use several tablespoons of your garam masala in your curry roux mixture and ENJOY! Don't be stingy with your powder
it takes a lot of spices to make a good curry! Cook only until the mixture tastes melded (e.g., you don't detect raw onion flavor and the meat is cooked through). You cannot make an authentic curry without starting from a roux. Just throwing in garam masala does not a curry make (oh, how few Western chefs understand this point).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Homemade for the Holidays Series

Part 1: Pistachio Bark

Part 2: Curry Powder (Garam Masala)

Part 3: Chocolate Truffles 

Part 4: Peppermint Bark