and yes, you CAN do it yourself

I made a yummy sauce tonight that I thought I'd share, lest you imagine that I am all talk.
I walk the walk, too, kids.

So, my adoring and carb-enabling husband made pizza dough this afternoon (as well as a monsterous loaf of superseeded rye bread, but I digress...). It was happily rising at home when he told me about this. Immediately, I was considering what to put on it... and, using my superpower (I can remember what is in the fridge right now! because the answer is close-to-nothing), took intellectual stock of the cool chest and pantry.

dried mushrooms! aha! umame time!

a huge plastic jug of them.

from Costco. go figure.

so, I asked him to soak some. I didn't realize that this would be for too long in too much water.

When I got home, the mushrooms were rehydrated all right - into a strange, squishy, dilutely-flavored stew floating in a brown, dirt-infused broth.

But for some reason, I decided to try to make them into something. I imagined that their dark, earthy, savory, glutamic goodness was still in that bowl amongst all that water! I probably should have trashed them. But I am enormously glad that I didn't. And now, you will know what to do when this happens to you:

Rich mushroom pizza or whatever sauce a.k.a. everything in the pantry sauce (this would be great in place of a Bolognese sauce or over meaty-flavored items):

about one cup of dried mushrooms (don't bother to cut them or anything)
1.5 cu water
1/2 can tomato paste (lots of glutamate... mine was Trader Joe's organic tomato paste)
1/2 cup of good, dry red wine (I used RedTree Pinot Noir) (more here, too...)
1/3 cup sugar (do not substitute this, it is needed for caramelization and thickening of sauce - like a jam)
a few shakes of paprika
a shake of nutmeg (ONE shake of the cheap dry preground stuff, less if yours is better)
salt to taste (more than you might think)
a little garlic powder (to taste, I used maybe 1/2 tsp of the cheap stuff)
a shake of dried oregano

how to:
soak the mushrooms in the water until way rehydrated
into a large skillet over high heat, dump the following, in order:
1) the mushrooms and ALL of the liquid. allow it to come to a boil and reduce a little
2) the tomato paste, stir it in well.
3) the spices, stir.
keep reducing.
4) when reduced by 1/2, add the wine and somewhat lower the heat to a happy steady bubble.
stir.
5) continue to let reduce a bit, then add the sugar and stir very well.

turn the heat back up, keep stirring until desired thickness and yummy, scraping the caramelizing thick goodness from the edges and bottom of pan back into the sauce.
taste (let it cool a sec first, ok?)
and add salt as/if needed.

let cool slightly (it will thicken further) and serve.
this is so good. and free of fats and animal protein. but it has a very rich meaty earthy flavor.

I added some vegan sausage bits and parmesan as a topping over homemade pizza dough and cooked at 500 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. huzzah!

if you cook it, ymmv, since I never measure anything. give me your feedback, eh?

Wakey Wakey!

SOooooooSSSSOOOOO....
sorry.
I meant to tell you all about Ghazal and then I got sidetracked with my real life.
Which has been busy, but good. Thanks for asking.

The short take on Ghazal on Centre St. in Jamaica Plain: It was good. Better than its neighbor which also serves Indian food. Which is a double-edged sword: on one hand, I used to really enjoy Bukhara - but then, recently, it got a heinously bad report from the Boston health commision (reinspection was better, tho, to be fair...).

SO, then I was bummed out about Bukhara. But I am not about to eat there anytime soon. Then, along came Ghazal to save the day.

We had Naan. We also devoured a delectable but not-too-sweet Peshawari Naan, after a super tasty, crispy, spicy Bhel (I am kind of obsessed with chaat, so finidng a place in Boston that will serve it is a sheer joy) for an appetizer. The chutneys were good, although I was craving something... stronger. For mains we enjoyed classics I often order: a Saag, a Paneer Korma, and some spicy ground lamb. All tasty, piping hot, and served with a smile.

The service we enjoyed at Ghazal was exceptionally good - the waiter was pleasant, not overbearing, not overly stiff, and didn't rush us.

My take on Ghazal in JP: the food seemed less fatty, with generous protein portions, and a cleaner bill of health than other Indian food in the area. The service was super pleasant. And they serve chaat dishes as apps! A winner. Not expensive. You should go. Prob amongst the best Indian food I have had in Boston, the more I think about it.

Boston reviewed: Ghazal

I had heard there was a new kid on the JP restaurant scene, and when I heard it was another Indian place, taking over the seemingly cursed prior locations of News Cafe (the news part being that it was both overpriced and lousy, a scandal, I know...) and Arbor (which I had liked) I kinda thought, "maybe third time's a charm?"

But, then again, new kid Ghazal on JP's Centre St. is just doors down from longtime local Punjab-style stalwart, Bhukara. So, imagine my surprise as I exited Ghazal, able to inhale the gorgeous smell of Bhukara on the street, and still think aloud,"I would rather eat at Ghazal."

Enjoy the eye candy, full review to follow. Short version: Ghazal brings cleaner crisper Indian flavors, generous portions, fresh ingredients, and very pleasant capable waitstaff to JP. Nummy!

Tom Yummy!

Just needed to tell you about mg new snack discovery. Not an alternanut, but actual nuts (you are what you eat, indeed).

Way to go, Trader Joe's, cuz the Tom Yum chewy crisp cashews are addictively good. The flavor is savory, sweet, and complex, which for me constitutes a deeply satisfying snack.

All nuts do contain fat, and unfortunately cashews aren't the heathiest of nuts, with 25% of the fat coming atcha in the saturated (extra artery clogging) format. But these are all natural, vegan, and contain no trans fat (the evilest shit invented), and I think the benefits of a nice blend of vegan protein, mostly healthy fats, and complex carbs at killing between meal munchies outweigh the downsides.






Grab a handful (ONE handful) and enjoy. The natural lemongrass, chili, and touch of garlic makes this amazing!

Trader Joe's Tom Yum cashews, 2.8 oz, will run ya only 99 cents for 2.5 servings, a bahhhgin!

Eew, bad!

I kinda imagine that over time, I'll make this a series, since I find a lot of things that I wind up smelling or tasting to be yucky.

So, dear friends, as my first installatin of "Eew, bad!" I will share with you something I purchased, full of hope for my omega-3-rich future: organic olive oil from Trader Joe's. This looked so promising: little bottle (which kinda implied this is for eating/garnishing and not for high-temp cooking, in my thinking), certified USDA organic, modest-but-not-too-cheap pricepoint, product of Spain.

But it tastes...
Eew, bad!

I first sampled a drop of this elixer straight, from the palm of my hand. Bland with a vague bananaish note and distinct mid-throat peppery aftertaste. So I added a few grains of salt, which brought out a teensy bit of olivey flavor, but nothing rich, nothing complex, nothing fruity.




So I put a few drops on a piece of plain hearty bread. With the addition of food, all I could taste was a kinda greasy vegetal note on the palate, and a peppery sensation in the throat. Flat, bland, (and I know this sounds dumb since I am talking about OIL, but go with me here), oily-tasting.

I'll be returning this. Still on the search for a deeply flavorful 100% olive oil, not for cooking but for eating. And no banana flavors! Eew, bad.

Trader Joe's organic olive oil is $6.49 for 500 ml

AlternaNuts!

I love nuts. You are what you eat, right?

They are easy to toss in my purse, stash in my glovebox, and shove in my pie-hole (actually, I am not such a fan of pie, but perhaps we'll discuss E's dessert laws another day? and Cheeto-hole lacks a certain ring, no?) on the go. They don't melt in the heat, they're not artificial, and they're not hard to procure in an unprocessed fashion. Nuts pack a nice wallop of nutrition, trace elements, and protein. Trouble is, all those benefits have a price - and that would be fat (most of it "good" but it is still fat...) and calories.

Typically I conquer this with portion control. But a 100-cal pack is not always satisfying, plus having some nut alternatives is useful culinary armamentation in the war against boredom and bad foods - be they bad tasting, bad for me, or bad for the environment.

So let's talk about alternanuts.

Recently, I tried making asparagus crisps, as described by the genius FoodplayerLinda over at her fabuluscious blog, Playing with Fire and Water. Linda is a real chef, and I strongly suspect she is a genius (see above comment). I had to modify her recipe a little (go read it, silly) , as I wound up salting the asparagus while it dried in the oven (salting the water only left them too bland once dried) and the dehydration oven time for mine was much longer (about 2 hours to her 30 minutes) - I suspect both of these are due to the fact that I was unable to just use a vegetable peeler to strip the asparagus down (I have an OXO GoodGrips veggie peeler, one size, that's all) and just used a knife and some patience...

BUT, once I made these light, tasty little snacks (mine turned out kinda the thickness of 70's potato stix, with an 'x', like the kind that came in a can), I found them to be amazingly addictive.

that, and they kinda taste a lot like pistachios.

all that without adding any fat.

so go try it. like right now. one tip, though - asparagus is mostly water. so once you remove the water, you may be surprised to see just how little mass is left. These really reduce down to nearly nothing. BUT that nothing is crisp and flavorful and mysteriously lacking the sometimes-present sulfur-y note that some people dislike in asparagus.

a day later, if they get a little limp, just flash 'em in the microwave again for like 14 seconds.
crispiness returns!

I am considering trying the same method with leeks, scallions, maybe kaffir leaves... and pre-sliced mushrooms. Crispy, gentle, tasty veggie-snacks are a winner.

Did you try it? How might you serve it?
I'm planning to powder 'em and encrust stuff, as well as serve over soups, salads, in a sushi roll, you name it. and by the handful, in place of nuts!

Welcome (again) to the Machine

After sort of abandoning my Pittsburgh blog (since I rarely had that much nice to say, honestly), I have moved back to my hometown of Boston (thus the Beantown theme, to say little also of my increasing vegan tendencies), and continue my search for good, local, mostly (?) healthful and tasty food - at home, as well as out and about town. I have long alleged that Boston is a great culinary town, and I hope to prove it to you. I also claim that making great (and fast) food at home can be easy, and I hope to try to prove that one, too.

So this blog will be broader but food-themed. Boston-based but global in cuisines (since I like to try it all).

I am not a chef. I am a doctor. But I know that basics of how to make some stuff, and I know what I like - the rest is an adventure. Which is not to say that I forget who I am when I get home at the end of the day, and lately my home-cooking is focused mostly on a high protein, lower fat, lower carb, flexitarian diet. Lots of folks don't know what to do with tempeh when they get it home, and thus avoid it altogether - I have been buying it (and other stuff) and will try to share with your my successes (and gloss over the failures, but I digress...) That said, I care a lot of about healthy cooking, and healthy eating. But I am not too rigid about it, since I don't think that is good for me.

I hope you will share your discoveries and I will try to do the same.