the magic of yogurt and mixed pickle

Uschi gave me a jar of mixed Indian pickle.
Kelly left an enormous amount of homemade yogurt at my house.

So lately I make up some rice with various vegetables and spices. A big scoop of yogurt, a small scoop of pickle and I am in delight.

Here is how I make my rice:

1. In my favorite Cutco Pan, some ghee and heat
2. Add some mustard seeds, maybe some cumin seed, maybe some coriander seed or maybe some favorite curry powder...you have a lot of freedom here. Lately I always add some turmeric cuz i like the color of the yellow rice.
3. Add your vegetables like fennel, carrot, onion, whatever, OR wait till you add the rice.
4. Add the rice and stir. Saute for a little bit.
5. Pour on less water than you think.
6. Bring to a boil. Place sliced chard or kale or spinach or other such greens on top of the water, cover and turn heat to super low. 10 minutes.

Fried Pasta with Fennel and Spinich

I had some cooked plain pasta in the fridge. (Strangled Priest Noodles)
And I had some other stuff, so this is what I did:

1. Poured too much olive oil in non-stick pan and started to heat it.

2. When hot, added a smooshed clove of garlic and stirred quickly to avoid it burning, then i added the cooked pasta. I was going for a nice browned edge in places, almost a fried quality.

3. Then i felt like I should do a little more than just that, so i looked in the fridge again and found a head of fennel and some spinach from FnC. I sliced up the fennel and tore up the spinach and added then to the frying pasta mixture. Stirring and coating with olive oil.

4. Eventually i added some salt and pepper. (Lemon or a little balsamic might have been nice, but all i could think about was lots of Parmesan cheese).

5. When I removed the pasta I added lots of Parmesan. IT was good.

Note: It is my understanding that Parmesan Cheese is not really vegetarian.
A lot of Parmesan cheese, especially imported Parmesan is made with rennet which is derived from the stomach of slaughtered cows. Definitely not vegetarian. I am not sure about the cheese I just used. I will now know to look.

Coming Back to the Vegetarian Campfire

I pay very close attention to my dreams. Several months ago I had a dream that made it clear to me that drinking was not my path and so I stopped.

Last week I embarked on a process called "Active Imagination." I recommend Robert Johnson's InnerWork for a reference. In my first encounter with a character from one of my dreams, I was told to stop eating meat. And while the character and I spoke about my resistance to being told what to do, I knew that I did not stand a chance.

So today is day 1. The person that will suffer the most will be Eric. He will have to get meat on his own. And ChannelChow will become a vegetarian cooking blog. omg.

Real Cooking

Great blog by Mark Bitman on "Tv Cooking vs. Real Cooking"

Thinking About Making My Own Yogurt

I surrounded by people with amazing skills.

Yesterday over at Sara and Alana's house, Sara offered me some goat milk yogurt made by her pal Nikki Anne. The perfect wholeness, tartness and consistency had me scarping the jar clean.

Harold McGee has an article on how to make your own yogurt in the NYT today.

I have always shied from these sorts of projects, but now that my cooking has gotten way simpler, maybe I have the room.

Steamed Salmon and Chard with Lemon Dill Mustard Sauce

So fast, so good.  So easy.  Recipe is for 2.  

The problem with this method is that it has no fat.  And I like fat.  So I made a fat sauce and used fat in my rice.   If you did not want any fat in your dinner, make sauce without the olive oil and butter and cook your rice without it.

1. Slice up 1/2 a head of beautiful yellow rainbow chard from Steve Sprinkle's Gozo Farm.  Wash.

2. Start rice if having.  Tonight I heated up some olive oil, threw in a bunch of fennel seeds and turmeric for a pretty color. Added the white basmati rice and toasted for a moment, then added the water.  Brought to boil and covered.  Takes 10 minutes.  About as long as the fish.

3. Heat a non stick pan and add the wet chard.  Add a little extra water.  Lay the two beautiful salmon fillets from Gee What a Deal Seafood on top of the chard.  Grind a little pepper and sprinkle some salt.  Cover and allow to steam.  (Takes between 8 to 10 minutes depending on size of fish, etc).

4. Meanwhile, make the sauce.  In a small saucepan, heat some butter and olive oil.  Add some fresh chopped scallions from B.D.  Eventually add some green peppercorn mustard (or other favorite Dijon), fresh chopped dill from B.D.,  a few dashes of  worshteshire sauce, tiny grated Meyer lemon rind, juice of one Meyer lemon and lots of black pepper.  Stir with enthusiasm to combine.  The worshteshire sauce is usually salty enough, but salt to your taste.

Everything finishes at once.  And the fish comes out so perfectly tender and tasty.  It's not as pretty as grilled or broiled fish, so the sauce is necessary.  Crispy potatoes would have been a nice textural addition, but crispy potatoes take time...

"I Loved I Lost, I Made Spaghetti"

A new cookbook out by Giulia Melucci. Not sure if any of the recipes are good, but the story about her and the building of the cookbook in the NYT is sweet and enjoyable.

Read it Here.