EatLocal365 » tomatoes

How to Make Parsnip-Cashew Curry

Erik — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:28:43 +0000

The two most difficult things about having a CSA are the lack of control over what you get, and the use it or lose it nature of produce. We have our biggest problem with winter storage vegetables, as they slowly pile up in our fridge and basement.

When we recently had a bag of potatoes that we hadn’t used, we made a very nice curry out of it. Last night we were staring at a bunch of unused parsnips (about 10!), so we figured, why not see if the same trick will work twice? Instead of potato-peanut curry we made a parsnip-cashew curry. Great success!

I often find curries to be intimidating because it always seems like they have 1,000 ingredients. In reality, they’re actually pretty simple to make, once you figure out how best to wrangle the ingredient list. Recipes often require the same ingredient in two places but only list it once in the ingredient list, which drives me mad. In an effort to make things easier I’ve deconstructed the timing of this recipe and put each ingredient into a group according to the timing (I had to toss our usual “where we got it” column to make room).

A lot of the work can be done a day or two in advance (making it a good Monday or Tuesday night dinner). Anything that includes an asterisk in the “Timing” column can be prepped or at least measured out in advance.

Parsnip-Cashew Curry Serves 4

Timing	Amount	Ingredient	Preparation
In Advance *	1 cup	Dried chickpeas or beans	Soaked in cold water overnight, then drained. We used soldier beans.0
The Cashews *	0.5 cups	Cashews	Toasted and ground/td>
The Paste *	5	Cloves	Garlic
The Paste *	1	Small onion	Or 1/2 of a larger one
The Paste *	2 inch piece	Raw ginger	We keep ours frozen an then grate it with a microplane
The Paste *	2	Fresh green chilis, or about 8 dried	Finely chopped (fresh) or crumbled (dried); set half aside
The Paste *	5 TBsp	Water
Initial spices *	1 tsp	Cumin seeds
Initial spices *	2 tsp	Ground corriander
Initial spices *	1 tsp	Tumeric
Initial spices *	1 tso	Chili powder
Main Ingredients	2 lbs	Parsnips	Cut into half-inch chunks, woody inner core cut out if you like
Main Ingredients	9 oz	Tomatoes	Peeled and chopped. We used the ones we canned last September
Main Ingredients	4 TBsp	Sunflower oil	Can use canola or another oil (although olive oil might add too much flavor)
Main Ingredients	0.75 pint	Water	Just shy of 2 cups, if that’s easier
Finishing Ingredients	1 tsp	Ground cumin	Either toast and grind whole seeds (since you are using whole seeds already) or use pre-ground
Finishing Ingredients	2 cloves	Garlic	Minced
Finishing Ingredients	Lime juice	Juice of 1 lime, or a few TBsp of bottles juice
Finishing Ingredients	To taste	Kosher salt
Finishing Ingredients	To taste	Black pepper	Freshly ground
Finishing Ingredients	1 handful	Cashews	Toasted
Finishing Ingredients	As desired	Plain yogurt	We used our own homemade yogurt
Finishing Ingredients	A handful	Fresh cilantro leaves or parsley	To garnish

Directions

Soak the chickpeas or beans overnight in cold water.

Drain the chickpeas / beans. Place them in a pot and add enough cold water to cover them. Bring it to a boil and let it boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to a low boil and cook for 60 – 90 minutes or until the beans are tender. Drain and set aside. This can be done a number of days in advance.
We usually opt for cooking a larger amount of beans in a crock pot on low for 6 hours, which we’ll use over the course of a week or two. That saves us a lot of time and effort on this step, including not having to keep an eye on a boiling pot.
Set the oven to 400 degrees. Measure out 0.5 cup of raw cashews plus one extra handful, and toast for 5-10 minutes (you can tell by the aroma when they are done). Set aside the handful for garnish. Put the rest into the food processor and pulse until they are finely ground. This can all be done well in advance.

The next step is to make the garlic-ginger paste. If you have a powerful enough food processor, you can just throw everything from “The Paste” together without pre-chopping. If your food processor is closer to our old model, you may want to pre-chop the ingredients into smaller pieces. Don’t worry if you have some cashew dust residue from the prior step; no need to clean now. Because we keep our ginger frozen, we took out a frozen two-inch piece and grated it directly into the work bowl of the food processor using a microplane.
If you are using fresh chilis and wish to limit the hear, you should cut them open, remove the seeds with a spoon, and chop them up first. If you are using dried chilis (like we did) and want to limit the heat, you will want to crumble the chilis into a work bowl and them fish out the flesh, leaving some (or all) of the seeds behind). Only use half of the chilis at this point and set the rest aside for later.

Add all the ingredients for “The Paste” to the food processes (including the 5 TBsp water) and pulse until it’s smooth. This can be done up to a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator, although fresher is better because it will lose intensity over time.
Measure out the “Initial Spices” into a small bowl and set aside. This can also be done ahead of time.

Chop the parsnips and the tomatoes. We removed the woody center of the parsnips through careful knife work (if you cut one in half you can see it), but it’s not an absolute necessity. Our tomatoes, canned last summer, already had the skins removed, but if you are using fresh, you should remove the skins, although again, that’s not an absolute necessity.
In a large frying pan (we used a cast iron skillet), heat the oil on medium-high. Although we often cut down on the amount of oil in recipes, in this one it’s important not to skimp, even though it seems like a lot. Once the oil is hot, add the “Initial Spices” and the ground cashews. Mix and let it sit for 20 – 30 seconds. Add the garlic-ginger paste and tomatoes and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes.
Add the chickpeas / beans and parsnips, as well as the rest of the water (0.75 pint or just shy of 2 cups). Add salt and pepper (to taste, but err on the side of “a lot”). Turn the heat up to high and bring to a very strong rolling boil. Look for big bubbles around the edge of the pan. Stir every so often. Once you’ve got it to a strong boil, turn the heat down so that it’s at a strong simmer (continuous little bubbles) and let it simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered. Parsnips are tough, especially if you leave the core in, so you want to make sure that the boil and simmer are strong.
If the parsnips are tender and edible while there is still a good amount of liquid left in the pan, bring it all back up to a strong boil and let it go until enough water evaporates to thicken the sauce. We didn’t find that to be necessary (ours was plenty thick), but results will vary. Add the “Finishing Ingredients” as well as the second half of the chilis and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes.
Plate with the leftover (whole) toasted cashew pieces, cilantro or parsley leaves, and yogurt. Service with naan, rice, or bread.

Cooking for One: Egg-straordinary

Lindsay — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:42:53 +0000

Erik and I have been trading off business trips. I was in NYC last week; he’s there this week and the next. I really struggle with cooking when he’s gone. I forget to eat at regular times, so then I’m STARVING and the only thing that will satisfy my furious stomach is pad thai or some other delivery treat. One order of anything delivered is at least two servings and, yep, I do. I eat the whole darn thing. Because it’s DELICIOUS. But then I feel gross. And waste money. And throw out a bunch of garbage. So my goal this week is to come up with a few things to cook at home that are delicious, filling, and easy.

Attempt number one: the egg. Pros: (1) nice single serving package; (2) minimal clean up. Negatives: sort of…eh? On it’s own it doesn’t really compare to a gooey sandwich from the place on the corner.

Hmmmm…half empty (half full??) jar of Bloody Mary mix in the refrigerator. Part of a loaf of bread on the counter. Done! What it lacks in glamor, it makes up for in tastiness.

Bloody Mary Egg

Serves 1

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (SWM = Somerville Winter Market)
1/3 cup	Bloody Mary mix		Home-canned
1	Egg		Red Fire Farm CSA
Tiny bit	Butter		Shaw Farm (SWM)
A piece or two	Crusty bread	Cut into fingers for easier dipping	Hi-Rise Bread Company (SWM)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Put one of the racks in the middle and put a baking sheet on top of the rack.

Rub the inside of a small (6-8 ounce) oven-proof ramekin with butter.

Pour the Bloody Mary mix into the ramekin.

Crack the egg into the 1/3-cup measure and use the cup to carefully nestle the egg into the Bloody Mary mix. Do this gently, so that the egg stays together.

Open the oven and carefully set the ramekin on top of the baking sheet, which will keep your oven clean and prevent tipping.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the egg is just set. It’s hard to tell when this happens, because the egg hides under the juice, so give it a little poke to check. Err on the side of under-cooking, since it will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven.

Let it cool for a few minutes so that you don’t burn your tongue off, then dig in with a spoon and some bread.

P.S. That was lunch. I’m totally eating pad thai for dinner.

Dark Days Challenge Week 1: How to Make Potato Gnocchi

Erik — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:25:06 +0000

To motivate ourselves through the winter, we have joined the Dark Days Challenge, which asks that we cook one meal a week focused on SOLE ingredients (sustainable, organic, local, and ethical). Right up our alley! Each blogger gets to set their own parameters within these guidelines. We’ll be sticking to the following rules for our Dark Days recipes:

Our primary sources for ingredients will be our CSA through Red Fire Farm, the Somerville Winter Farmers Market, and our canned/dried/frozen stores from the summer.
If we need to supplement, we’ll use ingredients from within 150 miles of home or those that we get from the NYC Greenmarket system while visiting friends and family there.
Salt, dried herbs and spices, baking soda/powder, and vinegar are fair game, but we’ll try to find local sources.

I sort of feel like relying on the Greenmarket is cheating, but we’re still figuring things out here and will be spending a time in NYC for holidays, so I’m giving us a pass. On to the recipe!

This is actually two recipes, one for the gnocchi and another for the sauce. Both are variations on recipes from Lidia’s Family Table, which is a phenomenal resource.

Potato Gnocchi

Makes 4 servings

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it
1.5 lbs	Potatoes		Red Fire Farm CSA
1	Egg	Beaten	Red Fire Farm CSA
2 cups	All purpose flour		Cayuga Pure Organics (NYC Greenmarket)
0.75 TBsp	Salt

Directions

Clean the whole potatoes and place them in a large pot. Fill with enough water to cover the potatoes plus a little headroom. Place on high heat, cover, and allow to boil for about 45 minutes, or until they are tender when poked with a fork but not yet falling apart. Drain the potatoes and let them cool enough to handle.

Rice the potatoes. This can be done either by peeling them and using a potato ricer, or by using a food mill (which will automatically remove and separate the skins). We used the attachment to our Kitchenaid stand mixer, which is actually two attachments, both the food mill attachmentand parts from the meat grinder attachment. It’s kind of complicated to put together, but it’s a real labor and time-saver. I wish we had taken pictures of the milling process (and construction), but we had just gotten back from Thanksgiving and were cooking for company coming over, so we were in a bit of a time pinch. Next time!

Rice / mill the potatoes on a sheet pan. Using a rubber spatula, mush and spread them out over the pan. Sprinkle the salt over the layer of potato. Let it cool and dry for lat least 20 minutes (up to however long you feel like it!).

Pour the beaten egg over the potato and then layer on the flour. [At this point in our timeline I finished the unpacking and cleaning up and made it to the kitchen to help, with the camera!] Start with about 1 cup of flour.
Using the rubber spatula, fold the bottom layer of the potato over the top around the edges. Repeat (gently) a few times until it begins to resemble a loose dough. Gradually add more flour until you have a kneadable dough. If you don’t add enough flough, the gnocchi will fall apart when cooked…but they’ll still be tasty!
Using your hands, finish the kneading process by making the dough slightly more consistent. Sprinkle on more flour if necessary and knead it in. It should feel more like a dough than mashed potatoes. Shape it into a ball and cut it into quarters.
Clean and lightly flour a work surface. (Up until now you could do it all on the sheet pan.) Roll out each quarter of the dough in an 18 inch rope. Cut each rope in half to make them easier to work with.
Cut each portion into pieces between 2/3 of an inch to 1 inch. Have a floury sheet pan nearby to start collecting the shaped gnocchi.
To give the gnocchi its classic shape, hold a fork so that the tines are facing downwards and push each piece onto the fork near where the tines join. The tines will make an impression on the one side and your finger will create a slight indentation on the other side. Then, roll the gnocchi off the end of the fork to make it more cylindrical and to create the tine impressions all around. Rumor is that eventually you can do this in one motion. I’m not there yet.
Once all of the gnocchi are shaped and on the sheet pan, toss lightly in the flour to avoid sticking and cover them with a towel. They should be boiled immediately at this point or frozen. They don’t sit around well in this form. Bring a large pot of water to boil (get this started in advance if you remember).

Using a kitchen skimmer / spider or slotted spoon, drop 5 or 6 gnocchi in the boiling water at a time. This is important because the water needs to be at the boiling temperature to form the “skin” that will hold the gnocchi together. The more gnocchi pieces are added to the water at one time, the more the temperature will drop and the longer it will take to recover. Limiting the number of pieces is annoying but in the end it will be easier and you will get better results.

Leave each batch in the water for 2 – 3 minutes, until they plump up a bit a float to the surface. Fish them out with your skimmer, but be gentle with them! Cooking for too long will lead to mush, so don’t be afraid to pull them out a few at a time as they float.

Simple Tomato Sauce

Makes a lot

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it
2 quarts	San Marzano / plum tomatoes	Previously canned (2 quart jars)	Cherry Lane Farms
1	Large onion	Diced (about 1.5 – 2 cups)	Red Fire Farm CSA
1	Medium celeriac	Diced (about 1.5 – 2 cups)	Enterprise Farm (Somerville Winter Farmers Market)
3 TBsp	Olive oil
2 cups	Water
2	Dried bay leaves
1	Dried chile	Crumbled (substitute 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes)	Northshire Farm chiles dried last summer
1 tsp	Kosher salt

Directions

Place the oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Once it’s heated, add the diced onion and celeriac (or you can substitute carrot, celery, etc.). Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 mintes. You want them to soften but not brown. [Note: we made this sauce using our own canned tomotoes. You can use store-bought canned San Marzanos, if you must.]
Add the tomatoes, salt, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes. Swish the water around the tomato jar or can to get out the last bits and dump it into the pot. Turn up the heat, cover, and bring the sauce to a boil. Check on it and stir frequently.

Once it boils, turn the heat down to medium / medium-high to maintain a bubbling simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point you can continue simmering and cooking down for as long as you like, up to an hour. When the sauce is as thick as you want, remove the bay leaves, blend with a hand mixer to your desired consistency, and add salt to taste

We served our gnocchi and sauce with another round of our arugula, beet, and peach salad. We quenched our thirst with some delicious cider from Eve’s Cidery and capped it off with little parfaits of home-canned cherries in wine and whipped cream. Yum! Nothing better than an impromptu Sunday dinner with good friends.

How to Can Whole Tomatoes

Lindsay — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:03:13 +0000

44 quarts of whole tomatoes and 18 quarts of Bloody Mary mix later, I’m trying to remember how we got ourselves into this.

I think the conversation went something like this…

Lindsay: How many pounds of tomatoes should we do this year?

Erik: Hmmm…how many did we do last year?

Lindsay: About 30.

Erik: Well, we need to at least twice that many!

Please note that Erik was living it up in the Hamptons with some college friends the weekend that I did tomatoes last year, so he has no idea of what he’s getting himself into. Also note that I didn’t argue.

Lindsay: OK, so we should do 60 pounds. Do you think Brian and Mary (friends who recently started canning) want some, too?

Erik: Yeah! And we should do it at their house because they have a nice big suburban kitchen.

Lindsay: Swell! 120 pounds it is then!

A few months later…

Jimmy from Northshire Farm: The only way to can tomatoes is on one of those camp stoves with a high BTU.

Erik: Whoa! That makes it kind of like grilling! Let’s get one.

A few weeks later on canning day…

Nice lady at Cherry Lane Farms: Here, let me fill up these boxes for you, so that you have five 30 pound boxes instead of five 25 pound boxes.

And the rest is history…

Lessons learned:

Although some recipes say to boil the tomatoes for one minute before peeling, our tomatoes were stubborn and required two minutes. I would personally rather have a slightly overcooked tomato than battle with tomato peels.
You can not possibly have enough bowls. Next year, I think we’ll buy some of those big plastic bins that people use to store stuff in the garage. A big tub for each step, rather than piling slippery tomatoes into every bowl, brownie pan, and pie tin we could find.
Camp stoves are awesome!! It was so nice to do our work outside in the nice breeze. Plus, they’re much more powerful than the kitchen stove and heated the water up in no time.
Save the peels and cores!! We got 17 quarts of Bloody Mary mix out of them…totally free. We’ll try to get the recipe up here soon.
If you’re canning outside, either start before lunch or have a light source other than the sun. The lanterns helped and it was kind of cool and witchy standing over a steaming pot in the dark, but I definitely burned myself once or twice because I couldn’t really see what I was doing.
Many hands make light work. This year was much more fun than last year. Thanks, Brian, Mary, Kevin, and Ellie!!!

Whole Tomatoes
Yield: About 7 quarts

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (* Union Sq. Greenmarket)
20-25 pounds	San Marzano or Roma tomatoes	Washed; discard any bruised or damaged	Cherry Lane Farms
About 2 cups	Lemon juice	Bottled is best

Directions:

Boil a big pot of water.
While the water is coming to a boil, cut a small X into the bottom (i.e. not the stem end) of each tomato. If the water starts boiling before you’re done with all the tomatoes, move on to the next step and come back to the X-ing while each batch is boiling.
Once the water is boiling, fill a large bowl with ice water. Don’t fill it to the brim – you need room for some tomatoes.
Drop a batch of tomatoes into the boiling water and boil for 2 minutes. The size of your batch will depend on the size of your pot. The tomatoes should be able to circulate around. When I do this at home in my Dutch oven, I only do 5 or 6 at a time. When we did it outside, I used my friend’s canning pot, so there was room for 20 or so.
Once the 2 minutes are up, fish the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and drop them into the ice water.
Now it’s time to make a decision. If you have a friend around or can press a loved one into service, have them start peeling (next step). Otherwise, repeat the steps above until all the tomatoes are boiled.
After the boiled tomatoes are cool enough to handle, cut the stem end out of the tomato and peel all the skin off. The stem end should come out like a little cone. Take a look inside and see if anything looks bad. If so, cut it out or toss the tomato. Sometimes the skin will fight you, but it should come off pretty easily.
When you need a break from peeling, get your canning gear ready. (Steps 3 and 4)
Once the tomatoes are peeled and the jars are warm and ready, get your big pot back out and put a layer or two of peeled tomatoes in it. Cover them by about an inch of water. Boil gently for 5 minutes. Don’t rush this part! The tomatoes need to be thoroughly heated to be safely canned. Yep, it’s pretty frustrating. My biggest pot only holds enough for 2 or 3 quarts, so I either have to cram another pot on my stove or take twice as long to fill my canner. I’d recommend the two pot approach, if you have a choice.
Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to each quart jar. This is important, because the acidity of tomatoes can vary. They’re probably acidic enough to can without the lemon juice, but why mess around? We couldn’t taste the lemon juice at all in last year’s batch.
Pack the hot tomatoes into the warm jars with a slotted spoon leaving a generous 1/2 inch headspace (Steps 7 through 9). Don’t be afraid to squish them. They’ll shrink more as they’re processed. Add enough of the cooking liquid to cover, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Don’t forget to bubble your jars!
Wipe the rims, seal, and process for 45 minutes. (Steps 10 and onward)
Sit down and admire your hard work.

Can-It-Forward Recap

Lindsay — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:59:14 +0000

Last Saturday was National Can-It-Forward Day, a day to spread the fun and value of home canning. Erik and I had our own little party and taught two of our friends the art and science. There was gabbing, a few glasses of wine, and plenty of boiling water. This was the first time I had every canned with people and it was a blast!! A lot of canning is sitting around waiting for the pot to boil or meditatively peeling tomatoes, which I appreciate for its mind-centering qualities, but it was a hoot to sit around our kitchen island with a couple of ladies and gossip/discuss/debate the events of the day.

We made two recipes, neither of which I’ll repeat here, because we made them both just as published. First, whole tomatoes, the workhorse of the canning world. The recipe said that we’d get 7 quarts out of 21 pounds of tomatoes, but it only took us about 18 pounds to get there. Heavy tomatoes? Overly gentle packing? I don’t know. The rest became tomato and cashew chutney from Canning for a New Generation the next day.

Since the tomatoes need to process for 45 minutes, we whipped up a batch of Blueberry Lime Jam. Yes, really whipped up. It was almost no work at all. It took about 35 minutes at a hard boil to get the gel point, but this will depend on your particular conditions. We got 12 quarter-pints (4 ounces) plus a tiny little bit in the refrigerator that I think Erik has eaten already. It was his favorite jam last year.

What’s on deck in my canning calendar? Peaches peaches peaches this weekend then a crazy tomato canning extravaganza (120+ pounds) over Labor Day weekend. Peaches and tomatoes were the big winners last year, but, unfortunately, they show up at the same time and often require peeling. This makes August and September a little busier than I would like, but it’s worth it.

Happy canning!

How to Make Chana Masala

Erik — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:15:19 +0000

[UPDATE: After publishing this post, I saw how the picture at the end of it ran straight into the picture of our chili mole. What can I say? In the winter we make a lot of food that is served in bowls (stews, soups, chili). I guess this is our standard pic!]

We know we’ve been a bit MIA lately. Lindsay was travelling again M-Th for work (as she has been for most of 2011 to date). I was also away for 5 days, and when I got home I was horribly ill for another 3.

We’ve managed to keep up our eating habits, but mostly through quick and easy meals. Between that and the fact that we’ve been using the same basic Dark Days ingredients since December, that means we didn’t make much worth posting about or that we haven’t already posted. One more month and we will be out of Dark Days, and we can already see the light at the end! We’re trying to figure out what to do for April, which is going to be another busy Dark Days month for both of us.

In the meantime, we DID make a nice chana masala that’s worth posting. Granted, our chickpeas are not local, so it’s isn’t a pure Dark Days recipe. Also, if you don’t have tomatoes canned from the summer, those be local. But after 4 dark months, we’re willing to bend the definitions a bit. Enjoy!

Chana masala
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (* Union Sq. Greenmarket)
2 cups	Yellow onion	Diced	Paffenroth Gardens *
5-6 cloves	Garlic	Minced	Keith’s Farm *
~2 TBsp	Fresh ginger	Grated or minced	Fresh Direct
4 cups	Cooked chickpeas
0.5 cup	Broth from cooking the chickpeas	Or other broth or water
1 pint	Canned whole tomatoes	Or 2 cups diced fresh	Canned this summer from Cherry Hill Orchards *
1 TBsp	Sunflower oil	Or any vegetable oil	Stolor Organics *
1 tsp	Brown mustard seeds	Whole seeds, not ground
1 tsp	Cumin seeds	Whole seeds, not ground
0.5 tsp	Ground cloves
0.5 tsp	Ground cinnamon
0.5 tsp	Ground cardamom

Directions:

If you are using dried chickpeas (which we recommend), cook the chickpeas, overnight if needed. Even though they sound exotic and look weird, chickpeas are a legume just like any other bean, so you can follow our instruction on how to cook dried beans. If you make a bulk of beans in the slow cooker, you can refrigerate or freeze the rest for later use.
If you do this in advance, be sure to set aside 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid when the beans are ready because it will add a nice starchiness that brings the chana masala together, as opposed to water or broth. Measure out 4 cups of the cooked chickpeas.
Dice the onions, mince the garlic, and then add the ginger. Our trick is to always keep a few whole ginger roots in a ziploc bag in the freezer. It’s easy to then use a Microplane to grate the frozen ginger. If you’ve ever tried to grate soft, fresh ginger, you know what a horrible experience that can be because it is so fibrous. This makes it a lot easier.
Heat a Dutch oven or large skillet over high heat. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds, stirring frequently, until they start popping. It’s important to use whole seeds here, and not ground.
When they start popping, lower the heat to medium, add the oil, and stir for about 1 minute. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients (chickpeas, tomatoes, water/broth, and spices). Give it a good stir and reduce the heat to low / medium-low. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring it every now and then.
Chana masala is nice served over rice. We had leftover rice from Chinese takeout earlier in the week. The way it reheats (a little stale and crunchy) is perfect. Just give it a quick fluff-up with a fork.

That’s all there is to an exotic-sounding and healthy Indian dish!

Quick Local Dinner: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Erik — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:34:46 +0000

It’s been a quiet week in our kitchen. Lindsay and I were both sick, Lindsay has been travelling again for work, and we had out-of-town guests staying with us this past weekend. Meals at home were quick, and we mostly forgot to take photos. But, there is one exception: quick local grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (* Union Sq. Greenmarket)
1 loaf	Homemade sourdough bread	We’ll post the recipe once we get it right	Flour from Cayuga Pure Organics *
~0.25 lb	Swiss-style cheese	Cut into 4 generous slices	Cato Corner Farm *
1 TBsp	Butter	Melted 30 seconds in the microwave	Ronnybrook Dairy *
1 Jar	Whole tomatoes		Cherry Lane Farms *
0.25 cup	Cream		Ronnybrook Dairy *

Directions:

Lindsay is experimenting with sourdough, but our first attempt at a starter fell kind of flat. Literally.
The bread was still very tasty, just very dense. We cut and quartered it, and it worked well for what became grilled cheese paninis.
The cheese was a great swiss-style cheese from Cato Corner Farm. We used the better part of the 1/4 pound that we bought, cutting four generous slices.
We heated our stove top griddle on medium-low (no need for a griddle, it can just be a pan), and brushed the sandwiches with the melted butter.
We used two cast iron pans to weigh the sandwiches down and press them as we grilled. I had the heat up a bit too high at this point and the sandwiches got a bit blackened.
Lindsay heated a jar of canned whole tomatoes, mixed in a little cream, and attacked it with a stick blender. And in just one minute we had fresh, local, (nearly) sodium-free tomato soup!