Cooking From Boxes? Nariyal Ladoo, A Fast, Easy, Sweet and Gluten Free Answer.

   
   Exactly one week ago we moved. We bought a new house, and we've been dealing with all that packing up and moving ones' stuff entails. So, I got the idea a few weeks before we moved to pack my kitchen up in a "special place." You see, we're going to be be redoing the kitchen.  My first kitchen my way, and so while all that fiesta is happening, I'm using the kitchen of a friend for my cooking. The "Special Place" turned out to be a bunch of boxes in my friend's garage, and to complicate matters a bit more, all the boxes I packed for some reason say "Glass, Fragile!!!" on them underlined three times in red magic marker. Evidently, I was in such a paranoid frame of mind about things getting broken or lost while packing up for the kitchen move to my "Special Place" that I cannot find a damn thing. I mean that.

   I went into my friends garage to see my "Special Place"....

   What could possibly have gone wrong here?  Are "glass" and "fragile" the only two words I know??? Are upward trending arrows the only thing I knew how to draw. This is by far one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I mark it down to the stress of moving but, life goes on and I'm determined to cook. So, after opening my 4th box this morning and finding not the measuring spoons I wanted but instead, coming up with steak knife. Yes, not knives mind you, but steak knife in the singular, I decided to work with what I've got and what I can find now. I have decided to  Cook From Boxes. I am going to be cooking recipes that are easy, fast, and simple. So simple, in fact that you can cook them from what you find in a box. Hey, any box, take your pick. I got a million of them. Literally. I'm not kidding. I have a freaking gigantic pile of kitchen boxes, apparently stuffed with nothing but fragile glass.

   Since, I stumbled across a bucket of shredded coconut, my kadhai (was I relieved to find that), condensed milk and a bag of cashews, I decided to kick off my new temporary cooking style with a classic ladoo recipe, Nariyal Ladoo. Ladoo are usually served for festivals, celebrations such as Diwali, or Holi. Actually, I had intended to make them for Holi, but you know, moving. So, since  yesterday was Easter Sunday it seemed to be the perfect time to enjoy a sweet treat. Also, the stuff was the box I opened so there was that....

   These Nariyal Ladoo, take only about 30 minutes, from making to enjoying.

Nariyal Ladoo

Here's What You Need:
1 and 1/2 cups of unsweetened dried grated coconut
1 cup of sweetened condensed milk.
2 Tbs of Khoya (this is a type of cooked down milk. I used ricotta cheese because I had some and once again... moving)
10 to 15 cashews or almonds in pieces (whatever you're packing)
1 Tbs of unsalted butter or ghee

Here's What To Do:
In a skillet or kadhai lightly toast the grated coconut on a low flame.

When the coconut is lightly golden, add in the cup of sweetened condensed milk.

Mix everything together well.
When it's fully blended, add in the 2 Tbs of ricotta.

Blend it in well.
Turn the heat up slightly, while continuing to stir.

Cook everything down well. Keep stirring.You don't want this to burn. When it starts to thicken and pull away from the pan. she's done. What's going on here is you are cooking the moisture out of the milk and coconut. You are basically making a milk fudge.
When the mixture is thick, take it off the heat and set it aside to cool. You are going to be sticking your mitts in there and rolling balls of coconut. You don't want to get burned!

While the coconut fudge is cooling, it's time to prepare the stuffing.
In a skillet or pan melt 1 Tbs of unsalted butter, or ghee.

When the butter foams up and starts to clarify, toss in the cashew or almond pieces.

Toast them to a golden color.

After the nuts are roasted, drain them on a paper towel and let them cool.
When the coconut mixture has cooled enough to handle, scoop spoonfuls of it into your hand and roll them into small balls.

Poke a small hole in each ball and  stuff in a few pieces of nut filling.

Seal the balls up and roll them on a platter of more dried unsweetened grated coconut...

...and enjoy!

Had I found my sultana raisins or chopped dried apricots or dates, I'd have added them too.

   I love these delightfully creamy little gluten free coconut balls with the surprise inside, they're sort of like my collection of boxes. Coming up next, whatever I find in the next box and can make happen fast and easily! My life has become a cooking game show. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Where I've Been...Moving!

   For the last 2 weeks Alan and I've been in the process of moving house. We sold one house, bought a new house, and have been doing what seems like back-to back-escrow closing for the last 4 days. We have signed our names what seems like a zillion times on a stack of documents. (Things/rules have changed since we last bought a house years ago). We have been without cable, internet or phone for the last 3 days and finally got put online this morning. So here I am!
 
   We have a massive garden both in front and back in the new house. We're going to be be doing some serious vegetable growing in the back and working to preserve the beauty and still xeroscape in the front. Yes, there will be chickens.The current kitchen is going to be history so I'll be doing all my cooking at a friends house until my set up is done.
 
   We're very happy with the new place. We're down from the hills and actually in town now. We can walk to The Plaza which comes in handy during tourist season parking madness. It's a beautiful house with lots more room to spread out. We're living in one of the guest rooms right now.

And yes, we have a lot of Kleenex as my sister-in-law pointed out all the way from new York City.

   Our office is set up, so we can sleep, bathe, and hopefully get some work done amidst picking paint colors. My tendency has been  to always paint everything white, but that seems to be out of fashion now so, to the color wheel! I have yet to find where I put the detergent, and I just finally found Alans' laundry hamper so I suppose the soap can't be too far behind. In short we are in controlled chaos here but it's getting easier every day.
 
   I had some friends fill in for me during the last two weeks and I want to thank them for all their help. I think I still have one more guest post coming in. Meanwhile I'm sure more of my pots and pans will reveal themselves and I look forward to getting back behind some sort of stove again.

   Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes. It's been a long hard slog through the last three years, and it seemed that every time we set out to find a place some family crisis called a halt to things. Oddly enough the house we bought was the second house we looked at, waaay back when. It went off the market and then came back on just as we were ready to move, so I suppose we're supposed to be here. Funny how things work out.

Guest Post from Erin Jimcosky (aka The Hungry Mutineer) Editor in Chief of the new CRAFT Magazine : Asparagus Cheddar Soup

   Just sitting here waiting for the first wave of moving vans to arrive, we're doing the final part of the move out next week. Today is all about Deep Storage. Yes, that sounds like the title of some weird Michael Bay movie or perhaps a spin off of Storage Wars. Either way, we are in the house for another few days but the kitchen is in boxes. Until we complete the move there is no cooking going on around here.
   
   I sent up the flare guns a couple of weeks ago when I started appreciating the scope of this migration, and am happy and grateful to present this offering from my good friend and former Sonoma County resident Erin Jimcosky (she went through this whole moving thing last year). Erin is the Editor in Chief of the new magazine Craft which is debuting this June, and Alan and I have enjoyed many a fine dining experience here in Sonoma with her and her husband photographer Phil Jimcosky. Just looking at this delicious recipe this foggy morning, and seeing all the fresh asparagus out there in the markets makes me want to get into my kitchen...oh wait I can't. But you can!! Lucky you.

 Asparagus & Cheddar Soup

Spring has sprung and it is this time of year that a food writer’s fancy turns to thoughts of the year’s first farmer’s markets, ramps, and of course asparagus. This food writer also happens to be in the process of building a new startup magazine, so thoughts of contributor deadlines, graphic design, and finishing that darn media kit tend to smother the more pleasant edible thoughts. In other words, if I want to savor the delights of the season, I had better do it quickly like with this Asparagus & Cheddar Soup, because something that needs my attention now is coming down the pipe.

I am from the Pacific Northwest, where we grow spectacular asparagus. You can imagine my joy in finding that we have incredible asparagus here at my temporary home here in the D.C. Metro Area. I have been going through them like crazy since making this discovery, buying them by the Prius load, and enjoying every last bite in as simple a fashion as possible.

Asparagus is one of those vegetables that need little adornment since nature did such a bang up job in the soil. The nutty, herbaceous, and green flavors are so distinctive you’d have to forage for fiddlehead ferns to find its equal. My Asparagus & Cheddar Soup is a tasty way to enjoy this treat while keeping it relatively simple. All you need is a little time to properly sweat the onions and asparagus, and you’re practically home free. If you are as busy as I seem to be these days be sure to step away from your computer or phone while you enjoy this decadent soup.

Asparagus & Cheddar Soup

2 TBS. butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove
2 TBS. all-purpose flour
1 asparagus bunch, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces
3 c. chicken stock
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, at room temp, shredded
Croutons, to garnish

Sweat the onions in the butter in a medium pot over medium-low heat with the lid on and a little salt until they are translucent. Add in the asparagus and continue to sweat until they are cooked throughout. Sprinkle in the flour, stirring to coat and allow it to cook for a little longer. Add the mixture to the pitcher of a blender with 1 cup of the stock and puree until smooth.

Pour the mixture back in the pot and add in the remaining stock, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and add in the cheese, stirring constantly. Serve immediately topped with croutons and a sprinkle of pepper.

Serves 4 as a starter.

Erin Jimcosky is the Editor in Chief for CRAFT magazine, which debuts in June of 2014. In her spare time she is a freelance food and travel writer and pens the Hungry Mutineer column in Mutineer Magazine. When she isn’t in the glued to her computer, she can be found in the kitchen and working in her garden.
Follow her on Twitter @hungrymutineer.
Phil Jimcosky has done everything from food and product photography for Mutineer Magazine, Anchor Distilling, St. Suprey, and Greater Purpose Wine to location shoots in Spain, but his real love is in photojournalism. When he isn’t in his home studio he can be found chasing down the perfect image on the streets of Washington DC.
Check him out at: http://foodaperture.com/about/
Follow him of Twitter @@foodaperture

Guest Post: Pamela Timms of Eat And Dust, Mulberry and Lemon Yogurt Cake

   We are on the move here in Sonoma. Not leaving town, but moving in closer. We've come down from our hill and have bought a house in town, closer to the action. My entire kitchen has been packed up, the larder emptied, boxes and paper strewn everywhere, in short I am in cooking jail. No cooking for me. So, I've decided not to tough it out and make chapatis over a pile of burning cardboard boxes (don't dare me, I will do it) instead I've reached out to some friends for help and they've kindly offered to step in and guest-host until my kitchen is back in semi working order after the next couple of weeks. I am so grateful for their wonderful recipes, and even more grateful that I don't actually have to make chapatis over a pile of burning cardboard boxes.
   
   Hopefully I'll be back behind a stove in the next 2 weeks, and then...kitchen renovation!!!  I'm already scouting stoves, and perhaps even a tandoor oven. I visited The Granary today on the way to get more boxes and am making plans for a coop and some chickens. Things will be getting very interesting around here in short order. Meanwhile, my first Guest Host is the amazing Pamela Timms from Delhi, India who writes Eat and Dust

What she does with Mulberries will delight you!

Take it away Pamela.........

Between the ages of 3 and 8 I probably sang ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush’ on average 5 times a day in the school playground.  And yet, growing up, I don’t remember ever seeing mulberry bushes, even though they’ve been around in Britain since the 17th century.

In fact, I didn’t see a mulberry until 8 years ago when we came to live in India, where they’re called shatoot and grow briefly but prolifically in April (a bit earlier than in California, I think).  Since then, the short Indian mulberry season has become a highlight of my food year, partly because it reminds me that I’m incredibly lucky to live somewhere that still has very clear (non shrink-wrapped) food seasons. 

For two weeks, just as the temperatures are starting to soar, wrinkly old women in saris sit by the side of the road selling baskets of the just-foraged fruit.   I saw these ones, prettily adorned with roses, on a pavement in Old Delhi the other day.

Usually the foragers are keen to sell off their baskets quickly as the fruit doesn't keep well – no-one is ever going to make their fortune exporting mulberries.  I can never resist anything in glut form and so we eat the fruit until we feel sick then I use what’s left in my baking.  You’ll find more of my mulberry trivia and recipes here, here and here.

This week I decided to use my surplus mulberries in a yogurt cake – easy peasy, even in my non air-conditioned Delhi kitchen which is already turning into a sauna.  The original yogurt cake recipe made the trip to India with me back in 2005 but started life on one of Scotland’s far-flung islands.   In 1975 my aunt and uncle were posted to the Isle of Skye and for a while many of their belongings, including kitchen scales and measuring cups, were still in storage. Aunty-ji (as we now refer to her since she herself made the trip to India to visit us) was frustrated at being unable to do any baking - at that time she would have been as likely to find baking equipment on the Isle of Skye as I was in Delhi in the early 2000s.  She was therefore delighted when she tuned into the Jimmy Young Programme one morning and heard a recipe for yogurt cake which called for nothing except an empty yogurt pot.

Auntyji’s cake is a moist, no-frills, never-let-you-down, little black dress of a cake. You can take it anywhere, dress it up, dress it down, reduce the sugar, omit eggs, and it will still be eager to please. In its unadorned 1970s form, it’s a soothing slice to accompany a cup of tea but if you treat it like a lady and shower it with fruit and frosting it turns into a showstopper.   This mulberry and lemon yogurt cake is for Kathy who has been having a tough few months.  Of course, Kathy, you’re going to have to come to Delhi to taste it – but the spare room’s ready too!

Mulberry and Lemon Yogurt Cake

Ingredients
For the cake:
1 small (200ml) pot of natural yogurt – then use the cleaned and dried pot to measure everything else:
2 pots caster sugar
3 eggs
1 pot sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 pots plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
200g fresh raspberries or other soft fruit
For the frosting:
2 pots icing sugar
2 pots of mulberries, de-stalked
1 tablespoon lemon juice
A few extra mulberries to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  Grease a ring mould (my aunt always makes her yogurt cake in a loaf tin so that’s another option).
In a bowl, mix the yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla essence, lemon zest and lemon juice. Beat the mixture well until smooth. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the wet until everything is well incorporated. Pour half the mixture into the tin, sprinkle in half a pot of mulberries then cover with the remaining mixture then finish with another half pot of mulberries.  Bake for about 30-45 minutes until the top is well risen and browned and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Leave the cake in the tin for a few minutes then turn out onto a baking rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl and crush in enough mulberries to make a thick but spreadable frosting.  When the cake is cool, spread the frosting over the surface and decorate with a few whole mulberries.