The Buona Pasqua Lunch and The Secret of No Stir Polenta!

Easter around our house is like the Tri-fecta of family holidays. Not only is there the big celebration of Easter, a huge deal in Italian households. But at Casa Gori, we also add in my parents anniversary and this year, my fathers' 91st birthday. Last year for his 90th, he got an iPod. Probably he was the oldest iPod owner out there at the time.
  My parents examine one of this years' anniversary presents, a deck of trivia cards based on events from the year they were married.

  My mother who is an insane practical joker brought over what she clams was my "first Easter  dress".

Seeing as it came on a tiny dolls' hanger, I have my doubts. My father however,  backs her up. But then again he always does. That's how they roll.

    Feeding my Italian family is no easy task. They are the pickiest of picky eaters and I have now taken on the mantle of "The One Who Feeds The Family At All Festivities". This is in part because we have the biggest dining room table and also it's my turn. Besides, my mother keeps telling everyone that she wishes she had a house without a kitchen. Just so we all know where she's coming from.
  Every holiday at our house we go back to my Tuscan roots and spread out all the family faves. This usually includes polenta, the delicious cornmeal concoction dear to the heart of every Northern Italian.
  There are two things I don't like about polenta. The standing and the stirring. The way I was taught to make it years ago involved standing and stirring for what seemed like forever with a big wooden spoon. This may have been great hanging around the kitchen back in Fiano but when there are a bunch of other dishes on the fire and no passel of sister-in-laws, cousins, et al to help, it can get old fast.
  I dreamed of the no stir polenta. Then I found it. All because of my Clay Coyote Pot.
Paula Wolfert turned me on to these clay pots and I have a large cazuela that makes perfect polenta every time. Only one quick stir is all that's needed. Pretty nifty.
  The other great thing about this recipe is that it cooks at the same temperature as the pork loin with herbs and whole grain mustard which was my main course. It can't get simpler than that.
The whole dish cooks up in about 1 hour, and will serve 6 to 8 people as a side dish.
     This is how it goes:
  Preheat the oven up to 350 degrees.
In a clay casserole of any oven proof baking dish mix:

1 quart of water
1 cup of finely ground polenta cornmeal
1 Tbs of salt
2 tbs of unsalted butter cut into little pieces
freshly ground pepper to taste
  Stir it all together and put it into the oven in the middle of  the top rack.

Then leave it to cook for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes take it out and stir it well, mix in anything you wish to put into the polenta, butter, cheese, you name it. My favorite is butter and a mix of grated parmesan and pecorino cheese.
  Mix in the fixings you choose, then pop it back in for another 10 minutes. After that, take it out to rest for about 10 minutes and serve.

This is my polenta in its Clay Coyote casserolle. My picky family loves this dish . I love this dish because it's so dang easy. I'm actually thinking of trying to make risotto in this same clay pot in the same way just to see what happens as I hate standing around stirring risotto.

My mother actually asked me for the recipe last year and now she makes it all the time. It's probably the first time in Gori family history that a recipe traveled in the opposite generational direction.

Clay-Pot-A-Palooza!!

 I love my clay pots, I cannot get enough of them. Paula Wolfert  gave me this habit. She started me off by giving me some clay pots, I went out and bought more and now I'm hooked. The other thing I like almost as much as clay is a SALE!!! I am like that dog in the beggin strips' commercial. All I hear is one word..SALE and I'm there.
 Today is the annual seconds sale at Bramcookware. It started at 10 a.m. and I was right there for the kick off.

While I was busy elbowing the crowd to find a treasure, Alan took some snaps  of all the claypot action. For those of you who are clay enthusiasts..these were real and I mean real bargains with a capital B and it's still going on. So, if you live in the Sonoma area I'm just sayin....I got mine !
  I managed to grab a gorgeous La Chamba Pottery roaster at a fraction of the normal price.

Which I placed in one of my clay pot holes  in the kitchen, beside two old Weller twin vases.

 I also found a great serving piece!

  Today I'm back to my Indian Masters Cooking from Prashad. I've got fish, and coconut milk and curry leaves and tamarind and I'm going to town. This recipe is courtesy of Syed Naseer, the chef who claimed to have learned by numerous thrashings so it ought to be good! Stay tuned! More to Come.

Hyderabadi Rice Pilaf Cooked in Rustic Clay

 When planning a company dinner I always like to go all out. I also like to have some dishes on the table that are relatively easy to set up and prepare. It's important to have a variety of tastes, textures and colors on the table in an Indian meal.  My favorites are the ones that get off the stove top and tuck themselves into the oven out of the way and leave me in peace. If they look good when they come out of the oven, that's also a plus!
 One of the easiest ways of making food look stunning coming to the table is the dish it's served in. Even better, if that dish is the same one it's cooked in. Less washing.
 If you haven't gathered it by now, I'm nuts for clay. One thing I've learned is that there are as many types of clay pot as there are cooks in love with them. My favorite clay look is Rustic. The rougher, more down home the clay pot, the better I like it. All of my clay pieces fit the bill, and as they say about shoes, I believe about clay: You can never have too many clay pots!

These are just a few of my beauties. I lean heavily to the natural browns and blacks. The exception is the muted smokey grey green of my Clay Coyote Casserole.
  One of my very very favorite pieces to cook with is my Bram from where else? Bram Cookware.
  On New Years Eve I cooked a goat biryani in it.The other day I used it for a Hyderabadi Rice Pilaf.
  This dish is one that I've been making for years. It's an old Madhur Jaffery recipe. It's easy, tasty, feeds a lot of people and works with either a meat or veg meal.
  The reason it works so well and can even be taken as a main course with a few veg side dishes, is that it is a dish that combines both rice and dal!
    To make this dish, start with the Dal.
1.) Soak 1/2 cup of channa dal in 3 inches of water for 1 and 1/2 hours.
2.) Dump the dal and the water it's soaking in, into a pot
3.) Add 1/4 tsp of turmeric
4.)   Boil the dal.
5.) When it's boiling, partially cover the pot with the lid and turn down the heat.
6.) Simmer the whole thing for about 30 minutes. The dal should be almost tender but not mushy. Drain it.
  At this point you can set it aside. This part can be done several hours ahead which makes things insanely easy.
 Now for the Rice
7.) Wash 2 cups of rice and soak it  in about 2 inches of water for 30 minutes. Then drain it.
 Now for the Onions
8.) Peel, halve and thinly slice 1 large onion
9.) Heat about 2 Tbs of oil in a skillet and stir fry the onions until they're crispy golden brown.
10.) Remove them from the oil and drain them on a paper towel. Set them aside for later.
 Save that oil!
11.) Chop 2 tsp of ginger
12.) 1 tsp of finely chopped garlic or shallot
    Stir fry the ginger and garlic/shallot in the oil the onions were cooked in. Cook until they're light golden colored.
13.) Add in 1/4 tsp of turmeric and
14.) 1 Tbs of yogurt
Stir the yogurt around until most of the liquid evaporates.
15.) Add 4 more Tbs of yogurt one at a time stirring each one in carefully.
 Next, 
16.) Put in the drained and cooked dal and
17.) 1/2 tsp salt
18.) 1/4 tsp kashmiri chili powder
 Mix it up well and cook the dal for about 1 minute.
  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
  In a large pot boil 12 cups of water.
 When there is alively boil going on add in
19.) 1 Tbs of salt
20.)  Add in the rice and bring it all to a nice boil once again.
21.)   Boil the rice for 5 minutes only, then drain it.
    Next, Prepping For the Oven
22.)   Put half of the rice into an oven-proof  casserole dish
23.)    Pour the cooked yogurty dal on top of it
24.)  Layer the rest of the rice on top of that.
     Dot the top of the rice with
25.) 2 Tbs of unsalted butter cut into little pieces
26.) Scatter the fried onions over the rice
27.) Sprinkle 2 Tbs of lemon juice over the rice
28.) 1 Tbs of chopped fresh mint
29.) 2 to 4 finely chopped green chilis
30.)  1 Tbs of finely chopped  fresh cilantro
31.)  1/2 tsp garam masala
   Once your toppings are on the rice, you're set for the oven. This dish is cooked in the manner the Indians call Dum.
 This is a way of bake-cooking  where the dish is partially cooked, then sealed into the pot with a lid and finally a ring of flour water bread dough for a tight seal.
In cooking with clay, I was advised by Paula Wolfert that I might not want to take the chance of damaging my clay pot while breaking the dough seal. Instead of the bread dough, I place a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil on top of the dish, crimping it around the sides for a tight fit. I place a heavy lid on top of that. It seems to work perfectly.
  Once the casserole is sealed and lidded, pop it into the oven for 30 minutes.
    It makes a brilliant presentation when the top is popped at the table. Somehow I always expect 4 and 20 blackbirds to fly out, but that's just me.

   This dish is a real star. Serve it up, serve it in clay for a beautiful presentation. And did I mention it also rocks cold, picnic-style the next day?

Cook Beautiful, With Clay!

I cook everyday. Usually what I'm involved in cooking is lunch which is our main meal of the day. Dinner is an apple, or nuts and cheese or any combination of the three. Since we write every weekday I'm used to cooking in my jeans and a sweater or fleece jacket;  since I'm just going back to the office it's a working style meal. But the weekends, the weekends are for entertaining. I love to have guests for a weekend dinner. I love setting the table just so, planning all the courses of an Indian feast, and I always have this image of sweeping into the dinning room looking all swank and cool and relaxed and joining my guests with every hair perfect etc.
  The reality is slightly different.  I usually plunk down at the table still  swathed in a long black apron covered with floury handprints and turmeric spatters. My hair is going every which way or has totally frizzed up from the steam. I may even be sporting a bandage or two depending on how careful I've been with my knives. Generally not a glamorous look. I always mean to put on some lipstick and take off my reading glasses but somehow never get around to it. They're usually perched on the end of my nose, which is why no dinner party pictures that appear on this website ever feature me. It's too scary. Until I made my major  dinner beauty discovery.....clay!
   Now I've talked about clay before and I've cooked with clay before , but I never really appreciated how convienent clay can be until just recently.

  I prepared the infamous goat biryani for Alan's birthday a couple of weeks ago in my Eygptian bram. I had such a good time with that one that I took another of my clay plots and decided to slow cook a North Indian lamb dish for Alans' cousin Joans who visited us this last week.  This time I used my Pomaireware red clay pot.

  

  The dinner party was on Monday, so I cooked the lamb slowly in clay on Sunday afternoon. The secret of cooking in clay is a long slow cook , then an overnight rest in the fridge in a pyrex bowl followed by de-greasing.

  Degreasing was explained to me by famed cookbook author and Queen of clay pot cooking, Paula Wolfert. Mellowing the cooked dish overnight enriches the flavors, and by next morning all the fat and grease have risen to the top of the dish and can be easily flicked away with a spoon. When the dish is re-warmed and cooked, it has retained all the full flavor of the cooking process but none of the fat. I've tried it and trust me it works!

 The dish I was preparing was Saag Gosht or Lamb with Spinach, a traditional north Indian dish. I started with 2 lbs of lamb shoulder block chops cut into 6 pieces, bone in by the butcher.

   Day One

   First I prepared my spice blend. In a small cast iron skillet I dry roasted

1.) 2 tsp coriander seeds

   When they had started to turn color and get aromatic I took them out and set them aside. In the same hot pan I then toasted

2.) 1 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds

  When they turned color I took them out and then  placed both the coriander and cumin seeds in a spice grinder and ground them to a fine powder. Set this spice mix aside for later.

   *Note when cooking in clay*

   always use wooden or teflon utensils as metal can crack or break the clay. Also never add in any cold liquids to a hot pot. You'll run the risk of cracking or shocking the pot

    In a kadhi or a clay pot if you have one, add :

3.) 3 Tbs of vegetable oil over a low heat.

   Put in your cut up pieces of lamb. Fry them, turning them until they're slightly browned. Then remove them and set them aside.

 

  Add a bit more oil if you need it (I didn't) and then add:

4.) 4 finely chopped onions

5.) 6 cloves

6.) 6 green cardamom pods

7.) one 4 inch piece of cinnamon stick

8.) 10 peppercorns

9.) 4 bay leaves

 

  Cook this all together until the onion is lightly browned. Then add in your ground spice powder along with:

10.) 3 tsps of garam masala

11.) 1/4 tsp of turmeric

12.) 1 tsp of paprika

     Fry the spices for abut 30 seconds then add in:

13.) a 3 inch piece of ginger finely minced

14.) 4 crushed shallots

15.) 3/4 cup of thick plain yogurt

16.) 1 2/3 cups of water

17.) and your lamb

    Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce your heat, cover your pot and let it all cook for about 2 hours or so until the meat is very tender. Take the lid off of the pot. Most of the liquid should have evaporated. Cooking my lamb in clay there was still water in the pot so I removed the lid and continued to cook it down until  I had a thick sauce. Add salt to taste. By this time, the meat was falling- off- the- bone tender. I let it cool in the pot then transferred the lamb and sauce to a pyrex dish to stash in the fridge.

 

  My cooking of the main dish was nearly done.

  Day Two

  I took the dish out of the fridge and with a long spoon removed the layer of fat and grease that had hardened on the top.

 When I was ready to cook, I brought the lamb to room temperature then put it back in my clean clay pot to slowly warm. I let it cook on a low heat with the lid on for another two hours while I got the rest of the meal ready. I was actually able to dress like a human being and get my hair combed and put on some lipstick. I didn't bust a sweat.

  About an hour before dinner, lightly steam 1 pound of baby spinach. Press the water out of it between paper towels and chop it up. Add it to the lamb dish. Stir it in .

 

Replace the lid on the pot and you are done baby, done.

  I served this main dish with rice with whole spices and peas and cauliflower cooked with potato and tomato. Of course I tossed in chapattis and a raita.

 

The reason this was a winner for me: The cauliflower could be made ahead and kept warm in a low oven. The rice finished along with the lamb dish. The raita was made hours ahead along with the chapatti dough, and of course the finished chapattis take just a few minutes to cook. I actually  looked like a human being sitting at the table.

  Where does one get clay pots? All over the place. Usually I turn to the internet. On this webpage I have several listings of places where I've shopped and that I like.

Claycoyote,  Bram Cookware Early Morning Pottery are just some of them

   So now I'm a total clay convert, not that I wasn't before..but still. For eons clay has been a beauty treatment. Women have slathered their faces with it. For me, I think it works even better on the stove top!

Indian Rice Pudding Goes Egyptian

I live in a tourist town. Every day busloads of tourists arrive in our town Plaza (the largest in California) and swarm over the restaurants, tasting rooms and shops. Last year a new shop opened with the intriguing name of Bram.  While we waited for the doors to open everyone was wondering, "what's a bram???" I googled the term and came up with an Egyptian clay pot. Clay pot?! Clay pot! A clay pot store was coming to Sonoma! It seemed incredibly ironic that Sonoma is also the home of Paula Wolfert, whos' new book is about Clay Pot Cooking. How weird was that?? I'd been researching  Indian Dum style cooking which traditionally is done in clay. Hell, everybodys' cuisine started off with clay and thanks to the slow food movement it was time to come home to clay again. For 3 months I was like a kid with my nose pressed to the brown paper covered windows. I couldn't wait for the doors to open.
  When they finally did open (conveniently right before my birthday) it was exciting. Anyone who loves to cook gets totally turned on by a vast expanse of cookware. Make that beautiful cookware. I was in heaven.

Almost every clay pot I'd ever read about from any part of the planet was on the shelves. I went nuts!!
 Ash,  is one of the owners and he can tell you all about clay pot cooking.

When I was in the store the other day he gave me a suggestion to try with my Indian Rice Pudding recipe.
Ash suggested that I try something that is done in Egypt, and that is to add milk again toward the end of the cooking process, leave the pot in for a additional 5 minutes then remove it when the pudding is still rather liquid. He said to put the pudding in ramekins. It would still be firm but the center wiggly. He told me to cover them and refrigerate them. I did, and the chilled pudding done this way had a smoother more custardy texture. I think it depends on how custardy one wants the pudding to be as to how much milk one adds. I used 1 cup less than the recipe calls for and then added that cup at the end. When I try it this way again, I may add even more. If you decide to make this pudding, check out this different way. I usually serve my rice pudding warm from the oven or at room temperature. This way it's served chilled. Either way it tastes great!

So there you have Ash's Egyptian twist on my Indian rice pudding. If you're in Sonoma, drop by and explore Bram Cookware, they have a great website where one can order online too. He also carries Paula Wolferts' book because after all, if you're going to cook in clay you can't have a better teacher.