Dosa Back

Hey Becky-

I have three very awesome food months to catch up on (Korea! New York! Cupcakes! Blueberry smashes!) In the meantime though, I can't help but wax a little poetic on dosas.

I had my first dosa 4 years ago at a place called Dakshin in Louisville (http://www.mydakshin.com). Dakshin is probably the best Indian food I've had in a restaurant, and it's located in a veritable shithole of a shopping center. But the massive half moon, size-of-a-Carolina's-tortilla, crispy, delicately browned dosas with the mashed potato filling were worth transferring the hefty contents of my car into the trunk for safekeeping every time. I liked them so much that I bought rice flour thinking I might try to recreate them at home- no such luck so far.

Was the uttapam similar to a Korean pancake? Yet another unsatisfied reason for the rice flour purchase.

Dosa on Fillmore next year?

Left My Heart (and Stomach) in San Francisco

Dear Anna,

Gosh, it’s been … 2 years since I last posted on the blog. I suppose I’ve been busy in the meantime: finishing graduate school, getting married, working. That reminds me, I should probably update my bio on the left side bar, hm?

I thought I would herald my return to the blog with a restaurant review – Dosa in San Francisco, specifically Dosa on Fillmore (there’s also a Dosa on Valencia). But first, the story. My good friends J and J (I figured I would keep it limited to initials since this is a blog and not Facebook) live in the Bay Area, and they are foodies as well. On a visit last year, they took Husband and I to an Indian restaurant called Dosa, and I have to say it’s astoundingly delicious and unlike any Indian food you’ve probably ever had before.

The Interwebs at Wikipedia tells me that dosa is “a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils … and is a staple dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.” Uttapam is a thicker pancake with toppings like onions, chiles, tomatoes and spices are cooked into the batter. I’m no expert, but I think the kormas, paratha, roti, and other dishes in which we used to drown our Cornell studying sorrows and typically think of as “Indian food” is northern Indian cuisine.

So, continuing the story: our friends J and J got married earlier this month, and Husband and I flew in to San Francisco for the wedding. (May I just say that in our experience, it’s a lot more fun to be guests at a wedding versus being the marrying couple.) We made it a point to go back to Dosa while we were there… well actually, it was more like a “hurry-up-and-get-through-baggage-claim-because-we’re-having-dinner-at-Dosa-now” kind of point.

The restaurant itself is quite beautiful, with tables both upstairs and downstairs and at the bar, in that sexy urban restaurant kind of way.

I can’t quite remember if we ordered both dosas AND uttapams during our first visit, but it was the uttapams that we remembered. At the restaurant, you can order a chef’s selection of five different uttapams (South Indian Moons) if you have a hard time making your choice. And you can get both entrée-sized dishes or small plates of meat, fish, and vegetable dishes. The small plates are particularly nice if you, like us, just want to taste EVERYTHING.

I’m trying to think how to describe an uttapam to you … all the descriptors say “pancake,” but that’s like saying that a loaf of ciabatta fresh out of an oven in Tuscany is bread; technically true but misses something important. The texture is dense and moist, with pops of flavor from the toppings and spices.

*sigh*

Too bad this restaurant is 750 miles away from me in Arizona and 2,400 miles away from you in Ohio.

So… when can we go? =D

Love,

Becky

http://dosasf.com/fillmore_home.htm

Ode to Queen Creek Olive Mill

Becky-

Admittedly, I was a little jealous when I found the bacon olive oil at your house in February and I had only hand-carry luggage. So when you called a couple weeks ago to tell me you'd purchased olive oil for my birthday gift, clearly it was a good day :)


Birthday package arrived in the mail yesterday, and I'll have you know that I've made good use of the contents.

Bacon Olive Oil... with Green Beans
2 tblsp bacon olive oil
1 lb french string beans
1/2 cup minced red onion

Heat 2 tblsp bacon olive oil in medium hot pan. Saute onion until soft. Turn up the burner to medium high and add string beans. Saute 3-4 minutes, until string beans are crispy. Season to taste.


Roasted Garlic Olive Oil... with Popcorn
3 tblsp garlic olive oil
1/2 cup popcorn seeds
salt

Heat olive oil in covered soup pot over medium high heat until smoke point is reached (you'll start to see steam coming from the pan). Add popcorn seeds. Cover & shake pot over heat. Remove from heat as popping slows... don't wait until the popping stops, it'll burn every time. Season with salt.

Orange Olive Oil... with Baby Back Ribs
(1) 3 lb rack of baby back ribs
Dry rub- 1 tblsp paprika, 1 tblsp Caribbean sea salt (or jerk seasoning), 1 tblsp steak seasoning
Marinade- 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup red wine, 1/4 cup BBQ sauce (bottled), 1/8 cup honey, 1/8 cup sorghum, 2 tblsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 cup water
2 tblsp orange olive oil
Extra BBQ sauce (bottled)

Prepare ribs by removing the transparent membrane from bottom. The membrane is slippery and tough to grab onto, so cut the rack in half if you need a place to start peeling. Once you peel a corner, the rest should come off. Don't skip this step if you want your rib meat to "fall off the bone." Rub with dry rub & place in large plastic zipper bag. Cover in marinade and seal, pushing to remove air. Marinate 2-12 hours in refrigerator.

Pre- heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking pan with foil, spray with nonstick, and place ribs ontop. Pour marinade from bag ontop of ribs & add 1 cup water to bottom of pan. Drizzle with orange olive oil. Cover with foil. Bake 2 hours.

Preheat grill to 400 degrees. Remove ribs from baking sheet & drizzle again with orange olive oil. Grill ribs 3-5 minutes or until crispy. Brush with extra BBQ sauce.

Link to Queen Creek Olive Mill in Arizona where Becky found these super-fun olive oils: http://queencreekolivemill.com/

Yam Fajita Momma

Hey Becky-

One day back from your house, and I've already made the yam fajitas.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chorizo-Poblano-and-Yam-Fajitas-with-Lime-Marinated-Red-Onions-350963

They were so beautiful... pretty pops of orange yam and green poblano peppers sprinkled with the creamy white feta (French feta... less salty than regular Greek style feta). Very wise of your man to suggest slicing the red onions mandolin-thin. The lime juice seriously broke them down in a pliable yet still crispy, tangy way.

I meant to share a photo with you, but by the time I remembered, there was a set of teeth marks in the fajita wrapper (compliments of Carolinas: http://carolinasmex.com/)

Becky, you are so lucky to have Carolina's flour tortillas in driving distance. Thin, floury, yet stretchy at the same time (but not moist like at the average burrito place). I'm happy to have 3 packages in the freezer, but really wish Carolina's had a shipping service. In the meantime, I just need to keep making trips to Phoenix :)

Pita Madness

Becky-

Can't wait to see you tomorrow- wedding countdown clock at T-4 days (it's annoying now, but in a week, you'll read and smile).

In the meantime, I'll tell you a little story about a girl named Banana, who went to Israel 2 years ago. A sucker for any kind of local spice, Banana went to the market in Jerusalem and stumbled across a fragrant green spice called za'atar (see photo). The stuff has been around for thousands of years, but it took a trip halfway across the world to notice. Turns out, the spice was a mixture of thyme, marjoram, oregano, and sesame seeds- fragrant in an earthly, mildly musky way.


And it was commonly used to season thin, crispy, chewy flatbread...


Thinking she'd hit the jackpot, Banana waltzed out of the market with a 1 pound bag of za'atar and visions of homemade pita.

Fast forward 2 years. Banana is Anna, the bag of za'atar still weighs one pound, and no pita had been produced... until Sunday. Blame it on guilt, lack of pantry space, or the fact that I owed Matt a birthday dinner... regardless, a full kebab dinner was produced, with homemade za'atar pita to boot:
Here are the recipes- all worked pretty well with a few modifications.

Pita: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread
*1/4-1/8 of an inch will get you a pita as thick as War and Peace... roll those suckers till they're paper thin. If you have za'atar, sprinkle pita dough with olive oil, then rub with za'atar and salt right before baking.

Shawarma: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lamb-shawarma
*spice mixture worked well. I used a cut of lamb leg, but it was tough... recommend using the method in the recipe. Skip the sauce.

Tzatziki: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/gyro-meat-with-tzatziki-sauce-recipe/index.html
*skip the gyro meat recipe (the meat will fall apart), but the tzatziki is awesome. If you use plain greek yogurt, no need to drain.

Eggplant Fries: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/08/eggplant-fries
*Changed my life, follow this one exact

Let me know if you try this out... I'll bring za'atar with me tomorrow.

Pasta for Posterity

A ten month hiatus... at least you have an excuse with wedding planning. I've just been lazy :) So much good food from Portugal and Korea to write about, but in the meantime, I need to document my ravioli recipe. Dug my trusty recipe out of the box today only to realize it was stuck to another recipe. Several minutes of prying and praying, and it came unglued- barely. So if you don't mind, I'd like to document electronically :)

Anna's Ravioli

Pasta
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 tblsp oil
1 tblsp water (if dry)

Combine all ingredients in Kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment. Mix on speed 4 for 1 minute. Turn off mixer and knead by hand to gather up dry bits- there should be dry bits, and if there aren't then you've added too much liquid. Add a bit of semolina in this case. If the dough crumbles in your hand, then add 1/2 tsp of water- the dough should be a firm, grainy ball. Add Dough Hook and mix on speed 4 for 1-2 more minutes. Dough should look smooth and somewhat shiny. Allow dough to rest up to 30 minutes in plastic wrap before rolling. Roll to desired thickness with roller attachment, making sure to place on a floured surface.


Ricotta
8 cups whole milk
4 cups buttermilk
Pinch of salt
strainer lined with cheesecloth

Combine whole and buttermilk in a pot over medium high heat. Stir constantly. As milk reaches boiling point, the curds will separate from the whey. Skim off curds and place in cheesecloth- there should be roughly 2 cups. Allow to drain anywhere from 5-20 minutes, depending on how firm you prefer your ricotta. Dump drained curds into bowl and season with a pinch of salt. Fantastic when served warm over crostini (stir in basil and honey). For this purpose... we're making ravioli filling.

Ravioli filling
1 cup cooled ricotta cheese (above)
1 large egg, whisked
1/2 cup shredded pecorino
fresh cracked pepper

Combine all ingredients in bowl, stirring until just combined

Assembly
Floured counter
Boiling pot of water

On a flat sheet of raw, floured pasta dough, dollop ~1tsp filling at 1 inch intervals. Take a 2nd sheet of pasta dough and lay ontop. Press all around the edges and between dollops to begin formation of ravioli. Cut with ravioli cutting wheel (a knife will do the trick too, but the wheel makes fun edges). After cutting with wheel, gently separate ravioli and examine edges. Odds are they won't be perfect, so pinch closed to seal any popped edges. Cook ravioli in boiling water for 3 minutes. DO NOT add pasta to water until it has reached a rapid boil- otherwise, the noodles will stick together. Drain after 3 minutes, and enjoy! Really good tossed with olive oil and topped with shredded parm... or with Trader Joes vodka sauce (after this much work, you won't want to make sauce too, trust me)

Happy eating!

Hey Becky-

Would have been nice if I checked the blog first before sending you the harassment email about reunion. As usual, you're a step ahead ;) The Cornell chicken recipe sounds amazing- but to be honest, I'm not sure I have the patience to grill for 45 minutes on indirect heat. Maybe a job for the boys- they like to mess around with gas barrels and fire, I like playing with my knives :)

Salt potatoes are totally an upstate New York thing. Every Sunday at Mimi's (my grandma's), we'd go to the local fire pit and order two spit-roasted barbeque chickens, a few ears of corn, and a styrefoam container of salt potatoes covered in clarified butter. The chicken was so smoky, sweet, juicy, and crispy all at the same time- nothing like a smashed buttery potato to round out the experience. Dessert was always strawberry shortcake. With real whipped cream. I've never heard of grape pie- likely because my grandmother lives in a town of 1000 people... imagine grape pie is more common near the wineries in the Fingerlakes.

At any rate- the reunion food fest sounds like a date to me!

Next time, remind me to tell you about my pumpkin ravioli experiment. Everything from the pumpkin itself to the ricotta and pasta dough were scratch made. It was fun, but I'm thankful for Trader Joes during the week- no wonder my great grandmother spent her life kneading bread dough!