Horchata

I first had horchata when I was in Mexico City visiting a certain Bengali gentleman while he was doing some research there.  Ever since, I've been totally hooked.  It's a cinnamon-spiced almond and rice milk, that is nutty and delicious.  It is rich and creamy and a delicious addition to coffee in place of regular milk.  The process is time (but not labor) intensive, since you have to soak the rice and almonds for at least 6 hours, but I promise, it's worth it.  This recipe is courtesy of the fine folks over at the NYT, who published a recipe by Rick Bayless.

Ingredients:
 - 6 tbsp. white rice
 - 1 1/4 c. blanched almonds
 - 1 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick, or a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
 - 1/2 to 1 c. sugar, depending on your taste
 - about 5 c. of water

Directions:
 - Combine rice, almonds and cinnamon in a bowl or large jar.  Pour 2 1/2 c. of warm water over the mixture.  Allow it to sit for at least 6 hours.
 - After soaking pour the mixture into a blender and blend for 4-5 minutes until everything is well mixed and it is no longer gritty.
 - Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve, or a colander  lined with cheese cloth.  Make sure to squeeze the liquid out of the solids that are left behind in the strainer.
 - Add 2 c. cold water (or more, to your taste) to the almond/rice milk.  Stir in sugar, also to taste.
 - If you store it in the fridge before serving, make sure to stir it up before serving because it tends to separate.

Enjoy!
ceh.

Stuffed French Toast

So, here's a confession.  I am majorly self-conscious about my food pictures.  They never look very appetizing.  I feel like I make good food, but the pictures I take of it are pretty horrendous.  Take, for example, this little number, pictured above.  It looks *completely* unappetizing, and I know that.  But it was so delicious.  It really was.  

It's a combination of ricotta cheese, french bread, honey, eggs and cinnamon.  There's really not a bad ingredient in there.  Another bonus, you can assemble this all the night before, leave it in the fridge and bake it the next morning for breakfast.  I've taken the recipe from a fun food blog called Bitchin Camero, which in itself, endears me to the author.  But really, her recipes are amazing.

(I promise to try and take more appetizing photos.)

Now, on with the recipe:

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

This casserole is change-your-life good.  We had it last week (when I was cooking, but not posting) and we're having it again this week.  I don't even like macaroni and cheese, and I'm head over heels in love with this recipe.  The sauce that forms the basis of all macaroni and cheese, called béchamel, is generally made with butter, flour and full-fat milk.  Don't get me wrong, it's delicious, but pretty rich for a day-to-day meal.  So, this recipe makes a béchamel-esque sauce with non-fat milk and butternut squash.  That's about where the health-food aspect of this recipe ends, because like all macaroni and cheese, this has 3 kinds of cheese and a bunch of pasta.  But, you area also eating a whole squash while you're at it.  It's all about give and take.

This recipe idea was given to me by the lovely Ms. Emily while on a farmer's market excursion.  I tracked down a list-recipe from Martha Stewart.  I can promise you, this recipe is a very good thing.

Indian Garlic Chicken

This lovely (to the taste buds, if not the eyes) comes from a lovely (to the eyes) blog called Indian Simmer.  I honestly haven't changed it at all.  It's wonderful just as it is.  The recipe involves taking a cold, sturdy pan, like a cast iron skillet, and add some oil, spices and a bunch of garlic.  Then you turn on the heat and let everything warm up together and get all happy and roasted.  It smells, in a word, divine.

Unlike a lot of Indian restaurant food, this recipe uses non-fat yogurt to make the sauce rich and tasty, and because it has a minimum of oil, it's really pretty healthy.

Chicken Fried Rice

Man oh man, I love me some fried rice.  It is crunchy and delicious and just the right mixture of salty and starchy and protein-y.  Sometimes, though, at Chinese food restaurants in the lower price ranges (okay, okay, cheap Chinese), the fried rice can seem splashy in all the wrong ways.  Limited veggies, too much oil and pretty unidentifiable meat.  So, I resolved to take care of my fried rice cravings at home, and this is what I came up with.  It's got limited oil, and you can add whatever you want to it.  This iteration just has a bunch of edamame on the side (since I had neglected to buy veggies for it), but you can easily just throw in some steamed or blanched veggies.  My favorites are carrots and peas, though some sweet corn would probably also be nice.

The most important thing about fried rice is...you guessed it, the rice.  Make sure to make it a day ahead.  It will make your whole life easier and your whole dish tastier.  After you fry up the rice, the rest of the dish comes together in a snap.

Mirepoix Or What are Your Essential Flavors?

So I've come to a realization with this blog.  The vast majority of my recipes start with three ingredients: onion, garlic and serrano peppers.  I was starting to feel self-conscious about the relative homogeneity of my recipes.  But then, I remembered the concept of Mirepoix in French cooking.  Basically, three aromatic ingredients are the basis of a large swath of French cooking.  Those ingredients are onions, carrots and celery.

I've since learned that other flavor bases exist in cuisines around the world.  In Spanish cooking, onion, garlic and tomato make a base that is referred to as sofrito.  There is the "holy trinity" of Creole cooking which is onions, celery and bell peppers.

So maybe these three ingredients are the flavor base of my kitchen.  To be honest, I'm kind of okay with that.

So, my question, dear readers is this; what are your essential flavors?  What are the ingredients that form the basis of your cooking?  What do you always reach for when starting to cook?  Leave your answers below in comments, because I'm dreadfully curious.

More recipes next week, I promise!

Yogurt Sauce

Yogurt sauce.  It's called Raita when you make it with Indian food, or tzatziki for Greek food.  It's just a lovely condiment that goes well with lentils, falafels and kabobs (both meatatarian and vegetarian).  The trick to making it taste really good, my friends, is time.  You have to let this concoction sit in the fridge for most of a day to make it taste really nice.

The recipe below is for the Greek food version of the sauce, but the beauty of this sauce is that it can be adjusted to whatever kind of dish you are making.  You can add some cumin seeds (or roasted cumin powder) in place of the dill and substitute lime for the lemon and BANG, it's Indian food ready.  You can add more veggies and some tomatoes and make it into basically a side-salad to compliment burgers.  It's really an all purpose food.  And double bonus?  It's good for you.