Chopped at home week 1: Babaganoosh & A Pork Roulade

Here's the second dish we made during our Chopped at Home playdate. The first dish you'll remember was Pork Wonton soup. Please allow me to introduce the rest of the ingredients we had to work with for this first challenge.

2 Chinese eggplants
3 tomatoes
2 red bell peppers
1 pork loin roast
a bunch of Chinese herbs

Recently I went to a cooking demo where the Chef made a garam masala spice blend - he sampled it to us via some fantastic babaganoosh with roasted red peppers and it was fabulous. I've never been much of an eggplant fan until I tried this babaganoosh, it was really flavorful and addictive. So when presented with 2 large Chinese eggplants I immediately thought of babaganoosh and the fabulous garam masala which I just happened to have all the spices to make it. Turns out my buddy was thinking babaganoosh as well, awesome! So we whipped up a batch of the spice blend and we roasted the veggies. Then we stood there and asked each other, "Ok, now what? We still have this pork loin to use up" and that's when we decided to pound out the loin, slather it in babaganoosh and roll it up roulade style.

We seared the pork rolls in a hot cast iron pan then finished them in the oven. They were pretty darn good I have to say. The babaganoosh filling turned out to be more of a tunnel of babaganoosh rather than a spiral roll but meh, that happens. The flavors blended nicely with the pork and the garam masala spices were really good with it. Would I make this again? Absolutely, with a few changes. First of all, it made a TON of babaganoosh (which we did enjoy with pita chips later that week) so keep that in mind. Second, I don't know that I'd go thru the messy work of making it into a roulade again; rather I'd cut the loin into chops, cook them & serve the babaganoosh as a side dipping sauce. But the flavors were really good and it was fun to work with different ingredients off the cuff.

So that leaves the Chinese herbs. We decided the best idea was to determine WHAT these strange herbs were before using them. Its a DARN good thing we did, too; turns out that we got a medicinal herbal packet, one of them you had to boil 9 times before its considered safe for ingestion. Another one claimed to be "Flavorless, sweet and neutral, however it could cause hallucinations as well as damp excretions" Needless to say we decided to forgo the herbs. There'll be another cooking playdate this weekend, who knows what we'll make next!

Babaganoosh Pork Roulade
Makes about 4 cups of babaganoosh
Pork Roulade serves 4 people
2 Chinese eggplant sliced 1/4 in thin (regular eggplant can be used if the Chinese variety can't be located)
3 tomatoes, halved and seeded
2 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
4 oz cremini mushrooms
Olive oil
kosher salt
pepper
1 T Garam masala
Pork Loin roast
butchers twine or cotton string for tying

Preheat oven to 400F. Distribute vegetables between 2 sheet pans. Drizzle vegetables with about 3 T oil for each pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast. Check veggies half way and rotate pans if needed. If they're not browning much add a bit more oil. Once they've browned remove from oven.

Put roasted vegetables into the work bowl of a stand mixer along with the spices and puree, adding up to 4 T olive oil. Puree until you have a smooth mixture.

Pretty it isn't, however it is darn tasty!

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: No food processor? No worries! This babaganoosh would be quite good in a chunky fashion as well. Simply chop all the roasted veg to your desired consistency then add the spices and stir. Next time I make it I'll leave it chunkier, more like a salsa~*~

To make the roulade:

Preheat oven to 350F

Cover counter tops with plastic wrap, you'll need 2 overlapping sheets. Dampen counter before laying plastic out for best adhesion. Cut roast in half and cover with plastic. Using the smooth side of a meat mallet pound out the meat to 1/4 in thick, trimming any tendons as you go.



Salt and pepper the meat. Spread babaganoosh over it evenly. Roll the pork along the long side and tie with butchers twine in a running knot. Sprinkle the roll with garam masala. Repeat with 2nd half of meat if you had to cut your roast in half as we did. (click here for more info on how to tie a roulade)



Sear tied roll in a hot cast iron skillet on all 4 sides, placing pan in oven once you start the sear on the last side. Cook pork until internal temperature of 150F is reached. Allow meat to rest at least 5 minutes before removing twine and serving.

Garam Masala spice blend

This recipe is courtesy of Chef Andrew Sherrill from the Blue Star here in Colorado Springs. About a month ago I went to a cooking demo that Chef Andrew held at a local spice store called Extraordinary Ingredients. He demonstrated 3 recipes for us, a delicious Jamaican Jerk rub, the best cajun blackening spice I've ever tried and this mind blowing Garam Masala.

A few of the ingredients in this spice blend are a bit more exotic than your local grocery store will carry so I recommend scouting out your favorite spice retailer for the black cardamom pods as well as the black cumin. Chef Andrew explained that the black cardamom and black cumin have a more intense, deeper flavor than their 'regular' counterparts. They provide a distinct depth of flavor that you won't get from standard cardamom or cumin. If you are unsuccessful in your hunt for black cardamom and black cumin, fear not, the regular versions can be used, your spice blend just won't be as intense as the Chef intended.

Lastly, be sure to toast your spices before grinding them. Toasting spices is very easy and imparts so much flavor you'll wonder why you never toasted them before! Simply heat a DRY skillet over medium high heat, once the pan is hot add your whole spices and shake it around for about 20-30 seconds. Once you can smell the spices you're done. Over toasting leads to burning and burn is not a flavor you're going to want in your Garam Masala. Allow the spices to cool for about 3-5 minutes for easiest grinding. A mortar and pestle is the preferred grinding device, however a coffee or spice grinder works just fine, too. This Garam Masala spice blend will last about 6 months stored in your spice cabinet.

Garam Masala
Source: Chef Andrew Sherrill of the Blue Star
~*~Makes a LOT of spice blend, feel free to scale it back for your use~*~
4 T coriander seed
1 T cumin
1 1/2 t black cumin
3-4 large pods black cardamom
1 T black pepper
2x1 inch pieces cinnamon sticks OR 3/4 t
3/4 t bay leaves crushed
3/4 t cloves

Toast all whole spices (reserve the bay leaves, they do not benefit from toasting). Allow to cool about 3-5 minutes before combining with the bay leaves in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Grind until very fine. Store in a sealed container, in a dark dry place.

Best when used directly after grinding as the flavor components are released by the toasting and grinding process. Flavor will diminish the longer it sits. I'd store this Garam Masala no longer than 6 months.

Peshwari Pilau aka Spiced rice with nuts and fruit

The New Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon is one of my new favorite cookbooks. And I don't even own it! Nope, the Witch was turned on to this amazing little gem by one of the moms in our playgroup. Like usual we were talking about food and she mentioned that her husband had received a great Indian cookbook for Christmas. After hearing about the wonderful things from this book for months (it was sheer torture, too!) we finally decided to get together and cook from the book.

It was one of the best meals of my life!! So a BIG THANK YOU to Nichole and her husband Mick for having this book and sharing its delicious secrets with the Kitchen Witch. Today I'd like to share with you one of the side dishes, Peshwari Pilau, or better known as Spiced rice with fruit and nuts. Sounds pretty delicious, right?

The spices in play here are cloves, cinnamon sticks and cardamon pods. Combined they create a rich, spicy background flavor, perfect for paring with all sorts of spicy Indian main dishes. The fruit is simply golden raisins. Cooking the raisins with the rice allows them to plump up and their sweet bursts of flavor are absolutely delicious. The crunchy bits of nuts add salty and sweet flavors as well. This rice is about as good as it gets in this Witches' opinion.

Best of all, even a rice challenged Witch can make this, successfully! Oh yes, its true, the Kitchen Witch is very, severely rice challenged. If its not 'minute, instant or boil in the bag' OR made in a rice cooker, chances are good that it won't be good if the Witch makes it. For some unknown reason my rice is notoriously crunchy, not cooked all the way through OR its super sticky (even when a non sticky variety) and pasty and well, frankly unpalatable. Sometimes I'm even able to have both things happen at once, gluey blown apart rice grains that are yet still crunchy in the inside. So when this rice turned out, perfectly, the first time, well I knew I had a winner of a dish and a great cookbook on my hands.

Even if Indian food isn't on your menu give this rice a try. It has a delightful fragrance and is filled with many of the spices we all associate with the holiday seasons. It'd be the perfect side dish for any of your holiday season dinners. Enjoy! Oh and PS, I'll be posting more Indian dishes from The New Curry Secret soon! Stay tuned for those!

Peshwari Pilau aka
Spiced rice with nuts and fruit
makes 4 generous servings
From The New Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon
9 oz (250g) basmati rice, rinsed very well
15 fl oz (450 mL) c water
1 T olive oil
1/4 c golden raisins
2 T blanched almond slices
2 T cashew pieces and halves
2-4 1 inch long cinnamon sticks
6 cardamon pods (green)
6 whole cloves
1 t kosher salt (use 1/2 as much if using table salt)

rinse the rice until the rinse water runs clear.

Preheat oven to 335F.

In an oven safe pan with a tight fitting lid heat the oil over medium high heat. Once oil is hot add the spices and cook about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add nuts and raisins, cook 30 seconds longer, stirring often. Then add the rinsed rice and stir well. Coat rice in the fragrant oil and cook about 1 minute before adding the water.

Add water and salt, stir well to mix. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to the lowest setting on your stove, cover and allow to cook for 20 minutes, stirring 3 times during the cooking process.



~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: When stirring rice use a wide spoon and a folding technique. Do NOT vigorously stir the rice, that will cause the starches to be released and the rice will be gluey and unnecessarily sticky. A quick stir 2-3 times around the pot is all you need, basically insuring that you won't have any stuck on or scorch spots at the bottom of the pan. Resist the urge to over-stir!~*~

After all water is absorbed put the lidded pan into the oven to dry the rice out, about 20 minutes.

Fluff rice with a fork before serving. Remove the cardamon pods, cinnamon sticks and cloves before serving.


Photo Credits: R.L. Long (aka the Witchy Sissy), the spices photos

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving
Calories 325.9
Total Fat 7.8 g
Saturated Fat 1.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 4.7 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 508.8 mg
Potassium 124.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 57.6 g
Dietary Fiber 1.0 g
Sugars 7.6 g
Protein 7.6 g

Butter Chicken

Pretty, it isn't. What it is is is the best Indian dish I've made to date. There was no coriander in it, which was awesome for the coriander/cilantro hating Witch. I found this delightful dish on Taste Buddies blog. It was my first time visiting her blog but I can guarantee that it won't be the last - if all her dishes are as good as the butter chicken, I'll be back for sure!

I made this last week for my house guests who specifically asked for an Indian dish from the Kitchen Witch. Now, heres a wee confession: I've made & blogged about a few Indian dishes thus far. However, what I haven't told you is that there was SOMETHING about these dishes that just didn't sit right with the Witch. The flavor was good at first, but as I ate it, it just got muddy and yucky and left a really bad aftertaste in my mouth. After much pondering, I discovered it was a combination of 2 things: coriander and too much ginger.

Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant. I HATE CILANTRO!! I know, I know, some of you say keep eating it, it'll grow on you. But sorry, the Witch just can't. She can NOT add leaves of green that taste like shaved Ivory soap to her food. It is wrong and that taste lingers. Hours later I can still taste Ivory soap. Who wants that??? So, I'm sorry cilantro lovers, you won't see any cilantro or coriander recipes on this blog from here on out. If you really like the flavor of coriander and cilantro, add some! The original recipe calls for it, I just chose to omit it.

Ginger is another problem child. Oh sure, I like ginger. I like ginger cookies and ginger bread, things like that. But fresh grated ginger is a whole 'nother beast. Its very spicy and pungent. A little goes a LONG way. The previous recipes called for upwards of 3 tablespoons of fresh grated ginger, which translates to a hunk about 3-4 inches long. That's a LOT of ginger!!! This wonderful recipe called for a whopping 2 teaspoons, a very much more manageable amount. Again, if you love ginger, feel free to add more.

The chicken was super tender, due to the slow simmering and long marinade in spiced yogurt. Flavors explode on your palette - some familiar like cinnamon and garlic, some unique and exotic like the Garahm Masala spice blend. The sauce was rich and creamy - pink from tomatoes and flecked with spices. Delicious!!

Now lets talk about the name: butter chicken. You'd think it was butter soaked chicken, right? Nope. As a matter of fact there's only 4 tablespoons in the entire recipe. Do you get a big hit of butter? No, you don't. But you do get the richness that the butter brings, and the awesome browning power that it lends to the onions, garlic and ginger.

If you've never made Indian food I highly recommend starting out with this dish. You will need to get a few spices that most of us don't have on hand, but you'll also use a lot that you have in your spice cabinet already. Butter chicken is the perfect "Intro to Indian Food" dish, exotic spices, tender meat, rich sauce and an overall sense of something different and exotic. I do hope you try this soon!

PS sorry there's not more photos, I got distracted while cooking and plain spaced it out!

Butter Chicken
makes 6-8 very generous servings
12 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tsp chili powder
6 bay leaves
8 green cardamom pods
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp of grated ginger
4 garlic gloves, crushed
1 can of diced tomatoes and their juice
2 tsp kosher salt
4 tbs of butter
1 medium white onion, chopped
1/2 cup of cream
2 cups of water

Slice chicken into bite size pieces, discarding any fat and gristly bits.

Combine the yogurt, garam masala, cinnamon, cloves, salt, chili powder, bay leaves and cardamon pods. Stir to mix well. Pour spiced yogurt over chicken, toss to coat chicken evenly, cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Heat a large sautee pan (I used my 12 inch straight side frying pan) over medium heat and melt butter. Once the foaming stops add the onions, garlic and ginger. Cook about 5-10 minutes or until it starts to brown. Don't let the garlic burn or it will bitter the dish.

Add the yogurt covered chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, you want the yogurt to start to reduce and cook down. Add the tomatoes, their juices and the water. Bring to a simmer and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

After simmering remove the bay leaves and cardamom pods. Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Serve over basmati rice.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving
Calories 310.6
Total Fat 17.5 g
Saturated Fat 8.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.8 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.1 g
Cholesterol 151.4 mg
Sodium 193.8 mg
Potassium 533.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 7.3 g
Dietary Fiber 0.8 g
Sugars 3.7 g
Protein 30.2 g

Indian Style Curry - potato, chick pea, zucchini, cauliflower and peas

I find the best recipes and ideas while out in the blogosphere. Design Wine and Dime is no exception. A few weeks ago she posted a mouth watering recipe for Rava Dosas with potato chickpea masala. After I read the post I could not get this recipe off my mind.

While browsing one of my favorite cookbooks, America's Test Kitchen, Best of 2008, I discovered a curry recipe. Most everything I've made from this book was delicious so I decided to go for it. It shared a lot of similar ingredients and methods with Design Wine & Dine's recipe, which sparked my curry thought pattern initially.

A trip to the farmers market yielded me some nice red baby potatoes. I found a great deal on organic cauliflower at the grocery store as well. The chick peas are a staple in my pantry, along with spices like curry and garam masala. Everything included this meal cost less than $5, it has all organic produce, some if from my very own yard, and was delicious!

Browning the onions and potatoes together help build the flavor base. Toasting the curry powder and garam masala aids in bringing the freshest flavors out of the spices, adding another layer of flavor. The dish takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, but tastes like it took all day. No one, even the meat loving husband, missed the meat in this dish. It is extremely hearty and filling and most of all, extremely delicious!


Indian Style Curry: Potato, chick pea, zucchini, cauliflower and peas
makes about 5 hearty portions
adapted from America's Test Kitchen best of 2008 Cookbook
2 T curry powder
1 1/2 t garam masala
1/4 c canola oil, divided
1 large onion, fine dice
12 oz, about 6 small, red bliss potatoes, cut into large dice
4 cloves garlic minced
1 T fresh grated ginger root
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded if desired, fine dice
1 T tomato paste
1/2 medium head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 medium size zucchini, diced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, pulsed in a food processor or blender
1 1/2 c water
1 can chick peas, drained & rinsed
kosher salt to taste (veggies need lots of salt, season generously, 1 to 1.5 t kosher salt)
2 handfuls frozen peas
1/4 c heavy cream or coconut milk

Toast the curry powder and garam masala in a small skillet over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until spices darken slightly and become fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.. Remove spices from pan and set aside.

Heat 3 T oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Once oil is hot add the onions and potatoes, cook stirring occasionally until potatoes begin to brown on edges and onions are golden, about 10 minutes. Once browning begins reduce heat to medium.

Push the potatoes and onions to the side of the pan making room in the center to work. Add the remaining oil along with the garlic, ginger, jalapenos and tomato paste, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the toasted spices, stirring constantly, cool for about a minute longer.



Add the cauliflower & zucchini next, stirring well to cover in spices. Once the vegetables are thoroughly coated in spices add the tomatoes, water and chickpeas. Season with salt. Be sure to scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.



Bring to a simmer, cover and cook about 15 to 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Stir occasionally while cooking to avoid veggies from sticking to bottom of pan.



Once potatoes are done add the peas and cook about 2 minutes longer. Add the cream or coconut milk, stir well, add more salt if needed and serve over basmati rice.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
5 Servings
Amount Per Serving *not including rice*
Calories 292.5
Total Fat 13.2 g
Saturated Fat 1.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3.9 g
Monounsaturated Fat 7.0 g
Cholesterol 2.3 mg
Sodium 677.5 mg
Potassium 1,103.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 39.1 g
Dietary Fiber 8.6 g
Sugars 1.7 g
Protein 8.2 g

Chicken Tikka Masala

This was the Kitchen Witches' first foray into the wonderful, spicy and tasty world of Indian cooking. All I can say is WOW and WHY did I wait so long?? These flavors are out of this world good. Familiar, yet exotic all at once. And the smells that they create while cooking... If you've never cooked Indian food, I highly encourage you to try.

When I asked people what Indian food was like I got a lot of "its spicy" comments. I'm kinda wimpy when it comes to heat so maybe that's why I avoided it for so long. This past January I met up with an old friend of mine and she suggested we go out for Indian food. Never having tried it, I agreed, but was apprehensive about it. What if its too spicy? What if I don't like it? What if, what if, what if! The Witches' husband was the voice of reason - he said if it sucks you politely eat a few bites of everything and then we hit up McDonald's on the way home, no harm no foul. So I put my big girl pants on and went out for Indian.

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!!! Sure it was a little intimidating, not knowing what the heck anything on the menu was, save a few items like Naan (flat bread that's awesome!) or mango lasse (basically a yogurt smoothie made with mango). The restaurant we went to had a lunch buffet, while normally I am very anti buffets, I completely appreciated the buffet here. It allowed me to sample at least 10 items off the menu for 1 price, with out the pressure of committing to 1 strange dish. And as a result I'm now an Indian food convert!

So it turns out that the 'spiciness' in Indian food isn't necessarily heat spicy, rather, it is spices spicy. Things like cinnamon, cardamon, clove, ginger and garlic. DELICIOUS! Which leads me to today's post. Chicken Tikka Masala.

A quick Kitchen Witch tip before I get into the recipe. Making Indian food will require you to stock lots of 'exotic' spices that you most likely won't have. Before you go & spend $50 on spices at the grocery store, take a trip to a local health foods store. Here in Colorado Springs we have an awesome place called Mountain Mama. They sell spices and herbs in bulk. This is where I get all my spices & herbs, at rock bottom prices!! You can get as little or as much of each spice that you need, with out being stuck with an entire $10 jar of cardamon pods, or $5 of curry powder. Last time I bought spices I got garam masala, curry powder, cardamon pods, coriander seed, fenugreek seed, cinnamon, chili powder, and a few other things for $12. And I got at least 4-8 TABLESPOONS of each spice!!! Now that's witchcraft :)

Chicken Tikka Masala
Modified from Alton Brown
Makes 8 servings
Marinade for chicken:
3 lbs boneless & skinless chicken thighs, sliced into strips for skewering
1 cup yogurt, plain
1 T garam masala
1 t kosher salt
4 cardamon pods
1/2 t coriander seed
1.5 t cumin seed, whole
1 t black pepper corns, whole
1 t fenugreek seed, whole

Masala sauce:
28 oz crushed tomatoes
1 T garam masala
1 t + more to taste kosher salt
1 large onion diced
1 jalapeno diced, seeds left in if you like it hotter
1 c coconut milk
1 T fresh grated ginger
4 cloves garlic minced
2T vegetable oil for sautee

Chicken marinade and preparation:

Heat a small dry skillet (no oil) over high heat. Once pan is hot add the whole spices and move pan around until spices are toasted and smell fragrent, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove spices to a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Allow spices to cool before grinding.

Once cooled grind spices into a powder.



Combine with 1T garam masala and 1t kosher salt, mix well. Add the yogurt and mix well. Add sliced chicken to yogurt spice mix and marinate for 3-4 hours.

30 minutes before marinade is finished soak bamboo skewers in water so they don't catch on fire as easily while grilling. Also now is a great time to get your charcoal going or heat up your grill.

Skewer the chicken meat, leaving as much of the yogurt mix on as possible, on soaked skewers, about 2 thighs per skewer.

Grill meat until cooked and nicely charred, the charred edges will add to the flavor.




Masala sauce:
Heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch straight sided saute pan over medium-high, until it shimmers and almost begins to smoke. Add the onion and remaining teaspoon of salt, and cook until the onion is browned around the edges, 11 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno. Cook, stirring constantly, until the onions have softened and browned completely, approximately 7 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of garam masala and stir several times to coat.

Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have reduced slightly and deepened in color, 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the lamb and coconut milk to the tomato mixture and stir to combine and heat through. Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy with basmati rice.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
8 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 258.5
Total Fat 16.4 g
Saturated Fat 8.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.6 g
Cholesterol 93.4 mg
Sodium 171.7 mg
Potassium 422.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 5.7 g
Dietary Fiber 0.8 g
Sugars 2.5 g
Protein 22.6 g