First Friday Lunch June 5 2009

The menu turned out differently--that's the beauty of cooking off the farm. I use what's available. We haven't fully stocked the kitchen yet so I had to improvise--it turned out great though.

We had:

Lentil Dal with panch phora--five whole spices: fennel, coriander (or fenugreek), nigella, cumin and brown mustard seed. I browned a lot of shallots that Jenny (Meadowlark Farm "mother") had from last year. I used Nutiva coconut oil. Great flavor in place of ghee. I browned the spices and added ginger root, cooked (with garlic and turmeric) lentils and simmered them then added chopped greens at the end to just barely cooked through. I seasoned the dal with pickled jalapeños, salt and lime juice.

Brown basmati rice pilaf--cooked with whole spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander and cardamom.

Spiced potatoes with caramelized onions and turmeric

This is the cooling part of an Indian meal. It is usually made with yogurt, but I like it with the nut sauce. I've made this with bananas, crystallized ginger and ground peanuts. It is especially good with cashews.
Greens Stem Raita (in photo with finely shaved carrots)

6 cups finely sliced bokchoy, chard or vitamin green stems
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raw walnuts or cashews
1/4 cup chopped gingerroot
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/4 to 1/2 cup lightly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

Toss stems and salt together in large mixing bowl. Allow to sit for 20 minutes, until liquid exudes.

In blender, grind nuts, ginger, 1/4 cup lime juice and maple syrup. Grind until smoothish, but still thick. To facilitate grinding, add 1/2 cup liquid from stems and salt.

Mix stems, nut sauce and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper and more lime juice, to taste.


Raw rhubarb-maple ginger chutney

For this I finely sliced rhubarb straight out of the garden and tossed it with finely minced fresh ginger, a pinch of salt and maple syrup. I did add a pinch of cardamom and cinnamon, but they aren't strictly necessary. After a couple hours the rhubarb softened and the maple syrup infused it nicely. This is called maceration--where there is an exchange of flavors--versus marination--where the food is infused with flavor.