Are McSamosas on the way?

I like to think of myself as cutting edge.  Perhaps on the blunt side of cutting edge, but cutting… none-the-less.  My edginess is sensing a distinct rise in the popularity of Indian food in America. Top-chefs at top restaurants appear to be utilizing the techniques and flavors of this complex Continent.  Trendy bars are serving up the occasional curried dish but nothing says, “mainstream” in America like a fast-food joint.  I sense a new trend, I smell a little change - I think my mouth is watering!  

Indian cuisine landed in America in the 1960’s, with the influx of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent that makes up seven countries: Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh on the mainland and the island nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives.  At that time the American food scene was dominated by Julia Childs who was Mastering the Art of French Cooking for audiences around the Country, and over at The White House, Jackie Kennedy was hiring French-born chef, René Verdon.  French was all the rage and other cuisines landed up in local communities rather than on the national scene.  Fast forward to 2010 and some commentators are placing their bets on Indian food being the latest “ethnic food trend” with odds getting more favorable with the opening of ‘Chutney Joe’s’ in Chicago, described as Authentic, slow cooked Indian food, served fast.  In large Metropolitan areas there has been a rise in Indian restaurants and ethnic food sales, mirroring the rise of the Indian Diaspora from the Nineties and Noughties tech-boom. Couple those factors with an increasing appetite for elements of the Indian culture, such as Bollywood and Yoga, and it would suggest that the time is ripe for this emerging economy to make it’s mark on the American food scene.   

The fact that India has fourteen major languages and more than a hundred other languages, will give you an idea of how difficult it is to define this Country from a cultural or culinary standpoint.  Not that, that necessarily bothered the Brits who have turned their love for Indian food into a billion £ industry and elevated the Indian-inspired and Glasgow-born, Tikka Masala, into their number one dish.  I admit to the occasional hankering for an Indian meal myself but like most people I tend to eat it out, rather than making it from scratch.  However, a plethora of cookbooks describing the subtle regional differences in Indian cuisine inspired my trip to the Little India market, which has led to an enjoyable week cooking-off spices, elevating vegetables into delectable dishes and generally making the whole apartment smell like downtown Delhi, much to the delight of my dining companion. 

Having completed my first round of Indian cooking I’m off to master the art of Yoga, audition for a spot in an upcoming Bollywood movie and create my next Indian inspired feast.  Someone pour me a Gin and Tonic will you!

Recipes 

I’ve really enjoyed two simple and healthy vegetarian dishes this week and wanted to share them, as they are quick and easy once you purchase some of the basic Indian spices. 

Sindhi-Style Chickpeas (adapted from Easy Indian Cooking) 

2 cups of chickpeas (Garbanzo beans) I used the tinned version

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion chopped

1 - 2 cans of diced tomatoes (depending on amount of liquid required)

1 1/2 tbsp of diced green chili 

2 tsp minced fresh ginger

4 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp coriander powder 

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric 

2 tsp salt 

2 tsp of tamarind paste (I didn't have any so used brown sugar instead) 

Directions:

• Saute onions until they are golden brown.
• Add tomatoes, chilies, ginger, cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric and salt and cook for 3-4 mins.  Add in some of the liquid from the tinned tomatoes if your dish is drying out.  
• Mix in beans and tamarind (or brown sugar), cover and cook for 10 - 15 mins
• Serve with Indian breads such as Naan or Chapati.  

Palak paneer (Spinach curry with Cheese)  Courtesy of my lovely friend Nicola Macnaughton who is currently working in Pune, India.

1 lb paneer pieces (Indian cheese, can be found in ethic food stores) 2 lb spinach (one big bag of spinach) 3 tbsp onion (chopped) 2 tbsp tomato (chopped) 2 tbsp any cream (alternate: sour cream) 2 tsp garam masala powder 1 tsp cumin powder ½ tsp turmeric powder 2 tsp ghee or oil Salt to taste

Directions Saute onions in ghee or oil until golden brown Add spinach, mix well and then put on saucepan lid and let cook down into a paste like consistency for roughly 5 minutes.   Add sour cream, spices and tomatoes and cook for a further 3-4 mins Add in cubed Paneer and cook for a further 10 minutes to let flavors come together Can be served as a side-dish or a main dish.

Food Revolution

This Sunday there will be a sneak preview of British chef, Jamie Oliver’s, new TV show on the ABC network in America.  The show, Food Revolution, centers around Huntington West Virginia, the Nation’s unhealthiest city, as Jamie goes on the crusade in this 6 part series to expose the cities eating habits and drag them into the dawn of reality. 

The show neatly coincides with fresh concern in the US about childhood obesity, as nearly one-third of America’s children are overweight or obese and this figure rises to nearly 50% amongst the African American and Latino communities.  Michelle Obama, First Lady and young mom, is currently heading up the Federal Childhood Obesity Taskforce and she’s been in the trenches - hula-hooping, soccer practicing and getting her fingers dirty on the South Lawn, in a battle to raise awareness about the prolific problem that this country has with diet and how it affects the young, in particular.

Perhaps Jamie will be invited for tea at the White House.  In fact, I could see a nice bit of television and press here: camera pans in on Michelle and Jamie digging up some fresh vegetables at the White House and making them into a nutritious supper for the First family, but I digress.  The reality is, this TV show is likely to be a popular hit and a really useful piece of arsenal in the political fight to change the eating habits of America.  The new show, Food Revolution, is a mash-up of Jamie’s School Dinners and Jamie’s Ministry of Food which were two popular UK TV shows, one, exposing the truth behind school dinners and the other, the lack of cooking skills in Britain.  The outcome was that the whole of the UK was talking about Turkey Twizzlers and Mick the Miner and the government shelled out hundreds of millions of pounds to improve these issues.  Food Revolution goes into West Virginia and combats school meals and the eating habits of the city.  I’ve seen clips of the show and it’s heart breaking and shocking at the same time.  Meet for instance, Britney, a 16 year old who’s lived on such a poor diet her whole life that her liver has started to eat itself to death and she only has 6 years of her young life left to live.  Or the fact that this is the first generation to have a shorter life span than previous generations, thanks to the fact that it’s literally killing itself, one meal at a time. 

In a country that’s long lived by the mantra of, bigger is better, will we finally say, enough is enough?  Previous political attempts to deal with the obesity crisis have not made a significant or lasting difference but perhaps this time, a popular TV show, a Naked Chef and a First Lady can give this issue the full attention it needs. 

At the side of the page you can click through to Jamie Oliver’s official site and sign the petition to improve food and cooking skills in America, or, visit the Food Revolution website, click here.  

Food Revolution begins this Sunday on ABC at 9pm EST and then continues on Friday’s at 9pm EST.  

Getting Competitive About Chili

America loves to eat chili.  America loves competition and winning.  Last week I – a Scottish lass - entered a very American chili contest. 


My friends and I from Crepes By The Sea in Delray Beach Florida had this idea that it would be fun to enter the local chili cook-off as a way of generating some buzz and excitement for their creperie.  This idea, like many of the greatest ideas ever made, was hasty, had no prior thought put into it, a bucket load of bravado and nothing to back it up…  And so, in just under ten minutes we went from the initial idea of creating a chili crepe - to registering it in a chili cooking competition.  Following the great rush of excitement it became clear that I would be making the chili as they have an entire creperie to run and I have a “decent chili recipe”.   Feeling rather smug with myself at the thought of this little marketing stunt, I stepped into the fresh air and considered the fact that I’d just put myself forward for making enough chili to feed an army of spectators, and that said spectators and a team of chefs would be judging our efforts. 

Here’s how it went down:  I called my boyfriend who seemed mildly amused and told me that my chili tasted leathery and would I be making that recipe?  I told him that leathery wasn’t a good way to describe food.  I then went back to the drawing board…  Chili is no laughing matter, chili is a big deal, it’s highly revered and everyone has an opinion about it - too spicy, not spicy enough.  Beans or no beans?  Which cut of meat?  I opted for my own “leathery” variety, borrowed a mini food processor from my lovely neighbor and got down to the business of creating a puree that would be the base of my chili (see recipe below).  3 hours later I came out of the kitchen, one pot down and another pot to go.  The following day I took the first batch to my friends at Crepes by the Sea and we spun out a couple of fresh crepes, filled them with a blend of four cheeses, added a spoonful of my chili and topped it off with a dash of their own chipotle hot sauce and tasted.  It was good; it was really good.  It’s the kind of food that would satisfy a late night hunger: a warm fresh crepe, smoked cheese, the spice from the chili and the heat from the hot sauce.  We were dreaming of cold Corona’s and high-fiving our efforts.  Smugness had returned!  

The big day arrived.  I naively rocked up to the competition 15 minutes before it was due to begin to find that the other contenders had already set up and were trading stories of previous competitions they’d entered.  We set up next to a nice guy called Peter who was showcasing his ‘Montana Saddleback Chili’ that used prime Montana beef that had been tenderizing for three days.  I flirted with the idea that we were in big trouble but then I realized that the crock-pot wasn’t working.  We were minutes away from the competition beginning and we had stone cold chili, I was no longer flirting with the idea of being in trouble; we were in trouble.  Quick thinking and more high-fiving prevailed and 25 minutes into the competition we were ready to serve up our first Chili by the Sea Crepe.  The first few crepes were whisked off to the judges and then the spectators dived in.  Chili crepes were flying out of our hands as quick as we could fill and fold them.  Jeff, our crepe maestro, was spinning crepes at a spectacular rate and we were running out of key ingredients.  Local kids were roped into running errands for cheese and hot sauce.  Peter was down, he ran out of chili with 50 minutes of the competition to go but we rallied on.  Thirsty and hot (too much alcohol the night before) and with 20 minutes to go we handed out the last Chili by the Sea Crepe.  Done! 

It was a long and agonizing wait, agonizing because of the previous nights escapades on the dance floor but finally the big results were in.  Two categories: Chef’s choice and Public’s choice.  Our new buddy Peter took second place in chef’s choice and the first place was announced….  And we took it!  We blew this local competition out of proportion, high-fived everyone, whooped and hollered and smiled for all of the photos.  Smugness reigns supreme! 

Chili by the Sea

In the competition we served the chili on a fresh crepe with a blend of four cheeses (any strong or smoked cheese works) and a dash of hot sauce. 

Chili recipe

1.5 pounds of ground Sirloin

1.5 pounds of ground Round

2 onions, diced

2 bell peppers, diced (any color)

1 tin of black beans

1 tin of pinto beans (use whatever beans your prefer)

1 tin of diced tomatoes (drain the juice out)

1 bottle of Corona or similar Mexican lager

For puree

½ can of chipotle peppers

1 fresh jalapeno pepper (I used half of the seeds but it depends on how hot you like it)

2 tablespoons of chili powder

1 tablespoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of paprika

Dark chocolate (I used 4 pieces out of a bar but you can use less or more)

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon of Marmite (I used this to add a stock quality but you can use a stock cube or actual beef stock)

Directions

1.    Take all of your puree ingredients and blend them in a food processor.  I used a mini-processor and it worked really well.  At this point taste your puree as this is not an exact science and you may prefer a little more spice or sweetness for example.

2.    Brown your meat and add in the onions and let them sweat off.  If the meat has given off a lot of fat and juice then drain that off though not completely.

3.    Add in half of your puree and let the meat and onions cook off.  Add in the peppers and let them cook for a couple of minutes. 

4.    Add in the rest of your puree and cook for 1-2 minutes. 

5.    Add in the drained tomatoes.

6.    At this point check the consistency of your chili (it will depend on how much juice the meat has given off) I added in approximately half of my lager but you may add in less or more depending on the thickness of your chili.  If you haven’t used marmite or another stock in your puree then you may want to add in some beef stock at this point. 

7.    Drain the beans and add them to your pot.

8.    Bring your chili to the boil and then turn the heat right down and let your chili simmer and come together.

9.    Check your chili every 30-40 minutes to make sure it’s not drying out.  Simmer the chili for approximately 2 hours but if you don’t have the time then bring the chili to the boil and simmer it for 30 minutes and it will be just as good.  

Thank You to Crepes By The Sea as this whole experience 

was a tremendous amount of fun!

www.crepesbythesea.com 

Rotten Tomatoes: Reporting from the Front Line

There’s a US wide fresh tomato shortage!  What’s a girl with a tomato titled blog to do?  Re-name my blog?  I say food shortage; you say food shortage – a look at food in the USA from an outsider’s perspective.   Find out what the root cause of the problem is?  Well, turns out I’m living in the root cause of the problem!

I’ve been complaining for months now that I’ve been freezing my cherry tomatoes off in weather-battered Florida.  The long and difficult winter across the rest of North America has flushed cold air through Florida and affected tomato, corn, citrus fruit and strawberry crops, amongst others.  The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicts that the January freeze will cost Florida vegetable producers about $300 million, with tomatoes generating half of that total loss.  Approximately 70% of tomato crops have been destroyed, and during the early months of the year (Jan- late March), Florida is the largest grower of fresh tomatoes in the USA and the major supplier on the East coast. 

According to the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, a 25-pound box of tomatoes is trading for $30, compared to last year’s $6.45.  The hike in prices means that restaurants, supermarkets and fast-food chains have been running low or are unwilling to buy tomatoes at these prices.  It’s reported that Burger King and Wendy’s have stopped adding tomatoes to their burgers unless a customer specifically requests a tomato slice.  But lets be honest, when your mind is set on a giant Whopper, are you all that fussed about a little slice of tomato?  Thankfully tomato commodities such as tomato ketchup and tomato soup are not affected, which is particularly lucky for Wendy’s and Burger King as I could imagine a ketchup shortage causing riots across parts of the world.     

Like any crop shortage the only way to survive is to eat local and seasonally so wait for the warmer months and indulge in juicy little tomatoes and summer fruits when you can enjoy them at their best.  For the time being, I took the liberty to check for any international wine shortages but on the whole the market seems to be fine, so I suggest staying out of the cold and pouring yourself a glass of wine instead.  

Recipe: Baked Tomatoes with Mozzarella and Basil

Here's a very easy recipe that I often make when tomatoes are in season.  I like cherry tomatoes for this recipe and like to make it as an appetizer or starter to a casual supper.  


Ingredients:

1 tub of cherry tomatoes

2-3 garlic cloves (depening on how much garlic you like)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

1 tsp sugar

Balsamic vinegar

Mozzarella (I like using small mozzarella balls but mozzarella chopped into bite size pieces works too)

Fresh basil

Olives (optional)

Method:

Turn oven to 350°F or 200°C and prick each cherry tomato with the tip of a knife

Pop tomatoes and garlic cloves into baking dish and cover with a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper and a dash of sugar and bake for 10 minutes

Check tomatoes and add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a little more olive oil if needed and bake tomatoes for another 5 or so minutes

Add in mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, olives and bake for 2-5 minutes (or until mozzarella loses its shape slightly)

Drizzle with a little more olive oil and balsamic vinegar and serve with nice warm bread such as ciabatta or French bread. 

I use a nice baking dish and put the dish out on the table and let everyone tuck in for a casual appetizer/starter. 

I made this dish yesterday for the sake of this blog and had to use plum tomatoes but wait for cherry tomatoes to be in season as they taste better and hold their shape so the final presentation is nicer.