Tapioca Coconut Laddus

Tapioca Laddoos (Pindaloo ke Laddoo) were my grandma's favourite when I was a child. She loved eating these as a snack in the late afternoon. I still remember how she would pop a whole laddo in her mouth and chew it with her gums as she had not a single tooth left to help her in her endeavour. She would still enjoy all the juicy bites and every bit of it. It was more fun watching her eat than eating it myself.

Ingredients:
Tapioca - 2 medium size - 5 cups
Coconut (finely grated)- 2 cups
Clic cream (175gm) - 1/2 can
Sugar - 1 cup

Method: Wash and clean the tapioca in running water. Boil them in a big pot of water. When they are done their thick skin would start cracking. Remove, drain and let them cool down first, then grate them coarsely. Add 1 1/2 cups of the grated coconut, sugar and cream to the grated tapioca. Mix everthing well. Make them into laddoos then roll them in the grated coconut and set aside. Put them all one by one in colored baking cups and chill them in the fridge. Enjoy when chilled.

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It's National Grilled Cheese Day!

...or at least that's what I heard on Twitter today. Who decides these things, and how do they pick the day? Don't know, and don't care, because it give me an excuse to post our famous Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwich! Follow this link to read the original post, and as always, enjoy!

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It's National Grilled Cheese Day!

...or at least that's what I heard on Twitter today. Who decides these things, and how do they pick the day? Don't know, and don't care, because it give me an excuse to post our famous Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwich! Follow this link to read the original post, and as always, enjoy!

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Mustards Grill’s Mongolian Pork Chop – Video No. 700 Was All Me

Every once in a while, I post a recipe that I’ve received exactly zero requests for, and this gorgeous Mongolian pork chop is the most recent example – sort of ironic, considering this is video 700, and I’m celebrating the milestone by going rogue! 

While 95% of the videos you see are inspired by actual “food wishes,” sometimes I’ll remember something so delicious, I just have to add it to the library.

One of my favorite restaurants anywhere is Mustards Grill, located in California's beautiful Napa Valley. Mustards is owned and operated by chef Cindy Pawlcyn, and for decades has been serving the best kind of new American comfort fare. While I love all the food, the standout dish is their famous Mongolian pork chop.

This is my slightly simplified version, but still very close to what you’d experience at Mustards. She adds a little green onion to the marinade, and I would’ve also, had I not forgotten it at the market. She also puts a touch of cilantro in the mix, but I prefer to use it freshly chopped to garnish the cold mustard sauce (something I should have mentioned in the video, but did add to the ingredient list).

Once marinated, these pork chops can be cooked any way you like, but for the true experience, you’re going to want to cook these on a charcoal grill. For me, it’s the smokiness that brings all these flavors together, but pay special attention to my warnings about direct high-heat.

Once the chops are marked with magazine-quality lines directly over the white-hot coals, I open the grate and push the charcoal away from the center of the grill, so that the meat and flammable marinade isn’t directly over the intense heat. This ensures all that delicious smokiness, with none of that annoying, “Hey, Honey, I think the pork chops are on fire.”

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in Napa Valley, I highly recommend you stop in to Mustards and enjoy this great American treasure. But, if that’s not possible, or you simply can’t wait, then give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 Portions:

For the pork and marinade:

two 10-ounce bone-in, extra-thick, center-cut pork chops

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

4 cloves minced garlic

1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 green onion, light parts, minced

For the mustard sauce (this is enough for 4, but I didn't want to use 1/2 a yolk!):

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 or 3 tablespoons hot mustard powder, such as Colman's or Chinese style (add to taste!)

3 tbsp sugar (their sauce is on the sweet side, so feel free to add this to taste)

1 egg yolk

1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream (click here to see how to make your own)
cayenne, to taste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp turmeric 

freshly chopped cilantro leaves, optional

*If you want the “real” original recipe, here's a link to check out.

View the complete recipe

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Mustards Grill’s Mongolian Pork Chop – Video No. 700 Was All Me

Every once in a while, I post a recipe that I’ve received exactly zero requests for, and this gorgeous Mongolian pork chop is the most recent example – sort of ironic, considering this is video 700, and I’m celebrating the milestone by going rogue! 

While 95% of the videos you see are inspired by actual “food wishes,” sometimes I’ll remember something so delicious, I just have to add it to the library.

One of my favorite restaurants anywhere is Mustards Grill, located in California's beautiful Napa Valley. Mustards is owned and operated by chef Cindy Pawlcyn, and for decades has been serving the best kind of new American comfort fare. While I love all the food, the standout dish is their famous Mongolian pork chop.

This is my slightly simplified version, but still very close to what you’d experience at Mustards. She adds a little green onion to the marinade, and I would’ve also, had I not forgotten it at the market. She also puts a touch of cilantro in the mix, but I prefer to use it freshly chopped to garnish the cold mustard sauce (something I should have mentioned in the video, but did add to the ingredient list).

Once marinated, these pork chops can be cooked any way you like, but for the true experience, you’re going to want to cook these on a charcoal grill. For me, it’s the smokiness that brings all these flavors together, but pay special attention to my warnings about direct high-heat.

Once the chops are marked with magazine-quality lines directly over the white-hot coals, I open the grate and push the charcoal away from the center of the grill, so that the meat and flammable marinade isn’t directly over the intense heat. This ensures all that delicious smokiness, with none of that annoying, “Hey, Honey, I think the pork chops are on fire.”

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in Napa Valley, I highly recommend you stop in to Mustards and enjoy this great American treasure. But, if that’s not possible, or you simply can’t wait, then give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 Portions:

For the pork and marinade:

two 10-ounce bone-in, extra-thick, center-cut pork chops

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

4 cloves minced garlic

1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 green onion, light parts, minced

For the mustard sauce (this is enough for 4, but I didn't want to use 1/2 a yolk!):

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 or 3 tablespoons hot mustard powder, such as Colman's or Chinese style (add to taste!)

3 tbsp sugar (their sauce is on the sweet side, so feel free to add this to taste)

1 egg yolk

1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream (click here to see how to make your own)
cayenne, to taste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp turmeric 

freshly chopped cilantro leaves, optional

*If you want the “real” original recipe, here's a link to check out.

View the complete recipe

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Sweet Potato Focaccia - Peasant Style!

I had left over roasted sweet potato lying in the fridge and I wanted to make good use of it. The thought of making chaat or eating it with sprinkled cinnamon, brown sugar/honey was not appealing. The other day I made flat bread (rotis) out of it and enjoyed eating them all myself. But this time I thought that the kids who are always picky and have canadian taste buds wouldn't like it. So I finally embarked on the idea of trying foccaccia with roasted sweet potato and fresh rosemary. I imagined the taste in my mind - the sweet foccaccia bread with the rosemary flavour combined with fresh vegetable toppings - will definitely be a success! So I tweaked my recipe for regular foccaccia a bit by adding egg and increasing the flour quantity and lo and behold, it worked out very well.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour -4- 41/2 cups

Quick rising yeast- 1 tblspn

Lukewarm water - 3/4 cup

Salt - 1/2 tspn

Egg - 1

Sweet potatoes - 1 medium size
Olive oil - 4 tblspns

Green &; red peppers - 1 each

White button mushrooms - 6

Red onions - 1/4 cup sliced

Green / Black olives - optional

Tomatoes - 1 diced

Fresh rosemary herb - 1 small strand (can be substituted with basil/oregano)

Mozzarella/cheddar cheese - optional

Method

Roast the Sweet potatoes in a baking pan at 400 degrees fahrenheit in a preheated oven for 1/2 an hr to 45 mins till they are tender. Poke them with a knife before keeping them in the oven otherwise they burst when overdone and are left in the oven unattended. Peel them when they cool down, mash well and set them aside.

 Take a cup of water and warm it in the microwave for 40 seconds. It should be lukewarm to touch. Add 1 tblspn yeast and 1/2 tspn sugar, mix well and leave it to rise - 5 mins. Meanwhile put 3 cups of flour in  the food processor, add salt and pulse it till it mixes well. Now add the egg, mashed sweet potatoes and pulse again, followed by the yeast solution. Keep pulsing at short intervals till the dough is formed. Now add 1 tblspn olive oil to it and pulse more till the dough starts spinning. This means the dough consistency is reached. The dough starts spinning when it is elastic. we need an elastic kind of dough to get a spongy texture in the foccaccia. At this stage remove the dough from the processor, roll it in the shape of a ball and put it in a greased container, cover it with plastic wrap or a plate and let it rise for 45 mins to 1 hr. Preheat the oven at 400 degrees fahrenheit. When the dough doubles in size, take it and put it on a greased pizza pan without punching or flattening it. Now start working on it from the sides by pressing it with your fingers and spreading it  like a pizza bread. The dough is so spongy that you can dig your fingers into it and make impressions like tiny craters. Sprinkle the remaining olive oil generously so that it fills the little craters.

Dust with dried oregano and basil, then spread all the cut vegetables on top. Press them a bit and bake in the second position in the oven for 15-20 mins till it crisp on the bottom and very lightly golden on top. You may add cheese towards the end. Just wait for the cheese to melt and remove. Cut them into wedges or squares and serve hot. It is very filling and nutritious. Enjoy!

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Cottage Fries – America’s Forgotten Fry and Most Delicious Roofing

While they don’t get the same love as French fries, home fries, or steak fries, cottage fries more than hold their own against their potato side dish fraternity bothers. 

And, unlike their French cousins, these easy cottage fries actually crisp up quite nicely in the oven, and as I described in the video, resemble fat, succulent potato chips. I don’t know about you, but to me there’s nothing about “fat, succulent potato chip” that doesn’t sound good.

They’re called cottage fries because they supposedly look like the shingled roofs on those cute little houses you see in the movies and on travel brochures. Appearances aside, I find serving and eating something associated with “cottages” to be just a little more relaxing and civilized than other less vacation-y potatoes.

I used Yukon gold potatoes, which as you’ll see, worked fine, but I do prefer the slightly starchier russet. I would avoid any of the red varieties, as they have a much waxier texture, and don’t get as crusty as other types.

I also used a silicon mat to cook mine on, but you’ll get even crispier edges if you use foil, or put the sliced potato directly on a non-stick baking sheet. Of course, the seasoning options are only limited by your imagination and self-control.

I love Herbes de Provence in this, but literally any fresh or dried herb will work here. Keep in mind, these chips are great just seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, so you’re cooking from a position of power – don’t try and do too much. I hope you give these great change-of-pace “fries” a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
russet potatoes, sliced into 3/8-inch thick rounds (about 4-oz per portion)

enough olive oil to coat

cayenne, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to taste

View the complete recipe

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