Recipe Review from 1/11/10

Two recipes from this past week - both rather reflective of the winter season. I'm struggling a bit to get more veggies with my meals so I've been trying to focus on things that either have veggies in them or I can sub some veggies.

I'm still working on my pantry reduction project - these two recipes used up a box of pasta, a sweet potato, two cheeses, basmati rice and dried hot red chilies. I also inadvertently added on item to my pantry as I brain-farted that lentils aren't dal, so now I have two cups of red lentils to use up.

And I've made my one and only New Years Resolution. LABEL the tubs/bags that go into the freezer!! After throwing four tubs of freezer burned mystery stuff (it didn't even look like the same stuff) I MUST resolve to do a better job of labeling. I just hate wasting food and money.


Duguid's Everyday Dal (Ckng Lght Jan/Feb 10) 3.5
As the recipe states, this is a versatile recipe. I subbed a sweet potato for the carrot, used mung dal (yellow split peas) and served with basmati rice. This recipe comes together fairly quickly so I recommend making sure your ingredients are all set to go ahead of time. The rice can cook while the dish is in it's final simmer. This did turn out a tich bland for me, but I didn't realize until mid-preparation that I was out of mustard seeds. I also skipped the nigella seeds. So some background flavors were missing. With rice, this made about six meals for me (lunches).

1 ½ cups split hulled mung dal or masoor (red) dal, rinsed and drained
6 cups water
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon nigella seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 dried small hot red chiles, stemmed
½ cup finely chopped shallots
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup cauliflower florets
¾ cup fresh cilantro leaves
6 lime wedges (optional)


Combine dal and 6 cups water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir in turmeric, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick; partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Keep warm.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds; cook 1 minute or until seeds pop, stirring constantly. Add ginger and next 4 ingredients (through chiles); cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add shallots; cook 3 minutes or until shallots are tender, stirring frequently. Add carrot and cauliflower; cook 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Add 1 cup dal mixture and remaining 1 teaspoon salt to carrot mixture; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add carrot mixture to remaining dal mixture; bring to a boil. Cook 40 minutes or until mixture thickens. Sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.


Quick Skillet Mac and Cheese (Fine Cooking, Feb/Mar 10) 2.0
I was in the mood for a bit of comfort food and had all the ingredients for this one. I will admit, it seemed a bit putzy for mac and cheese, but my arm certainly got a workout grating the Emmenthaler, the Gruyer and parmesan! In hindsight, I could have used my food processor... I didn't have the full amount of noodles the recipe calls for, so I added some leftover cauliflower (was from dal mentioned above). How can you go wrong with cauliflower and cheese?

Even though it turned out just like the picture, this dish ended up being rather disappointing. My roux didn't thicken the milk like it should have so the dish was a bit liquidy when it went under the broiler. It thickened up overnight in the fridge though. The flavors were just meh, there was an almost grain mouthfeel, and the color of the dish was a bit unappetizing. I won't be making this one again as I ate my way through six days of leftovers.


Kosher salt
12 oz. dried spiral pasta, such as cavatappi, rotini, or double elbows
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 cups low-fat (2%) milk
4 oz. grated Emmentaler (1-1/4 cups)
4 oz. grated Gruyère (1-1/4 cups)
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
3 oz. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 cups)


Position a rack about 4 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler on high.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until just tender. Drain well and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and continue whisking until well combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the milk and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the Emmentaler, Gruyère, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme and whisk until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth, 2 minutes. Stir in the pasta to coat with the sauce. Off the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly over the pasta.

Broil until the top is browned, 3 to 4 minutes, and serve.

From Fine Cooking 103, pp. 90
December 30, 2009