by Sam Tackeff | Mar 3, 2010 | Books, Indian, Pantry Staples
For the past few weeks I’ve been cooking up an South Asian storm. I love the flavors and spices in all types of South Asian food – and use many traditional ingredients in my everyday cooking – a lot of ginger, turmeric, cumin, and coconut milk to name a few.
I just wrote my first review up at The Good Taste Review for Ruta Kahate’s book ‘5 Spices, 50 Dishes’. Head on over and let me know what you think!
I didn’t want to leave you all hanging, so this chickpea recipe is one of my favorites that I tried from the book. I love chickpeas in any permutation, but this recipe was particularly fresh and light. It could either make a nice side dish, or a good vegetarian meal if served over rice. When I first made it, I ate it as my dinner, and was quite satisfied. Although the recipe called for canned chickpeas, I made this with Rancho Gordo chickpeas that I had soaked overnight and cooked.
Chickpea Curry with Fresh Dill Leaves
from ‘5 Spices, 50 Dishes’, page 42
Serves 4
This recipe traditionally uses a split and skinned Indian chickpea called chana dal, but I’ve found that canned chickpeas work just as well – which makes it possible to create this dish in minutes. The other interesting thing is that it uses dill leaves in the typical Indian style – as a vegetable, rather than as an herb. Serve with Marathi Yellow Fried Rice (page 103), and Roasted Onion Raita (page 98) for a hearty vegetarian meal.
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2 tablespoons canola oil
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1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
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1 teaspoon cayenne (or less)
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1 teaspoon coriander seeds, finely ground
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1 teaspoon finely grated garlic (about 2 large cloves)
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1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger (about 2-inch piece)
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1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
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1 medium tomato, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
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3 cups finely chopped dill leaves and tender stalks (about 2 bunches)
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One 15.5 ounce can low-sodium chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
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1/4 cup water
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1 teaspoon salt
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and sauté the onion over medium heat until it has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the cayenne, coriander, garlic, ginger, and turmeric and stir for 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the tomato and cook until it is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the dill, chickpeas, water, and salt, and simmer until the dill is soft and tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve warm.
by Sam Tackeff | Feb 25, 2010 | Pantry Staples, Restaurants
I’ve been spending a little bit more time over at www.healthylunchidea.com in the past few weeks, because I’ve newly committed myself to the ultimate health accountability – blogging my every meal, and documenting my exercise as well. I’m beginning to suspect that this will be a crazy adventure, but so far I have been having fun with it. If you have any inclination of following the efforts of a looney woman, I encourage you to head over there or subscribe to my RSS!
The Second Lunch is going to still be devoted to the city, restaurants, travel, and where I will post most of my recipes.
Here are some shots from my other site, and some others from the city that I haven’t posted anywhere:
Today’s breakfast hack: Oatmeal in a Nutella Jar! (more photos of this delicious nutella oatmeal in a jar here)
Last night I attended a study group for my Integrative Nutrition program at Cafe du Soleil on Fillmore – for some reason I’ve never walked over that way, but it’s less than two miles from my house. I had a glass of mint tea with some steamed soy, and it seems like a nice place to meet a friend for a beer or a cup of coffee:
A Rocher from Tartine (meringue filled with cacao nibs) :
Veggie Delight sandwich from Dolores Park Cafe:
The San Francisco view from the top of Dolores Park:
Ritual Roasters:
and some coffee from Ritual:
Kermit Lynch, the wine aficionado came to visit us Omnivore Books:
This is about half of the corks from the free wine tasting! We had a lovely 2007 Meyer-FonneMuscat Katzenthal, and a bold Côtes du Rhône.
A Chicken and Chicken Pate Banh Mi from Bi-Rite:
Lisa Schwartz from Rainbeau Ridge Farm discussing her new book/cookbook about sustainable farming (over some snacks of some local bay area cheeses) :
As you can see I’ve been busy!
I’m also going to be posting some cookbook reviews over at the Good Taste Review, and I’ll keep you all posted.
More to come!!
by Sam Tackeff | Feb 13, 2010 | Beer, Ice Cream
A beer lovers dream? I think so! This week is San Francisco Beer Week, with hundreds of venues all over the bay area jumping in to join the fun. Beer dinners, tastings, get together’s, brew-nerd-fests, and wild and crazy parties abound. Nobody has been sitting around drinking crappy beer and feeling sorry for themselves – this is a celebration of the best of the best.
It was SF Beerweek and all I got was lousy t.shirt…wait…this…nevermind, ok, this amazing beer ice cream at Humphry Slocombe. Beer? Ice Cream? Actually, it’s a natural flavor combination. Even Ben and Jerry’s was on board a couple of years back with their Black and Tan. And why not create small batches of the highest quality ice cream using the highest quality beers and creams?
After testing six flavors, I ended up with this one: the Iron Springs Rye, with rye and caraway brittle mixed in. I’m a caraway seed junkie, so this tasting experience was a heavenly one. Another favorite was the Magnolia Four Winds beer ice cream. Frankly, I’m not sure why I haven’t been making beer ice cream myself. It’s possibly the most satisfying thing I’ve eaten in some time.
And hold on a second, why didn’t they make awesome t-shirts?? I’d tap that. Get it? Keg? Tap that? Ok, yeah, I know, fail.
Related fun:
:: Humphry Slocombe: Creative ice cream on 24th and Harrison in the Mission.
:: Beer and Nosh’s Beer Photography Show at Humphry Slocombe
:: The Designers behind SF Beerweek stylishness: Gamut.
