Roasted Eggplant with Saffron Yogurt

Here's another Ottolenghi. This was the first I tried and I was very impressed. It has the tartness of the eggplant, the brightness from the pomegranate seeds, the creamy yogurt, freshness from the basil, and the earthy pine nuts. I'd never tried anything with a yogurt dressing and it's great.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

a small pinch of saffron threads (thanks, Alice, for the Zanzibari saffron!!)

3 tbsp hot water

3/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil

coarse sea salt

3 medium eggplants, cut into 3/4" slices

olive oil for brushing

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

Marinated Lamb with Cilantro and Honey

Wow. This marinade is incredible. I wanted to just drink it. It involved almost everything you have in your kitchen and ends up costing a fare amount in herbs, but the end result warrants the effort. It's meant for rack of lamb, but my butcher was out so I used lamb chops. Still delicious! I wish I'd saved the extra marinade to marinate everything else.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 lb rack of lamb, French trimmed (or several lamb chops)

2/3 oz flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stalks

1 oz cilantro, leaves and stalks

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 oz fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

3 chilis, seeded

1/2 tsp salt

3 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup canola oil or sunflower oil

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

4 tbsp water

Ottolenghi Cookbook

Another wonderful Christmas present cookbook (thank you, Jamie!) was Ottolenghi. Last week I got very excited about it and made several recipes. They were so tasty and unique with a variety of flavors and textures in each dish. Some of them require some obscure ingredients, but well worth it. The recipes would make impressive dinner party dishes. Recipes coming this week!

A special Ottoloenghi dinner for Jamie

New Pie Book

Isn't that the most beautiful pie? It's from my new cookbook, Four and Twenty Blackbirds - thanks Palmer and Austen! This particular pie was salt pork apple pie. It was really tasty, but it's an odd one and I think it would have actually been better sans pork. I can't wait to make another pie from the book, though, because the crust was so, so flaky and buttery and crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and there are so many great looking recipes and helpful tips.

Fluffy Hummus

This was the lightest, fluffiest hummus I've ever made, and possibly ever had. The caveat is that it's a pain in the butt to get it that way. I read that if you peel the chickpeas (that's right, each and every individual canned chickpea) the consistency would be dramatically lighter. Somewhat unfortunately, that is exactly right. I stood in my kitchen for about 15 minutes popping the little translucent skins off the chickpeas and it was not fun. Would have been better to do it in front of the TV or something. Then I made the hummus, half hoping it would be the same so I'd never have to do it again, and half hoping it would be cloudlike and fluffy to justify my labor. It was the latter. Not sure this will be my moda operandi for casual hummus making, but maybe if I plan ahead. I'd also like to try it with the food mill since it works to get the skin off tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
1 garlic clove
juice of half a lemon
big pinch of cayenne pepper
big pinch of cumin
a few tbsp of water
a few tbsp of olive oil
salt to taste

Colonie

Jamie and I had a fabulous dinner at Colonie last night, courtesy of our wonderful friend Jamie Burgess (thank you!!). It's a really cute spot, dimly lit with plants, an open kitchen, and a friendly staff. If anyone is looking for a great restaurant in Brooklyn Heights, this is a perfect choice. The grapefruit chili margarita is an excellent cocktail choice.

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

So my slow cooker is my new toy, hence the multiple slow cooker posts this week. This soup is super easy, tasty, and healthy. I've frozen it in individual lunch size servings so I can just pop it in the microwave at work. It made five individual servings. (Got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium size red onions, chopped
1 medium size red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium size green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp ground cumin
1 16-oz package dried black beans
1 tbsp chopped chipotle chiles, from a can
7 cups hot water
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Slow Cooker Dal Makhani

When we were in India, Jamie and I fell in love with dal makhani. It's a black lentil dish that's rich and creamy and perfect when sopped up with fresh garlic naan. When I got the new slow cooker, I did some googling and found a recipe for dal makhani using a slow cooker. It's a time commitment, but not labor intensive. You just need to start the night before you want to eat, and you need to have a lot of spices. The ingredient list pretty intimidating. (If you don't have all this stuff and live in New York, go to Kalustyan's - they have EVERYTHING. You can also order online.) I served this with some vegetable jalfrezi and chicken tikka with raita, mint-cilantro chutney, and naan. I can't wait for dinner tonight to eat the leftovers.

Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 cup urad saboot (whole, unskinned black lentils)
1/2 cup red kidney beans
2 tbsp chana dal
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter), if you don't have any, you can just use butter and skim off the milk solids form the top
1 1/2 tsp salt (more to taste)
4 cups water
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
1 tsp cumin

Mustard-Crusted Pork Tenderloin

I got three wonderful cookbooks from my brother-in-law, Austen, this year (it's a tradition now) one being Pickles, Pigs, & Whiskey. Even though I was on vacation in Florida last week, I couldn't resist trying one of the recipes immediately - the Mustard-Crusted Pork Loin. Yum! It was so flavorful, and the mustard mixture that you rub on the pork is my new favorite condiment. I want to put it on hot dogs and sausages, and it would be fabulous for pigs in a blanket at a party. This makes a lot and we were eating it for days, so it would be a good dinner party main course. I served it with more couscous-style cauliflower (just switching up the seasonings a bit).

Serves 6 (recipe says 4, but I think it's more like 6)
Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup grainy mustard
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp plus 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup grated shallots
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
3 cups panko breadcrumbs
5 tbsp clarified unsalted butter
3 tbsp chicken stock
1/4 cup apple cider
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Happy New Year!!