Found this beautiful image on Flickr, by Darvin Atkeson. A new dusting of snow, the fog creeping through the trees, Yosemite embraces transition into winter.This is my favorite time of year - not autumn anymore, not quite winter. The new weather invites brisk hikes and warm curries.
A recent purchase: Camellia Panjabi's "50 Great Curries of India", with a CD showing the markets of India, the cooking process, and her suggestions for adapting the regional cuisine of northern India to western palates. Much simpler than the more complex processes I've come to associate with south Indian food. Both approaches are impacted by Ayurvedic teachings and approaches; Panjabi offers a concise review - the sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent, and pungent.
Ayurvedic menus focus on a balance of these tastes, all of which have impact on the body. She says that the best Indian food cannot be found in restaurants. It is prepared in the home. However, street food in India is some of the best in the world, served on dried leaves. I noticed this woman working with a bundle of leaves and wondered if she spent her day making leaf bowls. It inspired me to dry a few Laurel leaves from the tree in our backyard.
I shapied them into a vessel, and filled them with fried paneer.
This week I made two types of cheese using only one gallon of whole milk - a walnut/cranberry ball, and paneer.
This paneer was fried. I'll make Palak Paneer with kale, and a black olive sauce.
Chopped vegetables for soup, using the last of our garden beans.
Heating up: chorizo-vegetable soup. Thickened, it became a curry.
Greek Pita bread, seasoned with za'attar. Wonderfully chewy.I partnered kale (still growing) with spinach noodles for a casserole. Carrots, cabbage, potatoes, beans, onion, leeks, and garlic are simmered with the kale, a smoked ham hock, and the whey left-over from cheese-making. Eventually the broth thickens, making its own sauce for the casserole.
The cooked noodles and vegetables are poured into a casserole dish, topped with cheddar and mozzarella, and baked for 30 minutes. (Click on the photo, and you can see the detaiI.) I served this with tomato-huckleberry chutney, and yogurt.And lastly, Sarah's beautiful eggs, which are so precious I had to take a photo of them, using the dim winter light in my kitchen.
Sure awakens a never-ending, wistful yearning to live out in the country.
