ARISTASIA FORUMS

I would love to hear what everyone has been cooking lately. This is my most recent culinary triumph. It doesn't take much cooking skill, but it is a little fussy.

Winter Sun Chai

For each pot, you will need:
5 whole green cardamom pods, crushed
5 whole cloves, crushed
3 whole black peppercorns, crushed
1 inch of a cinnamon stick, crushed
1 star anise pod, crushed
1/2 inch cube of dried or crystallized ginger, chopped
1/8 whole vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise to expose the seeds

and 1 Tbsp of either:

loose leaf rooibos (redbush) tea,
or
loose leaf Assam

Combine the ingredients and brew as loose leaf tea (I have bad luck with strainers, so I use little drawstring muslin bags). If you use redbush, as I do, you may crush the spices only lightly, add truly boiling water, and steep the chai for a long time as there are no tannins. This will make a naturally caffeine free drink and allow you to brew a second pot from the same batch. If you use Assam, you must crush the spices much more finely, as you will not want to steep the tea for more than a couple minutes.

Please do share your recipes!

Hooray! I have oodles of recipes I'd love to share. I'll start with this one.

Yóutiáo (油條)

Ingredients:
2 and ¼ cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon yeast

1. Mix salt and flour.
2. In a separate bowl, mix water, oil, sugar, baking powder, and yeast.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients.
4. Knead well, then cover with a wet cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for two hours. (Dough should double in size.)
5. Knead well again.
6. Roll out to about 1/5 inch thickness.
7. Cut into strips about 3/4 inch wide and 6 inches long. (The dough is springy, so I find it easier to cut with a pizza cutter rather than a knife.)
8. Brush one strip with water on top. Place another strip on top, then press them together with a chopstick.
9. Heat oil for frying. (This works best in a wok, but you can use a frying pan or deep fryer too.)
10. Fry until golden brown, about five minutes.
11. Drain. Salt lightly if you like. (I don't.)
12. Eat while hot. Serve with soy milk (豆漿, dòujiāng).

Here's another recipe for Chinese breakfast.
These must both seem dreffly unhealthy because they are fried, but Mr. Alton Brown proved on its show that when one fries things oneself at home, the food actually retains very little of the oil.

Cōng Yóu Bĭng(蔥油餅)

Pancake Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1. Whisk sauce ingredients together. Chill while you make the pancakes.
2. Mix flour, salt, and pepper.
3. Mix 1 tablespoon of canola oil with boiling water.
4. Pour in flour mixture while stirring. Stir until dough forms.
5. Knead until well-mixed, about five minutes.
6. Roll into a ball, cover, and let rest for thirty minutes.
7. Roll dough into a rectangular oval about 1/8 inch thick.
8. Brush with sesame oil and sprinkle with scallions.
9. Roll tightly.
10. Cut into four equal pieces.
11. Flatten and twist each piece several times, then form into a ball.
12. Flatten the ball again, about six or seven inches across.
13. Heat remaining canola oil and fry each pancake until golden and crisp.
14. Drain.
15. Serve with dipping sauce.

This is more of a summer dish, but it's my favorite to make, I'm sorry if the quantities aren't exact I usually just eyeball it. My dear mama taught me this recipe, and it's simple and wonderfully tasty.

Summer Pasta
Makes enough for six people or so.

1 large box of pasta (i like zitti, or bowties for this dish)
2 large tomatoes (or 2 cups cherry tomatoes)
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 or 2 cloves garlic
Sea salt to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
1 container of fresh mozzarella balls

1. Put on the water to boil, you'll need a lot so this will give you plenty of time to do the prep work, make sure to add a little salt to the water, when it boils dump the pasta in and stir occasionally as per the cooking instructions on the pasta (I prefer it al dente myself), drain when finished cooking.
2. Cut the tomatoes into large (say 1/2 inch) chunks, or cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
3. Mince the basil
4. cut the mozzarella balls into halves (use somewhere between half the container and a whole container, depending on how much cheese you like.
5. Combine basil, mozzarella and tomatoes in large serving bowl, if pasta's ready pour over them
6. Peel the garlic cloves and cut them into regular slices. Generously coat the bottom of a frying pan in olive oil (make sure there's enough to coat the amount of pasta you're making) and lightly fry the slices (taking care not to burn them or they'll get bitter.
7. Pour the oil and garlic cloves over the pasta mixture and mix throughly with serving utensils to make sure cheese, basil, garlic, and tomatoes are evenly distributed. The hot oil should melt the cheese and bring out the flavor of the basil. Season with sea salt to taste.

It's especially good served with fresh crusty bread to soak up the lovely garlic-y olive oil from the plate. It can also be served cold for a summery picnic dish.

Recipe here

I made this recipe for Lamb Braised in Milk with Fennel last night. I didn't use Farro but brown rice instead to which I added raisins for sweetness, salt, pepper and a dash of crushed red pepper for warmth. It was easy enough to make, you just need to start a couple of hours beforehand. And, oh my dears, it was heavenly! Simply heavenly.

Rayati,
Miss Daffodil

Here's another good one- Moqueca or Brazilian Fish Stew.



Recipe here

I've made this twice now and it's so tasty! It prepares easily in under 35 minutes. I skipped the rice and opted to serve it with 'crusty bread'- toasted thick slices.



Rayati,
Miss Daffodil