Yogadad World

When I started thinking about tonight's dinner, I leafed through a few cookbooks and found one that appealed to me in Jacques Pepin's Fast Food My Way. The main course was boneless chicken breasts with a side dish made with corn and peas. I jotted down the ingredients I needed and headed to the market.

My first stop was Lansing's new City Market. It opened just after the new year, but the grand opening was held this past weekend. It was a zoo. All of the nearby parking lots were full and the building was claustrophobic. Still I had to get my chicken breasts and this was the place to get high quality meat at reasonable prices. I stopped at Otto's and got the breasts, then went in search of shallots and mushrooms and wondering if I could find frozen corn and peas there.

On the way, I got a loaf of fresh bread and figured I'd see what was available at the fish market. One look at the case and I changed my mind about Sunday's dinner. He had the best looking tuna I've seen in a long time. Red, juicy, and fresh. So I asked him for two 6 or 7 oz slices. They came out closer to 8 oz each but who cares? Since they were on sale because of the grand opening, I had a couple of luscious tuna steaks for under $10.00. All that remained was finding a decent recipe.

At first I thought about grilling them. It's very nearly grilling season here in central Michigan (but then, isn't every season grilling season?) and there's nothing quite as good as high-quality tuna off the grill. But it's been a wet weekend and standing in a cold drizzle wasn't very appealing.

So I pulled one of my favorite fish cookbooks, Fish Without a Doubt by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore, off the shelf and had a look. I found a few tuna recipes but it was this one that called to me. It was the mango - jerk seasoning that did it for me. A spicy dish, cooled by the mango sauce sounded just about perfect.

The jerk seasoning I used comes from World Market, a chain of stores with an outlet not too far away. After going with the amounts in the recipe, I would definitely add more next time, probably doubling the amount on each piece of fish. There just wasn't enough contrast with the mango sauce.

I'd also cook the fish just a little bit longer. I'm a big fan of eating tuna rare, and you can see that these are quite rare. But they were too cool at the center and a little more heat would have been good.

The mango sauce was great, and we had a side dish of jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk, with grated carrots. Cooking rice in coconut milk is always a treat. Add in one of my favorite vegetables and you have a great side dish.

A little more spice from the jerk seasoning on the tuna, and it would have gone from a very good dinner to an exceptional one.

Ingredients
For the Mango Sauce
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted & chopped
1 1-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1/3 c orange juice
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 Tb fresh lemon juice

4 6-oz pieces of tuna, about 1/2 in thick
Coarse salt
4 tsp vegetable oi
4 tsp jerk seasoning

For the mango sauce, combine all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Taste the sauce. It should be tangy. If you need to, add a bit more lemon juice. This makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Season the tuna with salt and rub each piece with 1 tsp of the oil. Rub 1/2 tsp of the jerk seasoning into each side of each piece.

Heat your grill or stove-top griddle. Grill the tuna for 2 minutes for medium-rare. If heating on a grill pan, heat over medium high heat and grill the tuna for 1 1/2 mins on each side.

To serve, spoon the mango sauce onto dinner plates. Slice the tuna and fan the slices over the sauce.

It's another pizza Saturday night. Shannon was off at Michigan HIstory Day so I was on my own planning dinner for tonight. Figuring that she'd be hungry when she got home, I thought that something quick, filling, and tasty would be the best choice. Pizza seemed to fit the bill.

Earlier this week I was in Chicago for a conference and one night I went out with pizza with some wild and crazy Canadians from Vancouver. We hit Lou Malnati's on North Wells in the River North neighborhood. It was a little hike from the hotel but good after a long day of sitting. The pizza there is excellent. I shared a "Lou" special with Anita. It was deep dish with spinach, tomatoes and mozzarella, romano, and cheddar cheese. A better pizza is hard to find. Unless you make it yourself.

Tonight's pie was vegetarian. I began with the best pizza dough recipe ever. I've written about it before and once again the dough was fantastic. This time, I did not split the dough as Lahey recommends in his book. Instead I rolled out the entire recipe into one pan. I think the pizza is better with a bit more dough. It's chewier but still crisp, not at all spongy. If you like crispy crust, this will still work for you. I left it in the oven until the edges were golder brown, which left the center still well down but with enough air in the dough to give it some lift. As I said, I love this recipe.

The recipe I used also came from Lahey's book. But I embellished a bit. Instead of laying the zucchini/cheese mixture right on the dough, I layered on a little bit of pesto. And on top of the zucchini, I added a few kalamata olives. Once plated, I sprinkled on a little parmesan and red pepper flakes.

Definitely up to Lou's standards.

We had a good Davinci chianti with the pizza. The wine nicely complemented the pizza.

Ingredients
Pizza dough
3 3/4 c (300 grams) Bread or all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp (10 grams) Instant or active dry yeast
3/4 tsp (5 grams) table salt
3/4 tsp plus a pinch (3 grams) sugar
1 1/2 c (300 grams) room temp water (about 72 degrees)
extra virgin olive oil for pan

Toppings
2 1/2 lbs zucchini, grated
1 1/2 tsp table salt
2 c Gruyere or high-quality Swiss cheese
2 1/2 Tb Homemade bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with a rack in the center.

Use a food processor or box grater to grate the zucchini. In a medium bowl, toss together the zucchini and salt. Let stand for 15 - 20 minutes, until the zucchini has wilted and released its water.

Drain the zucchini in a colander, then squeeze out as much water as possible. In a medium bowl, toss together the zucchini and cheese, breaking up any clumps of zucchini, until well mixed.

Spread the zucchini mixture over the dough, going all the way to the edges of the pan; put a bit more of the topping around the edges of the pie, as the outside tends to cook and brown more quickly. Sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until the topping is starting to turn golden brown and the crust is pulling awy from the sides of the pan. Serve the pizza hot or at room temperature.

I hadn't used my pressure cooker since the last time I canned jalapeno peppers and salsa. Until this evening. I hadn't really tried to cook with it so was feeling a little skittish. After putting the lentils & water into the cooker and bringing the water to a boil, 35 minutes later I had very tender legumes. Mixed in the spices, tomato, & cilantro and had a very tasty dish.

Ingredients
1 cup whole green lentils
2 Tbl Ghee or canola oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
1 large tomato, cored & finely chopped
1/4 c finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves & tender stems
1 1/2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt
1 tsp ground Deggi chiles (or 1/2 tsp cayenne mixed with 1/2 tsp sweet paprika)
1 tsp Toasted Cumin-Coriander Blend
1 tsp ground tumeric

Place the lentils in a pressure cooker. Fill the cooker halfway with water, and rinse the lentils by rubbing them between your finertips. The water may appear slightly dirty. Drain this water. Repeat 3 or 4 times, until the water remains relatively clear. Add 3 c water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over high heat. Sim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface. Seal the cooker shut and allow the pressure to build up. When the cooker reaches full pressure, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and allow the pressure to subside naturally, about 15 minutes, before opening the lid.

Meanwhile, heata medium-size skillet over medium-high heat and pour in the ghee. Add the cumin seeds and cook until they sizzle, turn reddish borwn, and are aromoatic, 5 - 10 secs. Add the onion and stir-fry until it is light brown around the edges, 3 - 5 minutes.

Add the tomato, cilatnro, salt, ground chiles, cumin-coriander blend, and turmeric. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomato breaks down to a saucy consistency and some of the ghee starts to separate on the surface, 5 - 8 mins. Set the skillet aside until the lentils are cooked.

When the lentils are ready, add the sauce. Pour 1/2 c water into the skillet and degalze it, releasing any browned bits; pour this into the lentils. Stir once or twice, and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the lentils from sticking, until the flavors permeate the legumes, 8 - 10 minutes. Then serve.