Gobi Manchurian: Cauliflower as Decadent Street Food

This recipe comes from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," and I highly recommend "How to Cook Everything" for the basics of cooking. Gobi Manchurian is a popular street food in Calcutta's Chinatown, blending Indian and Chinese cuisine. Even if you insist you don't like cauliflower, you gotta try it. It's sweet and spicy, with a crispy batter not unlike western "Chinese" food staples such as lemon chicken (but this is much better).

Most of what I'll be sharing on this blog is at least partially seasonal. The cauliflower came in our CSA farm share box, grown in Freedom, Ca. (Santa Cruz County).

Okay, so here's what you'll need to gather:

• Grapeseed, corn, or other neutral oil for deep frying
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large (or 2 small) heads of cauliflower, cored, trimmed, separated into florets
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup ketchup (use good quality organic ketchup -- this is important)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or paprika, if you prefer a milder taste)

And here's how you make it:

1. Heat at least 2 inches of oil in a deep pan (I use a wok) and turn temperature to medium-high (350 degrees, give or take)
2. Beat eggs with corn starch until blended; add salt and pepper; stir in cauliflower florets until they are evenly coated.
3. Fry cauliflower until florets are a golden color, with some brown mottling (maybe 5 minutes or so), and transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry in small enough batches to prevent crowding in the pan.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a large pan and add the  garlic, cooking it for a couple of minutes; add ketchup and stir for about 5 minutes, until sauce thickens and begins to caramelize at the edges; add cayenne (or paprika) and then toss fried florets in with the sauce, mix until coated evenly, and serve. 

You can serve this with rice, something green and light (like a salad or steamed broccoli) to counterbalance the heaviness of this dish, and a protein of some kind. Or, you can eat it Calcutta-style, with toothpicks. Enjoy!

-Steve

Welcome to My Blog: Let's Get Things Started with a Perfectly Roasted Chicken

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Obviously there's not much to look at just yet since this is the very first post; and really, do we need yet another food blog? I'll let you decide. This blog will cover gardening, cooking, and eating in general. I'll share my triumphs (and failures) both in the garden and in the kitchen. Most of what I do in the kitchen these days is intended to satisfy the whole family, which includes my wife and two young kids (3 and 7).

Everyone's gotta eat, so let's have some fun with it.

First, Some Background

I began writing about gardening and vegetarian cooking through my Veggie Dad Cooks blog several years ago but abandoned it once I started writing multiple blogs a day for my job. Now that I'm no longer burned out at the end of the day, I decided to reboot the blog. We're no longer a vegetarian family but I have eliminated wheat/gluten from my diet (except for beer -- because life's too short).

We subscribe to a CSA farm share and also grow some of our own veggies, so get ready to learn about some not-so-common veggies and what to do with them. While I used to cook elaborate Thai and Indian dishes, I simply don't have much time for that these days. And besides, the main goal is to keep everyone (i.e. fussy kids) happy while getting dinner on the table quickly after getting home from work. 

So let's get started.

Thomas Keller's Very Simple (and Very Delicious) Roasted Chicken Recipe

This is the absolute best roasted chicken recipe I have ever tried. It's extremely simple and doesn't involve basting whatsoever. It's at Epicurious and was the winning recipe from Buzzfeed's Ultimate Roast Chicken Tournament, so I'm just the messenger. 

The great thing about roast chicken is that it's versatile and inexpensive -- and we always buy organic, free range chickens. We'll have roast chicken with veggies the first night, and then perhaps chicken tacos, chicken fried rice, egg drop soup, chicken salad, or any number of simple follow-up dinners (I'll share some ideas for roast chicken in a future post).

Ingredients:

• 1 whole, organic, free-range chicken
• Paper towels (this is important)
• Kosher salt
• Cooking twine (about 3 feet in length)

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 450 F.
• Using paper towels (I usually rip several sheets in advance and place some on the counter, underneath the bird), dry the chicken completely, both inside and out. Steam is your worst enemy, causing the flesh of the chicken to dry out but leaving the skin rubbery. 
• Liberally sprinkle kosher salt and pepper inside the bird's cavity.
• Truss the bird with the cooking twine, making sure the cavity is closed as much as possible.
• Liberally sprinkle kosher salt all over the outside of the bird, making sure to rub it into tight spots (I usually "make it rain" in order to get adequate coverage) -- about 1-2 Tablespoons.
• Place bird on a roasting pan in the middle of the oven and leave it alone for about one hour. Feel free to check on it before then (cooking time will depend on the size of the bird), but DO NOT baste your chicken! This will result in steam and will undermine the recipe.
• When it's done, a meat thermometer placed in the thickest part of the thigh should read 165 F.
• Let the chicken rest for about 15 minutes on a pan or plate, at which point you may baste it with butter and/or juices from the roasting pan.

You'll be surprised how delicious and juicy this is (with perfectly crisp skin), and wonder why you wasted so much time prepping and basting your chicken before. 

Until next time, enjoy!

-Steve