Spring Roundup of New Recipes

As I continue to keep track of recipes I'm cooking for the first time, it's clear that my list is a ringing endorsement for Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian, a cookbook that has completely changed the way I cook vegetables. Although I am one of those fortunate eaters who likes just about anything, I don't always find an all-vegetable meal satisfying. Most of the time, I have default method for particular veggies--I saute greens with olive oil and garlic, roast root vegetables, and put lettuce in salads, but doing the same thing all the time can get very boring. The fruit and vegetable boxes I'm getting from Eden Farms are full of summery vegetables, so it's great to have new ideas for ways to prepare them. Each of the chapters focus on a particular type of food (vegetables, grains, salads, and so on). Within each chapter, the recipes are organised by individual main ingredient, which makes it very easy to use. If you're in a position to buy a cookbook for a new or reluctant cook, I would recommend you buy this one.

Standout recipes from this season of meals include Dunkler Kirschkuchen (Spiced-Cherry Chocolate Cake) from Classic German Baking; Spice Cookies from Jerusalem (I've been making one batch a month since April); Mushroom and Kale Lasagna with Blue Cheese from Cooking with Shelburne Farms (the first time I've ever made lasagna--so good!); and Ayam Lada Hitam & Gajus from Malaysia, delicious and quick chicken and cashew stir-fry. To thank you for reading this long post, I've included the recipe below. Enjoy!

Jerusalem spice cookies. So good.

April 2021

•  Spice Cookies from Jerusalem
• Vietnamese Caramelized Ginger Chicken from A Bird in the Hand 
• Dunkler Kirschkuchen (Spiced-Cherry Chocolate Cake) from Classic German Baking
• Chicken with Dill and Leeks from A Bird in the Hand
• Smoked Chicken, Lentil, and Sauteed Jerusalem Artichoke Salad from A Bird in the Hand
• Shiu-Min Block's Broccoli stir-fried with ginger and garlic (chow chia lan) from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian  
• Stir-fried carrots with ginger and mustard seed (Gajar no sambharo) from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian  
• Punjabi-style cauliflower and potatoes with ginger from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian  
• Red lentils with courgette (vegetarian dalcha) from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian  
• Cheryl Rathkopf's Sri Lankan cashew curry (cadju curry) from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian   
• Mushroom and Kale Lasagna with Blue Cheese from Cooking with Shelburne Farms 

A spring rainbow

May 2021

• Androche Markidis's Lentils with Rice (Moudjendra) from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian 
• Cabbage Salad with Oregano (Curtido) from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian 
• Spicy hash brown potatoes from  Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian 
• Mushroom and potato stew from  Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian   
• Allegra Antinori's Tuscan courgette pie from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian   
• Ayam Lada Hitam & Gajus (stir-fried black pepper chicken with cashews) from Malaysia by Ping Coombes

Poppies

 June 2021

• Carrot and Feta Potato Cakes from The Hungry Student Vegetarian
• Couscous Fritters with Beetroot from The Hungry Student Vegetarian
• Sauteed Potatoes and Zucchini from Heartland
• Nigerian Red Bean Stew with a Peanut Sauce from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian 
• Marios Mourtezi's black-eyed beans with Swiss Chard from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian  
• Mak Ki Dal from Masala 

Stork at Langworth Wildlife Park

Ayam Lada Hitam & Gajus  

from Malaysia: recipies from a family kitchen by Ping Coombes

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken thights cut into 1cm strips
• 2 tsp oyster sauce, divided (plus more to taste)
  
•  60g raw or roasted cashews
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1-1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns, coarsely ground in a mortal and pestle
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped (plus more to taste)
• 1/2 tsp caster sugar
• large pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp water

Put the chicken, which you have cut into small pieces, in a bowl and coat with the oyster sauce. Set aside to marinate for at least twenty minutes. Overnight is fine too.

 

If you are using raw cashews: when ready to eat, preheat oven to 180C (160C in a fan oven, or 350F) and roast the nuts for 10-15 minutes. To ensure even roasting, give roasting tray a shake 1-2 times during this period. [Cashews, like most nuts, go from 'roasting nuts smell nice' to 'burnt trash' in a few short minutes, so be extra vigilant from the time you start to smell them. Another thing that helps is to avoid using the highest shelf in your oven.]

 

When cashews are done or almost ready, start cooking the chicken. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, and when it is shimmery, add in the ground peppercorns. Fry for about 30 seconds or until you can smell them (which ever comes first) and then tip in your marinated chicken and garlic.

Stir-fry the chicken, garlic, and peppercorns over high heat for a few minutes, until the chicken starts to look cooked on the outside. Add another dollop of oyster sauce if you like it (the original recipe has you marinated the chicken in 1tsp of oyster sauce and cook it with the other; I love it so I used a lot more, but you might want to stick to the recommended amount). Also add in the sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir to mix well and tip in your cashews.

Stir-fry until chicken is fully cooked (you can take a piece out and cut in half to check) and then add in your 2tbsp of water to deglaze the pan. Let most of the water boil away, making sure to keep turning the contents of the pan so they don't stick. 

Serve on a bed of lettuce or rice; Ping Coombes also suggest you could wrap this in iceberg lettuce leaves.

Makes 2 medium-sized servings