(white lentils)
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste
Boil the potatoes in water until they are cooked; peel and chop them into cubes.
Heat the oil in a heavy pan.
When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.
When the mustard seeds pop, add the chilies and urad dal (white lentils) and sauté until the white lentils turn golden brown, about 30 seconds.
Add the cooked potatoes.
Add the turmeric.
Salt to taste.
Mash and mix everything together.
Turn the heat down to low for 5 minutes.
Add the lime juice and sprinkle with thinly sliced cilantro.
Serve hot.
On the Shelf
Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey. This is a wonderful book for cooks of all ages and all stages. The recipes are delicious, and following the measurements precisely invariably produces happy results. As a cook who is always pressed for time and always on the lookout for things that can simplify my work in the kitchen, I appreciate that the book is organized by ingredient rather than by categories like “Breakfast,” “Lunch,” “Salads,” “Desserts,” and so forth. Look in the fridge and find an eggplant? The vegetable section is organized alphabetically; turn to the section describing eggplant recipes, with the dishes organized by their nation of origin. You will find appetizers, entrées, and maybe even a dessert. There is a strong preponderance of recipes from the Indian Subcontinent, which is the food I grew up with and love the most.
IN THE TRENCHES
Adam Bonin is a thirty-eight-year-old lawyer who lives in Philadelphia. He has two daughters, aged eight and three. His wife is Jennifer Weiner, the author of, among other books, In Her Shoes.
When I started dating Jen, I decided that I wanted to learn to cook. It was something I felt was important to do in a relationship, and to challenge myself, in a way.
Once, we were in a Williams-Sonoma store and I was thumbing through books. I came across the Cook’s Illustrated book The Best Recipe. The way they described things fascinated me. They wanted to figure out how to make scrambled eggs, and so they tried thirty-six different ways. Is it best to mix the eggs with whole milk? Do we mix them with skim milk? Do we mix them with half-and-half? Do we use no milk at all? Do we use a hot pan? Do we use a cold pan? Their process appealed to the nerd in me.
It was a very interesting way to get into cooking, because it helped me understand the science of what was going on. So I grabbed the book, took it home, and just kept trying different recipes. I started off with relatively simple things, like pan searing and basic roasting, and I’ve kept ramping it up. I wanted to impress Jen. I thought it would be really cool if for special occasions, or even for ordinary occasions, I could whip up something that was restaurant quality.
A lot of my interest is in the process. Take, for example, under-standing the importance of butter and salt. My mom, for whatever reason, is very adamant about the point. “I never cooked with salt. I never used salt,” she would say. I had to learn as I cooked that salt is actually really important. You just have to know how to use it. If you want things to taste right, you need salt.
I cook about three or four nights a week. My wife also cooks, of course. She can roast a chicken like nobody’s business. She is great. But there’s a whole array of stuff that I have since learned how to do. One night about ten years ago, we were snowed in, and we had friends over. This was when Iron Chef was really starting to take off. I said, “Jen, go to the local gourmet market in our neighborhood. Bring me back something to cook, and I will figure it out.” She brought back a duck. I had never cooked a duck before. I started scrambling around, poking around online for recipes and just seeing what we still had in the pantry. I ended up doing some kind of orange glaze that did not work out well. And it
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste
Boil the potatoes in water until they are cooked; peel and chop them into cubes.
Heat the oil in a heavy pan.
When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.
When the mustard seeds pop, add the chilies and urad dal (white lentils) and sauté until the white lentils turn golden brown, about 30 seconds.
Add the cooked potatoes.
Add the turmeric.
Salt to taste.
Mash and mix everything together.
Turn the heat down to low for 5 minutes.
Add the lime juice and sprinkle with thinly sliced cilantro.
Serve hot.
On the Shelf
Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey. This is a wonderful book for cooks of all ages and all stages. The recipes are delicious, and following the measurements precisely invariably produces happy results. As a cook who is always pressed for time and always on the lookout for things that can simplify my work in the kitchen, I appreciate that the book is organized by ingredient rather than by categories like “Breakfast,” “Lunch,” “Salads,” “Desserts,” and so forth. Look in the fridge and find an eggplant? The vegetable section is organized alphabetically; turn to the section describing eggplant recipes, with the dishes organized by their nation of origin. You will find appetizers, entrées, and maybe even a dessert. There is a strong preponderance of recipes from the Indian Subcontinent, which is the food I grew up with and love the most.
IN THE TRENCHES
Adam Bonin is a thirty-eight-year-old lawyer who lives in Philadelphia. He has two daughters, aged eight and three. His wife is Jennifer Weiner, the author of, among other books, In Her Shoes.
When I started dating Jen, I decided that I wanted to learn to cook. It was something I felt was important to do in a relationship, and to challenge myself, in a way.
Once, we were in a Williams-Sonoma store and I was thumbing through books. I came across the Cook’s Illustrated book The Best Recipe. The way they described things fascinated me. They wanted to figure out how to make scrambled eggs, and so they tried thirty-six different ways. Is it best to mix the eggs with whole milk? Do we mix them with skim milk? Do we mix them with half-and-half? Do we use no milk at all? Do we use a hot pan? Do we use a cold pan? Their process appealed to the nerd in me.
It was a very interesting way to get into cooking, because it helped me understand the science of what was going on. So I grabbed the book, took it home, and just kept trying different recipes. I started off with relatively simple things, like pan searing and basic roasting, and I’ve kept ramping it up. I wanted to impress Jen. I thought it would be really cool if for special occasions, or even for ordinary occasions, I could whip up something that was restaurant quality.
A lot of my interest is in the process. Take, for example, under-standing the importance of butter and salt. My mom, for whatever reason, is very adamant about the point. “I never cooked with salt. I never used salt,” she would say. I had to learn as I cooked that salt is actually really important. You just have to know how to use it. If you want things to taste right, you need salt.
I cook about three or four nights a week. My wife also cooks, of course. She can roast a chicken like nobody’s business. She is great. But there’s a whole array of stuff that I have since learned how to do. One night about ten years ago, we were snowed in, and we had friends over. This was when Iron Chef was really starting to take off. I said, “Jen, go to the local gourmet market in our neighborhood. Bring me back something to cook, and I will figure it out.” She brought back a duck. I had never cooked a duck before. I started scrambling around, poking around online for recipes and just seeing what we still had in the pantry. I ended up doing some kind of orange glaze that did not work out well. And it
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