Lyle

Interest has been kindled in me about my relative ignorance of Indian cuisine by various posts in this forum. After countless dinners out, I grew tired of the limited variety and lack of adventure in the local Indian restaurants and promptly bought an Indian cookbook and borrowed two others. We had a few friends over (mostly to critique) and I decided to relate my virgin cooking experiament. I decided to start with basic dishes as when I make my mistakes I would like to be able to identify where they took place and know...somewhat...what the dish SHOULD look and taste like. I prepared Lamb braised in yoghurt with clove fennel cumin and tumeric. Eggplant roasted with onion and tomato. caulifower potato. and Naan. Eggplant: This dish was definately the best executed of all the dishes. It was lightly spiced and relayed the inherant goodness of its ingredients. Cauliflower and potato. The spicing was successful. I believe the recipe was from a Madhur Jaffrey cookbook. The potatoes were boiled and were firm. A quick dish, the easiest of all to prepare. Criticism: I cooked this dish in a wok because of 1)lack of room on the crowed range and 2) lack of enough pans large enough to contain this double-recipe quantity of ingredients. The caulifower was sufficiently crisp and tasty, but I did not achieve the carmalization on the outside that I was seeking. Next time I need to use much higher heat and if I am cooking in the same quantity probably cook in two batches. Naan: I got this recipe from the Food Network. It was a disaster for various reasons. Luckily I saw this coming and bought some pre-made naan (read pita bread ) that sufficed. There were several problems with the recipe and myself. The dough called for only one cup of flour to, I believe, 3/4 cup water and ghee. I realize that with flatbreads in general (I make various flatbreads all the time) you will usually uptick the flour by as much as 1/4 a cup, but this recipe needed at least 1/2 a cup more flour to make the dough even managable. The recipe also called for a 400 degree oven to be baked for 12 minutes . I thought it sounded a little off for my desired consistency and, with a dough this wet, it was. My first batch ended up like a cracker or wafer. The rest of the evening I used the same temperature for six minutes and achieved the desired chewiness but little to no color. The next time (tonight? I've got lots of leftovers) I will use a 500 + degree oven and vary the time until correct. Posibly further modify the recipe as well. Lamb and yoghurt: In my mind this was the most successful dish. The braising sauce consisting mostly of yoghurt and a little water was perfectly seasoned and divine. The lamb was the problem, but I knew it would be; my local (it really wasn't even THAT local) Indian grocer only had leg of lamb in his store, I of course wanted shoulder, doubly so after tasting the dry, somewhat crunchy meat. Nevertheless, I will definitely cook this dish again with a more suitable cut. Lessons learned. 1. Make Naan every night this week till I get it right. 2. Always use appropriate cuts of meat for various cooking techniques. 3. Not enough can be said for hot pans. 4. Use sufficient trepadation when tasting unknown ingredients. I had never had pure Asafoetida before and before adding it, surely I must taste it. About 1 1/2 teaspoons later, you can imagine my reaction. Any comments or suggestions are definately welcome as I am about as ignorant as they come. If anybody is interested in specific recipes, I can post them tonight or possibly tomorrow. Suvir: you had mentioned your sister lived in Dallas; Where does she shop for her indian staples? I had no problem with the location I went to, but one storefront is hardly a sufficient sample.

Saute quickly to soften and they make great additions to pasta. Soften the bite with some ricotta.

I like a little Ginger in my traditional, runny tomato based. I'd say one part each white wine vinegar, soy sauce, and tomato sauce. 3-4 parts tomato purre. Spike with brown sugar, worceshershire, garlic, celery seed, mustard,salt pepper, and ginger. Not nearly as sweet as most restaurants serve in Texas..I search for restaurant vinegar bases and collapse in vain. Edit: I forgot the heat! Red pepper or pepper vinegar sauce.

Spec's : retail liquor store :: Central Market : grocery store

"I cook it in a manner similar to that described by Ron, but I add some cornmeal to the flour - it's supposed to give it extra crunch." Wilfrid, doesn't the cornmeal add more than extra crunch? I guess what I'm getting at is does it make the crust a bit grainy? I would think it would, but I've never knowingly eaten chicken with cornmeal. I buttermilk it overnight, season, double dip flour, use vegetable shortning.

Gobhi Rai Aloo?

Suvir, aloo bengan is my favorite vegitarian indian dish. The heat and texture (at least in the versions I've tried) matches no other to be sopped up with roti. I am very curious how yours came out as I have once attempted to simulate this dish, without guidance, and was miserable. I did boil the potatoes and fry the eggplant, and the texture seemed about right. However, the spicing was all off. It is difficult to remember exactly what I used, but coriander, cumen, and cinnamon were involved. Perhaps I will try again this weekend.

As for those truffle chips at Delmonico's, that's a pity because they are delicious. As for the rest of the food at Delmonico's, it's a pity and a pretty penny as well.

Well that just about explains it. I have always wanted more and more clear stocks but never put in that much effort. Doubt if I ever will. I do, however, use the Shaw - whole chicken meathod- I actually lifted from my mother. It does truley make the best chicken salad I've ever had.

Egg shells, eh? What's the reasoning behind this? The science; how does it work? When sould one add the shells if so inclined?

In the future I will use wild elk if I ever manage to use it at all, but this time, since I have a large sample population for this experiament, I will be using the most tedious ordering process of Diamond Cut Ranch. "For example that fat content of the meat can vary depending on sex of time of the year." Of course I will sleep with any time of the year regardless of the sex, except December, of course, wich is neuter As for venison, I have, to my knowledge, only eaten wild and, from both doe and buck, never had a poor version. Only poor preparation. And instruction. And sobriety while hunting it. Thanks Adam!

caped chef - Thanks for the technique. Read many of your posts before and they are quite instructive. What are your observations about the inside color of a medium rare, or more likely, medium medallion of elk. For that matter, that of other NA athletic game like mule deer? Dana - Yes, I luckily have access to ground elk, and most game. Thank you. My brother is an avid hunter and, therefore, an avid gifter. I have never made nor used, however, the ground product. Question: if nobody could tell the difference between elk and ground beef, why use elk? Is it healthier? Fat Guy - I too had the opportunity to sample muskox in Colorodo this summer and failed to do so How would you describe the taste, texture, and experience (if you wrote abt it in Canada.com, pardon my sloth). I had great difficulty describing to my wife the taste of elk, none the texture. I had a hint of lamb swimming around somewhere in there, but my palate is probable permanately busted. Again i proffer that my recent sampling of elk was suspect at best. Adam - My true colours come through! Yes, I am in Texas. Fascinating. I had no idea about the deer/elk localism. Are European elk (moose) edible? I would, at least by sheer girth, somewhat liken them to a Bison...or at least a horse And please tell me all you can about the red deer.

Did you find the color as I had described, or were my examples poorly prepared? Were they even elk? shudder shudder gag

Hello all. I've decided to serve a tasting for a party of elk medallions in a cherry(?) port reduction. Having never cooked elk, honestly only tasting it a couple of times, and finding few resources...well, ya know. Would one roast the loin like beef? To what internal temp? The few times I've eaten elk, I remeber being aghast as I cut into it only to reveal a dark over-cooked steak grey brown. However, I had little compaint about the texture or moisture content. Is this just the nature of the beast, or was it poorly prepared? It must be said, however, it was always slathered in sauce so I've never tasted the pure naked version. What are your favorite methods of preparing, or favorite dishes of, elk? :