nihaar's notepad on technology, food, sf and… well, life
Food
Top things to eat in San Francisco
A few weeks ago, as we were devouring the pistachioed meatballs at Zare at Fly Trap based on a recommendation from 7×7′s Big Eat 2012 list, ML and I decided to come up with our own list of what we’ve experienced as our favorite foods in San Francisco and where to find them. This list [...]
Ham & Gruyere Quiche With Pesto Salad
Quiche au gruyere is not something I have made in the past, however ML’s mom does make it pretty often. In the mood for something resembling her mom’s cooking, ML decided we make some quiche the other day. We came across this recipe that was not only fast, but also fantastically delicious. I highly recommend [...]
Pan Seared Trout With Asparagus
In the mood for seafood, ML and I head down to the local Real Foods and picked up two whole trout. This is a simple, delicious recipe that takes little time. Serves 2 Rinse two whole trout well under cold water. Pat dry and season one side liberally with salt and pepper. Heat about 2 [...]
Pumkpin Pie
This recipe was shared with me by my aunt on Thanksgiving this year. It’s a bit laborious given that it calls for making the pumpkin puree and not using canned pumpkins (or as ML often calls them, ‘pämp-kiNG‘). But, I feel its worth it as the pie tastes a lot more fresh and “light”. Pumpkin [...]
Pimientos de Padron
We’re in the midst of summer here in San Francisco. Days are sunny and hot, and evenings can be just as warm and very clear. Today ML and I took our dog, Sophia, down to the farmers market at the Ferry building for a walk. There we stumbled across the Happy Quail Farms pepper stand [...]
Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Gouda, Bacon and White Truffle Oil
Last night, ML and I set out to make mac ‘n’ cheese incorporating our new found love for truffle oil. What came out was not your regular Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese dinner but an adult take on the classic kid-friendly american dish that was impossible to put down. Serves 2: Preheat the oven to 400 [...]
Piquant Seafood Paella With Chorizo, Shrimp, Mussels and Calamari
In an attempt to cook more seafood, ML and I have come up with a list of dishes we love and want to make and will slowly work down that list (more to come on this later). Our first dish was a paella of course. It is said that paella originated in the farms as a [...]
Strawberries, Goat Cheese & Summer
As summer approaches, here’s a light salad recipethat as refreshing as it is nutritious: Spinach, Strawberries & Goat Cheese salad. Serves 2. Add 3 oz. of baby spinach leaves (or 2/3 of a 5 oz. bag) to a large bowl. Slice 3-4 fresh strawberries and coarsely crush a handful of walnuts and toss into the [...]
Mushrooms & Mattar (North Indian Mushrooms & Peas)
Heat up some vegetable or canola oil in a large 12″ skillet. Add a teaspoon of whole cumin seeds until just brown. Add half of a medium sliced red onion, 3-4 crushed garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of crushed/chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, and 2-3 bay leaves. Mix the onions well on [...]
Chicken Curry – Like Your Mom Used To Make
A while back I had posted a recipe for Indian chicken curry but realized that I was missing a key step in the process. The step thats required before you cook the chicken in the spices is to create a strong concentrate of spices, tomato sauce, onions, garlic and ginger (see the second image above) [...]
A Classic: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Here’s a recipe ML has made time and again and is a classic. Always great each time. You can freeze the meatball sauce and use it later for sandwiches as well. Ingredients For the meatballs: 1/2 pound ground veal 1/2 pound ground pork 1 pound ground beef 1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, [...]
Salmon Kasha
This is a hearty & healthy recipe from Eastern Europe I learned from a good family friend, Julia. According to wikipedia, Kasha is a cereal commonly eaten in Eastern Europe. In English, kasha generally refers to buckwheat groats, but in Slavic countries, kasha refers to porridge in general and can be made from any cereal, especially buckwheat, wheat, barley, oats, and rye. At least a thousand years [...]
Lamb & Feta Empanadas With Mint Chutney
I’ve posted an empanadas recipe on this blog before which was largely based on a class I took in Argentina. Here is a variation of that recipe that uses lamb (thanks to ML for coming up with this as it’s brilliant): The Filling In a large skillet, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil. Add [...]
Colombian hot dogs…all that and a bag of chips
I first encountered these hot dogs in Bucaramanga after ML took me to the nearest hot dog vendor in town. After asking for a regular hot dog, my eyes popped out of my sockets when I saw what came out of the back. You could barely make out the footlong hot dog popping out on [...]
Mmm.. Mackerel
Making my first trip to the farmers market by Grand Army Plaza this year, I picked up some fresh mackerel from the fish stand. Mackerel is the type of fish you want to get as fresh as possible since it has a poor shelf life. Now I usually cook this very flavorful fish in a [...]
Making empanadas
Inspired by the recent empanadas class, we set out to create our own empanadas. I use the word we very loosely in this context as it was really ML doing all the cooking and me hovering around the kitchen. Surprisingly we remembered most of the recipe (had to look up a few minor things) and [...]
Need to try: The Hacker Dish (Makhlouta)
INGREDIENTS: This quantity will serve up to 6 4 oz red kidney beans (about 1 cup) 4 oz large white beans (1 cup) 4 oz garbanzo beans (chick-peas)(1 cup) 4 oz lentils, preferably brown (green OK)(1 cup) 4 oz bulgur (needs to be thick bulgur-can substitute another whole-grain)(1 cup) 4 oz wheat berries (optional) 2 [...]
Why exactly is fructose bad?
A long (1:30 hours) video on precisely why fructose (sucrose & high fructose corn syrup) are a poison (almost equivalent to ethanol when broken down in the liver) and worth every minute of it. I’ve read and heard a decent amount on how high fructose corn syrup is bad but this video breaks down the [...]
Spinach (saag) & Chicken
I’ve been on a bit of an Indian cooking spree lately (partly to prove to ML that I can indeed cook indian food). Here is another well known north indian dish that you usually see in restaurants served with paneer. I’ve tried this before with extra-firm tofu, but its even better with chicken (and a [...]
North-indian potatoes or aloo chaat
This is one of my favorite Indian dishes (fried potatoes in a lot of spices) that you can get at most roadside restaurants and stalls in New Delhi and will almost never let you down (what happens later to your gastrointestinal tract is another story). Traditionally, this is made by deep frying the potatoes in [...]
Egg noodles with ground turkey in a creamy mushroom sauce
It’s been a while since I posted a recipe here last as I have not been cooking much lately. Recently however I have started to dine in more often and hopefully that will result in more recipes on this blog. Last night, in the mood for some home cooked pasta, I thought of using up [...]
Indian chicken curry
This is one of my favorite dishes growing up that my mom usually reserves for when she is having people over for dinner. Having asked her for the recipe a while back, I finally decided to give it a try and now wonder why I haven’t made this before. Serves 2: Preparation time: 40 minutes [...]
48 hours in Montreal – Day 2
See Day 1. Day 2: 11:00 AM – The next morning, we walked over to the Mile-End neighborhood to see how it earned its reputation of being the hipsters hangout. A local attraction there is the Fairmount Bagel Bakery. In the words of a local shop-keeper in the area, a true Montreal moment is biting [...]
My Projects
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