No longer updating, but hope you enjoy the recipes!
Unfortunately, I got too busy to go back to blogging, after I was forced to take a break from it in 2015 because of tendonitis.
But you can still follow my cooking, eating, and travels on instagram: (@spontaneoustomato)
Masala Dosa (with Potato Curry)
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Someone once thought it was possible to objectively list The World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods.*
(Let’s ignore the fact that this cannot be done.)
Masala Dosa, unsurprisingly, made the cut. (It came in at number 49 out of 50.)
Crispy lentil crepes filled with savory potato curry and topped with coconut chutney. If I could ever choose a top 50, it would make my list, too.
The South Indian savory potato-y feast rarely makes an appearance on the mostly-North Indian restaurant menus in the states. But a little cup of grated coconut convinced me that I should make my own at home.
The coconut sparked a craving for spicy coconut chutney. And the chutney urged me into making something to serve it on (other than a spoon…). Dosa!
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South Indian Spicy Coconut Chutney
Last week I embarked on my most ambitious cooking project since the gnocchi. (Or possibly since the tamales…) I made Masala Dosa from scratch!
If you’re not impressed yet, my theory is that either you have much more experience with South Indian cooking than I do, or you’ve never heard of Masala Dosa. For those in the latter group, let me explain.
You make a thin, crispy, buttery (except made with ghee, not butter) crepe using a batter made from fermented rice and lentil pastes (no eggs). Then you wrap the crispy dosa up around a savory spiced potato curry. Then you slather on some coconut chutney and dig in.
Mango Coconut Popsicles with a hint of Lime
The other day I went to the grocery store for tortillas and came home with a coconut.
It happens to the best of us.
The coconut cost $1.50 and had a nice sloshy heft to it with what seemed like a liberal amount of luscious coconut water. Sold!
Challenge #1: Opening it. Thank goodness my girlfriend got all proprietary about this feat. All I had to do was hand her a hammer and a flat-head screwdriver and stand back to watch.
That’s not quite true; I also had to race over with a wide-mouth tumbler glass to catch all the coconut water once we’d punctured two of the three bowling-ball-like soft spots from the coconut stem.
Pan Catalan (and belated Tomato Tuesday)
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Happy August!
August means time for tomatoes. And my birthday. I like how those line up.
Last year I celebrated my 30th with a tapas party. This year? I’m still figuring that out. But in the meantime, my kitchen continues to turn out homemade tapas.
I have little to do with it; these things are so simple to make, they practically assemble themselves.
Take Pan Catalan. Otherwise known as pan con tomate or pan a la Catalana. This spectacularly easy-to-prepare appetizer combines two of my favorite things: tomatoes and bread. (Not that the other ingredients, garlic and olive oil, aren’t favorites, too…)
I always, always have tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic on hand. And since my girlfriend’s new weekend routine is to knead and toss three homemade baguettes in the oven, we usually have those, too.
Eventually my girlfriend is going to write a guest blog post about her homemade baguettes. I’m impatient, though, so first I’m going to tell you what to do with them.*
Zaru Soumen for a Summer Night
Summers in Japan are disgustingly hot and humid. (Not unlike most of the U.S. and the rest of the northern hemisphere these days…)
When I worked in Japan, I used to suffer a tragic loss of appetite every summer. The sweltering heat and humidity would suppress my (usually impressive) desire to eat.
Only zaru soumen sustained me; I practically lived on it.
And really, what better way to combat the heat than with icy cold weightless noodles dipped into (and slurped out of) a tangy gingery sauce?
Zaru soumen to the rescue!
Baked Fried Green Tomatoes
I love tomatoes. This is not news.
Everyone knows that in-season tomatoes taste best; theoretically, you should be able to buy perfect tomatoes any day, all summer long, from your local grocery store, right? Nope!
If you’ve ever had your mind blown by a ripe, juicy, and– most of all– sweet red tomato, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. (Insert clichéd “not all tomatoes are created equal” comment here.)
Now, thanks to science (!) we know why some tomatoes “taste more like cardboard than fruit.”
My friend, Mimi, drew my attention to this LA Times article about mass-produced tomatoes. For years tomato breeders have been selecting fruit for its uniform color, which has led to a genetic change in most supermarket tomatoes that affects their sugar content. It turns out heirloom and small farm tomatoes– those with darker, splotchier tops– are much sweeter.
spontaneous tomato 