We were flying back from Disneyworld last fall and the sky was absolutely clear when we flew over Chicago. The lake, the city, the 'burbs and fall colors everywhere...it was beautiful. My daughter and I peered out of the window as the plane started its final descent.
"Oh! Look! I can see Big John ..." my voice trailed off as I looked at Big John reflect one of the most glorious sunsets I have seen. I realized that my daughter was looking at me with absolute but questioning wonder. "What is it?" I asked. To which she replied: "Big John...Do you think he can see us, too?"
Check out these scrolling Sample Views of Chicago taken from the Hancock Observatory aka Big John.
Indian food at it's authentic best in the Chicagoland area can be had at The Indian Garden. They have four locations: downtown Chicago on Ontario and another on Devon, one in Schaumburg and Westmont, which is the one closest to us. We've been eating here for the past 3 and half years. The quality has remained consistent, the service is a little on the slower side but I really don't mind as I don't like to be hurried through a great Indian meal!! They also have a fantastic lunch buffet. We've haven't been to their restaurants on Devon Street or in Schaumburg. If we're at Devon, we're indulging in chaat or Indian junk food. If we're in Schaumburg, we're usually at IKEA.
I love Tandoori Pesh Kash at Indian Garden which is a platter of various types of kababs. I haven't really had any of their seafood except that which is served with the Tandoori Pesh Kash. Their Murg Rajala is also delicately flavored and simply exotic.
I prefer the coastal cuisine when it comes to seafood and Indian Garden is more North Indian cuisine than anything else. Their Goan dishes - the vindaloo and the Goa fish curry - sort of fall below my expectations. But then I have roots in Goa and I have grown up eating the real stuff. For anyone without any prior exposure to Goan cuisine, the dishes taste real good!!
Big John and The Indian Garden
Why is everything 'Made in China'?
My daughter asked me this question the other day. That's a toughie. Try breaking down the economics of trade using simple words that a 5 year old can understand. She's just grasping the concept of money and she seems to have no problems living in debt. She gets anything from a penny to a nickel for putting recyclables away. She can spend the money on kiddie rides at the mall or she can save it and buy something she wants from Wal*Mart. She must remember her balance and add her earnings to the last balance correctly. The deal is that she can choose to 'cash' her earnings once she has crossed 50 cents. It took us a while to cross this particular hurdle:
Me: How many cents make up a quarter?
Her: 25 cents!
Me: How many cents is 2 quarters?
Her: 26 cents!! 25 cents plus 1 is 26 cents.
Back to the chalkboard to draw two sets of 25 cents and she finally got it!! But, she can only get her hands on the money if she can tell how many cents she is left with when she cashes the 50 cents. She's getting pretty good at it. So much so that now she has found real life applications - how many minutes till my bed-time? We're still doing single digit addition - at least one of the numbers is single digits - but she's going great guns!
Since she now understands expensive and cheap - in very relative terms - I figured I'd tell her that it's cheaper for a lot of goods to be 'Made in China.' And, add that not everything is 'Made in China' - a few things are not. Like...like...this Papermate pencil. Or...or...[Mom! My cup is 'Made in China.' My doll is 'Made in China.' My backpack...]...or...or...Corningware plates on the dinner table waiting patiently for spicy Indian food...Yes! Our dinner plates are not 'Made in China.'
I actually did a search on Google for Why is everything Made in China. Apparently, it's not a unique question. But it was genuine!
I turned my attention to better things in life - like delicious Indian food!!
Kheema
Ground meat with peas
Spice Level: Medium
1 lb ground meat (turkey or beef or chicken)
4-5 tbps of oil
1 small white onion, chopped
1/2 small can tomato paste
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp kasoori methi
1/2 tsp garam masala (try any of these blends from the brand Shan: BBQ Tandoori Masala or Shami Kabab Masala or Paya Curry to name a few)
1 cup peas
lots of chaat masala - start with about 1/2 tsp and up it till you like the taste
salt to taste
Saute chopped onions until soft (4-5 mins) in oil. There is no need to over-pamper the onions for this recipe.
Add tomato paste, ginger, garlic, kasoori methi, garam masala and saute for another 4-5 mins.
Add the ground meat and keep 'stabbing' at it & mixing so that it does not form into clumps or balls of meat.
Add salt & least amount of chaat masala
When the meat is safe to taste, see if you would like more chaat masala and keep adding till you reach a point where you feel it is just right. I have mine in a large steel pepper shaker and I just shake the darned thing...so I don't know the amount I end up adding! It lso depends on my mood!
When the meat is almost done, add the peas and cook until both peas and meat are done.
We call this kheema which literally translated is ground meat. Or minced meat or just mince as we called it in Kenya. You can stuff it in pocket pitas, garnish with raw onions and cilantro if you like.
With pitas or nan, this is makes a delicious and nutritious meal. I would prefer it with ground beef or ground lamb but my husband prefers turkey or chicken. And turkey is healthier than chicken ...so we invariably end up with turkey.
Ground meat brings to mind another story of when we first got here and I longed for some Kheema. We were in upstate NY in a wee town called Chestertown. Chestertown had one Grand Union and while it served basic needs - bread, eggs, veggies - there was no way you could get anything remotely exotic there. We usually drove to Glens Falls for major grocery at a Price Chopper or what-have-you. I remember thinking that this was a large store and that they have to have it. I could not see it in the meat racks. So finally I asked a store clerk: "Do you have any minced meat?" "Uh? Huh? Naw, we don't keep that brand."
Ground meat, it is!
I am not looking forward to the teen years...
My 5 year old is already talking back - well, not quite but she does not take anything at face value and the worst part is that she *remembers* the explanation from another conversation, relates it to the current one and points out the flaw in what I was just telling her.
Here's one such conversation as we were driving to the airport.
My angel: Mom, is that a forest?
Me: No, sweetie, those are just a lot of trees in someone's yard.
My angel: Mom is that a forest?
Me: No, darling, that is just someone else's yard with many trees.
My angel: Mom is that a forest?
Me: No, poppet, that is just a plot of land with many trees.
< and it went on...till finally...>
Me: I will tell you when we drive by a forest so you will see what a forest is.
My angel: Is a forest only trees?
Me: Yes! Yes! No houses. Only trees, trees and more trees.
My angel
Me: Arrggggh! I need a Tylenol and some very strong coffee...
Or maybe some of that Chai tea ;-)
Tried some roasted corn lately? Indian style? We call it bhootta.Bhootta
Roasted Corn on the Cob
Spice Level: Entirely up to you
What you need:
Fresh corn
Butter
Red chilli powder
Salt
Fresh lemon cut in halves
What to do:
Remove the husk and the silk. Crank your grill on high and place your corn on the grate. It's better if the flames can reach the corn. Keep turning the corn so that it does not burn. It should crackle every now and then. And it's done when most of the individual kernels have a black dot on them but are not burnt or charred. Just nicely roasted. It takes but a few minutes per ear.
Hold the corn by the stem or stick or whatever - for want of a better word!! And dip the lemon into the salt and then the red chilli powder and use it to spread the mixture along the corn, squeezing the lemon as you move up and down the ear. So you get a great mixture of tastes. If you like the flavor of butter, spread some butter on the ear, too.
I prefer mine without the butter. Avoid the red chilli powder for kids - instead smother their bootta with butter. They love that!
I wish Indian men would cook...
Boy I wish men would cook. Mine does not. At best he will order pizza. But he does make the morning tea and I can't move without that. Yes, tea. It's finally becoming fashionable here in the US. I remember Steve McQueen or someone saying in an old war movie: "Tea? What's that? I have it only when I am in the hospital." But the funniest is to step into the local Starbucks or Panera and find Chai Tea as an item on their menu. Chai is the Indian word for tea. It's like saying Tea tea. No-one says noodles noodles. Or coffee coffee so why tea tea...
July 4th!! Independence Day!! Flags. Fireworks galore. We watched the firework show that the American Legion had from our backyard. This will be the very first firework show we have seen in New Lenox. Yeah. For the past 3 years, the firework shows have been washed out due to rain. We're hoping we'll be able to catch the show at the high school tomorrow.
4th of July is grillin' time, folks!! Lots of grillin'. Corn on the cob (bhutta - Indian style). And chilled watermelon.
I made incredible turkey burgers the other day. I just have to share the recipe. It's my own. My 5 year old simply loved them!!
Turkey Burgers
A touch of mint and lots of spice
Spice Level: ENTIRELY UP TO YOU!!
This is something that you can toss together while your coal is heating up. What? You have a gas grill? You're losing out on something essential...Flavor! You have no grill at all? Go get one. You must!! I have one of those cheap $30 charcoal grills that I bought from some bargain store. It has survived 3 Chicagoland winters without a cover. I was kind of hoping it would not survive this last winter so I could buy a new grill with all the works...oh well!
Here's what you will need:
1 tray of Jennie-O lean ground turkey (approx 20 oz)
1 tablespoon of very finely chopped garlic(you could grate it too...but it tastes better if it is chopped fine)
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
5-6 fresh mint leaves, sliced fine
2-3 teaspoons of any garam masala**optional(I prefer Shan's Chicken Tikka masala or Boti Kabab masala. Even Nihari or Paya Curry masala will do. If you don't have Shan, then any old garam masala will do. Add more if you want to kick it up a bit. I do!!)
fresh ground pepper(as much as you want to add)
egg white**optional(This works like a binder but I have found that I don't need it. If you can't separate the yolk from the egg white and have no cholesterol issues then just add the whole darned egg!!)
1/3 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
salt to taste
Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce for basting while grilling
Hmmm....Let's start. In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except the Sweet Baby Ray's sauce - that's to use while grilling, remember? Mix everything together so that it's all well blended. Use your hands - you have to get them dirty. Using a spoon or spatula will just not work as the spices need to be rubbed well into the meat.
If you have a young child at home who cannot handle the spices, then do not add the garam masala and freshly ground black pepper as yet. Place aside some of this mixture for your kids or anyone else who cannot tolerate the heat. Then add the garam masala and pepper and mix well. Shape and pat this mixture into burgers.
I usually make 6 burgers from 1 packet of Jennie-O's. This seems to work out really well for us.
Brush some oil onto the grate and place the burgers on your hot grill at medium heat. Keep turning the burgers over every now and then. After the burgers are no longer pink on the outside, baste them with Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce. Turn them over. Baste the other side and cook for a couple of minutes. Baste. Turn over. Baste. Turn over. Basting and frequent turning ensures that the burgers remain very moist. About 15-20 minutes later, you have the most delicious turkey burgers, ever!!
I don't baste my daughter's burgers with the bbq sauce. She finds that 'spicy' - but she will eat Hot Mix!! I brush hers with olive oil.
Interesting things to do with these burgers
I don't work at shaping the burgers till they look like the burgers you get at the fast food places. Mine are round and about an inch or more thick. These can then be sliced thin and stuffed into pocket pitas with chopped onions, tomatoes, lettuce, a slice of cheese - simply anything you may feel like adding.
The wonderful thing about creating your own recipes is that you can do precisely what you want!! Believe me, the results are often very inspiring and very very gratifying. Imagine how overwhelmed I am when my 5 year old wolfs these down like she has never seen food before. And this from a child who is less than 10 percentile for weight and seems to survive on air.
A variation of this recipe is to saute chopped onions in the olive oil, add everything except the meat, mint and cilantro and saute some more. Cool the mixture and then the rest of the ingredients. Go out and grill your burgers!
Check for salt
How do you know if you have added enough salt? That has always been my basic dilemma with each dish. With raw meat, tasting is not an option - so what I put a very small amount of the mixture in a bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Heat it in the microwave for 30-35 seconds or as much time as it will take for that teeny amount of meat to cook. It might become leathery but hey! you will be able to tell if you added the right amount of salt.
The nicest part about these burgers is that they can be spiced to the level you want. They are made from lean ground turkey - so none of the red meat and cholesterol issues come into play. Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil - it's the best!!
Burgers, corn and watermelon!! A terrific meal!!
