Taj Kebab Recipe

When I was first offered the Haute Potato project a year ago, I was asked to come up with 75 gourmet potato dishes. On that very same day, I probably already had hundreds of recipes lined up in my head. I tried featuring potato dishes from around the world, but as you can imagine, a lot were left out of the final product. So today here's a potato dish that would have been in the "Spicy" chapter.

I learned this dish from Mina, my husband's cousin. It's called "Taj kebab" and if you like meat and potato as much as I do, you will love this one. This potato dish consists of layers of spiced ground beef, sliced potatoes, and thick fresh tomato slices.  The recipe was developed in Agra, just where the Taj Mahal is, and it will transport you to one of the seven wonders of the world!

Asparagus and Zucchini Tofu Recipe

This tofu stir fry dish is a staple in our home and I make it at least one a month. It's quick to prepare, flavorful and packed with fresh green vegetables. 

The preparation is always more or less the same. In this version, pan-seared tofu pieces (or leftover cooked chicken breasts) are tossed with previously cooked zucchini and baby asparagus in maple syrup, chipotle garlic sauce and soy sauce. At the end, I added onions wedges and turned the heat off; the residual heat in the dish finished cooking the onions while keeping them juicy, sweet and crunchy.

Kale and Broccoli Crepe Recipe

My sister-in-law Lya had a sleepover with her girlfriends here last weekend. They had to wake up very early the following day to participate in The Color Run™ 5k paint race event. I promised I'd give them a large breakfast so they'd have enough energy. I served them sweet potato tarte amandine (check out the photo on Facebook), thumbprint cookies and crepes. I prepared plenty of crêpe batter the night before so I was able to use the rest for lunch and create light, savory crepes. I filled them with a cheesy mascarpone sauce, sautéed kale and broccoli.

Don't be fooled by the abundance of greens; this healthy, savory crêpe is very flavorful and filling. The, creamy sauce will keep you full until it's time for the next meal. 

Soba Noodle Salad Recipe

If you follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram, you've probably seen how huge the plants in our garden are. Thanks to the recent sunny, warm weather we’ve experienced, they have really taken off.

To celebrate our first crop of Persian cucumbers, I prepared a chilled noodle salad. I used soba noodles, a variety of fresh vegetables, flavorful peanut sauce, fresh mint (again from our prolific garden) and dill. Soba noodles are Japanese-style buckwheat. If you can’t find them, you could use whole wheat angel hair pasta for a similar texture.

I prepared everything in advance in the morning and assembled the salad later at the last minute. That's what I call healthy, fast food!

If you live in the Bay Area, don't forget to pencil in this Saturday (May 25^th) for my cooking demo and cookbook signing for Haute Potato at Los Altos Library. Hope to see everyone there.

Banh Bao Recipe (Vietnamese Steamed Bun)

Bánh bao literally translates to "cakes that wrap something" in Vietnamese. The dough is made of flour, milk, sugar and a hint of oil. Once the dough rises, it's formed in the desired shape, usually dumplings similar to a pointy turban, then steamed until plump and perky. In general, they're stuffed with savory meat or sweet egg custard (called bánh bao cadé). 

I've also seen them plain and shaped into a taco-style envelope at a few dim sum places. This is the version I used to finish the leftover braised duck leg from the night before. I shredded the tender duck meat and added pickled carrots and daikon and cilantro. I drizzled the bánh bao with a mole sauce using the reduced braising sauce adding 2 ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate, which tied the dish together beautifully. I was tempted to post this bánh bao bun in my second cookbook, Bánh Mì: 75 Banh Mi Recipes for Authentic and Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches but decided to keep the recipes more traditional. Still, they’re a a lot of fun to make and quite versatile. 

Since it's the weekend already and I usually post a dessert, I’ll also mention that the leftover bánh bao wraps can be turned into sweet treats with the right filling. Dried fig spread, lemon curd (I had jars of the lemon curd I made last winter) and chocolate mousse or the more traditional sweet egg custard are all great choices.

If you live in the Bay Area, don't forget to pencil in next Saturday (May 25th) for my cooking demo and cookbook signing for Haute Potato at Los Altos Library. Hope to see everyone there. Have a great weekend!