Basil shelf-life

If you use a lot of basil in your cooking you know it goes bad really quickly, even the bunches that come with roots attached in the grocery store. I've been growing my own basil this summer, and I've been experimenting with different ways to keep it fresh until I use it in my cooking, freeze it, or make pesto out of it. Cook's illustrated said that keeping it in the fridge in damp paper towels was the best way to store it, but I had pretty awful results with that method. The only thing that seems to keep them at least a week for me has been drying them with paper towels and then storing on the counter in a plastic air-tight container. I also store mint leaves this way (from my garden) and they seem to keep similarly fresh for longer.

I don't know if its because the basil is freshly picked versus already having travelled many miles to the supermarket, so let me know if you buy basil and it doesn't last using this method.

Hard-boiled eggs

Yeah, no kidding. I'm sure most of you out there are like "who doesn't know how to boil an egg?". Well, I, for one, let me tell you. Cooking a perfect hard boiled egg is not like a skill we are born with. So I've been trying to increase my egg consumption and I love boiled eggs, and I was trying a few recipes online to see which one was foolproof. The recipe below came pretty close, though you have to adjust the time they sit in the end a *teeny* bit depending on if you're cooking a lot or just a few eggs. So in honor of all those people out there who like me were too embarrassed to ask someone how to boil an egg...

How to make perfect boiled eggs (from simplyrecipes.com)

Method

1 First make sure that you are using eggs that are several days old. If this is Easter time, and everyone is buying their eggs at the last minute, buy your eggs 5 days in advance of boiling. (See the reference to using old eggs in Harold Magee's On Food and Cooking). Hard boiling farm fresh eggs will invariably lead to eggs that are difficult to peel. If you have boiled a batch that are difficult to peel, try putting them in the refrigerator for a few days; they should be easier to peel then.

2 Put the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan, covered by at least an inch of cold water. Starting with cold water and gently bringing the eggs to a boil will help keep them from cracking. Adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the water will help keep the egg whites from running out of any eggs that happen to crack while cooking, but some people find that the vinegar affects the taste. I don't have a problem with it and I usually add a little vinegar. Adding a half teaspoon of salt is thought to help both with the preventing of cracking and making the eggs easier to peel. Put the burner on high and bring the eggs to a boil. As soon as the water starts to boil, remove the pan from the heat for a few seconds.

3 Reduce the heat to low, return the pan to the burner. Let simmer for one minute. (Note I usually skip this step because I don't notice the eggs boiling until they've been boiling for at least a minute! Also, if you are using an electric stove with a coil element, you can just turn off the heat. There is enough residual heat in the coil to keep the eggs simmering for a minute.)

4 After a minute, remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. If you are doing a large batch of eggs, after 10 minutes you can check for doneness by sacrificing one egg, removing it with a slotted spoon, running it under cold water, and cutting it open. If it isn't done, cook the other eggs a minute or two longer. The eggs should be done perfectly at 10 minutes, but sometimes, depending on the shape of the pan, the size of the eggs, the number of eggs compared to the amount of water, and how cooked you like them, it can take a few minutes more. When you find the right time that works for you given your pan, the size of eggs you usually buy, the type of stove top you have, stick with it.

I also find that it is very hard to overcook eggs using this method. I can let the eggs sit, covered, for up to 15-20 minutes without the eggs getting overcooked.

5 Either remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place them into a bowl of ice water (this is if you have a lot of eggs) OR strain out the water from the pan, fill the pan with cold water, strain again, fill again, until the eggs cool down a bit. Once cooled, strain the water from the eggs. Store the eggs in a covered container (eggs can release odors) in the refrigerator. They should be eaten within 5 days.

Kofta

I love Kofta. I love those small, spicy balls of ground meat that burst forth with flavor when you eat them. Ok maybe I'm being a little over dramatic, but I do love them. And I've never made them before, suprisingly. We eat them all the time at home - always with a spicy curry to keep them moist. I had some ground beef yesterday ready to cook and I was deciding between old fashioned keema and burgers. Not the most exciting choices. So I flipped through the indo-pak book and saw a few recipes for Kofte and various things like gravy, tomatoes, fenugreek, eggs, shrimp, and the list goes on. There were even recipes for stuffed meatballs and persian meatballs. Maybe another day... I had a bunch of tomatoes lying around so I decided to use them (after washing them in veggiewash - the news has got me scared of salmonella!) in the recipe for Kofte tomatay. I love the urdu pronounciations of everything :)

Kofte Tamatay (Meatballs and tomatoes)

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oil

1 1/2 lbs. onions

1 lb diced tomatoes

1 tsp ground ginger and garlic

1 tsp chilli powder

1/8 tsp turmeric

3 green chillis

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 tsp salt

kofte (recipe following)

Heat oil and brown sliced onions. Add ginger and garlic, fry for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Fry until oil comes up. Add 1 cup of water, slit green chillis, cilantro, and kofte. Cook until water dries and oil comes up.

Kofte (Meatballs)

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat

1 onion diced fine

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1/4 cup roasted besan

4 cloves garlic ground

1/2 tsp ground spices (cardomom, cloves and cinnamon)

2 tbsp yogurt

3 chopped green chillis

1/4 chopped cilantro

1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients together and shape into 1 inch meatballs. Heat 2 tbsp water in frying pan. Add one layer of meatballs and cook covered until water dries. Add 1 tbsp oil and fry until evenly browned on all sides. Repeat for remaining meatballs.

More on Pulao

So my fantabulous, can't-go-wrong cookbook of Indo-Pak cuisine had two recipes for Yakhni Pulao that Sameera was looking for. The first was for Chicken Yakhni Pulao and the second was just Yakhni Pulao. Since Sameera already posted one with chicken I'm posting one that seems to be for any kind of meat.

Yakhni Pulao
Serves 8

Ingredients:
4 cups rice
3 lbs. meat cut in pieces
3 medium onions
1 1/2 cups shortening
1 cup yogurt
10 garlic cloves
1 1/2 inch ginger
2, 2 inch cinnamon sticks
5 cardamom pods
5 cloves
1/4 tsp shah zeera
1/4 tsp whole black pepper
1 tbsp coriander seeds
8 mint leaves
6 dried red chillies
4 green chillies
1 tbsp salt


To make:

1. Heat 1/2 cup shortening and brown 1 sliced onion. Add meat, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, shah zeera, pepper, coriander, mint leaves, red chillies, and 4 cups of water. Cook until meat is tender. Strain and save stock.

2. In 1/2 cup shortening, brown second sliced onion. Add meat and lightly brown. Add stock, cook 3 minutes and set aside.

3. In remaining shortening, brown last sliced onion with yogurt. Add washed rice, green chillies, salt, meat, gravy and enough water to stand 1 inch above rice level. Cook until water is almost dry.

4. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.