Brassica Oleracea

After much thinking and deliberation, I have decided to share the
proverbial crown jewel in my culinary repertoire . My pièce de
résistance, my epicurean masterpiece. No, it's not Foie Gras, Lobster
Newburg or a Black Truffle Sabayon. It is one of the simplest, and
often most hated (especially by children) of dishes. A dish I have
presented to many fearful dinner guests. Guests who have the memory of
the bitter tastes that the little cabbage offers. Guests who have
never tasted one because of it's reputation, and yet who ask for
second and yes even third helpings. Ladies and gentlemen, secrets
recipes be dammed, what follows are my instructions for Brussels
Sprouts.


Might I add, this is a completely original recipe I came up with about a year ago. As mentioned before, I have had the tendency to keep it secret, but I am not one to keep joy from others, so here goes.

This is how I make it for two people. Double, if needed.

This is what you need:

1/2 pound of Brussels sprouts
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chopped bacon (uncooked)
1 tablespoon sweet jam/jelly of your choice. I have used strawberry and plum.
A pinch of sea salt and fresh ground pepper

This is what you do:

Chop the sprouts in half from top to bottom. Heat a non oiled skillet
(I use a cast iron skillet), and add the chopped bacon. Cook until the
bacon starts to crisp and the grease covers the skillet. Keep bacon
and grease in skillet. Add the halved sprouts and stir. Let cook for
around five minutes. Add the mushrooms, onion, balsamic vinegar, jelly
and salt and pepper. Stir well so that the jelly coats the dish. Cook
for an additional ten minutes. Taste a sprout and make sure it is not
to tough. If it is, keep cooking a bit more. Plate and serve. I dare you...

Meatless Okra Curry

Our Meatless Monday was anything but meatless due to the 4th of July (more to come on that), but Tuesday we atoned for that with some Okra Curry. 

Spending a few years in the south, okra was plentiful, and me being the weird kid I was I, loved it. My wife and I headed out to our local farmers market in Culver City after work yesterday and picked up some delicious, fresh, and locally grown veggies.

This is what you need:

1 teaspoon mustard seed 

1 teaspoon coriander seed 

1 teaspoon ground turmeric 

2 teaspoon ground cumin 

2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 cup coconut milk 

12 oz okra 

3 tablespoon vegetable oil 

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped 

2 inch piece ginger, chopped 

1 tomato,  sliced

1 green bell pepper, chopped 

2 chiles, chopped 

This is what you do:

Wash the okra, top and tail, and cut into approximately 1/4" pieces (or leave whole after topping and tailing if preferred). 

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add mustard and coriander seeds for 2-3 minutes. Make sure you cover the pan or the mustard seeds will leap out all over the kitchen! Add garlic, onion and ginger; fry gently for about 10 minutes more. Mix the cumin, paprika, turmeric and curry powder together in a side bowl. Add the coconut milk to make a paste. Add to the pan and fry for a further 10 minutes. Add okra, tomatoes, green pepper and chiles. Cover and simmer very slowly until the okra is tender but not sloppy (about 15-20 minutes). 

You can always add meat to this if you don't want a vegetarian dish. We enjoyed it with rice and some fresh lettuce we had purchased from the market.

Holy Guacamole!

I'm just gonna come out and say it, I make the perfect guacamole. Since I'm such a great guy, I will share it with you. I have perfected this recipe over the years, but I still may throw in a new ingredient here and there just for fun.

I use a food processor, but If you don't have one, it's OK. I'll show you how to do it!

This is what you need:

4 Avocados
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
2 cloves Garlic
a pinch of Sea Salt & Fresh ground Pepper
1/8 cup chopped Red Onion
1 Tablespoon chopped Jalapeno
1/4 of a Tomato chopped
1 Tablespoon copped Cilantro


This is what you do:

With A Food Processor:
Add the Garlic, Salt & Pepper, Lime Juice, Cumin, Jalapeno, Cilantro and ONLY 2 Avocados into the processor.

Start the Processor, and keep running till it is smooth.

Chop the remaining 2 Avocados into big chunks, add the remaining Avocado, Tomato and Onions to the the food processor, and pulse about 10 times. This will leave you with a nice mixture of creamy and chunky guacamole. cover and put in the fridge for 20 minutes. It needs time to let the flavors meld. Taste it and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Without A Food Processor:

Grate the garlic over a cheese grater into a mixing bowl. Finely chop the Jalapeno, Cilantro, Salt and Pepper, Lime Juice, Cumin and ONLY 2 Avocados. Mash with a potato masher and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. 

Chop the remaining 2 Avocados into chunks, and add them and the Tomato and Onions to the bowl. Cover and refrigerate for  at least 20 minutes. 

I dare you to make it, and tell me it's not the best you have had...

Fresh N' Easy

After the disappointment of the leek and potato soup, I am happy to say I had success with the next meal. The very simple Cod Salad was delicious.

This is what you need:

Really anything you like and want to make the base of your salad. I used romaine hearts, spinach, red leaf lettuce, endives, green onion, shallots, mushrooms, carrots, cucumber and avocado.

This is what you do:

I like chopped salads so I chopped the romaine hearts, red leaf lettuce and endives really well. I julienned the carrots, and sliced up the green onion, shallots, mushrooms cucumber and avocado. I also mixed a bit of oregano, dill, and rosemary for a seasoning and mix it in well with everything.

I made a really great dressing from scratch.

This is what you need:

These measurements are approximate since I was making it up as I went along

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon grain mustard
1 table spoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
pinch salt & pepper
1/14 cup of natural yogurt

mix it all together and taste if it's to vinegary or mustardy, add olive oil. If it's to oily add more mustard.

I then covered a fresh piece of cod in lemon juice & dill weed. I sprinkled red pepper flakes and salt & pepper on top. In a hot pan heat some oil and grill the fish on both sides for approximately 4 minutes each.

Mix the dressing in with the salad, and place the pice of cod on top of the salad.

That's a really quick, easy and healthy meal!

Leaky DinDins

So here we are at day four, and we have to talk about a dud. Yesterday I decided to try a soup. I don't really make soup very often, and I guess it shows. I found a recipe of a leek and potato soup and thought I would give it a whirl. I love leek and potato soup, and was excited to make it, but alas, i did not have all the ingredients and what i compensated with did not really help. Because of the mishap, I will not share the recipe with you. I will try it again soon, and hope fully it will turn out well.

Now I am off to make what I call Cod Salad. We shall see how this one goes...

Non Morrissey Approved Moroccan Lamb with Couscous

Having lived in South Africa where lamb is quite a common dish, I often miss eating it. Not that it is a rare dish to find in Los Angeles, but I never seem to make it. Last night I made a dish called Moroccan Lamb with Couscous.


This is what you need:

1 medium red onion
3 tomatoes
a palm full of fresh parsley
1 fresh red chili
8 dried apricotsground cumin5 fresh sliced mushrooms
1 14oz can garbanzo beans (do NOT drain).
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary.
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 pound lamb leg steak
a bowl of couscous
1 lemon
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup of water

Chop the onion, tomatoes, parsley, chili and finely slice the apricots. Put the pan on a high heat and the olive oil. Add onions, chili, apricots, mushrooms and cook until onions soften slightly. Add 2 teaspoons of cumin, pinch of salt and pepper, rosemary and stir. Add tomatoes, most of the parsley, garbanzo beans with all the juices, coconut milk and 1/4 cup of water.

While the sauce is simmering, put the couscous into a bowl and pour in just enough boiling water to cover. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil, then cover with foil and leave for 5 to 8 minutes Leave the sauce to bubble away for about 5 minutes


Put a second pan on a high heat and let it get really hot.
Cut the lamb into 1 inch pieces. Sprinkle the lamb with cumin and salt and pepper.
Add some olive oil and lamb to hot pan
Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side
I added a bit of red wine to the meat since I was drinking a glass.

Go back to the sauce and use a spoon to mash it up a bit. When it looks saucy add a pinch more salt and pepper and the balsamic vinegar. Uncover the couscous, fluff it up with a fork and put onto plates.
Put a few lamb pieces next to it with a nice amount of sauce. I mixed some more cumin garlic salt and pepper and lemon juice in with the Greek yogurt.

The meal came out great. It really made me want to use lamb more often, so I shall.

Food for Thought

It's day three of the blog, and I'm hoping you are enjoying reading about my culinary adventures. Please understand that this blog is not an online cookbook. In no way do I consider myself a chef. As much as I would love to be Anthony Bourdain, it's just not gonna happen. Still, I  love to cook, and want to chronicle my day to day meals even as I know that now and then I make a bummer dinner, and I want to be honest when that happens.


I hope that you find enough interest in a meal or two on this blog to try yourself. If the brilliant Pixar film "Ratatouille" taught us anything, it's that anyone can cook. Most of these recipes I share here are easy, and don't contain any crazy hard to find ingredients (so far). I hope to convey the excitement I feel everyday around 5:30 as I put a record on the turntable, pour myself a glass of vino and start my meal prep. Cooking for me is a therapeutic and spiritual experience.

Cooking is an extension of yourself and is an extremely personal thing to share with people. Making and serving a meal to friends can be an incredibly venerable feeling.  When I know I have missed the mark with a dish it is humiliating, but the joy of creating a meal that will sustain someone for a few hours and please the pallet (and spirit) keeps me going and fuels my search for that perfect recipe.

Look for last nights dinner post in a few hours.

Morrissey Approved Veggie Tikka Masala

Yesterday was Monday, and in the Marklinoyd household, Mondays are meatless. Lucky for us, we have found that no meat does not have to mean no fun of flavor. We are both big veggie fans anyways, so we welcome Mondays!

Last night I made a Veggie Tikka Masala. A very British curry dish that we normally eat with chicken, is easily and deliciously substituted with a variety of veggies. In my opinion any veggies you want to use are fair game
. Eggplant is perfect for something like this, but we didn't happen to have one at the house.

As in most meals I make, I look through my cookbooks and visit my favorite food websites to get an idea what the basics of that meal are. I find the necessary building blocks of the dish and then see what others may add or leave out. Then I add my ideas and mix em all up. The majority of this recipe comes from Jamie Oliver.

To make a curry, you need a curry paste. You can buy a pre-made paste at the store, or make your own from scratch.

Tikka Masala Curry Paste

This is what you need:

2 cloves of garlic

1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger root

4 dried red chillies

1 table spoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

3 tablespoon peanut oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 fresh red or green chilies

A palm full of fresh cilantro

For Toasting

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

4 whole cloves

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1 teaspoon fengreek seeds

This is what you do:

Peel the garlic and ginger (do not chop them). Add them to a dry frying pan on medium to high heat. DO NOT ADD OIL. Add all of the ingredients for toasting (the last group listed just above) to the pan. Toast them until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add toasted spices to a pestle and mortar or food processor. Grind to a very fine powder. Add the rest of the ingredients with the toasted spice powder and put them into a food processor until you have a smooth paste.


Veggie Tikka Masala

This is what you need:

2 medium onions, cut in half and thinly sliced

1 fresh red or green chili thinly sliced

1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger root finally chopped

a palm full of fresh cilantro

1 1/2 tablespoon of peanut of vegetable oil

1/2 tablespoon of butter

1/2 cup of tikka masala paste (either homemade or store bought)

2 diced tomatoes

2 cups of cut up cauliflower

a handful of green beans (whole)

5 sliced mushrooms

1 14 ounce can of coconut milk (Trader Joe's sells it for 99 cents a can).

1 lemon

REMEMBER: You can add or leave out any veggies you want. This is just how I prepared it.


This is what you do:

Over medium heat, put the oil and butter in a large skillet.

Add the onions, ginger, chilies and mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes.

Add the green beans and cauliflowers. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the curry paste and a pinch salt & pepper. Make sure everything is well coated in the paste.

Add the tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir in very well and bring to a boil.

Cover, turn heat down and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove the lid and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Drop some chopped cilantro and squeeze two lemon wedges over the curry and stir one last time.


Yogurt Sauce

Serve this sauce on the side. It helps cool the curry down and really brings out the flavors.

1 cup of no fat Greek style yogurt.

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 large minced garlic clove
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A pinch of salt & pepper


The meal came out tasting really good. I served it with garlic naan, basmati rice and some left over apricot chutney (check out the recipe here).



Next up on the menu is Moroccan Lamb with Couscous. Check back tomorrow to see how it turns out!

Bobotie-Licious

My favorite dish while I lived in South Africa was something called Bobotie (ba-bo-tea). You can read about the history of the dish here. I haven't heard of any restaurant serving this dish in the Los Angeles area, so the only way I can eat this is if I make it. Just like all the food I make, it's completely tweakable, and this is a dish that really does vary depending on where you eat it, or with who makes it. My favorite way to eat it when I lived in South Africa was in a flaky pie casing. Many people add raisins, bananas and other dried fruit. I typically don't really like to mix much fruit with meat, (or at least have fruit cooked in with it). I tend to enjoy my bobotie a bit move on the savory side. There are still hints of sweetness in the dish, but I need the right balance. Don't forget, this dish is often served with some sort of fruit chutney (I will talk about my apricot jalapeno chutney in a moment). I made it for my wife for the first time last night, and am happy to say it was a success.

Before we get started these are two VERY IMPORTANT things to never forget when cooking!


#1. Always prepare all the ingredients before you start cooking and have them set out. The last thing you want to do is have ingredients over-cooking in the pan while you are rushing to prep the rest, or looking for something.

#2. Chop and cut all your ingredients evenly and to the same size. This will help everything cook evenly.


I use my mother's recipe as a starting point.

This is what you need:

1 lb. ground beef

1 thick slice bread

1 cup milk

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons curry powder

2 teaspoons salt

Pinch of pepper

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1-3 teaspoons brown sugar

2 eggs

4-6 bay leaves

Sliced almonds

This is what you do:

Brown the ground beef in a skillet until no longer pink. Don’t over-cook it because it will finish cooking in the oven. Drain grease from the meat and set aside.

On a dish, soak the bread in ½ of the milk until very soft. Then mash it with a fork.

Melt the butter in another skillet; add chopped onion and sauté. Add the curry powder, salt & pepper and stir in the hot skillet for 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, soaked bread, brown sugar, desired amount of almonds and the ground beef. Stir well to remove lumps from the meat.

Transfer all of mixture to a slightly buttered casserole dish and smooth down the top. Beat the eggs in a small bowl with the remaining milk. Pour egg mixture over the top of the meat mixture. I like it when the eggs seep into the meat mixture a bit instead of just having it all sit on top. It will also hold the dish together better this way. Arrange the bay leaves on the top of the Bobotie.



Bake at 325-350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the egg mixture is set and meat is browned nicely. If meat gets too done before the egg mixture sets, cover with foil and keep in oven a bit longer.


Chutney is a must with Bobotie. There are soooo many different kinds of chutneys and just as many ways to make and tweak them into exactly what you want. Here is the chutney I made last night to go with my Bobotie. You will notice I used plum jam. This is because I had no other fruit to add and I happen to have a home made jar from my dear friend Cindy in the fridge. I get so much joy out of experimenting while cooking and adding the plum jam really paid off.



This is what you need:


2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 teaspoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 of a jalapeno pepper(this adds a good kick. use less if you are ascared of the heat)

3/4 cup dried apricots (6 oz)

1/2 cup of plum jam

3/4 cup water1/3

cup red-wine vinegar1/4

cup sugar3/4 teaspoon salt

This is what you do:

1. Cook garlic and ginger in oil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until golden. About 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add mustard seeds and cook for one minute, stirring, until fragrant

3. Add and mix in all remaining ingredients. Lower heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally until almost all liquid is absorbed for around about 20 minutes (chutney should be moist).








Serve the Bobotie with rice and the chutney on the side. Try it out and let me know what you think!




Next up is a Veggie Tikka Masala for Meatless Monday. You can read all about it tomorrow....