Nik Sharma's Blog, page 16

fig and pomegranate jam with cardamom and pepper

When we moved to our home in Oakland, a few years ago, we planted two fig trees in our backyard (a dwarf and a regular one that's now about 6 ft tall) and we've had issues with the quality of fruits. They were dry on the inside. The dwarf had consistently produced good fruit so it was a bit of a surprise and disappointment when last year the figs fell off the tree and had no sweetness or moisture hidden inside. But as some of you know, earlier this April we decided to work on our backyard and take things apart and put them back together to create a fun and functional garden where we could grow food and have flowers to attract the local wildlife. This turned out to be an extremely wise decision for our fig trees. 

Both trees were relocated to different parts of the garden and we added a drip irrigation system. Now one would think figs need little to no water but as I learned last week from the farmers at Valley Fig in Fresno, during the fig production phase, the plants do need a little water to let the figs get sweet and juicy. The trees do well in high heat and bad soil but they do need some source of water.  It's made all the difference in the world, the fruit have started to ripen and they're sweet and jammy on the inside. 

I've been eating a lot of weeks on a weekly basis, it is a short season and I've been making this fig jam that has a bit of pomegranate molasses, cardamom and black pepper. It goes well with cold unsalted butter on toast sprinkled with a few salt flakes on toast and of course, a good addition to a cheese board. The pomegranate molasses adds an extra layer of fruitiness and brightens up the vibrant red color of the jam while the cardamom adds a beautiful cool aroma and the pepper a bit of mild heat.

BOOK UPDATES:

I can't believe that we're only a few weeks away from launch date. Season just made it to it's first international cookbook list at the UK's Evening Standard as well as on Mind Body and Green Top Healthy Cookbooks of Fall 2018. And celebrated cookbook author and chef, Yotam Ottolenghi just gave my book the most generous and kind shoutout this week (which blew me away)!

Here are the latest updates for my book tour that kicks off in San Francisco! 

San Francisco/Oakland

1. October 2: Omnivore Books, San Francisco with John Birdsall in San Francisco at 6:30pm. No purchase necessary to attend.

2. October 4: Camino Restaurant, Oakland - Dinner Party at 6pm. Details on the event and tickets can be purchased here.

3. October 20: CUESA Demo followed by book signing at Book Passage: San Francisco at 2pm . No purchase necessary to attend. 

fig and pomegranate molasses jam with cardamom and black pepper

makes enough for four 500ml jars

ingredients

2lbs [907g] fresh figs 

1 1/2 cups [192g] fine sugar

1/4 cup [60ml] pom molasses

1/4 cup [60ml] fresh lemon juice

1/2 Tbsp ground black pepper

seeds from 4 green cardamom pods, ground

1. Rinse the figs under cold running tap water to remove any dirt. Place them on a clean towel to dry. Trim the stalks of the figs and cut the fruit in half across their length. Place them in a medium thick bottomed saucepan. Sprinkle the sugar over the figs, toss to coat evenly and cover with a lid and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature.

2. After 1 hour, place the saucepan on a stove and heat on high. Add the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, pepper and cardamom and stir with spatula. Bring the contents to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cook for 45 minutes, until the liquid gets thick. Take a spoon and coat the back of the spoon with the jam, run your finger through it to leave a trail. If the trail stays, the jam is ready to remove off the stove. 

3. Remove the saucepan off the stove and divide the jam equally between four clean and sterile, 500mL canning jars. Process as per your altitude requirements. If you do not want to can the jam, then freeze the jam for a month in the freezer, once opened and thawed the jam will be good for one week in the refrigerator. 

Note: If you like it a bit extra peppery bump up the amount of 1 Tbsp, I find this better when the jam is to be served with cheese. 

frozen fruit granola bowl

Summer is officially ending soon and honestly, it feels a bit weird. I’ve been waiting for this part of the year because the fruit starts to ripen under the warmth of the sun but it’s quick and by the time we get to eat things off the plants, we get closer to fall. Not that fall is a bad thing but I did wish summer were a bit longer.

Since the mornings can start warm, I’ve been having some fun and playing around with frozen breakfast ideas. Some of the typical suspects include frozen smoothies but also these easy frozen fruit granola bowls. I’ve been using Outshine’s non-dairy frozen fruit blends which are really tasty and refreshing (Also you save $2 when you buy 3 participating Nestlé ice cream products at Safeway.  )The fruit could be pretty much anything you like, I particularly the ripe sweet strawberries and blueberries that are in season here but I’d also throw in a few fresh figs if I got my hands on them. As for the granola, use your favorite kind, I like to warm it up a little and add it to the bowl because it starts to get fragrant and I like the contrast of warm and cool (heat the granola lightly over a saucepan for about a minute until you can smell the aroma) and add it. Grab a spoon and eat up! This makes a great refreshing snack besides a fun breakfast idea.

 

Summer Berry Granola Bowl

makes 1 serving

ingredients

 

1 to 2 generous scoops of Outshine non-dairy strawberry banana fruit blend

¼ cup granola (homemade or store-bought)

¼ cup sliced hulled and sliced strawberries

¼ cup blueberries

 

Place one or two generous scoops of the fruit blend in a serving bowl. Top with the granola, strawberries and blueberries and serve immediately.

 

Note: If you like fresh herbs, add a bit of mint or lemon thyme on top and dive in!

 

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Outshine. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

 

Summer recipe updates from my column at the SF Chronicle

A lot's been going on here and at my column for the San Francisco Chronicle. But I just got back from a day in Central Valley California, learning about figs and how they're preserved by drying (but that we will deal with much later and make a very tasty jam). We even saw some almond trees!

For now, I wanted to share with you some of my recipes from the column that I've been cooking up, a little savory and a of course, a little sweet! There's a prawn and chorizo pulao inspired by Goan chorizo (and what I do since it is practically impossible to find outside India), a look back at San Francisco's Oyster Loaf with my special take with a bit of semolina, an easy toasted naan and tomato salad and of course, dessert, this roasted summer sweet corn custard tart with cardamom. 

I do have a special request from all of you that have already purchased my book, Season or plan to, please spread the word about the book and share it with your friends and family. I'd be extremely grateful for your help! Thank you. 

Season was also named by EATER as one of the most anticipated cookbooks of this Fall. There's a really nice excerpt on some of the recipes you can expect to see and cook from the book. 

Thank you as always;

X

Nik 

long pepper and vanilla shortbread from Claridges

We're almost a month away till Season comes out, I've got more exciting events coming up that I will share with you as the dates get closer. I just mailed a copy to India to my mom wrapped in a hundred layers of bubble wrap, I hope it makes it one piece and soon! This week Season was also just named as one of the most highly anticipated cookbooks by Food and Wine magazine, the Kitchn , and the Forward!!! Honestly, when you write a book you hope everyone will love it and connect with it at some level but the response from everyone of you has been so amazing, I couldn't be more grateful for support. Thank you, I could not do this without you! 

As a kid, I called shortbread cookies, sand cookies. The grains of sugar and the baked cookie crumbled reminded me of sand every time I took a bite into them but unlike sand, they would melt in your mouth quickly leaving behind a welcome a hint of sweetness. They're also perfect with tea, so that made it a bonus treat every evening for my 4 pm tea ritual. 

This recipe caught my eye for a few reasons, the simplicity and also for the use of bread flour. Since this recipe is from The Claridge's , the original flour listed in the recipe was strong white flour. So I reached out to Edd Kimber from The Boy Who Bakes who recommended using a bread flour that was about 12% gluten. This is important when replicating recipes from different countries because typically flours need to match the gluten content when you bake to get close to the texture that the original recipe was meant to produce. 

Long pepper is a very fragrant type of pepper but if you can't find it you can substitute regular black pepper. Here the pepper provides a nice contrast to the aromatic notes of vanilla, a little cool and a little warm. The texture obtained using bread flour is perfect, just like shortbread should be. 

long pepper and vanilla bean shortbread cookies (adapted from the Claridge's Cookbook - Mitchell Beazley)

makes about 30 cookies

7 oz  [200g] unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 tsp ground long pepper (black pepper will also work here)

seeds from one vanilla bean scraped

2 1/2 oz [70g] confectioner's sugar

9 oz [250g] bread flour 

about 1/4 cup superfine sugar for dusting the cookies

Place the butter, pepper, vanilla bean seeds and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture until creamy for about 1 to 1/2 minutes on low speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the flour and mix on low speed until completely incorporated. 

Divide the dough into half and roll each half into  an 8 -inch log and 1 1/4 to1 1/2 inch using parchment or wax paper. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 40 minutes or freeze in an airtight container for up to 2 months. 

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F. 

Cut each log into 1/2-inch thick rounds. Transfer the cut cookies to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Set each cookie about 1/4-inch apart. 

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the edges just start to get golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately dust the cookies with sugar and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Once the shortbread is cooled completley, shake to remove any excess sugar and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.