Co-Cooking

Photo by: http://virginiaparrott.com/

I had the unparalleled pleasure to co-cook for the first time last week with my friend Michael Stein. Michael is a techy, a fiddle player and a great cook. Usually people have the good sense to stand behind the bar with a glass of wine when I'm in the kitchen but of course one must expect something else when it comes to cooks present.

Michael and Doria brought over ingredients for Tadke Ladkes - an indian twist on potatoe ladkes. We also had braised chicken thighs with root vegetables. I always keep lots of indian spices on hand to grind fresh and overdue the tastes. I usually have fresh herbs - even in winter so we had plenty on hand.

The ladkes are made by grating the potatoes with onions, squeezing the moisture out (which we didn't do and wished we had) and mixing in spices to taste: garma marsala, freshly ground cumin, coriander and red pepper. Kosher salt and white pepper to taste. I'm embarassed to say Michael introduced me to spiced oil - olive oil with whole spices : peppercorns, mustard seeds, cumin ... fry up the formed ladkes.

The chicken was browned first with shallots and garlic and then put in a deeper pot with root vegetables, broth, and plenty of white wine. Simmer slowly and add spices toward the end. We used a lot of fresh herbs here - oregano, thyme, and sage. We sort of groped around at the end to push it over the edge and put some healthy dolops of that indian essential ginger-garlic paste.

I thought the results wwere smashing ... and all in a kind of dance with Michael and I at the stove. He said it was every bit as fun as playing music with someone (made me wish I played a musical instrument).