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Indian food is one of the most-craved ethnic cuisines, and every time I end up at an Indian restaurant, I have to fight hard to avoid ordering my very favorite dish, malai kofta.
Malai kofta are vegetable dumplings served in a rich, spicy, creamy sauce. The sauce is either very similar to or identical to korma, a nutty, cream-based gravy.
But Indian food can be very time-consuming to make from scratch. It can also be quite expensive, considering that several of the standard spices, like saffron, cardamom and curry, are among the pricier ones you can buy.
Imagine my delight, then, when I was shopping at World Market in D.C. recently and came across some delicious jarred Indian sauces, including korma and tikka masala. The sauces are made by Shere Khan, an England-based restaurant. They sold for $5 per jar at my favorite store on earth (can we get a World Market here?).

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Blog reader Helen saw the chiles rellenos recipes in this past Wednesday's Extra section, but she has pointed out that the recipe calls for charring peppers, which she's not sure how to do. This was an oversight on my part-- I should have included some quick instructions on charring peppers for those who have never done it before.
It's pretty easy, Helen. Here's what I've done:
Get your grill going on a high heat. Wash the peppers, but otherwise leave them whole. Pretty much any larger pepper you want to use is fine. Varieties like bell peppers or Anaheims or poblanos work very well. Place the peppers on the grill and grill them, turning slowly, until they become charred (black) on the outside. Then place them in a paper bag or a dish covered with plastic wrap. Let them sit and steam until they are tender and cool enough to touch.
After that, it should be fairly easy to peel the skin off. You may not be able to get all of the skin off, but you should be able to slip off most of it. After that, proceed with your recipe!
As always, if any readers have additional tips or disagree with something I've said, feel free to chime in and help our friend Helen.

I did pretty much nothing useful all weekend except cook and eat. Oh, I cleaned a little house, too. Then I washed my hands and went back to cooking.
In response to our discussion last week about making homemade tomato sauce, I decided to whip up a big spaghetti dinner last night to see if it would change my opinion in any way about spaghetti.
That's right, I am actually not a big fan of spaghetti. That drives my husband nuts because it's such a quick and easy go-to meal, especially on a week night when we both get home late from work. I don't know why I have such an aversion to it. I love manicotti, lasagna, ravioli, fettucini alfredo and a few other Italian dishes. Baked ziti or baked spaghetti is pretty good, too.
But spaghetti...just doesn't get me excited.
However, yesterday I started cooking at about 3 p.m.
In front of me, I had a Betty Crocker recipe for homemade meatballs and a few cobbled-together instructions for tomato sauce, which I stubbornly planned to make mostly freestyle, or without a recipe.
I started by blanching and peeling about 3 pounds of tomatoes, then cutting out the stem end. I then threw the tomatoes in a big bowl and crushed them up with my hands. The soft, squishy feel of them between my fingers was almost therapeutic.
I then sauteed a medium, diced Vidalia onion and four thinly sliced cloves of garlic in 1/4 cup of good olive oil. When they were lightly brown, I added about 2 Tbsp. fresh, chopped basil and 1 Tbsp. dried thyme. After that, I dumped in the tomatoes, a small handful of kosher salt, a little pepper, and two tablespoons of real butter.
As I said the other day, the thought of butter in tomato sauce really intrigues me. So, yes, I went whole hog and used both olive oil AND butter.

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Adam Roberts, The Amateur Gourmet, has a new book that I started reading last night. The book, which is so far quite humorous and well-written, makes me feel exceptionally knowledgable about food during some chapters and sadly ignorant during others.
For example, the one recipe that Adam says beginning cooks should be able to master first is one that I have admittedly never even attempted. There, I said it. I have never been compelled to try tomato sauce from scratch-- until now.
The first recipe that Adam offers really got my mouth watering-- it consists very simply of a can of tomatoes, a tablespoon of butter and half an onion. The second comes from Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook and calls for extra-virgin olive oil, Spanish onion, garlic, dried or fresh thyme, grated carrot, peeled tomatoes and kosher salt.
Still pretty simple, don't you think?

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Six months ago, I probably would never have considered brining a cut of meat in my own home, but it's funny how research and a little advice will up the comfort level considerably.
After talking with Hotel Roanoke chef Billie Raper for my corned beef article on St. Patty's Day, I was fascinated by the brining process. So when I ran across a wonderful-looking recipe for a pork loin that is brined before it is grilled, then topped with blackberry-wine sauce, I dove right in.
The result was so unbelievably flavorful- even without the sauce- that I'm now on the search for something else to brine. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

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