Very fresh eggs from American Masala Farm

Posted on Jan 9, 2010 in Hiroko's Blog

Suvir and Charlie keep over one hundred chickens at their place, American Masala Farm up in Hebron, NY.  Brown ones, spotted ones, snow white ones, sleek black ones and one with an impressive hairdo.  They are beautiful creature.  Each variety lays eggs in different size, shape and color.  It is said that the average chicken can lay 300 eggs a year.  On my recent visit to the farm Suvir made me a breakfast with a sunny side up from an egg that had just been collected.  Look...

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The best way to enjoy vegetables

Posted on Sep 1, 2009 in Recipes

I enjoy vegetable tempura from time to time…My friend, Suvir Saran (a charming, skilled and successful chef, consultant and cookbook author), told me that his experiences eating tempura at Japanese restaurants have not been satisfactory.  He has found that the dough is…. too thick, heavy, not crisp and the taste is oily.  So, I prepared for him proper summer vegetable tempura using beets, zucchini, carrot, mushroom and zucchini flower.  My tempura was light and...

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Hiyashi chuka-soba (summer time chilled ramen noodle)

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 in Recipes

When the hot and sticky summer approaches, Chinese-style restaurants across Japan begin to carry on their menus a special summer ramen noodle dish called hiyashi chuka-soba.   The noodles are served cold with various toppings, and bathed in a refreshing sauce flavored with rice vinegar and sesame oil.  This is one of the dishes which I taught at Battenkill Cooking School in Salem, NY, last Saturday, and everyone LOVE IT! Topping can be all vegetables or vegetables with...

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