In the Seattle area, at least, this is referred to as Coriander when talking about the seed, and Cilantro when talking about the leaves. You can either reduce or increase confusion by using its Latin name, coriandrum sativum.
The seeds are small and round, about the size of a peppercorn or a BB, and light brown. The leaves are on a thin green stalk (which is chopped up along with the leaves) and brance off in little patterns, roughly roundish, about the size of a penny. The stalk and leaves make a nice garnish, as well.
A small but significant percentage of people can't stand fresh cilantro, to them it appears to have a soapy flavor. This may be a small genetic difference. Before cooking anything with cilantro for someone, make sure they're not one of these unfortunates!
(Adapted from the recipe on a package of Ghirardelli:TM: chocolate chips.)
Mix wet ingredients in own bowl and blend them until they're creamed. I use a hand-mixer, my trusty SunBeam that's lasted well over a decade now.
Mix dry ingredients in another bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet bowl, about a third at a time, and blend them together, I just the mixer for this as well. Knead in the chocolate chips by hand. Roll dough into balls, and either bake them or freeze them for baking later.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place them onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving room for them to expand. Press them down with the palm of your hand to make rounds, and then bake them until they're done, about 8 to 10 minutes, longer if you want them really crispy. Using a spatula, put them onto plates to cool.
Roll into balls and put onto cookie sheet, so that they're not touching. Freeze for a couple of hours, until they're frozen through. Take off cookie sheet and put into ziplock freezer bags or some sort of tupperware container, and return them to the freezer. I used to make serving-size bags of 4 to 6, so I could just grab a bag out of the freezer, but nowadays I just fill one bag or container full, which is both more flexible and has less bag waste.
When you want to bake them, start the oven preheating to 375°F and take out as many cookies as you want to make. Place them on a cookie sheet to thaw, leaving enough room for them to expand during baking. When they're thawed and the oven is preheated, squish them down with your palm into rounds and bake them until they're done, about 8 to 10 minutes, longer if you want them crispy.
Of course, I usually bake some immediately, and just freeze the rest.
After mixing, and while rolling them into balls, your hands can get really sticky. Sometimes it's worth the time to wash and dry your hands after you knead in the chocolate chips, or in the middle of the rolling, it makes the remainder of the rolling go a bit faster and easier. I've also tried using food-grade vinyl gloves, but that didn't really work well at all.
I've used 2, 3, and 4 cups of chocolate chips. With four cups, the cookies barely hold together, but they're very tasty and chocolatey. They're still really tasty with just two cups, that's about the minimum to be a _real_ chocolate chip cookie in my book. I use Ghirardelli:TM: semi-sweet chocolate chips, they're quite good. I've tried cheaper chips, and it makes a definite difference in the cookies!
Some people, being raving lunatics, would ruin this recipe by putting in one cup of walnuts in the "add the chocolate chips" stage.
The first dish I tried out of The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking was Shredded Cabbage With Green Peas, on page 201 in my copy.
Here is the recipe as it was in the book:
Combine the caraway seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cloves and cardamom seeds in a spice mill or mortar and grind to a powder. Set aside.
Heat the ghee or butter in a large, heavy casserole over moderately high heat. When it is hot, add the tomatoes, half of the powdered spices, and the turmeric and cayenne or paprika, and cook, stirring often, until the puree is reduced to a thick sauce. Add the cabbage and stir until it glistens. Cover and reduce the heat to low, or place in a preheated 325 degF (160 degC) oven, and cook for 15 minutes.
Add the fresh peas, stir and continue to cook for 15-30 minutes, stirring once or twice to check the liquid. If the dish becomes dry, add 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) of water. Add frozen peas only in the last 2-3 minutes, along with the fresh herbs, salt and remaining powdered spices. Toss to mix.
And here is what I actually did:
I used half a stick of butter instead of the ghee, since I didn't have any. I'll have to make a batch of ghee soon, so I have it available.
The spice mix I ground up with a mortar and pestle. I've used the mortar and pestle before, but I decided rather quickly that if I was going to grind this many seeds up regularly, I was going to have to get a spice grinder. I'm planning on picking up one of the cheap coffee blade grinders, which should be perfect for spices.
I used a pound of sugar snap peas in pods for the peas, and paprika for the red spice. I also added some water (maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 cup) early on, as it seemed a bit dry, that seemed to be just the right amount of liquid at the end.
Upon adding the peas, I kept the pan covered, which seemed to be the correct thing to do, though I suppose I could have just kept adding water.
And the result? Delicious. Not really spicy, but a lot of flavor. Well, I thought it was delicious, Carol thought there was too much cardamom. We ate it with some African Peanut Soup and a bit of a leftover chicken pasta dish, I think it would also go really well over rice.
We'd been talking for awhile about spending a month or so trying out a new cuisine. We'd finally settled on Indian (in general, not focusing on any of the regions in particular). The first cookbook we picked up (at Powell's, on a trip to Portland to see Ben's art show) was The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, by Yamuna Devi.
It's based on Vaishnava cooking traditions, according to the introduction. It's quite an interesting cookbook, in addition to being vegetarian there also doesn't appear to be any onion or garlic.
As part of the reason for diving headfirst into a new cuisine was to learn new techniques, ingredients, and tastes, this book seems to fit the bill admirably.
It's also quite enjoyable reading, the recipes are proceeded by text that sometimes tells a short story, and other times gives advice on presentation or accompaniments.
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