Each Little World

A taste of Nepal (and elsewhere)

Mark arrived home from the grocery store late Friday morning just in time to beat the snow storm. He then spent the afternoon cooking spicy Nepalese dishes which he proceeded to serve in courses spread out over a couple of hours. He cooked, we ate, we read by the fire and then he cooked some more.

Strange as it may seem, Madison has a wealth of fabulous Nepalese restaurants. We've been going to the grandmother of them all, Himal Chuli, for more than twenty years. We finally decided we needed to learn how to cook some of our favorite dishes at home, which is how Mark wound up buying Taste of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak.

We began our meal with Taareko Alu or Spicy Sauteed Potatoes from that cookbook. Mark had made these before and this time decided to cut them like chunky French fries and to serve them as an hors d'oeuvre with a glass of Guinness Black Lager. They are fabulous and would work well as a starch with any number of grilled or roasted meats.

This was followed by bowls of Dal a la Himal Chuli. There is nothing more comforting, more warming, more sustaining than Himal's Dal. We'd tried to replicate it at home without much success. I decided to look on-line to see if the restaurant had ever published the recipe; no such luck. But local blogger Jessie Bluejay experimented until she came up with her own recipe to recreate Himal Chuli's Dal at home.

We tried it and thought it was a match. This time Mark served us leftover Dal that we had frozen when we made it after discovering Bluejay's recipe not long ago. De-frosted, and heated up, it still held up quite well both in texture and flavor. Mark served the Dal with Capital Brewery's Winter Skal. We emptied our bowls before I thought to have Mark snap a photo.

(Note that Bluejay's recipe has a couple of visual glitches in it; they appear to be related to accent marks and do not affect the recipe itself or ingredient amounts).

The Dal was followed by Tsak Sha Momos or Tibetan Beef Dumplings, a recipe that appeared in the New York Times not long ago. Momos are a staple at Himal Chuli and these were close enough to their version to satisfy us. Mark served them with Potosi Brewery's Cave Ale and a No Cook Tomato Chutney from the Taste of Nepal cookbook, similar to the way they are presented at Himal. The Tibetan Hot Sauce in the NYTimes sounded too hot for the subtle flavor of Momos. 

He was going to also make a stir-fried Ramechhap-style cabbage (from Taste of Nepal), but we ate so many potatoes that we decided to forego that dish.

Huma Siddiqui is a native of Pakistan who has lived in Wisconsin for quite a number of years. She's well-known locally for her televised cooking show, spice blends, and her evocative book, "Jasmine in her Hair." Part-memoir, part-cookbook, this little volume focuses on "culture and cuisine from Pakistan." It is a touching family saga filled with fabulous recipes.

Here you can find more versions of Dal, as well as a recipe for Saag Aloo (spinach with potatoes), one of Mark's favorite dishes from Himal Chuli; though they add black-eyed peas. And Huma also has a recipe for Samosas: pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes. Huma deep-fries hers while they are baked at Himal Chuli. Either way, another great dish winter or summer.

Here's a little video of Huma cooking. Having worked as her assistant during some of the cooking classes she taught at Orange Tree Imports, I want to point out that — though you can't tell from this video — Huma is always wearing heels and never wears an apron. You will also notice that she never seems rushed or tense when she cooks. Being in a kitchen with Huma is an almost meditative experience. If you live in Dane County, consider taking one of her classes or sitting in on the TV tapings. At the very least you will want to add her lovely book to your cooking library.

 

Editor's note: Just caught up with last week's edition of Isthmus where I read that Himal Chuli was the first Nepali restaurant in the country when it opened in Madison in 1986.

Another snowy weekend

I don't think any of us really believed the mid-week weather forecast that predicted a big snowstorm for Madison and environs on Friday. But by about 11 a.m. yesterday morning, it was snowing steadily, if lightly. It didn't take long for the storm to get serious. Wet, heavy snow started to come down quickly and to stick to everything it touched: wires, roads and walkways and every tree and shrub were soon coated.

It was so gorgeous we kept running to different windows for different views. While many of our trees and shrubs were bowed down under the weight of the snow, nothing looked like it might turn into the garden crisis that resulted from a similar storm in 2009.

We took photos, ate in front of the fire and then went out after dinner to clear the driveway. When we were done with that chore, we threw a few snowballs at each other and toured the garden by snowlight and faint moonlight.

These photos show the drape and droop of the trees, except for the last picture which shows the geometric patterns made by shards of snow falling off the roof and onto the deck. Hard to reconcile the sticky snow on all the vertical surfaces and the crisp design on the horizontal deck.

Good-bye snowdrops. Hello snow!

Early last evening it started to snow: huge fluffy flakes that immediately stuck to everything they touched. It's wasn't long before it was the proverbial winter wonderland in the garden. I kept turning on the deck lights so I could enjoy the view. We got about 3.6 inches of snow, which may be the biggest storm of this very quiet winter. Here are a few shots of what it looks like this morning. At the moment, big clumps of snow are falling from the highest trees, knocking snow off the middle layer on its way down. 

Recall weather

I went for a walk today as I've been doing every day for the past week. The pavement was dry, the sun was out and the temperature was 52 degrees (Fahrenheit). So far it's pretty much been the winter that wasn't. We've only had a little over four inches of snow, compared to our typical amount of 20 inches by this point in the season.

My Thanksgiving Hellebore from the late Seneca Hill Perennials is blooming and my earliest daylily is sending up green spears. Because we haven't had extremely cold temps with this lack of snow cover, I think most things in my garden will be OK. I actually cut a foliage bouquet this afternoon of Hellebores, Arum italicum, Epimediums, Autum fern and a couple of small branches of Gentsch White hemlock.

The other day I took a break from my walk to introduce myself (and Mark — that's his shadow) to a neighbor who's been taking advantage of the nice weather to sit at the end of his driveway and get recall signatures. Ray Coleman (below) lives just around the corner from us and he's set up a signing station that's had a big spurt in drive-by signatures these last few days. 

Ray and his friends (below) are just a few of the thousands of Wisconsinites who've used the mostly warm and dry weather we've been experiencing for the last two months (the recall drive began on Nov. 15) to be out and about in their communities gathering signatures on the petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker. The deadline for signing is Friday and our first real snow storm is scheduled to start sometime tonight.

The timing is just about perfect. Ray said he thought about just shoveling out his driveway and continuing his recall vigil until the weather forecasters began to talk about the 30 mile an hour winds and blowing snow. To say nothing of the 30 degree drop in temperatures compared to what we've been enjoying.

So he'll be turning in his petitions, but if you still need to sign, you can do so at the locations mentioned here. This site lists all the recall headquarters around the state; locally look for the Dane County east and west offices. You can also sign the petition (and turn in any signatures you've gathered) at the United Wisconsin locations here.

A transitional week

On Monday, Mark and I were outdoors working in the garden in shirt sleeves for much of the day. I took a break to enjoy my mini maples which had finally colored up.

On Tuesday the temperature dropped but it finally rained . . . 

and the paperbark maple tree just off the deck exploded into its fiery red fall color. Most years it does this at the same time the nearby Pagoda dogwood, Japanese maple and Fothergilla are peaking, giving us a spectacular show. This year all of them turned color in succession.

Despite the wind and rain, we still had lots of bright leaves on the trees when the rain turned to snow on Wednesday.

Now, here it is the weekend and it's back to work outdoors with hoodies again the order of the day.

Still waiting for warm weather

Spring in Wisconsin just does not want to stay. We've been teased by a warm day here and there but they quickly disappear. We're left with below normal temperatures and all kinds of weather patterns except warm sunny days. On Tuesday of this week — April 19 — we woke to light snow (first image below) and ended the day with a trio of new weather records, according to Bill Novak of The Capital Times newspaper:

• The National Weather Service noted 1.13 inches of precipitation (rain plus snow converted to liquid) fell, breaking the old record of 0.93 inches set in 1993.

• The precipitation included 1.3 inches of icy snow (below), which broke the 1953 record of 0.03 inches of snow for this date.

• We also set a record for the coldest high temperature (got that?) for April 19 of 36 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the prior record of 38 degrees F. set in 1928.

I mention all of this to explain why there haven't been many posts this week. I am indoors waiting for it to be warm enough to plant my first shipment of plants which arrived around April 14. They are living in the front hall where it is cool but cluttered with garden clogs and a bench for sitting down when we change muddy garden gear for indoor clothes and shoes.

These three Hepatics and an Arum are all growing rapidly despite their tiny pots. They need to be moved outdoors into their new homes. This morning the temp when we went for coffee was about 40 degrees F. so I am hoping that tomorrow the ground will be dry enough to dig and the temps warm enough to keep my tiny transplants from suffering shock.

I am not the only one waiting for Spring. According to the Wisconsin Ag Statistical Service only 6 percent of the state's spring tillage work had been completed by Tuesday, compared with more then 36 percent of the field work completed by this same time last year when we were all enjoying an early Spring.

Early April

My birthday falls in early April, so I long ago got used to bad weather — cold, snow, icy rain — as the sign that April and my special day had arrived. Today was classic: a cold and gray morning gave way to fat white flakes that turned into snow showers. There was only one thing to do as far as I was concerned: spend the day in the kitchen.

By ten a.m. I had made a triple batch of granola (first time in 30+ years) and blintzes. I filled a dozen homemade crepes with ricotta cheese flavored with honey, cardamon, orange rind and a dash of nutmeg. Hadn't made the blintzes in years either, so as soon as they were filled I warmed a couple of them in melted butter and ate them topped them with wild blueberry jam with limoncello (by Bittersweet Herb Farm available at Orange Tree). 

Then I moved on to Italian pot roast (Oprah at Home, Fall 2004) which slowly cooked on the stove all afternoon. I served it with pappardelle noodles and green beans sauteed with olive oil and lots of garlic. My sister-in-law brought a luscious little chocolate raspberry cake from Whole Foods which was a perfect end to the meal — and the day.

While I was in the kitchen, you can see that Mark was outdoors with the camera. The white crocus are the aptly named 'Snow Bunting."

Snow on snow

HE SAID:

While I had my coffee this morning at EVP it started snowing again. I stopped and took a couple of shots of Glenway Golf Course on my way home. Just when you think you've had enough of the white stuff it seduces once again with its simple purity.

Wicked weather

As long as we've lived in this house, I never remember a snowstorm like yesterday's. The wind was so strong that you could constantly hear it — over music, above TV, interrupting reading concentration. Made me think of the train sound that is your fatal warning that a tornado is about to blow you away. No idea how deep the drifts will prove to be once we go outside. 

No buses or cars on the road; school, city government and most everything else shut down; Madison and Milwaukee airports closed — wreacking havoc on Packers fans with Super Bowl tickets. Meanwhile, we are luxuriating in retirement; don't have to go anywhere or do anything except clear the driveway, a chore we are putting off a little while longer.

Pedestrians on Frances St. in Madison on Tuesday night. Photo by Craig Schreiner/Wisconsin State Journal.

Snow date

Four months to the day since our snow season began with a record-breaking storm on Dec. 8, 2009. Judging by the view of the garden this morning, it ain't over yet. Mark took a quick tour with the camera to mark the moment. 

 

For those of you interested in such things, the plants are: Dryopteris odontoloma fern, Lilium martagon buds with one of last summer's stems, Paeonia japonica, Hosta, Bergenia (If past years are any indicator, the rabbits will eat these before they actually bloom), Trillium sessile, Muscari latifolium, yellow primrose from the grocery store planted many years ago, Pulmonaria 'David Ward' with its apple green leaves, Hellebous orientalis Blackthorn strain. The primroses probably are done for, but since almost everything else is still in the bud stage, they will easily weather this little April setback.