Kichuri

Eastside Road, —

I TOLD YOU A WHILE BACK about orange and onion salad; here's a closer look. Yes, best we think with blood oranges. Lindsey always gravitates toward yellow onions; I prefer the red ones. It's just one of those things. These were yellow. Good olive oil, of course. White tarragon-flavored vinegar.

The main dish followed, prepared from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, which should be a staple in every kitchen bookcase. Deborah's an old friend, an intelligent and good-hearted and funny and ethical woman anyone would love to sit and sup with, and a first-rate writer, and a cook whose enthusiasm for people's cooking of many cultures is only rivalled by her absolute respect for the humane values such cooking expresses.
I guess Lindsey pretty much followed the recipe: yellow split peas and rice soaked separately, then drained; oil heated in a skillet, cumin seeds warmed in it; the peas and rice added and tossed; then chopped cilantro, turmeric, and Garam Masala added along with water and salt; the whole brought to boil, then simmered until it's all soft and slubbery, at which point you let it stand off the heat to steam a bit.

Deb stipulates an onion relish to garnish the dish: sliced (raw) onion, a little salt, lemon juice, paprika, cayenne, and chopped cilantro. Boy, what a fine dish.

Sauvignon blanc, Viñas Chilenas, 2009 (a little spritzig tonight: malolactic? Is Spring on the way?)