(upbeat music) - [Sara] "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by Sunsweet, Mutti Tomatoes of Parma, Le Gruyere AOP from Switzerland and by... (inspiring music) - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was started when I was a child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta and now I transmit it to all the guests in something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(upbeat music) - Sometimes two is just better than one, especially if you can cook with a friend, like Indian food expert Maya Kaimal and especially when she can make a meal stretch over two nights.

Tell us, do share!

- [Maya] We're making turkey keema with sweet potatoes, it's one of the most comforting dishes in India.

This is a ground meat curry.

- And on night two, (upbeat music continues) the keema morphs into stuffed peppers.

So, we are geniuses.

On "Ask Sara", our viewer has a spice problem.

Kathy, you are out of control, that's quite clear.

(Kathy laughing) We have to do a little intervention here.

Later, so nice, we did it twice.

Saute'd duck breasts are first a main course, then they fill Peking duck wraps, a magic trick.

To cook once, eat twice.

- Mm.

(upbeat music continues) - That's today on "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(upbeat music) Maya Kaimal grew up in a home steeped in Indian flavors.

The daughter of a New Englander and a food loving physicist from South India.

As an adult she traveled there to learn about the food from aunties and cousins.

Eventually she quit her job at "Saveur Magazine" to create a line of spices and sauces to help busy moms like herself (upbeat music continues) and Maya has a new cookbook out called "Indian Flavor Every Day" which is so perfect for weeknight meals, I'm so excited to cook from it.

So, thank you Maya for coming.

- Oh, thanks for having me.

- And we're gonna be cooking from this book and we're gonna make one dish and then we're gonna repurpose it several days later into a second dish.

- Yes.

- So tell me, what are we making?

- We're making turkey keema with sweet potatoes.

- Okay.

- This is a ground meat curry, it's one of the most comforting dishes in India, it's something my father used to make as I was growing up and it is extremely versatile and we are gonna start by sauteing our onions.

These are gonna take a while- - Okay.

- So, we're gonna start with some oil- - [Sara] And we have- - Just a nice neutral oil.

A little heat in there- - Oh, yeah, okay, and this is, I think, roughly four cups of onions.

- [Maya] Yep.

- Chopped, medium chopped.

- Medium chopped, we're gonna turn the heat to medium-high and let those get a little bit browned.

You want the color on them (onions sizzling) 'cause that's gonna add some nice color to the dish.

- And we're making a double batch of the recipe that's in the book because we're gonna turn it into something else afterwards.

- Exactly, yes.

- So, you want me to start working on the garlic?

- I do, can you do two cloves of garlic?

- [Sara] Yes.

- Minced up and I'll do the ginger.

You might notice I'm not actually going to peel my ginger.

- What?

What?

- Ah, shocking!

- Oh, my goodness!

- I know.

Just going to slice it really thin, but because this ginger is, you know- - [Sara] Fresh.

- Yeah, fresh, it's got that smooth skin on it, right?

- Mm-hm.

- So, I just chop it right up, a lot of Indians do, don't- - Really?

- Really notice in the end (hand smacking) because there's so much going on in the dish- - Hey, it's probably fiber, let's think of it that way.

- There you go, yeah, every time.

- So, ginger and garlic are used in a lot of dishes?

(upbeat music) - [Maya] They're used in as a foundation to most Indian curries.

- [Sara] So, would you call this the mirepoix?

- You could do that- - Okay.

- [Maya] But it's gonna really give that nice deep notes to the curry combined with your onion.

- Okay.

- [Maya] All right, these look great, so- - They do.

- [Maya] I think we're ready to add our aromatics.

- [Sara] Should I- - Gonna add your garlic.

- [Sara] Those were huge cloves, but I don't care.

- Who doesn't like garlic?

Oh, thank you.

- Woo!

Do this so goes- - All right, ginger- - [Sara] Ginger - And our green chilies.

- [Sara] So, you just wanna cook that briefly?

- Just about a minute to get the kind of aroma.

- I'm smelling it.

- Yep, Mm-hm.

- I'm smelling it.

- [Maya] Now we're ready to add our ground turkey.

- [Sara] Okay.

(upbeat music continues) - [Maya] So, we're using turkey, obviously, but you could use lamb or beef.

You could also use a plant-based meat substitute, as well.

- So, now we're gonna cook- - Brown this a little bit, yeah.

- And we're gonna brown that until?

- Until we don't have the pink color- - [Sara] Color?

- Anymore.

So, it's gonna just take a couple of minutes.

- [Sara] And we've got about two pounds of ground turkey in there.

- That's right.

- Okay, so let's talk about these spices.

- About them- - Tell me what we've got?

- Okay, so these are the masala of the dish.

The ground- - Masala means?

- Means ground spices or mixed spices.

We are using coriander, that's the dominant one here.

- Mm-hm.

- Then we have cumin, which is sort of the support, these are the sort of base notes of the dish.

- Okay.

- Then we have cayenne- - [Sara] Wow, that's a lot of cayenne.

Okay.

(imitating sobbing) - If you're not, it will be in balance- - Okay.

- And then your black pepper, we have turmeric, cinnamon, and clove.

- Okay.

(turkey sizzling) - So, I think we're just about ready to add our ground spices.

- Do I dare?

- Go for it.

- [Sara] Okay, here.

- Just, yep, just dump in, yeah, yeah.

- I'm ceremoniously, boink.

Okay.

- All right, beautiful.

- Now talk to us a little bit about turmeric, 'cause I know it's a big- - Sure, yeah.

- It spice.

- Yeah, so yeah, it's kind of the breakout star of Indian spices, (laughing) you know?

- It's got its TikTok moment right now.

- (laughing) It does.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, because it does have amazing properties to it.

- [Sara] Mm-hm, yeah.

- You know, it's an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial.

- Do we add salt at this point?

- Right, now, yes, now we need a teaspoon of salt.

- [Sara] I'll do two of these.

- It doesn't have a really lovely flavor on its own, it's a little acrid, it's a little bitter, it's one of the supporting flavors.

- [Sara] Okay, so what's next?

- So, we're gonna put in our sweet potatoes and tomatoes.

So, we have some beautifully diced up sweet potatoes, about four cups here and about two cups of diced tomatoes.

- Supposing you're a sweet potato hater?

- Regular potatoes, Yukon Gold, those would work fine, yeah.

- Okay.

- This one's actually, this is not traditional.

I added the sweet potatoes 'cause I like them.

(dishes clinking) - Well, so there.

- So... (laughing) - Yeah.

- Now let's add some water.

- [Sara] Okay, you'll tell me when.

- [Maya] Maybe start with about half of that.

- And you're not adding- - Yeah, that's good.

- Like chicken broth or anything, just water?

- No, you know, Indian food does not need stock.

Like, stock actually kinda muddies the flavor, I find.

This looks great, I think we're ready to let it simmer, about 25 minutes.

- Okay.

Well, there's other things we can do, right?

While it's cooking.

- Yeah, let's make our raita.

- [Sara] Raita.

(upbeat music) So, what do we need here?

- Okay, we need our yogurt and our cucumbers, we're gonna need some mint.

- Okay, and now what have you done to the cucumbers already?

- So, we've grated it coarsely and we didn't salt it, we just let it drain.

- I'm interested that you didn't salt it.

How come?

(upbeat music continues) - So, I don't wanna lose all the water, I want some of the moisture because I like the raita to have a little looseness to it.

- That's about the right texture?

- That is great, so- - Okay, and I know you need some other- - We need a couple spices.

Yes, we need a 1/4 teaspoon of cumin and then a pinch of cayenne, please.

1/2 teaspoon of salt would be great.

- Okay.

(upbeat music continues) - [Maya] So, we need about a 1/4 cup of chopped up mint- - [Sara] Okay, okay.

- And then save a little to garnish on the top.

- So, part of the reason that you serve raita, although you did put cayenne in there- - Again, it's like that hot-sour-salt thing, right?

- Got it.

- It's gonna- - Gotta have it everywhere.

- You've got to find the right balances there.

- But we can point out that dairy does a really good job- - Yes.

- Of taming heat.

- It's true, yes.

- Yeah- - It will, even- - So, that's why you often have this yogurt dish with something that's very spicy.

- Mm-hm, yep- - Mm!

- It'll calm your palate right down.

- Mm, mm.

- Yep.

- Oh, I love the mint in there.

- Mm, yeah.

- That is so good.

- [Maya] Okay.

I think it should be done.

That looks great.

- How can you tell?

It just looks yummy.

- Yeah, it just did, the smell, the look, it's the sauce- - Thickened, yeah.

- Is rich with the color, yeah.

- So, is that it or is there more?

- No, we gotta add some peas, some formerly frozen peas.

- [Sara] You know what I've always loved about a good recipe- - Hmm?

- [Sara] But I love different flavors, different textures- - Yeah.

- [Sara] Different colors.

- Yeah.

- And that's what you're doing here.

- Yeah, you're getting a lot, Indian food has that layered flavor experience, right?

- Yes.

Now how many peas were those?

- [Maya] That was about two cups of peas.

The last finishing touch is, we're gonna put in a little lemon.

So, about a teaspoon should do it, or actually, wait, (upbeat music) this is a double recipe, two teaspoons, and some chopped cilantro.

- And if somebody hates it?

- (laughing) Yeah, skip it.

- Just skip it.

- Just skip it, yeah.

- [Sara] Well they don't, it's not their fault they've got the anti-cilantro gene, they were born with it.

So, that's exciting- - Just, right- - I think we need to taste it.

- Mm-hm!

- [Sara] And we've got some rice.

- [Maya] Okay, yes.

- Oh, I love the smell of this, here, give, if you hand me that plate I'll do it.

- Of course.

- I just love basmati.

- Mm, I know, right?

It just has such an amazing aroma.

More of the raita, put it down.

(upbeat music continues) - [Sara] The whole nine yards, okay.

- All right.

- So, here we go, here's your work.

- Mm-hm.

- Okay, I love it.

(upbeat music continues) So, you get a little bit of everything every bite.

- Yeah, a little bit of everything, that's how us Indians like to do it.

- Mm!

- Love that.

- Mm, mm.

(upbeat music continues) It's interesting how the spices keep happening.

- [Maya] It sorta builds.

- Okay, that's one down- - All right.

- And one to go!

- One more, oh.

- Okay.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) Okay, pretend it's three days later, I'm still here, well, let's say, we haven't seen each other in three days, with Maya Kaimal (Maya laughing) and we are gonna do dinner, too, with our wonderful keema.

What are we gonna turn our leftovers into?

- Mm, yes, we are making stuffed peppers with a keema and rice filling.

- Okay, so I put, this is half of the recipe, the other half we already consumed- - Mm-hm.

(keema sizzling) - And we're heating it up with about a cup of leftover basmati.

- Mm-hm, yeah, you could use any rice, but basmati is really nice, of course.

- Okay, now I'm curious, we're heating it up before we put it in the peppers and why is that?

- Yeah, it will cook faster in the oven, we can just shorten our oven time so that the cheese melts and the whole thing warms up in the same amount of time.

- Okay, since we're gonna get this all set up, I'm gonna pour us a little rose', don't you think that would be nice?

- I think that would be lovely.

Love rose'.

(upbeat music) - [Sara] 'Cause, you know, it's got a little bit of fruit and it's always nice when you have something spicy- - [Maya] Yeah.

- To have a tiny hint of fruit to counterbalance.

- Let's do this.

(upbeat music continues) All right, and now we'll- - [Sara] So, now we're gonna pile it, right?

- [Maya] Yeah, sure, otherwise we're gonna have more leftovers.

(both laughing) - [Sara] You know, this would also be good with eggs.

- [Maya] That would be good.

- [Sara] Throw this into scrambled eggs- - Mm, yeah.

- Or a frittata!

A keema frittata!

- Oh, that's good.

(laughing) We're topping it with some mozzarella cheese to make it extra- - [Sara] But you could use any cheese, right?

- [Maya] Any cheese, yeah, mozzarella, cheddar.

We pre-baked these for about 10 minutes- - Okay.

- The peppers at 400 because you want them softened a little bit, otherwise, yeah, they'll be a little firm.

- That looks delicious.

- [Maya] This bakes for 20 minutes.

Okay.

- Okay, well, let me get our vino and let's go take a little walk.

- Yeah.

(upbeat music continues) - So, what do you make for dinner?

- (laughing) Well, I usually default to something international.

It could be Indian with a simmer sauce, Mexican food sometimes 'cause it can go vegan or not, it could be Thai food using a curry paste.

You know, we have pasta a lot of times, too, so- - You know, I think we should go have a little check.

- Yeah, all right.

- So, what do you think of my garden, huh?

- I know, it's so beautiful.

- Yeah, I particularly love the lavender, it's very aromatic.

- Really nice, yeah.

- [Sara] Wow, that looks so good.

- [Maya] There we go.

- Just gorgeous, yeah.

- Yeah, start with one and we can always have another thing.

(chuckling) - Yeah, we can.

So, I'm just gonna do a little bit of lettuce.

- [Maya] Yeah.

(upbeat music continues) - [Sara] A little cilantro.

- Cilantro on it.

- All right, so let's go dine alfresco, don't you think?

- (laughing) That's great.

- [Sara] Grab one.

- Okay.

- So, we are geniuses.

- Yes, mm.

- Here is dinner #1 with our keema, our rice and our raita, and then we repositioned it into dinner #2.

- [Maya] Voila.

(laughing) - Which we must taste.

I'm so excited.

- Let's dive in.

- [Sara] Oh, and the pepper's perfectly cooked.

- Ah, how about that?

- [Sara] That pre-cook- - Nailed it.

- [Sara] Worked out well, yeah.

- Mm, mm.

(upbeat music continues) Mm, mm.

(chuckling) - The cheese, love it.

- The cheese makes it.

- So many different textures.

- [Maya] Yeah, oh, these peppers are really juicy.

- Well, I think we need to have a toast.

- Mm!

- Yeah.

To cook once, eat twice- - Mm.

- And Maya Kaimal, cheers.

- Cheers to that, (glasses clinking) thanks.

- Thank you, yes, mm.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) A segment we call "Ask Sara" gives me an opportunity to answer your questions, which I really love doing.

So, today we have a wonderful person, Kathy Rowe from Fayetteville, New York.

Kathy, I understand you have quite a spice collection.

What's your question?

- I do, I have a lot of spices.

I have big ones, bags, some that aren't labeled, I'm not even sure what's going on anymore, in jars, so my question to you is, what is the shelf life?

Where should I store them basically and how long can I keep them for?

- Well Kathy, you are out of control, that's quite clear.

(Kathy laughing) We have to do a little intervention here.

I've got quite a few tips that will help you but let's start with how you buy them.

Buy less, buy smaller amounts, both so you go through them more quickly, but also those large jars tend to be sort of stale to begin with, they're just too large.

Dried spices will keep for a year, whole spices will keep for two years.

Now, it's not like they're gonna kill you after that, you're not gonna keel over, but you're just gonna need to use more.

Ground versus whole?

Ground spices are great in a pinch, but if you have the option, like cumin, which you can get both whole and ground, there's a few things you can do to make it even more exciting if you have the time and you sound like a serious cook, so, this one's for you.

Here I've got some cumin that I put in a dry pan, no oil, and I just toasted it over, say medium heat, until the color changed and it started to smell, and even better is to then grind it up.

(grinder whirring) So, then you grind it up in a spice grinder and you won't believe, ooh, it really, it's so aromatic, so wonderful.

So, now let's talk about storing.

I see all your bags and you have 'em all over the place, right?

- It's all over, (laughing) it's bad.

- Okay, so I would go with glass, also try to get the same size jars if you can.

Cool, dark place and ready for this dorky hint?

And this really is gonna change your life, alphabetize them.

- That's a really great idea.

- It was so much fun to talk to you.

- Thank you, I really appreciate it, thank you so much.

- And I hope you all will reach out to me via the website for "Ask Sara", and who knows, maybe you, like Kathy here, will come on and talk with me on the show.

(downbeat music) A tough part of my job is research.

In this case I'm looking for the tastiest Peking duck in New York City.

And where did I find it?

At the Peking Duck House in Chinatown, of course, where I met my friends for lunch.

A perfect inspiration for my version of Peking duck wraps, starting with a base of bistro duck breasts (downbeat music continues) and now I'm gonna focus on duck breast, which is one of my favorite things to eat 'cause it's so easy to cook.

So, I'm gonna make six duck breasts and the first night we're gonna eat them in my bistro duck breast recipe and then on the second night we're gonna turn them into a sandwich, Peking duck wraps.

Now I'm scoring this but you don't wanna go down to the meat 'cause if you do you're gonna lose some of the juice.

We just really wanna get some pockets in the skin and then what happens is more fat will come out 'cause we wanna render most of the fat in the duck.

Cook the duck with the skin, salt and pepper on the skin side, (pepper grinder scraping) put this in the pan skin side down and cook it about 10 minutes, or until the skin is really crispy.

There we go, (duck sizzling) yes, that's the sound I wanna hear.

While this is cooking, (duck sizzling) I'm gonna mince one large shallot and crush two teaspoons of peppercorns for the sauce.

(duck sizzling continues) (downbeat music continues) (rolling pin thumping) Okay, that looks good.

This is something you wanna do at the last minute so that you sort of release their aroma, that's why I never use pre-ground peppercorns.

All right, I think these are looking good.

See how nice and crispy that is?

I'm gonna put 'em meat side down.

(duck sizzling continues) Okay, and I'm gonna pour off almost all of the fat, save a little bit, now I'm gonna turn them the other way around so I can season the meat side.

Seasoning them as we go, it's just gonna make them taste like really delicious duck.

Now, here we go, meat side down.

(duck sizzling) Now, this only takes about another three to four minutes.

(duck sizzling continues) So, I'm gonna add the shallots to this pan and see, there's all those wonderful brown bits in the bottom, meanwhile, I'll take this gang out of the pan and how do you know it's done?

Let me show you.

(duck sizzling continues) You wanna be able to press down and see there, it's a little bit soft, not too soft, that indicates that it's medium-rare, medium, and you wanna make sure to let the duck rest so that the juices redistribute themselves.

In this pan I'm gonna put about a cup of chicken broth.

(upbeat music) So, I'm gonna add a 1/4 cup of red wine to the shallots and then I'm gonna reduce it by half.

To thicken this, I'm gonna need 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch that's been dissolved in two teaspoons of water.

Okay, there we go.

(shallots sizzling) I'm gonna combine the chicken broth now with the shallot mixture.

Okay, now we're gonna finish our sauce in one pan.

Put my peppercorns in, (upbeat music continues) and remember we have our corn starch mixture and then a little bit of mustard.

I love mustard (whisk scraping) and that is basically the sauce except for two special additions.

One of them is the juice that's accumulating here, see all that yummy juice?

(upbeat music continues) This way we're marrying the sauce to the duck and last but not least, we need a little butter, about a tablespoon.

Okay, sauce is done, let it swirl (pan scraping) and let me see, we'll take this guy, has nice dark skin, and I like to turn it this way, skin side down, it's easier to slice.

(upbeat music continues) One of the great things about duck is that it doesn't have the same salmonella issues as chicken, so the proper way to cook it, really, for it to be so tasty and juicy is medium-rare, it will come out absolutely perfect and it's so safe, because we cook the duck with the skin, it's gonna be so moist and tasty.

So, here goes our wonderful sauce and we have some carrots that we cooked in a little butter and water and just glazed a bit and some couscous rounds it out nicely.

So, there we go, (upbeat music) there is bistro duck breast, dinner one.

(upbeat music continues) I have two girlfriends coming over for dinner, Nora and Stephanie, but I'm not worried 'cause I've got some leftover cooked duck breast from the other night.

Cook once, eat twice and here we go, I'm gonna put 'em into Peking duck wraps.

So, I've already got a little bit of garlic, 1/2 a teaspoon, which is 1/2 a garlic clove, and now I'm gonna grate some ginger and we need about a teaspoon of this, and for starts my sauce with ginger and the garlic and then I'm gonna add the hoisin, which you have to put in here.

Now what is hoisin?

It's a unique Chinese ingredient, somewhere in there it has some soybeans, but let's just call it interesting Chinese ketchup.

Okay, so that's three tablespoons of hoisin, three tablespoons of soy sauce, this will all give depth of flavor, a little more interesting than just straight hoisin.

A little bit of cayenne 'cause I like a little bit of heat and then we're gonna add some vinegar.

We've got two teaspoons of vinegar here, two teaspoons of rice vinegar and we're just using the regular rice vinegar, there's seasoned, as well, and that is our dipping sauce.

There we go, now while that simmers, I'm gonna come on down and set up my vegetable salad.

So, here goes three tablespoons of rice vinegar.

(quiet music) This is all that's in the dressing is the rice vinegar, some salt and some chili flakes, which will just give it a nice little sort of crunchy acidity.

Okay, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of these chili guys.

Here we go, I love hot stuff.

All right, (whisk scraping) that's our very complicated dressing there.

Now I'm gonna get my vegetables together.

So, let's start with the scallions (knife crunching) (quiet music continues) and then we need to chop up some jicama, we need about a cup.

It sort of tastes like a water chestnut.

(knife crunching) (quiet music continues) All right, there goes the jicama.

Okay, we need some red bell pepper, about a cup.

(knife clicking) So, there we go, and now, last but not least, some Napa cabbage, we need about two cups of this.

(knife clicking) (quiet music continues) I just about got all my parts ready and I can cut the duck in just a second.

So, this is ready to go, isn't that pretty?

Here I'm gonna get my sauce out, it reduced down a little bit.

We do want it a bit syrupy and that it is, for sure.

Here we go, a little bit of that's gonna be spread on each tortilla.

Okay, it's duck time.

I've had my pan heating, I'm gonna put a little bit of grape seed oil in here and I'm just gonna give 'em a quick sear, salt and pepper and out of the pan.

(duck sizzling) We've sliced these very thin.

(duck sizzling continues) Yeah, looking good.

(duck sizzling continues) (pan thumping) Wow, yum.

(upbeat music) So, there you go, I've got everything I need to assemble these Peking duck wraps.

I've got my duck, we've got our salad, we've got our hoisin sauce and the tortillas are heated and on the table.

Oh hi, ladies!

- Hi.

- How are you?

- Hey.

- I've got everything set if you wanna help me put it on the table?

- Absolutely!

- [Sara] So, there's the duck and put that over there.

- This is beautiful!

- Yeah, it's fun.

You know, we're all gonna make our own and we need to start with a tortilla.

I'm gonna show you how to do it.

- Let me get you one of these.

- Yeah, and this is my cheating pancake.

- Is that it?

(laughing) - Because I'm not about to make pancakes.

Okay, so- - Can I hand you that?

- Yes, and so then the next thing we do, and I'll try not to get it on the tablecloth, is you wanna spread a little bit of the sauce.

This is hoisin and ginger and garlic and hot sauce- - Smells so good.

- [Sara] And soy sauce- - Looks great.

- So, it's both salty and sweet and then we're gonna put a little bit of duck and you know, you could do a Dagwood or you could just do a little dainty one.

(friends laughing) The husband, of course, would do a Dagwood- - Okay.

- [Sara] And then we have our salad and this is jicama and peppers and all sorts of things.

- Mm.

- And then last but not least, if you like cilantro, do you like it?

- I love it.

- I mean, some people hate it.

- I do, too.

- [Sara] You do, too?

Then you just put that there and then you just roll it up and there you go.

- And this doesn't take you very long to make this does it?

- [Sara] No, not at all.

- Mm, this is perfect.

- Mm, they're great.

- So many different flavors- - Mm-hm.

- Yeah.

- And their crunch and the sweetness, I love it.

- That's always my goal.

So ladies, thanks so much for joining me today.

- Mm, mm-hm.

- Want some more and more.

- Oh, more and more.

- Mm, the cilantro.

- Mm-hm, mm.

- Mm-hm.

- It is messy, actually almost there.

For recipes, videos and more, (upbeat music continues) go to our website, saramoulton.com.

"Sara's Weeknight Meals" (upbeat music) is made possible by Sunsweet, Mutti Tomatoes of Parma, Le Gruyere AOP from Switzerland and by- (inspiring music) - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was started when I was a child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta and now I transmit it to all the guests in something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(upbeat classical piano music) (inspirational music) (quiet music)