The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 89

The Orlando Sentinel, Thursday, October 23, 1997 H-7 For exotic tastes, try Indian food TAKEOUT TIP i i fjs. t- s- packaged separately in a foam box. The appetizers came with onion and tamarind chutneys. It was all delicious. So were the entrees, though I think I preferred the chicken in the murg curry over the slightly chewy lamb.

Both sauces were great with the rice, and the naan was perfect for sopping up the extra sauce. There is only one major irritation with getting takeout from New Punjab: It's location on International Drive makes it difficult to get in and out of the parking lot. Be aware that if traffic is heavy you may end up eating your takeout food while you wait for a chance to exit the lot. Scott Joseph'is the restaurant critic for The Orlando Sentinel. His reviews can be heard at 12:45 and 4:50 p.m.

Thursdays and at 5:56 p.m. Fridays on 580 AM (WDBO). You can e-mail him at OSOjosephaol.com on the Internet. ly making my selections. Besides the two entrees I also ordered the Punjab special variety tray of appetizers ($7.95) and an order of naan the Indian bread baked on the side of a tandoor oven.

The man who took my order said it would be ready in 12 minutes. I took a seat on the single chair just inside the door of the small restaurant. The food was up and ready in 15 minutes. The two entrees were packaged in aluminum trays with identifying names scrawled on the lids. Oddly the basmati rice that is a staple of any Indian dinner was packaged only in a folded sheet of aluminum foil, which made opening it a bit messy.

The appetizers were similarly foiled, as was the bread. The appetizer "tray" included single samples of vegetable and meat samc-sas, onion bhaji, aloo pakora, chooza pakora and papadam. The papadam, the crackerlike bread made with lentil flour, was Intense. Flavorful, spicy sauce from the New Punjab's lamb 'vindaloo' goes great with a side dish of basmati rice. I you ask me, you just can't find more exotic food than Whatever the dish, it is likely to be filled with myriad spices that blend to form wonderfully intense flavors.

And with just a few adjustments in the sea-1 a sonings the aRcout flavors can cnange dramatically. Take the two entrees I got from New Punjab on Interna-. tional Drive cuisine SCOTT JOSEPH recently. By sight the lamb vindaloo ($12.95) and murg curry ($10.95) looked the same. Both were brown gravies, and both had many of the flavor nuances that are associated with curries.

But the lamb had an explosively hot pepper that set the dish on fire. The murg was milder but still had a piquant note. I had stopped in at New Punjab and looked over the menu, quick- Black Bean Chili Con Carne Yield: 10 servings Adapted from One 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 Vi pounds boneless beef roast, sliced Into thin 2-Inch strips Vi pound ground pork Salt to taste Va cup ground mild red chilies or chili powder, or more to taste 1 onion, chopped 2 carrots, peeled, cut Into 1 Vi-lnch julienne strips 2 ribs celery, cut into 1 V4-inch julienne strips 1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1 Vi-inch julienne strips 3 garlic cloves, minced Bowl cuisine covers wide range of cooking WHERE: New Punjab, 7451 International Drive, in Orlando. WHAT: Scott ordered the lamb vindaloo an explosive peppery dish with basmati rice; 1 murg curry a milder but still piquant choice with basmati 1 rice; the Punjab variety tray of appetizers that included samosas, onion bhaji, aloo pakora, chooza pakora and papadam and naan an Indian bread baked on the side of a tandoor oven. TRAFFIC ALERT: Note the address.

This is International Drive. Be prepared to be patient getting in and out of the parking lot. HOW TO PAY. Cash, American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa. HOW TO ORDER: Call (407) 352-7887.

RECOMMENDED READING Cooking Under Cover: One-Pot Wonders, a Treasury of Soups, Stews, Braises Casseroles by Linda Fred Griffith (Chapters, 1996). Greaf Tasfe, Low Fat: Hearty Soups Stews (Time Life, 1996). Italian Classics in One Pot by Anna Teresa Callen, (HarperCollins, 1997). One Bowl: One-Dish Meals from Around the World by Kelly McCune (Chronicle, 1996). --wi Trim Terrific One-Dish Favorites by Holly Clegg (Clar-kson Potter, 1997).

One-Pot Vegetarian Dishes by Amy Cotler (HarperCollins, 1996). Skinny One-Pot Meals by Ruth Glick (Surrey, 1994). Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library: Stews by Lora Brody (Time Life, 1995). 365 Great Soups Stews by Georgia Chan Downard and Jean Galton 1996). A KITCHENFUL OF BEAUTIFUL BOWLS Large flat-rimmed soup bowls and deep cereal bowls are pretty and practical for individual servings of one-dish meals.

And every household needs a big shallow pasta bowl (at least 2-quart capacity) for saucing and serving main-dish pasta. Bowls come in every color of the rainbow and every material, from glass to China to enameled tin, and earthen and stoneware. They can be mass-produced or painstakingly hand-thrown and glazed by artisans. The possibilities for perking up the presentation of one-dish meals are endless. Just make sure the bowl you choose has a liquid capacity of 8, preferably 12 ounces.

Clearly wonderful: Clear glass bowls, plain or tinted, are wonderful for soups with a clear broth base that are swimming with noodles, vegetables and other bright ingredients. i Shift shapes: Round is not the only shape for a bowl. Ladle one-dish meals into matched oval vegetable serving dishes or gratins, contemporary square china bowls, or rectangu lar china dishes often found at Japanese markets. i World bowls: Scout Asian and other ethnic specialty markets for tableware of glazed stoneware and clay, china and glass to bring a new dimension to dinner. Old bowls: Scour antique shops and yard sales for appealing one-of-a-kind oldies.

Who says bowls must match? i CHICAGO TRIBUNE Chinese returns Ying Chang Compestine says the fatty American version of her native cuisine is a world apart from its healthful origins. By Jan Ellen Spiegel COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE Authentic Chinese is lowfat Chinese. A funny thing happened to Ying Chang Compestine while she was growing up during China's repressive cultural revolution. She learned how to cook. It was definitely inadvertent.

Compestine's father, a prominent surgeon in Wahun, in central China, was jailed twice. And because the family was considered "bourgeois," the Red Guard took all their belongings, deliberately crushing Compestine's only doll. So when she was sent to live with her grandparents, she had no toys, to play with. Instead she-followed her grandmother around, going to the market with her and watching her She learned about fresh vegetables, tofu and rice and how to stretch the monthly ration of a pound of oil and a pound of meat for seven people. What Compestine never realized until years later, after she moved to Boulder, to pursue a sociology degree at the University of Colorado, was how healthful her childhood food had been.

Unfortunately, she learned the hard way, straying from her traditional Chi-, nese cooking while she was pregnant. "My husband is American," she said. "He can cook but he makes a big mess." So he ordered a lot of American-style Chinese takeout food, heavy on fat and light on vegetables. Compestine ended up over weight at the end of her pregnancy but lost all the weight quickly when she went back to her traditional Chinese diet, "In China, I never saw those deep-fried, cream cheese-filled dumplings crab Rangoon," she said. "Sesame chicken here 1.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef in 2 batches until no longer pink; drain fat between batches. Brown pork in same skillet. Drain fat and return beef to skillet with pork. Cook until meat begins to turn crisp.

Season with salt and chilies. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in large, heavy pot over medium heat.

Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add carrot, celery and bell pepper; cook 5 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute. Reduce heat to low; add meat to onion mixture. Heat skillet the meat was cooked in over medium-high heat; pour in wine.

Scrape bottom of skillet to remove caramelized pieces; cook 1 minute. Pour in pot with meat. 3. Add tomatoes, water, molasses, sage and cumin to pot. Simmer, covered, until meat is tender, 1 to 1 Vi hours, stirring occasionally.

Add black beans. Cook 15 minutes longer. Serve with sour cream, chopped onion, grated cheese, chopped avocado and cilantro pesto. Recipe note; To make cilantro pesto, put 3 bunches fresh cilantro, 6 cloves garlic and 6 tablespoons lime juice in bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade. Process until garlic and cilantro are finely minced.

With motor running, drizzle in cup olive oil until well-incorporated. Scrape pesto into bowl; stir in cup sour cream. Add salt to taste. Cover; refrigerate. Makes about 2 cups.

Nutrition information per 2 tablespoons: calories 85, sodium 8 mg, fat 9 carbohydrates 1 cholesterol 5 mg, protein 1 g. Nutrition information per serving without pesto Fat Cholesterol 85 mg Sodium DOWL from H-1 along with chefs, cookbook authors and foodies, rediscovered the delights of bowl cuisine? One-dish cookery is as old as the first Neolithic clay cooking vessels that were used to prepare gruels of grains and, later perhaps, stews of legumes, vegetables and meat. Over the centuries, one-pot cookery has contributed classic dishes to the world's cuisines. What is new is the variety of ingredients, flavors and preparation methods being used to redefine one-dish meals in Chicago and around the country. Matt McMillin, executive chef of Big Bowl restaurants in Chicago, has several names for it: "Encompassing entrees, all-in-one meals, bountiful bowls, but basically it's a food philosophy that embraces variety, convenience, economy and really fresh food." McMillin's simple but sumptuous stir-fry of Singapore chili shrimp is his most popular menu special.

Bowl cuisine fits in as part of the movement to more casual dining in U.S. restaurants. And chefs are using all kinds of bowls, from colorful pasta bowls to glazed, oval bowls and even oversized coffee cups. The possibilities for perking up the presentation of one-dish meals are endless. The trend also has found its way into a number of cookbooks recently, including One-Dish Meals from Around the World by Kelly McCune.

Today's bowl cuisine embraces a wide variety of cooking methods both slow and fast. Braising, baking and stewing are cooking techniques that permit the cook, once the preparation is done, to leave the kitchen while the dish tends itself. Sauteeing and stir-frying are cooking techniques that require a few minutes' attention but a quick reward in the form of a complete meal. Jack Daniel Jones, chef-owner of Daniel Js restaurant in Chicago, says that quick one-dish meals are the answer to a busy cook's prayers. "It's a way to cook that's simple, clean, quick and easy.

At the same time you can come up with complex dishes and a variety of ingredients. It's also fun. You can change recipes, adjust them to suit your taste and what you find at the market." His recipe for penne with chicken, smoked mozzarella, dried tomatoes and spinach uses one pot, one skillet and is mixed and served in one bowl. Henry Adaniya, owner of Trio restaurant in Evanston, 111., adds that one-dish meals can be both "substantial and very healthful too." Bowl cuisine: It's economical, convenient, delicious. It can be comforting or exotic.

It can be family fare or the centerpiece of a feast. It can be cooked fast or slow. It can be filling and low fat. Most of all, it can be fun. Gef business updates 4T" online, weekdays at 3 pjn.

0 ROBERTO GONZALEZTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL cook to roots is deep-fried and in a heavy sauce. Chinese don't deep-fry it. In China we eat a lot of vegetables and a little meat to flavor a dish." So Compestine wrote a cookbook, published earlier this year Secrets of Fat-Free Chinese Cooking (Avery, The recipes aren't quite fat-free but close, But more than following the recipes, Compestine wants people to understand her philosophy that losing weight is not a matter of starving yourself, it's a matter of eating healthful food. To that end Compestine may go a bit overboard. She gets a fishing license every year so she can catch her own fish in a reservoir outside Boulder.

She kills, cleans and prepares them herself and even contends her husband married her for her crispy trout. She avoids high-salt items like fish and soy sauces, opting for herb and spice flavorings instead. But there's another motive for Compestine's cookbooks she's writing a new one on vegetarian cooking and the children's books she's working on. "For me, my relationship with China is love and hate," she said. "Every night I dream about China." But since her parents died in the last two years, she said she's lost touch with her homeland, which she regrets, as painful as her life there often was.

"I'm grieving, I lost my roots," Compestine said. "I just had so much passion. I went to a grieving workshop, but everyone just cried and that doesn't help me at all, but writing helps." She's even left her teaching job to write full time. She has a specific goal. "I always told my husband my dream is one day, when we have enough money, to set up a scholarship to help single women like me to get out of China and get a Western education," she said.

It's her way of speaking out, the way her father did 30 years ago, but presumably with less dire consequences. "I don't think I can ever forget about China," she said. "I care about China a great deal." winners will receive buttons made especially for the festival, which runs through Nov. 23. Something else that has been especially customized for this year's edition of the festival are the appetizers.

According to Griffin, some folks had a hard time balancing a handful of wine with a plate full of food last year, so organizers kept that in mind and adjusted portion sizes. "It's going to be easier to eat," she said. "You won't feel like you're juggling a lot of stuff." More importantly, Griffin add-, ed, you're less likely to fill up before you get to the end. "This way you'll be able to get all the way around the showcase without being stuffed." Penne with Chicken, Smoked Mozzarella, Bowl: One-Dish Meals from Around the World Va cup dry red wine 2 (1 -pound) cans crushed tomatoes 2 cups water Vi cup molasses 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried 2 Vi teaspoons ground cumin 6 cups cooked black beans or 3 cans (15 ounces each), drained Sour cream, chopped onion, grated cheese, chopped avocado for garnish Cilantro pesto (see note) 51 .245 mg Carbohydrate 40 Protein 37 nac Chef Jack Daniel Jones 12 oil-packed dried tomato halves, patted dry, julienned Vi cup chicken broth 1 (1 -pound) bag spinach Vi pound smoked mozzarella, diced Salt, freshly ground pepper Red pepper flakes (optional) 16 ..315 mg Protein ...49 ,..38 In the Sentinel's Florida magazine. Sunday.

The Orlando Sentinel Dried Tomatoes and Spi Yield: 8 servings 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cubed Marinade (see note) 1 pound penne or other tubular pasta 2 tablespoons each: extra-virgin olive oil, minced shallots 1 tablespoon minced garlic Organizers aim for small fry with child-friendly activities Vi cup dry white wine 2 pounds fresh ripe plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, chopped, or a 14 Vi-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice 1. Toss chicken with marinade in a nonaluminum bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. 2. Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil over high heat in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add shallots; cook 30 seconds. Add garlic and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. 3.

Add white wine to pan; stir, scraping bottom to loosen caramelized bits. Add tomatoes. Heat to a boil. Add dried tomatoes and chicken broth. Lower heat, simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.

Add spinach, stirring just until wilted. 4. Drain pasta; place in large serving bowl. Add chicken mixture and mozzarella. Toss until cheese begins to melt.

Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste. How to make the marinade: Combine in a nonreactive bowl 2 tablespoons each extra-virgin olive oil and chopped fresh basil, 1 tablespoon each chopped fresh chives, fresh thyme and red onion, Vi teaspoon minced garlic, and salt and ground pepper to taste. Chef's tip: Scoop out a cup of pasta cooking water before draining pasta, to use for moistening sauced pasta if needed. And to preheat serving bowl, drain pasta water through colander into the serving bowl. FESTIVAL from H-1 In addition to more beer, the number of national and international chefs who will be on hand has more than doubled, offering demonstrations in everything from turning out truffles to puffing up pastries.

They'll even offer up their hats for the FAST FACTS WHAT: Food and Wine Buena Vista. WHEN: Epcot International Festival, Lake Friday through Nov. 23. WHAT IT COSTS: The festival is included with gate admission of $42.14 general, $33.92 ages 3-9, free age 2 and under. Appetizers and wine cost per sample.

DETAILS: (407) 939-7808. KB wwm.orlanilosgntinEl.CDni cause. "We're going to have fun stops called Kid-cot where kids will be able to decorate chef's hats and make things out of dried noodles," said Griffin. There will also be a scavenger hunt for young festivalgoers in which clues will be keyed to questions related to food. "It's a fun way for kids to get a prize," Griffin said, adding that Nutrition information per serving Fat Restaurant Review..