Green peas and Edamame parathas

I was in the mood for parathas..and not the regular potato kind..dont get me wrong...I love those..but I just felt like something different..and my fridge was noticeably low on veggies which I could think of..no mooli, no palak..hmm...what now..how about those green peas in the frozen compartment..and why not add some edamame to it..just for fun..Im sure it cant go wrong..

So take 1 cup of green peas and 1 cup of edamame and thaw them..Run them in a chopper for couple of minutes..I kept them coarsely chopped...

Heat a tbsp of oil and add minced green-chilli and ginger (abt a tbsp) along with 1 tbsp of besan and stir well. Add the peas mixture and some garam masala and salt to taste. I crumbled some blasamic vinaigriatte marineted-tofu slices in it and cook till the raw feel is gone. Form small balls and fill in the paratha dough and roll out the parathas. Cook on tawa with some olive oil.

I served this with some fusion green-onion/potato bhaji and raita.

The peas/edamame taste was distinct and nice and satisfied me for packing in a bunch of nutrients !

Vegetable en Croute daringly..

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

I made my own puff pastry and filled with tofu sauteed in butter, spinach , mushroom , onion and cheese...and it was yummmmy...next time I need some more seasoning though..

As Im on road I just scheduled this to be on date..so without much ado..enjoy the beauties...

Squash-periments..

A lit later in the fall, but all those butternut squash recipes I saw floating around had me very tempted to try something out..
I got this 2-pounder butternut squash, halved and de-seeded it and roasted in oven for an hour , scooped out the pulp and stashed in the refrigerator for use later..
Checked out some recipes and thought I would try the Butternut squash ravioli albeit with the wonton wrappers..which turned out to be a bad idea and a failed experiment..they dried for too long , or had cracks and some that I boiled turned out to be very egg-y..I was so disgusted they went straight to the bin..

Couple of days later and Im again thinking whats to be done of the leftover puree and thank heavens I didnt use the whole in the ravioli experiment..Google delivered these goodies at my doorsteps - Butternut squash lasagna..how yummy does that sounds!
Butternut squash lasagna 1
Butternut squash lasagna 2
Inspired by the above recipes ,I came up with :
Ingredients:
Butternut squash puree, heated with salt , pepper and nutmeg added for taste.
Bechemal sauce with a desi twist:

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp AP flour
3 cups milk
1 whole green chilli , minced
1 inch ginger , minced
1 medium onion , chopped in small squares
Heat butter and saute onion till golden, add chilli + ginger and saute for another min.Add the flour till golden brown, add milk and stir till a thick sauce consistency.Add salt and pepper to taste.

Assorted cheese - Mozarella slices, shredded fried cheese (instead of parmesan which is used usually)
I used those lasagna sheet which do not need to be pre-cooked. Add a bechemal sauce layer to the bottom of a greased pan and lay the pasta sheets. Spread a layer of squash puree topped with breadcrumbs , cheese at hand ( I used mozarella slices ) and sprinkled some grated fried cheese on the top. Layer with the bechemal sauce and lay another set of pasta sheets and repeat the toppings for 3-4 layers or till your ingredients last. The last layer should be just the bechemal sauce and cheese layer over the lasagna sheets. Bake at 350F for about 30 mins covered by aluminium foil and another 20 mins without the cover.
The result was a delicious but not too heavy lasagna , with contrasting flavors of slightly sweet and aromatic squash to the mildly hot bechemal green chilli sauce .. definitely a keeper !

SnS makes Snow-flecked brownies, but I do not..

I had a good streak going on with Sweet and Simple Bakes .. 4 back-to-back and I did intend to continue with that.. given the enticing prospect this time around..I mean who can resist sweet and gooey chocolate brownies ?? Turns out I can.. not for the lack of chocolate though.. which I bought at every turn last week, having the brownies in mind.. but I just couldn't find a good egg-less recipe and at last moment I backed out... Though all my fellow-bakers over at SnS did turn an amazing batch of brownies all around.. they all look yummy !!

Not that Im just going to talk about what I did not do.. I actually made something which I've been meaning to make since ages... Since maybe I heard this esoteric term 'gnocchi' .. I visualized something rustic , charming and very much like a comfort food.. and indeed it is.. and quite simple to make, once you get the hang of it..

My Sweet potato gnocchi was inspired by Cathy at Not Eating Out In NewYork but without the arugula and hazelnut, so here is the recipe with my variations:

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, steamed till tender but firm

About 1 cup AP flour

Salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

EVOO 2 tbsp

Process:

Grate the sweet potatoes with a grater, don't mash. Add half the flour and mix in. Add the seasonings and flour until a firm dough forms. See the process for forming the gnocchi in Cathy's post , she has explained it beautifully. Once the gnocchi is cooked, saute it with some EVOO , sage leaves and any handy nuts.

There was this subtle scent of nutmeg which I loved but the sauce needed some pep so I added some store-made pesto and it was amazing, more so the next day !