Mezze..

Mezze..what a delightful concept and that is what the Daring Cooks challenged this month..I made it couple of weeks back and being a bit busy..I give you straight..

The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge was hosted by Micheleof Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

Clockwise you have - homemade pita, feta cheese dip, spinach-chickpea curry and delectable hummus..what a feast !

Makke ki roti and sarson-no-palak ka saag

I have been seeing this combination floating around the blog-world lately and very tempted as it would be perfect garma-garam food in these cold days..

The problem was finding mustard greens, I have never used them so do not even know what they look like - I did try in farmers market and the frozen section of the grocery store but to no luck..

Then I thought, why not try it with some other greens..maybe that bunch of fresh baby spinach I just got from farmers market ??

and lo and behold, a very satisfying meal:

Makke ki roti:

2 cups cornmeal flour

2 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tbsp oil ( I used olive oil)

warm water to knead.

Salt to taste

Knead the dough and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. Form small balls and roll within 2 plastic sheets i.e a ziploc cut open on three ends . (This tip really worked for me , as it is a bit difficult to roll a roti as the dough is not very flexible). Cook it on a girdle as any paratha.

Palak ki saag:

1 bunch of spinach with some ends cut and heated in microwave with some water - about 7-8 minutes

1 med onion chopped fine

1 med tomato chopped fine

1 tsp ginger grated/chopped fine

2 green chillis chopped fine

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp cornmeal used in roti

salt to taste

oil to taste

Heat some oil in a pan and saute the onions followed by ginger,chillies and tomatoes. Saute till its cooked and leaving side then add blanched spinach with the cornmeal. Add masala and salt and let it simmer for abt 10 mins on low. I threw in a handful of frozen corn to add some color and cos I love spinach and corn combination and it wasnt a bad idea either...

Daring cooks go satay...

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppyliciousand she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day. Being vegetarian I adapted it for a paneer-satay which I served as appetiser and some tofu-satay which got brown bagged into a sammich! Yumm ..

Satay (or sate) is very often served as “street fare” all over the world, and you dip your cool little meat/veggie skewer into any variety of dipping sauces

The required part of this challenge is to marinate to add awesome flavor to the paneer/tofu . I made the marinade from scratch as follows:

Satay Marinade

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)

Chop the onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.

Make about 1 inch strips of the paneer and tofu and marinate for 2-4 hours turning it around occasionally . I grilled them in my panini press and they turned out to be quite scrumptious ! I cannot believe I forgot the sauces/dips but in my defense the satay were amazing by themselves . Nevertheless, for posterity's sake Im pasting the sauce recipe here ..

Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.

Pepper Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp soy sauce (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Tamarind Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp tamarind paste (helpful link below) (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)
1 tsp brown or white sugar, or to taste (about 5 mls)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

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Yummy cookies with SnS

SnS had us baking yummy-licious cranberry, pecan and white chocolate cookies this holidays :

My sweet neighbor , Dora's daycare care-takers were the lucky recipients of the holiday goodies...and of-course DH who wouldn't rest easy till they were all gone ! ..

Thanks SnS !

2010 and holiday wishes

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 !

Back in time @ Daring Bakers..

The first ever time I had Cannoli was at Boston's North End, the Italian world within the city...We had inadvertently landed there on a week-long stay and how fortunate ! Those hot cuppa espressos which we would drink just standing , those intimidating Italian restaurant owners , the fresh baked breads and ohh, those small bakeries with amazing array of sweets all inviting us in....Daring Bakers took me back there with this amazing Daring Challenge -

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Cannolli !! Thats what we made around the DB world this month and what a great challenge it was..

First the ingredients:

I didn't have the foresight to order for the cannoli forms in advance but fellow DBs came to help and I used Cannelloni shells and it turned out pretty great with it.

Marsala wine - 6.99 and 12.99 ...guess which one I picked :) .. last month I spent $20+ for sushi ingredients..neways

It is pretty simple to make once you have all the ingredients..

For Cannoli shells:

2 cup AP flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp white wine vinegar

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup + marsala wine

Mix all the dry ingredients and add the oil, vinegar and wine till a moist dough is formed. Cover and rest in freezer for couple of hours or more.

Roll into small round balls and wrap around the cannelloni shell and dab water where the ends meet. Deep-fry and let dry.

Cannoli filling:

1 can of ricotta cheese strained overnite

Confectionars sugar as required

Vanilla as required

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whip everything up and fill in a ziploc bag with one end cut off. Squeeze into both sides of cannolo. Top with nuts or chocolates and enjoy....

A day well spent...

A mid-week holiday brings in lot of joy but also endless possibilities on what can and should be accomplished..The 'Veterans Day' holiday this mid-week had one thing on top of my list though..make 'Sushi' , for DaringCooks!!

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

Sushi (寿司 or 鮨 or 鮓) is much appreciated for its delicate taste and exquisite appearance. Sushi actually means vinegar-ed rice, which is the essential ingredient in every sushi recipe. Sushi is simple and cheap to make at home, needs no special equipment and is an excellent way to use left overs. Although sushi in various forms has been around for fourteen centuries, the modern version was invented in Japan in the 1800’s where a 'hand-formed' sliced fresh fish and vinegared rice ball was eaten as a snack food. Nowadays, sushi is made with various seafood, meats and vegetables, raw and cooked.

The challenge is in four parts:-

Part 1: Making proper sushi rice – you will wash, rinse, drain, soak, cook, dress, and cool short grain rice until each grain is sticky enough to hold toppings or bind ingredients. Then you will use the cooked rice to form three types of sushi:

Part 2: Dragon /Caterpillar sushi roll – an avocado covered inside-out rice roll with a tasty surprise filling.

Excellent videos on making Dragon Rolls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQZGRohVNFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo55iBN9FQs&feature=related

>> Fillings : cucumber + carrots + avocado

Part 3: Decorative sushi – a nori-coated rice roll which reveals a decorative pattern when cut
>> Fillings : avocado, green beans, asparagus

Part 4: Nigiri sushi – hand-shaped rice rolls with toppings

>> Toppings : Sweet potato, pineapple, asparagus.

God know what I was thinking , but when adding that wasabi strip/spot for the topping I went a bit overboard and boy, it hit me!! real bad !! all the way from my nose to my head and spreading through my ears!! I could not have it again..though DH did..and though he was shaking like 'Kramer' he finished all of them :)

Also, any other suggestions for sushi rice, Ive got half the packet left..

Anti-procrastination brigade...

To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing -- Eva Young

And thats what kept happening to me , month after month, one good intention after another.. The link goes into my bookmarks, reminders, right panel to glare at me, then out as the date goes by... the 1st of the month bright with intentions , 15th bringing a bit of anxiety about things yet unaccomplished and then full blown panic as the end of the month approach... decision time - what to pick , what to throw .. which challenge to love and which to step over.. Im talking about all the culinary challenges floating around in this amazing culinary-blog-world ! It would be a full-time job to keep track of all those event and participate in..

Ones I've managed to stick to are the Daring Cooks and Sweet and Simple Bakes - and come to think about it, is it because they tell you exactly what to make, with a full recipe and instructions attached ? Hmm... maybe Im just a follow-the-recipe kinda cook.. unlike those natural ones who concoct delicacies out of nothing and gourmet meals out of everyday pantry stuff ..

One of these event which I would very much like to be part of but keep managing not to is IAVW started by Vaishali of Holy Cow .. She is hosting it this month and I saw her announcement on Its a Vegan World - Chinese and decided to take things in hand aka make do something chinese asap .. no procrastination .. no 'Perfect is the enemy of good' .. no scouring for recipes for days and for ingredients some more..I decided to go ahead with the recipe I had and the ingredients at hand..

I cannot believe I have never tried the much-loved and ubiquitous chinese fried rice as yet .. innumerable pulaos , rice variations but somehow never got around to making the fried rice.. though basic and simple , I think its an authentic indo-chinese recipe and if I sneak it in early enough I may claim my dibs on it [grin]

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice cooked yesterday

chopped spring onions

Steamed broccoli nd mushroom - 1 cup

handful of coarsely grated carrot

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

salt nd pepper to taste

Prep:

Heat oil and add the spring onions , stir for 2-3 mins and add ginger + garlic .. add the carrots and stir for another couple of mins. Add the steamed veggies and salt and pepper. Add the rice and soy sauce and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

To go with it I made this Sweet and sour Tofu with vegetable with the vegetables that I had in hand - Some steamed radishes (Im really glad on how I used radishes in varied ways this week - one, this stir fry and other was with mung dal - both turned out very well-adjusted and not out-of-the-place additions) , some cubed tofu and some peppers..

There goes my entry to IAVW and if this month chooses to bring some more chinese in my kitchen, so be it!

Cookies come home..

Sweet nd Simple bake this month came up up with another sweet and simple recipe - baking cookies ! With chocolate and Orange.. what else does a girl wants ! Recipe found here , I followed it to the T except for the egg part, I just substituted a tbsp of oil for that which it could've done without too..

The cookies turned out to be amazingly soft and chewy and chocolate-orange-y !
The whole trial did made me realize something I've never consciously done before - that cookies are made entirely in butter... as in NO milk , or cream or water .. ENTIRELY BUTTER...

I actually took them all to work the next day and shared with my colleagues, saving some calorie-overload on my end and earning some cookie-points in turn !

A holidays 'Sandesh' ..

I know Im a bit late with the 'Sandesh' but as they say ..yada yada yada..or MY blog and I put stuff up when my mood strikes..meaning rarely these days.. neways,

This Diwali was very low profile in terms of cooking for one reason or the other , but this was something I had seen around and wanted to try my hand at so when the opportunity presented itself i.e. the milk went bad , instead of throwing it off(pardon me ! but I just cant take that smell!!) I heated it up and squeezed some lime into it and voila ! Some instant paneer !!

Squeezed all the water out and kneaded it till all smooth.. added some sugar and heated till it lost that raw feel.. about 5-7 mins..let cool a bit and form small rounds and press on some powdered nuts..and thats your 'Sandesh' - an easy, fresh, light, melt-in-the-mouth Bengali sweet !

Diwali Wishes

May the divine *light* of diwali spread into your Life peace, prosperity, happiness and good health...

Vietnamese Pho

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

So what is Vietnamese Pho? Well, it’s like the most insanely delicious noodle soup popular in Vietnam. The broth is simmered for hours and hours . Other accompaniments include ribbons of rice noodles, fresh herbs like cilantro or basil, a wedge of lime or lemon, fresh bean sprouts and fresh sliced chilies if desired. I think I had a version of it in a vietnamese restaurant on a recent trip to Vegas and really liked the clean and pure taste of the Pho.

What makes Pho so different than any other type of noodle soup is the spices that go into the simmering broth. Warm spices like coriander, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fresh ginger transform an ordinary broth into a very authentic Vietnamese Pho.

I did make the long version i.e making home made stock albeit the vegetarian version including onion , celery and carrot in olive oil with the spices mentioned above.

Sauteed small pieces of tofu and mushrooms in a little oil and added to the broth. Served with rice noodles,coriander,lime and chilli sauce. A warmth-inducing evening meal !

I didn't try the wantons as we are getting a bit too frequent on desserts around our part of the world.. keeping for a later day..

Another sweet and simple Vaishnav recipe

As I mentioned before, the recipes from the book 'The art of Indian Vegetarian cooking' by Yamuna Devi are very simple but delicious preparations. Being an American she has also incorporated use of many vegetables found here in very unusual combinations ..One such I found was Green Beans and Water-chestnuts and it is so simple but tasty combo that Ive already made it twice and permanently added the water-chestnuts cans in my grocery list..

Ingredients:

2.5 cups green beans cut 1 inch long

1 can water chestnuts cubed

1 tbsp cooking oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

salt to taste

Prep:

Add some water and steam the cut green beans for about 10 mins in microwave. Heat the oil and add mustard and cumin seeds till they splatter. Add the beans and remaining spices and stir on high heat for 5 mins. Add the water chestnuts and mix well for 5 mins. Turn off the heat. Serve with hot chapati or accompaniment to dal-rice.

ENJOY!!

Restaurant style Malai Kofta

Since it was festival ( Dashehra ) time last week, we came up with a special lunch menu:

Hara bhara kebab

Malai kofta

Ajwaini parathas

Fruit custard

Sounds scrumptious..doesn't it ?

My cousin made the delicious Hara bhara kebabs and I'm wondering how I've missed them till now..they seem to be everywhere on the blogging world and definitely go in my list too...future safekeeping :)

For my part, I thought I will use the Gulab Jamun packet that's in my pantry for a while now..to make the kofta..(not an original idea, I had read it around and thought it was a nice concept and would turn out well) and try my hand at Malai kofta aka Rich Dumplings in cream gravy..

Kofta:

1 packet gulab jamun mix

a pinch of salt

water as required

Filling:

1 potato - boiled,peeled nd mashed

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp garam masala/chat masala

1 tbsp cashew nuts small pieces

pinch of turmeric

salt as per taste

Mix the Gulab Jamun mix with salt and add water to form a firm but pliable dough. Keep aside covered for 5 mins.

Mix all the filling ingredients together. Form small balls (gulab jamun size) and add small filling inside each. Cover with the dough so it wont fly out in frying.

Fry the balls till golden brown and keep aside.

Gravy:

1 large onion ,chopped coarsely

1 medium tomato ,chopped coarsely

5-6 cashew nuts ,chopped coarsely

1 bay leaf

8 whole black peppercorns

3 cloves

2 dried red chillies

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cut ginger

1/2 potato ,mashed

1/2 cup cream or milk

Heat some oil and add all the dry spices and stir. Add cashew nuts and stir for another 30 seconds and add onion. Cook till golden , then add ginger and tomatoes. Let cook till the tomatoes soften. Let it cool and grind into a paste. Heat another tbsp of oil and add the mashed potatoes. Stir around for a minute and add the paste and cream/milk. Add salt to taste and bring to boil. While serving , arrange the koftas in the serving bowl and pour the gravy over it.

I don't mean to brag, but this turned out to very well and got a lot of compliments , one being 'ekdum restaurant style' !!

P.S : Excuse the poor photo, and definitely do not judge the recipe per the photo..try it once! (Awaiting a better photo)

SnS makes Drizzle cakes..

Sweet and Simple bakes decided to make St Clement's drizzle cake , to enjoy along the lake, the rich and crumbly flakes.. wish I could rhyme more..maybe not :)

Its an English tea cake [love the quaintness of it] seemingly quite common, though I have never heard of it before..the English seems to be the masters of cakes all around!

The original recipe is here but I reproduce here as I made changes to make it eggless and also the measurements, since Im not used to measure in grams anymore.. Actually, I got a bit confused about the egg replacement and all that orange/lemon proportions so I decided I will make the basic eggless sponge that always works for me and just add on the lemon/orange variations to it..

1 cup AP flour

1 cup Whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp milk powder

1 cup fine sugar

Zest of 1 big lemon

1 cup milk

4 oz/1/2 stick butter melted

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Whip up the butter and sugar and add the lemon zest. Add the flour and milk and mix to form cake batter. Pour into a loaf pan and bake @ 375F for 50 mins.

juice of 1 lemon

same amount of orange juice ( I didn't have a fresh orange)

3 tbsp granulated sugar

Simmer both juices till reduced to about 3 tbsp. Let it cool and add sugar. As soon as the cake is out , poke with skewers and pour the 'drizzle' on it.

There is no picture around but it looked like this after pouring and I wasn't sure if my drizzle was too much:

After cooling, it turned out to be just about right..a moist cake with a dense sweet flavor and pockets of orange/lemony bursts in between !

A bit of googling also shows that there are many variations on this 'drizzle' and Im sure to try some more..soon...