Patriotic almond shortbread sandwich cookies

Posted on November 18, 2012 by ds331

I was dreaming of red, white , and blue cookies…and I saw two things that inspired me…a photo of a plate of red, white and blue star cookies & a recipe for and shortbread sandwich cookies. So how does one execute this? Good quality gel paste food coloring (amazon), white chocolate (for the center), a star shaped cookie cutter, and patience…to roll, cut and bake these.

Ingredients for the cookies:

  • 2 cups (10 ounces) pastry flour (i’m a convert, this stuff works well for cookies, cakes)
  • 1 cup fine almond meal
  • 2/3 cup  sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (8 ounces or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 drops bright blue food coloring
  • 2 drops bright red food coloring

♣ Equipement:

  • parchment paper
  • waxed paper
  • star shaped cookie cutter
  • baking sheets

Soften the butter (again microwave for 10  secs at a time if needed). Blend in the sugar. Add the almond meal and then slowly the flour. Don’t over mix–just want it to take shape.

Form 2 logs.

With log 1–work in the blue food coloring until well mixed. shape in a log and wrap that in waxed paper.

Log 2: Work in the red food coloring into log 3 as above…and wrap up.

Chill 2 hours or overnight. Pull out of the freezer when well set. Using the method from the gingerbread cookies, slice of 3-4 inch pieces, place between parchment, roll out to 1 inch pieces (or thinner), and cut out (if it needs to be thicker to allow the star shapes to cut out properly, do that). Reroll and cut the scraps. The round cookies you see were made when it was too hard to cut stars.

Bake it at 350 for 15-20 mins (watch the color).

cool completely

Then create the sandwiches. How you ask?

melt white chocolate in a double boiler (my substitue: a medium metal bowl on top of a small saucepan filled with water…it does boil over a bit occasionally, though).
Add almond extract &  a smidge of cinnamon to the filling.

Spread a bit of this white chocolate spread (just a bit) onto a red cookie and put a blue cookie on top. or vice versa.

 

 

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Gingerbread Campaign Cookies

Posted on November 18, 2012 by ds331

I decided that it would be nice to have cookies with my husband’s logo on them, so I found someone on Etsy to print his campaign logo onto sheets of frosting (frosting stickers, essentially). Several sites do this and I tested a few. I recommend “Incredible Edibles” by Never Forgotten Designs. Peggy was great to work with.

Early rounds of my cookie making, I didn’t have much time so I used a good “break and bake” dough–immaculate conception cookies. I started with the sugar cookies, but those didn’t have the flavor I was looking for. Then, I stumbled upon their gingerbread–heavenly!

A few weeks before election day, I got the bug to bake them from scratch. (I would spend the next week baking…so one may question the wisdom of my decision.

Lessons learned, FYI:

  • Form the dough into logs. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate over night (or chill in the freezer for about an hour).
  • It looks better when you slice and then roll that out…and cut it with a cookie cutter.
  • parchment paper is a life saver….do not bake cookies with out it.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • powdered sugar (for icing)

Directions

Preheat to 350 degrees F.

Put the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper into a bowl and set aside.

Make sure your butter is soft (but not melted). If it doesn’t dent upon touch, put in a bowl and microwave for 10 seconds (no more). Repeat at 10 sec intervals. Mix the butter and  brown sugar and  until the mixture is light in texture and color (you can beat in a mixer or with a fork). Beat in the molasses and egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two logs. refrigerate overnight-or freeze for an hour.

To roll out the cookies, work with one log at a time–keep the other in the fridge. Slice 3-4  inch pieces off. stick between pieces of parchament.roll out thin. Cut as many as you can with a cookie cutter (i used a 2″ round). A thin pastry spatula helps get hte dough off.
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchament and place cookies on it about 2 inches apart.

Reroll scraps and cut more. If your sheets are full, put the dough back in the fridge.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely.

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coming soon–the campaign wife bakes…

Posted on November 12, 2012 by ds331

I’ve been a slacker, but it’s been a little busy with my husband’s campaign and all. The next few posts will prob be campaign related (the stuff I baked for the campaign and for the election night party). Coming soon. These pictures aren’t perfect…but the finished products tasted awesome.

–gingerbread campaign cookies (including the site for the frosting logo sheets 🙂

–red, white, & blue cookie cakes (also known as italian layer cookies)

–almond white-chocolate shortbread sandwiches (star shaped and red, white, & blue for election day, of course).

maybe I should start selling my services to other campaigns? 🙂

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People’s Choice winning Jalapeno cornbread

Posted on October 20, 2012 by ds331

I won an award at a neighborhood cornbread bake-off today. The whole thing was just a lot of fun…a bunch of neighbors getting together to eat good food, enjoy a crisp fall day outside, and compete over…cornbread! It’s apparently a 9-year tradition that we just got in on after meeting some local artists (one is the head judge and prize maker and the other a baker who had a necklace full of prizes and whom I edged out by a coin toss). The judging was in 2 categories “traditional” (mine had too many new-fangled ingredients to make it in this category) and “peoples choice”, where everyone votes…by dropping a jelly bean on top of the plate they like. There were 15 cornbreads in contention. Until the last second, mine had 8 jellybeans and the longtime winner had 9. Then someone evened it out (yay), and to break the tie, we did a coin toss, that I just happened to win. so…I won a very nice  medal!

A few friends have asked for this recipe..so here it is. I started with this base recipe (yes it is a Paula Dean recipe) and made some modifications and additions  It’s actually not as bad as some Paula Dean recipes–and actually had less fat than some recipes I saw. I was looking for a moist recipe…that was one of my key criteria.  I hate dry cornbread.

The Ingredients

  • 1 Cup cornmeal
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 T honey (*replaced sugar in Paula’s recipe with honey and it wasn’t sweet enough so I used a little more)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup yogurt
  • 1/2 cup milk (** the yogurt and milk are substitutes for butter milk)
  • 6 Tablespoons melted butter (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 jalapeno pepper diced small and finely
  • 1 dried ancho chili (you want one that is still moist–like a pruny sun dried tomato)
  • 3/4 sweet onion
  • 2 oz grated cheddar cheese (the sharper the better, imho)

The method

Pre-heat your oven to 425

The mix ins: Slice the onion into thin strips and dice. Caremelize it with a little olive oil. (Cover it, cook it over medium heat. stir occasionally). Dice the chillis finely (you want it to blend in).

Melt the butter in the microwave. Pour it into a mixing bowl. Add the 2 eggs, baking soda, baking powder, honey, yogurt and milk. Whisk until fully incorporated and fluffy.  Add the flours and salt. Stir well until everything is well mixed. Add in the mix-ins.

Grease your pan with some oil. ( i used a round pyrex pie plate). Pour in your batter and bake on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes. Test with a knife and remove when the knife comes out clean.

Easy, peasy, right? it’s good too. Moist, flavorful…

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Kozakattai (Indian coconut dumplings and salty dumplings)

Posted on October 7, 2012 by ds331

A few friends and I got together today to recreate a dish from our childhoods–one our moms always make for Ganesha Chaurthi, an Indian holiday that occurs in late August or Early September. We are about a month off…this was the first day that our schedules meshed, but nonetheless we set off to try out a somewhat complicated recipe that none of us would have tried to attempt on our own. (for one thing, forming the dumplings is delicate work and was always impossible when I tried to do it when I was  younger.) It was a fun day and I’d love to do it again…we may have just spawned a new supper club…the SISTA Supper Club (South Indian Sistas Training (to be) Aunties). Stay tuned…

Yum, the finished product

The recipe came from a website called Subbu’s Kitchen (nevermind the subtitle.)

Our reference guide

Warning…this experiment is not for those lacking in time. or for the fainthearted. It was time-intesive, but made fun by having good company. 3 hours later, they turned out pretty well. And they were tasty. There were a couple of initial “fails” (the batch that flattened out into pancakes because we steamed them too long, the ones that fell apart). but we persevered…

what do they taste like, you ask? sweet packets of gooey, flavorful goodness.

The sweet Kozhakattai ingredients

the dough (we doubled this recipe to make dough for the salty ones too)

  • 1 Cup rice flour
  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 1/2 cup water

the filling

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup of grated coconut
  • 1/2 cup grated jaggery (if you want to save time/straining, use brown sugar)
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • 1/4 T Cardamom powder

Tools: 2 ziplocs, a steamer or pressure cooker (we tried both)

The method

start with the filling. In a pot, boil 1 cup of water. Add the jaggery or brown sugar. When it is dissolved they tell you to strain the liquid to remove particles. Do this if you see them. Add it back into the pan. Boil a few more minutes until it begins to thicken. Add coconut and cardamom and stir. Let liquid boil off. Take off the stove and let cool completely (you need to handle it).  When it is touchable, roll into tiny balls and put them on a plate. Set aside.

Make the dough: Boil 1 cup of water and oil. Add the rice flour  slowly and stir constantly

This is roughly the size you want your balls

(it will get lumpy otherwise). Stir until it is a smooth dough. Remove from the stove. (you may need to add more water if it seems too thick). When cool, it should be thick enough to roll into balls. Roll into balls about the size of something that came out of a mellon baller (2-3″)

Assembly:

You’ll need: A small cup of olive oil (to dip your fingers, a paper towel, and a plate to put the finished goods on)

Step 2: Your flattening technique

On a flat surface, pull out your ziplocs. Rub a little olive oil on each one. Put a ball between 2 ziplocs. flatten it into a thin layer (don’t go too thin or it will rip…you can repair it though). Lift up one ziploc gently.

Step 3: Dough in the center of the ball

 

Put a ball of filling into the center.  Then pinch it together like you would a dumpling (pull the sides up gently).

 

Step 3: Close off your dumpling. pinch up the sides to form a tear-drop shaped dumpling. If you close it with a peak, you can pull off excess dough from the peak. any other shape is just fine, too. do whatever helps you close it. If it tears…take a little more dough, flatten and use to patch it. Put it on a plate. cover with a paper towel to keep moist.

The steam bath

Put about 2-3 inches of water in a pressure cooker or large pot with a lid. We used a pressure pan and a pot with a metal colander. Steamers work just fine, too. If you use the pressure pan, tear off a piece of foil. Rub oil on it and then put the dumplings on it, a few inches apart. Steam for 5 min or until the dough is no longer sticky to the touch. no foil needed for the colander method.

Eat.

Eh, voila….

 

 

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Grilled Eggplant Pomegranate Salad with blue cheese

Posted on August 27, 2012 by ds331

 

It’s been a busy few weeks, so haven’t been blogging much, but I have tried out some new recipes to share!

This recipe is courtesy of a book I was reading. I didn’t have the proportions, but there was enough in there to get some inspiration to try it out

  • 1 Italian eggplant, peeled
  • 4 oz blue cheese (gorgonzola, or anything else)
  • 1 Cup Pomegranate juice
  • 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
  • 1 tsp honey mustard
  • a handful of chopped walnuts
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • pomegranate seeds, if you have them
  • 1/2 onion caremelized
  • 1-2 scallions

Equipment: Grill pan or grill. Mandolin. [[A skillet and knife will do just fine]

Slice the peeled eggplant into thin 1/2 in slices on the mandolin or with the knife. Rub a little olive oil on each slice and place in grill pan.  Grill until each side is lightly brown. About 1/2 way through, put a pot lid over the pan  (the steam helps keep it moist–otherwise it dries out).  Set aside to cool. Caremelize the onions.

Pour pomegranate juice, champagne vinegar, honey mustard, and a drizzle of honey into a saucepan. cover and reduce until the juice is syrupy. Keep stirring and make sure not to burn it. (Hint: Do not put this on high. it will reduce on medium or low, just slowly).

Chop up the cooled eggplant into small pieces. Chop up the blue cheese into hunks. Add the walnuts, onions, and scallions (chopped finely).  Drizzle the pomegranate juice reduction over the mixture and toss. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate to cool.

 

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Roasted Corn Benedict

Posted on July 29, 2012 by ds331

I was inspired by huevos rancheros…or at least the flavors of that dish. I didn’t really know what I was making when I started out–we had corn, peppers, and onions in the fridge…as well as some eggies… out came this tasty brunch:

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ears of corn
  • 1 green or bell pepper
  • 1/4 chilli pepper
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tomato
  • 1/2 onion
  • 2 bagel thin or English muffins

♣ Tools: Egg poachers (not necessary), a corn-decobber (not really sure what this doohicky is called, but it makes pulling corn off the cob easier (and safer) than using a knife.

The method

Start with the “sauce”: Strip the kernels off of the 2 ears of corn.  Chop the bell pepper and onion into tiny pieces.  Chop up the garlic cloves (I used pre-roasted/smoked garlic).  Heat up a skillet with a dollop of oil.  Add the onion and garlic and sautee until translucent.  Add in the bell pepper and cook for a few minutes. Add the tomato, chilli, and corn. Cover and cook for 5-10 mins with a little water).  Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Poach the eggs (boil water, add in a little vinegar. Stir with a spoon rapidly a few times). Drop the eggs into the poacher or into the water.  Cook for 2-3 minutes (I like the yolk a little gooey).

Toast off the english muffins/bagel thins while you are poaching the eggs.

To assemble: Place the egg on the muffin/bagel. Spoon the “sauce” around it so that you can see a little of the yolk.

Enjoy warm. with a little tea. or coffee.

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Recipes for the husband to use while I’m away….

Posted on July 21, 2012 by ds331

I’m off on a quick jaunt to India for work…and my husband wondered what he possibly would do with the ingredients in our fridge. Here’s a post for him:

What we’ve got:

  • 2 Squashes
  • 4 green peppers
  • a bag of green beans
  • a bunch of tomatoes
  • 6 ears of corn

Green Beans curry

  • 1 lb bag of  green beans
  • 1 t turmeric
  • 1 t chilli powder
  • 1 t jeera
  • 1 tablespoon of the dried coconut (that baggie on top of the toaster you asked me about)
  • 1/4 t hing/ aka asafoedita/perungayam (optional)
  • 1 t mustard seeds (i didn’t use these)
  • 1/4-1/2 onion (my mom doesn’t do this. this was my modification/addition)
  • salt to taste

Chop the ends of of the beans. chop the beans into tiny pieces (1/4 inch pieces).  Chop up the onion into bits. Heat up a skillet with a little olive oil. throw in the onions and let them brown. Add the spices to the oil and let them pop–esp the mustard seeds, jeera, and the hing.  Add the beans. mix and cover. let the beans cook until soft (10 mins). Add coconut and mix. Eat with some rice/couscous/quionoa

Corn recipe: Corn soup. they suggest topping with guacamole–you will need to buy avocado to do that. and a chilli

  • de-cob 5 ears of corn (you could do less). use your new gadget
    • Kernels from 5 ears fresh corn, or 3 cups frozen corn, defrosted
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 clove garlic, crushed
    • 1/2 red onion, chopped
    • 1 jalapeño, chopped (or any chili you can find in the fridge or store)
    • Salt and black pepper
    • 1 1/2 cups veggie broth or water
    • Cilantro sprigs, to garnish
    Sautee the onion and chili in a skillet Add the onion and jalapeño about 5 mins. Pull out the food processor.  Toss in the corn kernels and the onion and jalapeno mixture. Blend until it is pureed. Transfer the mixture into a pot, add the water or stock to thin it. And simmer for 15 mins.

Green-squash pepper sabzi

modified from http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/recipes/green-pepper-and-tomato-curry.html

  • 2  green  peppers
  • 1 squash
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seed
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp  chilli powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala  (you need to grind more, we ran out. put the following into the spice grinder and run it until powdery (1 min). my recipe is–2 cinnamon sticks, 1 T jeera (cumin), 1 T corriander seeds (round ones), 1 T black peppercorns), 1T cloves)
  • 1 tsp brown sugar

Peel squash. Cut the bell pepper, squash, and tomatoes into 1″ chunks.

Heat the oil in a wide pan and add the cumin seeds. Stir about, then add the green pepper  and squash and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, mashing them down as they soften.

Add the salt, chilli powder, turmeric, dhana jheera, garam masala and brown sugar. Stir well, then simmer, covered, for 7 minutes, or until the pepper is cooked to your liking. Best served at once.

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Tomatillo Gazpacho

Posted on July 21, 2012 by ds331

It’s been really hot, so…cold soup sounded good.  We had some tomatoes and some tomatillos, several cucumbers and green peppers from our farm box…and voila…gazpacho!
♠ equipment:  a food processor blender

♣ ingredients

  • 4 tomatillos, peeled and quartered
  • 1/4-1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cucumber peeled and rough chopped
  • 1/2 cup of basil (cilantro would be good too)
  • 1 green pepper rough chopped
  • 1/2 medium red onion or shallot
  • 1 serano pepper (anything would be fine)
  • a handful of walnuts
  • a drizzle of olive oil
  • salt to taste

The ingredients as they went into the food processor bowl

The Method

This couldn’t be easier–toss all of the ingredients into the food processor and pulse until smooth.  Chill. Serve with a little cilantro (or a chiffonade of basil, which is what I used because I didn’t have any cilantro handy).

The finished product. Tasty.

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Beet Pate

Posted on June 28, 2012 by ds331

After we received 2 bunches of beets in last week’s box, we were left wondering…”what the heck do we do with these?” I’ll admit, I don’t love a lot of beet dishes. But when I looked up recipes for soups, etc, I was inspired. I started out making a soup, but when we tasted it straight out of the food processor, we realized it tasted great as a spread…a pate of sorts.

Ingredients

  • 4 beets roasted*
  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 T fennel (saunf)
  • 1 handful of walnuts
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 1/2 t chilli powder
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • crackers

Equipment:
a food processor

The Method

* Roast the beets: wash them and then wrap them in foil. Toss them in a 400-45o degree oven for about 30 minutes (or sooner…you want them soft). While they are roasting, grind the fennel seeds in a spice grinder.

If you have time chill beets in the refrigerator (I did the roasting one night and the puréeing the next but an hour should suffice.

Once the beets are soft, and cool, cut off the ends. Toss into the food processor. Add the onion, walnuts fennel powder, chilli powder, and salt. Process/puree until smooth. Add in the yogurt (a little at a time. you may not need all of it). Spread a spoon full on a cracker and enjoy.

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This week’s box

Posted on June 15, 2012 by ds331

Need to start thinking up ideas…

We’ve got:
Corn
Zucchini
Squash
Eggplant
Mushrooms
Peaches
Banana
Leftover: cabbage

Posted in CSA, Recipies | 1 Comment

This week’s veggie box: the recipe dig begins

Posted on May 26, 2012 by ds331

20120526-112402.jpg

Some good stuff and some I’ll need some help with recipes for. We also might need to cut down to half a share!

•Beets (help? Found a few recipes i want to try)
•2 cabbages (help!!)
•Lettuce
•Sweet potato
•Green onions
•zucchini
•Peaches
•Oranges

Posted in Recipies | 1 Comment

CSA Chronicles parte Quatre: Ratatouille

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ds331

There was a large eggplant, a zucchini, some tomato sauce, and an onion in the fridge, along with some Robusto cheese and the cojita. What to make? That famous peasant food favorite of crotchety food critics like Gusteau, of course. Ratatoulle!

Equipment: A mandolin to make really thin, even slices. (don’t have one? use a knife…) and a baking dish

Ingredients

  • 1/2 eggplant sliced into 1″ inch think slices
  • 1 zucchini, sliced
  • 1/2 onion sliced into strips
  • 1 fake sausage strip (my favorite are FieldRoast Mexican Chipotle) sliced
  • 1/2 jar tomato sauce (or fresh)
  • 2 oz cojita cheese
  • 1 oz robusto or Parmesan cheese
  • salt to taste

It’s really a simple dish.  Put a ladle of sauce into a ceramic baking dish.  Add a layer of eggplant slices (like you’re building a lasagna). Add “sausage” and onion. crumble some cojita on top. Build more layers until you are out of ingredients.  On the top layer, add a ladle of sauce and some robusto.  Bake at 350 until bubbly (30-40 mins).

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The CSA Chronicles Part Tres: SpanaChardaKopita with Cojita Cheese

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ds331

What to do with 2 bunches of chard and a bunch of spinach? And 5 leeks? Spanakopita! yes, but i’m  allergic to Feta…what to do? Ah but…there is a substitute that tastes good…cojita cheese. It is crumbly, but actually melts to hold the layers together.

ingredients

  • 1 package of filo dough (you actually only need about 10 sheets, freeze the rest)
  • 2 bunches chard
  • 1 bunch spinach (mix up the proportions, if you wish)
  • 1 leek 
  • 1/2 onion
  • 3-4 oz Cojita cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4  cup oil (i don’t think you actually need that much…use as much as you need to moisten the layers and not more)
  • a pinch or 2 of dill
  • a pinch or 2 of rosemary
  • a sprinkle of nutmeg
  • salt to taste

The CSA greens required a LOT of washing…like a half hours worth.

Chop the greens and the leeks into small pieces.  Dice the onion into small pieces as well.  Sautee the onions and leeks in a little olive oil. Add greens, put the cover on, and let wilt down. Let this mixture cool down.  Add an egg, spices, and cheese.

In a baking dish, put down 1 layer of filo.  Brush with olive oil, and then add another sheet. brush with olive oil. repeat until you have 5 layers. You can let some hang over the pan to be your top, or you can do another set on top.  Add the mixture. Top with 5 more sheets of oil (brush with olive oil between each layer).  Bake at 350 for about 40 mins or until the philo is a pretty golden brown.

When you eat it as leftovers, reheat in the toaster oven to crisp up the filo again. it’s fine soggy, but better when it’s crispy!

 

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The CSA Chronicles II: Mooli (Radish) Paratha

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ds331

To go with my Kholrabi bharta and to use up 2 bunches of radishes, I decided to make some mooli parathas (radish flatbread).

Tarla Dalal’s recipe was a pretty good start

♣ Equipment:

  • A food processor with a grater disk (yes, you can grate by hand but radishes are tiny and the food processor is so much quicker!). My kitchen helper did this part (and the rolling of the parathas later).
  • rolling in
  • frying pan
  • mixing bowl
  • 2 pieces of foil or a container that keeps chapathis/tortillas warm

♠ Ingredients

  • 2 bunches of radishes, grated/shredded in food processor
  • 2 cups of wheat flour (i didn’t have Indian Atta, but fine whole wheat pastry flour does a pretty good job of substituting)
  • 1/2 onion
  • 3/4 cup yogurt. use more if you need more moisture
  • 1 T garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1-2 tsp chilli powder
  • a pinch of methi (fenugreek)
  • salt to taste
  • a teaspoon or two of oil
  • a pat of butter

♥ The Method

Mix together all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead until it comes together. Add water or yogurt if it’s too dry. Roll into golf ball sized balls…if that seems too big, make them smaller (makes probably 15-20 depending on how big you make the balls. Cover with a cloth if you’re not rolling them out immediately.

Roll out into think disks. (it’s ok if they’re not perfectly round…ours weren’t. some of ours were oblong like naans. they still tasted perfectly good. Heat up a skillet on medium. rub a spoon of oil onto it. Cook the parathas (you can usually do 2 at a time) in the skillet…flip it when one side browns and rub with a little butter. let the other side brown too, rub with a smidge of butter, and then put it into the foil or the container to keep warm.

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The CSA Chronicles: Kholrabi & Kholrabi Bharta

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ds331

Since we lost our garden to the “Temple of Doom”, I finally convinced my husband to let us try joining a CSA. Actually, no I can’t take the credit–my friend did, when she told him about a reasonably priced one that delivered to our doorstep. So the next few posts (and periodically thereafter), will be about some of the random stuff in our weekly box and what I did with them. Last week, we got: a bunch of kholrabi, 2 bunches of radish, a bunch of spinach and one of chard, and lots of sweet potatoes (as well as a lot of yummy fruit).

Upon seeing the kholrabi, my first question, of course, was what the heck is that. (it’s a cruciferous vegetable that looks like a tomatillo and tastes like brussels sprouts). My second was “what do I do with it?” We had a few friends over for dinner Saturday night, and I treated them to the fruits of our CSA box…and my google searching. In those searches, I happened upon an Indian recipe for Kholrabi. Really, you ask? yup…apparently Kholrabi grows in the north, near Delhi, and they use it!

So, I present to you a slightly modified version of fellow food blogger “India on my plate’s” Kholrabi Bharta! (thanks, my friends and I thought it was tasty!)

Kholrabi Bharta

Serves 4

ingredients:

  • 4 kohlrabi, peeled and quartered (i forgot to peel…peel it, otherwise you contend with thick skin).
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Garam Masala
  • 1/4 teaspoon asofedita
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1-2 tomatoes, diced
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons coriander, roughly chopped

the method:

Place quartered kohlrabi in a pot with 1 cup of water and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. The kohlrabi should be tender and easily pierced with a knife (like testing potatoes for mashed potatoes). Drain and set aside.

Fry the garam masala, turmeric, and cumin for a minute. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 3-5 minutes or until lightly golden. Add the garlic, chile, spices and tomato. Cook for 1 minute. Add the kohlrabi and mash the mixture, but not too much (you still want some pieces). Cook until the ingredients are well mixed and the kohlrabi is hot. Adjust seasoning if need be. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve. (i served it with Radish (Mooli) Parathas, my next post, and black daal.

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sweet potato pesto

Posted on May 4, 2012 by ds331

A 5 minute alternate for regular pesto…has a super food, too!

in a food processor, combine the following ingredients and process until smooth:

  • 1 sweet potato cooked (wrap it in a wet paper towel and microwave for 5 minutes). then peel it.
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • sweet potato
  • a handful of basil
  • a few sage leaves
  • salt
  • a drizzle of olive oil
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Portabella Parmesan with sweet potato pesto

Posted on May 4, 2012 by ds331

I saw Giada make a version of this when i was mindlessly watching the food network while cooking one night. Hers seemed too cheesy (especially since I wasn’t supposed to be eating dairy–or at least minimizing it). So I modified it.

20120504-181111.jpg

ingredients for the mushrooms
2 portabella mushrooms
A ziplock Baggie–gallon sized
2 tbs garlic paste
Rosemary
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2-3 tbs olive oil

•2 ladles of pasta sauce/Tomato sauce
• 2 tbs sweet potato pesto from https://happyveggiefoodie.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/sweet-potato-pesto/
•2 handfuls shaved Parmesan

Equipment: grill pan, oven proof dish

Pour the balsamic, olive oil, garlic, and rosemary or basil into the baggie. Toss in the mushrooms. Seal and then shake. Let sit for a half hour (longer is better if you have time) to marinate.

Put mushrooms onto the grill pan. And grill each side for a few mins til semi cooked.

Pour 1 ladle of sauce into an oven proof dish . Place mushrooms on top gill side up. Put 1 spoon of pesto into center of each mushroom. Top with Parmesan and 1 ladle of sauce.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 mins (melt cheese, let flavored come together. Serve with some angel hair pasta, sauce, and some wine.

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Caramelized Onion Pizza with Sweet Potato-Walnut-Basil Pesto

Posted on April 25, 2012 by ds331

This is an improvement on a recipe I have been making since last year, when I found something similar in “Food and Wine” magazine.  My innovations include: adding more flavor with the walnut-basil-sweet potato pesto (the original just has a sweet potato sauce). I’ll break the recipe into 3 parts–the dough (you can buy store bought, but i promise this is easy), the pesto, andtoppings.

What's left of this pizza after last night....

The Dough (Recipe not my own…but I do have a modification or two). Borrowed from http://content.markbittman.com/node/176 and the credit goes to him, and to my husband, who sent it to me.

the original recipe yields 2 pizza crusts. I find it turns out better when you halve it…he also uses a food processor. I’ve found my stand mixer stands up to the task better (the food processor made the dough tough).

My recipe for 1 crust

  • 1.5 Cups bread flour (all purpose is fine)
  • 2 teaspoons quick rising yeast (i want to be able to make it in 20 mins, not 2 hrs)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1.5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup warm (100 degrees ish) water

Combine all ingredients–except the water–in the mixer. turn on. Slowly pour in the water. Let it blend with a dough hook for about 30 sec-1 min. turn off the mixer and start mixing it into a dough ball by hand (it should form easily). Cover dough ball in plastic wrap, put back into bowl. cover with a towel and let stand for 20 minutes.

Pull the dough ball out. flour your work surface. I lito a piece of parchement paper. Roll out to a 1″ thin round (or square) with a rolling pin. He tells you to let them rest again for 20 mins. I haven’t tried that yet. I usually just move on to step 2.

 

If you have one, put your pizza stone into the oven. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees for 20 minutes.

The pesto

  • 1 sweet potato cooked (wrap it in a wet paper towel and microwave for 5 minutes). then peel it.

In a food processor:

  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • sweet potato
  • a handful of basil
  • salt
  • a drizzle of olive oil
  • process til smooth

topping

  • 1 sweet onion caramelized (slice it into thin strips. add some olive oil to a skillet and warm on medium heat. toss in the onions and cover. occasionally stir. in about 15 mins they will be watery, turning color (slightly brown). that’s it.
  • balsamic vinegar reduction (put 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar into a saucepan. turn heat to medium at most (don’t put it on high, it will burn and smoke. my husband did this yesterday). Stir regularly and watch it steam and bubble. Essentially you’re removing the water. When it starts thickening and turning syrupy, turn it off and remove from heat. If it hardens, pour a little hot water over it.
  • Parmesan cheese (your preference on how much. I use a handful)

Putting it all together

Smear 1/2 of your pesto onto the pizza, like sauce. use how much ever you wish.  Top with the onions. Add the cheese.  Toss into a 500 oven on top of the pizza stone. Pull out with a pizza peel. Drizzle balsamic vinegar reduction on top. Slice and serve. I like to pair this with an apple-fennel-walnut-gorgonzola salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing. (recipe coming)

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Orange-beet salad

Posted on April 20, 2012 by ds331

This was inspired by a trip to the farmers market in DuPont Circle, where we tasted some amazingly sweet red beets and found a few oranges. Then someone brought us a huge tub of salad greens. And I had a little left over pistachio brittle from Kishan’s bday cake last week. So…out came this:

Serves 2. double for more. I make a little each day

Ingredients

  • 1 beet
  • 1 small orange
  • 1/4 a red onion
  • salad greens (anything will work. ours is mesculin, arugula, and ridichio)
  • pistachios
  • olive oil
  • balsamic vinegar
  • honey
  • garlic paste
  • sesame seeds

Equipment: A peeler or a mandolin

The method:

Peel the skin off the beet. Then use the peeler to shave thin strips from the beet. (or the mandolin to make thin slices). Peel and slice the orange into thin rings. Slice onion into thin strips. Chop pistachos.

Add all of it into a bowl.  In a small container with a lid, add 1/3 cup olive oil, some balsamic vinegar, 2 spoons of garlic paste, a squirt of honey and the sesame seeds.  Put the lid on the container/jar and shake well.

Dress the salad and voila!

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