There's a jingle in the air! - Festive Food Fair

Naturally with Thanksgiving just past and Christmas round the corner, it is impossible to miss the holiday atmosphere both in the houses and in the surrounding stores and any retail institution where keeping up with the holiday Jones, is expected and mandatory.
I think the one think that I feel people have in common is their love of brightness and lights during this time of the year where in this hemisphere the days just are shorter. It is a common theme in so many festivals, celebrated during this time of the year. The ones that I can think off are,
Chanukah, Chirstmas and Kwanza: These three festivals certainly will dominate the universe in the United States for the next few weeks. People in the food blogging world celebrate the way they can, with posts now featuring chesnut recipes, cranberry recipes and the like. Anna's blog morsels and musings is hosting a festive food festival, I just cannot wait to see the results.
Well, along with the lights comes the food, there are so many parties and food fests this time of the year. One particular event, I am very fond of is a potluck belonging to a charity I work with. What I love is the multicultural dimension of the foods that show up. I created this recipe last year and every one loved it so much, I think I will take this to them again on friday. I like this served with stuffing or mashed potatoes.

Ginger Pepper Chicken with a Cranberry Balsamic sauce

Ingredients

2 inches of ginger
6 cloves of garlic
6 green chillies
1.5 tbsp black peppercorns( you can use multicolored)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 small chicken skinned and jointed
2 leeks
2 purple top turnips thinly sliced
3/4 cup thickly sliced mushrooms
1 red onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup white flour
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

For the sauce

1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Method of Preparation

1. Grind the ginger, garlic, chillies and peppercorns into a coase paste.
2. Apply the salt and the above paste on the chicken and let this rest for at least 1 hour.

3. Cut the leeks into large thin sections, please use as much of the green as you can.
4. Coat the chicken with the flour.
5. Heat the chicken in a large non-stick skillet (you will need more oil if using a conventional skillet) .
6. Place the chicken pieces in a single layer and cook for 5-7 minutes and brown, turn and brown the other side.
7. Add in the leeks, mushrooms, and onions and mix gently.

8. Line the sides of the pan with the turnips and cover with a tightfitting lid for 8 minutes till the vegetables are just done.
9. In the meantime, heat the water and the sugar.
10. When this comes to a boil add the cranberries and cook for 5 min, till they pop.
11. Add in the vingegar.
12. Mix this into the chicken and cook for another 5 minutes till the sauce is fairly thick.
13. Serve with a plain stuffing or mashed potatoes.


I do not often take pictures of the stages, but I am glad that I did, it reminded me of the mushrooms while writing up the recipe.

Sweet and Spicy Apple Buttnernut Rasam

This soup like many other creations in my kitchen started as a dish for my little ones, however after tasting this, I felt the flavors had potential to do more that provide good nutrition, they could grow up. A little bit of this and that produced an interesting rasam.

A traditional rasam is plentiful in tomatoes and a fairly thin soup. My variation is thicker than the typical broth but still thin enough to pass muster.

Sweet and Spicy Apple Butternut Rasam

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples

2 cups of butternut squash peeled and cubed

4 tomatoes finely chopped

1/2 cup brocolli slaw (optional)

3 tbsp toor dal (pigeon peas)

2 tsp salt

2 cups vegetable broth

1.5 tbsp rasam masala

1 tbsp ghee

1.5 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/3 cup yogurt

1/4 cup cream

4 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 limes juiced

Method of Preparation

1. Peel the apples and cut into chunks.

2.Place with squash, brocolli slaw, dal, tomatoes, broth, salt and rasam masala, into a pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes and cool for 5 minutes. Alternately, simmer for 45 minutes on a a low flame till all the ingredients are very soft and pureed.

3. Beat the mixture till smooth with a wisk and add 2 cups of water and check for the salt.

4. Heat the ghee and add the cumin and mustard seed. When the seeds start to crackle add this to the lentil mixture and bring to a boil.

5. Let this simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat.

7. Beat the yogurt and cream together till very smooth and gently stir into the soup.

8. Top with the cilantro and lime juice.

9. Serve in individual bowls either over rice and alone.

Parsnips - the new potato

Given what a disprotionately food-dominated holiday thanksgiving is, I am surprised that more blogs are not dominated by thanksgiving stories, recipes, etc. Well, I had a relatively uneventful thanksgiving, I was glad and thankful for the simple blessings of life - yes, the ones that we all take for granted.

Anyhow, my meanderings have recently, got me acquainted with a vegetable called parsnip. Mild and delicate in flavor, this looks a lot like an Albino carrot. It could pass off for a potato. Well, fine, when we have a potato why look for an imposter? Well, we get a little more fiber, a lot more folic acid, calcium and generally it is always good to have options. If all of this does not impress you, let me tell you both Martha Stewart in her new vegetarian book and Rachael Ray, in somewhere had recipes for parsnips ( I know I am really reaching). Well here is what I came up with. Interestingly enough I also discovered that there is a contest called Weekend Herb Blogging, that is actually being hosted by Hallo of Cook Almost Anything atleast once, this week.





Parsnip and Lima Bean Tikki



Ingredients



4 parsnips peeled
1 potato
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp dry fenugreek leaves
3 green chillies finely chopped
2 tsp chat masala
1 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 lime
1/2 cup lima beans
3-4 tbsp flour
Oil for frying



Method of Preparation.



1. Cut the parsnips into large pieces and boil with the potato for 15 minutes, till soft.
2. Drain the water and mash till fairly smooth. with the buttermilk.
3. Mix in all the remaining ingredients.
4. Shape these into fairly small patties about 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.
5. I have pan fried these on a griddle but you can deep fry them if you so desire.
6. Heat a small amount of oil on a griddle and place 3-4 tikkis on them.
7. Cook for 6-8 minutes on low flame and turn, (they should be well browned on both sides)
Serve with plain beaten yogurt and either ketchup or tamarind chutney.



I make a lot of stews, which is hardly a surprise given that I have 2 young children. A crockpot is a great asset for making good flavorful stews. It is also great since you can through in all the ingredients at night and have a wholesome meal ready for you morning meal even before breakfast. Here is a lamb stew with parsnips made in a crockpot.

Lamb with blackbeans and parsnips.

Ingredients

6 tbsp oil
3 onions finely chopped
2 inch ginger grated
10 cloves of garlic
7 cloves
6 green cardamoms
1 black cardamoms
1 large piece cinamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp curry powder
2 lbs stewing lamb
1 tbsp salt
6 tomatoes
4 parsnips
2 carrots
15 small onions
1/2 cup black beans soaked in water
2 cups white wine or broth
1.5 tsp garam masala.
1 cup chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the onions, ginger and garlic and cook for 8 min.
2. Add in the whole spices and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the turmeric, curry powder lamb and salt and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Coarsely blend the tomatoes in a food processor.
5. Chop the parsnips and carrots into large pieces.
6. Add all the ingredients except the cilantro and garam masala in a crockpot and cook for 7 hours on high.
7. If you want to do this on the stovetop, just cover a heavy bottomed pot and cook for 1 hr and check, the meat should be soft and well done.
8. Serve over rice topped with cilantro and garam masala.

Stuffed Mini-Pepper Dolmas

Dolmas in Indian cooking also orginate from Bengali cooking in eastern India. Traditionally a green vegetable called potol is lightly fried and stuffed with fish or paneer and cooked in a seasoned sauce. This is a firm and nice sized vegetable. I have replicated this dish using mini bell peppers that are more readily available in the local markets, this add more color to the dish and the baked version is actually lighter and easier to prepare.

Capsicum Dolma – Paneer Stuffed Mini Peppers in an onion cardamom sauce

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp black cumin seeds
1 onion finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger grated
1 cup freshly prepared paneer crumbled
2.5 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
20 mini peppers (try using a mixed color combination)
3 tbsp oil
1 onion ground
1 tsp ginger paste
4 green cardamoms
4 cloves
1 small stick cinnamon
2 bay leaves
2 green chillies minced
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

Heat the ghee and sizzle the black cumin seeds.
Cook the onions and ginger till the onions are soft and begin to brown.
Add in the paneer with half the salt, cumin powder and garam masala.
Cook for 10 minutes till the mixture is dry and appears well mixed.
Gently cut the tops of the peppers and remove any ribs from the insides.
Stuff the hollows with the paneer mixture and arrange on a greased baking dish.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Heat the oil and cook the onion and ginger paste till browned. Add in the whole spices.
Add the yogurt in small batches cook till the oil reappears.
Mix in the salt and ½ cup water and cook till thick.
Pour on top of the peppers.
Cover and bake for 25 minutes.

Panch Phoron - Bengali 5-Spice Mixture

It is the start of another Introduction to Indian cooking class. One of things that never fail to surprise students is how much flavor on teaspoon of this simple spice holds. The word Panch means Five in hindi or Bengali and phoron means seasoning. This blend contains equal amounts of Nigella seeds, Fennel seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds.

The typical use of this is in a stir-fry although it is also used in tempering dals. I usually have a classic cauliflower recipe with potatoes and peas, it is a staple that my mother makes and it is quite a stapple both in my house and classes.

What was funny was also that Paul Bianchi who was in the class while spluttering the phoron, asks me what I know about Calcutta spices, without making the connection between Bengali and Calcutta since it turns out one of his best friends Gautam is from Calcutta, well maybe Gautam will be happy to try the Alu Gobi (potato and cauliflower) with the salmon curry that I will be teaching next week.

Mushroom Soup with Roast Garlic, Ginger and Barley

Today is such a rainy day, it is one of those days meant to be enjoyed with a classic cup of soup. I tried working with this bag of pearl barley that I had stashed away in my closet for weeks and I think I liked the results. I loved the rich buttery taste and the dense flavor of mushrooms. I tried roasting the ginger with the garlic and loved the results.

Mushroom Soup with Roast Garlic, Ginger and Barley

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

1 Head of a small garlic
2 inch piece of ginger peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
16 oz white mushrooms
2 red potatoes cooked in their jackets
1 forelle pear peeled and quartered
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream
1/3 cup pearl barley
6 tbsp butter
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp powdered mustard
20 shallots thinly sliced
4 cups of stock
Salt to taste
1 cup parsely or cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 400 F.
2. Cut the tops of the garlic and drizzle the garlic and ginger with oil.
3. Place in a garlic roaster and cook for 35 minutes.
4. Slice 1/4 or the mushrooms and set aside.
5. In a blender, place the remaining mushrooms, pears, potatoes and yogurt.
6. Peel the garlic and add to the blender with the ginger and process to a puree.
7. Pressure cook the barley for 15 minutes with 1 cup of stock.
8. Heat half the butter and cook the shallots till soft.
9. Add the puree and cook for 20 minutes till this mixture begins to stick to sides of the pot.
10. Mix in the chilli, mustard and salt with the stock and barley.
11. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes.
12. In the meantime saute the remaining mushrooms with a little butter.
13. Mix into the soup and stir well.
14. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley or cilantro and serve.

Note: A touch of fresh rosemary would also be a great accent to this dish.

Mixed Raita

I had this great raita on this recent trip to India, I think my seasonings are a little stronger than the version I tried but the sweet, cool and tart flavors work well together and would compliment any rice or bread.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp black salt

1/2 tsp chilly powder

1/2 cup chopped pineapple

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tomato diced

1 cucumber peeled and diced

2 tsp mint chopped

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp asafateotida

Method of Preparation

1. Wisk together the sour cream, yogur, sugar, salt and chilly powder.

2. Mix in the chopped vegetables, fruit and mint.

3. Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, when these crackle add in the cumin and hing.

4. Mix with the raita, cover and let the spices infuse for 5 minutes before serving.