Cauliflower Soup

Gobi Ka Soup 

Recipe from Vegetarian Indian

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/readouts/vegetarian-india-a-journey-through-the-best-of-indian-home-cooking/

Over this holiday break I have been on a "preparing vegetables" kick.  I tried to imitate different delicious veggies from one of my favorite Italian superettes on Staten Island, A & C and then this weekend I was browsing through Barnes and Noble and came across "Vegetarian Indian."  I took a picture of one of the first recipes; it was for Cauliflower Soup.  I love Cauliflower and Indian spices and I just decided to make it happen.  It was pretty easy to prepare and it was warming and flavorful. Look at all the spices you need in order to prepare the soup!

 Here's the recipe (from the picture I took in Barnes and Noble).

At first you just heat up the oil.  When it's hot, you add the cumin seeds (1/2 teaspoon) and then, after two seconds, the fennel seeds (1/4 teaspoon).  Heat 

Then, add a chopped onion and a chopped potato.  (There was supposed to be a green chili pepper but it somehow got lost on the trip from the supermarket to the house).  Stir and keep it going for five minutes.  

After the five minutes, add the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and chili powder.  

At that point, I added the cauliflower and cilantro and stirred for one minute.  Then, I added four cups of water and put the pot on medium/high heat.  When it came to a boil, I lowered the heat and it then simmered for 25 minutes.  

After that, I used my Cuisine Art immersion blender to make it into a smooth soup.  I also added salt - 1 1/2 teaspoons and 5 tablespoons of heavy cream.  

 There we go!  A nice winter dish to curl up with on the couch.  

Making my own balsamic glaze

I loveeee a good balsamic glaze.  Today, when I got home from the grocery store, where I bought fresh mozzarella, basil and tomatoes, I realized that I left MY balsamic glaze at work in my lunch bag!  Ahh!  This is a crucial ingredient to my idea of a delicious Caprese salad. 

I realized that I did have regular balsamic vinegar and thought:  why can't I make a reduction myself?  Exactly!  I can!

So, I looked up a quick recipe on All Recipes and it basically just said to put 1 cup of balsamic vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey, boil it, lower the temperature and wait about 10-15 minutes until it reduces to 1/3 of a cup. 

Caprese salad is served. 

Things to Make for a Halloween Dinner

I have to say I have started and continued my own Halloween dinner tradition - that is butternut squash soup, usually a salad with pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette and then pumpkin ravioli with cream sauce and a balsamic glaze.  The pumpkin ravioli, however, need to be Papa Pasquale's - which are amazing.  I buy them at Esposito's Pork Store on Court Street in Brooklyn.

The immersion blender putting in work on the butternut squash soup

I forgot to take a picture at the beginning of the meal, but these are the pumpkin ravioli (while they are still around).  On the bottom left of the plate is a cauliflower puree I made, to add an extra vegetable.  I also added pancetta for extra flavor and crunch. 

I

These are my much-toiled over pumpkin spice cakes, in the shape of jack-o-lanterns.  Next time, I'm going to do even better.  Not terrible though for my first attempt at a spherical cake!!!

Chicken Tikka

Today I made chicken Tikka - what would be used for Tikka Masala.  I skipped the Masala sauce because I want to use the chicken in a mediterranean salad with chickpeas, mint and a cucumber/yogurt dressing.  Doesn't that sound good?!  I'm excited about it... haha.

Chicken ingredients:

INGREDIENTS
Chicken Tikka
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon table salt
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts , trimmed of fat
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (see note above)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

I got the recipe from the Cook's Illustrated cookbook.  It requires patting spices on the chicken (cardamom, cayenne pepper, cumin and salt) and letting it marinate for 30-60 minutes while you make the yogurt sauce.

For the yogurt sauce, combine the yogurt, oil, garlic and ginger together with a whisk.  When the chicken is done marinating, turn on your broiler.  I put it on medium broil, but it would have been better on high (I learned later).

Take your tongs and coat the chicken breast in the yogurt sauce.  Then put the chicken directly on the broiler.  Cook it for 10-18 minutes, until the chicken is 160 degrees on the inside (you will need a cooking thermometer) and the chicken is slightly charred on the outside.

I haven't tried this batch of chicken this time because I am going to use it for lunch salads to bring to work, but last time I made this, the chicken was so delicious and like creamy because of the yogurt.  I loved the subtle spices and, overall, this chicken is really pretty healthy!  So I think it's a win win.  When I put the salad together I will add a picture of that too.

I made the cucumber/yogurt dressing.  It tastes sort of like tzatziki (Greek dip) but is more "dressing-like" than "dip-like"  The recipe also called for dill and jalapeno, so it is a little different.  In any event, it is refreshing, delicious, and, again, way fewer calories than your typical salad dressing.

















Here is the recipe I used from Whole Foods: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/yogurt-cucumber-dressing

Butternut Squash Puree

So yesterday I accidentally bought a butternut squash when I was trying to buy a spaghetti squash!!

I contemplated roasting it and then I thought about butternut squash soup, which I love.  When I looked up my favorite recipe in The Joy of Cooking, I saw a recipe for butternut squash puree, something I like a lot but never made - so I decided to go for it!

It was pretty easy and didn't require too much work after baking the squash til it was mashable.  Then I added a tablespoon of butter and mashed that in.  From there, I added a clove of garlic and parsley - diced and chopped, respectively - and mashed it all together again.  Then, I added 2% milk (you can use whole or cream) and mixed that in until it was creamy.  I tasted it and it definitely needed salt!  And then - it was great.  A delicious savory puree to serve as a side with any protein.

Here's to making mistakes!  (Buying the wrong squash).

Almost Paleo Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs in Spicy Pepper Tomato Sauce

Hi!

So I had this great idea to try eating paleo.  I was aiming to exclude dairy and complex carbs and the first meal I wanted to make was spaghetti squash, meat balls and this spicy marinara sauce I love that is sweet and hot at the same time. I have made it with sausage but wanted to exclude that for this recipe.  

So, firstly, I had to make the sauce.  This is the list if ingredients:

4 cans peeled tomatoes

1 can tomato paste 

Olive oil 

8-10 cloves garlic (I love garlic)

2 onions - sliced

3 red peppers - Julietted

2 seeded jalapeño peppers

Salt 

Basil

Oregano

Red pepper flakes 

Mushrooms

1 peeled and diced eggplant 

(Sugar- do not add for paleo)

So, firstly, wash your produce!!  ;). I thought the veggies looked so pretty in the sink!

Next, I used my food processor to chop the garlic.  I put it in a sauce pan with oil and a generous shaking of red pepper flakes.  I heated that up and when the garlic started turning slightly golden, I put in the sliced onions and added some salt.

My onions and peppers:

I wanted to get the onions almost carmelized to add sweetness to the sauce because sugar was a no no with the paleo plan.  

When the onions were really soft, I added the red peppers and jalapeños. I also added salt and pepper.  I let that cook and diced the eggplant.  

While the peppers and onions were still softening, I heated up oil and garlic in another pan.  When that was golden, I added the eggplant and mushrooms to sautée.  Also, I put in salt and pepper for flavor.

Ok.  Now the peppers were really soft so I added the four cans of peeled tomatoes. Once again, I added salt and pepper to the pan.I let that cook for about ten minutes and then used the immersion blender to purée the sauce and blend all the flavors.  I like doing this so strands of pepper and onion don't run through the sauce.  It's smooth and flavorful.  

Then, when the sauce was blended, I added a can of tomato paste, an Italian spice blend consisting of oregano and other things that are sort of already on the sauce, and then I cut up like two handfuls of basil into the sauce. I also added the sautéed mushrooms and eggplant.

I tasted it and it was just not on point.  I know this is because I usually use sugar. I added salt and then, I just had to so I didn't ruin the sauce, I added a few dashes of natural cane sugar. I know...but it just made a huge difference.  

I then made a batch of baked meatballs. For these use:

Grass fed beef

Egg

Parmesan cheese (optional but definitely adds a lot of flavor)

Parsley

Basil

Salt

Pepper

1/2 onion

3 garlic gloves 

You put all those ingredients into a bowl, mix with your clean hands, roll them into neat balls and line them up like cookies on an oiled pan.  Cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown and cooked through.  

I was grossed out/happy when I saw all the fat that was on the tray when I pulled the meatballs out.  I was happy all that was removed from the meatballs through the baking process.  This wouldn't happen if they were fried - obviously. 

I used tongs to drain them on paper towels and then put them in the sauce.  The sauce will taste better tomorrow when all the flavors get more time to marinate.

So, now the spaghetti squash.  Seed it (sort of like a pumpkin).  Simply cut the squash in half, place in a baking pan, add 1/4 cup of water and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. 

Then (being careful of your hands - it will be hot), use a fork to pull out all the "spaghetti".  There will also be water in there so you might when to strain it and squeeze it out so you don't serve a watery dish.

Put spaghetti squash in bowl with sauce and meatballs.  If eating dairy, top with Parmesan. 

This recipe will last you for several days - it makes A LOT of sauce.

The sauce would also be good to liven up a grilled chicken breast, in my opinion, so you can use the extra for that.  Don't forget, it has a kick! 

Fortunately simple fortune cookies

So I have to admit that the best part of this activity was definitely writing the personalized fortunes that went inside the cookies!  So much fun! 

I did get a fortune cookie mix to which I only had to add water and margarine.  The real trick was getting the cookies bent into a fortune cookie shape while they were still hot.  The first batch of cookies were completely stuck to the pan because I used tinfoil to line the cookie tray instead of parchment paper... so silly.  I had to go out and buy parchment paper and do it again.  Thank goodness I only did one batch as practice.  I lost six cookies but I had enough batter to make about eight cookies. 

Then, to add some pizzazz and fun, after the cookies were folded and dried in little muffin tins (so they would keep their shape as they cooled), I melted baker's dipping chocolate so I could dunk the cookies and decorate them with sprinkles.  So pretty!!  They look professional!  This would be a nice gift for Valentine's Day or an anniversary.

With the remaining baker's choocolate, I dippied strawberries.  This are always a pretty, delicious, elegant touch to add romance to any event, even a regular week night dinner ;)