Indian Cooking Class

I first ate Indian food in London, with Peter’s brother and family. I thought I liked it but it was so intense and rich – I found it overwhelming. Then we  lived in Singapore for two years where there are many wonderful Indian restaurants, and that’s when we grew to love it. And visiting India a few years ago was a wonderful culinary experience.

Sur la Table moved into the nearby mall last year and I have been checking out their classes for something fun to take. Indian caught my eye – and – the main dish on the menu was Butter Chicken – my favorite. I was a bit skeptical about cooking an Indian dinner in two hours. I was also wondering if it would be spicy enough. I don’t claim to be able to eat Indian food like a native, but I don’t like what most American Indian restaurants serve.

First up were pakoras. We usually don’t eat appetizers, but I have had these before and love them. You may remember that I am quite fond of fried food. {Oh to have a deep fat frier!} ;-D

I always wondered what the flavor was in pakoras and it turns out that they are made of chickpea flour. The batter is quite simple and you can use whatever veggies you have on hand. We also made a delicious mint and apple riata to go with these.

Next up was getting a mango chutney going. I didn’t realize how simple chutneys are to make and it was delicious!

And then we made naan…..mmm… We baked some on a pizza stone and some on a baking sheet and surprisingly the ones on the baking sheet puffed up better. I ate the one on the right and I think we rolled the dough too thin. Although delicious, it was more the texture of a cracker.

We did get everything made in two hours. Below you can see the main course. The butter chicken looks pretty and the taste was okay, but as I feared, it was not spicy enough. Another lady and I kept salting the dish, which didn’t seem to help. In thinking about it, as I write, when I make this butter chicken, I will double the spices. Adding salt made it saltier, it did not improve the flavor. The chef kept throwing in butter, which I’m not sure helped either. If you eat Indian food you know that if it’s too spicy, you put a dollop of yogurt or riata on the top. And drink more beer! It was a fun class and great cuisine to eat on a night that was 4 degrees.

Chicagoland is finally getting some measurable snow today. I think it’s been close to a year since we’ve had this much. We have been busy trying to keep the birds fed!

Hope you’re keeping warm in this bitterly cold weather!

It’s a Sticky Business!

This week’s to do list has been suffering, because of interruptions. It’s a good thing though. Late Summer is one of my favorite times of the year, with the weather cooler and the farmer’s markets full to overflowing with wonderful produce. It’s time to can! Don’t these peaches look great?

Not so much! We bought them on Saturday, rock hard, and I have been waiting for them to ripen. When they did, I went into action, canning our favorite winter treat – spiced peach halves.

I make a very light sugar syrup and put the peach halves into it as it warms on the stove top. This also keeps the peaches from browning. When the pot is full, I scoop up the halves and fill the jars and then pour the hot syrup into the jar. The little trick, that I learned many moons ago, is to add 3 -4 whole cloves. Seal them up, process in a boiling water bath – easy peasy!

We don’t open the canned goods until after Christmas to celebrate the beginning of winter and it is such a treat. The peaches have sat marinating in the cloves and they have a hint of spice in each bite. Several peach halves with cottage cheese is truly delightful! Peter calls the peaches “Summer in a jar”.

Also on Saturday, I found a stall with very nice looking pickling cucumbers. Obviously most people do not know what to do with a pickling cuke and so the ones I had seen at other markets were spoiled and nasty looking. I eyeball the length of the cuke – I want it to be about the length of a half pint jar. No point in wasting it. I enjoy making these pickles as it’s the easiest recipe I’ve ever found. They are spears, so I cut the ends off and slice them. Into a bowl they go, covered with boiling water for 2 hours.

As they sit, I make a syrup recipe, with vinegar and sugar and spices, and I get that boiling. After 2 hours, I drain the cuke spears and pack them in warm jars. I’ve found it’s easiest to pack with the jar on its side. I keep a knife nearby to trim the ends that may be too long. Then I fill the jar with boiling syrup, wipe the rim and add the lid. After the jars are processed in a boiling water bath, they cool for the night.

This morning I wiped the jars clean of sticky juice and labeled them. I “designed” these on My Own Labels. Now all the peaches and pickles are in a dark closet waiting for January.

And next it’s time to clean the cooker top and mop the floor. There is gooey business everywhere, it seems. It takes several buckets to really get the stickiness off, but it is oh so worth it.

A Delicious Summer Squash Soup

My favorite summer soup is Gazpacho…. with lots of chopped veggies and a bit of sour cream to top it off. At the moment, I have two cherry tomatoes ripening in my garden and the tomatoes I bought at the Farmer’s Market taste okay but are crunchy, so I won’t be making Gazpacho for a while. Last night I was looking online for some summer soup ideas and found this recipe for Golden Summer Squash & Corn Soup.

I had yellow squash from the market and two ears of leftover corn, so all the ingredients were in the refrigerator! The soup is quite easy to make and we enjoyed it for dinner with some ham. The squash base is really creamy; you almost feel like there is some heavy cream in there somewhere, and of course the corn makes it chewy and crunchy. I did not have feta cheese, which probably adds a nice salty note to the subtle flavor. We crumbled up some herb cheese and it was good, but if you love these two veggies then the cheese isn’t necessary.

There’s a bit left in the refrigerator, so I will try it room temperature and see what it’s like. And, if you are watching calories, the corn is the only “high ticket” item in the soup.

What really tickles me about this recipe is that the Deputy Editor of Eating Well turns out to be a little girl that I taught in Second Grade many years ago! How lovely to find her after all these years. Good job Jessie – I’m finding many recipes I like on your website.

It’s Cherry Pie Season!

If I had to choose one fruit pie, the only one I’d be able to eat forever and ever, it would be cherry. Using cherry pie cherries, which are sour. And hard to find, as I have discovered over the years.

The only pie my mother made was a delicious lemon meringue in Spring, so we waited for the cherries to ripen and for Grandma Pearson to make the cherry pies. She baked on Saturday mornings, and I would hound my father to get us over there while she was still working. If I did, I might get a little pie (cherry or shoo fly) just for me. And if she was baking cinnamon buns…..oh mercy they were good!

Back to the cherries. I long ago got her pie crust recipe, which is still my favorite. In order to get the “recipe” I had to watch her like a hawk as she did not measure. She always made lard pie crusts and there is nothing like the flavor of lard with a fruit pie. It is difficult to make in the heat of sour cherry season as lard melts easily. I have to whisk it in and out of the refrigerator, but it is well worth the effort.

In Pennsylvania, the saying went “4th of July, cherry pie”. In the Midwest pie cherries appear later. The fruit in our local farmer’s markets comes from Michigan (such a drive!) and the Cherry Capital happens to be in Traverse City, Michigan. We have been there several times and just love it. All the restaurants and breweries and bakeries have cherry everything!!!

If I have made you crazy for cherries, and you need to order something, the first place I must recommend to you is American Spoon. They make an amazing variety of delicious fruit goodies. And, the all cherry all the time place is Cherry Republic. The story of how the business began and continues to foster everything cherry and Michigan related is told in their fun weekly e-newsletter. And I must say that Cherry Republic makes a cherry pie that even Grandma Pearson would eat! Peter and I usually need to taste-test two pieces to make sure the quality is good….. And the cherry ice cream on the side is pretty wonderful as well.

Just back from the farmer’s market! This week’s haul includes red and black raspberries…and…sour cherries! Yummy!

Comfort Food: bacon cheddar biscuits!

Yowie! You won’t believe how good these biscuits are!

I know many of you don’t eat bacon for health or religious reasons, so put your fingers in your ears and hum very loudly. For the rest of you, this is a seriously delicious recipe. It was cold and rainy the other night (ugh – I hate rain in the winter!) so I started a fire and dug around for this recipe. I am sure these are loaded with calories, so I made a big salad with lots and lots of lettuce in it. The biscuits are actually cooked in the frying pan used to cook the bacon, and they get very crisp in an interesting and delicious way on their bottoms.

The next day that crispness is gone, but the biscuits mellow and the cheddar and bacon favors are stronger……they were yummy with tomato soup. I am sure they would be delicious with eggs, but we didn’t do that taste test. Perhaps you will try it for Sunday breakfast???

I saw this recipe in a Williams Sonoma catalog and pulled it out. Click here for your link to this delicious treat.