Uncle's Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer (Sag Paneer, Spinach Paneer)

This recipe is quoted and the people referenced are not my family.  However, this is a great Palak Paneer recipe.  Enjoy! 

I learned the organized approach to cooking North Indian dishes from Deviji, a kind Punjabi lady, our neighbor in Pittsburgh, when we were living there. She taught me how to cook my favorites, she insisted that I come and see how she prepares in her kitchen so that I won’t forget. She used to say if you see, you won’t forget, particularly cooking. I think that is true. My entire north Indian cooking is her recipes including the paneer post below. Hope you try them and enjoy as much as we do. Here is one…The famous palak paneer

Recipe:

One big bunch of spinach (fresh green ones)
Paneer ~10 to 15 cubes
One medium sized ripe tomato
Green chillies 5, half onion~ chopped finely into small pieces
Half tsp of garlic-ginger-cilantro paste
One tsp of dhania-jeera (coriander-cumin) powder
Quarter cup cashews
Half tsp of salt

Preparation:

Spinach and Green Chillies - Wash the spinach, cut or tear them into big pieces. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a wide skillet. First add green chillies to hot oil, then spinach. Saute until the leaves are wilted. Turn off the heat. Wait few minutes to cool. Add them to a blender and also a pinch of salt - blend to smooth paste. Adding green chillies to spinach puree is very important step; it gives punch to bland spinach.

Tomato- Boil tomato in hot water till the skin break down, remove the skin, mash the tomato to a pulp.

Cashews- Roast cashews lightly, make fine powder of them.

Paneer- Lightly saute paneer cubes in one teaspoon of ghee till they are golden brown. (This is optional, you can add paneer cubes just as they are.)

Now with the curry:

Add one teaspoon of ghee or oil to a wide skillet. When it is hot, fry the onions till translucent. Add ginger-garlic-cilantro paste and dhania-jeera powder, mix them and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Now add pureed spinach, tomato and cashew powder along with a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and add water if needed. Do not dilute the curry too much. It should not spread like flooding river when served on a plate.

Cook it covered on low flame for about 5 to 10 minutes. Just before turning off the heat, add the paneer cubes. Mix them with the spinach (palak). Let simmer for 2 or 3 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Serve the curry hot with chapatis (rotis) or with rice. Also for novelty, you can make a Palak Panner Naanini (Split naan into two layers, apply generous potions of palak paneer in-between. Grill or Oven-broil for few minutes and serve with yogurt raita.) Anyway you prefer, palak paneer is truly a guilt free, satisfying, well balanced delicious dish.

Chiles Rellenos De Queso

Chiles Rellenos De Queso-> serves 12
Ingredients:
12 poblono chillies
4 tsp white vinegar
1/2 small onion
2 T oil
1 1/2 tsp ground pepper
6 C grated Jack or Cheddar Cheese
oil for deep frying
kosher salt to taste
4 large ripe tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
4 bay leaves
6 eggs, separated
1 C flour

Prepare the chilies: Roast and peel the chiles. Make a slit in each one careful not to break it much and remove the seeds and membranes. Soak chilies in water (enough to cover) with 1 T salt and vinegar for 20 minutes. Rinse, drain, and set aside.

Make Sauce (this is the best part): In a blender, combine tomatoes, onion, and garlic; puree and strain. Heat 1T oil in a skillet; add tomato puree and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; add 1 tsp salt, bay leaves, pepper, and cook, covered, 10 minutes, thinning with water if needed to maintain a saucy consistency.

Stuffing: Fill each chili with 1/2 C grated cheese and set aside.

Make Batter: Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, and then add egg yolks one at a time. Spread flour on a plate, coat each stuffed chili in it lightly then dip chilies into beaten eggs to coat completely.

Fry (this will pull the chili together in case it is coming apart): Heat 1/2inch oil in a skillet. When hot, add chilies one or two at a time and fry on each side until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels, then add to tomato sauce and simmer 5 minutes. Serve.

Kiran - from a Mexican Cooking Class :)

Mayuri's Russian Tea Cakes

My cousin Mayuri made this recipe for us one Christmas and it was excellent.  I highly recommend trying it for the next time you are looking for a nice dessert that can be in small portions.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (I put them in the grinder until they are partly ground)
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. I also like to roll mine in the sugar a second time.

Mayuri - Kiran's Cousin :)

Stacy's Tasty Summer Bean Salad

Tasty Summer Bean Salad
INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn kernels
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 clove crushed garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine beans, bell peppers, frozen corn, and red onion.
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, salt, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and black pepper. Season to taste with hot sauce and chili powder.
Pour olive oil dressing over vegetables; mix well. Chill thoroughly, and serve cold.

Madhavi's Cilantro Rice Recipe

Ingredients:
2 Cups Basmathi rice
1 bunch of Coriander (stems and leaves)
4 or 5 greenc hilies
Fresh grated Coconut
Salt to taste
Thalimpu samanulu (a mix of black mustard seeds, dried red chili peppers, followed by a fry of urad dhal and cumin seeds, and finally curry leaves - this is also know as Tarka in the north I believe)
1/2 cup of cashews or mixed nuts
1 lime

Directions: Cook the rice and let it cool. Meanwhile grind together Coriander,Chilies, Salt and Coconut with a little water. In a pan pour 4 tablespoons of oil and after it is heated add all the thalimpu samanulu to it.Then addthe ground paste and fry it till it becomes dry (Podi podi gaavaali which means it should look like a powder). Now mix this with the rice and finally add some lime juice.

Armin's Persian Lentil Soup

I had this Persian Lentil Soup at one of my best friend's cousin's home. She is an amazing cook. I am not sure the recipe is specific enough to make it as good as she does though.

Here is the recipe for something so tasty that you will be smiling:
1/2 cup parsley (dried I think)
1/2 cup basil (dried I think)
3/4 cup ground walnuts (roast a little if you like)
chicken broth
rice
persian lentils brown
red chilli powder
turmeric powder
onion

It's soup so just cook the onion and spices first. Rinse lentils for a while and then just dump everything in and cook it down.

Hard Liquor Secrets from an Eccentric Bar Guy

So, I met this really interesting older guy at Nectar a couple of months ago. He really new his spirits. He was big and had a personality that just projected across the room. We ended up talking at the bar for a while. His knowledge of liquor was impressive. This are some of the secrets shared:

Cascade Gin - Made from real juniper berries from Washington or Oregon. This is probably some of the best Gin you can find. It beats all the commercially popular brands.

Crater Lake Vodka - Another Northwest spirit with a kick

Gosling’s Black Seal Bermuda rum- A very special Rum.

I really would like to try the Gin and the Rum. They both sound like a nice change from the norm.



Adding to this post:
Recently I had a great grain vodka at my friend's wedding.
Also on a camping trip we had some Buffalo Trace Bourbon and it was amazingly smooth.

Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake

From Vijaye, Ashley, and Ashley's mom: I think it comes out better with Ashley's mistake personally.

Crust: Combine 1 package ( 8 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies, crushed, with 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Press into a 9 inch spring form pan. Chill.

Filling: Beat 2/3 cups sugar and 2 eggs until fluffy. Gradually add 1/2-3/4 lb. cream cheese, softened, until lumps are gone.
Melt 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, cool slightly, and add to sugar mixture.
Add 2 ounces amaretto liqueur and 1 cup sour cream, beating constantly.
Stir in 4 tbls. melted butter. Mix well and pour into crust.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, cool 15 minutes. Spread with topping and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Chill overnight.

Topping: Combine 1 cup sour cream, 1/4 tsp. cocoa, 2 tbls. sugar, and 1 tbls. amaretto liqueur. Mix well.

I just realized that I only used 1/2 lb. of cream cheese (remember: I was making it at midnight and my math isn't good even when I'm wide awake).
That explains the light creamy consistency of the filling. The extra 8 oz. makes it a little denser. I think my mistake turned out ok!

Understanding the kitchen

Guido:
"Things (about cooking) I wish I had known years ago. I wrote this up for my younger brother and sister so they wouldn't have to learn it on their own like I did. Neither of them cook much right now. Y'all probably know all of this stuff, but it might be useful.----
Things I wish I had known years ago. My cooking abilities have improved dramatically in the last year or so. There are certain things that have been a major influence on my improvement and other things that have just made my cooking life a lot better. I wish someone had pointed these things out to me years ago. Maybe I wouldn't have eaten so much crap if I had known about them.

1. Good Eats - Holy s***! Good Eats, I know I'm not alone saying that Alton Brown kicks ass. If you don't already know this, Good Eats is a cooking show on the food network hosted by Alton Brown. It's kind of a mix between Mr. Wizard, Bill Nye, MacGyver, and Julia Child. Wow, what a combo. What's important about this show is: A. He teaches you about why you need to do certain things and B. It's not boring.
2. Cooks Illustrated - A cooking magazine that doesn't suck. I've always hated cooking magazines (along with cooking shows) because they are always showing beautiful photos of dishes and long-ass recipes that assume you already know everything about cooking and require odd ingredients that not everyone can find (or cares to look for). Cook's Illustrated is great because they test many different recipes for the same dish and tell you exactly how to make it, and they tell you what you can substitute if you can't find every ingredient.
3. Cast Iron Skillets - I used to think that Calphalon cast-aluminum pans were the best but I recently got a Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet and I'm totally blown away. It really is much better than what I was using. It's extremely heavy and takes a long time to heat up, but once it's hot it stays hot. I can add cold water to the mixture and it continues to stay hot. And it's non-stick. It's not that crappy non-stick coating that eventually starts sticking, it's that extremely thin layer of oil that you've baked onto it when you season it. Oh yeah, that brings up care and maintenance. You have to take better care of this than your $100 copper skillet. You have to keep it seasoned, you can't use soap to clean it, and you have to keep it dry so it doesn't rust. But I guess since it's only $15 from Amazon you don't really have to worry if you screw up.
4. World Spice Merchants - I used to pay for $5 for each spice or herb at the supermarket, and they were usually small and old, and many times I couldn't find what I needed. At World Spice Merchants I get fresh spices and herbs for 5 to 10 times cheaper and I can find whatever I need. I've even bought some tins to keep them in.
5. Honing steels - It took me a long to realize that my knives were getting dull. I never realized that I could keep them very sharp with a small piece of metal. Probe Thermometers mean I stop cooking exactly when I'm supposed to."

Credits to Guido Bartolucci for contributing this piece. Another useful resource is the following book. What Einstein Told his Cook. http://www.amazon.com/What-Einstein-Told-His-Cook/dp/0393011836/

Kiran's Killer Bean Dip

This is a great recipe for a BBQ or for the super bowl which is this weekend.

First sautee an onion and add a pinch of Garlic Powder. Add Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons. Add chili powder 1 teaspoon. Then add 1 can red kidney beans and 1 can black beans. Keep coking on medium heat. Next add fresh tomatoes chopped and salsa (3/4 a bottle is usually about right). Next add shredded cheese 8-12 oz (the mixed mexican blend is good otherwise cheddar is essential to the recipe). Melt cheese and turn off the heat.

Take one bunch cilantro and chopp finely. Add to mixture. Add half a lime and salt to taste. (Optional - add avocados as well)

This is a crowd pleaser. Make sure to have plenty of chips or other dippables around.

Pan Fried Spicy Plantains

This is a great snack for a party or for watching a movie/game. To make this dish, first start with 2 dark green plantains. Skin the plantains by cutting along the ridges and peeling. Next, dice the plantains into small cubes. Put canola oil or grapeseed oil into a fry pan or wok. Raise this to a high to medium high heat. Do not use olive oil on high since it will smoke at high heat easily. Then carefully put your plantains into the oil. Try to keep the cubes separated so they can become coated on the outside with oil. Next turn the heat down to Medium or Med Hi and keep mixing every minute or two. The plantains should become crispy on the outside and stay chewy inside. After they are well browned, add salt and chilli powder to taste.

This feeds 3-6 people as an appetizer. Enjoy!!!

Kristin's Mango Cucumber Salad

Hi Kiran!

Here's the official recipe, but Meg doctored it up with more generous
helpings of lime, sugar and coconut than called for... I doubled these
proportions for your dinner.

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh chile (we wished we'd had a spicier chile...
ours had no bite at all)
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. unsweetened dried shredded coconut
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 small red bell pepper, minced
chopped fresh cilantro or spearmint leaves

Suggestion to chill salad for 20 min. and add cilantro or spearmint
right before serving.

Also good for a salsa.

I look forward to our next cooking gathering!

-Kristin

Food is Life

Anyone who knows me, realizes that I think that food is central to a good life. This blog is a place to share amazing food recipes, stories and adventures about food.