A space for recipes

Minggu, 26 Januari 2014

Nuked fish Kjarnorkufiskur

Christmas is over and the New Year’s Eve madness as well (although I still hear the occasional explosion as people discover overlooked fireworks or celebrate January birthdays by letting off a few). What better way to calm stomachs that are still recovering from all the heavy holiday food than by serving up a delicious fish dish?

This is my grandmother’s recipe for a quick fish gratin with vegetables:

Take 1 fish fillet, skinless and boneless, preferably haddock or cod - but any firm, white fish will do. Cut into pieces. Take some raw potatoes, carrots, a small rutabaga and some cauliflower. Slice carrots, cut cauliflower into small florets and chop rutabaga and potatoes into bite-size pieces. Layer into a microwave-safe casserole dish. Break a couple of eggs into a bowl, add some milk and spices (salt, pepper, and fish-spice mix). Mix well. Pour egg mixture over the fish and veggies. Top with grated cheese. Nuke on High until the vegetables are tender and the egg mixture is cooked.

Dudhi ki sabzi Bottle gourd in gravy

Dudhi ki sabzi

There are some vegetables that never make it to our favourites list. Most gourds, especially the bitter gourd for obvious reasons, and also the bottle gourd for being so tasteless. DH is absolutely a non-fussy eater but gourds deter him too. When I tried out an experiment with the bottle gourd for my lunch, inspired by what our friend in Bangalore had made for us, it turned out so good, that it was entirely report-worthy and repeat-worthy. I made an effort to spare some for dinner, and when I gingerly served some to DH, he said - "Is there more of that??". That moment, the poor dudhi had recorded its place in the annals of our household.

I must give due credit to an Andhra recipe which our friend had shared with me verbally. Since I couldnt recollect much of it, what went into this recipe, were ingredients thrown in by intuition, in my own approximations. The idea of dudhi in a thick gravy is her traditional recipe though.

Before I share this zero-oil, tasteful wonder with you, I must announce that a good friend Manasvi has started his own food blog called - From the Bachelors Kitchen. As good ladies we must encourage a mans efforts in the kitchen, shouldnt we ;)

DUDHI / LAUKI KI SABZI
Bottle gourd in gravy - a zero oil recipe

Category: Vegetable, low-carb, zero-oil, diabetic recipe
Time taken: Under 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Source: Adapted from a friends recipe

Ingredients
1 small dudhi -peeled cut into cubes (to make 2 cups of cubes)
pinch of turmeric powder and asafoetida each, 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

For masala
2 red chillies - broken into small pieces
1 heaped tablespoon sesame seeds (white ellu)
1 tbsp tur dal
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp saunf or fennel seeds (substitute with jeera if you dont have this, but good to use fennel)
2 peeled garlic pods (optional)
PLUS
1/4 Cup roasted peanuts

Coriander leaves for garnish

To prepare masala
Dry roast the ingredients - red chillies through garlic.
Once the tur dal turns golden, remove, cool and dry grind in small mixer with handful of roasted peanuts. If you dont have roasted peanuts, then first roast peanuts separately as it takes longer than other ingredients. Grind to a coarse powder, keep aside.

Directions
Heat 3/4 cup water in a heavy pan. Bring to a boil with turmeric, salt and hing. Add the dudhi cubes and boil for 5-7 minutes until the pieces are soft but retain shape. They may be some water left over, but do not drain it.
OR
Microwave for 3 min on high

Add masala powder to the cooked gourd pieces in the same pan. On a low flame, mix the cooked gourd with the masala. The excess water will be absorbed by the powder. Add a little more water if necessary.

Check for salt and garnish with coriander. This dish with pair fantastically with chapatis or even dosai, may be even bread.

Note
You wont miss the oil at all here, for the natural oils in sesame seeds and peanuts give it a rich taste
You can try this with any other squash or gourd, for eg. Zucchini
Bottle gourd is low-carb as are many others from this family, this makes an excellent diabetic recipe as well as a low-carbers recipe.
You can use the saved bottle gourd peels to make a chutney by sauteeing it with spices and dried lentils, and pulsing it in the blender.

STEVE’S INCREDIBLE WILD ALASKA SEAFOOD STEW

It’s a must to serve this extraordinary seafood stew
with a loaf of warm and crusty garlic bread
for sopping up its amazing broth...

[This recipe and photo were featured
@ http://paper.li/denali_ak/alaskans-10#!travel]

Servings: (10 to 12)

Prep: 10 Mins. | Stew: 45 Mins.

A unique seafood stew with wild Alaska shrimp, scallops, clams, and halibut. You can change this recipe up in so many ways by also using or substituting the ingredients below with mussels, crab, white and/or red king salmon, sockeye, cod, and so on.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 cubes unsalted butter

2 yellow onions, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2 handfuls fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, roughly chopped

2 (14.5 oz. cans) Italian stewed tomatoes, undrained-break-up further using a potato masher

2 (14.5 oz. cans) low-sodium chicken broth

3 organic bay leaves

1 tablespoon organic dried basil

¾ teaspoon organic dried thyme

¾ teaspoon organic dried oregano

1 tablespoon old bay seasoning

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups quality white wine:

--(We used Wollombi Pass South Eastern Australia Semillon Chardonnay 2011)

1-1/2 lbs. fresh shrimp/prawns, peeled and deveined

1-1/2 lbs. fresh bay scallops (if using sea scallops, cut into quarters)

18-live steamer clams

1-1/2 lbs. fresh halibut fillets, cut into 1" cubes

Fine-grained sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Serve with:

-- A loaf of prepared warm and crusty garlic bread

METHOD

In a large heavy-bottom stockpot, melt butter over medium-low heat, add onions and cook while stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and parsley, and cook for 30 seconds longer. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, old bay seasoning, lemon juice, and wine; gently fold to combine. Cover stockpot, and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the shrimp, scallops, clams, and halibut; bring to a gentle boil, and immediately lower heat. Cover stockpot and simmer 5 to 7 minutes, just until clams open. Toss bay leaves. Ladle stew into bowls, and serve with warm and crusty garlic bread slices. ~ Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tip: It’s IMPERATIVE after the cooking process to toss any unopened clams (or mussels)!

Chicken Been Paper

Chicken Been Paper

Ingredients

Butter 2 tbsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Onion chopped 1
Garlic chopped 2 cloves
Cinnamon powder ½ tsp
Chili powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder ½ tsp
Red beans 1 cup
Cheddar cheese grated 50 gm
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder ¼ tsp
Chili garlic sauce 2 tbsp
Chicken breast 2
Green capsicum 1
Red capsicum 1
Parsley chopped ¼ bunch
Basil ½ tsp

Method

Heat 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp oil in a wok, add 2 clove of chopped garlic and 1 chopped onion. Sauté till golden brown.Then add in sliced chicken and fry well till golden brown. Now add in 1 cup red beans, 1 green capsicum and 1 red capsicum cut into cubes. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes.Add 1 tsp chili powder, ½ tsp cinnamon powder, ½ tsp cumin powder, salt to taste, ¼ tsp black pepper powder, ½ tsp basil, ¼ bunch of chopped parsley, 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce and 50 gm grated cheddar cheese. Mix well and cook for 2 – 3 minutes.Remove in a serving platter and serve with boiled rice.

Sabtu, 25 Januari 2014

Is it Summer

Its about 9C here today and raining! I was feeling pretty cold and had about 40 minutes before lunch was due, so thought Id see what was in the fridge that I could make into soup! Hmmm, some rather dodgy potatoes, wrinkly and starting to sprout, its so difficult to keep potatoes at this time of year, onions, carrots and a courgette. Yes, that was enough to make some soup and it would be low cal too.

I dont even bother to fry/sweat the veg just peel, chop and throw them in, make some stock with veg or chicken stock powder and a kettle full of boiling water and then the magic ingredient.....

...my beloved pressure cooker! This is the first time Ive used it on my ceramic hob, it takes a little longer to get up to pressure, but there is a more even temperature to maintain the pressure cooking. Once it is up to temp, its only 10 minutes till you have your lovely pot of soup. I took out some of the veg, then liquidised the rest of the veg and stock with a hand blender and put back in the lovely chunky bits that I had saved.

It was lovely and warming especially with a generous grinding of black pepper.

Egg Roast Mutta Roast

Ingredients

Hard boiled Eggs( shell removed and halved)-5

Onion medium( minced)-1

Ginger( minced)-1"

Garlic cloves( minced)-4

Curry leaves and Coriander leaves-few

Red chili powder-1 1/2tsps

Sombu/ Aniseed powder- 1tsp

Turmeric powder-1/4tsp

Salt to taste

Oil required.

Method

Heat oil in a pan, when hot add the minced onion, ginger and garlic. Stir fry for few mins until raw flavor of ginger and garlic leaves. Add red chili powder, sombu powder, turmeric powder and required salt. Fry the powdered masalas for few more mins and add 1/4 cup water. Increase heat and allow the gravy to boil. Now add the curry leaves and coriander leaves. When the gravy starts reducing place the halved eggs cut side down and reduce the heat. Cook on low flame until the oil separates on the sides of pan and eggs are slightly crisp.

Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes

Last week I made some pumpkin brownies. (I didnt post them because I thought that they looked ugly.) There was about 1/2 cup or so of leftover canned pumpkin and Ive been tossing around ideas for using it up. Ive seen so many wonderful recipes on the blogs that Ive been reading. Ive seen pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin bread and cakes and of course pancakes. This morning I woke up a little late due to all the red wine I consumed last night and I was craving a diners breakfast. You know how it is. But I knew that by the time I woke up Steve and we both showered it would be lunch time before we got to have breakfast out. I took at look in my fridge and saw a container of ricotta that I had and then and idea hit me. What if I used my cousin Tiffanys sour cream pancakes recipe and used ricotta instead? I could just add the pumpkin and see what happens and that was how this recipe was born.

The pancakes are delicious and perfect for this time of year and its a great way to use up the leftover pumpkin since you dont really need that much to get the pumpkin flavor. If you have sour cream on hand you can use that too as thats what the original recipe calls for. If you use the ricotta it may seem a little thick so just thin it out with a little more milk. I was also easy on the cinnamon and nutmeg but I suggest using a bit more for stronger flavor. Thats how it goes with experiments, right? In the recipe Im giving you Im going to use the amount of spices that I think would be better not what I used. I used only 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes

2 Cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups milk (plus more if your batter is too thick)
1 cup ricotta
2 eggs
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, ricotta, eggs, melted butter, canned pumpkin. Pour the milk mixture into the flour and stir until combined.

Spray griddle with cooking spray and cook pancakes over medium heat(you may need to reduce the temp to low after the pan heats up so your pancakes dont get too dark). These pancakes take a little longer to bubble and cook around the edges, so be patient and dont flip them too soon.

Makes approx 20 pancakes