Burrrrr……Baby, it’s cold outside, but no reason not to keep the winter chill out of your bones!
This is an old fashioned, family favorite. We mix up a batch of this recipe for hot buttered rum and store it in the freezer. This batter recipe lasts clean to spring and provides enough to get us and all our friends who stop by for a little spirit in their hot cocoa during the winter months.
We just call it a farm necessity! Click here to view and print this recipe for Hot Buttered Rum Batter.
20 Minute Meals of Jamie Oliver
You know I like cooking very much. My cooking skills I think are developed naturally from my experiences at the past, especially during my time in Australia where I had to prepare meals daily. I had to come up a new dish everyday as I does not like to eat the same stuff again and again.
Besides that, I did studied cookery in Australia where I’ve learnt about that basics like knife skills and operations of a western restaurant, etc.
But how about now? As if you have read my blog, I do occasionally cook something apart from my busy workload but there’s always sometime I’m out of ideas and get buggy on my cooking skills.
A few months ago I’ve come up a ways to upgrade my cooking skills, as there’s always an app for something you need, like cooking. Take a look at the Jamie Oliver’s iPhone app, 20 Minute Meals. This US$ 5 app is full of tutorial videos allows Jamie to teach you 55 quick but mouth watering meals and also the cooking basics.
As the videos contained in the app are all to be downloaded locally to your iPhone, the app’s size weights for 99MB. They’re all shot just like Jamie’s TV programs, so if you’re a fan of him, I’m sure you’ll get used to this feature-rich app quickly.
Check it out!
Well, another Christmas Eve down the hatch – and yet another disaster to write about. I was worried about the ovens – we ended up fixing them in a very “creative” way and I was worried about them working correctly when all 4 ovens are on at the same time. I discovered through trial and error that if I wanted the oven at 375, I had to turn it to 400 and then down to 375 for if I just put it to 375 it would go to about 300 and turn off. A great way to cook a $125 piece of meat, right?
Anyway, it turned out I was worrying about the wrong thing as we had an ice storm Christmas Eve and our electricity went our for three hours about 20 minutes before we were supposed to eat. When this happened I have to admit, I yelled FUCK about three different ways in front of children and my 80 year old mother in law. I couldn’t believe it! Luckily, the beef tenderloin in the oven was pretty much done, and the other beef tenderloin was on the grill, so no problems there. But, I couldn’t bake the dinner rolls, properly re-heat the twice baked potatoes and the roasted cauliflower got mushy since it was sitting around too long, so that was kind of a disaster. I was glad that we were all eating by dim candlelight, because everyone was raving about the meat but I know that had they seen it, they would be screaming, well, bloody murder. Oh well, funny how alcohol + darkness = fabulous meal. And everyone forgot about my F-bomb… I think.
Happy Holidays everyone!
CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER 2009
Justin Wilson’s Holiday Cheese Ball
Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary & Red Peppercorns
Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Garlic Parsley Butter Crust
Chateaubriand Sauce
Roasted Cauliflower
Twice-Baked Potatoes
Sandy Salad
(a favorite by my friend Sandy – will post recipe soon)
Dinner Rolls
(never made!)
Hot Chocolate & Christmas Cookies
Alert:
This is a longish post ~ be forewarned!
Before I begin, please see yesterday’s post for an
addendum to the lotus root curry.
Incidentally, Wiki states that lotus flower is the national flower of India.
I didn’t know that? Read the entry here.
Now, on to today’s marathon recipe!
I have been nursing a marathon, on-again off-again toothache.
Today it’s definitely on-again, and I could hardly eat a bite.
I was hungry for something spicy, but couldn’t fathom the idea of chewing.
I am still trying to cook from the stores at hand; tonight they were just the ticket.
Here is what I came up with. Essentially, it is this recipe from dear ISG’s amazing repertoire — sans wadis, because, well… you need to *chew* those
Aloo Gobi Gravy (For a Toothache)
enough for a few meals at least, but I hope you don’t have a toothache that long!
In a big pressure cooker, season:
one healthy tablespoon of ghee
(I was after comfort food tonight!)
with:
mustard
jeera
curry leaves
In the seasoned ghee, saute:
half a medium onion, diced fine
a few cloves of garlic, diced
a tablespoon of grated ginger
When fragrant, add:
one medium-sized potato, peeled and diced
~~~
Now, while all this is happening, take another pan and boil some frozen
cauliflower in a little water. Cook until the water boils off and the cauliflower is soft. Let the cauliflower brown in the hot pan. Watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn — shaking it back and forth a few times helps. This is the secret to frozen cauliflower, I have discovered. The browning gives a lovely taste.
caramel-colored cauliflower ~ yum!
~~~
Meanwhile, back at the pressure cooker… by now the potato is translucent.
Add:
1/2 c toor dal, rinsed well
water to cover (I used about 3 c)
Close the lid, bring up to pressure and cook as you would for any dal or sambhar (yes ok, this is practically sambhar. In disguise. I can’t help it. Sambhar is my comfort food! 
When the dal is cooked, allow the pressure to fall, and add:
1/2 c water from soaked tamarind, or 2 TB good-quality, bottled tamarind paste
(not “tamcon” in the little plastic jar, please)
1 TB jaggery
1 TB dhania-jeera pwd
1/2 tsp each jeera and methi pwd
(optional — I like them in sambhar)
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
and of course, the crowning jewel:
A heaping helping of ISG’s magic sambhar podi
Stir it all up well, then add:
the browned cauliflower
one cup of cooked rice
If the mixture is very thick, add a bit of water. Let it come to a boil, and use an immersion blender to puree.
All that fuss for a simple-looking dish… and it reminded me a bit of
this coorg-style gravy, only spicier.
This was just what the doctor (or dentist) ordered. Nutritious and filling with complete protein; smooth and comforting from the blender; rich with pure ghee and redolent with ISG’s magic sambhar powder.
Who could ask for anything more!
aloo gobi gravy ~ with a good bit of melting ghee ~ comfort food in
nana’s pastoral davenport
Bonus Sambhar Section
I have tried and loved all these recipes ~ many thanks to the chefs!
ISG’s Dal Sambhar
ISG’s Hotel Sambhar
Shilpa’s Ash Gourd Sambar
Dr. Soumya’s Jackfruit Sambar
Indira’s Classic Shallot Sambhar
Mrs. Marthi’s Favorite Hotel-style Sambar
Menu Today’s Sambar/Kulambu section
Bonus Mom Section
my mom, taking my photo while I took hers ~
having Christmas at her place last night
one of mom’s photo walls…
mom, with her grandkids
Forgive me a spot of sentimental indulgence tonight –
mom only has the two grandkids, and oh, how she enjoys them!
The smile on her face makes me happier than sambhar
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday too!
And Nupur, dear Nupur… this is especially for you.
Your year-end recipe game was just what the doctor ordered too –
Dr. Nupur, that is. I do believe you have rescued me from a rut,
and I am so glad to be playing along.
Thank you, thank you!
One of the things we do is Secret Santa and Nigel Slater’s Real Cooking
is what I got sent this year and it’s lovely, as all Nigel Slater books are. It’s interesting catching up on Nigel Slater’s back catalogue, I’ve fairly recently brought some of his earliest books, after being more familiar with some of his later books and Real Cooking sort of falls in between, similar in style to his completely picture free books but with photos, yet not quite like his later books (and his style has changed again recently with the books published over the last few years, which have yet to make my collection, Slater is nothing but prolific). Looking at his back catalogue is like watching his style evolve, although he’s always had and has never changed, his utter ability to make something simple, like a baked potato, sound like the most decadent food on this planet.
One of the best things to get on Christmas Day is a good cook book to flick through and the recipes that have caught my eye include;
Oh I so want some grilled chicken now!
I love aubergines!
Here we are on the eve of one of the biggest holidays of the year and I thought I’d give you a little recipe that you can use to feed all those guests popping their rumpled heads into your kitchen each morning (or, if you’re a guest and you want to do something nice for your host). Who doesn’t love a big hot stack of made-from-scratch pancakes? You’ll be an instant hero to everyone at the table.
Several years ago I was inspired to throw a combo New Year’s Eve party and a New Year’s Day brunch…the idea was that guests would come, drink, be merry, crash on the floor, sleep, wake up to the smell of amazing food and dark coffee, and come gather in the kitchen to nurse their hangovers in style. Well, I have to say, the plan worked beautifully and everyone had a blast starting the new year right. While planning that brunch (with a huge menu that I might have been wise to par down had I contemplated my own hangover that morning), I developed a recipe for multigrain pancakes that would really soak up the rest of the alcohol in everyone’s stomaches. The pancakes that New Year’s morning did their job beautifully and I’ve made them my go-to ever since.
Last weekend, while snowed in (yah for “real” winters!), I got a hankering for pancakes and had a bit of thawed-out pumpkin puree left over from another batch of those delicious Pumpkin Pie Truffles. I thought I’d throw the pumpkin in the pancake batter and add some warm spices to accentuate the flavors and make these filling flap jacks even more delicious. The result was a tall stack of beautifully hued, thick, dense discs that are not terribly sweet…perfect winter comfort food for a lazy day.
Now, I realize there has been quite a parade of pumpkin recipes on SFTF as of late. If you’re not the passionate pumpkin promoter that I am, you could easily adapt this recipe to include other delicious flavors…toss in a cup of frozen blueberries you picked last summer to remind you of warmer days; pop in a generous handful or two of fresh cranberries if you can still find them to fit this red-bedecked season; use up that bunch of overripe bananas that have been sitting unloved thanks to all the holiday sweets on hand (mash them up like you would to make banana bread and mix it into the batter); or make a plain batch and slather them with some local pear or apple butter and a drizzle of honey. A great time-saver for me, since this recipe calls for a good number of ingredients, is to mix up all the dry ingredients in ziplock bags (labeled and dated of course) and stash several of these away so in the mornings when I want to make them, there’s a lot less measuring to do. This is especially important when you’re also trying to drink that first cup of coffee to get your engines running so you can do a decent job of flipping these babies.
Dare I be predictable and say MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all? May you all have flavorful feasts with family and friends!!
Multigrain Pumpkin Pancakes
A Straight from the Farm Original
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. unbleached white flour
1/4 C. rolled oats
1/4 C. cornmeal
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 t. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground allspice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 T. dark brown sugar
2 T. honey
1/2 C. pumpkin puree
1/2 C. plain Greek yogurt
3/4 C. low-fat buttermilk
1 T. melted butter
1/4 C. mini chocolate chips (optional)
In a bowl or a ziplock bag, combine the baking powder, salt, whole wheat flour, white flour, rolled oats, cornmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
Combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Now add the pumpkin, yogurt, buttermilk, and melted butter and whisk well. Fold in the dry ingredient mixture just until moistened. Do not over mix!
Drop batter onto a hot, nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until bubbles start to form on the edges of the pancakes. Flip and cook for another minute. Serve hot or keep warm wrapped in foil in an oven on the lowest setting.
(serves 4)
I feel really bad that I forgot to take pictures of Angela’s fabulous appetizers, so hopefully she did. But if it makes her feel better, I forgot to take pictures of the main course that I made.
My poor friends. I had never tried the meatball recipe before, so they were my lab rats er, guinea pigs taste testers.
But here are some pics of Kelly’s mouthwatering deserts, and I will tell you that I believe each child had one of each. Look how fabulously individual-sized they are and require no plates or utensils! Nice thinking Kelly.
So, my friends are also foodies and also obsessed with presentation, hence the title of the entry.
Mini pineapple upside down cake [which we just called "pink cake" to interest the kids 
Mini chocolate bundts with Nutella!
Baklava [drool]
I will admit that I suffer from anxiety when it comes to projects that exceed the scope of my knowledge and experience. In the past, I have suffered from full-blown panic attacks to mild bits of indifference regarding growing-up, graduation, thesis deadlines, papers, tests, etc. I usually deal with this by procrastinating (I work extremely well under pressure, probably one reason why I like the food service industry), which tends to allow me not to think about the final product until the last possible moment, limiting the stress to a minimal amount of time. This also probably explains why I have never done well, or particularly liked activities that require practice or a continued commitment to excel. Little did I know that cooking requires tons of practice, continued commitment, and studying (something else I’ve never been good at) until I embarked in my first competition.
I think the reason why I did well during my first competition is because I didn’t really think about it. Sure, I practiced (I think three times), but I didn’t know what was going to happen, so I didn’t let little things worry me. The first competition was a rush. Honestly, that’s pretty much all I remember about the hour, because it all happened so fast. The second competition was a different story. I knew what to expect. I thought long and hard about every component of my dish. I practiced around 30 times. I worried. And then I started to hate it. I hated food. All food. But especially my dish. During the competition, everything went wrong and I didn’t know how to handle it. I had lost all ingenuity as a cook and had turned into a robot. By the end of it, my dish was a disaster and I left defeated and deflated.
That was my last competition.
To graduate from culinary school, I had to do a final practical exam which consisted of five courses: soup, salad, appetizer, entree and dessert. Unlike a lot of practical exams, I got to decide the menu (I did a mediterranean theme). It was graded exactly like the competitions: floor score and tasting score. At first I obsessed, but then I could feel the disdain coming on. I immediately shut off. For the last month of the semester, I didn’t think about the exam until the day before. (Needless to say, I didn’t practice.) The day before, however, I was a machine. I mise en placed. I organized equipment. I wrote production schedules, station diagrams, plating diagrams, revised recipes. I had everything ready and I rocked it. I walked away with a hypothetical gold medal and I didn’t want to give up food for the next year. In fact, I wanted to cook!
And this is how I’ve felt until a few days ago when the dread has returned. I’m writing this blog, hoping to figure out a way to deal with the stress. Unlike the competition and my practical exam, this is a test I can’t afford NOT to practice and study. I have to know the in’s and out’s of every dish I make. However, unlike to the second competition, I can’t lose my ability to think on my feet. I have to be able to improvise on the spot if something goes wrong. Trying to find a happy medium is just another bonus to the amount of work I already have to do.
So far, my only advice for myself is to stop what I’m doing and assess the situation. Ironically, the moments I start panicking are when I’m not doing anything at all (probably a hint that I should be studying). I keep telling myself that if I treat the exam as four days of cooking for loved ones, I will continue to enjoy the learning experience and–hopefully–not stress out. I have also found that reading Julia Child really helps.
Julia is my cooking guardian angel. And the CIA may just be my journey through the depths of Hell.
We last left off with Cher sitting on the couch and me getting ready to make some Spinach and Artichoke dip.
I’ve always LOVED this dip and have spent the better part of six years working to perfect my own recipe. I have tried everything from Alfredo sauce to different cheeses to make it delicious. And, finally, I have to best recipe ever. I’m not vain or anything. It really is the best and now I’m going to share it with all of you!
You will need:
Sour Cream
Parmesan Cheese
Mayo
Roasted Red Peppers (canned or fresh works well. Yellow and orange are OK too)
Frozen, Chopped Spinach
Canned/Jarred Artichoke Hearts
Cream Cheese
Cheese (I use whatever is around- today was mozzarella and white cheddar)
First things first. Take your frozen spinach out of the box. This kind just so happens to come in a little bag. Some do, some don’t.
Because this one does, put it in a bowl in the sink and run hot water over it. The bowl you just cleaned out after you made meringue cookies works well.
You’re not trying to cook the spinach, it should already be. You’re just trying to defrost it.
If you purchased the kind that isn’t in a little bag, put a paper towel in a colander. Then dump the block of spinach into the paper towel and run hot water over it. It’ll take a little longer, and be a little messier, but it’ll work just the same.
While you’re defrosting the spinach, get out a microwave safe bowl and put the block of cream cheese in it. Cher has such nice bowls. I even got to take the mini version of this one home. (Yes, I know have to return it.)
I use a whole block, give or take. I like cream cheese, so I use a lot. This is also your base, so it’s best to use at least half a block or more.
Next, add about 1/4-1/3 cup of sour cream
Add 1/4 cup (give or take a little) of grated Parmesan cheese (I like to sprinkle mine all over)
Now, add about 1/4-1/3 cup mayo (it’s a gross picture, sorry!)
Voila! You now have the base of the dip. It’s cheesy, fattening and yummy!! (Did I mention fattening??)
Now it’s time to prepare the artichokes and peppers (you can probably turn the water off now. The spinach should be thawing quite well.)
Open your first can of artichokes, dump out the liquid, preferably NOT in the same bowl the spinach is in, and dump the artichokes in the food processor. By the way, if it’s the same food processor your sister used to make peanut butter balls a hour before, make sure you attempt to clean it out. Otherwise, you’ll add some peanut butter to the mix. Just sayin.’
Blend ‘em up! After you put the lid on, I mean.
Dump this batch into the bowl and repeat with the second jar.
Dump that batch into the bowl.
Now take your jar of roasted red peppers, or, if you roasted your own, take it after it’s been seeded and skinned.
Dump out the liquid. (If you use it, it’ll make everything too liquidly. If you want to use it though because it’s just SO YUMMY, add some breadcrumbs to the mix to help soak up the excess liquid. No one will know.)
Blend ‘em!
Whoops! You can see some excess artichokes in the processor. Good thing these are all going to the same place!
Dump them on top of the artichokes in the bowl.
It looks like a gross mess. But I swear it tastes awesome.
Now add more cheese. I had half a bag of mozzarella left over and a new bag of white cheddar. I used the rest of the mozzarella and half of the white cheddar, so one whole bag altogether.
Toss it in the microwave for about 2 minutes to help melt the cheeses.
Stir.
While that’s going/done/stirred, take the spinach that still in the bag/colander, and squeeze as much of the liquid out as you can. If it’s in the bag, snip on of the corners, but be careful not the spill the spinach out of the bag, especially into your sister’s stainless sink that doesn’t have a garbage disposal. That’s not fun.
Add the drained spinach to the mixture.
Use a fork or something to try to mix it in a little.
Microwave it again for about 2-3 minutes. Stir it up.
Hello delicious!
Now it’s time to spice it up.
I use a mixture of these:
You can use pepper, salt, whatever. Season it to taste. I use about 3-4 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (give or take a little, depending on how I feel), a bunch of garlic salt and either regular salt or seasoning salt. Pretty much whatever is around me and within arms reach will be used.
Toss it in the microwave one more time, for about a minute. Mix it all up, and enjoy!
Jumping online, drink some champagne and wait for the meringues to be done cooking…
So…as you know I am in culinary school which is great because I get to spend time doing what I love. Cooking and Baking! Since I am paying out of pocket (and it’s pricey) I am moving at a slower rate than I would like, which is okay because I am practicing and taking supplemental classes. Anywho – I love to bake, and I am pretty good at making tasty treats. If you’ve seen my previous blog posts, I have posted pics of all types of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, etc… I love trying new things, like my mango rum vanilla cupcakes and eventually I want to make cakes like this.
While I have a small baking business, it wasn’t intentional…people see what I do and they want some for themselves. But I am thinking of leveraging my talents and taking my baking on a larger scale. I am working a business plan as I type this. Essentially, I am starting a gourmet boutique bake shop that specializes in making food heavenly to eat and beautiful to look at.
I am rolling out a line of gourmet caramel coated and chocolate dipped apples, specialty cakes and cookies to start. I am opening shop officially around the 1st of the year. My goal is to offer the caramel apples and cookies and eventually adding cakes, cupcakes. The key difference is the ingredients I will use, which makes a huge difference in taste.
In anticipation of the launch, I am offering FREE gourmet apples to the first five people who respond to this post. Okay its not totally free, I am asking in exchange for feedback, a blog post about my new sugar boutique , some twitter love and a link to my new website. Easy enough! I am not revealing the name of the shop or the links on here yet, but if you are one of the recipients, I will let you know all the details. I may give away 10 apples, just depends on the response.
Remember, this is a boutique bakery so my goal isn’t having a million selections, but a handful of the best stuff you will ever taste. In addition, I am a Certified ServPro Food Handler (I scored a 93% on my exam whoo whoo!), so I know about safe handling of food and all the important stuff!
So here are the choices of caramel apples you can get:
All caramel is home made and the apples are mini-apples. So I will ship apples to anywhere in the U.S. (expect Hawaii or Alaska, shipping costs are high). I am practicing my shipping, as I need to be sure that my wrapping will ensure the apples arrive in one piece.
So, leave me a comment and I will follow up with additional information if you want a free caramel apple.
If anyone wants to purchase an apple (as a gift of for personal use) let me know! (They will retail for over $12, when the boutique opens but I can do the large apples for about $10) But for now, I have about five apples that I need to give-away, so leave a comment to be entered to win! If you are a coconut fan, I can do a snowball caramel apple as well (white chocolate and coconut).
Good morning!
Yesterday was one of those days when I was tempted by lots of treats — a reality of the holiday season, of course. I was proud of the way it handled the day in contrast to the way I have in years before… but more on that in a bit.
I had to be up early to teach a class, so I skipped the gym. I made a breakfast wrap with scrambled eggs, avocado, a little bit of cheese, and some apricot preserve.I had some tea and fresh berries on the side.
Breakfast wraps are my failproof go-to for a morning when I need something quick and healthy — and filling!
When I got to work yesterday, a lot of the classes were having holiday parties which meant lots of food. I tried to make healthy decisions while still enjoying things I don’t usually get to eat.
I had a cup of smart food popcorn,
( I think they were covered in egg and stuffed with chicken and vegetables).
And a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie.
In years past, I would have freaked out about eating a cookie and fried food for lunch- and not having gone to the gym. I probably would have thrown my hands up and thought, ”Well, I’ve ruined my day/diet so I might as well eat whatever is in sight.” And then I would have, and then I would have felt like puking.
I don’t get much into my disordered eating past here, but I realize how far I have come on days like yesterday. I have a different relationship with myself, and, therefore, a different relationship with food. This blog also really helps to keep me sane, to keep me accountable, to keep things in perspective. Yesterday, as I felt old thought patterns coming back, I watched them and I didn’t beat myself up for having a few goodies. I just said, “No big deal”- because it really wasn’t. And because I didn’t beat myself up, I didn’t overindulge. I got back on the bandwagon before I could even fall off and had healthy eats for snacks and dinner — exactly what I was craving.
I snacked on a low-fat yogurt from Trader Joe’s.
For dinner, I ate a big bowl of raw veggies with a little bit of dip.
And some shrimp gyoza from Trader Joe’s that I steamed and pan fried in olive oil. These were delicious!
I recently bought this great red chili teriyaki sauce and it went perfectly with the dumplings. I went back for two more!
I am usually really impressed with Trader Joe’s frozen foods, but these were especially impressive. They each had big bites of shrimp, lots of veggies, and a great consistency. They weren’t mushy or bland in the center at all — as many frozen dumplings are. They are also very healthy and full of protein, at about 50 calories per dumpling. I will definitely be buying them again and relying on them for a great midweek dinner.
I ended the day feeling satisfied but not stuffed- and my “bad eats” at lunch seemed like no big deal in the big picture. I finally feel that I am really moving into a new space with food, eating, with health, and with myself. I hope that it lasts into the new year and beyond. Thanks to you all for reading and for all your support. It makes a big difference to know you are there!
Hope you all have a great Friday! I am off on a big family vacation (more details to come) tomorrow night — if the weather permits! A snow storm is coming!
