Banana Cream Pie

This year, Thanksgiving was very low-key as we were not well, and D had a lot of work to catch up on. A simple chicken in cranberry sauce, some banana cream pie, some mashed potatoes, steamed corn and cornbread stuffing was the menu.

I must admit, D made all the sides - mashed potatoes, steamed corn and cornbread stuffing. Plus, he helped make the pie too! With fever hovering around 101.8°F and shivers and chills, I really had no motivation to get up from bed, except, it was the first time Ana realized it was a holiday - and her teacher had told her that she gets to spend Thanksgiving with her family and be thankful for a wonderful meal. So, we didn't want to disappoint her.

This pie recipe is fairly standard and easy to make, and can be made ahead of time. The filling is probably enough for making two pies. Either use the pie crust pastry recipe here, or it is fine to use pre-made pie-crust from the store and simply make the filling and bake in a 350°F oven for about 10-15 minutes, or as instructed on the package for the pre-made pie crust.

Single-Crust Pie Pastry (9-inch):
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
3-4 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
3 cups whole milk
¼ cup corn starch
3 egg yolks
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 large banana, sliced

Preparation

1. Pie Crust:
   • Mix together flour and salt, cut in the shortening; gently add a Tbsp of cold water, toss with fork and push aside, and repeat till all the flour is just moistened;
   • form the dough into a ball; this pie pastry should not be over kneaded, so, on a lightly floured surface, flatten the dough with hands and roll it out gently using a rolling pin;
   • pick up the pastry carefully and place it in a pie plate without stretching it much;
   • trim pastry to edge of pie plate, prick bottom and sides with tines of fork;
   • decorate the edge with tines of fork if desired;
   • bake in a 450°F oven for about 5 minutes or till golden brown;
2. Filling: Mix the sugar, salt, corn starch in a sauce pan, and slowly stir in the milk and cook over medium heat till well-combined and bubbly; cook and stir 2 minutes more and remove from heat; slowly combine the egg yolks making sure it doesn't scramble, stir and cook over low heat to a gentle boil; stir in vanilla and butter
3. Assembly: Make a single layer of sliced bananas at the bottom of the crust, pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake 350°F oven for about 15 minutes, or till filling is set

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

This Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic dish is another recipe from Moorish by Greg & Lucy Malouf that I had made a few weeks ago, especially for D.

This is a well-known French peasant dish, apparently, and the garlic is cooked in its skin, becoming soft and velvety smooth and creamy. Being lazy, I usually have a large jar of peeled garlic in the fridge, so, I simply threw in a whole bunch.

So, even though I didn't add exactly 40 cloves of garlic, I added about two handfuls of peeled garlic cloves - enough to get a bold garlic flavor they suggest. Also, the dish uses Merguez sausage from North Africa, but, I substituted mock chicken sausages.

Basically, it is a stew of sorts with bold and interesting flavors and chunks of chicken, sausage and vegetables. And, as usual, I simply could not execute the recipe exactly as they specify, so, this is an approximation :)

Ingredients
2-3 heads of garlic -OR- 30-40 cloves of garlic
2-4 favorite sausages
2-3 large potatoes cut into chunks, or several baby potatoes
4 tomatoes, halved
1-2 medium onion cut into chunks, -OR- 6-8 small shallots, peeled whole
1-2 red bell peppers, roasted
3-4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1-2 Tbsp Hungarian Paprika
2 Tbsp coriander powder (for rubbing the chicken pieces)
2-4 Tbsp Sumac (some for rubbing the chicken pieces)
2 Tbsp Taklia**
a few strands of saffron (optional)
a few sprigs of rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup or so of lemon juice
olive oil (a few Tbsps)
garnish: parsley, rosemary, pickled chilies

** Taklia is an all-purpose mix used in Lebanon and Syria, usually added at the end of the cooking for its aromatic flavoring

Preparation

1. Taklia: can be prepared ahead of time and saved in the fridge for other use - combine about 6 cloves of minced garlic and 2-3 Tbsp of coriander powder with some sea salt and olive oil
2. Marinate the chicken in some red wine vinegar, some lemon juice, after rubbing in the sumac and coriander powder, while assembling the rest of the ingredients
3. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F
4. Assemble the rest of the ingredients in a casserole dish - pan sear the sausages first to give it a nice skin, par-cook the potatoes in the microwave to speed up cooking time
5. Pan sear the marinated chicken chunks to develop a good outer crust and throw it into the casserole dish with the rest of the ingredients
6. Stir in the Taklia with enough stock and lemon juice till well incorporated
7. Bake in a 400°F oven for about 45 min to an hour, checking for liquids often, and cover with foil if top seems to be drying out
8. garnish with pickled chilies, parsley and some fresh rosemary
9. Serve with buttered rice, as suggested in the cookbook

Moorish Eggplant Salad

Recently, D gave me this simple and easy-to-follow cookbook for my birthday: Moorish by Greg & Lucy Malouf. I have been trying out some recipes from it. And, as usual, I try to follow closely but I end up taking liberties with the recipe just because I have this chronic inability to do as directed :)

Long Chinese or Japanese eggplants are best suited for this recipe. I like to cut them into discs, although, I guess long slices would be fine too.

Some of the ingredients may be hard to find in regular grocery stores. We get ours from a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern market in the city, and, fortunately, there is a Penzeys Spices nearby and I get quite a few exotic items there and stock up my shelves periodically.

It is recommended that the eggplant be salted, sweated, drained and patted dry before baking to remove the bitterness, but, I have skipped this step and found it just as tasty - I love eggplant, so, this step doesn't seem to adversely affect the flavors for me.

Also, the Tahini-Sumac-Yogurt Dressing can be served as a dip or as a sauce. Sometimes, I use the spice mix sold as "Kou Kou" which seems to be a mixture of dried parsley, dill, leek/onion, coriander for the dressing.

If making a small batch, I cook the eggplant in a stove-top grill pan. Else, I like to brush the eggplant disks with olive oil, sprinkle some salt, paprika, and cumin powder and bake them in a single layer in a 425°F oven for about 15 minutes.

Ingredients
2 long Chinese eggplants, sliced crosswise into discs
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 small onion (preferably red) diced coarsely
1 medium tomato, diced coarsely (optional)
1-2 Tbsp canola oil, or canola oil cooking spray
¼ cup Feta, crumbled (optional)
1 tsp paprika for sprinkling on top of eggplant
1 tsp cumin powder for sprinkling on top of eggplant
salt to taste

Tahini-Sumac-Yogurt Dressing:
2-3 Tbsp Olive oil
2-3 Tbsp Tahini
¼ cup sour, thick, plain yogurt (I use Nancy's™ or Zoi® Nonfat Greek Yogurt)
2-3 cloves of garlic minced finely
1-2 tsp coarsely ground (or cracked) black pepper
1 Tbsp Sumac
1 Tbsp Kou Kou mix - dried parsley, dill, onion/leek, coriander powder
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Tahini Sumac Yogurt Dressing: Combine the dressing ingredients in a blender and whip till smooth and thick; alternately, whisk the ingredients by hand till well combined, still thick
2. Heat the oil in a grill-pan over medium-high heat and place the eggplant rounds/discs in a single layer; sprinkle some salt, paprika, cumin powder on both sides; cook both sides till done but not mushy; if needed, cook the eggplant in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan; alternately, brush with oil, arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan, bake in a 425 °F oven for 15 minutes or till done.
3. In a separate pan, sauté the onions and tomatoes (if using) with a sprinkling of salt and black pepper
4. To Serve: Arrange the grilled eggplant pieces on a plate, drizzle some of the dressing on top, pile some sautéed onions and tomatoes, garnish with crumbled feta and parsley (or cilantro) if preferred; sprinkle some smoked paprika powder; serve some extra dressing on the side

Bitter Gourd in Black Sesame Seed Sauce

"Ellu Pachadi" is one of my favorite saucy sides to eat with rice. "Ellu" means Sesame Seeds in Tamil and "Pachadi" is an envelope term that is basically a side dish usually made with yogurt, or tamarind.

The spice mix for this ellu pachadi can be made ahead and it stores well for a few months in the fridge - mainly, since sesame seeds are oily, this mix can get rancid if left out for too long.

I like the ellu pachadi to be a good balance of hot-sour-sweet. The spice mix provides the hot part, brown sugar makes it a bit sweet, and tamarind paste rounds out the sourness. Amount of black peppers and dry red chilies in the spice mix can be adjusted to suit your taste.

Instead of bitter gourd, which can be an acquired taste, ellu pachadi can be made with okra, pumpkin, any type of sweetish winter squash, even with sweet potatoes or yam.

Ingredients
for the spice mix:
¼ cup black sesame seeds
¼ whole black peppers
4-6 dry red chilies
½ cup dry grated coconut

1-2 bitter gourd, cut into thin slices
1 tomato, diced finely (optional)
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
1- 2 tsp thick tamarind paste
salt to taste
4-6 cups water

1-2 Tbsp rice flour for thickening

tempering: 1 tsp canola oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp urad dal
garnish: curry leaves and cilantro

Preparation

1. Spice Mix: lightly dry toast the spice mix ingredients, allow to cool a bit and grind to a coarse powder
2. bring the bitter gourd and water to a boil, add tamarind paste and some salt, and let the bitter gourd simmer till a bit soft, but not mushy
3. taste and add brown sugar and spice mix a little at a time to get a good balance of the hot-sour-sweet flavors
4. allow to simmer till bitter gourd is cooked through to your liking
5. mix the rice flour in a few Tbsp of water to make a loose paste and stir it in to thicken the pachadi
6. Tempering: heat the oil in a pan, when it shimmers, add the urad dal, when it turns golden brown, add the mustard seeds and when the mustard seeds pop remove from heat and add to the pachadi
7. garnish with curry leaves and/or cilantro

Serve warm with hot rice, or even with simple roti.

Optionally, serve with turmeric rice as pictured above - heat some oil, add some turmeric and allow it to bloom a bit, then off heat stir in the rice to coat with the yellow turmeric uniformly. Start with maybe 1 tsp of turmeric powder for 2 cups of cooked rice; add more turmeric if preferred.