Coconut Cream Soup with Colorful Peppers and Cremini Mushrooms

Simple, rich and colorful, this Coconut Milk-based Cremini and tri-color Peppers soup can be enjoyed hot from the stove or at room temperature. Make it a bit thicker and it can be a curry served with delicious nutty brown rice. Adjust the flavors for a Thai-style or Indian-style curry.

Ingredients
14 oz. light coconut milk
5 or 6 Cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
12 to 16 red, orange, yellow peppers, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 Tbsp Madras Curry Powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder (optional)
salt to taste
water or stock as needed
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Spring onions, chives, cilantro, roasted peanuts for garnish

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and mushrooms and a pinch of salt, sautee
2. Add the peppers, spices, coconut milk, stock/water, adjust salt to taste; cover and simmer till peppers are cooked but not mushy
3. Garnish and preferred and serve warm

Whole Okra Casserole topped with Crispy Fried Onions

A wonderful way to enjoy okra, this casserole can be saucy or not. I prefer the saucy casserole as a main meal whereas this dry version pictured here makes a wonderful side.

I've tried tomato-based sauce, cheese-sauce and a combination of both, and I like the combination - more tomato flavor and a bit of cheesiness- piping hot from the oven for a cold winter night meal.

Store-bought Crispy Friend Onions works well - I get it at local Indian store - am not adventurous enough to make the fried onions from scratch.

Whole frozen okra is my preference as it is par-cooked and ready to go for a quick meal.

Ingredients
1 lb whole frozen okra, thawed
optional: cooked corn kernels, red bell peppers diced
salt to taste

for the sauce:
½ cup colby jack and mozzarella grated (or any favorite melt-y cheese)
1 cup canned tomato sauce (more or less)
¼ cup vegetable/chicken stock or water (as needed)
spices: cumin powder, coriander powder, oregano powder, smoked paprika powder (or any favorite combination)

1½ to 2 cups crispy friend onions

Preparation

1. In a casserole dish, layer the thawed whole okra, pour the sauce and cheese, and about half the crispy friend onions, salt to taste, stir well adding water/stock as needed
2. Bake in a 350°F oven for about 25 minutes till bubbly and thick; top with rest of the crispy fried onions and bake for another 4-5 minutes till the topping browns to desired crunchiness
3. Garnish and serve warm, adjust salt to taste

Chicken with Juniper Berries and Red Bell Pepper Sauce

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (BSCBs) can get rather boring so I try to stir up an interesting sauce on and off. They can be tricky to cook - they dry out and get rubbery if not watched closely (and that has happened many times in my kitchen).

Much like hard boiled eggs (which I am glad to say turns out just right every time thanks to the kitchen timer and Keys To Good Cooking by Harold McGee), BSCBs need to be timed closely for a juicy moist cooked texture; also a close watch on the inside temperature is quite helpful.

I found the tips from this article, along with brining/marinating, manages to result in fairly juicy yet fully cooked BSCBs; although sometimes I cook it under a medium-hot broiler while basting often which also turns out just fine.

I do have a tendency to overcook it and more often than not it turns out rathery stringy/rubbery/dry, in which case I save it in the freezer and chop/shred it to add it to soups and paella and such.

Anyway, the exciting thing about this recipe was that I finally got to use the dried Juniper Berries D found for me a while back. The berries tasted and smelled like the juniper bushes, instantly transporting me to lush shrub-filled lands. It is an acquired taste, the kids did not care for it at all, even though they did take the one big mandatory bite before they are allowed to reject any food.

Brine the BSCBs for as long as possible - from an hour to overnight in the fridge; cooking takes about 20-25 minutes, if the sauce is done in parallel.

Ingredients
for the juniper berries and red bell pepper sauce:
1 Tbsp dried Juniper berries (less for a milder flavor)
1 large roasted red bell pepper
2 to 4 dry red chilies ( or 1 Tbsp Sambal Oelek)
1 tsp Agave nectar
water as needed


2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 cup finely chopped/minced onions
1 cup cooking red wine (optional)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed and pounded a bit to uniform thickness, brined for as long as possible or at least an hour; cook the breasts whole or cut into thick chunks.

Preparation

1. Juniper Sauce: Combine all the ingredients and blend to a fine paste; heat oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic, saute a bit; then add the sauce with a little bit of water and wine if using; cover and simmer on low heat
2. Heat some oil in  a pan; cook the chicken breasts over medium high heat for about a minute, flip, turn heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes; check internal temperature at the thickest part; if the breasts are over 0.5 to 0.75 inches thick might need to cook  a bit longer; turn off heat, leave it covered on the pan for another 10 mins; if the internal temperature is 165° F to 170° F it is ready
3. Drizzle the cooked BSCBs with the simmering sauce; optionally broil it for about 3 or 4 minutes before serving
4. Garnish with some juniper berries, chives, spring onions or other fresh herbs, and serve warm with a side of wild rice and crisp Romaine lettuce salad

Strawberry Blueberry Cheese Cake

A simple Graham cracker crust made from crumbled graham crackers and a bit of butter formed the base; a well-beaten mixture of cream cheese and eggs with a few other ingredients made the filling, baked with a drizzling of berry sauce; it was cooled a bit and served with some extra berry sauce.

I used strawberries and blueberries we had picked at the farm and frozen towards the end of last summer. If using frozen berries, thaw before making the sauce.

When it was that time of the year a few weeks ago, D requested a berrylicious cheese cake for his special day. I was glad to oblige with this one.

Ingredients

for the graham cracker crust:
graham crackers
butter

for the cheesecake filling:
2 eggs
16 oz of Neufchâtel cheese or Cream cheese if preferred
½ cup sugar

for the berry sauce:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 cup blueberries
a few Tablespoons of water
corn starch as needed to thicken

Preparation

1. Crust: Crumble some graham crackers and work in the butter a little at a time till the crumbs get a bit sticky and can be pressed onto a 9-inch pie plate; unfortunately I don't measure for this kind of crust - just eyeball it; chill the pie crust in the fridge while getting the filling and sauce ready
2. Berry Sauce: Simmer the berries in a little bit of water, adding more as needed; crush down with a ricer for a pulpy berry sauce, or puree for a smoother sauce; thicken with cornstarch if needed
3. Cheese cake Filling: Beat the eggs and cheese with sugar till creamy and smooth, adding a half teaspoon of vanilla essence if preferred
4. Assembly: Pour the filling into the chilled graham cracker crust on the pie plate about halfway; drizzle some berry sauce over the filling; pour more filling on top to sandwich the berry sauce, just enough to make the pie
5. Bake: Bake in a 350° F oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, checking every 15 minutes or so for doneness; when toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or at least not soggy and mushy, it is done

Vegetables flavored with Tabil

Tabil ('table'), a North African hot spicy sauce/flavoring, was a fun discovery when I got that birthday present a few years ago - a cookbook -Moorish by Greg & Lucy Malouf.

The ingredients that make up Tabil were all there in Indian cuisine that I am used to but I had not used them in quite that combination, especially the caraway. Caraway has a rather strong flavor which is not used much in South Indian cuisine. I substitute Cumin seeds instead of Caraway sometimes - a different flavor but equally strong - and Tabil has seasoned many dishes at home since.

The recipe for Tabil here is more like a fiery green sauce with plenty of cilantro and a few hot green chilies and the vegetables are simmered in this sauce and served fairly dry. I made extra sauce and saved a portion of it in the fridge for a few days to use in a different recipe.

Sometimes, Tabil can also be a dry spice mix although I prefer the wet sauce consistency of it with all that extra fresh cilantro leaves.

Ingredients
For Tabil:
2 Tbsp minced garlic
4 to 6 fiery green Thai or Serrano chilies
2 to 3 cups freshly chopped coriander/cilantro (I used leaves and stem)
1 Tbsp toasted caraway/cumin seeds
4 Tbsp olive oil
water as needed

Vegetables: Broccoli florets, baby corn, pear onions, red and yellow bell peppers, onions, chunks of carrots, cauliflower florets (or, any other favorite combination)

Optional: Pan-fried or baked Tofu

1 Tbsp vegetable/olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Par-cook the vegetables in the microwave while getting the Tabil sauce ready
2. Tabil Sauce: Combine the ingredients in a blender and grind to a smooth paste, adding water as needed to get the sauce consistency
3. Heat a Tbsp of oil in a pan, add the Tabil cooking sauce, saute a bit; add the par-cooked veggies, some salt to taste, cover and simmer till vegetables are cooked and the sauce reduces a bit, concentrating the flavors
4. Serve warm with pita bread, naan, or rice

Penguin Cake Pops

Of the 500 odd posts here, only a handful are sweets/desserts which about reflects the frequency of dessert-making in my kitchen. We don't eat sweets much so I don't feel the need to bake wonderful confections.

However, when I saw this tutorial, I was inspired to make some for the kiddos. And, when their birthday falls on a weekend, I am all excited to try something new.

Weren't cake pops the rage a while back? I sort of laid low and let the trend pass by, never attempting to make or eat these handy treats.

I made just a few changes from the video tutorial - used dark chocolate melts with added black food color; used M&Ms for the beak and the feet, no bow-tie, nothing fancy; and ready-made Wilton™ candy eyes.

Crumbs from the Penguin Cake I made for the birthday boy came in handy for making these penguin cake pops.

I was a bit doubtful about how they would turn out, being my first time and all. But, I was pleasantly surprised - they had the right amount of silly and cute - and the kids devoured them with methodical relish: beak first, feet next, followed by eyes, then head, and finally simply tear into the body at will.

Personally, the hardened candy coating didn't do much for me - the lemon cake inside was good, although hard to taste with relish, but the candy melts that coated the outside isn't my favorite, so, I could take it or leave it - eating-wise, I mean. But, eye-candy-wise, I will certainly take it. Gladly.

Penguin Cake

Cakes, desserts in general, are second-class citizens in my kitchen, as is probably evident from the handful of dessert recipes shared here among the few hundred recipes so far.

Birthday is that special occasion in our family that inspires me try some new cake just for the fun of it. I try to gauge the kids' interest and plan a cake that will surprise and amuse them, not to mention fill them with sugar high leading to invariable sugar crash. But, since we do this once a year, well twice - actually thrice (counting D) - it is quite satisfying.

So, when it was time to make a cake for Oggie turning four, I considered his unnatural affinity for these hardy flightless birds of the Antarctic and thereabouts as a prime candidate.

The deal was sealed when I came across this Penguin Cake.

Two layers of 6-inch round lemon cakes and two layers of 6-inch round regular white cake stacked up, along with a dome-shaped head made with the piece sliced off the top of the round 6-inch cakes made the penguin head+body.

Dark chocolate frosting with added black food color for sticking the layers together and frosting the outside made this little guy's adorable frame.

A triangular piece of lemon cake became the hat, covered in blue fondant, with buttercream frosting as the glue. Some white fondant colored appropriately for the beak, feet and eyes, stuck on with buttercream, as usual... had to keep the fondant to a minimum as none of us at home like it.

The squat and stocky little penguin, looking silly and cute at the same time, was too much of a treat for the kids: they had to taste a bit of the eyes, a bit of the beak, a bit of the feet, a bit of the hat, and a bit of the body, all gouged and cut and excavated from the cake and reassembled in their plates.

All in all, a wonderfully fun effort for me and an ecstatic eating experience for the kids. And, considering I was aiming more for rustic rather than elegant, I think I got close enough :)

Nesting Taklia Chicken

Couldn't resist throwing in the "nesting" part for the title, what with Spring in the air, birds tweeting everywhere, nests abound around this time of the year... plus the chicken :)

Taklia is one of the wet spice pastes I like to make on and off, thanks to Greg & Lucy Malouf's cookbook, Moorish, a birthday present way back in 2008. I do take epicurean licences and end up with something tailored to my taste in-the-spirit-of the original recipe, so, this Taklia I share here might not be authentic. But, since I am all about Fusion Cuisine, it works out all right.

A plateful of delicious vegetables flavored with Taklia was a satisfactry meal for me, whereas D got the Nesting Taklia Chicken: cooked chicken pieces drenched and smothered with Taklia, resting on a bed of pan-fried noodles and sauteed onions forming the nest.

I was a bit liberal with olive oil and so the Taklia spice paste felt a little greasy when tossed with the lightly steamed vegetables, but, the aroma of coriander and garlic blooming in the oil is absolutely irresistible.

Typically, taklia is added at the end to give a burst of flavor and aroma to the dish, but, can be used as a flavor layer while building sauces and stews.

Ingredients
For Taklia:
4 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
2 Tbsp coriander powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp brown sugar (optional)
4 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro/coriander leaves

1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil (as needed)

Sautéed onions - as much as preferred (optional)

Chicken: breast or thigh pieces chopped into chunks, marinated for 10 mins in lemon juice and oil

Vegetables: Red and green cabbage, Italian green beans, Lima beans, carrots, cauliflower florets

Nest: Chuka Soba noodles, cooked, drained and pan-fried till lightly crunchy

Garnish: Scallions and Cilantro, plus extra Taklia if preferred


Preparation

1. Taklia: Heat oil in a shallow pan, add the garlic and coriander powder and sauté till aromatic; stir in the chopped cilantro leaves and the rest of the ingredients if using; allow to cool if storing for later use; can refrigerate for up to 2 months; use as a condiment or the base flavoring for curries and tagines
2. Cook the chicken till done, stir in as much Taklia as preferred
3. Cook the vegetables with a pinch of salt if preferred, stir in Taklia for flavoring
4. Nesting Taklia Chicken Assembly: Spread a layer of noodles at the bottom, add a layer of sauteed onions, chicken pieces on top, a dollop of Taklia for extra flavoring, garnish and serve warm or at room temperature

Tamarind Sesame Flavored Tofu with Vegetables

I had about quarter cup of the Ellu Molagu Podi (Sesame Black Pepper Spice Mix) saved in the fridge from the last batch that needed to be used up before the flavors started deteriorating. And that's how this tasty tofu dish came about for a quick meal.

I grew up with tamarind - it was ubiquitous in South Indian cuisine and my mom was liberal about using it in the staples like Sambar, Rasam, Pachadi and such. Of course, in those days it was in the form of Idicha Puli (Compacted Tamarind) which my mom used with care, and also loose clumps of tamarind - seed and all -simply soak it in hot water and extract the tamarind juice as thick or as thin as needed. Oftentimes, the thick first extract is reserved for sambar and the thinner second extract from the same batch of tamarind is used for rasam.

Well, enough with reminiscing... For this recipe, I used store-bought packaged Vietnamese Tamarind Cooking Sauce which is not the same as Tamarind Concentrate/Paste that is thicker and darker and sourer. This tamarind cooking sauce is lighter and is sometimes sold as Sour Soup Base Mix in Asian stores.

Ingredients
14 oz. Extra Firm Tofu

For the marinade:
4 Tbsp nước me chua Tamarind cooking sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp salt (more if preferred; or use 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil or sesame oil

For the seasoning/flavoring:
2 Tbsp Sesame Black Pepper Spice Mix
salt to taste
water as needed
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Vegetables:
Italian green beans
Baby Lima beans
Zucchini
Carrots
Or any other favorite combination

Preparation

1. Drain and pat dry the tofu to remove excess water; slice into 1-inch thick pieces and marinate for about 10-15 minutes while getting the vegetables ready
2. Heat a pan as if for stir-frying, add the diced marinated tofu in a single layer (marinade and all), and pan-cook till browned to your liking, turning as often as needed to get even browning on all sides; remove from pan
3. Heat a tablespoon of oil and saute the vegetables with the spice mix and salt as needed; add water, cover and cook till vegetables are cooked yet crunchy
4. Top the vegetables with the tofu, garnish with cilantro, scallions, toasted sesame seeds, and serve warm