Stewed Chicken

1 chicken, cut in six pieces
1 kg of tomatoes (I used 2 red and 1 yellow)
700g of green peppers (pablano or anaheim type)
3 onions (diced)
3 garlic cloves
1 glass of white wine
1 bouquet garnis (3 stalks of parsley, 1 sprig of thyme and 1 bay leaf, tied together with a string), oilive oil, pepper, salt

Method:

Heat up 4 table spoon of oil in a large pan. (actually I used butter here)
Cook onions until golden, add garlic and green peppers. Cook for 5 minutes.
Wash and peel the tomatoes (put in boiling water for 30 sec first to peal them easily). Dice tomatoes, add to pan with pepper and onions. Cover, cook for 20 minutes.
In another pan (shallow), add 4 table spoon of olive oil, and golden the chicken, salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken to the pan with the onions, peppers and tomatoes.
Add the white wine and the bouquet garnis, cook for 35 minutes.


Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4-8 (for just the chicken)
4-6 if you make it more like a soup/stew

Author: Megan
Source: Nor (who translated it from a french cookbook)

Note:

I cooked the chicken actually for like an hour,
adding most of a bottle of white wine, and then
let it cool. This way the chicken falls right off
the bones. At the end I added a can of white beans
as well (Cannelini) for extra fiber and starch.
I also used a happy chicken from springfield farms
off falls road. Down the road is a farm stand
where you can pick up the tomatoes, peppers, onions.
It turned out most excellent.

Onion Chutney

Ingredients:
Onion, big & chopped coarsely - 1
Green chillies, long, slit lengthwise - 2
Red chillies, small, dried - 2-3
Mustard seeds (rai) - 1 tsp
Split black gram lentils (udad dal) - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Time: 5-10 min
Servings: 2-3

Method:
Heat the oil and fry the rai, udad dal and red chillies until the rai starts to sputter. Add the onions, salt, and green chillies and fry until the raw smell of onions disappears (the onions should be translucent by now). When cooled, blend with the tamarind paste into a thick paste. Serve with bread or rice.

Author: Sundar
Source: Traditional recipe, can be found here: http://www.indianchild.com
Note:
Optionally, 1 tsp of brown sugar and/or 1 tsp of grated coconut can be added to the chutney while blending. Do not blend for longer than a minute or so, while the onions need to blend into a paste, the udad dal needs to be in large enough pieces to give it a crunchy feel. Delicious!

Fried Eggplant in Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:
Eggplant, sliced thin - 1 medium
Yogurt, whipped - 1 cup
Black salt - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Aniseed - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tbsp
Oil - 3-5 tbsp

Time: 15-20 minutes
Servings: 4

Method:
Fry the eggplant slices in oil until they turn golden brown. Squeeze out the excess oil and pat dry with paper towels.
Mix the rest of the ingredients into the whipped yogurt.
When serving, pour enough yogurt on top of each slice and decorate with coriander leaves.

Author: Sundar
Source: Cookshelf Indian by Shehzad Husain

Pear and Blueberry Pie

from Alton Brown/Good Eats

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup stone ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, diced
3 tablespoons apple juice concentrate
2 tablespoons cold water

Filling:
2 Anjou pears, peeled, cored, thinly sliced (I used Bosc rather than Anjou)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 pinch nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup blueberries
1 teaspoon flour
1 1/2 cups pound cake, cubed
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon sugar


Method:

1) In a food processor, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Place dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and put the bowl into the refrigerator. Remove 1/2 stick of butter from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. In a food processor, add the 1/2 stick of butter to the flour mixture. Pulse until the fat completely disappears. Add the remaining 1 1/2 sticks butter in separate batches. Pulse until flour mixture pieces are the size of a pea.

2) Combine the apple juice concentrate and the cold water. Using a spray bottle, spritz the dough with the apple juice mixture while folding the mixture with a spatula. After about three tablespoons of the liquid, check the dough for consistency. It should hold together when compressed but remain relatively dry to the touch. If it does not bind, add a little more water. Remove from the processor and form the dough into a ball. Wrap the dough in wax paper or parchment paper and rest in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

3) Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. (I used a regluar steel frying pan, and it worked just as well, although everything took a bit longer than listed here) Add pears to the pan and toss for 2 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue to toss for 30 seconds. Add sugar and cook until the pears have softened. Add the nutmeg, cinnamon, and the butter and melt slowly. Fold in the blueberries. Remove from heat. Sprinkle on the flour and combine well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

4) Place dough on a floured piece of parchment and roll out to a 1/4-inch thick disk. Transfer to a baking sheet. Place cubed pound cake in the middle of the dough, leaving a 3-inch margin of crust on all sides. Spoon filling over the cake cubes and top the pears with 1 ounce of cubed butter. Lift excess crust onto filling and repeat in a clockwise fashion until a top lip has formed around the edge of the whole tart. Brush the tart with the egg wash and sprinkle the crust with the sugar.

5) Bake in 400 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling begins to bubble and the crust is golden brown. Remove from the sheet pan immediately and cool on pie rack.