Pumpkin Souffle

Cheesy Pumpkin-Ham Soufflés

Ingredients:

Softened butter
Grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 cup milk
6 eggs, separated
1 cup finely chopped ham
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat bottom and sides of five to six 10 ounce custard cups or soufflé dishes with softened butter; dust lightly with Parmesan cheese. In medium saucepan, melt butter. Add pumpkin, flour and mustard; mix well. Slowly stir in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir 1/4 cup pumpkin mixture into egg yolks. Add egg mixture back to saucepan; cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in ham, Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Pour into prepared dishes. Bake about 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Yields 5 to 6 servings.

Time: About 1 hour from start to finish

Author: Megan
Source: http://www.heritagefarms.com/recipies/index.php

Note: I actually didn't put any of the parmesian cheese in cause
I didn't have it, so I added more swiss cheese. Used emmetaler
swiss, and boarshead black forest ham.

Rava Upma

Introduction
Upma is a cous cous-like preparation, and it is a South Indian fast food staple. Easy and quick, upma is light fare perfect for breakfast, or as a light meal. There are tons of variations on the same general recipe that result in a variety of delicious allotropes of this dish. I'm including the main recipe below and some alterations/additions to it as well. Enjoy!

Main ingredients
Rava (cream of wheat) (prefer coarse over fine) - 1 cup
Water - 3 cups
Rai (mustard seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Udad dal (split black gram lentils) - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 3
Green chillies, slit lengthwise - 2
Ginger, chopped - 3/4"-1" piece
Oil - 2 tbsp

Optional ingredients
Tomato, quartered - 1
Carrot, sliced - 1
Radish, small, sliced - 3
Cashews, unsalted - 1/2 cup
Peas (preferably fresh not frozen) - up to 1/2 cup (*)
Onion, medium, sliced - 1
Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
Haldi (turmeric) - a pinch
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tsp
Coconut, grated - 1 tsp

Time: 10-15 min
Servings: 1 (lunch) or 2 (snack)

Method:
1) Roast the rava until it starts to turn brown and you can smell it. Set aside.
2) Heat the oil in a non-stick wok.
3) Add rai, udad dal and curry leaves, and when these start to sputter, add the ginger and green chillies. Stir for a minute or so.
4) Add water and salt, mix well.
5) Add any vegetables you're using to the water and cook covered about 5 min.
6) Slowly mix in the rava, avoiding any lumps. If needed, pour the rava through a strainer. Lumps will ruin the taste! Stir continuously until all the rava has been added. Lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed. Depending on what consistency you desire, you can heat it for longer until you have an almost-solid Upma ready.

Upma can be served on its own, or, depending on how you like it, with a chutney (coconut, coriander, mint,...) or a pickled vegetable (lemon, lime, ginger,...) on the side. Sambar (thick lentil soup usually with aubergines) is also a standard side for upma.

Alterations/Additions, and when to add them:
2.5) If adding cashews - believe me, you should! - fry until they start turning brown, then proceed to step (3) above.
3.5) Hing, onions - fry until onions turn translucent.
4.5) Tomatoes, radish, peas [See note below if using peas], haldi and sugar.
6.5) Coriander leaves, grated coconut (garnish).

Notes:
* Adding peas will increase cooking time. You'll also probably have to increase the amount of water required by 1/2 cup. Fresh peas work better than frozen ones. You could probably nuke them to pre-cook them, but in-situ cooking probably improves the flavour.
* As with everything else, using ghee instead of oil improves the flavour.
* Here's one of my favourite things about upma - if you cook it long enough, you start to get a crisp thin crust forming under the upma. If you're using a non-stick wok, it will be easy to transfer onto your plate. Mmm, crispy!

Author: Sundar

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.

Moong Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
Moong (split green gram) lentils - 1 cup
Onion (medium, sliced) - 1
Green chillies slit lengthwise - 2
Tomato (medium, quartered) - 1 (optional)

Seasoning:
Red chillies, dried - 2
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Time: 20-25 minutes
Servings: 4

Method:
Add the tomato pieces (if using), green chillies and sliced onion to 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Mix in the moong lentils, turmeric and salt and heat on a medium flame until the lentils are soft and cooked. Add 1/2-3/4 cup more water depending on the desired consistency.

To season, heat the oil and sputter cumin and mustard seeds and red chillies. Add this seasoning to the lentils. Serve hot.

Author: Sundar
Note:
Optionally, minced ginger can be added while boiling for extra flavour. Crushed pods of garlic can also be fried along with the seasoning.