Pumpkin Mousse (by Sandra Lee) – http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/pumpkin-mousse-recipe/index.html

While we are still taking of Pumpkin and Pumpkin Spice, I loved these cupcakes a friend made, at work. They worked great without the frosting.

http://annies-eats.net/2011/09/06/pumpkin-spice-latte-cupcakes/

Made these mashed potatoes (minus the bacon), a couple of years back and they were a big hit! Gotto say it all over again, Booby Flay rocks! (The only other modification was adding salt while boiling the potatoes. Makes for a well seasoned dish.)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/blue-corn-fried-chicken-ancho-honey-buttermilk-bacon-smashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Sweet potato fries, semi-home made style, with frozen sweet potato ready-to-bake fries.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/02/spicy-sweet-potato-wedges-plus-five-etceteras/

Also, if needed, some baked chicken fingers. Will post a recipe when I strike the perfect balance that I am looking for!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/crunchy-oven-baked-chicken-toes-recipe/index.html

Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all!

Back to the sweet Appam’s, though; this is one of my favorite sweet dishes, right up there next to puran polis. To give you proof, Mom’s menu for my Dohal jevan, included puran polis and these sweet appams. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
Rava/Semolina – 1/2 cup (1 wati)
Grated Coconut – little bit more than 1/3rd of a cup (3/4th wati)
Jaggery – little bit more than 1/3rd of a cup (3/4th wati)
Milk – 1/4th cup (enough to soak the ingredients)

Flavoring:
Two hefty pinches of grated nutmeg

Method:
1. Soak the rava, grated coconut, jaggery and milk and keep it overnight (or for 8 hours). Consistency should be like Dosa dough.
2. Add the nutmeg, just before making the appams
3. Heat the Appam vessel (set on Medium)
4. Add a big drop of ghee for each appam
5. Spoon a tablespoon, per appam into the mold
6. Cook for 3 minutes on each side (I have an electric cooktop. I think it will cook faster on gas.)

Soft and fluffy appams are ready for you to devour!

Do let me know if you try these out!

Ingredients:

1. Firm tofu – cut up into longitudinal pieces and sautéed on two sides for 10 mins each

2. Onion – 1 – sliced longitudinal

3. Potato – 1 – cut into wedges or cubed and microwaved for 5 minutes soaked in water

4. Mushrooms – 10 mini bella mushrooms – sliced thick and longitudinal

5. Coconut Milk - one 14 oz can

6. Thai Green Curry Paste – 1.5 tablespoons

7. Sesame Oil – 2 tablespoons

8. Sugar – 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Pre-process the tofu as indicated and let it cool, while you slice the vegetables

2. Pour the sesame oil into a vessel. Once the oil is hot add the Thai Green Curry Paste and saute for 2 minutes

3. Add the onion and cook till it turns translucent

4. Add the coconut milk and 1.5 cups of water. Let the liquid start boiling. Add salt per taste.

5. Now add the potatoes, mushrooms and tofu and let the curry simmer for 10 mins

5. Add a teaspoon of sugar to bring out the flavor of the coconut milk

6. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice.

Mmmmm …..Experience  the taste of thai curry from my favorite Thai restaurant.

Per Wikipedia:

Brioche is a highly enriched French pastry, whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. It is “light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and eggs”It has a dark, golden, and flaky crust, frequently accentuated by an egg wash applied after proofing.

I thought this information was interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brioche

Cannot wait to try it!

Ingredients:

Rava - 1 waati 

Besan – 1 tablespoon

Yogurt – 1 heaped tablespoon

Ginger – 1 cm cube

Green Chilli – 1 (make a paste of the ginger and the chilli)

Cilantro – 4 – 5 sprigs

Onion – finely diced – 2 tablespoons

(Optional) – Carrot – finely shredded -  2 tablespoons

(Optional) – Green Peas – microwaved till tender – 10 – 15

Baking soda 1/4 teaspoon

Salt – to taste

Method:

1. Soak the rava, besan and yogurt overnite. Add a little water, if needed. The consistency should be thick, like porridge.

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients (excluding the baking soda) together and give it a taste test

3. Before you are ready to add the mixture to the appam-mold tava, add the baking soda.

4. Spray some Pam Spray before you spoon in a tablespoon and a half of the mixture. Coat again with Pam Spray

4. Cook for 3 mins on each side, or until it turns golden brown.

These appams were delicious with steaming ginger tea. The recipe makes about 16 appams. I guarantee you that your guinea pigs will love it.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of cubed acorn squash

1 green chilli slit in the center

Few sprigs of coriander

2 – 3 tablespoons of finely chopped onion

2.5 tablespoons of yogurt

(Optional) – Small clove of garlic – crushed with a little bit of salt to a fine paste

Method:

1. Pressure cook/steam the acorn squash

2. Smash the squash to form a smooth paste

3. Mix in the all the above ingredients, add salt to taste and your raita is ready

I had some squash leftover, after I made saambaar earlier in the week. It was too less to make a vegetable. So it ended up being this wonderful raita, which we loved. Hope you enjoy it too.

So we are trying this salad today:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/romaine-salad-with-roasted-red-pepper-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html

The dressing tastes fantastic. I saw the recipe on Rachael Ray’s show and couldn’t wait to make it. Will let you know how the overall experience was. I think it’s a great recipe for office potluck parties.

Goodbye then! And a Happy New Year! May the new year be filled with a lot of joy and wonderful recipes.

#1 – Minestrone Soup

#2 – Tortilla Soup

Now the minestrone soup entailed buying some ingredients which I don’t keep in my pantry. But oh well! It is my favorite soup and I stuck to the recipe for the most part. It turned out perfect! Never again am I going to wonder how Olive Garden performs the miracle of making the best Minestrone soup. Try out this recipe by Giada and you’ll know. I substituted the beef with one zucchini and quarter of an eggplant.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/beef-and-cannellini-bean-minestrone-recipe/index.html

While we are talking of Giada, I went to this Incredible Food show in Lexington Center and saw a live show by the star herself! I thought she was really smart. She insisted that people get a college degree before taking up cooking as a profession, that they take formal culinary training

Here are some photos from a star-struck fan.

1. Saute mushrooms with olive oil, lots of garlic, salt and pepper

2. On a baking sheet, lay the mushrooms into round piles, top with slices of mozzarella cheese

3. Bake in the oven @ 425 F for 6 mins (8 mins if the mushroom saute is cold)

Tastes delicious! Top with red chilli flakes for extra spice and a great look!

#1

Tried out this Asparagus Soup by Sunny Anderson. I have been watching her show and her preparations seem decent. The soup turned out to be delicious. (Next time I will reduce the quantity of butter by half and substitute with olive oil instead)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cream-of-asparagus-soup-recipe/index.html

#2:

Plan to try this recipe of Root Vegetable Patties this evening:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/root-vegetable-patties-recipe/index.html

I am going to substitute the frozen hash browns with freshly grated potatoes, boiled slightly

Another experiment for tomorrow:

#3:

Prepare parsley pesto, per this recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michele-urvater/parsley-pesto-recipe/index.html

Oven roast shrimp marinated in – Olive Oil, Lemon, Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Half a Grated Onion and Parsley

Toss pesto and shrimp with mini fusilli pasta.

I’ll let you know how they turn out. Possibly update the blog with pics. Bookmarking these recipes for future.