To the best of my knowledge, this is the first written review of Lisa's Kitchen since I went live back in March. My efforts are truly rewarded when I find out that fellow cooks are inspired by my food offerings.
I've made such good use over the years of recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian Cookbook
that I was delighted to finally obtain a copy of her older book, World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking
. Both are filled with astonishingly fast and simple recipes for delicious and exotic dishes of all varieties.Simple chana dal and dill khichri
1/2 cup chana dal
1 1/3 cups basmati rice
3 tablespoons ghee, or a mixture of butter and olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
6 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 teaspoon sea salt
Rinse the chana dal and soak overnight or for at least six hours in room temperature water. Before cooking, rinse the rice as well and drain the chana dal.
Heat the ghee, or butter and oil, over medium heat in a large saucepan. When hot, pour in the rice and dal and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, making sure that every grain and dal is coated. Stir in the garam masala and dill, and fry for another minute.
Add the vegetable stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to very low, stir in the salt, and cover. Simmer for 25 minutes until the water has been absorbed by the grains and dal.
Serve hot or warm with a clear, spicy soup and a vegetable dish or green salad. Serves 6.
I'm not particularly fond of Fall because it means Winter is soon to descend upon the region. I am however a huge fan of many of the vegetables that are in in season right now and that includes pumpkins. Though I have yet to try my friend Holler's creative Pumpkin Fondue, I did make a few pumpkin pies from scratch. Canned pumpkin simply does not compare to the taste of fresh pumpkin. An additional advantage to using fresh pumpkin are the seeds which you can save and later roast in the oven.
Pumpkin pieI used two different pastry recipes for the pies that I made. The flaky pie crust made with butter was richer but lighter than the whole wheat crust and thus a better a accompaniment to the dense filling.
Filling:
1 1/8 cups pumpkin, cooked
1 large egg
1/3 to 1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup milk powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup milk
To make the filling, mix together the pumpkin and egg, then stir in the honey. In a separate bowl, slowly add 1/4 cup of the milk to the milk powder and spices, being careful to remove all lumps. Then add the rest of the milk and blend thoroughly.
Combine the milk mixture with the pumpkin and egg mixture, and pour into a pie shell.
In a preheated 375 degree oven, bake for 50 minutes or until set.
Flaky Butter Pie CrustCooks tip, courtesy of Cook's Illustrated: If your dough is too dry to roll, add a few tablespoons of vodka. Too much water leads to more gluten formation, which results in a tougher crust. But more liquid makes the dough easier to roll, so adding vodka, which consists of 40 percent ethanol, makes for an easy to roll, tender crust because gluten does not form in ethanol.
1 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of cold butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 - 4 tablespoons of ice water
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the butter using two knives or a pastry cutter until the butter is reduced to very small pieces. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of ice water over the dough and combine with a fork. The dough is ready for rolling once it holds together when you squeeze it. If the dough is too dry, add more of the ice water.
On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a flat circle shape with a floured rolling pin. Gently fold the rolled dough in half and transfer to the pie plate. Trim the dough and fold to make the crust edge. Crimp the edges.
Whole Wheat Pie Crust
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of cold water
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly add the oil and water and stir to mix. Form into a ball and roll out as thinly as possible on floured wax paper.
I've submitted this recipe to Columbus Foodie who will be hosting Homegrown Gourmet #3. The theme this month is pies and tarts.
Cooking quinoa and oats together combines the best of both of these astonishingly healthy foods for a high-protein, high-fat meal rich in calcium, iron, B-vitamins, vitamin E, phosphorus for nerve tissues, and silicon for bones and connective tissues. And frying the cooled porridge really brings out the unbeatable nutty flavour and crunchy texture of quinoa in little croquettes that are deliciously satisfying and wholesome just on their own or with a dash of tamari sauce added. But they're also so simple to make that you'll have time to cook up some Best-ever Mushroom Sauce to pour over them for one of my all-time favourite combinations of flavours.Quinoa-oat croquettes
1 cup quinoa
1 cup rolled or steel-cut oats
3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
sesame seeds
Scrub the quinoa with your hands in a fine-mesh strainer under cold running water for a minute or two to rinse the bitter saponin from its surface. Soak overnight with the oats overnight in a medium stainless-steel or pyrex saucepan in 3 cups of water.
Stir in the sea salt and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent the oats from sticking to the bottom. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes, still stirring frequently, until it has the consistency of a thick porridge.
Pour the cooked quinoa and oats into a square 9x9 baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or longer to let the mixture cool, then cut into slices.
Lightly oil a frying pan over medium heat and fry the slices on both sides until golden-brown and crispy.
Serves 4.
If you are looking for an entree perfect for esteemed dinner guests, I would highly recommend this fairly easy to prepare baked pasta dish that I have adapted from Lucy's Kitchen. It's similar to my famous Pasta and Feta Cheese Casserole, only creamier and earthier and also very rich and filling. Pasta with Goat Cheese and Mixed Mushrooms
1 ounce (30 grams) of dried porcini mushrooms (or a mixture of shiitake, portabello, porcini and oyster)
1 pound (500 grams) of tube shaped pasta (I used rigatoni)
1/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup of unbleached white flour
2 cups of milk
2 cups of soft goat cheese
salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of chopped onion
1 pound 9500 grams) of fresh mixed mushrooms, sliced
2 - 3 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh thyme (or a pinch of dried)
1 tablespoon of finely minced garlic
1/4 - 1/2 cup of olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley
juice from one lemon
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup of hot water for 20 minutes. Strain, reserving the soaking liquid. Squeeze excess liquid from soaked mushrooms and roughly chop.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for 10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Drain well and return to the pot.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute. Pour in the milk and bring to a boil, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for to thicken - approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the goat cheese and season with salt and pepper.Heat the olive oil in a heavy frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the pan and stir and fry for 3 - 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the fresh mushrooms, jalapeno peppers and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes or until mushrooms begin to release their liquid.
Next, add the garlic, dried mushrooms and the soaking liquid used for the dried mushrooms to the wok. Bring to a boil and cook for about one minute. Stir in the olives, parsley and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir the cheese sauce, and mushroom mixture into the cooked noodles along with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Transfer to a large oiled baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until heated throughout and lightly browned.
Serves 6 - 8.
I've submitted this recipe to Ruth who hosts Presto Pasta Night every Friday.
