Cakes, Cookies and Curries

Graduation Cake

2010-06-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

I have recently made a few graduation cakes, These 2 were for the same girl. Her class flower was a white rose with yellow tips, so I made some of those out of fondant.

They were pretty easy to make, just really time consuming! After I let them dry I took the steamer to them. It gives them a nice shine and also makes them almost feel like glass.

I then covered the cakes in fondant --I didn't get it quite as smooth as I would have liked, but really I decided it didn't matter too much. I was making the cakes for them at a loss, pretty much; and most people probably wouldn't notice. So I went with it. I didn't feel like peeling it off and starting over. I also felt like the cake needed a little more. Something to tie it into the other cake. So, I added a little more:

I think the yellow helped.

The next cake I made was a full sheet cake.

It turned out okay, but I can't get over that I didn't get the seams perfect where I connected the cakes. Next time I think I will cut off the corners instead of trying to fill them with frosting. Oh well... live and learn.

A close up of the bulldog I drew on the cake.

Surprisingly the large cake didn't take me too long to join together and decorate. Only about an hour and a half. It was so big though that it needed more support, my dad made me a really nice cake board. He is such a perfectionist, he even put little legs on it, a support system on the underside, and he varnished it. I'm lucky to have such a great dad!

Well, I'm off to do dishes now, the hubby should be back from golfing soon. I think we're just going to spend time together and watch a hindi movie or something. We don't get a lot of time to just hang out together, so we have to make the most of it!

The husband with his new golf bag and clubs I bought for him!

Fishing Birthday Cake

2010-04-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Just a pretty simple cake with a fondant fish jumping out of the "water".

My first attempt at making a fondant person. I need more practice, but I think I'll figure it out. He's supposed to be fishing.

What I made for Easter...

2010-04-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

I, unfortunately, had to work on Easter. So, the night before I made a couple things for my husband to take to my grandparents' house. He even got there early to help Grandma get everything ready... isn't that nice?

Anyway, I decided I was going to make a carrot cake and homemade buns. I'll post the recipes sometime later (the carrot cake recipe needs some tweaking. It's not quite the texture I wanted, yet). ...The buns were absolutely amazing!!! They were like buttery little pillows of deliciousness.

Here's some photos!

Almost ready to take out of the oven...you should have smelled these!

Piyush and I had to sneak one fresh out of the oven to share...That's when they're the best!

Mmmmmm....

All ready for Easter dinner

Just a really quick decorating job on the carrot cake using homemade cream cheese frosting.

A really yummy carrot!

My grandpa liked the cake so much he had 3 pieces and thanked me for making "real food" and not "that healthy crap."

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Whole Wheat Bagels

2010-03-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not really much of a bread eater, and neither is my husband BUT I love to bake bread. I also love challenges. The other day, after a LONG sabbatical from all things baking (I just haven't really felt like it. There's been a lot going on and I just ignored all things culinary), I decided it was time to try something new.

I could have baked bread, sure...but I've already done that before. I needed something more. After flipping through a few books I had, I decided on bagels!

I decided to make plain whole wheat, just to see if they turned out. I also sprinkled a few sesame seeds on top (which I might skip next time. They smell funny and taste weird when you toast the bagel).

The Recipe:

3.5 cup bread flour
3.5 cup whole wheat flour
2.25 cup water
1 Tbsp salt (you can change this to your taste)
3g instant yeast (3/4 tsp.)

The Method:

1) Grab your KitchenAid (or a large mixing bowl), and mix all the ingredients together, usually I add all the dry ingredients (minus the salt), then the water. After I mix together a little I add the salt. I'm always nervous about messing up the yeast. Mix on first speed for a few minutes. The dough should be pretty stiff and should not feel sticky to the touch. Mix for 3 more minutes (usually I do this part by hand. I love to knead!).

When you're done kneading the dough should be very strong.

2) Cover the dough with a towel and let rise for 1 hour. This dough won't really double in volume, infact you may not see much rise at all. Regardless, you need to let the dough rest.

3) Divide the dough into 14 (or more) equal portions. I used my food scale and measured out 3.5 oz. It's important to keep your dough covered while doing this. You don't want the outside to dry out and get a little crust on it.

4) Form your bagels. This isn't as hard as it seems, and unfortunately I didn't take photos. There are 2 ways. You could form a ball and poke a hole in the center with your thumb. Just make sure your hole is big enough. Or you could roll your dough into a "snake", combine the two ends and join them together. This is what I did.

5) Place the finished bagels onto a sheet pan covered with parchment paper. Leave about an inch in between, and cover well with plastic wrap. You could toss them in the fridge for overnight (or about 8 hours), or you could let rise outside the fridge for about 40 minutes.

6) You won't really notice much rise with the bagels when you bring them out of the fridge, although they might feel a little "springy." Preheat your oven to 500* and start a pot of boiling water on your range.

7) Time to boil! Put 3 bagels in the pot, you don't want to crowd them. Move them around a little, and let boil about 1 minute, each side. Toss them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Let them hang out in there for a couple minutes. Remove them and put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Decide which side you want to be the top. Sprinkle that side with seeds (if you want) and then flip it over so the seeds are on the bottom.

8) Once all the bagels are done, toss them in the oven. Let them cook for about 5 minutes and then flip them over. Now the seeds will be on top. Let them cook another 12 minutes or until they are nice and brown. Remove from the oven and let cool about 20 minutes.

Eat and Enjoy!!! They are YUMMY!!!

I like this recipe because I made them myself and I know what ingredients are in them. There's no weird chemicals and they really taste better than anything you'd get in the grocery store!

Give them a try!!!

Oops!

2010-03-12T06:04:00.001-08:00

Sorry,

I've been so busy lately dealing with non-culinary related things...I just haven't had the time to post.

I promise, update coming soon!!!

Aloo Matar - Potatoes and Peas in a spicy tomato sauce

2010-01-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

I just love Indian food on cold days, infact, I crave it. It warms up the body, fills you up nicely, and makes your house smell absolutely lovely! This is one of first recipes I learned, and its one of the easiest. I made it for my in-laws when they were here and they told me that they felt like they were back in India! That's right...it's that good!

If you're looking for the creamy, fatty, melt in your mouth type aloo matar you would recieve in a restaurant, you might want to keep looking. There's no heavy cream. Not even any half and half. I didn't even use coconut milk! I cut all that out of this recipe because not only did I think it would taste better without all the milkiness, but it'd be extremely more healthy as well. I promise, you won't even miss the cream!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. potatoes: peeled, diced & boiled

1 c. green peas (I usually blanch these before using them.)

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 tbsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. ginger paste

1 tsp. garlic paste

2 roma tomatoes, finely chopped

1 pinch of tumeric

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 pinch white sugar

1/2 tsp or more garam masala (I usually use a LOT)

1 tbsp. oil

green chile, chopped- to your taste

salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan or frypan with deep sides. Add the cumin seeds.

When the cumin seeds begin to pop, add the onions and green chiles. Saute until they are translucent.

2. Add the ginger paste, garlic paste and tomatoes. Simmer until the tomatoes are cooked are are like a smooth sauce. Once they begin to break down I usually grab a potatao masher and just mash everything together. It just helps the tomatoes to break down quicker. (this photo is before I mashed the heck out of it).

3. Add the turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala, green peas and potatoes and cook for some time.

Add about 1 1/2 cups of water and salt to taste. Allow it to come to a boil, turn the heat down and let simmer for a good 20 minutes or until the gravy thickens to your liking. The longer you let the curry simmer, the better it will taste. Add some finely diced corriander, and you're done!

TIP: If you think your gravy is too thin or that you added too much water, mash a few pieces of the potatoes into it. This will thicken it up nicely.

You woudln't need to serve this with rice, infact a chapati or roti would be the better choice. My husband, being Bengali, LOVES rice and has to eat it at almost every meal. I also served this with Indian spiced chicken legs. Basically I just marinated chicken legs with a bunch of spices, and it was wonderful! I'll post that the next time I make it because really I didn't write down what I threw in the marinade.

Enjoy!

Tonight we're having Venison, so stay tuned!

Baked Salmon with Blackberry and Ginger Glaze... You MUST try this!

2010-01-05T20:26:00.001-08:00

I had almost finished this post, and the computer froze on me. I lost everything! Piyush informed me that's why they have the "save as draft" button, and I should use it. Nothing like kicking me when I'm down... lol

Anyway, Tonight I was craving salmon. I didn't want anything fried, or spicy, or greasy. I wanted something filling, healthy, and something that would satisfy my sweet tooth. Usually after dinner I'm left craving anything with a little sugar. If we eat spice, I have to balance it with sweet. This is a frustrating problem when you're trying to watch your waist and are attempting to avoid junk (man I like junk...). Piyush on the other hand hates sweets (or so he says). He also isn't a huge fan of salmon, he prefers whitefish. But...I'm the cook! So, Blackberry glazed salmon it is! We'll add a little ginger for a fun little kick, and to appease the husband.

You could really use any berry you like, I suppose. I don't know. Strawberries would maybe be a little weird, but I think pomegranates would be nice. And they're in season! I also think it'd be nice to add some orange zest.

I served the salmon with some semolina cous cous that I added some garlic, chopped parsley, olive oil and parmesan cheese to and steamed broccoli. It was a perfect meal! It's 5 hours later, I had half the serving as my husband (whose plate you see pictured here)...and I'm still full. I didn't even need any other sweet to end my night! This was a success and will definitely be showing up on my menu quite regularly.

Baked Salmon with Blackberry and Ginger Glaze adapted from Sunny Anderson's Cooking for Real (She's really the only television cook/chef I actually like on the Food Network)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

7 ounces blackberries (I used however many came in the box I bought from the store)

1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and sliced into coins (I like an extra kick of ginger. Decrease if you prefer)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/8 cup sugar or to your taste. Next time I'm going to use Stevia.

Olive oil to grease the pan

Skinless salmon fillets (I used 10 ounces)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Wash and dry your berries. Toss them into a saucepan over medium heat along with the water, ginger and lemon.

Let the berries boil until they turn bright red and break down. They should begin to form a sauce. I found this took around 15 minutes. That gives the ginger some extra time to infuse too, yay!

2. Grab a fine sieve, or some sort of strainer. Strain the juice into a bowl, pushing the berries through as much as you can with the back of the spoon.

3. Pour the juice back into a saucepan and over low heat, add in the sugar. We're going to make a yummy glaze here, folks. Basically you don't have to do much with it for the next 20 minutes. Just let it simmer. You'll want to stir it every once in awhile to make sure it doesn't burn though. The glaze should reduce to about half the amount of the original juice you poured in. I just kept it simmering until I noticed it thickened up to a good consistancy. Taste it! It's good!!!

4. Remove the glaze from heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes. You'll notice some lumps start to form, and it almost seems like jelly. That's okay. You're putting it on fish that's going to be baked in a very hot oven. It'll melt down again. No worries! Oil the baking sheet and plop the fillets down. Put a little oil on the fish and some salt and pepper to your taste. After the glaze is cooled, brush some on the fish. Be generous! Reserve a little to baste.

5. Bake the fish in a 400 degree preheated oven for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes pull it out, it'll look like this:

Turn your oven to broil and brush the rest of the glaze on the salmon. Let the salmon broil for about 3 more minutes or until the meat is flakey and done.

This dinner was so amazing! So fast, so easy, and had so much flavor. You should really give this one a go! I promise you'll love it!

Enjoy! ...I'll see you tomorrow!

Never Buy Vanilla Extract Again!

2010-01-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

The holidays have come and gone, and man was I busy! I did a lot of cooking and baking around Christmastime, but haven't really done anything since. I just haven't felt like it. I've made some fancy dinners that I'll post on here probably tomorrow, or when I get some time (did I mention I've been really busy?).

However, I did have time to make vanilla extract! It's so easy, and really...everyone should do it. If you're going to go through all the trouble and take all the time to impress someone with some delicious and beautiful baked goods...why not use good ingredients? Besides, I always like knowing what's in my food...and how it was made. I'm just nosey like that.

Sure, vanilla beans are expensive. BUT... you can sometimes find premium ones at good prices. Besides, if you do a lot of baking, purchasing all that extract really adds up. Especially if you buy the good stuff. I know I've spent more than 50 dollars this past year on extract alone, probably more than 100.

Now it's a new year, so I've said enough! I'm making my own! I found a cool looking bottle from the thrift store, bought a few beans from the co-op, and a bottle of good vodka. And that's it! In about 6 months I should be set for quite a long time.

Start with a bottle, really any bottle will do. You just want to make sure it has a good, airtight seal on it. You could even use a mason jar if you wanted.

Get your beans. These are Premium Bourbon-Madagascar beans. I got them from my local co-op, but they are available online from many places. Just google them. I paid 7 dollars for all three beans, which is an okay price, I guess. Personally, I think it's a little high...but that's just me, and maybe you? It's okay though. It isn't the first time I spent too much money on something culinary related, and it won't be the last.

Next, split your bean. Some people think you should chop off the ends of the bean too. They also think you should scrape the bean. You could. But you don't have to. Just split it, that's all you really need to do.

Toss the beans back in the bottle. Some people also think you should chop the beans up in pieces. You could. But you don't have to. I mean, if you you small mason jars you probably should. You do want the vodka to cover the entire bean, but if you use a nice big bottle or a roomy jar, you should be able to just toss 'em back in.

Grab your vodka. Make sure its a vodka you'd like to drink. Don't use something cheap or something you drank your freshman year of college---no Karkov here. We're talking a nice smooth vodka. You don't want something that smells like finger nail polish remover. This is Grey Goose and it's perfect. Sure, it's a little pricey...but hey! I can make myself some delicious martinis with the leftovers!

Pour the vodka in! You might want to use a funnel, unless you are really good at not spilling. Pour in enough so that your beans are covered. For a pretty strong extract you'd use about 1 cup vodka to 3 vanilla beans. I want mine to be a little more mild, so I used about 2 cup vodka to 3 beans. Use what you want really...that's what's so great when you make your own! You can make it to your taste!

Put the lid on and make sure it's sealed well. Shake, shake, shake! You want to shake her up for about a minute. You'll do this daily (if you remember) for the first week. Then about once a week there after for the next few months. This is just to help mix everything up.

You have to wait about 6 months before you can use the extract, so you'll want to get started right away! I made mine December 31, so I have quite a while to wait. I check on it daily though...and the alcohol has finally turned all brown. I'm excited about this one!

On a side note. I got a new camera for Christmas. I'm not very good at using it yet...and our apartment has HORRIBLE lighting. There isn't even a living room light, so we had to buy one of those crappy floor lamps, and that's all we have. So, sometimes when you see photos and they have weird lighting, that's probably why. But, I wanted to show you a few photos that I took recently, they're not food related...but they're still fun!

This is our cat, Harry. He is NOT happy. He hurt his paw some how and won't let the wound heal, so he has to wear a cast. Because he likes to chew off his cast, he has to wear a pink collar thing. He hates us for it, and would probably curse me if he knew I was showing the world.

Our other cat, Penny didn't know what the heck was going on, and she coudln't stop staring. She did this all night. Harry just laid there like he was paralyzed.

Penny

Piyush LOVES to golf. He's heartbroken he can't golf during the winter, so instead he spends his weekends wii-golfing. He takes it very seriously too. It's funny.

Look at his cast, I told you he tries to knaw it off. We re-tape it though. We're one step ahead.

Parmesan and Prosciutto Palmiers

2009-12-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

These are really yummy, and pretty! They also make great appetizers. I made them this past weekend and even the little kids liked them. They kept calling them "spiral pizzas."

Palmiers are a cute little French "cookie" made of puff-pastry. They're sometimes called Elephant Ears and are usually rolled in sugar before baking. I decided to try something a little different. There are so many different things you could do with the palmiers. I think pesto would be awesome, goat cheese, really the sky is the limit.

I decided to go with tomato paste, parmesan and prosciutto. And, they were a HUGE hit. So, lets get started!

Ingredients:

- 1 sheet puff pastry (I used store bought because I didn't have time to make my own...and it turned out great)

- 4 tbsp. tomato paste

- 1 tbsp. water

- 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese

- 6-8 thin slices prosciutto

- flour for rolling

Directions:

1. Let the puff pastry thaw. This should take roughly 8 hours in the refridgerator, and a lot less time out of the fridge. If you thaw it outside of the fridge, pop it back in for about 15 minutes prior to using so that it can harden up a little. Its easier to use if it's cold.

2. Roll the pastry out to approximently 13 inches square. If you buy the Pepperidge Farm brand, you really don't have to roll much. If there are holes in your pastry, it doesn't really matter too much, just pinch them together and roll them shut.

3. Spread the tomato paste on the puff pastry, followed by the Prosciutto, and lastly spread on the parmesan cheese.

4. Starting on one end, roll tightly until you get to the middle. Then, do the same with the other side. You should get something that looks like this:

Put that in the fridge for about 20 minutes to stiffen up a little, this will make it a lot easier to cut.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut 1/4" pieces off and lay on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.

6. Before tossing them into the oven, place another sheet of parchment paper over them. This will help to ensure that they don't rise too much, or unravel during baking. Take the paper off about half-way into baking so that the tops can get a nice brown color. They'll bake around 8 minutes. Then you end up with these delicious little treats:

I hope you make these! You'll definitely enjoy them, and so will your family!

The tale of the cursed cake and why I don't bake with silicone.

2009-12-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

Wow! This past weekend was really busy. I feel like I didn't get hardly enough done, but I think that's just how the holidays make me feel. I have so much baking and cooking and cleaning and wrapping to do, and on top of it we have a sick cat.

My great-grandpa turned 87 years old this weekend, and we had a little party for him. My grandma usually makes the cake, but she had bought a silicone Christmas Tree baking pan and she really wanted me to try it out. I usually really hate those molded pans. I'd rather cut the shape I want out of a giant sheet cake. But, grandma really wanted me to use this pan, so I had all sorts of ideas about how to make it look really neat. ...I could make two of them and stand them back to back and then cover them with fondant, it'd make a neat centerpiece. I mixed up the cake, just a normal white cake---nothing too special, then greased the pan according to what the directions said. I kept some of the batter aside because I decided I was going to marble the cake with green batter ---it is an evergreen tree afterall. I put the cake in to bake and about 40 minutes later I realized I had a problem. The edges of the cake were done. In fact, they were almost more than done, and the center was still jiggly. I turned the timer for 10 more minutes, checked it...same thing! ...What the heck. I decided this cake was cursed. Finally after like one hour and 20 minutes!!!!!! the cake was done. The sides were a little overdone, but they weren't quite throw-away ready... and I was making it for my family, so I didn't feel quite so bad. Haha, is that wrong?

I took the cake out, let it cool, and when I went to unmold it I realized I had another problem. The cake didn't want to come out! Now I was going a litltle nuts. I didn't have time to make a whole new cake and I definitely wasn't going to try and make another tree cake. I called Grandma and freaked out a little, she calmed me down... and then I glued my cake together with frosting.

I've got to say, it turned out as good as it could have with what I had to work with:

I won't be using that tree pan again though. It really is cursed...

When Piyush took the cake to the car to transport it to the party he put the box on the car seat, which is at an incline. The cake slid right into the box and it smashed the whole side of it. It's actually kind of funny. He came running back up here screaming "Damage Control!" ...and I decided there would be no damage control. They'd just have to deal with a smashed cake. We were already running late anyway. I wish I had a picture of the end-product because I'm sure it'd make someone laugh. Or cry. hahaha

Coconut Ladoo

2009-12-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

There's nothing better than Indian sweets! Although I'm not a huge fan of the liquidy ones like kheer, I love almost all the other ones. Especially the green ones. haha...It doesn't really matter what type the sweet is, but if it's green...I claim it. My husband always gets a kick out of that.

Anyway, I decided to make some coconut ladoos to bring along to my great-grandfather's birthday party. My very nordic family can't really handle Indian food. I try my hardest to get them to try it, and usually they do, but even the mildest dish sends my mom into a tizzy and practically puts my grandpa into cardiac arrest. It's not a pretty scene. But sweets they can handle, and naan. haha...they like naan.

Coconut Ladoos are basically balls of shredded coconut held together by sticky, milky mixture. They are pretty similar to what they call Narkel Naru in Bengali, at least that's what I have come to decide. I'm pretty sure they're what I had at Durga Puja, and my goodness...they were fantastic! They're really, really sweet though and not very good for you. So you'll just want to make sure you don't eat them all! ...In one sitting at least. ;-)

Ingredients:

- About 4 cups dessicated coconut, I didn't have time to run to the Indian store so I used shredded coconut from the grocery store--it worked good!

- 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 14 oz

- handful of raisens

- 1 tbsp. ghee

- 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

- 3/4 tsp. cardamom powder

Directions:

1. Place a small fry pan over medium heat, add the ghee and let that get hot. Once the ghee is hot add the raisens. Fry these for just a little while, until they start to puff up and change colors.

Be very careful not to burn the raisens, or else you have to start over. Burned raisens will wreck the taste of the ghee and of the ladoos.

Oops! I burned the raisens!

2. Set the raisens and ghee aside. In a second saucepan add the condensed milk and 3 c. of the shredded coconut. Mix together.

Keep stirring continuously until the mixture starts to clump together and pull away from the sides of the pan. This will probably take around 5 minutes or so, maybe 7.

3. Add the raisens, ghee, vanilla, and cardamom powder. Stir to mix.

4. Remove from heat. Let cool for about 10 minutes or until you're able to roll the mixture into balls without burning yourself. I actually found that the cooler the mixture was, the easier it was to work with. When it was still a little warm it was very, very messy. Roll the mixture into balls-- whatever size you choose. I wouldn't do really large ones though because they really are very sweet. After you form the ball, roll them into some extra dessicated coconut. This makes them look like pretty little snowballs!

I hope you enjoy this yummy little Indian sweet! It's an easy one to start with, and really I think they make a pretty addition to a Christmas platter.

Well, I'm off! I have to get ready, my mom is coming over and we're going to get some more Christmas shopping done. I'm one of those last minute shoppers, bakers, Christmas tree-putter-uppers...everything! haha... That reminds me, Piyush and I have to put our tree up tomorrow. We've just been so busy, and we want to do it together since it's our first Christmas together being married and it'll be his first time having his own Christmas tree. He's been pretty excited about it.

Until next time...!

Christmas Baking, Part one

2009-12-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I did a lot of cookie baking. I packed up all my baking supplies, my cookie sheets, my bowls, my stand mixer and even my wooden spoons. My husband and I went to my grandmas house and met up with my mom. I wanted to do a lot of baking but I knew that our apartment was just too small for the amount of baking I had in mind. I didn't have enough room to cool cookies and I definitely don't have enough room to store cookies. I unfortunately didn't take pictures at the time, but don't you worry...I will. This weekend I'm pulling some of them out of the freezer for my great-grandfather's birthday party.

We made:

Peanut Butter Blossums

Molasses cookies

Sugar cut-out cookies, glazed

Chocolate Crinkles

Gingerbread Men, decorated

I still have a lot of baking to do. I want to make a couple Indian sweets and some Peppermint Bark. I also have a couple cakes and Piyush requested Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies again. They are his favorite. If you've never made them, you must! I'll definitely be blogging about them this weekend!

Anyway, today Piyush had a little holiday party at his office, so last night after I got home from work I had to make a cake. I really wasn't in the mood, but he promised them all a cake and I wasn't going to let him go out and buy a cake. That'd be blasphemous! I told him I wasn't going to do some awesome decorating job, just something really quick and easy. I only did 2 coats of frosting, and only let my crumb coat sit for like 10 minutes. I usually wait quite a bit longer and do 3 coats just to make sure it's nicely coated. It took me maybe 20 minutes to actually decorate. I wasn't all that pleased with it, but Piyush liked it though. I was glad, because I was tired.
This is what the cake turned out like:

I drew a stocking on the top of the cake and just filled with stars. This was exciting. I used a #14 for the red and a #16 for the white. I wanted the white to look fluffy.

I piped some wreaths on the side of the cake using stars. I then made a ribbon using #104. I need some practice making small ribbons sideways. These were a little difficult to make look right. but it turned out decent, I guess. I can make big ribbons like it's no body's business though. Those are easy as pie. I put some little red dots on it too, for berries.

To make the little trees, just use a #14 tip and pipe using even pressure, tapering off towards the top. I then used a #1 tip to decorate the trees. I was too lazy to mix up more colors, but it'd look cool if you had yellows and blues and made them look like real christmas trees.

I sprinkled the top with clear cake dust so it looked like snow and wrote Happy Holidays...and it was done!

Yay! 2 more cakes to go. I'm so caked out. haha

Eggs Benedict

2009-12-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

I decided the other day that I was going to learn to poach an egg. I never thought that I'd ever try this, but Piyush loves them, so sometimes I decide to surprise him. Before I met him I thought that only old men ate poached eggs. They just seemed so yucky. Not to say that only old men eat yucky things, I guess that's just who I associated them with.

Anyway, before I put my foot in my mouth any further...

I did a little research first. I saw that some people use a big pot and fill it with water. They let the water simmer, then using a spoon they swirl the water around and crack the egg in the water. This allows the egg to spin around in the water and causes the egg white to fold over the yolk. Sounds like a pretty good idea. I tried one, and it worked, but I lost quite a lot of the egg white. It wasn't even that I lost a lot of the egg white, because it turned out okay...see:

I mostly didn't like that they looked kinda weird. There were whites sagging all over the place. Maybe I just haven't got the hang of it yet, I'm not sure. I just knew this wasn't going to be the right method for me.

So I turned to an old friend, a book that I know won't fail me. It's a little hard to read sometimes and you really have to understand the method before you attempt the recipe. But, Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck haven't let me down yet and Mastering the Art of French Cooking is the book I go to when I just can't figure something out.

I read the directions, grabbed a 2 inch deep fry pan and filled it up with water. I let it heat until it started to simmer and then I cracked an egg as close to the water as I could. Using a wooden spoon I gently scooped the egg white over the yolk a few times. Then I just left it alone for a couple minutes. Using a slotted spoon I turned it, and left it on it's other side for about 2 more minutes. I don't know that you really have to do this, I just wanted to make sure it cooked through correctly. After about 4 minutes it should be done!

Meanwhile I had cut a couple circles out of a loaf of homemade brioche bread. It's a real buttery, sweet bread. It's so delicious! I use the technique found in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. This book is amazing, and the bread tastes so good. You should try it!

This is a loaf of white Brioche, for the eggs benedict, I used wheat, but I didn't take pictures, sorry!

I took the circles I cut and fried them in a little butter to toast them up and give them a nice crust.

I didn't have any canadian bacon on hand, but I did have soy sausage, so I put that on top of the little brioche circles, topped with my beautiful poached eggs and then drowned them in homemade hollandaise sauce. I think I'll save the hollandaise sauce for another post though. It really wasn't hard to make, it was just really time consuming. I guess you can make it in a food processor or a blender too, but Julia says you lose flavor. I don't know. I've never tasted the stuff before, but I wanted to impress my hubby...so I did it the old fashioned way. It involves a lot of butter...I used 1 1/2 sticks plus 2 tbsp. cold butter to keep the sauce from curdling and to stop the cooking, 3 egg yolks, some lemon juice, salt and pepper---so the ingredients are way easy.

He loved it! And I think it looked pretty!

Angel-hair Pasta with Garlic Lemon Sauce, Mushrooms, Shrimp, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2009-12-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

Good Evening!

Piyush and I just finished supper, so I thought I'd post about it real quick. It's been a busy week and luckily it's bound to start slowing down soon. I have a lot of baking coming up this weekend though, I'm glad about that, but really I could use a little break. Tomorrow when I get off work I have to bake a cake for Piyush to take to his office for a Holiday party. I want to do something different and something with a little holiday flair. He only gave me one rule...no fondant. Apparently he's not fond of it? Or maybe his co-worker's aren't. I'm not sure. I always tell him that if they don't like it, tell them to peel it off. There is plenty of frosting below it. I suppose they feel rude if they throw away part of the cake, haha...I'm not sure. I'm not a fan of the taste of fondant either, but it sure looks pretty.

Tonight for supper I decided to do a little experimenting. I had some lemons left over in the fridge from the cake I made last week and I was craving brussel sprouts. I decided a pasta would go well with both the ingredients. Call me weird, but I really am not a huge fan of pasta. Maybe I haven't had really good stuff yet, I don't know, but it just doesn't usually make me all that excited. Oh, and I can't cook it. It's one of the only things I really can't conquer.

Tonight I came close. This pasta was fantastic, and it smelled so yummy!

Give it a try, and tell me if you try anything different. I'd love some new ideas!

Angel-hair Pasta with Garlic Lemon Sauce, Mushrooms, Shrimp, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

Juice of 2 lemons
1 box of angel hair pasta
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic paste (you could use a few cloves of chopped garlic instead)
1 very large scallion
1 1/3 c. olive oil
1 c. shredded, fresh parmesan cheese
fresh mushrooms
1 lb. fresh brussel sprouts
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper, more to taste
fresh, italian parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Clean and sort through the brussel sprouts. Cut them in halves. Mix 1/3 c. olive oil in a large zip-lock bag and add in 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper. Add the brussel sprouts and toss to coat. Once they are equally coated in the oil lay the spouts cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until the tops are blackened and soft to the touch. Go ahead, taste one! I promise you won't regret it, and you'll be able to tell if you need to bake them longer.

2. Meanwhile heat some oil in a fry pan and saute the scallion, add the mushrooms and 1 tsp. lemon juice. Add some pepper. Once the mushrooms begin to cook through and are nearly done add the shrimp. Saute until the shrimp are fully cooked.

3. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. This should take around 5 minutes. While the pasta is cooking make the lemon sauce. To do this, mix together the juice of two lemons and 1 cup of olive oil. Keep one cup parmesan cheese on the side, ready to throw into the mix. If you'd like, you can even grate the cheese in with the lemon and oil mixture. This is what I did. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Once the pasta is finished cooking, add the lemon sauce (make sure to keep the pasta on low heat), cheese, mushrooms, shrimp, and brussel sprouts. Chop some fresh italian parsley and throw that in there too!

Toss everything gently so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

5. Garnish with freshly chopped italian parsley and serve with fresh garlic bread. Enjoy!

Really Easy Jambalaya

2009-12-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

I'm really not all that familiar with jambalaya, or with cajun food for that matter. I've had gumbo before, I think; when I was a little girl at girl-scout camp. Aside from that, I have no idea about anything cajun.

A couple weeks ago my husband decided that he was craving Jambalaya. I had two options. I could go to the store and buy one of those rice packet things where you just add water and meat, or I could figure out how to make it myself. Since those rice packets scare me- who knows what half of those chemical ingredients are?, I'd rather not eat them.- I decided to take the second route. Piyush was away at his chess tournament and I knew he'd be hungry when he got home so I decided to surprise him with a gigantic pot of spicey goodness...and I do mean gigantic. This recipe made enough to feed at least 12 people. I should mention, it also freezes well.

The recipe comes from a book entitled Cajun Cooking by Arlene Coco, well, the outline of the recipe does at least. I changed it quite a bit because I didn't have crawfish and had no idea where to find them this time of year in Rochester. She entitles the recipe "Spottfair Jambayala." I also like to mess with recipes...and this was no exception.

I'm going to post the recipe according to how I prepared it, and not according to the actual recipe.

Ingredients:

3 cups rice
6 cups water
oil, a few tbsp - enough to saute the vegetables
1 tbsp. butter
About 5 to 6 stalks celery, diced
2 onions, I used one purple and one yellow, diced
2 green peppers, diced
3 tablespoons garlic paste
2 cans diced tomatoes and their juice
1 tbsp. italian seasoning
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. Cajun spice mix
Parsley
About 1.5 lbs shrimp
1 ring smoked turkey sausage

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Rinse the rice and mix with the water. Pour in a casserole dish and bake in the 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Be careful not to let the rice get dry though. Let the rice rest for 20 minutes after removing from the oven.

2. In a fry pan or a dutch oven melt the butter. Add the sausage and the shrimp. Season as you desire. I added some red chile flakes, cumin powder, corriander powder, pepper, some more cajun seasoning and a few dashes of hot sauce. Stir fry until the meats are cooked through and the spices smell fragrant.

3. In a very large dutch oven or big pot heat the oil. Saute celery, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium high heat until soft. This takes about 10 minutes.

4. Once the vegetables are soft add the diced tomatoes and juice, italian seasoning and sugar. Mix in the cajun spice blend and cook for about 20 minutes more on a low simmer.

5. Add the meats, parsley and rice to the vegetable mixture and cook on low heat for a few minutes until everything is nice and warm.

Serve your jambalaya warm with many hot sauces to choose from.

What I really love about this dish is that every person that eats it has the opportunity to make it as spicy as they want it. I don't have to worry about putting in too much chile powder, or not enough. It's also a very filling dish, and super economical. I highly recommend this, Piyush even gave it an A+, you know it's good when he gives something an A+. That NEVER happens!

Enjoy!!!

Cake Time!

2009-12-11T23:28:00.000-08:00

I don't have a lot of time right now because I have to get up early to work tomorrow but I wanted to post some photos of the cake I made today.

It's not really my best work, but the cards were kind of stacked against me. I think it turned out okay though. I had used the candied lemons once before, on my grandmas cake back in november:

and I thought they were kind of pretty...and they tasted awesome! I'll post a neat little tutorial sometime on how to make them. I've had them turn out really nicely, and I've had them turn out kind of wet and mushy. But I think I've figured it all out now, and I'll gladly share so no one out there will have to throw away lemons (and waste the hour or so it takes to get them just right).

On to the cake! It was Dorie Greenspan's recipe for her "Perfect Party Cake"

From Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Makes 12 to 14 servings

For the Cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk (both Dorie and I suggest the buttermilk).
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make The Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the tough – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

The frosting was a simple buttercream. I chose to go with my own recipe instead of Dorie's. I'm sure her's is great, I just was pressed for time and wanted something easy, reliable, and familiar. ...and I know what it tastes like. It's good!

2 c. crisco (not butter flavored)
1 2lb bag powdered sugar
Pure lemon extract, to your taste
Pure vanilla extract, to your taste
Enough water to get the right consistancy. Start with a few tablespoons.

1. Cream the crisco and the extracts for a minute or so until they're well mixed and the crisco is smooth.

2. Add the powder sugar a little at a time, Adding water as neccessary. Do this until you get your desired consistancy of frosting.

The filling of the cake was also really simple. I took some raspberry preserves, probably about a half a cup and mixed it with Chambord liqueor in a small saucepan. I heated it until the preserves were smooth enough to spread on the cake. This part was my favorite! Chambord spiked jelly sounds like a pretty nice breakfast to me!

Well I'm off to bed... Tomorrow I'll tell you all about how I came home from the bridal shower deal and made my husband a huge pot of Jambayala at 11:00pm. He plays chess for his work team on Friday nights and doesn't get home until late, and he's been talking about jambayala forever, so I thought... How hard could it be? It's actually a really quick and tasty recipe! And he gave it an A+, which is unusual!

Goodnight!!!

Mashed Potatoes with a twist

2009-12-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

I love mashed potatoes, a lot. There's actually not many things that make me happier than a plate full of mashed potatoes. I love them plain, I love them with bits of potato skin mixed in with the mash, I love them chunky and I love them smooth too. I don't discriminate when it comes to mashed potatoes. One day I was inspired though. I was making mashed potatoes to go along with turkey burgers. I originally wanted to make baked, spiced fries but earlier that day I got the bright idea to clean my oven. I didn't even know I could do such a thing without getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing. I was so excited. So, I followed the instructions written on my ancient, apartment oven (which I have come to love) and the latch locked and little light turned red.

This meant I'd have a clean oven soon...but how soon? Surely it must take only an hour, or something. Wrong. It takes ALL DAY. I couldn't use my oven all day! This meant no fresh bread (I had to throw away the last of my broiche dough..grr), no cookies, and definitely no baked fries. After about 5 hours...is that normal oven cleaning time? I got bored and impatient and started pushing some of those buttons in that picture above. Finally, about 7 hours later the red light turned off and it let me open the door!

By this time I was hungry, so I looked in the refridgerator and I was inspired. Staring back at me was a hunk of goat cheese just begging to be used. I decided it'd probably taste good in mashed potatoes. It tastes good in just about everything else, so why not? So I went for it...and they were good. Like, real good.

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, depending how much you prefer
about 1 tbsp. butter
salt, to taste
milk (whole, soy, heavy cream...doesn't really matter. Your potatoes will just have a different consistancy depending on what type of milk you use); add a little at a time until you get to your desired consistancy of mashed potato. It could be a cup of milk, it could be more. It could be less. This is partially why I don't like to rely on measurements.
goat cheese, about 2 ounces --again use your own judgement and taste
chopped parsley

Directions:
1. Because I was feeling a little hungry and a lot impatient I pulled out one of those ziploc steamfresh bags. I really love those things. Instead of boiling my potatoes like I typically would before mashing them I peel and dice them then toss them in the bag with some chopped garlic (about 2-3 cloves worth), butter and salt to taste. I steam them in the microwave for about 7 minutes or until the spuds are nice and mashable.

2. Pour the potatoes into a bowl and start mashing! After the potatoes are well mashed, grab your handy whisk. Add a little more butter if you feel like it and throw in some milk. Start with about 1/4 c. and go from there. Start whisking away, adding more milk as needed. Once the potatoes begin getting nice and creamy add in the goat cheese. Continue whisking. You'll get a nice work out.

3. Chop the parsley and add to the spuds. Check the salt, make sure there is enough...and Enjoy!!!

My favorite thing about these potatoes is the tanginess the goat cheese adds. It just really blends well with the smoothness of the potatoes. mmm, Ultimate American comfort food!!!

MMM....Pohe!

2009-12-10T13:01:00.000-08:00

I have so many things to post, and I just haven't had the time, unfortunately. I want to put something up though, so I thought I'd quickly post the Pohe I made for an after work snack last night. My husband calls this tiffin, and he gets kind of grumpy if he doesn't have tiffin.

My mother-in law taught me how to make this dish when they were visiting back in August, and I've got to tell you, it's probably one of my favorite things. It's so easy to make, it's not so spicy---so even my mom will eat it, and it's filling.

This dish comes from Maharastria and my husband fell in love with it when he was growing up in Mumbai. I add a few of my own special touches to the dish ---like a handful of dried fruits (he'd rather I left these out, but this American has got to have a little sweetness). You can also add potatoes to the dish, infact, I reccommend it. My mother in law didn't teach me to add potatoes, but my husband insists that it tastes even better with them added.

Poha is the rice that you use to make this dish. Its basically a flattened, puffed rice. Its hard and dry. My mom said it reminds her of those boxed potato flakes. Its really easy to reconstitute. You just put it in a strainer and run some water over it until its all moist. That's how I do it anyway. You don't want it to be soaked, and you don't want it to be sitting in water. You just want to run it under the faucet until the rice is no longer hard and dry. It should be soft and moist---but not wet. If that makes sense? Poha comes in 2 variaties, thick and thin. I've only used the thick, and I'm pretty sure that's the type you want to use when making Pohe. You can find it at the Indian grocery store. Sometimes supermarkets have really good "ethnic" food sections, so you can check there too, but I would bet you'll have to take a trip to the Indian market...and that's a good thing! You can find so many neat ingredients and yummy things there! I could spend a good hour in the Indian market here in town, and it's tiny!

Now, on to the Pohe!

Ingredients:

2 c. Pohe
2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 medium onion, finely chopped (prefer red onion)
1+ serrano chiles, chopped or sliced (to your taste)
1/4 c. almonds, roughly chopped
handful of raisens or dried cranberries
1/2 - 2/3 c. frozen peas
1 tsp. sugar
salt, to taste
about 2 tbsp oil
1-2 fresh roma tomatoes, diced
chopped corriander

Directions:

1. Put the poha in a strainer. Run the strainer under the faucet to moisten the poha. Be careful not to over-soak the rice, but you also don't want to be stingy with the water. You don't want dry poha added into your dish. Set this aside. (Most of the time I will pour my ground tumeric powder on top of the poha and let it sit in the strainer. I don't stir it in. Just let it sit on top. You don't have to do this. You can add it later, as I am recommending in this recipe).

2. Heat the oil in a pan, you want a fairly large pan or you'll have ingredients falling out all over the place eventually. Add the onions and fry until they are beginning to brown. Add the chile, almonds, and fruits. Stir fry for a couple minutes, then add the frozen peas. Keep stirring until they soften up and everything becomes nice and fragrant.

3. Add the salt, to taste and also the sugar. Stir everything together.

This is how I add my salt and sugar. I'm real exact.

4. Add the poha and the ground turmeric powder to the pan and gently mix everything together. I know its mixed well when everything is yellow.

5. Once everything turns yellow, add the diced tomato. stir them gently. You don't want to break them up, you just want to heat them. Add the chopped corriander. Stir everything together, make sure the salt is correct...and serve. YUM! and fast! For me, this is the Indian equivalent to mashed potatoes, you know? Good, comfort food.

Well, now I'm off to make some buttercream icing. I've got a cake to make, among other things. My friend is having her bridal shower tomorrow and I'm in charge of bringing all sorts of goodies. My husband also lost his keys yesterday in this huge snowstorm we were having, and one of our neighbors was shoveling and found them! So I'm baking them cookies. Hopefully I can get Piyush to help decorate them. That'd be fun! I also have to take my vehicle to get looked at. In the huge storm, my heater decided it was time to die. I don't know how I did it, but I had to drive in blizzard conditions with unthawable frost on my windshild. Haha, every time I even breathed the windsheild would fog up more. Good thing I went to college wayyyy up north. Those years of living on the north-shore definitely taught me how to drive in bad weather. Luckily my dad lives close and is in the car business, I should have my heater back and running soon. I don't know what I'd do without my dad. He's a life-saver, definitely!

Swaagat hai! Welcome! and a Trip down memory lane...

2009-12-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

After months and months of saying I was going to start a blog, I have finally decided to do it. I had a blog once, for about 5 or 6 years actually. It was around 2000 or so and they weren't quite popular yet. I was a teenager and it became some sort of theraputic outlet for me. Maybe this one will become the same.

I'll start with an introduction. My name is Shari, and I love to cook. Actually, I love to experiment. Once I find a recipe that works I seldom stick to that recipe. Once, I made Chicken Tikka Masala to perfection. Only once. Afterwards, I decided that since I've conquered it I could afford to improvise. It doesn't usually work. My unfortunate husband, Piyush ends up eating all sorts of wild, Indo-American creations. I call them the "Shari Specials". He doesn't complain though. No, he ne never complains, but he does critique. And between you and me, he is one hard critic.

Piyush is the one who taught me how to cook Indian food. He taught me Chicken Curry...and can you believe it, the first time I made it he told me I made better curry than he did. He may have been joking, but I took him seriously. I seldom ever use the recipe he taught me anymore, mostly because I like a little thicker gravy and he prefers a watery curry.

Look....Here is the very first time I ever learned to make curry, the photos are kind of silly, but they're all in good fun! I'll also include a quick run-down of his recipe if you're interested. There aren't really any measurements, and I guess with most of the things I cook there aren't. I can guess, but really a lot of it depends on tasting your own food and deciding for yourself how spicey you like it. I promise his curry tastes really good, I might even make it for him tomorrow as a surprise (with a few of my own special touches, of course!).

Piyush's Chicken Curry

First, heat some oil in a saucepan. Pour some Cumin seeds in.

That might be a lot of cumin, I'm not sure. It's probably a tablespoon? Let those heat in the oil until you hear them start to pop. You don't want to let them sit unattended though, or else they will burn. This will wreck the flavor of your entire dish.

This is the photo we took so that I would remember what ingredients to use to make the curry when I decided to try and make it myself. Funny thing though, I never recall using the chicken curry masala...I don't even recall him using that. ...weird.

Next Add 1 medium chopped onion. Piyush prefers the purple ones. Let the onion fry until it is translucent. Once it's at that point he likes to add his tomato sauce. Piyush prefers Prego. haha, I personally think the Italian seasonings mess with the Indian flavor, but he says it's easy. If you would like you can use fresh tomatoes (as I do) or even just plain tomato sauce with a little tomato paste.

My hubby (then, boyfriend) chopping some chicken, I think.

After that simmers awhile (or once your fresh tomatoes break down and kind of turn to a mushy paste) you would add some ground corriander, turmeric, black pepper, garam masala, salt, cumin powder, ginger paste and garlic paste.

Now...add the chicken! Stir and fry for a couple minutes and then add about 2 cups of water or maybe a little more, depending how watery you like your curry to be.

Let the curry sit on a medium-high heat for about 45 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through at least. The longer it cooks, the better it will taste.

2 happy kids makin' some curry

...and that is a little about me, and how I learned to cook Indian food.

A Small Wedding Cake

2009-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

I was asked by one of my co-workers to make a wedding cake for her son, last minute. She just wanted a small one because it was going to be just a small, intimate wedding. I had all sorts of ideas in my head, but being I didn't have a lot of time I decided to go simple and sweet.

I made a butter chocolate marble cake with buttercream frosting and then covered it in white fondant. I used simple green ribbon to wrap around the bottom of the teirs and then used some orange/red lillies to top the cake. Quite simple. I also had to make a cake for my Grandma that same day for her birthday too...I'll post that one later. It was a busy cake day!

Aloo Posto & Prawn Malai Curry

2009-11-23T10:05:00.001-08:00

(Potatoes with Poppyseeds and Creamy Shrimp Curry)

This meal was delightful! The shrimp curry was really awesome---believe me! I don't even like shrimp and this has quickly become one of my favorite curries to make. This meal is traditionally Bengali, or so I have been told. India is much like the United States in the fact that cuisine varies from region to region. For example, if you order pizza in Chicago it won't be the same as pizza in Texas, or New York. It's the same in India. If you order a dish in the east, chances are very likely it won't be anything like the dishes in the south.

Most Americans are used to eatting North Indian Dishes; dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala (which is actually British, although I guess this may be argued), Rogan Josh, Mutter Paneer and Chicken Briyani. My husband was raised in Mumbai, so I'm sure there will be a few Maharashtrian dishes such as Pohe and Pav Bhaji making appearances on my blog.

Aloo Posto

4 Tablespoons Indian Poppyseeds (these are white in color)
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2" cubes
2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower/olive cooking oil (I usually use much less, use what you are comfortable with)
2 green chillies slit lengthwise and deseeded ---This will just give the dish flavor and not much heat. I usually leave the seeds in and chop the chiles up.
Salt to taste.

Directions

1. Put the poppyseeds (postu) in a bowl and add enough warm water to cover it completely. Soak for 5 minutes. Now grind in a food processor or with a stick blender to get a smooth paste. You can also use a mortar and pestle as it is done traditionally but it takes time and effort! Keep postu paste aside for late use. This step is hard. I actually recommend using a coffee or spice grinder. Keep some water in with the seeds though so that your end product is a paste.

2. Meanwhile, boil the diced potatoes until they are almost cooked. You don't want to cook them all the way, because you will be frying them later. You could also steam the potatoes if you'd like, although this won't yeild a traditional aloo postu, or so my husband said when he realized I decided to steam them. They turn out just fine though! :-)

3. Heat the cooking oil in a pan on medium heat. When hot, add the slit green chillies. To make the dish hotter you can grind the green chillies to a paste. If using whole green chillies, wait for the spluttering to stop after adding them to the hot oil. When this happens, add the diced potatoes to the pan. Stir fry until fully cooked. Add salt to taste. You might need to sprinkle some water over them as they cook, to prevent burning or sticking to the pan.

4. When the potato is cooked (soft), turn off the heat and add the postu paste and stir well. Spoon into a dish and serve.

This is really an easy dish to make. It doesn't really strike me as something I would make when someone requests Indian food, but let me tell you....it packs a lot of flavor. I'm sure if you tried it, you'd like it!

Shrimp Malai Curry

1 lb. large shrimp
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons oil, or to your judgement
3/4 onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves (I grind mine before throwing them in, but you can leave them whole)
7 cardamom pods
5 Indian bay leaves (I have used regular bay leaves, and those work fine as well)
3/4 inch piece of ginger, grated or about 1 tablespoon ginger paste
3 garlic cloves, chopped or about 1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon chili powder - be careful with this. I put this in to taste.
3/4 cup lite coconut milk - skim the "cream" off the top and use that, preferably. It will make the dish taste more authentic.

Directions

1. Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails intact. Or, be lazy like me...go to Sam's Club and buy a giant bag of precooked shrimp where all that work is already done for you. Put them in a bowl, add the lemon juice, then toss them together and leave them sit for around 5 minutes. Rinse the Shrimp under cold water and pat dry.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the onion until lightly browned. Add the turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves, ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant. About one minute, or so. Add the chili powder, coconut milk and salt to taste and slowly bring to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat and simmer for around 2 minutes. Add the shrimpies and return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the shrimp are cooked through and the sauce is thick.

Usually after I have added my shrimp I let it simmer for around 15-20 minutes and just kind of forget about it. It needs some time for the flavors to blend and for the sauce or "gravy" to thicken. This curry is wonderful. I honestly don't like shrimp. I am 25 years old, so it has taken me a quarter of a century to find a recipe that makes shrimp taste yummy to me. I promise, you'll LOVE this curry!

One of the most important tips I've learned about cooking Indian food is that you really have to taste your food as you cook it. The levels of spices can either make or break a recipe and what tastes good to one person can be overwhelming to the next. Be careful when adding chili powder, salt and yogurt to recipes. Those are the three ingredients that tend to mess with my food on occasion.

I hope some of you enjoy these recipes as much as I did! Let me know if you try them and how they turned out, I'd love to hear if you tried anything differently or if you have your own take on these recipes!