Monthly Archives: September 2012

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Potato Soup (Madhur Jaffrey)

1 T veget oil
1/8 in pebble asafetida or 1 pinch
1/4 tsp whole cumin
2 medium potatos, peeled and quartered
2 T tomato paste
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat oil in 3 qt pot over medium flame, and put in asafetida and cumin, and stir once.  When seeds begin to sizzle, add potatos, tomato paste, turmeric, salt, and cayenne.  Stir and fry about 2 minutes.  Add 4 c water and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes.  Turn off heat, mash potatoes.  Serve.

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Our Favorite Baked Beans (McCall’s)

Charlie had been craving baked beans for quite some time, and we’d not managed to find anything in a can that tasted right to both of us.  Finally decided to try making them myself.  These were really tasty, if a bit sweet for my tastes.  Next time will likely try canned tomats as well as ketchup.  Then again, I’ve been thinking about making my own ketchup for ages, too, so…  we’ll see what happens.  I was a bit more..  generous with most of the spices compared to the recipe, which turned out to be a good thing.

1 lb small white navy beans

2 onions, sliced

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Ham bone and leftover baked ham

2 c catsup

2 c light brown sugar

1/3 c vinegar

2-3 T Worcestershire sauce

1 T dry mustard

Soak beans in cold water as per instructions.  (Usually 6-12 hours in cold water.)  Drain beans, rinse under cold water.  Put in a 6 qt kettle, and cover with 5 c water.  Add onions, bay leaves, salt, pepper, ham bone, and leftover ham.  Bring to boiling.  Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, or until beans are tender, adding more water if needed.  Remove ham bone (and bay leaves).  Preheat oven to 350.  Drain beans mixture, reserving liquid.  Put beans into a 4 qt baking dish.  Combine catsup, brown sugar, vinegar, W-sauce, and mustard.  Mix well.  Add to beans.  Add enough of the reserved liquid to cover.  Bake 3 hours.

I didn’t actually drain the beans, just added the rest to what was there, as it had cooked down sufficiently.  Recipe states 8-10 servings…  made quite a bit more than that for us.

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Vegetable Pakouris (Madhur Jaffrey)

1 small head cauliflower, or 4 medium sized onions or 1/2 to 3/4 pound peppers or 3 medium sized potatos or spinach or some combination thereof…

Batter:
1 c chickpea flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin (best fresh ground)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp black pepper (also best fresh ground)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 1/2 to 3 inches oil in the bottom of your chosen pan.

Put chickpea flour in a bowl.  Gradually mix in about 3/4 c water, until you have a thickish batter.  Add other ingredients and mix well.
Florette cauliflower, 1/16 in ring the onions, spear the peppers, or 1/16 in round the potatoes and put in a bowl of cold water.
Heat oil over low flame until hot but not smoking.  Take a few vegets bits at a time, wipe dry, and dip in batter.  Drop in oil.  Fry slowly, 7 to 10 minutes a side.  (Until cooked through and golden brown.)  Remove with slotted object and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

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Country Pot Roast with Noodles (McCall’s)

5 – 6 lb beef bladebone chuck roast
Flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 T salad oil
1/2 c chopped celery
1 c chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 c tomato juice
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
Rosemary
Basil
About a lb pared and chopped carrots, maybe 1/2 in long
Egg noodles

Coat roast in the following mixture:  1 /4 c flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper.  (We used a bit less salt for our test of this, and a bit more pepper.)  Brown the roast in a large skillet or wok, over medium heat.  Add onion, celery, and garlic, saute until golden.  Add tomato juice, 1/4 c water, Worcestershire, and other spices.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer, covered and turning meat once, for 2 hours.  Add carrots, simmer 30 minutes longer, or until meat and carrots are tender.  While that last simmer is happening, cook your noodles as per their instructions.  Transfer roast and carrots to heated serving plate, Surround with noodles.  Keep warm.  Pour pan drippings into 2 c measure.  Skim off fat and discard.  Add enough water to make sure you have 1 1/2 cups.  Return to pan.  In small bowl or shakeable container, combine 2 T flour with 2 T water, mix until smooth.  Stir into pan juice.  Bring to boiling, stirring frequently, lower heat, and simmer until thickened.  Reseason, if desired.  Serve over roast.

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Cheese and Rice Casserole (McCall’s)

Should state that while we enjoyed this greatly, we also changed it A LOT.  My household doesn’t like green chili – so I took that out, added half an orange pepper, a couple of garlic cloves, 3 healthy pinches of cayenne, a few blops of paprika, and a sprinkling of turmeric.  Still had the spicy, didn’t have the green chili.

1/4 c butter
1 c chopped onion
(1/2 green or red or orange pepper)
(2 cloves garlic, diced)
4 c freshly cooked white rice
2 c sour cream
1 c cream-style cottage cheese
1 large bay leaf, crumbled
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 cans (4 oz) green chiles, drained and halved lengthwise, leaving seeds
2 c grated, sharp, Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease 2 quart baking dish.  Melt butter in a large skillet, saute the onion (and the garlic and the pepper, if doing our variant).  Remove from heat.  Stir in hot rice, sour cream, cottage cheese, bay leaf, salt, pepper, (and turmeric and cayenne and paprika, if using our variant.)  Mix well.  Layer half the rice mixture in the bottom of the baking dish, sprinkle with half the cheese.  Repeat.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until bubbly and hot.

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Pot Holder (Lily)

I love the pot holders I’ve made with this pattern.  Better insulative quality than any others that I’ve owned.

Materials – 2 balls Sugar and Cream or equivalent scrap, size 6 hook

Pot Holder, Make 2
Ch 29
2sc in second chain from hook.  1 sc in each ch to end of ch.  ch 1.  Turn
Repeat until you have about 8 inches
Do not turn on last row
Ch 1, Work 22 sc along side edge, 3 sc in corner, 1 sc in next 26, 3 sc in corner stitch, 22 sts along side edge, 2 sc in next 26, 3 sc in corner, ss to first ch 1.
Fasten off

With wrong sides together
1:  Join to any stitch.  Working through both, work 1 sc through each stitch around, 3 in each corner as before.
Repeat twice.
Fasten off.

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Grocery Bag (Lily)

Supplies:  2 balls Lily Sugar ‘n Cream, or yarn scraps until the bag is done and a size 7 crochet hook

My partner hates these bags, although they seem to work quite well for produce, and I’ve received some fair compliments on them.  They are rather stretchy, which is why they mostly get used for produce.

Ch 43
1:  1 sc in 2nd chain from hook, 1 sc in each across.  Do Not Turn.  Working into the other side of chn, work 1 sc in each remaining loop of ch.  Join with ss to first sc.  84 sc.
2:  ch 1, 1 sc in same stitch as ss.  1 sc in each sc around.  Join with ss to first sc.
Repeat 2 six times

Mesh Section
1:  ch 1.  1 sc in same sc as ss (ch 5.  miss next 3 sc, 1 sc in next sc) Repeat parenthesis around, ending with ch 2.  Miss last 3 sc, 1 dc in first sc.
2:  (ch 5.  1 sc in next ch 5 loop.)  Repeat parenthesis around, ending with ch 2.  1 dc in last sc of previous round.
Repeat 2 until the bag is the length you want it, pressed flat.  (12 inches suggested.)
Next round:  ss in next ch 5 loop.  Ch 1, 3 sc in same space.  (1 sc in next sc.  3 sc in next chain 5 loop.)  Repeat parenthesis around ending with 1 sc in last dc, join with ss to first sc.  84 sc.
Next round:  ch 1, 1 sc in same sc as last ss.  1 sc in each sc around.  Join with ss to first sc.
Repeat last round.
Fasten off.

Strap
Lay bag on a flat surface.  Mark center 12 sts on upper edge of one side.  Join yarn with ss to first of these 12 stitches.
1:  Ch 1.  1 sc in same stitch as last ss.  1 sc in each of next 11 sts.  ch 1, turn.
2:  Draw up a loop on each of the first 2 stitches.  Yoh and draw through all loops on hook – sc2tog.  1 sc in each of the next 8 sts.  Sc2tog over last 2 stitches.  Ch 1.  Turn.
3:  1 sc in each st across ch 1.  Turn
4:  Sc2tog over first 2 sts.  1 sc in each st to last 2 sts.  Sc2tog over last 2 stitches.  Ch 1, turn.
5:  1 sc in each st across.  ch 1.  Turn.
Repeat 5 until strap measure 18 inches, or the length you wish, with wrong side facing for next row.
NExt row:  2 sc in first sc.  1 sc in each sc to last st.  2 sc in last stitch.  Ch 1.  Turn.
Next row:  1 sc in each st across.  Chain 1.  Turn.
Next row:  2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in each sc to last st.  2 sc in last st.  Join strap to other side of bag working 1 ss through corresonding center 12 sts of bag at same tme working ss through 12 sts of strap.

Strap and upper edging:  With right side of work facing, join yarn with ss to one side of strap and work 1 rnd sc evenly along edge of strap and top edge of bag.  Join with ss to first sc.  Repeat around other side of bag.

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Moong Dal (Madhur Jaffrey)

This was really amazing.  Especially the garlic cloves that had cooked in it.

1 1/2 c moong (or other) dal (hulled and split)

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 slices fresh peeled ginger (1″ square, 1/8″ thick)

1 T coriander greens or parsley, chopped

1 T turmeric

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 T lemon juice

3 T veget oil or usli ghee

A pinch ground or tiny lump asafetida

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

lemon or lime wedges

Clean and wash dal.  Put in 3-4 qt pot.  Add 5 c water and bring to a boil.  Skim froth and scum from top.  Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, and cayenne.  Cover, lower heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Stir occasionally.  Once cooked, add salt and lemon juice.  (Should be thicker than pea soup, thinner than cooked cereal.)  In a small skillet or pot, heat the oil or ghee over medium high heat.  When hot, add asafetida and cumin seeds.  Once the asafetida sizzles and expands, and the seeds darken (few seconds), pour the oil over the dal and serve.  (Over rice, wedges on the side, can garnish with onions.)