meetup

About six weeks ago, since I don't have enough time for my current friends, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to venture onto Meetup.com and expand my already bursting social circle. Meetup.com is actually a very cool site if you're new to an area or trying to make new friends. You can find anything and anyone on there- cooking, wine, girls night, books clubs, sports, etc. 

I was actually very excited to find a group for Desi-mothers in the area. I even suggested activities like a potluck and a book club. The members were very enthusiastic about both ideas. The book I suggested was even selected; Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. I really enjoyed Interpreter of Maladies, which I read twice in college. I also read The Namesake, which I found to be a little obvious.

And here we are in the present. I have no idea where October went. (I've been saying this for every month since the Bebe arrived and I stopped feeling every nano-second of my pregnancy.) 

The club meets for the first time this week. I'm on page thirteen and showing no signs of finishing. 

I suck at faking it, thus I'm going to look incredibly smart and impressive on Thursday at 7 p.m

pudding cookies

Two years ago I felt the undeniable urge to bake. It was a one time occurrence and has not been repeated until now. I found a lovely cookie recipe on the Kraft JELL-O web site for pudding cookies. They have a cookie-cake texture and are so moist it's unbelievable.

You can change up the cookie by switching the flavor of the JELL-O. Today I made lemon with white chocolate chips.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 package instant pudding

1 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate mini-morsals

Preparation

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine flour and pudding mix in small bowl, beat butter in large mixing bowl. Beat in brown sugar, baking soda, eggs, and flour. Stir in morsels. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons two inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

I don't even like cookies, but I ate so many I have a sugar headache.

Lemon cookies with white chocolate chips.

mexican bake

I found this great recipe for mexican bake in 2003. It was in Parade Magazine. I'm probably the only person in the world who still reads (or ever read) Parade Magazine. I like the celebrity question section on the first page and the cartoons about the big dog in the last page. As such, I do flip through the whole magazine to reach the end. I happened across this recipe and it looked easy enough. It's actually a DASH diet (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) recipe, but I'm pretty sure after my taste enhancements, it's no longer going to qualify as such.

My adaptation involves Morning Star meat crumbles instead of chicken and I also add enchilada sauce. Since I'm obsessed with cheese, I actually use a whole packet on top of the bake instead of the measly one cup that the DASH recipe suggests. If you are indeed looking for something healthy (blech) then here's the original DASH mexican bake recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cooked rice

1 bag Morning Star faux meat crumbles

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 15-ounce can frozen corn

1 15-ounce can black beans

1-tablespoon chili powder

1 can enchilada sauce (I prefer hot, but go with your comfort-level)

1 jalapeno, sliced

1 packet shredded monterey jack cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread rice in casserole dish. Mix all remaining ingredients in bowl, then add to rice. Mix all together. Top with cheese and bake for 45-minutes covered.

Serve plain or with low-fat sour cream.

I did all the preparation during the Bebe's 30-minute nap. I love when everything comes out of a can! 

middle eastern chickpea (mini)burgers

After three nights of making macaroni and cheese, Morning Star grillers and leftovers, I finally mustered up the motivation to cook last night. This recipe is adapted from a Middle Eastern Chickpea Miniburger recipe from Cooking Light. It's not on the web site, just the magazine. I used regular buns, and the patties were the perfect size.

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) red potato

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used crushed garlic paste)

1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas

1 tablespoon fresh parsley (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind (I omitted this from the recipe since I didn't have a lemon)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

I tasted the mixture and it was a little bland. I added 1/4 cup feta, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/4 cup chopped onions and 2 tablespoons of parmigiano-romano.

Preparation

Boil potato (this should take around 25 minutes). Peel and coarsely chop, mash in bowl with chickpeas, add all remaining ingredients. Divide mixture into six patties. In a large non-stick skillet heat olive oil. Add patties and cook until bottoms are golden brown. Serve on whole-grain slider bun with desired condiments.

This meal was actually very easy to prepare (took me under 30 minutes) and was very tasty after I made adjustments. It's making the cut into the recipe box, and it's a relatively healthy recipe. (Or atleast it was until I added the cheese.)  You can use mayonnaise for the sauce or mix up some low-fat sour cream with mint flakes.  This would also taste really good in a pita with cucumber yogurt sauce, and I think next time that's how I'll be serving it.

I tried to take a picture, but my camera just isn't cut out for food photography. I'm working on this, but I probably won't have a decent camera until the end of November.

sprinkles

Sprinkles Cupcake Mix (as pictured on the Williams-Sonoma web site)

Yesterday I took the Bebe to an outdoor strip mall to so we could enjoy these last few days of warm weather. I was actually looking for a table runner that was both festive for the holidays and conducive to everyday use. I came back with two table runners from Pier 1 (this is in addition to the two I bought at Target last week, which I need to return), a pair of pants from J. Crew and a belt from Anthropologie.

The Mister and I joke that our Bebe has a built in Aji-dar. (Aji is the konkani word for grandmother). While she throws a suspicious look at anyone under the age of forty-five, she sees an elderly -looking woman and turns up the coos. When Momma is ignoring her to peruse the pants, she's smart enough to identify alternative means of attention and turn up the smiles and gurgles on her unsuspecting victim.

I also stopped in Williams-Sonoma on my way back to the car. Not to look for anything in particular, but I was hungry and hoping they had something warm and delicious for me to mooch. Sure enough, there was some yummy fall harvest bread. I enjoyed my second sample of fall harvest bread (the Bebe turned on the charm and distracted "Anne") and feigned interest in the mix.  But after I ate all the samples ( and from Anne's knowing expression, I wasn't as stealth as I thought), I was obligated to hear a sales pitch. This weekend I'm heading to my cousin's place in Baltimore and I never go empty-handed. She took me to the Sprinkles Cupcake Mix, apparently some well-known bakery in Beverly Hills. I bought a box of the pumpkin mix for $14.00. It's a bit steep for cupcake mix, but I don't mind spending the money on a quality product (plus I'll get all the credit for making them). The mix comes in other flavors like lemon, spice, chocolate, vanilla, lemon and red velvet. I don't see the pumpkin on the web site, so maybe it's just available in the stores.

crock pot tonak

Tonak is a traditional Goan dish with beans, potatoes and onions, generally eaten with bread, naan or rice. 

Ingredients

Canola oil

1 small onion (chopped)

1 1/2 tbsps garlic

2 1/2 tbsps garam masala

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp tamarind paste

1 tbsp low fat sour cream

1/4 cup or two cubes coconut milk

1 can of chickpeas

1 small potato (diced)

1 cup water

Preparation

Heat up crock pot and oil on high heat. After oil is warm, add mustard seeds. In frying pan, mustard seeds should pop when ready for onions, however in the crock pot they will change color to sort of a grayish/purple. Either look for the color change or wait 5-10 minutes and add the onions and garlic. Once onions are clear, add remaining ingredients. If you’re on a time crunch, then throw diced potatoes in the microwave in a bowl of water for two minutes before adding to pot.

If you have all day, then leave the crock pot on low heat for 8 hours. If you begin preparation in the evening then leave on high heat for an hour, then move to low heat until ready to eat. I think a minimum for cook time is at least four hours for this to turn out to optimal levels of tasty. This way the spices can really saturate the chickpeas and potatoes.

disappointments and successes

I'm cranky because of the weather and I think it's effecting my energy in the kitchen.

I haven't posted any recipes (besides the asparagus, which even a Domesmita could do) this week because I've been an absolute atrocity in the kitchen. Instead of feeling frustrated and dejected (which is usually followed by me getting angry and avoiding the kitchen for X amount of time), I'm going to use my culinary catastrophes as a learning experience.

Disappointments: Indian Frittata and Brownie Cookies

I'm deleting brownie cookie post because it's just a bad recipe. The cookies keep fusing together into a ghastly chocolate conglomeration. I tried using a muffin pan to keep them separate and they were too crispy around the edges and fluffy in the middle, nothing like cookies. I'm still taking them over to my cousin's house for Diwali tomorrow because because the men in my family will eat just about anything. Even funky half-muffin, half-crappy-brownie, not-cookies.

The Indian frittata (based on my Mom's Indian omelette) actually tasted really good, but did not resemble a frittata. I couldn't flip it in the pan and so it ended up sticking to the bottom and in the end was a mess of egg and veggies. I'm encouraged because it was very tasty and I received positive feedback. I'll have to figure out a more efficient method to bake before I post the recipe. Most frittata recipes involve half stove/half oven, but I don't have a pan that does both.

Successes: Crock Pot Chickpea Tonak

Tonak is a saucy dish with beans and potatoes to be eaten with bread, naan or rice. I've made this before in a frying pan, and I always get compliments. I'll post the recipe on Monday, it's actually very easy to make and I think it tastes better with the crock pot because the spices really soak into the food. 

Happy Diwali!

my baking accountability

It sits atop my kitchen island, a vacant home beseeching to be filled with delectable baked tenants. 

It is the cake dome.

I was seized with an inexplicable urgency to buy the dome, and it then sat empty on the kitchen counter for weeks. There was an in-depth conversation with my sister and her boyfriend about the invisible cupcakes, cookies and cakes that existed within the cake dome. Sometimes visitors would walk up to the dome and simply stare, perhaps wishing that some cupcakes would miraculously materialize.

The final straw was when I was gifted some banana bread muffins and I put them in my dome. A relative that was over, asked if I made the muffins. When I said no, there was a look of understanding that passed through her eyes as she sauntered away having solved the mystery of the baked goods that I could not have possibly made.

Since then, I have been a baking fiend. No one really cares if Dunkin Hines provides assistance in your baking endeavors. You still get the same credit as if they were prepared from scratch. Last night, the Mister complimented me on the fluffiness of my carrot cake muffins and asked me how I did it. Well, I followed the directions on the back of the Betty Crocker box. Check out my skills.

Unfortunately, cookies are different. There is a hierarchy of cookies and from scratch is at the top. With Christmas coming up, I'm going to have to figure this out soon.

Pictured below is the cake dome I purchased from Macy’s for $29.99.

easy asparagus

I am a big fan of easy. A complex preparation is just not up my alley.

Usually a side of vegetables for our dinners comes out of a frozen bag. It's not romantic or interesting and doesn't taste great. I was at Trader Joe's the other day and, feeling like a walk on the wild side, I picked up some fresh asparagus. I wanted to incorporate some leftover parmigiano romano and almond slivers. 

Ingredients

15 shoots of asparagus

parmigiano romano cheese

olive oil

almond slivers (optional)

Preparation

Coat the asparagus with olive oil, cover with cheese. Bake at 400 degrees in a traditional oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with almond slivers and serve.

The preparation was so easy it was almost embarrassing to post the recipe. But it tastes so good, I wanted to share. The Mister was impressed and asked what I used to season the asparagus. Of course, I would not divulge any information that would detract from his rave reviews. 

Next time I'm going to try this recipe with cauliflower, minus the almonds.

mocha, coco or caramel? 'tis all brown

Interestingly enough, there are more than 1 million Indians in America and no Indian dolls to represent. As a result, we’re forced to adapt and make due with available resources. For example, I remember my Mom bought some cloth from Jo-Ann Fabrics and made a tan doll with a red dot sewn onto her forehead. And that was my Indian doll. The rest were all blonde-haired moppets withvacant blue eyes; they came with names like Cynthia, Adrianna and Melanie.

The Bebe has a very diverse assortment of dolls, but she is brown and I’d like some of her toys to reflect her ethnicity. I’ve done countless searches online and checked out various educational stores. None of them are genetically Indian, but what they don't know won't hurt them.

Beige Baby Stella

I discovered Stella (and promptly dubbed her Bhavani) a few months ago at an educational store on State Street in Media, PA (the store was having a going out of business sale). “Beige Baby Stella” is a workablee shade of brown. You can also find her on Dolls Like Me. The Mister thinks I’m ridiculous for renaming her, and yet, he does refer to her as Bhavani when she makes an appearance...who’s ridiculous now?

The Dolls Like Me web site is cool because it offers dolls in colors like caramel, coco and mocha. I believe the purpose is to give the shopper options on what they feels is an appropriate skin tone for their child. They have a nice selection of Asian, African and Latin dolls.

Livia

Last week I was looking for some baby winter shoes and I stumbled across “Livia” on the Old Navy web site. I was pleasantly surprised to see she was a nice shade of chai with dark hair. Suuure, she’s probably intended to be African or Latin, but now she’s one of us and is reincarnated as Mita. There were three other dolls with an ethnic appearance (Kat, Suki and Sydney). I thought it was very interesting that Old Navy, of all places, would offer such distinctiveness in their dolls.

Indian Barbie

Through the years, Mattel has produced various Indian Barbies. I’d really prefer that my daughter did not associate Barbie, but she will one day be a little girl who likes to dress up dolls and you can’t fight City Hall. The latest Barbie was supposed to be modeled after Aishwarya Rai Barbie, which was kind of exciting. Apparently she turned down the offer and instead Katrina Kaif (another Bollywood movie star and her alleged nemesis) is going to be featured. The doll was scheduled in September, but I was unable to find so much as a photo online. Below is Diwali Barbie.

While the limited selection is better than nothing, it's mildly insulting that toy manufacturers find brown folk to be so interchangeable that they generify their dolls to reflect this opinion. 

I wonder how Livia would look with a bindi....

eggcellent curry

When the Mister is on call, as a courtesy, I ask him what he wants for dinner. Occasionally it happens (usually it doesn’t). Last night, he requested egg curry. 

Egg Curry

Ingredients

6-8 eggs

1 large onion chopped

1 medium tomato chopped

1-tsp turmeric

2-tbsp minced garlic

1-tsp chili powder

1-tsp cumin

2-tbsp garam masala

1/2-cup low fat coconut milk

1-cup water

coriander leaves for garnish (optional)

The fact that garam masala is necessary for this recipe may be a little intimidating. What the hell it is and where you can get it? Garam masala is a mixture of Indian spices. My Mom makes her own masala (although a lot of people don’t) and that’s what I use in all my Indian cooking. From what I gather, she fries her chosen spices then grinds them in a coffee bean grinder. I sort of skulk away when I see her making anything that may be a lot of work. I prefer our current set up where she miraculously shows up with a fresh baggy of garam masala. No questions asked.

Most grocery stores carry a generic mixture of garam masala that will suit your needs, if you have an Indian or Asian grocery store nearby I would suggest going there. It’s cheaper and the spices will probably be more fragrant. You can also purchase the chili powder, turmeric and cumin there on the cheap.

Be forewarned...Indian people can be rude and once you enter their territory all bets are off. If you’re not brown, you’ll get suspicious stares – as if you’re there on a surprise audit or to commit some type of felony. As a rule, Asians find it completely acceptable to hone in on someone who is different and make them feel uncomfortable by staring at them with trepidation and, eventually, amusement. Often, they will talk about you in “Indian” while you stand there paying for your goods. They’ll even look right at you and laugh a few times while they make fun of you. (And I’m not saying that Indians are shady, but I would check your receipt to make sure there aren’t any extra zeros.)

While you're there, I really, really like this sauce. It’s called Maggi Sauce and the chili garlic flavor tastes like spicy, tangy ketchup. I put it on my grill cheese with some onions.

Preparation

Fry the onions and garlic. Add the chili powder and turmeric. Once the onions are translucent, add the tomato, cumin and water. Add the garam masala, coconut milk and salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Taste it to make sure it’s to your liking. If it’s too spicy you can add a little more coconut milk, if it’s not saucy enough, you can add a little more water. Once you are happy with the sauce, add your eggs. Cook them until the yolks are cooked…probably 10 minutes.

I freeze the leftover coconut milk in ice cube trays. When frozen, throw them into a plastic bag. Next time you need coconut milk, you can use the cubes.

Serve the egg curry with bread, naan or bread.

do you speak Indian?

I was in DC visiting my sister this past weekend and didn't get back until around 7:30 p.m. last night. We ordered from Shere-E-Punjab on State Street in Media. (Overpriced and inconsistently tasty Indian food.) Thanks to leftovers, there will be no cooking today. 

Instead, prompted by the cashier at the Gap who said, "I used to have an Indian girlfriend," and "I eat a lot of Indian food," here are my top five pet peeve questions.

1.) Where are you from? This question is only irritating when you are trying to find out if I’m from India, Iran or Mexico. I was born and bred in Ohio and this makes me an American. However my parents are from India, although they are also American citizens. The correct way to find out my country of origin: What is your ethnic background?

2.) Do you know Ravi Patel or Priya Shah (or any other generic name combination)? I mean come on. Do you know John Smith and Jane Doe? Essentially, that is what I am being asked. Patel is like the Smith of the Indian world. Times a million. And, by the way, all Indian people don’t know all Indian people. 

3.) I like Indian food. I get that this is an attempt to relate to me on some level, but I don’t walk up to those who are melanin-challenged with ‘I like hot dogs’ as a conversation-starter. And further more, if there is an appreciation of Indian food, please know the name of the dish. “That spinach stuff with the cheese chunks” was not on the menu when I last checked.

4.) Do you speak Indian? No, I speak Konkani. And NO I will not say something in Konkani for someone's amusement. Fun fact: India has more than 500 dialects and not one of them is called, “Indian.” Acceptable: What language to you speak?

5.) What’s your tribe? (This conversation actually occurred in 1996 at Ohio State with a dude in a cowboy hat.)

Rando: What are you?

Me: Um..Indian?

Rando: Oh wow really?? That’s so interesting.

Me: Thanks?

Rando: So like, what’s your tribe? Do you live in a teepee? Where do you put your feather?

Just because Christopher Columbus was a navigational nincompoop who thought he was in India, thus proudly proclaiming the inhabitants “Indians,” does not mean we need to continue this idiocy. The correct term is NATIVE AMERICAN. Indians are from India. 

I'm done with my rant now and if just one person doesn't say, "I had some chicken stuff in some sort of sauce?" then I've touched a life in a way that truly matters.

stuffed greek eggplant

The Mister found a large eggplant in our fridge. No doubt leftover from when my Mom was visiting, because I would never purchase an eggplant. Nothing personal against eggplants; they are just very low on my totem pole of vegetables- just below zucchini and above lima beans. (Unlike okra, which is my sworn enemy.) My natural instinct was to ignore this unwanted eggplant and eventually dispose of it's rotted corpse. 

(Un)Fortunately, I'm married to a man who hearts the eggplant. And so, in an effort at a vegetable truce, he did suggest stuffing it with things I like, and piqued my interest. 

Stuffed Greek Eggplant

1 large eggplant

1/2-pound ground beef (we used Lightlife Gimme Lean faux sausage)

1/2-cup garlic and herb bread crumbs

1-cup feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped green peppers

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/4-cup fresh coriander

1 spicy green chili (omit if you’re a wus)

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tbsp parsley

1 tbsp paprika

Clean out the eggplant pulp leaving 1/2 inch on each side (the shape should be retained). Brush with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook face down for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Chop removed  the pulp. (Since the Mister is so infatuated with the eggplant, it became his responsibility.)

Cook the meat and season with the paprika.

In a separate pan, saute the onions, garlic and eggplant pulp. Once they are cooked, add mushrooms, green peppers, basil, parsley, bread crumbs, tomato sauce and half the coriander. If the mixture seems dry, add a little olive oil.

Mix both pan contents together and add half the feta.

Once the eggplant is cooked fill with the stuffing and sprinkle the remaining feta on top. Cook for another 10 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Garnish with the remaining coriander and serve.