Ultimate Pizza Sauce

LOVE this recipe. It truly is the best.

Cream of Poblano Soup

Yummy recipe for Cream of Poblano Soup.

chicken tortilla soup

chicken tortilla soup
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I never posted a picture of this soup. It's delicious. I just made a big pot and have ate it every day since.


Recipe can be found here.

check. check. check one.

is anyone out there?

Wondering if i should give up this blog or start posting to it. You tell me.

Homemade chicken alphabet soup

Homemade chicken alphabet soup
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Simple.

Chicken stock. Add chopped carrots and finely chopped celery. Bring to a boil and then add the pasta, chicken (i used a leftover breast that i had boiled), tomatos (because they are his favorites), and peas.

He made the entire thing himself except for chopping. He was responsible for the telling me the timer went off, he did all the stirring, etc. Not bad for an almost 3 year old. :-)

Eggs-ellent late breakfast/lunch

P8270086
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I love having this for a late breakfast/early lunch or when i have skipped breakfast. So good.

Here's what you do.

Take a baked potato, slice it open and add the following to it...

- a couple pats of butter
- salt and pepper
- a couple dallops of cream cheese
- a couple dallops of sour cream
- a small handful of cheddar cheese

Micro for a few seconds to get it all gooey and the cheese soft.

Fry an egg overeasy and put on top. It'll finish melting the cheese. Break the egg and let the gooey yolk mix in with the potato.

Enjoy.

Homemade convenience items

Check out this great resource for making all kinds of homemade mixes and condiments. I'm loving how easy it is to make Sweetened Condensed Milk and Ricotta Cheese/Cottage Cheese. Yogurt too. Oh, and kettle corn. Yum. Fall is slowly arriving and this sounds perfect for a cool September afternoon snack.

I've been tempted to make yogurt for years. I think i have to give it a go this winter. Fruit leather too (fruit leather is in the Super Baby Food book).

I have a thousand blueberries to use and fruit leather is calling me. We went grocery shopping and often Little Dude will quietly slip something in and blueberries are a favorite so at first i thought he did it but then after unloading 7 extra pint containers of blueberries from a shopping bag and realizing i never put them on the conveyer belt i have no idea how they ended up in our groceries. But since we also bought 2 that ended up being a lot of blueberries. Happy for us, sad for the poor people who didn't get theirs. I made blueberry pancakes, blueberry buckle (OMG..........delicious and will be made again next blueberry season), and blueberry jam. I let LD eat a pint and then i froze the rest. I think with the frozen ones (i also already had two bags of frozen ones in the freezer - we can't have too many blueberries in the house...well until this happened!).

Poor abandoned blog, i have neglected you, but i promise to give you life once again..............

Shrimp and Tomato Pasta on angel hair pasta - Yum!

P6220030
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

my version of juevos rancheros

my version of juevos rancheros
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I love juevos rancheros but without being able to make green chili i gave up for a long while. I have tried recipes without pork for green chili but they just don't work right. But i found this salsa which is pretty good and fresh tasting on them.

All i do is pan fry some white corn tortillas, fry a couple of overeasy eggs. Place on top of the fried tortillas, put some of the salsa on there and then cheese (i use half cheddar and half mexican or pepper jack too). Micro until cheese is melted. That's it. I love having them with hash browns.

homemade pizza

homemade pizza
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I love homemade pizza especially since we don't have any halal pizza places around here. There was a good one in Atlanta i miss a lot.

I like jalapeno and pineapple pizza while hubby likes pepperoni. The halal pepperoni is pretty good, so is the veggie.

lamb burgers, homemade potato chips and fixins

lamb burgers, homemade potato chips and fixins
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Lamb burgers & homemade potato chips

(picture coming soon!)
This has got to be one of the most satisfying meals I've made recently. Very quick and easy too. I sort of adapted a recipe from Everyday Food but only followed the picture. I changed all the ingredients.

Here's how i made it... (sorry i didn't measure anything...a sprinkle is probably about half a teaspoon in my book)

Lamb burgers

Take a pound of ground lamb and add to it:

a sprinkle of chili powder
a bigger sprinkle of smoked paprika (or regular if you don't have smoked)
salt
pepper
mint (or fresh if you have it)
fresh parsley chopped
1 small to medium garlic clove chopped

Mix together lightly but well and form into small patties (about an inch a half all around). Set aside.

In a bowl (or yogurt container - what i use) combine about a cup of yogurt, a sprinkle of mint, sprinkle of salt, a couple tablespoons of finely chopped onion, half a cucumber chopped into less than bite size pieces but bigger than fine so there is still some texture there. Add a little splash of water to it just to thin it out a little and mix well.

Grill or fry the lamb burgers. I used a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet to do this. Rainy day. Cut the pitas in half and warm covered for 15 seconds or so each in the microwave so they don't break when making the sandwiches.

Put two lamb burgers in each pita, some lettuce, tomato and plenty of raita sauce. Serve with homemade potato chips.

Homemade Potato Chips

Finely slice potatos widthwise. Make a few thicker slices if you like a chewy center (i do! those are the prized ones for me!). Heat the oil and fry until lightly browned, take a few out a little earlier if you want some chewier. Place on paper towel and sprinkle with salt and paprika (smoked if you have it).

You can make them other ways too. If you've ever had those gourmet type ones that are rosemary and other herbs, the way to do that is just heat the oil and put a spring of rosemary or clove of garlic or whatever you want to use and then fry them up. Nothing like natural homemade potato chips. Awesome awesome stuff and no additives or msg.

Let me know if you try this. It rocked our worlds tonight - even the little dude, picky eaty that he has become liked it.

ole!

ole!
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I miss mexican food. i loooove mexican food. But here in farm land new jersey i can't get mexican food and even if i could it would of course be pork ridden because it's practically impossible to find a porkless green chili sauce anywhere. Anyway, craving mexican food i made 7 layer dip (in the back), firecracker chicken enchiladas (spicy ones), and chili relleno casserole. I FINALLY found chili rellenos in the can here and as of last weekend fresh ones too but i'm seriously dying for hot tamales. Dying for them i tell you. But i can't find corn husks here anyyyywhere. Would some wondeful blog person send me some? I'm seriously dying here.

Not all my food is pretty.

Meatloaf, potato and spinach
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Someone was telling me how my food looks pretty all the time and how do i do that. Here is proof that not all of my food is pretty. :-)

But it's absolutely fabulous tasting!

One of my favorite american foods on a cold winter night.

I just found a new favorite meatloaf recipe here and new favorite mashed potatos here and the spinach i just sauteed with a little garlic, salt and lemon juice.

2 fake eggs and an apricot.

2 fake eggs and an apricot.
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I love giving the little man this for breakfast. It's just so fun and makes me want to make bento boxes for him.

Plain yogurt topped with apricot halves.

new food for the little dude

LD lunch
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I can't believe I got my kid to eat this. See he'll eat anything seperate there but he usually doesn't like food mixed up with sauce. So i feed him in stages. He ate all this up.

menu

Monday

breakfast - cereal and toast
lunch - veggies, plain yogurt with raspberries for dessert
dinner - pasanday

Tuesday

breakfast - pancakes
lunch - chicken nuggets, veggies
dinner - spiced cod, jasmine rice

Wednesday

breakfast - toast and fruit
lunch - cheesebagur ;-) that's how he says it...loves them too.
dinner - lamb burgers, home fries, hummus

Thursday

breakfast - waffles
lunch - rice and lentils
dinner - something from the freezer - tomatar ka salan, butter chicken or dopiaza

Friday

breakfast - egg and cheese
lunch - pizza
dinner - tilapia bengali style

Aloo gobi

Remember i was looking for a good aloo gobi recipe. I found one here. Way yummy! I added a little extra spice than they said though. I think i doubled the garam masala and added a little extra chili powder and cumin as some reviewers had suggested. I think i added a little ginger and garlic paste too. Like a teaspoon. I would definately used diced tomatos on this and cook a little longer than they suggest. It was very good though.

Lamb chops on spaghetti

I made this recipe up using the theory of mint and lamb go well together and boy do they. My husband questioned this before trying it and became a believer. Actually I had no idea if it would be good or not - i just thought it would. It may not look like much but this meal is packed with flavor and healthy for you too!

Boil water. Add spaghetti. When you add the spaghetti put the chops in the oven assuming you preheated it.

For the sauce, just do whatever you do for spaghetti or pasta sauce and add fresh chopped mint to it. I always keep a jar of spaghetti sauce on hand. Occassionally i'll make it too but more often i doctor up a jar. For LD i make it from scratch. That boy is spoiled and i feel sorry for his wife because i totally spoil the kid.

For the lamb chops... I did two each. Drizzle olive oil over them and then salt and pepper. Do both sides. Put on broiler pan. The water will keep them moist. Broil for 6 minutes a side.

Mix your spaghetti sauce and noodles and top with the chops. Add a sprig of fresh mint for garnish. MMmmmmm.

Interesting blog

She does it better than me! This lady can spend $45 or $70 for a weeks worth of groceries for a family of 4-6. That's pretty good. That's exactly what i spend on my family of 3. There's some good tips on there. And look at this guide about eating healthy and thrifty meals. Here's another one preparing healthy meals with minimal cost. Here's one on menu planning. This blog is a great source of information. Check it out!

A lot of what i say...

chicken stock in the making

chicken stock in the making
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I've been asked before how to make chicken stock and i've been lazy about posting or i gave a half answer. Here's how i made it today.

What i often do is when veggies need to be used up like celery, onions or carrots, chop them and put them in the freezer in cup portions. Today i had fresh so did it that way but either way works well and if you have them in the freezer it's easy to make when you have some chicken bones with a little meat on it like today when i was making chicken and dumplings. I cut a lot of the bone off the breasts and that's what i'm making stock from. It's at the bottom of the pot btw.

For the amount of bones i had (you really can't go wrong though with chicken stock). It may taste more vegetably but that's okay.

Anyway, here's what i did for my chicken breast bones with a little meat still stuck on.

I added :

1 very small onion roughly chopped
1 stock of celery and all the celery leaves (tons of flavor in those...my favorite part for salads and this too)
1 chopped carrot
1 bay leaf
a splash of thyme (i hate dried herbs but didn't have fresh so just added a splash but you will probably want more)
a dash of salt
and a couple grinds of pepper

Let it simmer away for an hour or so, strain through a strainer/seive and let cool then pour into 1 cup portions. I use the rubbermaid/glad ones. Those small little ones hold exactly one cup. Put in the freezer. Done.

Here's one in use today...

chicken and dumplings in the making
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Menu

Monday

Breakfast: Waffles
Lunch: pot pie
Dinner: leftover lasagna

Tuesday

Breakfast: Muffins
Lunch: Chicken and Dumplings - LD's favorite and he's not feeling well today
Dinner: Chicken curry

Wednesday

Breakfast: eggs and toast
Lunch: kitchery (rice and lentils)
Dinner: chicken and dumplings

Thursday

Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: peanut butter and marshmellow sandwich (!)
Dinner: green thai curry

Friday

Breakfast: egg and cheese
Lunch: mac and cheese
Dinner: tomato ka salan

aloo gobi

I want to make aloo gobi this week but haven't made it before. Does anyone have a recipe for it?

Menu

Monday:

Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: pasta with chicken and sauce
Dinner: Corned beef and cabbage

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Dopiaza

Wednesday:

Breakfast: egg and toast
Lunch: chicken nuggets and broccoli, cheese for dipping
Dinner: Spicy chicken curry

Thursday

Breakfast: waffles
Lunch: turkey tentrazini
Dinner: leftovers, probably lasagna

Friday

Breakfast: yogurt and blueberries
Lunch: graham cracker peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Dinner: Pasanday and aloo gobi

Menu this week

Desserts this week: Lemon coffee cake, gingersnaps, fudge

Monday:

Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: Thai soup and rice
Dinner: Butter chicken
Snacks: crackers and cheese, fruit

Tuesday:
Breakfast: eggs, sausage, toast
Lunch: snacks
Dinner: Dalcha

Wednesday:
Breakfast: waffles
Lunch: chicken nuggets and green beans
Dinner: Chicken vindaloo
Snacks: yogurt and blueberries

Thursday:
Breakfast: pancakes
Lunch: peanut butter and jelly rolls
Dinner: leftover lasagna from weekend
Snacks: fruit

Friday:
Breakfast: egg and toast
Lunch: meatball soup
Dinner: spaghetti and lamb chops (didn't end up having this last week)
Snacks: chickpeas and tomatos

Yum!

baked eggs
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

My mil talked about baked eggs before and fondly so when i saw this recipe in a book i went for it. Oh dear God! Yum! I didn't follow the recipe very much though.

Here's what i did.

Buttered a pie pan, laid phyllo sheets and buttered each layer and layered oh 6 or 7 times. Then i spread chopped provolone around the bottom of the pan, put the eggs on top of that and then topped with a mixture of chopped provolone and dried herbs. I think i used just a little bit of thyme, pepper, salt, and parsley. I don't like dried herbs much and didn't have fresh so i went real light on the herbs.

Then, you take heavy cream and put a tablespoon or two on top of each yolk. Bake until done. Recipe said 7 minutes. It took almost 25 minutes and my oven is fast. But i think they were doing them individually and they didn't use phyllo. I really strayed but they were good. I could only eat one though because they are super rich. They may cause a heart attack lol.

mac and cheese for kids (i have an adult recipe that's different)

mac and cheese
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Here's an easy mac and cheese recipe for kids. I never do the box sort because after being spoiled with homemade food from birth the kid is a foodie and demands homemade.

Boil 1/2 pound of elbow macaroni or whatever pasta you want.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in pot, when melted add 2 tablespoons flour, stir for a minute then add 1 1/4 cups of warm milk slowly. Stir a minute then add 1 1/4 cups shredded or cubed cheese (i don't measure i just take a chunk of cheese and dice it up, toss it in). We like cheese around here. Add some pepper, little bit of salt and dash of nutmeg. Mix and when pasta is done, introduce them to each other and pour into a buttered casserole dish and bake until bubbly, about 20-30 minutes. I put these in baby food jars and freeze them that way. Quick meals for him. I use baby food jars for this, kitchery (not true kitchery...enhanced ld kitchery), chili, soup, whatever. You see what they are, it's the perfect portion for a main course and it's easy to microwave and put into a dish.

We like ours topped with sliced tomatos. You can also add bread crumbs or broccoli. Usually though, we eat our broccoli all steamed with cheese sauce poured over it and share a plate.

BTW, you can make extra sauce and freeze just that. Add it to whatever...quicky meals.

Menu

Our freezer is officially empty of leftovers. Time to cook.

Monday:

Breakfast: Pancakes
Snack: Fresh apricots
Lunch: Hotdogs and green beans
Dinner: Stuffed steak rolls, spinach artichoke dip and swiss roll for dessert. I can't wait.

Tuesday:

Breakfast: eggs and toast
Snack: oranges
Lunch: Turkey sushi rolls
Dinner: Spaghetti with lamb chops

Wednesday:

Breakfast: french toast
Snack: goldfish and fruit
Lunch: Soup
Dinner: Chicken souvlaki and salad

Thursday:

Breakfast: cheese croissants..if i can find a recipe..i'm really craving them
Snack: Fruit and yogurt
Lunch: Spaghetti
Dinner: Turkey Tertrazini - to use our leftover frozen turkey from thanksgiving now that i'm not sick of it

Friday:

Breakfast: Crepes
Snack: Fresh fruit
Lunch: Soup
Dinner: Nihari

What are you having? I want to start a weekly thing and would like you guys to join. To get ideas from each other. All you have to do is post your menu for the week on your blog on Mondays. I'll do the same and then put a comment in that you did and i'll post the links in the post at the end of the day. Anyone up for it?

Making food fun and healthy...

PC050078
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Here's a breakfast LD was surprised to see the other day. An overeasy egg instead of a broken one. He was really surprised when he realized it was yogurt with peaches. :-)

Beef Bulgogi

PB280005
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Marinate the following for at least 2 hours...longer the better. If it's frozen, put into a bag with marinade and let it thaw out in it.

Get 1 lb beef cut into thin slices - as thin as you can get it from the butcher. Then cut in crossgrain (against the grain) - this helps make it chewable and not tough.

Marinate in:

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apple juice or white grape juice (recipe calls for rice wine but this is a good substitute)
1/4 cup sesame oil (i just used regular oil and added a tablespoon and a half of sesame seeds...you can toast them in a dry pan to really draw out the flavor).
1 clove garlic crushed ( i used 1 tablespoon of garlic ginger paste and highly recommend that because the ginger really added to it. If you don't have or use the paste, add some fresh chopped ginger...i think it would be bland without it.)
1-3 green onions finely sliced (i used whole green beans instead and it was delish!)
fresh ground pepper to taste

Stir and add beef, marinate at least 2 hours, not more than 12 though.

Recipe says to grill it, i just poured it all into a pan with a little bit of oil and cooked until done. It only took about 5 minutes...this depends on how thin your meat is cut. Add salt to taste.

Serve over rice. Enjoy!

How i plan menus...

menu planning
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Look at that horrid handwriting. I usually write much better but anyway. Recipe book, note pad, printed recipes. I go through until have about 10. I do 10 because that's enough for two weeks. I don't always eat in order of the menu but eventually i make it all. I always cook the things first that have veggies that may go bad etc.

Then i plan snacks, a dessert or two, LD's lunches. Breakfast i tend to wing. I ask him two things and make him choose one.

Then, I write my grocery list putting a note next to anything i may have or not sure if i have it, I put down if i need to look up a substitution like alcohol or something like that. I also note page numbers of books that i get recipes from so i can find them quick when needed. I keep the printouts that i need that week hooked on the fridge on the side.

For LD's meals...often from books i just put the initials of the title and then the page number.

Sometimes if I'm really motivated i'll collect coupons but since i don't get the paper i don't do this often.

This habit keeps everything organized. I don't feel pressured to figure what is for dinner as long as i've done my homework and have the shopping done. When the shopping isn't done it's annoying to stick to a plan. I also like that i don't make myself stick to a day. For instance, last night we had leftovers instead of beef bulgogi because i didn't have the apple juice i thought i did. Tonight i'm making the beef bulgogi. Instead of nihari nachos which my husband totally stuck his nose up to, i ate it for lunch. This is a guide, more than a strict plan. It helps immensely but make it work for you...don't make it more work. Hope that helps someone.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Thank you Farhana! Thought you might like to see the pic! (I didn't make this...it was a surprise gift from a sweet friend).

Last night's salad

yummy salad
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Yum!

last night's dinner

israeli chicken, zucchini gratin/casserole, salad
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

salad, israeli spiced chicken and zucchini casserole

Recipe for Zucchini casserole:

I just drizzled some olive oil in a casserole dish, put in some sliced onions, then sliced zucchini, a lot of pepper, a little salt, a drizzle of butter and then mozarella cheese and italian flavored bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so.

Israeli spiced chicken is real good - gotta try it! It's a Rachael Ray recipe and it totally rocks. Nice and spicy if you smother it like i do. Husband gave it two thumbs up. This was his first time having it.

Menu

Monday

Breakfast - Pumpkin muffins
Lunch - Wagon wheel pasta with broccoli, cauliflower and cheese
Dinner - Israeli spiced chicken (this stuff rocks!), zuccini bake and mediteranean salad

Tuesday

Breakfast - pancakes
Lunch - chicken nuggets and homemade fries for him, soup for me
Dinner - Beef Bulgogi

Wednesday

Breakfast - oat date bars
Lunch - zuchini and hummus, raisins
Dinner - Cous Cous, chicken tangine (morrocan chicken) in the crockpot, spinach salad

Thursday

Breakfast - eggs and sausage
Lunch - spaghetti
Dinner - Keema, daal, carrot halwa

Friday

Breakfast - waffles
Lunch - sweet and sour veggie stirfry
Dinner - Nihari nachos (Gulnarita's great idea!) - we'll see if my husband goes for it.

Back on Monday

I'll be back here on Monday. With that trip, a deadline and Thanksgiving and no school break i haven't been able to post but I have a heck of a menu for next week. Was going to be this week until i realized it was thanksgiving and we know what i'll be eating the rest of the week.

Little Dude's dinner

Freezer meal
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I wasn't ready with dinner yet but LD was. This is how you can make your freezer really work for you. I had some frozen cooked pasta in there, some crushed tomato's with basil and frozen peas and carrots. The tomato's were put into an ice cube tray and then popped out and into a bag. I warm this for 60 seconds, add ricotta or mozarella cheese (this day it was mozarella) and warm for another 45 seconds and your good to go.

Leaving town...

Pomegranite ready for the freezer
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

When you leave town, take all the veggies and fruit you have and cut them up and freeze them. Here's a pomegranate i took apart before leaving town this last week. Now it's ready for me to use however i want, i can put some seeds in a salad or cook with it, however...and i didn't waste it. I do this with everything before leaving town if it will spoil before i get back.

$27

That's how much this last trip was...we're going over the $200 mark but not by much. And there were extras this month...pumpkins, squash, etc.

Safa...for baby stuff...are you wanting recipes, tips, let me know what you want mostly and I'll dedicate a post to it next week. In the meantime, see if your library has the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. If they do, get it from them.

I've been bad this week at posts - i knew it was going to be a lot to commit to this but i am liking it and will keep on doing it - each week i'll post once or twice of variety stuff. I'll keep posting recipes and menu's. Maybe even $ - dunno. I'm not getting a lot of comments so I know there's not very many reading but there's a few of you I know really like and want this so i'll keep at it.

Menu this week

Dessert for the week: Apple Pie, double ka meeta (maybe)

Monday:

Breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes and fruit
Lunch - pizza (we go out for pizza whenever we go to the post office - LD requests and i can't refuse)
Dinner - Eggplant parmesan and bread (was already in the freezer)
Snacks - Pomegranite for 1, goldfish for 2

***(i like to introduce LD to whole foods this way...letting him look at the thing (pomegranite and pineapple this week) for a few days, touch it, then sit him on the counter and let him watch me cut it and then eat it right there on the counter...we've done this with lots of foods....he'll try anything on the counter).

Tuesday:

Breakfast - eggo for LD (i do buy eggos...they are a quick convenient breakfast). I don't have a waffle maker...i need one so i can make him really good waffles.
Lunch: Tuna casserole
Dinner: Nihari (from the freezer)
Snacks - Fresh cut pineapple - a treat because we usually get this in the can and he loves pineapple

Wednesday:

Breakfast - "fried egg" - yogurt spread into the shape of a fried egg and half of an apricot round side up in the middle to be the yolk. Fun food. Toast with jam.
Lunch - Pasta with veggies
Snack - Toddler sushi
Dinner - Beef and potato curry (from the feezer), dahl on the side.

Thursday:

Breakfast - cereal or oatmeal
Lunch - chicken pot pie (from freezer)
Dinner - Butter chicken
snack - fruit and yogurt

Friday

Breakfast - french toast
Lunch - out to lunch
Dinner - Sag Paneer and biryani (freezer)

You can see how easy "cooking" can get when you freeze leftovers.

Recipes

There was a request from Safa for baby food - i'll do a whole post on that this week or next week.

Also requested was the brussel sprout meatballs and sadly i didn't get to it because LD was sick and then i got sick etc etc. It was a recipe in Taste of Home and i'll try it soon and post the results. There was the toddler sushi request and i'll post that. I made it again today and took pictures. And the green bread recipe. I'll post that whole meal here because it was fun together. I think that was all wasn't it?

Penne wise Pumpkin Pasta

I added sausage to mine and I'm glad i did because it would have been missing something i felt if i hadn't. Both hubby and i thought so.

Green Gobble-'Ems Garlic Bread Chunks - i didn't cut them up though and i used regular bread.

will post soon

Been sick and just can't seem to get computer time. I'll hopefully catch up early this week.

Eating in season

Fruit
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Eating in season is natural. There are lots of websites that give you a guide to what's fresh when. Get to know it...you can usually tell but get to know it anyway. Eating in season always tastes good and is always cheaper.

cleaning with vinegar

Vinegar is a wonderful cleaner. I use it for cleaning the air too. After cooking pakistani or indian food it stinks, i filled a bottle with vinegar and a few drops of essential oil (i use eucalyptus or lavendar) and spray around the room. It really freshens the place up naturally.

Cleaning with vinegar

1001 uses for vinegar

More vinegar cleaning tips including pesticides etc

Tips on first time of using vinegar...getting rid of the chemical residue

boy the time flies

I really don't know where it goes sometimes. Well, we are actually on the last week of this project (the $ spent on grocery test) but i've decided to keep part of it going. I will continue to post tips, my menu each week and recipes. I don't know how often i will post but i'll definately do the menu each week since it's something i do anyhow.

Okay, we left off last week with how much i spent. I spent $53 something but that included meat for the next week or two and also halloween candy which was like $10 on it's own but i'll include $50 in my total anyway because my husband did stop for me a few times for milk or bread so that'll buffer the total. I'm not shopping this week and i'm only cooking for LD because our freezer is too full and I'm still real sick and don't feel like cooking.

So, the total for this past week is $53 which brings our grand total to ($136 + $53= $189). Not bad right? There's a few things i need from the store for this current week so i think i'll be right on target for $200. I didn't go out of my way to hit that target either. This is the typical month for us. It really is about not wasting food, using fresh food and always always having a list and staying focused on that list.

I'm going to backdate these posts so it's consecutive and isn't confusing.

Menu

Whew, busy week! Sorry I'm late...it seems only 1 or 2 people are actually reading these anyway...

Monday:

Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - Ravioli's and sauce
Dinner - Black pepper chicken and fried peas and corn. Salad on the side.

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Waffles - it's his favorite these days
Lunch: Orange, grapes, goldfish - yeah healthy one that day eh?
Dinner: Scary pasta (spinach pasta i forget the name of but it looked like eyeballs to me with pumpkin sauce and green bread (spinach and garlic). Fun scary looking meal.

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Boiled egg and cheese
Lunch: Chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries
Dinner: I skipped it, leftover biryani for husband, leftover chili (and candy) for LD

Thursday:

Breakfast: Sweet potato hash (onions, garlic, spices, sweet potatos, apples and sausage) and fried eggs. Healthy to make up for yesterday.
Lunch: leftover green pasta
Dinner: biryani and butter chicken

Friday:

Breakfast: pancakes
Lunch: turkey and cheese sushi rolls.
Dinner: Brussel sprout filled meatballs. My husband is excited about this one lol.

not forgotten...

been.busy.

will update tonight insh'allah

Recipes - nachos, pumpkin cream cheese muffins and chili relleno casserole

I believe the only recipes that were requested were:

homemade nachos, pumpkin muffins and chili relleno casserole

The chili relleno casserole didn't happen because it's just impossible to find chili relleno's here. I've tried 5 stores. But this is delish. Now i didn't follow this recipe because it just didn't sound right to me at the time. I was going to write up a recipe based on this recipe when i made it again but this is the recipe i based my version off of and it was absolutely delicious. I've been wanting to make it again for so long!

The Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins can be found here. I added some ground ginger. I only did a little bit of cream cheese. I filled the cups 3/4, used only a small dime sized chunk of cream cheese (skipped the freezing part altogether) and skipped the nuts because i thought i had them but realized i didn't. They were delicious just how they were. I am making them again soon for sure. Next week i'm doing a chocolate chip version to see which one is better. For the pumpkin spice mix - i was too lazy to look up the recipe for it so i just added a little pinch of each of (cardamom, ground clove, all spice, ground ginger, cinnamon).

Homemade nachos - this is the first time I've made these. My mom used to make them for me in the summers when i saw her and i was feeling nostalgic. I normally wouldn't eat cheddar out of a can - guess you could use fresh but like i said, i was feeling nostalgic. Anyway...

Nachos

1 bag dorritos
1 lb ground beef
taco seasoning (either make your own or buy from the store)
tomatos
1 can cheddar cheese (soup aisle)
1/2 can milk
green onions
onion

Saute onion in a little oil, when soft, add meat. Cook until brown (add in seasonings...cumin, etc or taco seasoning packet). At same time, cook cheddar cheese (but use half the suggested milk). When both are done pile a plate with dorritos, add the meat, then the cheese, then tomatos and green onions. Sour cream if you like too.

and this is why you don't go shopping without a list!

See, whenever i go without a list, i'm forced to go down every aisle and when you go down every aisle you pick up things that sound or look good. I forgot my list but since we were there i had to shop. After all, it's almost the weekend and i'm just doing my week's worth of shopping. Thank God for the freezer because that's what we've been eating. I had to rearrange things and tonight I had a strong craving for butter chicken so goodbye chicken jalfraizi and hello butter chicken.

Anyway, long story short... I spent $89.23. So last week was $47 so the total for 2 weeks now is $136. If I had brought my list it would have been half this. I didn't include the pumpkin i got, the batteries or the fixings for LD's school mac and cheese (i'm making a big batch for the fall festival). I don't know if it'll be less than $200 for the month. We'll see!

Here's what I came home with that wasn't on my list (and i forgot 3 things too):

Large box of organic spring salad mix - i was feeling healthy.

2 bags of spinach - got it because it was 2/1

brussel sprouts - because they sounded good - yeah, i'm twisted like that. :-)

oranges, pomegranate, grapes, avocados, broccoli , kiwi- because LD wanted these things and who can turn down a kid begging for such healthiness - he eats veggies and fruits for lunch - not much of a meat eater

hot chocolate - this really should have been on my list because i've been craving it with the rainy weather

french fries - 2 bags. One of regular crinkle fries and one of sweet potatos. This is why you bring a list and you stick to it! I never buy these. I always make my fries. Argh.

Mocha peppermint creamer - this is okay...i always buy cream in the winter for the special flavors. I'll let this one slide.

Canned fruit - i was going to get it next week but since i was there...

There's some other things but you get the point. Go with a list!

All caught up!

Comments have been responded too. I'll post on Thursday how much i spent and the recipes. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Hope you guys are enjoying these posts. :-)

$

Here's my list so i can skip this step tomorrow. This is how i write it out for my husband usually too. I sometimes go too. Tomorrow I'm going.

Frozen aisle:
raspberries
blueberries
corn

Dairy:
milk for us
milk for ld
cheddar
yogurt - plain
cheese slices for grilled cheese

Fruit and veggies:
onions
pecans
basil
cilantro
pears
bananas
salad

Dry:
vanilla wafers
nescafe instant coffee
bread (whitish for double ka meeta)
english muffins
-------------------
Desi store: (i need it next week so i buy it now) - i use the curry leaves for the first few days then immediately put into a glass jar in the freezer. They turn brown but it doesn't matter. It's just moisture that changes them in the freezer. They are still fine to use.
curry leaves
ginger paste
--------------------
Halal store: (again, for next week)
ground beef
ground chicken

Menu

Phew what a day.

Here's the menu plan for this week:

Monday:

Breakfast: Avocado, egg and english muffin.
Lunch: Pumpkin soup and corn.
Dinner: Tomato ka salan (didn't have it last week, had something from freezer instead) and Begari beghan (eggplant dish)

Tuesday:
Breakfast: oatmeal for LD, toast for me
Lunch: busy day...don't know...probably just snacks (fruit, veggie etc)
Dinner: Biryani from the freezer (busy day tomorrow so no time to cook). Love thy freezer.

Wednesday:
Breakfast: yogurt pancakes
Lunch: zuchini and tomatos for LD, sandwich for me
Dinner: Israeili Chicken, corn on the cob, garlic and dill potatos

Thursday:
Breakfast: oatmeal and fruit for LD, fruit for me
Lunch: Pasta with hidden veggies
Dinner: Chicken Jalfraizi

Friday:
Breakfast: french toast
Lunch: english muffin pizza
Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan from the freezer

Weekend:
breakfast: eggs, breakfast burritos or pancakes
lunch: snacks...fruit etc
dinners: leftovers from freezer

Menu

Boy, it's been one of those days. I have no clue what's for dinner at it's 4:19. Sigh. Better get to it. I'll respond to comments and get a menu up hopefully tonight.

Nontoxic cleaners

I'll post more each week. Here's some links to get you started...

http://mlmgorilla.com/naturalcleaningrecipe/

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/clngrn.html

http://organizedhome.com/pantry-recipes-homemade-cleaning-products

http://www.naturalcleaningrecipes.com/

There's a ton of websites out there, just google natural cleaning recipes, organic cleaning recipes etc. I have some pesticide recipes, air freshener ones, etc. too. Bath products and beauty products are out there too. A non toxic world is a good world. I do use chemicals too but i try to use natural when i can.

I let LD squirt these cleaners and he loves doing it. He'll wash something for a half hour and let me do something i don't want him doing (cleaning toilets for example). I only let him use his "cleaners" when i'm cleaning so he doesn't get bored with it. It's a treat.

Recipes

No food recipes were requested. right?

Where does the time go?

I haven't lived up to my promise this week...been busy. I had the intention of sending out eid cards and a few presents and haven't done that either (sigh). Okay, let's catch up.

I spent $25 on halal meat and still have some left. We got 2 lbs ground beef, 2 whole boneless chicken breasts, 1 whole chicken cut up and a couple pounds of legs and thighs.

We hardly bought anything fresh this week because i was already stocked up on most things. We did spend $22 at the farm...that included what is apparently a play pumpkin for the little man. He carries it everywhere with him. Don't know if we are going to be able to eat it or not.

So total this week is: $47

I know it's a bit unfair this week but this is what i do.

Okay, some ways to save money. I planned to organize this better but i have limited time so it's just gonna come out like this...

Buy what you use often in bulk when it's on sale. For instance, i know we go through beans, chickpeas, tomatos, frozen veggies like hot potatos so whenever they are on sale, i go crazy. I buy tons of tomatos canned, i buy them crushed, diced, whole, the paste and even sauce and i'll buy a ton at a time because i know i'll use them. I use fresh tomato's too but i like them on hand in the can. Beans i buy in the can for chili or snacks. I buy them dry too because they are much cheaper that way but they are a quick snack for LD in the can. I always always have lentils, beans, and other dried legumes for our meals. They are super cheap and super healthy. Buy the big bag and use often.

When cooking, mix in veggies to meat dishes to maximize meat (expensive and also not exactly good for you eaten in bulk). Add okra, potatos or tomatos to beef or goat to bulk up the meal. Dried legumes are good for this too. Have side dishes that are veggies also. By doing this, you will usually have leftovers (hence a frozen dinner for later) and it's healthier.

Never buy prepared foods. It's 200% inflation.

Make your own baby food (i'm a wealth of knowledge on this subject...ask away).

Don't buy things already sliced up, diced, shredded etc. The shelf life is shorter and it's twice as much. (frozen is different because the shelf life problem isn't there). Chopped veggies are a timesaver and a great snack for kids.

Don't buy things because they are on sale unless they are on your list or something you always use (like tomato's).

Bargains are at the top and bottom of the shelves - they place the higher priced items at eye level. They also put toddler enticing items lower so kids can get at em.

Always eat before grocery shopping. Don't go hungry. If you go hungry you are going to come out with snacks you don't need.

Freeze things about to expire (milk, chicken stock, veggies (chop and put in small containers or bags), fruit (i buy strawberries and blueberries on sale in the summer and chop and freeze myself) - they don't make it to winter like intended but still the dollar stretches a lot further when they are on sale which is the next point.

Eat by the season, that's what is usually on sale and it's what is fresh. Can't lose. Farmers markets are good for this.

And most important, plan your menu, make a list and stick to it. You will probably avoid the cookie, chip, etc aisle which is $$$$. Make your cookies, skip the chips and soda. I do buy juices in the box. It's good for play dates and car drinks and treats. It's also a splurge because they are high but then so is juicy juice and i buy it. I'm still looking for organic juice here.

Often people go to the store hungry and without a list and come out with a ton of snacks but no meals. Plan ahead - it'll save a bundle as well as a lot of patience (if you have a toddler).

Okay, that's enough for now. More next week.

a note about my freezer

I'll post a picture soon too. I don't have a seperate deep freeze. My refridgerator is a typical side by side so bigger than the top freezer but i think you can do the same thing i do but rotate meals more quickly. This is what is typically in my freezer:

A bunch of small portions for the little man. What is in there now for him is kitchery which i add a pureed veggie too when serving, mac and cheese, chili, northern beans, chickpeas will be added this week.

Leftover meals. I cook a decent size batch of food so we'll eat 3/4 of it and i'll freeze the rest. Then one night, usually the weekend, but any day that i don't get to cooking or something comes up or i just don't feel like it, we go to the freezer and take a few leftover meals.

I always have leftover rice and leftover dahl. I have a three portion container that i put these into so we can just pop it out into a bowl and heat.

Whenever i buy veggies, i buy the best bag for the money for things like carrots, celery, and often you have to buy bigger sizes than you need so with these, i use what i need then immediately chop into different sizes (cubes, grated, finely diced) and freeze into small portions for soups, stews, etc. These are always in there.

Chicken stock cubes. You can freeze leftover chicken stock - however you buy it there's always leftovers. You can also make it which i sometimes do. I freeze in an ice cube tray and once frozen i transfer the cubes to a bag. This is also handy if you leave town for an extended time. If you notice your cubes are melted and refrozen you know your electricity went out and the food is probably bad.

I'm sure there's more and i'll post a pic of my freezer soon showing how i organize it all.

Menu for week #1

Now the shopping list is going to be very small for this week because i'm in the habit of planning ahead and tend to buy for two weeks except for milk, eggs, cheese, vegetables and fruit which i usually have my husband pick up once or twice in the week along with any missing ingredients. I don't need much this week so the shopping is very light but this is the way i do things so I'm not going to be spending much. I will add $25 though for ingredients used this week although it won't be accurate. I still think i'll spend less than $200 so I'm not going to worry about it. Okay, here goes...

Monday

Breakfast - boiled eggs and pumpkin muffins
Lunch - LD will eat chicken nuggets and veggies. I'll eat his leftovers or chili from the freezer.
Dinner - homemade Nachos - been craving this for weeks now but was waiting for Ramadan to end because it's a little salty.
Snacks - fruit and cheese

Tuesday

Breakfast - yogurt and blueberries (i usually just drink coffee btw or have toast and boiled egg - this week it's muffins)
Lunch - eggplant casserole for LD and stuffed curried eggplant for me
Dinner - biryani and kut tomato (will make biryani, kut tomato is in freezer)
Snacks - goldfish and fruit

Wednesday

Breakfast - breakfast burrito for me, insides of breakfast burrito for LD (from freezer i think...if not i'll make a big batch)
Lunch - mac and cheese (freezer) with turkey lunchmeat or hot dog for him, mac and cheese for me (i add stuff to mine)
Dinner - chili relleno casserole
Snacks - apple slices

Thursday

Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - pasta for LD (pasta is in freezer and so is sauce), something for me...i tend to eat a very light lunch if any at all...often his leftovers.
Dinner - tomato ka salan (2 days worth - one for the freezer) and dahl (i'll make a good size batch and freeze two or three portions)
Snacks - fruit

Friday

Breakfast - oatmeal in the crockpot (apples, cinammon, dates, oatmeal and other whole grains)
Lunch - fish and peas
Dinner - keema (2 days worth, one for freezer too) and squash
Snacks - fruit

Weekend: We eat almost entirely out of the freezer on the weekend and usually skip lunch or grab something out. This week for dinners we'll be eating leftover beef and spinach one day and beetroot curry and dahl the other day. For breakfast we'll eat whatever...cereal, eggs, etc.

Desserts for the week are: leftover Apple Pie from last week, Pumpkin and cream cheese muffins and i'll be making an apple cake midweek.

Okay, here's the plan for the month.

Monday's: Menu for the week and shopping list.

Tuesday's: What I spent and tips for saving money while shopping.

Wednesday's: Crock pot recipe for the week and other tips for speedy cooking.

Thursday's: Other recipes for the week and if i use a new recipe, i'll review them on this day. I'm not going to list every recipe because that's a lot of work especially if the recipe isn't even wanted so here's the way it'll work - if you want a recipe, leave a comment letting me know and i'll post the recipe on Thursday. If i receive a comment past Thursday, I'll put it up the following Thursday.

Friday: Cleaning recipes.

I won't post on Saturday's or Sunday's.

How's that sound? The only thing is I want some input (ie comments). That way I know I'm not doing this for nothing. Cool?

Potato bread from the other day...

Here is the recipe for that lovely Potato Bread I posted on my other blog the other day. I must say, the bread is delicious but it was a little plain for us. It's very good for sandwiches and stuff like that but for just plain break - which i love for dunking etc, it was a tad plain so next time I'm going to jazz it up a little.

Some ideas I have for adding are honey, zeera, or dates. Any other ideas?

Not forgotten...

Boy, it's been a long while since i posted in here, but the good news is that once Ramadan is over and we are back to our normal eating I'm doing a whole lot of posting. What is coming is this:

1. Weekly menu's
2. Shopping list and pricing
3. How to plan a menu (tips for budgeting, wasting less food and general tips like that)
4. Recipes for the entire month
5. Homemade cleaners that are non toxic and safe for kids

Yeah, it'll be a lot of work but i've been promising this for a while and am going to do it.

Rachael Ray

I've tried several RR recipes in the last month and am surprised at how well they turned out. I think the trick is to use fresh herbs...it just makes everything taste good. I'll post the ones i tried soon.

Chocolate mousse

Chocolate mousse
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Double ka Meeta - shahi tukray

Double ka Meeta - shahi tukray
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Pizza before

Pizza before
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Pizza after

Pizza after
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

buffalo chicken salad

buffalo chicken salad
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Buffalo Chicken Salad - Rachael Ray recipe

2 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots, available in pouches
2 ribs celery with greens, chopped
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 package, 3/4 to 1 pound, chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 turn of the pan
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and black pepper
1/4 cup hot sauce

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.
Combine lettuce, carrots and celery in a salad bowl. Combine ranch dressing and blue cheese crumbles in a small bowl.

Add oil and butter to hot pan with the chicken. Season with salt and pepper and sear for 2 or 3 minutes, then add hot sauce. Reduce heat a little and cook 5 minutes more.

Toss salad with dressing and season with salt and pepper. Top salad with Buffalo chicken and serve.

Spanish Potato, Chard, and Bean Soup - Spain

1 cup dried white beans such as cannellini or navy
5 cups vegetable stock (i used chicken
1 garlic clove
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 smallish onions, peeled, and cut into 1/4 inch dice
4 lightly packed cups chopped chard (both stems and leaves)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
salt to taste
extra virgin olive oil

Soak beans overnight or however you prefer.

In a medium pot, bring beans and stock to a boil, skimming off the froth. Add the garlic and oregano. Stir and turn down heat to low. Partially cover and simmer gently for 40 to 60 minutes, or until beans are tender. (Older beans will take longer to cook). Crush garlic clove against the side of the pot and mix well.

Put oil in a large pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, add onions and potato. Stir for about 1 1/2 minutes or until chard has wilted. Add cooked beans and their liquid and bring to a boil. Cover partially, turn heat down to low. Simmer gently for 30 minutes stirring every so often. Mash some of the beans and potato pieces against the side of the pan- adds thickness to broth. Taste for salt, you will probably need to add salt even if your stock was salted. Mix well.

Ladle into soup plates and dribble extra virgin olive oil over each serving. I suggest serving with crusty bread too.

Balti Chicken

Balti Chicken
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Chocolate Mousse Recipe

It's up!

Iranian food

Iranian food
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

More Iranian food...

Gorme Sabzi, rice and kababs, salade shirazi, garnish plate, off to the right is mast o khiar, dolmeh, torshi etc....

Gorme Sabzi

Gorme Sabzi
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This is a very simplified version of gorme sabzi but has every bit of the taste.

.75 pounds of small fillets of beef or cubed beef
1 bunch parsley finely chopped
3 spring onions finely chopped
1 bunch spinach chopped
.5 pounds kidney beans or 1 can
1 large onion chopped
fenugreek chopped (you can use dried…about 2 tablespoons)
½ cup lemon juice
olive oil or vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in oil until golden. Add the beef filets and cook until browned slightly on the outside. Just cover the fillets with water. Cover and simmer. As the water dried keep adding to cover the meat. It’ll take a few hours for the meat to get tender. After about 2-3 hours cooking, add the kidney beans, salt and pepper. In a separate pan, put a little olive oil and sauté the spinach, parsley and green onions just until they wilt and then add the pot with the meat. Add the fenugreek and simmer for another 30-45 minutes. At the end, add the lemon juice and stir.

Asian glazed Salmon and salad with asian dressing

I just got done making this and had no idea it was going to taste so good so i didn't take a picture but I want to record this recipe now so i don't forget it. It was delish! Everyone loved it. Next time i make it i'll take measurements and a picture and repost.

Roast some sesame seeds. When toasted add to the pan.... sesame oil, minced ginger, soy sauce, mayonaise, tad of dijon mustard, brown rice vinegar.

In a bowl mix spring greens, add mandarin orange segments.

With salmon, spread some olive oil in a roasting pan, add some of the glaze to the salmon and broil for 5 minutes. After five minutes, check on it and add more glaze. If salmon is browning cover for the rest of the time, letting it broil at the very end to get the glaze to crust over. Cook another 7 minutes or until fish is easy flaked.

Add the remainder of the glaze to the salad and mix well. It will wilt the salad and make it a little warm and oh so yummy...definately good on a cold night.

I served this with edamame on the side. Sooooo gooooood. Going to have to make this for hubby when he's home.

Chocolate mousse

Chocolate mousse
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I do believe this is one of the most beautiful things I ever made. Rich, bold, and unapologetic.

(from The Joy of Cooking)

Heat 1 inch water in a large skillet over low heat until bubbles form along the bottom; adjust the heat to maintain the water at this temperature. Combine in a large heatproof bowl:

6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons coffee or water
1 teaspoon gf vanilla flavoring (if using water)

Set the bowl in the water bath and stir until the chocolate is melted. Remove from the water and set aside.

Whisk together thoroughly in a heatproof bowl:

3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons coffee
3 tablespoons sugar

Set the bowl in the water bath and, whisking constantly, heat the mixture until thick
and puffy, like marshmallow sauce. Remove from the water bath and whisk thoroughly into the melted chocolate. Let cool to room temperature. In a separate bowl, beat on medium speed until foamy:

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

Add and beat until soft peaks form:

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Gradually beat in:

1/4 cup sugar

Increase the speed to high and beat until the peaks are stiff. Using a large rubber spatula, stir one-quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining whites. In another bowl, beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form:

1/2 cup cold heavy cream

Gently but thoroughly fold the cream into the chocolate mixture. Turn into a 5- cup bowl or six 6- to 8- ounce individual cups. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve with:

Whipped cream.

If you wish, sprinkle with:

1 ounce semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, grated.

Iranian food

I just finished compiling all the Iranian recipes. That was a lot of work to make all this food, cook it, write up the recipes and make it all pretty enough to be filmed! Here's what I made:

Sabzi khordan (vegetable, cheese, herb and bread plate)
Mast-o-khiar (yoghurt with cucumber, onion, mint)
Salad-e-shirazi
Dolmeh (Leila's recipe)
Torshi-e-makhloot (pickled vegetables with herbs and spices)
Chelow Kabab (Saffron steamed rice, tahcheen, kababs)
Baqala polow (Rice with fava beans or black eyed peas)
Khoresht Gorme Sabzi
Doogh
Rose Water Syrup
Saffron Ice Cream (Leila's recipe)

My husband's favorite (well, one of em anyway) cuisine is Iranian and I love it too. When my inlaws are here, I plan on making this all again.

Chicken and avocado quesadilla

Chicken and avocado quesadilla
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Using some of the chicken from the soup below (after it's cooked) I made these...

Take a tortilla (i use soft taco size), layer on it, mozarella cheese, chicken, slices of avocado and then a little more cheese. Put another tortilla on top.

Heat olive oil in a pan and let it get nice and warm. Put the quesadilla in there and cook for a minute and then flip and cook again. Garnish with sour cream, green onions or chives and salsa.

Absolutely delicious especially since the chicken is full of flavor too. Roasted chicken would work well too.

Chicken Noodle Soup - or Jewish Penicillin

Chicken Noodle Soup
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This is why it's better for dh to be home sick than me. He got this yummy bowl of soup. After tasting it he said it was the best chicken soup he ever had so I figure it deserves a post.

Boil a couple cups of water, add chicken cube or chicken stock if you have it (making the soup is essentially making stock but for time's sake, i add the cube so the soup is ready to eat in 45 minutes).

Add the chicken, chopped celery, chunks of onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper and parsley. When chicken is done, put everything through a strainer. Put the broth back in the pot and keep on the heat. Take the chicken pieces off the bone (they should come off very easily if the chicken is done). Discard the bones, skin etc.

Now, I use baby cubes of food because i have them but what you can do is chop in a food processor a little carrot, celery and onion from the vegetables that cooked with the chicken...not a lot, just a little to add some more flavor. Make sure it's soupy and not chunky and add it to the broth...it should only be a half cup or so. You are now done with those veggies. I grind it up for LD, but do what you will with it. (BTW, a shortcut is to add a little vegetable broth but i never have that so i do this but that would be easy with a cube).

Once chicken is back in the pot, add diced potatos, sliced carrots and whatever pasta you want. Rotini is good, so is tortellini or regular noodles. Check for taste adding more seasoning if you want. I bet I use about a tablespoon of parsley, a half teaspoon to maybe a full of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon or so of black or white pepper.

It truly is a hearty soup and easy on the stomach.

Leftovers salad

Leftovers salad
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Using everything in my veggie bin.

Chopped spinach
Various kinds of tomatos
cucumbers
Radish
Celery
Green onions
Roasted red peppers
Feta cheese
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Seafood ravioli with white sauce and garlic bread

Seafood ravioli with white sauce and garlic bread
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Got the ravioli's from Trader Joe's. I'm so glad they are beginning to open stores here now. Awesome goods there. Made a basic white sauce by simmering milk with a bay leaf, cloves, onion, nutmeg etc adding a rue of butter and flour and simmering again.

Old fashioned jelly roll

Quick way:

Box of cake mix - use pound cake box if making white cake with jelly inside or chocolate or devils food if making chocolate with cream filling.

Mix cake per directions on box, line a jelly roll sheet (cookie sheet with lips) with wax paper, grease and lightly flour. Spread cake mixture evenly and bake at 400 until done (somewhere between 8-15 minutes). Let cool completely and then flip onto aluminum foil. Fill with filling, layer of jam and/or whipped cream and then roll gently using aluminum foil to help. The top layer will come off on aluminum foil but that's okay...it's what you want. It may crack at first but by the end it shouldn't. Tighten and wrap. Put in fridge for an hour or so and then enjoy. :-)

Chicken with 40 cloves garlic - crock pot recipe

(sorry no picture - camera was broken at the time)

Not very pretty but very tasty and very tender... I've learned to love the crock pot. LD gives me very little time so it's working wonders in the kitchen. I'll get the crock pot going when he goes down for a nap and it frees me up for the day, plus there's the benefit of the house smelling yummy and I'm not doing anything. :-)

Recipe:

2 teaspoons thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teapoon kosher salt
1 whole roasting chicken or a chicken cut up (recipe called for whole one but i used a cup up one)
40 whole, peeled garlic cloves
2 tablespoons white grape juice or apple juice

*** Original recipe called for white wine. I also a splash of white grape juice and apple juice instead. I changed many things about the recipe so i'm posting as my own. And don't let the garlic scare you. After it cooks this long, it no longer tastes like garlic, it's sweet.

Add first four items and mix. Put chicken in and roll around in the oil mixture. Add the garlic cloves trying to get them below the chicken. Cover and cook until done. My crock pot is a cheapo one and has only one setting so can't tell you what it is. Just cook it until it's done. Meat will fall off the bone and garlic will smell and taste sweet.

Baby Mousaka

LD loves this...

Take an eggplant and either bake it or saute it or even steam it then layer as follows:

Thin layer of tomato sauce then a thin layer of eggplant, then cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, then repeat. Top with mozarella halfway through baking. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Delish!

pictures and recipes

I haven't posted much on here because my camera broke...well it was always broken from the time i bought it but I sent it in for warranty repair. I hope it gets back soon...until then, i'll post a few recipes but they'll be pictureless. Now that i'm caught up on things, i should be posting more often too.

Egg Scramble or Omelette

I had this yesterday and it was awesome. LD didn't like it though. I think the feta threw him off. If you don't like feta, add something else...it's still good. I was using up some leftovers from my huge iranian feast.

Heat olive oil, add chopped onions (green and white is what i used), add garlic, when onion gets clear, add chopped tomato and olive (i used kalamato) and then the scrambled egg. Add salt and pepper. Either make it a scramble or an omelette.

Crockpot Meatballs

Delicious and oh so easy! I had 'em on a hoagie with mayo and cheese. I couldn't believe how easy. I love meatballs and this recipe will have me making them more because you don't have to fry them and then bake them etc.

From Taste of Home Ground Beef Cookbook

INGREDIENTS
1 cup milk
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Crumble beef over the mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls. Place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. In a bowl, combine the ketchup, water, vinegar and sugar; mix well. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the meat is no longer pink. Yield: 6 servings.

Strawberry Cheesecake

My first attempt at homemade cheesecake. It may not be pretty, but it was GOOOOOD.

Chicken Breakfast Sausage

Chicken Breakfast Sausage
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Homemade sausages. :-) cause halal breakfast sausage stinks...i made my own and they were yummy!

Here's the basic recipe - add to it as you wish... I haven't quite perfected it yet but here's where I'm at with it:

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground chicken or turkey
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped apple
1 garlic clove minced
seasonings - salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, thyme, sage, chili powder

Last time, i added maple syrup and that really made it good. It's not quite perfect yet, i'll post again when i get it right where i want it. I've only made it twice so am working with it, but this is it so far...

Okay, so saute the onions and apple in oil, add minced garlic. Saute for another minute. Let cool. Add this to the chicken or turkey along with the spices and mix well. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Freeze leftovers and just pop them in the microwave.

Christmas tin cookies

Christmas tin cookies
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

For the neighbors...not as good as last year but alas...

Ginger snap Stockings, Sugar cookie Christmas Trees, Peppermint candy canes etc....

Chicken 65

Chicken 65
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Leg of goat

Does anyone have a good leg of goat recipe. I'm wanting to roast one for Dec 25.

Persian/Iranian recipes

Does anyone have any tried and true Persian/Iranian recipes? Please send to me asap...

rd_2003colo@yahoo.com

Chicken Cacciatore - Crock Pot

Chicken Cacciatore
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

The picture isn't very good...never is with brothy dishes...don't know why.

Anyway, this recipe came from a book called "The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook. I just started using a crockpot for cooking after finding one insanely cheap. I would add more salt and pepper to it as well as adding basil and more spices...a touch of marjoram, savory, sage and thyme would be nice. Fresh basil would pep it right up. It was pretty good as is for following the recipe to a t.

(i made a half recipe since my crockpot is very small)

Add to crockpot:
1 Tbsn olive oil
1 Tbsn minced garlic
14 oz can of crushed tomatos (i used crushed tomatos with basil)
7 oz can of mushrooms
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsn dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tbsn red wine (see my chart for alcohol substitutions on the sidebar under food links)

Stir until blended then add:

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 medium onion
2 green bell peppers

Cook on low for 8 hours (my crockpot only has one setting...i cooked it for 6 hours and it was perfect).

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Here's the recipe...it's from a book called Greatest Ever Indian: easy and delicious step-by-step recipes


I varied it a little when i made it but i it's a pretty good recipe as it is... I do recommend marinating the meat a little while in the sauce...an hour or so and also cooking it much longer than they say...cook it until the chicken is tender and falling off the bone.

scant (whatever that is lol) 2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped or crushed fresh gingerroot
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp black cumin seeds
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tsp salt
3 green cardamoma
3 black peppercorns
2/3 cup plain yoghurt
2 tbsp tomato paste
8 chicken pieces skinned
2/3 cup water
2 bay leaves
2/3 cup light cream

garnish: chopped cilantro, green chili's

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until golden brown, stirring. Reduce the heat.
2. Place the ginger in a bowl. Add the garam masala, ground coriander, chili powder, cumin seeds, garlic, salt, cardamoms, and peppercorns and blend. Add the yogurt and tomato paste and stir well.
3. Add the chicken pieces to the yogurt and spice mixture and mix to coat well.
4. Add the chicken to the onions in the skillet and stir-fry vigorously, making semicircular movements, for 5-7 minutes.
5. Add the water and bay leaves and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the cream and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and chilis.

Seviyan

Seviyan
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Red Lobster Biscuits

Red Lobster Biscuits
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I found a recipe for these and they taste just like the restaurants. Yummmmmmmm!

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits #1
"makes 12 servings"

2 c. Bisquick
2/3 c. milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 c. butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp parsley flakes

1. Heat oven to 450
2. Mix Bisquick, garlic powder, milk and cheese until well blended.
3. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes.
5. Combine butter, garlic powder, old bay, parsley and salt.
6. Melt in microwave for 20 seconds +/-
7. Brush top of biscuits with butter mix.

How easy is that?

Homemade Apple Pie

Homemade Apple Pie
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Recipe coming soon.

Yummy Leila Dates

dates
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Leila of Sister Scorpion mentioned doing dates this way and oh my............they are delish!

Take the pitted dates, fill with a pecan, roll in caramel and then in unsweetened coconut.

You won't be sorry.

*** Thanks Leila for this wonderful treat!

Lasagna

lasagna
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Okay, i'm going off the top of my head here because i make it a little different each time, but in general, this is how i make it:

Grocery list:
lasagna noodles (i use both wheat and white)
pound of ground beef
several leaves of basil
a bunch of parsley
spaghetti sauce (either homemade or 1 1/3 jars)
1-2 eggs
ricotta cheese
cottage cheese
mozarella cheese
Parmesan if wanted (i don't use it)
garlic cloves
salt and pepper

Fry a pound of ground beef. To it add salt, pepper, garlic and any other spice you want. When it's almost done, add a handful of chopped basil leaves and parsley leaves. You can use dry but it just doesn't have the same effect (you'd use about a teaspoon of each i suppose). Add your spaghetti sauce. You can make your own or just use jarred. I do it both ways but tend to do the jarred more often because it's just easier. When i want to show off i do homemade. I can post that recipe if you want it.

Okay, now boil the water and add your lasagna noodles. I do half wheat and half white to be half healthy.

Mix the cheese mixture now. Take half a tub of ricotta (bigger size) and half the tub of cottage cheese (also bigger size) and 1-2 eggs and about 3/4 cup to a cup of mozarella cheese (shredded). Go ahead and shred the entire ball because you'll need it for the top and then some more if you are like us. To this cheese mixture add some more chopped basil and parsley. I also give it a sprinkle of italian pizza seasoning but it's not really needed.

Now take a couple cloves of garlic and slice them thinly. Take your lasagna pan and put a spoonful of sauce and spread over the bottom in a thin layer. Take your sliced garlic and spread them out over the bottom, take your lasagna noodles and put three lengthwise (it's okay if they overlap a little) and then one at the end if needed. Cover with meat sauce and then cheese and repeat for two more layers. With the top layer, you just want meat sauce, no cheese mixture. If you run out of meat sauce, i usually take the jar and put a little water in it and shake it and run it over the top (i usually do this in any case). Make sure sauce covers the entire top though...so if you need to use more do. I always use about a jar and then a quarter of another. On the very top, cover with the mozarella cheese...some people like parmesan in their lasagna but i don't. I don't like parmesan cheese except on top of spaghetti...not even on chicken parmesan...but you can add it if you like it.

Cover with tin foil. Here's where you have to make a decision. I like my lasagna twice baked because it always tastes better the second day.

So, what i do is bake it at 375-400 for 40 minutes or so the day before (or in the morning if you can't do that) and then rebake it at dinnertime for another 30 or so minutes.

For the last few minutes of baking, i turn the oven to broil so the top of the cheese gets those bubbles. It only takes a few minutes so if you do this, be very careful because it will burn quick if you leave it - you just want to do it for a few minutes.

Serve with garlic bread...take the loaf of french bread or italian bread, spread butter on it, put slices of garlic, and put under the broiler until toasted - about five minutes depending on your oven. Sprinkle with chopped parsley leaves.

A nice italian salad is the perfect begginner. Enjoy!clear="all">

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Fresh out of the oven... This was a recipe i got from a friend but it was a little bland to me. Next go around i'd add a bay leave, some thyme, more salt and pepper or some celery salt...i've noted those at the bottom. It was delicious though! I had no problem eating the entire thing myself over a few days.

Pot Pie

2 pie crusts (can use frozen deep-dish if you want)
6 Tbsp oil
1 med. onion diced
1 potato diced
6 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2.5 cups chicken stock
2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 cup frozen peas and carrots

(I recommend adding: Bay leaf, celery salt, thyme, additional salt and pepper)

Heat oil; add onion and potato until tender
Add flour, salt, and pepper (and spices i recommend) - mix quickly and well
Over med. heat gradually add chicken stock, stirring to make a thick sauce.
Add chicken, peas, carrots.
Add mixture into crust.
Flip other crust on top and pinch edges.
Bake at 400 deg. 30 min or until browned

pie crust with filling

pie crust with filling
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Pie crust with chicken pot pie filling... recipe coming soon.

Tomatar ka Salan

Tomatar ka Salan
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Recipe coming soon Fatima without the h


Heat oil in pot, add about a teaspoon of zeera, add 1 1/2 medium onions or 1 large and fry until a little past clear. Add meat (1 pound goat - shoulder or rib are best but i used mix goat since i had it on hand and it was fine. Add ginger and garlic paste (1 teaspoon each). Add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and cook until meat is half done. Cover with water and turn to low. Let the water dry up and then add 1 pound chopped tomatos and salt (to taste). Cover again so tomato's get tender. Add curry leaves (about 10-12) and recover. When tomato's are tender, remove lid and let simmer basically letting the water dry up a bit so the sauce gets sort of thick. Add 2-3 whole green chili's and let simmer some more. Add cut up corriander/cilantro for garnish. If it's sour, you can add a little sugar (although the hyderabadi way is not adding sugar). Turn off, let sit.

Fall colors meal

Fall colors meal
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Red tomato salan
yellow dahl
orange squash
green salad

:-)

Shrimp and Tomato Pasta

Shrimp and Tomato Pasta (Rachael Ray's recipe)
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Recipe coming soon

Roasted Chicken - for you Hena...

Late lunch or Early Dinner
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Roasted chicken, creamy risotto, new potatos with garlic and dill, brussells sprouts. Originally posted May 9 but without the recipe...


One whole chicken - can be skinless or with skin (this one was without skin)
Salt and pepper
Rosemary (fresh or dried)
Thyme (fresh or dried)
Garlic
Butter
Onion, Carrots, Celery and Potatos for sides and added flavor (optional)

I make a very simple roasted chicken and i make it the same way everytime. It's just easy and it tastes good. Here's what i do:

First bath the chicken in a salt and ice bath. You don't have to do this but it helps keep the moisture and makes it more succulent. An hour or so is fine or just put it in there to defrost.

Preheat oven to 350-400.
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and rub with butter.
Stuff the cavity with chunks of onion, crushed garlic cloves (not mashed up, just broken), rosemary and thyme (if you use dried just put a sprinkle or two of each, if you use fresh it will be a much more fragrant and stronger flavor just put the whole stick of herbs in there). I usually use dried. If using dry, sprinkle a little on the outside too...just a little.

Put the chicken in a roasting pan. I used to prop the chicken up with balls of tin foil but now have a roasting pan with the bird holder so I use that but use balls of tin foil if you don't have one of those. Put a little water in and the vegetables.

Every half hour or so turn the bird and baste with more butter. It's done in about 1 and 1/2 - 2 hours...more if you have a real big bird. If the inside isn't getting done, cut down the middle (basically on each side of the backbone and finish roasting that way. If you want it to cook faster, you can actually roast it in pieces. I like it whole myself.

It takes a lot of time but it's easy because it's basically cooking itself. You just need to keep turning and basting. Leftovers are great for other stuff. We only eat the legs and thighs roasted style - the breasts and wings are always used for chicken tortilla soup or chicken salad sandwiches.

Complete breakfast for me and my little dude

Complete breakfast for me and my little dude
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Another shared meal with my little dude. This was sooooo good. I don't usually make such a big breakfast on a weekday but i should. It's got every food group and was absolutely delish! What we have here is tomato and eggs scrambled (more tomato than egg) with yoghurt on top, cheese with almonds, hard boiled eggs, eggplant (leftover baghari beghan), baba ganoush (eggplant dip), strawberries and baked potato wedges with dressing.

Squash (Pak/mil Style)

Squash (Pak Style)
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Easy....

Take a squash (acorn, butternut, whatever) and dice into cubes - leave the skin on. I take the seeds out (you can roast them - yummy!). Fry in a little oil with 1/2 teaspoon rai, 1/2 teaspoon kalonji, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic paste, 2 teaspoons ginger paste and 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon turmeric. Add a little water. Add whole red chilis (dry) and salt to taste. Add tamarind*** (2 teaspoons paste) and about a half cup of water. Put on low and cover.

*** soak tamarind in warm water to make paste

Fajitas

Fajitas
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Baghari Baigan

Baghari Baigan
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Leftover Pot Roast

Leftover Pot Roast
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

(me and the little dude shared this plate one day for lunch - so fun to eat like that :-)

Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream

Pistachio Ice Cream
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Still on the cutting board so not a very tidy picture but you get the idea..... It's red on the inside. I love this cake. This is one of the best discoveries i've made in the south.

Recipe:

2oz red food coloring
3 Tbsn. instant cocoa powder
1/2 cup veg. shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tbsn. vinegar
1 teaspoon soda

Mix together food coloring and cocoa powder and set aside. Cream together the shortening and sugar. Add eggs and coloring mixture. Beat 10 minutes. Add buttermilk. Slowly add flour, then salt and vanilla. Mix together vinegar and soda. Add to batter, mixing lightly by hand. Spoon into a 13x9x2 inch greased and floured baking pan. Bake about 30-40 minutes at 350 or toothpick comes out clean.

Icing:

1/4 lb margarine (1/2 cup)
6 Tbsn Crisco (they have a vegetable one but make sure to read the label to avoid pork)
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsn flour
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream well the margarine, Crisco and sugar. Add the flour, one tablespoon at a time, milk and vanilla. Beat 12 minutes with electric mixer.

I use round pans but i just wanted to give the original recipe. I used regular flour too just sifted it twice.... And i like to add crumbs to the top especially when i get crumbs in the frosting. Just let them dry out a bit and then break up and sprinkle on top...

Recipe by Judy Gowan...taken from the book "Country Favorites"

Baby Mousaka

Baby Mousaka
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I would eat this too! It turned out great!

I just put some fire roasted tomatos on the bottom. Put steamed eggplant slices (small eggplants are a bit better) and then cottage cheese and tomato's. Repeat two or three layers. Top with mozarella and bake. I think i baked at 375 for about 30 minutes covered and then ten to 15 uncovered. I think those were the temperatures and times but it doesn't matter that much...you just want it warm and bubbly and the mozarella melted.

Gingersnap Cookies

Gingersnap Cookies
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Bhindi Gosht

Bhindi Gosht
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Hyderabadi cooking

chicken65-lrgf
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

My inlaws are Hyderabadi, well my fil is from Luknow (spelling?) but we all know who wins who out when food is discussed. Hyderabadi food is the best food of India. Anyone who disagrees just doesn't know!

Anyhow, i get this email from my mil today, forwarded from her brother. They now sell Hyderabadi masala mixes at the Indian stores in like 5 states. Guess where is one? Yup, right here! I can't believe it's not available in NJ with so many desis there. I guess we have a lot here though too.

I don't like shan mixes much and prefer to do masalas on my own, i just may have to try some of these for "hamburger helper" nights. I don't consider shan mixes cooking....just like i don't consider hamburger helper cooking. You can disagree, but i don't. It just doesn't taste as good as true homemade food. Anyhow, check out this lovely (and true!) description of the Hyderabadi way of cooking (it's what i've been saying forever, food cooked with love tastes so much better than food just being made.) I have gone to houses for food where the love was obviously missing. I could feel it, it was just food. There's probably some hadith that says that food shouldn't be fussed over but just like i don't drive a camel to work, i don't follow all that's sunnah.

Here's the email (it's an ad for the masala):

Connoisseurs of food all over the world have had a special corner for Hyderabadi and Mughlai food. In Hyderabad 's 400 year history the Hyderabadi cuisine has, like its culture, stood high and unmatched by any other place in the Indian subcontinent. In fact, Hyderabad is known for the spectacular way its aristocracy entertained. The erstwhile rulers of Hyderabad were connoisseurs of food and insisted that their cooks lay out elaborate ten-course meals on a daily basis. The Hyderabadis do have rather unusual ways of seasoning their food. Hyderabadi cuisine is a distinct dialogue in food, based on the traditional method of combining the sour and the sweet, the hot and the salty.

Hyderabad has taken the highly developed and refined Mughal cuisine of the North and imbibed it with the zesty sauces and spices of the South to create a vast and seductive repertoire quite its own. Hyderabadi food, as it has come to be known, like the city's culture, heritage and language, is a melange of several influences--Hindu, Muslim, North, South, Indian and foreign. As they say here, food is best created with fursat and mohabbat--with time and love. Being devoted to Hyderabad means being devoted to food. Here, food is not just something to fill the stomach; it is the very essence of life. The quintessential Hyderabadi is known for his nawabi lifestyle--a gracious but rather laid-back way of life. But when it comes to food, the Hyderabadis won't tolerate any laziness and have very exacting standards.

This is why my Little Dude eats so well...all of his food is prepared with love and time. My friends whose kids eat jarred food always ask me why he eats so well and is not at all picky and i believe this is why. What would you rather have - processed food or homemade food. Even something as simple as a hamburger is so much better made at home on the grill. I do think i'll give this mixes a go around though.

We called Pakistan for a Kashmiri tea recipe and i got his aunt's way of doing it. Yum! I'm so excited to finally make Baghare Baigan the Hyderabadi way this week. I'm also on a Nihari kick - it's like a serious craving once a week, you'd think i was pregnant or something.

Recipes added

I added the recipes....

Balti Saffron Chicken

Balti Saffron Chicken
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Balti Chicken in Saffron Sauce (from this book).

4 tb Butter
2 ts Corn oil
3 lb Chicken, skinned and cut
Into 8 pieces
1 md Onion, chopped
1 ts Garlic pulp
½ ts Crushed peppercorns
½ ts Crushed cardamom pods
¼ ts Ground cinammon
1 ½ ts Chilli powder
⅔ c Natural yoghurt
½ c Ground almonds
1 tb Lemon juice
1 ts Salt
1 ts Saffron strands
⅔ c Water
⅔ c Single light cream
2 tb Chopped fresh coriander

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180deg.C/350deg.F Melt the butter with the oil in a skillet or wok and add the chicken pieces and fry until lightly browned. This will take about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken using a slotted spoon, leaving behind as much of the fat as possible.

2. Add the onion to the same pan, and fry over a medium heat. Meanwhile, mix together the garlic, black peppercorns, cardamom, cinnamon, chilli powder, yoghurt, ground almonds, lemon juice, salt and saffron strands in a mixing bowl.

3. When the onions are lightly browned, pour the spice mixture into the pan and stir-fry for about 1 minute.

4. Add the chicken pieces, and continue to stir-fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the water and bring to a simmer.

5. Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole dish and cover with a lid or if using a wok, cover with foil. Transfer to the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes.

6. Once you are sure that the chicken is cooked right through, remove it from the oven. Transfer the chicken to a frying pan and stir in the cream.

7. Reheat gently for about 2 minutes. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with rice.

Chicken Pasanday

Chicken Pasanday
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Homemade Iced Animal Cookie Ice Cream

Homemade Iced Animal Cookie Ice Cream
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

New toy - ice cream maker and the first thing i made was iced animal cookie ice cream. Yummmmmmy! All it takes is whole milk, sugar, heavy cream and crushed iced animal cookies and twenty minutes. Woo hooo, i'm gonna like this thing. Next i'm making kulfi.

Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

When buying these cheeses, you might pass out from the price, but it'll make you feel better that you only use half per batch and one batch yields quite a bit. I freeze the cheese after making it until the next time... My hubby never liked Mac and Cheese until this recipe.

7 TBSN unsalted butter, plus extra for preparing baking dish
1/4 cup plus 2 TBSN all purpose flour
4 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 pound elbos macaroni
1 cup freshly grated Cheddar
1 cup freshly grated Gruyere
1 cup freshly grated Fontina or Emmentaler
1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan (i don't do the 1/3 cup in the bread crumbs)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (i only put 1/4 - 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 3- quart overproof baking dish. (it has to be 3 quarts minimum or it will overflow).

2. In a heavy saucepan, melt 6 TBSN butter over low heat. With a wire whisk, mix in flour and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes.

3. Gradually whisk in milk until blended, then mustard, salt, and cayenne. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occassionally, until thick, about 2 minutes.

4. In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook macaroni until just al dente (about 7 minutes), and drain well. In a large bowl, stir together macaroni, milk mixture, Cheddar, Gruyere, Fontina, and 1 cup Parmesan. Spoon into prepared baking dish and spread evenly.

5. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and remaining 1/3 cup of Parmesan; sprinkle evenly over macaroni. Cut remaining 1 TBSN butter into small pieces and scatter over top of bread crumbs; bake until golden brown and bubbling, 25 - 30 minutes.

Serves 8 as an entree or 12 as a side dish.

(from Oprah Magazine and the guy adapted it from Gourmet)

Kashmiri Tea

Can anyone give me a *good* as in "tried and true" recipe for Kashmiri Tea? The only ones i'm finding use water not milk. Please only post if you've actually tried it cause i hate bad recipes. I spent over two hours last night making what i thought would be a great dinner and the recipe totally sucked (i assure you, it wasn't the cook!).

Speaking of good recipes. I bought this book when i got engaged to my Pak-man. There isn't a single bad recipe in it! I don't always follow the directions and use it more for a guide but out of the 15-20 or so recipes i've made from it, not one has been bad. There may have been variances about heat - more or less chili powder. Usually more for us and other little nuances like when they say fry the onions for 5 minutes, i fry them for about thirty. I/we (i got my desi taste from him...in fact, it annoys his mom that we eat the same - we both put yoghurt on whatever we are eating and she insists that it hides the taste, we think it enhances it - our only difference is i make little sandwiches out of my food with bread and he doesn't, he uses the bread as a scooper and i use mine like a tortilla almost) anyway about the onions - we like them real carmelized as in the color of dark caramel not butter. Also, for meat, they should double their times for the meat to be tender but if you play with it, these recipes rock and are pretty easy. The bonus is i got the book for $5.99 i believe at the Borders bargain section. If you want to learn to make Pakistani/Indian food, this is a good book to start with. It's been tried and it is true. :-)

Bring on the Kashmiri Tea recipes!

Recipes will come soon

I posted some pictures...recipes will come soon.

Chai Cupcakes

Chai Spiced Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Um Mahtab made these and blogged them and now i did too.

Recipe can be found here. *** By the way, i didn't make this frosting. I used a fluffy white frosting and sprinkled it with the nutmeg and cinammon. Also, i used regular sugar and regular tea but i used real vanilla instead of extract.

MIL's Saffron Dessert

MIL's Saffron Dessert
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This is such an easy recipe and it tastes so delicious. To me it tastes like Gulab Jamon cheesecake. It's a recipe my mother in law gave me. Yum!

Aloo Palak (Pakistani side dish - Spinach and Potatos)

Aloo Palak
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Recipe:

1 bunches spinach/palak
2-3 medium potatoes/aloo (i like mine more potato-y than spinach-y)
2 small tomatoes
2 green chilis (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. mustard Seeds/Rai
1 tsp. garam masala
1/4 tsp. turmeric/Haldi
Salt (to taste)
2 tsp. Cooking Oil

1. Wash and cook the potatoes. If you boil whole, then peel potatoe skin and smash them once boiled. Or you can boil in large chunks and mash them a bit.

2. Wash and chop spinach. Wash

3. Chop the tomatoes.

4. Put the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and turmeric and fry well. Add chopped green chilis and fry. Add chopped tomato, potato, spinach and some water and stir. Add salt and garam masala and cook until spinach is cooked. Once it's wilted it's basically done.

(Recipe is basically Fauzia's from http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/aaloopalak.html)

Pakistani Recipes

Someone asked for Pakistani recipes so i'm starting to post some. Pakistani food doesn't always turn out well in pictures even if it takes delicious in real life. I'll post anyway...

Zarba (Pakistani Dessert)

Zarba
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I didn't end up liking this dessert. I think it would have been better without the dahl but still...it's not my type of dessert. Husband's either. MIL loves it though. She doesn't make it with the dahl.

Keema (Pakistani)

Keema
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Recipe:

i vary it a bit but this is the general recipe:

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ginger paste
3/4 teaspoon garlic paste
1/2 - 1 teaspoon zeera/cumin seed
ground pepper or peppercorns (about 6-8)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
a dash of dhuniya
3-4 green chili's
peas or potatos (optional)
garnish with fresh cilantro/corriander

Fry the onion in oil until deep carmel color. Add ground beef and spices. Mix together well and brown meat. Add green chili's and a little bit of water. When almost done add the peas and corriander.

If you want to do potatos instead of peas, put them in right away with the meat.

Mango Lassi (Pakistani Drink)

Lassi
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

So easy... Take some plain yoghurt, fresh mango pulp (or canned...which is what i do since it's indian mangos) and a little sugar. Blend and serve.

Mango shakes are also good!

Chicken Curry (Pakistani)

Chicken Curry
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

See what i mean? Delicious but doesn't look so pretty in pictures.


recipe:

1 medium to large onion (chopped)
1 pound chicken (i use legs and thighs but that's because we don't like white meat)
1 – 1 ½ teaspoons ginger paste
1 – 1 ½ teaspoons garlic paste
8 peppercorns
½ teaspoon chili powder
salt to taste
1 cinnamon stick
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 whole cardamoms
½ teaspoon whole zeera
½ teaspoon ground dhuniya (optional)
½ - ¾ cup yoghurt
Shan seasoning if you want it stronger (optional - i'll usually add just a little curry powder)

Fry chopped onions, take out and spread on paper. (often i just leave them). Fry chicken in same oil.
Add garlic paste and ginger paste.
Add chili powder, peppercorns, salt, cinnamon stick, whole cardamoms, zeera.
Add yoghurt.
When chicken is done, add ground spices (cinnamon, ground cardamoms, ground cumin/zeera, dhuniya). Add onions back in.

Cover and simmer on low then turn off heat and let sit.

Chard, bean and potato soup (Spain)

chard soup
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I'm always amazed when such simple ingredients like these can make something so delicious.

chard, onion, potato
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I got this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's book "World Vegetarian." I've been trying to make a couple vegetarian meals a week. This was absolutely delicious!

Is there anything better?

tomatos
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Fresh tomatos from your own garden are so much tastier than the store variety. They actually have taste. I don't like tomatos unless they taste like this!

Leek, Chickpea Beef stew

Leek, Chickpea Beef stew
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I'd post the recipe for this but it wasn't quite to my liking. It was good but it needed more flavor for our tastes so when i make it again, i'll add some spice to it and post the recipe then.

Crepe Recipe

I posted how i did the crepes in the comments of the crepe recipe...i didn't see that comment before. Yummy! I think i'll make those again this weekend.

Chili

Chili
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I love homemade chili. My husband has never liked chili and it's because he never had it homemade. After he had my homemade chili, he loves it.

I make it as i go and it's never exactly the same. If someone is interested i'll a recipe the next time around.

Basically, you saute some onions and garlic, add ground beef, brown it. Add freshly chopped tomatos, chili powder, cumin, paprika, pepper, a touch of salt and sugar. You can use canned if you want and stew/slow cook until tomatos are broken down. Add beans (i use kidney, pinto and northern usually but i vary it each time) and simmer until cooked. Black beans are an interesting choice too but my tried and true is the kidney, pinto and a white bean.

Serve with sour cream, raw chopped onions and cheese. Mmmmm mmmmm good. Or you want to do a good "white trash meal" serve it over frito's a.k.a. Frito Pie

Asian Glazed Wings, Strawberry Salad and Edamame

Asian Glazed Wings
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This recipe rocked for Asian Glazed Wings. I got the recipe from Rachael Ray. I've tried two of hers now and her recipes are a lot better than i thought they'd be. The salad on the side is also hers: just romaine lettuce with sliced strawberries, balsalmic vinegar, salt and pepper. Really tasty. The other side is edamame (soybeans). Just microwave them in water for a few minutes, drain the water and then sprinkle with coarse salt. Really tasty snack. I've gotten the Little Dude used to eating them too sans the salt.

"Spaghetti" and meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This is spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti pasta for a different take on spaghetti. It tasted really fresh and veggie like. Pretty good. On top are meatballs and spaghetti sauce...i got the meatball recipe from Sister Surviving's Cooking Blog... Here is the recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/87537

They are really good!

This would be an easy recipe to make vegetarian. I've seen the meatless meatballs in the freezer at the store. I've been thinking of giving them a whirl.

Eggplant Parmesan

eggplant
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

My husband didn't like eggplant parmesan until he had it my way. It's so yummy. Little Dude ate it with gusto too:

1 medium to large eggplant
Progresso Italian bread crumbs (so tasty!)
1 or 2 eggs
mozarella cheese (i do a whole ball since we like it cheesy)

Take an eggplant and peel of the skin. Slice into 1/4 inch slices (i do it lengthwise but you could probably do in rounds if you wanted to). Do make sure they are only 1/4 think.

In two flatish dishes beat an egg or two. In the other put bread crumbs.

Heat a large skillet and add butter (it takes quite a bit...i never said it was healthy, but you could alternatively use olive oil to be healthier).

Once butter is melted, take pieces of eggplant, first dipping them into egg mixture (both sides) and then the bread crumbs.

Fry until golden brown and place in a large baking sheet or glass casserole dish. When all the pieces are done, cover in your favorite spaghetti sauce and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes...basically until it starts to get bubbly. Once bubbly, add grated mozarella cheese and cover with tin foil, put back into oven until cheese is melted. Once cheese is melted, remove the tin foil and turn the broiler in to scorch the chese in a few places...it only takes a minute so don't leave it in the oven for this part.

Enjoy. :-)

We ate it before I thought to take a picture which happens a lot lately, that's why there's only a picture of an eggplant...it helps to know though that all eggplants in the middle turn brown when you got them open - the air does it.

Chicken Tikka

Chicken Tikka
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

1 lb chicken (i just do legs and thighs - on the bone makes it more succulent)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 cup yoghurt
1 tablespoon chopped coriander/cilantro
1 tablespoon veggie oil or butter or non stick spray

Mix together everything except for the oil/butter. Marinate chicken all day or at least for two hours but the longer the better.

Baste with the oil/butter before putting on the grill. Either grill it or broil it until it reaches 170 degrees on the meat thermometer.

Garnish with a bed of salad, onion, lime wedges, coriander/cilantro or whatever you want.

Tip: If you want to make this in advance, when you bring home the chicken from the store, put marinade together and bag it with the chicken before freezing. As the chicken thaws it marinates. I haven’t tried this myself but I hear it works well.

Crepes

Originally uploaded by Crepeshref="http://www.flickr.com/people/wayfarersjourney/">wayfarer.

1 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
oil or butter for cooking

Mix eggs, milk, and melted butter, add to sifted flour. Add salt. Mix until smooth. Leave to sit for a little while for the crepes to be tender.

Brush oil or butter onto nonstick pan. Pour two tablespoons of batter at a time and turn the skillet so it has a thin layer all around. When it is light brown on the bottom, flip (the top will start to look dry). Turn and repeat. You may have to wipe pan out between every couple.

Take finished crepes and put a little marscapone cheese (or ricotta, cottage cheese, whatever you want...) in the inside and roll up. Top with jams or syrups...whatever. I warm up marmalade and various jams as topping and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You can also have them with nutella or a cinammon sugar mix.

Chili rubbed salmon

Chili rubbed salmon
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Food Network meal. This is Bobby Flay's recipe for chili rubbed salmon with corn vinegarette. Yummy and spicy. On the side is part Rachael Ray and part me - Mashed Cauliflower (instead of potatos) with cheese and chives. I put smoked Gouda and cheddar and green onions. I didn't like the way she did hers. I did boil it in chicken stock though. Bobby Flays "Boy Meets Grill" recipe book is excellent. I keep getting it from the library but think i should buy it. There hasn't been a bad recipe yet.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

SO yummy!

I made a big batch but me and the lady down the street ate it all up before i took a picture. Egads.

Here's the scrumptious recipe:

Take some leftover roasted chicken (this is what i use my chicken breasts for because i don't like the meat plain). If you cook the chicken for this recipe, make sure it's on the bone and not boneless breasts and just cook it up however. The bones help keep moisture in and it tastes much more succulent.

Okay, here goes:

A couple of chicken breasts, meat picked off into bite size pieces
3 very large juicy tomatos
1 large onion
cloves garlic (i do 2 small ones)
cumin
chili powder
dhuniya
chili sauce (tobasco or whatever kind you use)
cheese
sour cream
avocado
cilantro
lime

You can also add black beans, corn...rice, whatever you like.

Saute the onions until they get clear. Add the crushed/chopped garlic and cook another minute. Add in the tomato's. Cook until the tomato's cook down to a sauce. Add 3 cups of chicken stock. Add a teaspoon of cumin and chili powder. Add a little cayenne pepper too (1/2 teaspoon or so) and some dhuniya (1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon) and also a couple drops of chili sauce (like tabasco...). Add the chicken. Let simmer for a while and let the spices mingle. Add roughly chopped cilantro leaves and juice from a lime and simmer a little while longer.

When it's done (30 minutes to an hour...an hour is better), spoon into bowls and crumble (in big pieces) the tortilla chips (i like the blue ones), sprinkle with cheddar cheese, put some diced avocado and a dallop of sour cream and enjoy!

I love love love this soup. It's been my favorite soup for so many years.

Blackberry cobbler or tart...

Blackberry cobbler or tart...
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Don't know what to call this. I just whipped it together to use up some fresh blackberries. Turned out absolutely great. I don't know what i forget what i put in there though.

Late lunch or early dinner

Late lunch or Early Dinner
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Roasted chicken, creamy risotto, new potatos with garlic and dill, brussells sprouts.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Take some leftover chicken and pick it off the bone (must be off the bone or it will be too dry). Mix it with some bbq sauce and let it sit a while in the fridge soaking up the flavor).

Make your pizza dough. Whatever recipe you like.

Roll it to your preferred size. Smear bbq sauce over the dough. Sprinkle mozarella cheese over it then add the chicken and add some more mozarella. Top it off with chopped red onions and chopped jalapenos.

Enjoy!

My 30 Minute Meal - Italian

Italian
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Quick Chicken Parmesan

Take a chicken breast and pound it flat with whatever you have (i cover the chicken with seran wrap and whack it with a rolling pin), sprinkle it with salt and pepper, dunk it in egg wash (eggs whipped with a tad bit of water) and then dunk it in italian bread crumbs. Fry it up in butter. Add tomato sauce and mozarella and cover. Cook for ten minutes or so.

Fried ravioli. Just fry the ravioli in olive oil.

Fried polenta with parmesan cheese.

Tomato, mozarella, basil sprinkled with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Half a flan

Half a flan
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Caramel flan...or what's left of it.

uh oh

I hope no one has made the ras malai yet. I put the wrong measurement in there. For the first ingredient i had put 15.8 ounces ricotta but it should be 32 ounces...big difference!

I made half a batch in the interest of not gaining weight and had halved the recipe for myself but didn't halve the rest of the ingredients for you. I changed it in the recipe below so it is correct now. Sorry if you made it and thought "WHOOOA - too sweet!"

Speaking of mangos...

...my son doesn't like the Mexican/Costa Rica ones either - just like his dad. I pureed them and made them perfect for him and when i put the spoon in his mouth his whole body shivered with disgust. It was the funniest and saddest thing i've seen. It was obviously too sour for him. I guess i have about 16 more months until those Indian mangos start getting imported. Until then, i guess i have to eat the pureed mangos all myself...mango lassi here i come!

How's that for the Little Dude being just like his father? He may not look Pakistani, but he is in every other way.

Ras Malai

Ras Malai
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Oh dear me. This recipe rocks. My husband is very particular about his ras malai, like he is his mangos. He always said he can't find good ras malai here so i've only ate it once because he always says, no that doesn't look good etc. Soooo, his diet ended Monday (he won out of ten coworkers for losing the most weight...congrats dh!) and i figured i'd give him a treat so made a friends recipe for ras malai but i didn't know if he would like or not since he's so picky. He looooooved it. Between yesterday and the day before we ate the entire batch. I sort of knew when i tasted it he was gonna like it even though i didn't know a good ras malai from a bad one. I'll be making it for my inlaws on my upcoming visit because they complain about the ras malai in canada too. Here is the recipe:

–32 oz (2 lbs) Ricotta cheese
–1 and 1/2 cups Sugar
–1 spoon cardamon powder

Drain as much water out of the ricotta as you can by placing it in cheesecloth or muslin in a strainer over a bowl. I do it the entire day so a lot comes out...it makes the texture better.

Preheat oven to 300-350 degrees. Mix the sugar, and cardamon powder and stir completly. Drop spoonfuls into a mini-cupcake pan (i used a regular size).

Place in oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the entire ricotta sets (i find it takes about 30-40 depending on temperature and oven - it should become puffy and bubbly on the top. You want all the water to basically dry up. I couldn't get it all to dry so when the ricotta got to the right texture i let it cool and then flipped the cupcake pan over a baking sheet and then propped it up on an angle and let the juices drain out that way.

Now make the sauce:

–about 32 oz heavy whipping cream or you can mix half whipping cream, half regular milk (to make the sauce a little less "rich") or even just using half and half (this is what i like the best after having tried all the ways)
–about half cup sugar (or to taste)
–pinch of saffron
–couple drops of rose water
–crushed pistacious for garnish

In a saucepan boil the cream until thick and hot, add the sugar and kewra/rose water essense, once done…cool a bit and poor it into an airtight container.

Drop the ricotta patties in the creamy sauce. Seal tight and store in the fridge overnight for best results. Enjoy!!!! We sure did. Thanks Lindsey!

Chicken yakatori and salad

Chicken yakatori
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

The recipe wasn't strong enough for me but my husband liked it a lot. I think the meat should be marinated beforehand... I think they don't have you do that because brown sugar often makes things burn. If i did this recipe again though, i'd marinate it anyhow and then i think it would be really good.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1 bunch of scallions/green onions cut into inch long pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon chicken stock
whatever else you want on there

Soak your bamboo skewers so they don't burn. Cube your chicken breasts. Skewer however you like. I did it with green onions/scallions with a tomato and mushroom at the top. Well actually that was my husbands touch. And he made that yummy salad too.

Anyhow, preheat your broiler or grill.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine soy sauce, sugar and stock. Bring to a boil. Allow sauce to simmer for 3 minutes or so stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Brush the broiler pan with oil and place the skewers of chicken on there. Broil for about 8-10 minutes. I think you should glaze them first though. I really didn't think they were strong enough.

Make sure chicken is basically cooked through and brush chicken with sauce every couple of minutes and turning them until done.

recipe came from a book called Japanese Cooking at Home. Don't remember the author.

Horseshoe in my yoghurt

Horseshoe in my yoghurt
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This horseshoe was on the top of a brand new yoghurt. How crazy is that? Maybe i can sell it on ebay liked those people who sold the piece of toast that had Mary in/on it. Or i could be rational and just call a horseshoe a horseshoe. Isn't it strange though how perfect it is?

(the picture looks a little gruesome with all that red huh? it's just beet juice from my goat and beet curry)

Okra Dry Fry

okra
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I'm having a hard time letting this recipe out into the world. It's my secret weapon. ;-)

This is the rare dish that my husband says i make better than his mom so that is a huge compliment because his mom's cooking is very good and i learned much of my indian/hyderabadi/pakistani cooking from her. This recipe i didn't.

I have no idea for measurements cause i just eyeball it so this is going to be a hard one. And trust me on the yoghurt - that is what throws people off when i tell them this recipe and they don't put it in there and it doesn't taste the same. It's my secret ingredient.

And when you shop for okra, look for the tender little ones. It should roll easily between your fingers and have some give. If it's hard, it's not as good.

(Be sure to wash the okra first and make sure it's dry before cooking, otherwise it'll be slimy. I wash mine as soon as i get home from the grocery store and then drain it on a few paper towels or a tea towel and then i spread it out and let it finish air drying. To store, put in the fridge in a bag and put a paper towel to absorb moisture.)

Okay, off to the best okra recipe ever -

1 lb Okra - i'm guessing a pound - about three full handfuls
1 medium to large onion
1-2 garlic cloves
2-4 small green chilis
2 small plum tomatos or 1 big regular tomato
chili powder to taste (i use about a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half)
1 cup of yogurt
cumin seeds/zeera (again, what you like..i use about a teaspoon and a half to a tablespoon depending on my mood)
1 teaspoon turmeric/haldi
salt to taste (about a teaspoon)
vegetable oil (for cooking, i start with 1 tablespoon and add if/as needed)

Chop and crush garlic cloves, chop onion, slit green onions and pull out the spine and seeds (unless you want the extra heat since that is where the heat is). Dice tomatos into chunks.

You can start carmelizing the onions now if you are a fast chopper, otherwise, chop okra now too. Chop the top off and the bottom if it's brown. Slice into little pieces like my picture.

Put the oil in the pot (use a big skillet or a wok/karahi). Carmelize onions (fry until medium to dark brown so they sort of melt away later). When brown, add garlic and let cook for a minute. Now add the okra, tomatos, and green chilis. Fry on high heat about five to seven minutes and keep stirring them so they don't burn. They should crust up just a little bit on the outside. When the five to seven minutes is up add salt, turmeric, and zeera. Blend it all and add a cup of yoghurt - i sometimes do a cup and a half. It all depends on the amount of okra though. Turn the heat down to low or low medium, 2 and a half on my stove. Cook and stir until the yoghurt disapears and then sprinkle the chili powder on top. Mix in and remove from heat.

It's good the first day but be sure to make enough for leftovers because it's so much better the next days. I make a big batch and seperate into small containers and put it in the freezer so i don't have to make it every time. It's delcious later on.

Enjoy!

Dinner my husband made

Husband made dinner
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

DH doesn't cook often so when he does it's a real treat. Here is his blackened fish (forget what it was), baked potato with yummy soy bacon bits, corn on the cob and salad.

Can i get an alhamdulillah for dh's who cook?

Recipes

I've added recipes to everything that didn't have recipes. Do try the chickpea patty recipe i posted (from the March 27 under finger foods). We loooooved those!

Coming next: my famous okra recipe

mahi mahi, brussells sprouts and corn

mahi mahi, brussells sprouts and corn
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This may not look good but it tasted good! Used Alton Brown's recipe for macademian nut crusted mahi mahi (on food network's website), a vegan recipe from Vegan LunchBox (sidebar) for Sweet and Sour Brussells Sprouts (first time eating them and yummmmmmy, they are good!), and creamed corn.

A very healthy dinner. This explains how i've lost a bunch of weight recently and dh too.

Taco Salad

Taco Salad
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Nuff said... A layer of refried organic beans, lettuce, spicy beef, two kinds of cheese, sour cream, avocado, jalapeno, tomato,olive. Such good comfort food and not half bad for you either if you put more salad than the other stuff.

Brunch

Brunch
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Had a mom's lunch and playdate over here and this is what i served:

Innocent Sangria, Salad with grilled lemon pepper chicken and red onions, homemade dressings (one is a soy ginger vinagarette and the other is homemade caesar), fresh fruit (red grapes, peaches, blueberries, strawberry's drizzled with a touch of lemon and sprinkled with powdered sugar, pita sandwiches with the salad mixture inside.

Easy fuss free lunch. Most of it can be made the night before.

Beef and Potato Curry, Vegetable Curry and Strawberry healthy dessert

veggie curry, beef and potato curry and mascarpone strawber
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Clockwise from the salad...

Beef and potato curry (yummmmmyyy...we don't have a lot of repeat meals but this is one we do repeat about once a month), a healthy "dessert" - cinnamon raisin bread topped with mascarpone cheese, a drizzle of honey, shredded basil and strawberries, vegetable curry (cauliflower, carrots, lima beans, corn, peas, mushrooms, onion).


The recipe (adapted from http://www.cookingwithbj.com/bjcooking/recipe/rcpdetail.php?rcpID=433&rcatID=107):

1 lb cubed beef
1 TBSN garlic paste
1 TBSN ginger paste
1\2 cup slightly beaten yogurt
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dhunya/coriander powder
1 1\2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 small (or 2 medium or 1 gigantic) potatos peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon garam masala
1\4 cup coriander, fresh, chopped
2-3 green chilis, sliced down the middle and seeds taken out (or left in if you want it extra spicy

Method:

1. Place meat in a bowl, add ginger and garlic paste, yogurt, chili powder, turmeric, salt and coriander powder. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and leave to marinate for an hour.
2 Heat oil in heavy-based saucepan. Add onions and stirring frequently fry onions until light-medium brown. Add meat and marinade and stirring constantly, fry meat until brown, about 5 minutes.
4. Add about one cup water (barely cover meat), stir once and cover with tight fitting lid. Reduce heat and cook until meat is half cooked, about 20 minutes.
5. Add potatoes and enough water to cover meat and potatos, mix well, cover and cook for another 25 minutes or until beef and potatoes are tender.
6. Add garam masala, coriander leaves and green chilies and cook for another minute and then let it sit for a while before serving.

(Pakistani and Indian food taste better after sitting for a while...and it's even better the next day after all the spices and flavors have mingled for a day. I usually cook in the morning and let it sit then refridgerate and reheat in the evening.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Vegetable Curry:

I put a little olive oil in a wok or pot and stir fry onions in the oil until carmelized or medium brown. Add about a tablespoon of garlic paste and a tablespoom of ginger paste, a chopped clove of garlic and about 1 teaspoon turmeric and 1 teaspoon chili powder. Add the vegetables (whatever you want). I do lima beans, cauliflower, peas, mushrooms, carrots (but carrots you have to precook in the microwave for about five minutes or so to soften a bit - otherwise they'll be hard), corn. I use whatever i have around. Add a little water or veggie broth or chicken broth and fast simmer for about ten minutes or until done. Sprikle fresh corriander/cilantro on top.

Maple Scones

Maple Scones
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

As promised, if you want a recipe, i'll post it. Here it is (i didn't put walnuts or pecans in mine and think i should have so have added that to the recipe):

Dough:

1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening or butter
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans) - toast them to draw out the oil/flavor
1/2 cup milk
1/3 -1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring or extract

Maple Frosting:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 teaspoons half-and-half, cream, milk, whatever you use (just add a little at a time to get the frosting the right texture...i wanted mine a litle runny so it wouldn't tear the scones when put on)
1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring or extract

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the shortening/butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. This takes a while... Stir in walnuts or pecans. In a separate bowl (or directly into it if you want), add in milk, syrup, and maple flavoring. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until you've formed a dry soft dough.

Flour your work surface. Take the dough and pat it into a 7 inch circle almost an inch think. Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet. Use a pizza wheel (or a knife i guess) and divide the circle of dough into eight wedges. Gently separate the wedges so that they're almost touching in the center, but are spaced about an inch apart at the edges. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 400 degrees, or until golden brown. Let them cool a bit so they don't tear when frosting.

Combine all frosting ingredients and mix until creamy. Gently frost the tops of scones with the maple frosting.
------------------------------------------------------------

We didn't care for them fresh out of the oven but once they sat, they were goooooood.

Smoked Salmon Bagel

Smoken Salmon Bagel
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, dill, salt and pepper. Capers are on the side. Bagel has low fat cream cheese (just a light coating).

Finger food

Finger Foods
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Spicy chickpea patties (recipe can be found on the whole foods website i believe...or their book). On the right side of the patties are potato samosas (i haven't forgotten to post the recipe for my samosas, just haven't made them from scratch in a while...i freeze them in large batches...i haven't forgotten anonymous asker of my recipe :-). On the left side are feta cheese samboosas. I tried a new recipe and neither of us liked them very much. For some reason we don't care much for arab recipes...at least the ones i've tried.

In the ramekin is a yummy mango cole slaw. Not a super healthy dinner but very yummy. The chickpea patties rocked! So did the mango "slaw". Samosas always rock.


Whole Foods' Spicy Chickpea Patties with Cilantro, Lime, and Chilies

Ingredients
1/8 cup canola or olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 (16 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chickpea flour (or wheat flour)
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
3 scallions, minced
juice of 2 limes
salt to taste

chickpea (besan) flour (or you could use wheat i guess) for dusting cakes
vegetable oil for spraying pan
cucumber raita (recipe follows)

In a large nonstick pan, heat the canola or olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, jalapeño, curry powder, and cumin for 3 minutes, until the onion is softened. Transfer the spice mixture to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a standard S blade, and process for 20 seconds, until coarsely chopped. Add the chickpeas, chickpea (or wheat) flour, bread crumbs, cilantro, scallions, lime juice, and salt.

Continue to process for 20 seconds more, until the mixture is coarsely chopped, well combined, and has formed a thick paste. The paste should be firm enough to be scooped and shaped into small patties. After making the patties, lightly dust them with chickpea flour.

Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and spray it with the vegetable oil. Sauté the patties for 4 minutes on each side, until they are golden brown and heated through. For an even crispier patty, place one on a sheet pan for 10 minutes in the center of a 375˚F oven. Serve with cucumber-mint raita (recipe follows).

CUCUMBER-MINT RAITA

Ingredients
1 large peeled cucumber, halved, seeded, coarsely grated
2 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup (packed) chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon plus pinch of cayenne pepper

Method:
Wrap grated cucumber in kitchen towel and squeeze dry. Whisk yogurt, mint, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper in medium bowl to blend. Add cucumbers and toss to coat. Season raita to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.) Sprinkle raita with pinch of cayenne pepper and serve.

Favorite cooking tool

Favorite cooking tool
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This little kitchen diddy gives me so much pleasure. I find cooking is very enjoyable with gadgets such as this. Next time i'm in Toronto i want to get another one.

The spices i have in here are what i use most: chili powder, garam masala, turmeric, zeera, black peppercorns, dhaniya and cinnamon sticks in the middle. Gotta love masala.

Steak, root vegetables and potato skins

Steak, root vegetables and potato skins
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Steak, root veggies (beets and parsnips sauteed in evoo, salt and pepper), potato skins.

Recipe for delicious potato skins:

Bake or microwave as you would a baked potato. When done, cut in half and scoop out the middles (most but not all of it...don't toss it, eat as mashed tatos...) brush melted butter of evoo outside the potato and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Take out. Put grated cheddar cheese in the center, bacon bits (get soy ones so they are halal), and green onions or chives if you have them. MMmmmmmmmmmmm!

Fried Calamari

Fried Calamari
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Fried calamari with a spicy sauce.

Italian Night

Italian Night
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Bowtie pasta with smoked salmon, asparagus and capers. It's topped with a light olive oil based sauce. On the side are stir fried spring beans (after blanching them) with sliced tomato and feta. It's mixed with a fresh basil, dill, garlic and ginger sauce. On the other side are sliced tomatos with a basil leaf and slice of mozarella cheese. Between the basil leave and cheese is a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Shrimp Korma

Shrimp Korma
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Shrimp Korma, salad and daal. (and daffodils freshly cut from my "garden")

Shrimp Korma (and daal)
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Did i ever show you what i made for v-day?

valentines desert
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Heart shaped brownies (whatever brownie recipe you like...the richer the better for me - cut with a cookie cutter) with tangy raspberry sauce (heat raspberries with some sugar over medium low heat for about ten minutes and strain through a sieve). Serve with two scoops of ice cream.

Check out Vegan Lunch Box. I'm definately not vegan but it's great what she's doing. Her son must have the best eating habits ever! I plan on raising Little Dude with good eating habits too but not vegetarian or vegan, although i do want to start focusing on eating meat only a few days a week, fish and seafood a few days, and vegetarian one or two days. It's working well so far. I've been using the Super Baby Food cookbook for Little Dude and i just love the information in it. When he's a toddler there's also this organic baby and toddler cookbook. It's fun cooking his food. So far, it's only mashed avocado, mashed banana, and soon sweet potato. I also picked up brown rice this weekend to make homemade baby cereal. It's exciting and fun to see someone develop good eating habits.

My dad raised me on health food. We ate all of our food from Eureka Natural Foods. Mostly grains and the like. Very little red meat and hardly ever pork. The milk was powdered and what i truly hated about the diet. I just hated getting one of those dry lumps. Ugh. But we didn't eat preservatives or additives at all. My dad is very very healthy, never smoked or drank, always ate well and i think a little bit wore off on me. We didn't eat a lot of salads though. I still don't. It's something I'm working on. I don't like cold fruit and tomatos and stuff because it hurts my teeth. But i have learned that zapping it for 4 - 7 seconds in the microwave - depending on what it is - makes it the perfect temperature. DH thinks i'm a freak and looks at me like i'm nuts when he sees me do it but hey it's working! I've been eating my fruit.

Sugar is another thing. Ironically, my dad ran a Pepsi plant growing up but we never ever had soda in the house. I saw what went into that stuff and how bad it smells when it's being made and am still surprised that i drink it now. It really is sickingly bad for you. He also didn't let us eat sugared cereals and we rarely even ate dessert (i think only on birthdays). We also didn't eat out a lot. All of these things i still do (except for dessert). I now, since getting married and having a child, eat a lot of sugar. I might even be addicted. Something happened with childbirth or me feeding him. Don't know what but man, pass me the sugar bowl!

Gaajar Ka Halwa (Carrot Halwa)

Gaajar Ka Halwa (Carrot Halwa)
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I didn't know there would be such an interest. Cool! I'll start posting recipes too but not always. If you ever want a recipe, just say so and i'll post it. I added the focaccia one since someone asked. For the ribs, i'll have to find that one and post it.

It's too bad the pictures from this weekends meals didn't turn out. I have a bad cold (allergies i think) so i made a big pot of Jewish Penicillon (Chicken Soup, Jewish style...it really works on colds) and we ate the whole pot. Also had a great salmon dinner that hubby made. It was delish. Glad you guys are liking the site though. :-)

Fish Curry

Fish Curry
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Yummmmmm! DH and i made this one together. He doing most the work.


This recipe can be found here.

(Now, i only half follow recipes and i usually follow two or three recipes at the same time coming up with my own personal recipe. I use them as guides but never follow them to a t so this won't be exactly the same as my picture but it's very similar...)

Beetroot Curry and Hyderabadi Khatti Daal

Beetroot Curry and Hyderabadi Khatti Daal
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

One of my favorite meals. Absolutely delicious.

Here is my version of my mil's recipe:

1 large onion
3-4 medium beet roots
1 lb mixed goat parts
1 generous teaspoon garlic paste
1 generous teaspoon ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste

*** I don't measure things, i generalize so these are estimates.

With a tablespoon or so of oil, cook onions until they are brown. Add the goat and sprinkle spices over it. Mix around and brown on all sides - about five minutes or so and then add the beets (cut into largish chunks). Add enough water to almost cover the meat and beets. Add salt to taste. And cook until beets are fork tender and meat is tender.

The daal recipe can be found here.

There's a kazillion ways to make daal - being married to a Pakistani i'm learning more and more of them. My mil has many great ways of making it and of course, she's the one who taught me how to make dalcha - mmmmmmm, mmmmmmm, good.

BBQ Beef Ribs and Spicy Homemade Potato Chips

Ribs
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Basic recipe (I strayed a bit)... This is also for spicy ribs, if you want it less spicy, cut down on the the chili powder, etc

combine:

2 TBSN Black Pepper
1 TBSN Paprika
1/2 TBSN Cumin
1 1/2 TBSN Brown Sugar
1 TBSN Vinegar
2 TBSN Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chili powder
dash of oregano...prob a half teaspoon
add some lemon juice (just a splash)
salt to taste

Mix it all together and rub all over the ribs. Wrap in seran wrap and put in fridge for a few hours. Take out an hour before you cook (let it get to room temperature...helps with the cooking and keeps in tender while cooking).

Preheat oven to 450 F. Now i don't have a broiler pan (i need one bad!) but you can probably use one if you have one. Otherwise take a roasting pan and fill an inch or so with water, put the rack over the water and place the ribs on the rack so they hover above the water, put a tent of tin foil over that to keep steam in. Cook away for about 3 hours or 4 hours. Just keep checking them to see the progress. Slather with bbq sauce every half hour or hour. I hope i remembered everything.

For the chips, just thinly slice potatos and deep fry in oil then shake in a bag of cumin, salt, pepper and chili powder (for real spicy). You can do any type of chips though. You can also oven bake them if you want them healthier.

Foccacia Bread

Foccacia Bread
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Here is the recipe:

You can either buy foccacia bread mix for a short cut. Othersise, just use a dough recipe (many on the web). Key thing is to only let it rise a tiny bit (like 20-30 minutes). Spread on floured area and shape. Oil the baking sheet with olive oil. Put the dough on there and spread it out until it fits on the pan (it's not going to look perfect...that's okay) and then put dimples in the dough with your knuckles or a floured spoon. Brush lightly with olive oil and then spread pesto across the dough (again, you can buy it but i like to make mine fresh...recipe will follow). Then add sliced tomatos, parmesan cheese, mozzarella...whatever you want on there. I also slice up basil leaves and spread across it to give it color and a fresh taste. Top it off with rosemary and garlic. Put in oven (preheated to 400 degrees) for about 20 minutes - until it turns golden brown and the parmesan is a little crustry on top. Enjoy!

Pesto recipe (using a food processor):

1 ounce reggiano parmesan cut into pieces
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (toasting it brings out the oils)
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup packed basil leaves washed and completely dried (otherwise it won't mix right)
1/3 extra virgin olive oil

1. Chop cheese in food processor, remove and set aside
2. Chop pine nuts, remove and set aside
3. Chop garlic with salt (salt helps grind it), remove and set aside
4. Chop basil leaves, add half of the olive oil
5. Add the rest of the olive oil bit by bit
6. Add the cheese, garlic, pine nuts and grind until right consistency and it's well mixed.
7. Let sit for at least a half hour to let flavors mingle.