Ubuntu, I wunt u

beet salad

carrot gnochetti

Cauliflower in a cast iron pot

vegan carrot cupcakes

vanilla bean cheesecake in a jar

Veggie Pot Pie 2008

Ever since our coming-to-manhood trip to Europe, porkbelly and I have shared a pre-New Years Eve tradition of recreating a great dish that our host/friend Joris made for us one hazy night. JB joined us this year for Joris' Veggie Pot Pie '08. It was yummy, even though I made the poor executive decision to sub fillo dough for puff pastry (Whole Foods only had bougie puff pastry from La Boulange for a disgusting price! Damn you, Whole Foods! -- oh yea, blog about that place coming soon).

Anyways, this is great stoner comfort food to keep you warm and full during the holidays. Anything you have on hand vis-a-vis vegetables, cheese, and spices will work. Just make sure you have cream cheese and puff pastry (note: the Pepperidge Farm version will only set you back like $3). I scribbled down the recipe the second time I stayed with our dear host Joris, but it is packed away somewhere in my unpacked moving boxes, so we do what we can...

Ingredients:

• one block cream cheese
• any other cheeses (we used cheddar, feta, parmesean)
  
• one zucchini
• one cup mushrooms, sliced or wedges
  
• 2 medium roma tomatoes, sliced
  
• 3 garlic cloves
  
• 1 bell pepper (did you know that in Holland they call it "paprika"?)
• one box frozen puff pastry
• sriracha sauc
• 1 egg
• a tablespoon of crushed nuts (cashews work well)
• dash of basil and oregano
  

Recipe:

• Defrost puff pastry and pre-heat oven to whatever time the puff pastry box demands.
  
• Stir-fry the vegetables (minus tomatoes) in oil and sriracha sauce.
• Flatten a couple sheets of puff pastry with a rolling pin or your hands
  
• Lay out the puff pastry on the bottom of a casserole dish or Dutch oven. Let the edges hang over the side, they will eventually fold over to make a top
  
• Throw an egg on it and spread it around
• Throw some of veggies on it
  
• Spread cream cheese throughout, add other cheeses to taste
• Add rest of veggies
• Add crushed nuts for crunch
  
• Slice tomatoes and add on top
• Sprinkle basil, oregano, salt and pepper
• Add grated parmesan cheese
  
• Pull the puff pastry edges over to cover
• Bake until the pastry puffs and starts to brown
• Cool a bit, then dig in!
  
  
  

Previous year's crispy puff pastry version

This year's fillo dough no-no

It's not the most photogenic dish, but a wonderful food memory to relive every year nonetheless. You know you love me. XoXo, Gossip Girl

MmmIndian

Allison and I decided to take on Indian food as our first weekly dinner night. After some deliberation, we settled on Bhatura (a soft, fluffy, fried type of bread), hot chana dal with potatoes, and a mixed vegetable curry. Our dear friend Derrick made some sort of basmati rice concoction that he was very embarrassed of but ain't no shame--Allison fried it, added a little (a lot) of salt, and it was good to go! The hot chana dal was packed with heat and tang, just like ol A herself, and my mixed veggie curry was super flavorful (I accidentally, I mean purposely, forgot to add water in the end but richer=better?). The recipe has a lot of little steps, but its worth it!

Bhatura and a basmati rice mix


Mixed Vegetable Curry


Hot chana dal with potatoes

Bhatura (from Madhur Jaffrey)
1 cup all purpose white flour (we used white whole wheat)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1-1.5 TB plain yogurt
Vegetable oil for brushing the dough and for frying

1. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl.
2. Add egg and mix, slowly adding yogurt.
3. Begin kneading, adding yogurt until dough is soft. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth.
4. Form into a ball, brush with oil, cover with damp cloth, and keep in warm place for 3 hours.
5. With moistened hands, knead dough again.
6. Put oil in skillet, wok, or karhai, heat over medium flame. Allow oil time to get smoking hot.
7. Divide dough into 8 balls and flatten them. Flour rolling surface and roll balls into 4.5 inch rounds.
8. Drop rounds into oil. As they begin to sizzle, press down on them gently with the back of a slotted spoon. It will puff up. Turn them over and let other side brown lightly. The whole process should take about a minute.

Hot chana dal with potatoes (from Madhur Jaffrey)
1/2 cup chana dal, cleaned and washed
1 tsp salt
4 TB vegetable oil
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp whole cumin seeds
10 fenugreek seeds
2 fresh green chilis (we used serrano)
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 slice fresh ginger, grated
4 boiled new potatoes, diced to 1/2 in. cubes
1/8 tsp freshly round pepper
3 TB tamarind paste

1. Boil dal with 3 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 1 hour. Drain and set aside.
2. In a skillet, heat oil over medium high flame. When the oil is hot, add mustard cumin, and fenugreek seeds. In a few seconds, as soon as the seeds darken and pop, add green chilis. Turn over once, then add chopped onion and greated ginger. Stir and fry the onions for 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Add boiled dal and boiled potatoes, salt, pepper, tamarind paste. Mix and cook over medium flame for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Mixed Vegetable Curry (http://www.sailusfood.com/)
2 cups onions
1 cup cauliflower
1 cup carrots
3/4 cup french beans
1 cup potatoes
3/4 cup green peas
1 cup tomatoes
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 green chillis slit length wise
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera,jeelakara)
3 cloves
4 green cardamoms
2″ cinnamon stick
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1/2 tsp cumin pwd
1/4 tsp garam masala pwd
2 tbsp brown onion paste (fry 2 sliced onions till brown and make a paste of it)
2 tbsp curd (yogurt)
3 tbsp tomato paste
salt
vegetable oil
coriander leaves for garnishing

For cashewnut paste:
2 tbsp cashewnuts
1 tbsp melon seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds

Soak the cashewnuts, melon seeds and poppy seeds in water for 20 minutes and make a smooth paste. Keep aside.

1. Chop the veggies. Parboil the vegetables except onions and tomatoes adding some salt.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a cooking vessel and add the par-boiled veggies and fry for 3-4 minutes. Keep aside.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a vessel. Add the whole garam masala (spices) and jeera. Let it splutter. Add chopped onions and slit green chillis and fry till transparent.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till oil seperates.
5. Add red chilli pwd, coriander pwd, cumin pwd, and salt. Mix well.
6. Add the chopped tomatotes and fry till oil seperates. You need to stir fry the paste really well.
7. Add the parboiled veggies and mix well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes, .i.e the veggies need to be well coated in this onion-tomato masala.
8. Add the tomato paste and mix well.
9. Add brown onion paste and curds and mix well.
10. Add the cashewnut paste and mix well.Cook covered for 2-3 minutes.
11. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and mix well and cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Add garam masala pwd and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

I was on an Indian kick and wanted to use up the fresh coriander I bought, so I made some of this to go with my left overs.