Sirsha's Desi Spinach Enchiladas

Ingredients : 
1 bunch spinach

1 onion

1/4inch ginger

1jalapeno

2 cloves garlic

2 potatoes

4 mushrooms

1/2 tsp jeera-dhania (cumin-coriander powder)

4 wheat tortillas

Goat cheese crumbles

Procedure : (50 mins)

1. Blanch spinach in hot water

2. Make onion/ginger/garlic paste

3. Fry paste till brown. Add spinach

3. Cook spinach and then blend to paste

4. Cube potatoes and boil till cooked (microwave for 5 min)

5. Saute potatoes in jeera-dhania, keep aside

6. Saute chopped mushrooms and halopeneo, mix with potato

7. lay 2 tortillas in a flat baking dish, spread potato-mushroom mix and cover with remaining 2 tortillas

8. Pour spinach paste onto tortillas. Crumble goat cheese on top and bake at 350 for 20 mins till cheese melts.

Options: - Use Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) instead of potatoes & mushrooms, then its Paalak Paneer Enchiladas!

Neha's Paalak Methi Corn

This is a dish that my mother-in-law gets made at a little seafood restaurant in Worli called Sealord to go with the tandoori fish :). It goes well with the fish, but also great by itself and versatile - with rotis or as a spread in tortillas/bread, topping for crostini...

Palak, Methi & Corn (Spinach Fenugreek Corn) (Prep time : 30 mins)
One bunch of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Half a packet of frozen methi leaves, defrosted (I'm not sure of the exact quantity, but it doesn't really matter, as long as the methi is a little less than the palak)
One packet of frozen corn, defrosted (or about 5-6 ears of fresh corn, shucked)
One onion, chopped
Cumin seeds
Ajwain (carom seeds)
One green chilli, finely chopped or to taste
2-3 tsps oil
Pinch of hing/asafoetida
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of ground coriander powder
Salt to taste

To make:
Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan, with a lid. When hot, add the hing, followed by the cumin and carom seeds. Once the seeds start to sizzle, add the onion, followed by the green chilli. Cook the onion on medium heat till soft, stirring occasionally - about 5-7 minutes.

Once the onion softens, add the spinach. You might need to do this in batches - waiting till the spinach in the pan wilts to add more. Once all the spinach has been added, cover and cook till the spinach is bright green. Add the defrosted methi leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, till the greens are cooked through. The mixture might look a bit dry at this stage - but that's okay.

Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Blend the mixture in a food processor till smooth.

Return the pan with the pureed greens back to the heat. Heat the puree through. Add the turmeric, coriander and salt. Stir. Add the corn and cook for a couple of minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Nidhi's Bell Pepper & Tomato Soup

While not quite qualifying as soul food (it's just the right amount of 'rich' in my opinion), I find it extremely comforting on a chilly or rainy evening.

Ingredients:
Red Bell Peppers (Large): 3
Ripe Tomatoes: 3
Shallot (very finely diced): 1 small
Cream (preferably sour, you can use whipping cream if you have that): 2 tbsp
Butter: 1/2 tbsp
Olive Oil: to brush the veggies before broiling
Garlic (minced): 3 cloves
Fresh Thyme and Rosemary: use thyme liberally and rosemary a tad cautiously
Salt/Pepper/Red Pepper Flakes: to taste

Preparing the peppers and tomatoes:
1. Wash the peppers and tomatoes and pat dry. Rub some oil (vegetable oil or olive oil) on the veggies, covering the grooves, put them on a baking sheet and broil them on the top shelf, turning as necessary. They should be done in about 8-10 mins (dark brown/black spots all over). Stay close to your oven to avoid charring.
2. Put the broiled veggies in a bowl and cover with lid or just put them in a paper bag and allow them to sweat for around half an hour. This would loosen the skin. Now take the skin off of the veggies and rough chop.

To the soup:
1. Get a heavy-bottomed pan (Le Creuset or such), and melt the butter on medium heat. Sautee the minced garlic and shallots till the shallots are translucent, and add the chopped veggies, season as necessary
2. Puree with an immersion blender or in a regular mixer.
3. Add the herbs (Rosemary/Thyme), close the lid and simmer on low heat for 15-20 mins. Add cream during the last 5 mins of cooking. Check for seasoning and serve as is or with croutons.

Happy eating!

Seema's Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

A little decadence is always a good thing!

Ingredients:

100 gms dark chocolate

125 gms unsalted butter, softened

90 gms dark brown/muscavado sugar

35 gms caster sugar

4 heaped tbsp cocoa powder (not the Cadburys variety – that’s too sweet!)

100 gms dark chocolate chips

140 gms plain/self-raising flour

2 tsp – vanilla essence/vanilla extract

1 egg

1 tsp soda bicarb

Pinch of salt

Keep at hand – 25 mls of milk

You could add:

-25 gms instant coffee powder if you’d like to flavour the cookies. Adjust the sugar quantity if adding this depending on how dark/sweet you like the cookies

-Chopped walnuts instead of chocolate chips (or with them)

-Orange essence to make choc and orange cookies - in this case, make sure to add the zest of a large orange too.

Procedure:

1. Heat the oven at 170 C.

2. Melt chocolate in a bowl – usually this should be done using a water bath but I’m lazy so I microwave it on the lowest setting the machine has for about a minute or two until melted.

3. In another bowl, mix softened butter with the two sugars and cream together till well blended, pale and fluffy. I find it best to use an electric egg beater- makes the whole process so much easier (unless of course you have some fancier gadget to make dough etc).

Note: I wonder what would happen if we were to use softened goor instead of the brown sugar? Perhaps need some more of the white sugar to balance the dark flavours? Must try

4. Add the egg and beat for 2 minutes. Add in the melted chocolate and vanilla and beat for another minute.

Note: When I make anything using melted chocolate, I hate to waste any that’s stuck to the bowl and won’t come off. At this stage, I am feeling pretty virtuous and want to use all the chocolate in the cookies instead of licking the bowl dry. In which case, I add a splash of milk and stick it back in the microwave for 20 seconds on a low setting or in the water bath till I can mix it altogether and add it to the cake/cookie mixture. Sometimes I just drink the mixture. 

5. Sift together the flour, soda bicarb, salt and cocoa powder into the egg-chocolate mixture and mix all ingredients together for 3-4 minutes. Add the chocolate chips and mix together lightly with a spoon. The mixture should be pretty grainy, not pourable like cake batter, but thick and gloopy. If the mixture is too runny for cookie dough, add some more flour till it gets drier.

6. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. Use a rounded spoon or a melon baller and butter knife to make the cookies. Scoop a small quantity of the dough and drop a rounded ball on the greaseproof sheet – this does not have to be 360 degrees, just a small mound. Do not flatten. Use a knife to scoop off the spoon or melon baller to make life easier. Make more of these small mounds about 6-7 cms apart – this is necessary since the cookies will spread during the cooking process.

7. Bake for 18-19 minutes. The cookies are ready if a fork comes out cleanish. Remove from oven and let cool for a minute of two. Then remove on a plate or a large tin and let cool for 30-45 minutes. These will harden as they cool.

8. Serve with milk and receive gracious compliments!

9. Notes: If adding coffee, do so at stage 5 with the dry ingredient. If adding orange, reduce the quantity of vanilla to a quarter, and mix together in stage 4. Add zest at the end with the chocolate chips. If using walnuts, mix last instead of the chocolate chips.

Seema's Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto..mmmm!

Comfort Food – Roast Butternut Squash Risotto with Red Chilli and Rocket
Makes enough for 4 (ok so on a bad day, I eat enough for all 4)

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1 Butternut squash (about 600 gms)
200 ml – white wine
200 gms – risotto rice
1 ltr – vegetable stock
1 - medium onion, sliced
2 cloves - garlic, finely chopped and crushed
2 cloves - garlic, cut into 4 large pieces each and crushed
1 level tsp - Red chilli flakes
1 tbsp – olive oil or 10 gms butter, as you please
4 tsps, 2 each – fresh herbs, including rosemary and thyme
Handful – fresh rocket, if like me you are fan
To taste - Salt and pepper
To drizzle - Balsamic vinegar
Parmesan cheese (depending on your diet plans)

Procedure:
1. Clean the butternut squash, peel the skin, cut into big pieces and put in a roasting tin. Drizzle some oil, add the large garlic pieces, some salt and pepper and half the herbs to the tin. Toss together till all the squash pieces are covered. Stick the tin in the oven at 200 C for about 40 minutes or till squash is cooked through and slightly mushy. You could also add the balsamic vinegar at this stage to add deeper flavour to the dish.

2. Add olive oil/butter to a large pot on medium heat. When the oil starts to heat, add the remaining herbs – you should get a lovely aroma wafting through. When the herbs go nuclear and start spluttering (which will happen pretty soon if the oil is very hot), add onions and soften for about a minute. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook together for a minute.

3. Add the wine so that the alcohol evaporates and there is a very runny sauce. You could experiment with adding white wine vinegar (about 2 tbsps) at this stage if you don’t have any proper wine and let me know how it turns out. After a minute or two of the wine/vinegar cooking, add the rice and fry for 3-4 minutes or till all the liquid has been absorbed. Try not to drink the rest of the wine in the process as being sober will immensely helpful in the next stage.


4. Add all the goodies from the roasting tin and then start adding stock, a large ladleful at a time. Yes, its okay to use ready made stock (some Italian grandma is probably turning in her grave by this time if you have used vinegar, so it doesn’t matter) but the risotto now needs careful supervision so you will need to stand by the cooker. Stir the rice regularly and add stock each time all the liquid in the pot has been absorbed.

5. How do you know if the risotto is done and you can stop adding any unnecessary stock?
-Does the rice look happy and plump?
-Is it covered in a thick, juicy coating but is still vaguely visible?
-Does it feel ‘al dente’ enough without breaking your teeth?
If you said yes to all the questions above, then you should be nearly there.

6. Season the dish well with salt and pepper.

7. If you are a rocket fan, mix in a handful of rocket once you take the pot off the cooker. Spoon out individual portions on plates, add parmesan cheese and drizzle with a splash of balsamic vinegar – I love this as balsamic vinegar really does bring all the flavours together.

8. Happy eating – feel free to add or subtract from this recipe but remember that it is called a ‘roasted’ butternut squash risotto for a reason so try not to change that. Oh, and let me know how it goes with the white wine vinegar!

Nidhi's Fennel, Kale & Goat Cheese Panini

These are perfect for a late weekend brunch or fixing a breezy breakfast if you have any filling left over.

You need:
Fennel - 1 bulb
Kale - 1 bunch (about a pound)
Goat Cheese - 2-3 oz
Whole Grain Bread - a loaf
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter-1 tsp
Orange Juice - 1/4 cup
Red Onion - 1 small (thinly sliced)
Garlic - 2 cloves (finely chopped/minced)
Pepperoncini - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste


To prepare:
Core the fennel and remove the stringy/tough outer layer, chop up into 1/2 inch squares/strips. I like to use the aromatic green leaves on the stem as well (In any case, save some for garnish if you don't like getting too much of the thread-like stuff between your teeth). For Kale, just take off the stems and use the leaves.

To cook:
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy skillet/pan, stir in the onions, garlic and pepperoncini. As the onions begin to color, add fennel, orange juice, and salt. Cover and let cook for 15-20 mins or till the fennel is tender. Add Kale and saute till it turns dark green (5-7 mins). Uncover and allow the liquid to dissipate.


To grill:
Plug in your panini press and let it attain the optimum temp. Add the Fennel/Kale filling and pile hunks of goat cheese on to a slice of whole grain bread (Any hearty bread would do, I use Alvarado St's Sprouted Wheat Multi-grain or La Brea's whole grain), as you would for a sandwich and cover with another slice. Put a thin sliver of butter on the grill. Put your sandwich on to it as it sizzles, place another tiny flake of butter on top. Do 2 or more paninis at a time, depending on the size of your bread and/or panini press. The paninis should be done in 3-4 minutes.


P.S. The vegetable stir fry can just as easily be used as a side to pasta or a creamy soup.