Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Hallelujah, we have an oven!  It's been a long 8 months without an oven and I have to say, I will do my best never to go that long without an oven again!  Here in the Netherlands, these combination unit devices are more common than having a stand alone oven.  While I'm sure there are some higher end brands, the ones I've come across are crap and do not work as a microwave or an oven! I think the Dutch should throw caution to the wind on this one, sacrifice efficiency this time, and throw this combination microwave/oven idea out the window!

So, being a bit more tempered about this, after living for 2 years in Italy without a microwave and only an oven, I was at a loss when I first arrived in the Netherlands with this combination devices.  Cook fish on the stove-top? What?  Well, of course we adapted after a while, but baking things likes cakes, scones, brownies, roasted vegetables were all out the window, it was almost like a whole food group was gone! I'm happy it's back and here's my first recipe I'd like to share with my newly installed oven (credit goes to the hubs for that!).

This recipe is derived from this post, one of the few food blogs I follow regularly.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted 
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree 
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups of milk (I used full fat, but the original recipe indicates skim milk will work)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 cups of rolled oats
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter, if using salted butter leave this out)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves (not the original recipe calls for 1/8, but I like the clove flavor so I doubled it)
• 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (I had pecans, the original recipe calls for walnuts)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven (!) to 350 degrees F (or in my world, 175 degrees C).  Brush a light coating of melted butter onto your baking pan (muffin tin, mini loaf pan or regular loaf pan) or spray with cooking spray and set aside. 
2. In a bowl, combine the melted butter, pumpkin puree, sugar, skim milk, and eggs.  Use a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or use an immersion blender and mix on low to medium speed until the mixture is smooth and the lumps from the pumpkin puree are gone. 
3. Slowly add the rolled oats, baking powder, salt (if using unsalted butter), cinnamon, ginger, and ground cloves mixing well (by hand if not using a standing mixer, on low if using a standing mixer).  
4. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the chopped nuts until thoroughly incorporated. 
5. Evenly divide the batter or spoon into the prepared pan and bake until lightly golden.  The muffins/loaves should be springy, about 30 minutes. 

(Not the greatest photo in the world, but a really hearty breakfast.  When it first came out of the oven, we topped it with butter and brown sugar - similar to how I normally eat my oatmeal.  I've been taking it to work now for breakfast or a snake and it's great as is, definitely feels healthy and not very sweet at all. If you want a sweeter treat, up the amount of granulated white sugar or add brown sugar to the mix).  

If you try it and find other variations you like, please drop a note and let me know!  

Buon Appetito!

Raghavan Iyer's Sliced Okra Soup (bathed in Buttermilk) from 660 Curries

I'm finally back in the kitchen, inspired by local ingredients and fellow friends helping me get back into the groove of things.  I'm definitely working my way back up the hill, but things are looking up.  This weekend was fantastic cooking-wise, I managed to get a number of recipes under my belt that I'm happy to be writing about.  I think I spent both Saturday and Sunday in the kitchen for a minimum of four hours each, but I am slowly beginning to feel normal in the kitchen again.

This recipe was one I decided on last minute on Saturday to accompany some roasted lamp chops I threw together (roasted in our brand new oven, more to come on that!) for dinner.  While I'm not sure it was the greatest pairing in the world, this was a delicious soup and fabulously simple to prepare and cook that I am inclined to make this a standard go-to 'open friends eyes to Indian food' recipe!

Note, I didn't plan well enough in advance to have buttermilk on hand.  Upon researching via the internet, I did find that a common replacement is one tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup of milk. Based on my research, the amount of time you should let the mixture sit is non-standard, I read anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes.  I ended up going with about 5 minutes, for good measure. Admittedly I have no idea what this recipe tastes like when buttermilk is used, but if you're looking for an healthy alternative, milk with lemon juice is a good one!

Ingredients:
1 pound okra (I used a frozen bag since good, fresh okra is available here.  These will little mini-okra which were cute, tasted the same as long okra)
4 cups buttermilk (or as per above, I used 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup of milk, let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes before using)
2 tablespoons of chickpea flour (also called Besan in Hindi, can be found in any Indian grocery store or perhaps try a Whole Foods type of store)
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon of ground tumeric
2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems (remove bulky stems)
12 medium-sized to large fresh curry leaves (as Raghavan advises in his book, there is no replacement for these leaves, if you don't have them just omit them.  Usually found in any Indian grocery store.  I only had dried leaves available when I made this soup)
2 tablespoons Ghee or melted butter
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (I just realized this recipe calls for fenugreek seeds and I used fennel, I will have to try this again!)

1. Trim the caps off the okra, and then cut the pods into 1 inch lengths.  Cut the pieces length wise.
2. Whisk the buttermilk/milk, chickpea flour, sugar, salt, cayenne, and turmeric together in a bowl, making sure the flour is completely incorporated with no lumps.  Then stir in the cilantro and curry leaves.                                        
3. Heat the ghee or melted butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle the cumin and fennel seeds into the pan and cook until they sizzle, turn brown-ish, and are fragrant, about 10 seconds.  
4. Immediately add the okra and stir-fry until the slices blister in spots and acquire a light brown coloration on their skin, between 8 and 10 minutes.  
5. Pour in the spiced buttermilk/milk mixture and stir once or twice to deglaze the pan, releasing any browned bits of spices and okra.  Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the okra is fork tender and the curry has thickened slightly, 10 to 12 minutes.  The color of the liquid will change from a pale, cream color to a bright yellow as the soup thickens.  

I hope you try this recipe and if you do, let me know what you think about it!

Eet Smakelijk (equivalent of Buon Appetito in Italian)!

Raghavan Iyer Breast of Chicken with Tomato and Coconut Milk from 660 Curries

Well, it's been quite a long time since I've blogged.  I certainly intended to blog more frequently over the last month, but with completing out my job contract and visitors from the US, it's been very busy around here! It's been great fun, but even though I've been cooking the entire time I really haven't found much time to blog. I received a lovely cook-book, 600 Curries by Raghavan Iyer, from my sister-in-law who visited us in early July and have been exploring many recipes from this book over the last month.  This is the first of what I expect will be many recipes I blog about from this cook-book.  Cooking from this book is quickly becoming a favorite past time around here!

Breast of Chicken with Tomato and Coconut Milk
adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer 660 (p. 146)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of oil (I used peanut, the recipe calls for canola)
1 small onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced (I used a small yellow onion, the recipe calls for a red onion)
4 medium sized cloves garlic, finely chopped (I used a blender for this)
2 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 2.5 inches long, 1 inch wide and 0.25 inch thick), julienned
1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons of English-Style Madras Curry Powder (don't let this stop you, this was very simple to make if you have a spice grinder and whole spices; it may be possible to mix the already ground spices as well, but I have not tried this)
1.5 teaspoon of coarse kosher or sea salt
0.25 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I actually used a lot more as I wanted a lot more broth, I used 8.5 fl oz)
1 large tomato, cored and fully chopped (I used 2 small ones and left out about 0.25 of the chopped tomatoes out - it felt like too much tomato and since it is added towards the end I didn't feel they would cook down enough)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems (I used a small handful, this is not something I would measure measure out)

English-Style Madras Curry Powder

Place the following items in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and blend until the mixture is finely ground (like your other ground spices!)
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds (I used black)
0.5 teaspoon whole clove (this was hard to measure, an approximate is fine and can also be adjusted to your taste)
0.5 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
5 to 7 dried red Thai or cayenne chilies, stems removed (to taste)

Once blended, add 1 teaspoon of ground tumeric to the mixture.

You will have leftover masala from this recipe.

Recipe:
1. Prepare all the ingredients (chop the tomatoes, grind the splice blend, cut the onion, garlic and ginger, etc.)
2. Preheat a wok over medium-high heat.  Add the oil and allow it to warm up.
3. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir-fry until they are light brown, about 5 minutes (yes, I used a timer)
4. Add the curry powder and mix with the vegetables.
5. Quickly thereafter, add the chicken and sear the meat on all sides (if possible, if not, sear on as many sides as possible)
6. Add salt to the mixture.
7. Add the coconut milk and allow it to come to a boil.  Turn down the heat and allow the chicken, vegetables, spices and coconut milk simmer until the chicken is cooked through.
7. Remove the chicken pieces using a slotted spoon.  Leave as much of the ginger and other vegetables in the soupy mixture remaining as possible.

Chicken cooked and removed from wok

8. Add the tomatoes and cilantro (the recipe calls to do this after the sauce thickens, but I wanted the tomatoes to cook down a bit) to the soupy mixture.
9. Raise the heat to medium,  and allow the sauce to reduce until it thickens to your desired consistency.

Sauce thickening with tomato and cilantro included

10. Add the chicken back into the wok and serve over cooked white rice immediately.

Final product in the wok!

Final product with cooked white rice

This was a fabulous weeknight meal and a great way to use of the massive amount of chicken I had leftover from earlier this week.  To make this faster, prepare the spice blend ahead of time and if possible and chop the onion and garlic ahead of time (but only a night in advance, of course, if you chop everything the day of that is better).  Leave the garlic to a quick chop in a blender/food processor. I ended up doubling the recipe (used the the single serving of garlic and ginger though) to accommodate the amount of chicken, which is great for leftovers (hopefully my new colleagues don't mind the smell of Indian food!).

Hope you enjoy this new recipe! Cheers!

Mushroom Tagliatelle

Last weekend I purchased a kilo of mushrooms after being so smitten with my cream of mushroom soup.  While I thought I would be turning them into soup, the mood just never struck my fancy... so I came up with an on-the-fly pasta dish.  I give full credit to my experience of living in Italy to this one... the meal came together without a pre-defined recipe, was pulled together based on what was in the fridge, and is very reminiscent of a typical weeknight meal in Italia.  Funny enough, I felt like I was home (whatever and wherever that is?!) eating this dish... 

Ingredients:
~500 grams of cremini mushrooms sliced and dry
1/2 of a yellow onion
2 tablespoons of olive oil or butter
Tagliatelle pasta (enough for 2 people), any other variety of pasta may be used
minced parsely
salt and pepper (to taste)
large spoonful of ricotta

1. Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil (for the pasta - once boiling, add in salt)
2. Heat olive oil or butter over medium-high heat
2. Add onions and saute until translucent
3. Add sliced mushrooms to the pan and saute.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

4. Mince parsley and set aside. 

5. Once pasta water is ready, add enough pasta for 2 people (I had leftover Tagliatelle from Italy, but anything will work)

6. Once pasta is cooked al dente, remove from water and add to saute pan with mushrooms.  Add ricotta and combine until all the ricotta is mixed into the dish(this will take some effort, but have some patience and it will come together) .

7. Top with parsley and serve. 

Super simple, really tasty, and hopefully uses up some food sitting in the fridge.  I hope you try it... Enjoy!