New camera!

Also, I'm just in love with my new digital SLR camera. So expect bigger and better pictures.

 

Butternut squash and Kale Lasagna

I hadn't made lasagna in a while, so I wanted to try a new recipe. I found this excellent recipe from my Mom's recipe treasure, and I surely wasn't disappointed. I was afraid the butternut squash would end up being too sweet so I balanced it by making the tomato sauce extra spicy and the bitter kale works well with the sweet butternut squash as well. I also added almonds to add some crunch. Turned out fabulous.


Recipe adapted from Sunset magazine's recipe

1 medium butternut squash
9 sheets wheat lasagna pasta
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 cans diced tomatoes
paprika and chili powder to make it spicy
thyme or sage
1 can riccotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cups chopped almonds
nutmeg
black pepper
crushed pepers

1. Chop onions and garlic and sautee until soft. Add the tomatoes; spice it up with some chili powder and crushed peppers and cook for about 30 minutes.
2. Chop up the butternut squash into 1 inch cubes. Marinate in thyme and olive oil and bake at 350 F until the butternut squash is soft. Puree the butternut squash to make a fine paste.

3. Cook the Kale and chop up finely.

4. Cook the lasagna pasta and set aside.
5. Mix the riccotta cheese with 1 cup mozzarella cheese and nutmeg. Add in the chopped almonds and mix.

6. Arrange layers of tomato sauce, butternut squash paste, kale and the riccotta mixture. Top off the a generous layer of the 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F.

Balsamic strawberry black pepper Jam

I couldn't resist buying these strawberries at the farmer's market. But of course, it's way more than me, or my family can consumer before it all goes bad. Solution? Jam, of course!

So I've never made Jam before, and I've always assumed that it would be a long laborious process, involving the serious food thermometer and risking kitchen injuries. Not true at all! The process didn't take more than half an hour, and I'm mighty pleased with the results. I didn't want to just make regular strawberry jam, so I modified this recipe from Canadian Living.









Here's what you do:

3 cups strawberries
1/4 pack Pectin
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp balsalmic vinegar
1 tsp coarsely cracked fresh black pepper



Drop the strawberries in a large cooking pot. Mash the strawberries thoroughly until it reaches a pulpy juice consistency. Add 1/8 cup sugar along with the pectin to this mixture. Cook the mixture on high heat until the mixture is thoroughly boiling. Add the remaining sugar and cook until the mixture is boiling thoroughly once again. Cook for one more minute. Remove from heat, and add the balsalmic vinegar and the fresh pepper.

Pizza topped with arugula pesto, tomatoes and mozzarella

I typically don't care much for arugula in my salad, but I love arugula pesto. It's strong and has a bit of a kick to it. I thought it would go excellently well with pizza, and it was!

Arugula pesto
pizza dough
1 tomato
5 slices of chunky mozzarella cheese

Top the pizza dough with arugula pesto, and place the tomatoes all over. Top with generous slices of mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F.







Arugula pesto recipe(modified from Martha Schulman's fabulous recipe in the Times)
2 cups fresh arugula
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp walnuts
1/3 cup-1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Drop the garlic in the food processor and finely chop the garlic. Scrape the sides of the food processor, and add the walnuts and grind until the walnuts are finely blended in with the garlic. Finally add the arugula, and drip in the olive oil to form your desired consistency.

Caramelized Onion Pizza with Taleggio cheese

It's Pizza time! Making pizzas are fun because you can be creative, and really the world is your oyster when it comes to toppings. I like to keep toppings simple- usually not more than 2 ingredients as a rule. I discovered Taleggio cheese on a ski tip to Tahoe with a huge group of people, and I really began to appreciate cheese as an ingredient on its own. Yes yes, I'm a late bloomer when it comes to cheese. I'm going to try experimenting more with types of cheese from now on though. Ok, so this is one of two pizzas I'm going to post separately.

Pizza dough- I happen to love Pizza dough at Whole foods. I normally try making my own, but their dough is so good, I've given up on making my own.

Pizza dough
2 medium onions
taleggio cheese to top


Roast onions in olive oil until they are light brown in color. They should be slightly sweet. Add a tinge of salt if you want. Roll the pizza dough into the desired shape. Sprinkle the caramelized onions and finish off with a generous layer of the Taleggio cheese. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F.

Pineapple Uttappam with roasted tomato onion chutney

Uttappam is something like a savory pancake, without egg ofcourse. It's typically small and thick and is often made with onions, chilis, bellpeppers or anything else. I wanted to try it out with pineapple. One, because I had an excellent version of it at an Indian restaurant in Berkelye and two, well, because I happen to love pineapple. What's not to love.

Some find pineapple to be too sweet in food, but I love the sudden explosion of sweet along with the savory. Pineapple red curry is another big favorite of mine. Ok, here goes:




Rice-uttappam batter
Pineapple
Finely diced green chilis
salt

I paired the uttappam with a new chutney. Very simple, yet effective.

Roasted tomato and onion chutney

1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion
1 tsp red chili powder



Puree the diced tomatoes and the onion to form a pureed blend. It should be bright pink in color. Roast the pureed mixture for about 30 minutes on medium heat. Add chili powder and salt. The chutney, after the chili powder, will turn a beautiful red.

I loved pairing the pineapple uttappam with this savory chutney. Yum yum.

Banana pecan bread. No egg.

This one is a huge family favorite. Baking in my family proves to be a challenge because my Indian family tends to fuss about adding egg. This is a perfect banana bread recipe eliminating egg. You can also make it vegan without the buttermilk.

In honor of my first half-marathon, my awesome co-worker brought in a huge bunch of bananas. Bananas for calcium before my big race day, for the uninitiated. Bananas were delicious before the race but quickly turned over-ripe. Turns out over-ripe bananas work perfectly for banana bread.

4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup pecans
1/8 - 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp baking soda



Combine all ingredients, mashing the bananas, until you achieve a runny consistency; some lumps should be OK.





Bake at 350 C for an hour or so.

Primero.

Not sure if this is the major geek in me talking, but experiments are fun! Experimenting with food is arguably the most productive( and fulfilling) form of experimentation.

I love food, I love photography, and I am aching to write. I plan to fill this space with all kinds of randomness but I suspect that writing about food will take away a disproportionate share of the honors. What a cool way to document all the little family treasures, and my little tweaks on classic recipes.

Let's see where this takes me. For now, I'm just kicked!