Bell Pepper Cheese Tartlets for Taste and Create

I had bought these tartlet dishes a while ago because I thought they were so pretty and never really used them. I saw this delightful recipe from Nirmala at Amma's Special and was so excited to use my tartlet dishes.
http://passionatetrials.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/bell-pepper-cheese-tartlets-jfi-bell-pepper/. Nirmala and I got paired up as part of Taste and Create's Spring Edition. The way it works is that you re-create something from your partner's blog. Check out details here http://forfood.rezimo.com/?page_id=606.

I was so happy to be paired up with Amma's Special, as Nirmala has delicious pictures and recipes on her blog, ones that make your mouth water endlessly!

I pretty much followed Nirmala's recipe faithfully, except, I baked my tartlets for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees. I was so happy with my tartlets! They were so easy to make yet so lovely, and the aroma of bell peppers baking in the oven was heavenly. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks Nirmala! And also thanks to Nicole at For the Love of Food for hosting this event.

Arugula Mango Salad and Polenta with Mushroom and Onions

I made this quick salad and baked polenta for friend who came over for dinner. This is now one of my favorite meals especially as it is practically summer!

For the Arugula Mango Salad, I tossed baby arugula, chopped mango, chopped red bell pepper, sunflower seeds and crumbled feta cheese with olive oil, salt and freshly crushed pepper. This combination was delicious and pretty healthy too!

For the Polenta, I sliced pre-made Polenta into 1/2 inch slices and baked with Parmesan cheese on top. For the topping I sauteed red onion and mushroom in olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper and dried basil. Garnished with sliced grape tomatoes and you have a feast for the eyes as well!

Souffled Eggs

The New York Times recently had an article about souffled omelette's/eggs and I had wanted to give it a try. I could not find the article, but I sort of remembered how it was to be done so gave it a shot. You can vary the topping depending on what you have. I used onions and tomatoes, but next time will try with mushrooms and cheese as well.

I only used 3 eggs, but was able to fill a whole pie dish. The eggs were soft and puffy like little clouds that would melt in your mouth. I don't think I could go back to a regular omelette after this!

Ingredients:

3 eggs separated
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 onion chopped fine
1/2 tomato chopped fine
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 teaspoons jalapeno finely chopped (optional)
Handful of parsley finely chopped.
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus some for greasing pie dish
Salt and freshly crushed pepper to taste.

Method:

Grease pie dish and pre heat oven to 350 degrees. For the topping, saute onions, tomatoes and jalapeno in Olive oil and season with salt and pepper and set aside. Beat egg yolks and milk, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Next using a hand mixer, whisk egg whites till frothy, then add vinegar and beat eggs till soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into yolks but do not over mix. Pour mixture into pie dish and bake for about 5 to 7 minutes or till the top is very slightly browned and firm. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

Note: I was not patient enough and when I took it out, the bottom was still runny so I poured the runny part into the onion and tomato mixture to cook and then poured that on the eggs. The eggs still turned out nice and fluffy.

Bread Beginnings

Saturday afternoon was rainy and pearfect for experimenting with bread making. While the dough was rising I made the Pear and Ginger jam, more so to distract myself from peaking at the dough every few minutes, which however did not really stop me from doing so! For my first attempt at making bread I used this simple recipe I found at busy cooks.
http://busycooks.about.com/library/lessons/blbread1013.htm

I followed the recipe faithfully except:

1. I used whole wheat flour instead of bread flour.

2. I made 4 slashes on the top instead of 3 : ).

It tasted great with the Pear and Ginger Jam and the usual suspects butter and cheese.The crust was delicious but the inside was a bit dense. Perhaps it was because I used whole wheat flour and not bread flour, or maybe I didn't let it rise enough, didn't knead it enough, who knows! But, I kept staring at and touching my bread in complete disbelief that I had created it! Looking forward to future experiments with bread making, and, overall was quite pleased with my humble bread beginnings!

Pear and Ginger Jam

When my mother was visiting, one evening when walking back to my apartment from the subway she bought some pear and ginger bread. I was intrigued with the combination ever since and so came the idea for pear and ginger jam. However, after some research I realized that I was not the only one to think of this great flavor combination. I saw several recipes for pear and ginger jam and they used crystallized ginger and pectin and I wanted to try something without them because I didn't have them. So I kind of made up a recipe using all my Internet jam knowledge.

The jam was spicy with the ginger and cloves and then when you ate a piece of pear it was sweet but not too sweet. I am hooked on this combination!














Ingredients:

5 pears
1 cup of sugar
2 inches of ginger peeled and thinly sliced
20 whole cloves
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 to 3/4 cup of water.

Method:

Core pears and chop into small chunks and toss with lemon juice. Place pears and water in a pot and cook on slow for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next add ginger and cloves and bring to a boil for a minute or so and then simmer. Using a potato masher, mash down pears mixture till desired consistency is reached. Add sugar, stir and cook on slow fire for 15 minutes. Next bring to a boil stirring constantly till most of the water is evaporated. The consistency will be syrupy when hot, but will get a jammish consistency when cooled. Pour into hot clean jars when hot. Seal, let cool and then refrigerate. I was able to fill 3 small jars with about a cup of jam in each. I did not sterilise the jars, I have a feeling the jam will go soon and make sterilising not necessary! Now if only I could bake a pearfect loaf of bread to go with it hehe!

Okra with Onions and Tomato (Bhindi Sabji)

When I saw Okra in my local supermarket I picked some up without even thinking about it, as previously I have only seen it in Asian markets. Growing up we had Okra at least once or twice a week as a part of lunch or dinner. Okra is so quick and easy to prepare, delicious and apparently has many nutritional benefits. Although I crave it more just for its unique taste and texture!

Okra prepared this way would have been perfect with Rotis or Parathas (Indian flat bread). But, I ate it with rice and left over curry. Yummy!

Ingredients:

About a pound of okra, washed, ends cut and removed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 a tomato chopped fine
1 onion chopped fine (I used a white onion, but red would be even better)
2 cloves garlic chopped fine
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons of chopped chilies (I used jalapeno)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Heat oil in pan and toast cumin seeds. Add onions and brown. Add garlic when onions are almost cooked. Next add coriander powder, chili powder, chillies and stir. Then add okra and cook on medium heat stirring for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomato and stir. Season with salt and serve warm.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am going to DC for the long weekend and thought these chocolate chip cookies would be a nice traveling treat for the train journey. I saw a recipe on joy of baking and went for it. http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateChipCookies.html

I tried to wait for one to cool a bit before I did my taste test, but didn't have much luck with that! The cookie had a cakey light texture and then the melty chocolate was divine! I will definitely make these again, next time with room temperature butter!

I pretty much followed the recipe except:

1. I halved the recipe and got 13 cookies.

2. My butter was not at room temperature, so I cut it in to small pieces added sugar and creamed and then added eggs. I would not recommend this, as the butter and sugar kind of flew around a bit and made a mess! I would ahem stick with room temperature butter next time.

3. I used whole wheat flour

4. Used only granulated sugar and no brown sugar (only coz I didn't have any brown sugar on me)

5. I baked on foil, which I then used to wrap the cookies to take on my journey.