A Life Journey Together

Mtedza - Peanut puffs from Malawi

2013-03-25T16:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight was African Night at home. I made a peanut - calabaza squash stew and mbatata (Sweet potato cookies) and mtedza - these delicious & nutritious cookies made with peanuts. I adapted the recipe from here and used almond meal in addition to the peanuts and also some candied ginger! I used very less butter and added a little milk to bring the dough together. Checking Malawi off my list and

Sautéed Eggplants

2013-03-24T16:43:00.000-05:00

I never liked eggplants, or as the smaller Indian varieties are called - Brinjals, as a kid. These days I can't seem to get enough of them, especially as the smaller varieties are hard to find. My ultimate comfort food, cooking with them, is the Ennai Kozhambu, and the next best thing is to saute them with coconut or peanuts. I am not a fan of mushed eggplants and try to cook them in the

Jalapeño Cheddar Quiche

2013-03-07T13:06:00.000-06:00

Quiche has become a standard breakfast fare over the weekends here, especially since I love to bake in the winter. I either make them crustless or use a store-bought pie shell for the crust (we like the one from Trader Joe's after a friend's recommendation). Most of the time, it doesn't take a lot of planning, as long as I have eggs, some cheese and veggies at home. When we had friends over for

the girl and the fig

2013-03-03T21:51:00.002-06:00

Last month we were in CA - a business trip for S and a fun time for me - we made a day trip to the Sonoma Valley and hit my favorite wine celler - The Cline. After a wonderful tour of the winery, we went to the town and had lunch at 'the girl and the fig'. It was a early Valentine's day celebration for us and we had fun. Started the lunch with their cheese board of Goat cheeses, fig and

On the Wagon, Off the Wagon...

2013-02-18T12:41:00.002-06:00

Being on a diet has been an interesting experiment so far. I did manage to survive the first two weeks on the phase I South Beach Diet and losing a few pounds in the process. But I did not follow the diet 100% though. For the most part I was ok, and I would say the success rate of the first two weeks was about 90 - 95%. The phase two was a bit more challenging and I did about 80%. Then came a

New Home for a Painting & Dieting Woes

2013-01-14T17:52:00.000-06:00

After three weeks of trying to find a time that works, this painting titled "The Pond" went to its new home! I hope this brings lots of joy to the person who took it home. I am glad another one of my paintings has moved on :) And last night, I had a reception for a group show with two more local artists. It was fun and if not for my migraine, I would have stayed for longer. Days 3, 4 and 5

New Year, New Diet

2013-01-11T19:25:00.002-06:00

All these years, I never thought I would go on a diet. But, reality is different and the amount of time spent on the couch, combined with increasing waist line among other things has led me to kick start a weight loss program. As being a vegetarian is already a restricted diet, I was not sure what I wanted to do in terms of controlling what I eat. Inspired by some friends' posts on facebook -

Mini Mango Tartlets

2012-12-21T21:03:00.000-06:00

I made these for my last Art Show reception. It was an easy recipe and the tartlets tasted great! Ingredients: Pie Crust -1 (I used one from Trader Joe's); Cream Cheese - 8oz; Mango pulp - 1/2 cup sweetened; Sugar - 4 tbsp; Cardamom - 1/4 tsp powdered; Corn Starch - 1 tsp. Set oven to bake at 400F. Cut the pie crust to lay inside a regular or mini-muffin pan. I made the mistake of

Egg Curry with Okra

2012-12-18T16:27:00.000-06:00

Ever since we had dinner at Mingalaba Burmese Restaurant in the Bay Area last month, I have been dreaming about their okra egg curry. And during thanksgiving I tried tor recreate the dish from what I tasted there. And here is my version which was pretty close to the restaurant's. The only change I would make it add tomato paste to it and make the dish a little more tart. This was the second

Spicy Stuffed Eggplants

2012-12-11T09:30:00.000-06:00

This is one of my two favorite recipes to make with these little eggplants (brinjals). The other recipe is the 'ennai kozhambu'. We usually get the best ones either from Chicago or Milwaukee and hence it is a special treat. Made this dish below for the Thanksgiving Lunch we had at home with friends. Ingredients: 2 pounds small eggplants - slit crosswise from the bottom to the stalk; Spice

Gobi Paratha

2012-12-10T16:33:00.001-06:00

This morning I gave a private cooking lesson to a friend in Madison. She wanted to learn how to make stuffed parathas and egg curry. We made Cauliflower (gobi) paratha and here is my recipe! Make the dough first and let it rest. Dough Wheat flour - 1 cup (Atta from Indian store - a more finely milled wheat flour) Oil - 1 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Water - as needed To prepare

Productive Day

2012-12-03T21:20:00.001-06:00

I started and finished this piece today - something I haven't done in a while. The sun will get a small mirror in the center tomorrow after the coats of varnish. The painting is done henna style with acrylics on wood (not sure of the type) with textured lines. The painting is on a 12x16 cabinet door from the Habitat ReStore of Madison, WI. They are also doing a Salvage Art Show from April to

Easy Breezy Dessert

2012-11-28T09:30:00.000-06:00

On the day of Thanksgiving, while my guests were still on their long drive, I cooked and prepped a few things. I made a quiche for breakfast on Friday, made the Cheesy Jalapeño Garlic Bread, made a couple of Indian sweets to send to my brother and I was planning on making a flan for dessert. I ran out of time / got tired and eventually just made this for dessert. It was still yummy - used up

Baking Cheesy Jalapeño Garlic Bread

2012-11-27T17:57:00.002-06:00

November is a crazy busy in a good way month for us. Last year, I wanted to work on a novel during NaNoWriMo, but had to postpone it due to more than two weeks of travel. This month, I signed up for Art Every Day Month. I have been doing art almost every day, but has been unable to keep up the posting / blogging. We were traveling for a little more than a week and when we got back, it was

Garlic Pickle

2012-11-09T08:14:00.000-06:00

Home made pickles are easy to make and a lot more delicious. And can be low fat too. Here is a quick recipe for garlic pickle. I used a pickle masala bought from the Indian store in Chicago, but instead of the masala, one can add regular chilli powder. Also, I used a lot less oil than whats normally used for pickles - the only caveat being that the pickle has to be used up quickly, which is no

Mexican Baked Eggs

2012-11-08T09:30:00.000-06:00

I made this for brunch on Sunday before we watched the Packers Game. And actually I cooked it in the microwave and took much less time and energy than baking. Actually more like put together. I put two corn tortillas in the boat dish, topped them with a mixture of black beans (from a can) + my homemade salsa + shredded cheese, then broke an egg on top and cooked in the microwave till the eggs

Brussels Sprouts Hash

2012-11-07T18:40:00.000-06:00

Once again I have been bitten by the Pinterest bug. I have been seeing posts for a brussels sprouts hash with eggs on top and started craving them. And I made the hash with curry powder and coconut. It was yummy and we had it with rice and a sweet potato -yogurt gravy. I have come to appreciate my Cuisinart processor more and more everyday. This took less than 10 minutes to make including the

Grilled Cheese

2012-10-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

There are times one just has to ignore habit and indulge! We had a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner one day last week, just because I had a craving for it. This one was made with my favorite oat & nut bread with 3 years aged cheddar, caramelized onions sauteed with apple slices and cracked pepper. Yum :)

8 Season's Grille

2012-10-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

Madison Magazine's festival of Food was last week in Madison. And I won a couple of gift certificates for the 8 Season's Grille. On Saturday, S and I had a romantic luncheon there, with a three course meal. Well, we had leftovers for the next day's lunch. I was surprised we had not been to this place before. The ambience was neat and the food was good - except for a couple of minor things.

Lablabi - Tunisian Chick Pea Stew

2012-10-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

This simple dish with chick peas and garlic from African Dinner night turned out to be Shankar's favorite of the evening. Almost all the African dishes I have looked into so far have turned out to be very flavorful, yet easy to make one pot meals. Lablabi has many variations, but I followed this recipe, and it was very yummy! Add two cans of drained and rinsed chickpeas in a pot with

Pickle

2012-10-07T15:09:00.000-05:00

We recently had visitors from Kansas and they brought along with them some delightful & hot red peppers. The only thing I could think of making with them was a 'thokku' or a grated pickle. I also had some frozen raw mangoes that were waiting to be used up and so here is my experiment at making them work together into a delicious side kick! Ingredients: Raw Mango - 2 (chopped); Red Chili -

Tomato Rice

2012-10-06T18:55:00.000-05:00

S and I watched a movie called Today's Special this afternoon, which is about a Sous Chef in New York who finally ends up as the Chef in his father's Indian restaurant. The nostalgic factor was pretty high in the movie with one of the older lead characters listening to the old & classic hindi songs all the time. Anyways, it brought back memories of some of the comfort food that my mom makes.

Salsa Verde

2012-10-03T20:33:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks back, our friends J & J were visiting us and brought with them a bag of delicious tomatillos and green peppers that were mild. All the pepper plants in our garden were eaten by either squirrels or bunnies this year and the tomatillos are just starting to fruit. I have been using the gift from my friends in different dishes and finally used up most of them in this simple salsa

Butter Beans & Eggs Stew

2012-09-22T21:42:00.000-05:00

This is a stew one of our friends made for lunch a few years back. I started adding the egg to it more recently, when I was experimenting on another dish a friend's mom used to make. Its so simple, yet so tasty. Ingredients: Butter Beans - 1 can (16 oz); 1 small onion - diced; 1 ripe tomato - chopped; Curry powder - 1 tsp; Salt & Pepper to taste; Egg - 1; Green Chili - 1 diced; turmeric -

Madagascar Zucchini Skillet

2012-09-17T19:34:00.000-05:00

Though its been a while since I have posted anything on my cooking the world challenge, I am slowly moving along and covering a new country now and then. Here is the zucchini skillet I made a few weeks back. It was quick, easy and delicious. Ingredients: Zucchini / Summer Squash - 4 - sliced; Tomatoes - 1 chopped; Garlic - 2 cloves minced; Green Chilies - 1 minced; Salt & pepper - to