Sunburst Peach Tart

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This is such a pretty dish. I first served it at a National T.T.T. Society Holiday Tea at my house in 2002. Maya was about 3 and greeted each guest at the door with a curtsy. I have no idea why – but everyone loved it!

6 oz. butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/4 cup sugar
6 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
Juice of half a lemon
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
large can sliced peaches, drained
4 oz chopped pecans or hazelnuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add everything else, except nuts, folding gently. Pour into a large springform pan, and arrange peach slices in a sunburst pattern. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, and bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes. Serve with pouring custard. 

Samir’s Favorite Kitchiri

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Kitchiri is a wonderful mix of rice and lentils that is a great, filling vegetarian main dish. It is kind of based on kedgeree, which is more soupy. But it’s easy, quick and definitely worth trying. It is also, as per the title, one of Samir’s favorites.

1 cup red daal, soaked for 30 minutes, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 stick butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic puree
2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves
3 cardamoms
2 bay leaves
1 stick cinnamon
5 cups water (or 5 cups chicken stock if not worried about being vegetarian)
2 tsp vegetable stock
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp salt
black pepper

Saute onion and garlic in butter and oil for 5 minutes. Add rice and spice and saute for 1 minute. Add all else, stir well, cover and cook on low heat 20 minutes.

Chicken Paprikash

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Note from August of 2002 – Kumy loves this.

1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
Seasoned flour: 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red pepper cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, quartered and cut into thin slices
3/4 cup chicken stock (or 3/4 cup water and 1 tsp chicken base)
1 tsp garlic puree
1 1/2 tsp paprika

Toss chicken in seasoned flour. Fry in oil until golden. Remove from pan. Toss in garlic, saute 2 minute then add onions. Cook a couple of minutes, then add pepper and paprika. Cook for a minute more, and then add back chicken and stock.

Simmer over low heat for 2 hours, and serve over pasta.

Thai Sticky Rice

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We met Tao because her son Benson was a really good friend of Samir. She is a great cook and shared her Thai Sticky Rice recipe with me. Super easy and super delish!

2 cups sticky rice (it’s a sweeter rice but you could probably make it with jasmine rice, too or even regular long grain rice if you don’t have an asian market close by.)
water
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (not coconut cream)
1/2 cup plus a little more sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Soak rice in a glass dish in plenty of water for 30 minutes. Drain until there’s just a little water left. Cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes.

Remove from microwave. Stir coconut milk, sugar and salt in a bowl and blend gently into the rice. You can add a drop of food coloring to the sticky rice if you like.

Put the cover back on and microwave for 5-10 minutes until the rice is done. Fluff gently with a fork and serve.

Corn Bread

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1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl and gently blend the two. Pour batter into a glass pie pan and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot with butter and a drizzle of honey.

Curried Couscous

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I have a note with this recipe – great with roast chicken.

1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 1/2 cups couscous
2 1/2 cups hot chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbsp Curry powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp tabasco sauce
2 Tbsp golden raisins

Saute onions in oil and butter until translucent. Add curry powder and cook for a minute more. Take off heat and add lemon, tabasco and raisins. Mix chicken broth, couscous and salt, then cover and let sit for a few minutes. Fluff with a fork, and dump into onion mixture. Stir well and serve.

Spaetzle

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Spaetzle is a delicious soft pasta that’s made fresh and then fried in butter.  It’s a German staple.  My  mom used to make Spaetzle when I was younger, using a metal colander and wooden spoon to push the super soft dough into a pot of boiling, salted water.  I have a way cool spaetzle maker (thank you Colleen B!) that looks like a grater with a hopper on top, but the colander and spoon method works just fine, too.

2 1/8 cup flour  (500 gms for anyone who cooks that way.)
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Butter

Mix the dough really well. It will be very sticky and soft. Start a large pot of salted water boiling, then turn down to a simmer. If you’re using a colander, dump about a cup of the dough at a time in it, and holding the colander over the simmering water, start scraping the wooden spoon back and forth across the bottom, so the dough drops out of the bottom holes. The noodles cook very quickly, so have a slotted spoon ready to take them out of the pot.

Meantime, melt some butter in a frying pan. When you pull the noodles out of the boiling water, shake as much water out as you can, and drop them into the melted butter to fry for a minute or so.

If you have an awesome spaetzle maker like mine, you just put the grater portion on top of the pot, dump in the dough in the hopper and slide it back and forth over the water.

Makes a ton of noodles and is so delicious.

Alfredo SAuce

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1 Tbsp Olive oil or butter
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup half n half
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1 Tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tsp dry parsley
Parmesan cheese

Blend oil and flour in a saucepan, and heat it on medium heat until it’s starting to bubble. Add half n half and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Add parsley and garlic and cook for another minute. Add parmesan and remove from heat. Serve over pasta.

Ali’s Pot Roast

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When my kids were little, we hardly ever ate red meat.  I finally made a pot roast and for Ali it was truly love at first bite.  He still loves it and often makes it, too – in a pressure cooker since he just can’t wait!

4 lbs. rump roast, sprinkled with salt and pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 onions, cut in quarters
2 cups carrots, cut in bite size chunks
4 stalks celery, cut in bite size chunks
5 large potatoes, scrubbed well and cut into bite size pieces
kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
Beef base

Heat oil in a dutch oven and brown rump roast well, turning to brown all sides. Add a 1/4 – to 1/2 cup water and all veggies. Sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Cover and bake at 325 for 3 hours. Remove from oven, and pull out veggies, and meat. Keep warm. Place dutch oven on stove on low heat and add beef base and enough water to end up with 2 cups of gravy. Add cornstarch to a little water in a cup and stir well. Pour cornstarch slurry into pan, stirring well. Cook on low heat, scraping up any cooked on bits until the gravy thicken. Serve with the veggies and meat.

Ali’s additions:  1 cup red wine, splash of balsamic vinegar and a splash of asian fish sauce.

Chili Mac

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Super easy dish to make – especially if you’re staying somewhere with limited kitchen supplies, like a cabin.

1 pkg elbow macaroni (can use odds and ends of pasta, too)
salt
1 can of Hormel Turkey Chili Can also use vegeterian chili beans.
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Boil pasta in salted water according to label directions. Drain and heat chili in the saucepan. Add pasta and cheese and stir.