Someone named Gillian from a food group that I belong to made Indian Chicken. I asked her what spices that she used and wrote them down. I looked around to see what I had to use up and saw cucumbers so I wanted to make an interesting cucumber salad with Gilian’s spices for Indian Chicken. This is not an authentic Indian cucumber salad. It is Indian Inspired. My idea of serving size may differ from your idea of serving size.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
6 cucumbers – peeled – sliced long ways – (optional remove seeds and membrane) – sliced
1 small red onion – sliced extra thin
8 oz grape tomatoes – each tomato sliced in half
2 1/2 oz radish – sliced extra thin
1 carrot – sliced extra thin (peel if not organic)
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons Indian curry
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 cup fresh cilantro (just leaves and tender stems) – chopped
Directions
Cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, radish, and carrot all go in a large mixing bowl. Set it to the side and whip up the dressing.
In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, water, curry, garam masala, turmeric, salt, pepper and honey.
Mix the dressing into the cucumber and vegetable bowl. Toss in the cilantro. Let the flavors mingle for about an hour. Chill. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Then serve.
Chili Crisp is this amazing condiment that adds textures, flavors and crunch to different foods. It’s great on grilled meats. It makes plain old vegetables special. Some people add chili crisp to pizzas, snacks or even ice cream. I tried a few different jars of chili crisp and thought WOW! Why haven’t I tried it before? I recently came across this Chili Crisp recipe by Justine Chapple from a Food and Wine Magazine. The original recipe has you glazing 1 1/2 pounds of bacon with this chili crisp. The recipe is so good that you should use it on anything that you like. The only hard part is wearing gloves so you don’t burn your eyes from handing peppers. You will need a spice grinder. This recipe makes around a cup of chili crisp that I am guessing might be around 8 servings.
1 oz dried whole peppers (recipe calls for japones chilles )
1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts chopped
2 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I used course sea salt…tastier)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds – crushed
1/2 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 whole star anise
1 cup peanut oil
1/2 cup shallots – slice extra thin on mandolin
1 cup garlic cloves – sliced very thin (I used a truffle shaver)
1 inch fresh ginger cut in thin matchsticks
Directions
USE GLOVES and break open each chilli pod and discard the seeds and throw stems if you have any. Process the pods until they are chopped and not ground (about 15 seconds). Stir together the chilies, peanuts, salt cumin, Szechuan peppercorns, black pepper and star anise in a large heat proof bowl. Place a strainer over the bowl. Set to the side.
Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan on medium high heat till shimmering. Add shallots, garlic, and ginger. Stir often till everything is golden crisp (about 5-6 minutes). Immediately pour mixture threw the strainer. Spread the solids on paper towels to drain. let cool 30 minutes and add it to the bowl contents. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or over night.
Chili Crisp Chili Crisp
It’s DELICIOUS!!!!!!
A Special THANKS!!!! to Justin Chapple and Food & Wine Magazine for this amazing recipe.
Traditionally Eggplant Caponata is made with fried eggplant. My version is just as delicious and is made with roasted eggplant. Did you know that this dish originated in Capon Italy in the area where they do fishing. This dish was originally made with a tuna-like fish. Italians who couldn’t afford fish made this dish with eggplant and that is how caponata came to be. I had 5 smaller eggplants. They cooked down to only about 4 cups. So I an guessing around 1/2 a cup a person so you will get at least eight servings. It is traditional to serve caponata with delicious crusty bread.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
5 eggplants – diced – I used smaller sized eggplants)
1 Tablespoon garlic – ground to paste
1 red onion – diced
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup capers – drained
3 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 cup green olives – chopped
1 cup red wine (preferably a chocolatey cabernet)
14 oz Italian crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon bomba (I used Coluccio Stuzzichino) or substitute pepper to taste…but it won’t be as delicious.
1 cup toasted pine nuts – to finish
1 cup fresh torn basil leaves – to finish
optional 1 cup pomegranate seeds – to finish
optional around 8- 16 anchovies – to finish (one or two a serving)
Directions
The diced eggplant gets to soak in salt water for one hour. Then you put the eggplant in a colander and squish out all the water that you can.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
The diced eggplant goes on a baking sheet spread out till brown. (timing may differ but mine took 40 minutes)
While the eggplant is in the oven put a sauce pot on medium high heat with the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the onions. Stir occasionally and cook till translucent. Turn down to medium heat and add the wine and let reduce till about half. Turn heat down to simmer. Add garlic, raisins, capers, sugar, olives, crushed tomatoes and bomba (or pepper). Only needs about 5 minutes.
Stir in the eggplant when it is ready.
Now you are ready to plate.
Top your caponata with toasted pine nuts and fresh basil. You might want to add pomegranate seeds and anchovies too! (I made waffle cut potatoes they were oiled and cooked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes then I added salt and pepper)
I had a bunch of really tiny acorn squash and Huitlacoche that needed to be used so this is how I came up with this recipe. Huitlacoche is hard to come by. The closest substitute in taste to Huitlacoche might be a shiitake or black trumpet mushrooms in taste. Your acorn squash will not be as tiny as mine were. I used 5 that were between a peach and apple size. You can dress them up a little more with sour cream or some grated Mexican cheese if you like but I think since I used butter that I have enough creamy fat in them for my taste. Serving size is difficult to judge here since the size of the squash will differ.
Ingredients for around 8 servings.
3 pounds acorn squash – cut however you like and remove seeds and seed membranes
4 oz unsalted butter – melted
non stick spray
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 small red onion
5 garlic cloves – ground to paste
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup peppers – diced (something like bell peppers or a mix with something mild-medium heat)
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 + 1/2 Tablespoon chipotle in adobo (I had one whole pepper in mine that I fine chopped)
1 cup huitlacoche
1/4 cup cilantro – chopped (leaves and only the fine stems)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (fresh epazote would have been better but I didn’t have any today)
optional – some fried pumpkin seeds
Directions
Set oven to 475 F. Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray. In a small mixing bowl combine the butter, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and paint it on the squash twice.
Put the squash in the oven for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes turn the squash over. If you have leftover butter paint them again and put the squash back in the oven till soft and slightly browned.
Make the Huitlacoche Corn Salsa.
In a medium sauce pan on medium high heat add the oil. When the oil is hot add the onion and peppers and cook till soft but not brown. Now turn down to medium heat and add the garlic corn, huitlacoche, dried oregano and apple cider vinegar….turn down to simmer and let it reduce a little. Add salt and pepper to taste. Served over squash and add fresh cilantro. Some fried pumpkin seeds if using.
Spice Buttered Acorn Squash Stuffed With Huitlacoche Chipotle Corn Salsa
This is the DELICIOUS Food & Wine version (mostly) of Marcus Samuelsson’s Roasted Carrots with Ayib and Awaze Vinaigrette Recipe. Ayib is an Ethiopian cheese. A substitute is goat cheese. You also need berbere spice blend for this recipe. You can buy berbere spice blend or make your own. I’ve included a recipe that I like for berbere from an African Woman Zurie that is on www.food.com . The only issue is that although DELICIOUS Zurie’s berbere recipe makes way more than you need. I cut her berbere recipe in half and still have extra that I will use on chicken latter. This recipe makes around 8 servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings.
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (Zurie’s Berbere)
1/8 teaspoon cardamon (Zurie’s Berbere)
1/8 teaspoon fenugreek (Zurie’s Berbere)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (Zurie’s Berbere)
1/8 teaspoon coriander (Zurie’s Berbere)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (Zurie’s Berbere)
pinch ground clove (Zurie’s Berbere)
pinch allspice (Zurie’s Berbere)
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (Zurie’s Berbere)
2 Tablespoons cayenne (Zurie’s Berbere)
2 Tablespoons sweet paprika (Zurie’s Berbere)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick) (spiced brown butter)
1/4 small red onion – fine chop (spiced brown butter)
1 sprig thyme (spiced brown butter)
1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger – peeled – coarsely chopped (spiced brown butter)
1 small garlic clove – fine chopped (spiced brown butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (spiced brown butter)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (spiced brown butter)
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric (spiced brown butter)
1 teaspoon berbere (spiced brown butter)
2 pounds carrots cut on a diagonal into 3 inch pieces
6 Tablespoon vegetable oil – divided into 4 and 2
kosher salt – to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 orange thinly sliced (remove any seeds)
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 cup parsley with only the tender stems
1/4 cup Ayib Ethiopian fresh cheese or substitute crumbled goat cheese
Directions
Make the berbere.
Seeds should be toasted and then cooled. Then grind seeds.
In a small bowl mix up the first 11 ingredients (ginger, cardamon, fenugreek, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, clove, allspice, sea salt, cayenne and sweet paprika). You only need one teaspoon. The rest put away to use on something else.
Make the spiced brown butter.
Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan on medium-low heat. Skim off foam. Continue heating up the butter until it is no longer foaming and is beginning to brown (about 15 minutes). Mix in the onions, thyme, ginger, garlic, cumin, oregano, turmeric into the brown butter. Cook until the onion is golden brown (about 15 minutes). Stir in the berbere until fragrant (about 1 minute). Strain with a mesh strainer over a bowl and discard the solids. Let cool completely.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place carrots with orange slices on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 4 Tablespoons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast carrots for 30-40 minutes (around half way turn the carrots so they cook on both sides) or until they are tender to pierce with a fork and are a little brown in spots.
In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, remaining 2 Tablespoons oil, and three tablespoons spiced butter. (this is the Awaze vinaigrette)
Transfer the carrots to a platter. Top the carrots with vinaigrette, cheese and parsley.
This taste Forking Amazing!
Roasted Carrots with Ayib and Awaze Vinaigrette
ENJOY!
A special THANKS to Zurie for her AMAZING berbere recipe and to Marcus Samuelsson and Food & Wine Magazine fir this AMAZING Recipe!
Here’s another way to do butternut squash. I hasselbacked it (the way I cut it) but you don’t have to do that. You can cut in slices if you like. Feel free to add a little goat cheese or a quality feta cheese that isn’t too tangy. They would work here but I thought I had enough going on so here it is.
1 butternut squash – peeled, remove membrane with seeds, (if you squash is very small with thin walls you can hasselback) (If your squash is medium or bigger then you need to roast it at 425 degrees f for 10-15 minutes to get it soft enough to hasselback) ****OR**** just cut it up into cubes or thin slices…it really doesn’t FORKING matter. Serving size is impossible to judge because the size of the squash will differ and also your appetite will differ.
Ingredients for about 8 servings
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted
1 orange + zest – you need the fresh squeezed juice and keep the zest separate
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo red pepper (or substitute 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (this I guessed I just squirted the squash well with this)
1 hot pepper of your choice grated (I used a Mexican yellow pepper)
2 Tablespoons sugar
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 oz roasted salted pistachios – smashed
1/4 cup pomegranate
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
non stick spray
Directions
Set your oven to 425 degrees F.
Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray.
In a large bowl mix together the butter, orange juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. This mixture goes on your squash. Paint it on with a brush two times and then give it a spray of olive oil. YOU WILL HAVE EXTRA that you will use in about 15 minutes when you apply again.
In a small bowl mix together the orange zest, grated hot pepper and sugar. This gets sprinkled or rubbed on the squash. If you did cubes or slices add the thyme now. If you are doing hasselback add the thyme with the next 15 minutes.
Your squash goes in the preheated oven AGAIN for 15 minutes. Paint your squash again with the orange juice/butter mixture and put the squash back in another 15 minutes.
Now here is where things differ.
Depending on the shape and size of your squash and cutting the timing will differ greatly….If you did cubes the squash might be almost done.
If your squash is not done keep going every 10-15 minutes and paint on the thickened juices that are oozing from the squash till it’s done to your liking.
Apply pistachios, pomegranate and parsley and then serve.
Butternut Squash with Orange Vinaigrette Pistachios Pomegranate and Herbs
I’m always coming up with another way to do beets and this is what I’ve come up with for today. Beets are usually on sale and almost never go bad so I often have them in my refrigerator. I’m also growing fresh Thai Basil in my Areo Garden. I happened to be reading someone else’s recipe with Black Garlic Ketchup but it wasn’t anything like mine so I thought I could do a better black garlic ketchup. That is how I got the idea to do that and to add potatoes. I’m happy to say this recipe came out tasting great. My beets are always really great because I cook them different. I roast them with a mixture of sugar, vinegar and water so they are tasty and never too earthy. This makes around 4 smaller sized servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 lb beets – peeled (cut if you want or leave whole…if you cut they will get done quicker) (I left mine whole and mine took around 90 minutes)
1 potato peeled cut in any shape you like – (chips, fries, waffles)
salt to taste ( a very small amount to season potatoes)
pepper to taste ( a very small amount to season potatoes)
2 Tablespoons oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons minced black garlic (ketchup)
1 teaspoon soy sauce (ketchup)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (ketchup)
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar (ketchup)
3 oz tomato paste (ketchup)
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger (ketchup)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice
1 pear – cut in slices
1 handful fresh Thai Basil leaves
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Get out a roasting pan and add the beets, sugar, red wine vinegar, water and a pinch of sea salt. Put this in middle rack of oven. Your potatoes also go on an oiled baking sheet and put them on either middle rack and drizzle or spray the potatoes with some oil. The beets are done when they are fork tender and the potatoes are done when they are browned then season them with salt and pepper to taste. Timing will differ……depending on size, freshness and oven placement. Most will be done starting in 35 minutes or more.
In a sauce pan heat up the tomato paste well then add the soy sauce, sugar, rice wine vinegar and ginger till the sugar is dissolved. You might want to thin this down with some water and then add the black garlic. Take off heat.
In a small mixing bowl add the soy sauce, honey, red wine vinegar, and sesame oil. (This gets poured on the beets when out of the oven.
Cut up a pear and squeeze lime juice on it.
Put it all together. You can’t see in picture but I stood the potatoes cup in tiny hills of the black garlic ketchup. Arrange anyway you like and add fresh Thai Basil leaves.
You might want to add a few pea sprouts, chives and sesame seeds to jazz it up.
Asian Dressed Beets with Pear, Potatoes, Black Garlic Ketchup and Thai Basil
I had some curry leaves that I got from Asiana Market and some beautiful rainbow carrots from Trader Joes. Turmeric always goes with curry leaves and most recipes with turmeric and curry leaves usually will have something like mustard seeds in it so this is how this recipe came to be. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. This makes around 6 side servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
2 pounds carrots (peel if not organic) (I rough cut mine but you can cut in any shape that you like)
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil ( I didn’t measure but guesstimated. I sprayed the carrots very heavy with oil)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
handful of curry leaves
crushed sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
4 Tablespoons water
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
The carrots go in a single layer on a baking sheet that has edges. Spray the carrots well with olive oil. Sprinkle the carrots with turmeric, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add 4 Tablespoons of water on the baking sheet to help cook the carrots.
Cook carrots till they are fork tender. Timing will differ depending on how you cut the carrots. My carrots were large and I cut them big so mine took 40 minutes.
Turmeric Black Mustard Seed and Curry Leaf Roasted Carrots
I make cauliflower often and wanted to season it in a way that was different and delicious. After doing a few Indian recipes I learned that the combination of mustard, cumin and sesame seeds are delicious together. All that and a few other things make cauliflower something special. Every cauliflower is a different size so exact portion size is impossible. This recipe will season around 4-8 portions depending on portion size and size of cauliflower.
Ingredients for around 6 portions
1 large cauliflower cut in florets (or two small)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (not an exact measurement. I used a spray bottle and guesstimated)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped
sea salt – to taste
ground black pepper – to taste
Instructions
Set oven to 450 degrees F.
Spray baking sheet with olive oil.
In a small mixing bowl add the mustard, cumin and sesame seeds and mix well.
Spread the cauliflower florets on a baking sheet in a single layer. Spray the cauliflower with olive oil. Sprinkle the seeds evenly over the cauliflower. Spray the cauliflower again with olive oil. Place baking sheet of cauliflower on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Remove cauliflower when cooked but not soggy and lightly charred. In my oven this took 20 minutes but your timing might differ.
Finish with fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Choyote squash is different than the other squashes that I know of out there. This one is crisp when it’s raw almost like an apple. When you cook this squash it’s slightly sweet with little flavor. I picked up one choyote squash not knowing what I’d do with it. It just so happened that maybe the next day I came across local chef Tandy Peterson’s recipe for Cocoa Pomegranate Vinaigrette recipe in a Phoenix Home and Garden Magizine. Instantly I thought her vinaigrette or a similar vinaigrette would be great with Choyote Squash. After I read her recipe I figured I’d have to make a similar but different recipe because I didn’t want to use a whole cup of oil and I didn’t have pomegranate juice at home. Instead I used only one tablespoons of oil, some dijon mustard and a few spices that Tandy doesn’t have in her recipe like smoked paprika and cinnamon. My recipe is an inspiration of Tandy’s recipe and is meant to give flavor to the squash with less fat. Tandy’s recipe is a true vinaigrette recipe. You might prefer to do Tandy’s Cocoa Pomegranate Vinaigrette – 1 t. minced shallots, 2 T. pomegranate molasses, 3 T. pomegranate juice, 3 T. apple cider vinegar, 1 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 t. cocoa powder, 1 pinch cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt. Just shake it up in a mason jar till it’s done. Below is the recipe for Roasted Choyote Squash with Golden Raisins, Toasted Coconut, Toasted Almonds, Scallions in Pomegranate Cocoa Vinaigrette. I did make it a 2nd time and I really enjoyed it more with a little charred cabbage added so that isn’t in this recipe buy it’s something you might want to add.
Ingredients for around 2 servings
1 choyote squash – washed well – cut in rough chunks or cubes – cut around the pit
drizzle olive oil
fresh ground sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes – toasted at 300 degrees F till brown- (maybe 5 minutes)
12 almonds – crushed – toasted at 300 degrees F (maybe 6-7 minutes)
1 Tablespoon golden raisins
1 scallion – chopped
1/2 teaspoon shallots – minced
1 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch cinnamon
pinch sea salt
Directions
Set the oven to 425 degrees F
Put the squash on a small baking sheet and lightly drizzle with oil. The squash stay in till slightly brown on a middle rack in the oven. Mine took about 20 minutes but timing may differ.
While the squash is roasting make the vinaigrette.
In a small mixing bowl ass the shallots, pomegranate molasses, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, dijon, cocoa powder, cayenne, smoked paprika, cinnamon and salt. Mix till emulsified and the golden raisins and let it sit.
As soon as you take the squash out of the oven hit them with fresh ground salt and pepper to taste. If you didn’t toast the coconut and almonds do that now and lower the oven temp to 300 degrees F. The coconut toast really fast like in 5 minutes and the almonds only take a couple minutes more. When ready to serve toss the squash in the vinaigrette and top with the toasted coconut, almonds and scallions.
Roasted Choyote Squash with Golden Raisins Coconut & Almonds in Pomegranate Cocoa Vinaigrette
A SPECIAL THANKS to Chef Tandy Peterson!!!! For sharing her recipe for Cocoa Pomegranate Vinaigrette. I think similar flavors go really well with Choyote Squash Golden raisins, coconut and almonds. Actually I made this a second time and it was even better when I added some charred green cabbage to the Choyote Squash.
