Anaheim Pepper Stuffed with Pork

We first had this dish when we were in Des Moines and has always been in our favorite list. Every time I make it we enjoy it :)

Ingredients:

1. Anaheim peppers - 4
   
2. Pork - 1 Pound
3. Green Chilly - 1
4. Tomatoes - 2
5. Red chilly pepper crushed - 1/2 tsp
6. Onion - 1 medium
7. Butter - 1 Tbsp
8. Oregano - 1/4 tsp
9. Pepper - 1 tsp
10. Cilantro Leaves - diced  - 2 tbsp
11. Olives - 1/4 cup
12. Olive pickle water - 1/4 cup
13. Banana pepper - 5 rings
14. Mozzarella Cheese - 4 tbsp
15. Parmesan Cheese - 2 tbsp

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degree F
2. Cook pork with salt and green chilly and mash it well
3. Melt butter in a heavy bottom pan
4. Add diced onions 
5. Once the onions are translucent, add cooked and mashed pork to the mix
6. Add tomatoes, oregano, olives, olive juice, banana peppers, pepper
7. Once all cooked - turn off the heat and add cilantro leaves
8. Slit the Anaheim peppers sideways and remove the seeds
9. Boil water in a separate pan and cook the Anaheim peppers for 3-4 mins - the pepper should still be crisp - not soggy
10. remove the Anaheim peppers and stuff them with the pork mixture and line them in a baking dish
11. Sprinkle shredded Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan Cheese and bake for 10-12 mins or till all the cheese has melted and browned a bit. 
12. Serve with any piece of bread and enjoy :)

Fig and Honey Bars

Ingredients:

1. Fig - 1 cup - i used the fry figs and soaked it in water for 1 hr 
2. Honey - 1/2 Cup 
3. Whole wheat - 1 1/2 Cup
4. Salt  - 1/2 tsp
5. Molasses - 1/2 Cup
6. Butter - 6 Tbsp
7. Egg - 1 
8. Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Directions:

1. Crush fig into a paste. 
2. In a heavy bottom pan add the fig paste and honey and cook it for 5 mins
3. Preheat oven on 350 degree
4. Mix butter, egg, Molasses, Vanilla Essence, Whole wheat, Salt
5. Use parchment paper to roll the dough into thin sheets
6. Fill with the fig paste mix 
7. Wrap the sheets on both sides and make it into a log
8. Cut the log into 1/2 inch thick slices
9. bake for 12 mins or till golden brown

Karivepila Podi - Curry leaf powder

The curry leaf chutney powder was first given to us by a friend. This chutney got us all excited and all of us wanted to have more of it. Anyone whom I have served this to savors it and asks for more, including my five year old. She cuts idlies into as small pieces as she can and dips each piece into the chutney powder mixed with coconut oil - when she shows the piece to you, totally covered with the chutney powder, you doubt if there is idly piece there or not!!!

So the next step was to learn how to make it.. Here it goes!


Ingredients:

1. Uzhunnu parippu (urad dal) - 1/2 cup
2. kadala parippu (chana dal) - 1/4 cup
3. grated coconut - I used the dry coconut - 1/4 cup
4. dry red chilly - 3 nos
5. garlic - 8-10 cloves - cut them into small pieces
6. asafetida - 2 pinch
7. curry leaves - 3 cups packed tight
8. salt - 1 tsp or to taste
9. coconut oil - 1 tsp

directions:

1. In a heavy bottom wok, medium flame, add oil
2. once oil is hot add curry leaves and keep tossing - once crunchy fish them out and keep it aside
3. fry the garlic pieces to crunchy level and then fish them out and keep aside
4. roast the dry red chillies too
5. now in same pan, roast the parippus and grated coconut till nicely roasted and aroma comes. coconut should be golden brown
6. add asafetida to the mix and turn off the flame.
7. let them all cool and grind them to a coarse texture and enjoy!

 

Almond Cookie

Ingredients:

unsalted butter    : 250g
all purpose flour : 250g
baking powder    : 1 tsp
sugar                   : 90g
egg                      : 1
vanilla extract     : 1tsp
almond                : 100g - grind it to coarse powder
confectionary sugar to dust.


Directions:
preheat oven to 325 degree
melt butter in a pan and add to the mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients together and mix well. shape them into small balls and place in a baking sheet lined with parchment sheet. Bake for 12 mins or till the cookie is light golden brown :)
Once cooled, dust with confectionary sugar.


Exchange with pista or cashew nut instead of almond for pista or cashew nut cookie..








 

Christmas Cake - Kerala Style.

Its our Christmas tradition to make the cake and see how close it is to the taste of plum cake we get it kerala.. I hope we get there some day :). This is one dish which is always a team effort :) Jeo, Kunji and I get very busy with things to get our Christmas cake ready..

We too pound cake combination (1 Pound butter -1 Pound sugar -1 Pound flour). Using this recipe you get 3 cakes - two 6inch circle cakes and one 8 inch circle cake.

 

Ingredients:

1. Raisins : 3/4 Pound * we added 1/2 pound Thomson raisin and 1/4 pound currants
2. black dates: 1/8 Pound
3. candied orange Peel + cherry fruit: 1/8 Pound * we add Old English Fruit and Peel Mix
4. orange peel - fresh - 2 tsp
5. Candied Papaya : 1/8 Pound
6. candied ginger : 1/8 Pound.
7. Brandy :1 Cup

     8. cashew nut : 1/2 Pound.

 

     9. sugar for caramel syrup: 1/4 Pound ( 1 Cup)  *we use the light brown sugar - Zulka :)

    10. eggs : 1 pound - about 6 large eggs.

    11. lemon Juice: 3 tsp.

    12. All Purpose Flour : 1 Pound (4 Cups).

    13. Baking Powder: 1.5 tsp.

    14. Salt: 1 tsp.

   

    15. butter: 1 Pound.

    16. cane sugar: 1 Pound ( 4 cups).

 

    17. Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp (heaped)

    18. Nutmeg: 1 tsp (heaped)

    19. Cloves Powder: 1 tsp(heaped)

    20. Dry Ginger powder: 1 tsp(heaped)

    21. Cardamom Powder:1 tsp(heaped)

    22. cocoa powder: 1 tsp (heaped)

 

    23. Vanilla essence): 4 tsp.

Directions

 

Getting ready :)

•  dice fruits from 1-6 into very small pieces and soak them in brandy for at least 2 days. We use Christian Brothers brandy.
• Dice cashew nuts into small pieces.
• Next is to prepare the caramel. In a heavy bottom pan, melt the sugar till it becomes dark brown. Now add 1 cup of boiling water to the mix - be very careful doing this as the solution boils up and might burn your hand..  Stir and ensure there are no blocks. Once it comes to one thread consistency, keep the caramel in a pan with boiled water - we want the caramel to be just warm and not cold and crystalized before adding to the cake mixture
 
• separate the egg whites and yolks. Add lemon juice to the whites and fluff them well.
 
• Mix all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and the spices separately. Use a Sieve to sift all the powders together to mix them up uniformly and to aerate them. Keep the "flour" ready.
 
 
Finally to make the cake:
 
• preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
• use the electric mixer to Cream the butter and sugar to form a very light and airy creamed mixture. Air bubbles getting trapped during this process is what gives the cake its texture.
• add the following ingredients in order and beat them well till well incorporated:
• Egg yolk
• vanilla essense
• caramel
• Now time to add the "flour" - stir only enough to get them incorporated. Over mixing with flour will bring out the gluten and make it difficult for the cake to raise. 
• Add the fruits soaked in brandy
• add cashew nots
• and then fold in the fluffed egg whites. 
• prepare the tins with parchment paper or butter - we line the pan with wet towel outside too.
• pout the batter (about 2/3 full in a pan) and bake at 350 degree for 30 mins. Reduce the temperature to 300 degree and keep checking every 15 mins to see if cake is cooked and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. 

 

Tips: 

 

1. Bring the egg and butter to room temperature by keeping it outside for atleast 8 hours.

2. Once the cake is cool, coat the cake with some brandy - 4-8tsp and cover in wax paper and store it in a cool, dark, dry place. The more it sits the better.

3. make the cake at least a week before you want to use it..

Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree (I used the kabocha pumpkin from Asian Stores - puree it without water)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

For frosting:

•  One 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp  vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for sprinkling

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. On 17 1/2- by 12 1/2-inch jellyroll pan grease with butter and put parchment paper and grease it and flour it.
• With an electric mixer, beat the eggs, granulated sugar till it becomes soft, fluffy and a pale color. Add pumpkin, vanilla and lemon juice until smooth and fluffy.
• Sift together the flour, ginger, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the sifted ingredients to the egg mixture and mix until fully combined. Spread the batter in the jellyroll pan.
• Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 14 minutes. If you touch the surface, it should bounce back. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
• Invert the cake onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper.
• Sprinkle some of the confectioner' sugar on a large towel (use regular kerala thorthu) and carefully transfer the warm cake to the towel. Dust more confectionary sugar on the top surface, folding the sides of the towel over the cake. Roll the cake up in the towel and cool in the refrigerator thoroughly for about 45 minutes.
• With an electric mixer, combine the confectioners' sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla and beat until smooth.
• Carefully unroll the cooled cake and spread the mixture on top of the cake.
• Gently re-roll the cake up and refrigerate it until you're ready to slice and serve. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

Fish Curry in Coconut Milk - Ernakulam area

We used this blog to get a basic recipe  and it turned out pretty good. Simple looking recopies like this are a challenge to make while in the U.S., so we are writing it down for the details later. This curry is very close to fish molly ..except that chilly is substituted for black pepper. Also, the ingredient we seldom get right here is vinegar . It makes a big difference back home where all natural coconut vinegar is used not the synthetic substitutes.

We used white sea bass - something that's available in Ranch or Asian markets.  Fish should be very clean for coconut milk based curries so scale them around the fins, apply lot of salt and wash it under the running water  to avoid a 'fishy' feedback later.

Silver Swan Coconut Vinegar and Kara Coconut milk in Tetra Pack was used . 1/2 Cup of the coconut milk was  diluted two ways for the light and thick milk . Added a 1/4 a cup more water than specified to make it thinner .  We also garnished with fried shallots and curry leaves in coconut oil , at the end .