samosa lasagna - part 2

I think it turned out quite tasty; however, I would do a few things differently...

• maybe add some ginger and shallots to the butter/oil used for the bechamel sauce. I did use garlic powder and would do that again...or use fresh garlic.
  
• keep the ricotta in but not add pre-blended garlic seasoning mix ... it had oregano in it, blah!
• a dollop of cool yogurt may have been a nice way to serve it (yogurt thickened by "straining it in a coffee filter) ... maybe some fresh cilantro on top?
  

butternut squash lasagna meets samosas

a photo later...

I was going to make a quick lasagna for dinner tonight, short on time and needed an excuse to use some of the dozens of jars of homemade sauce we put up this summer. Thought I had a small bit of samosa filling that was from a test batch a bit ago but it turned out to be more like 3 cups of this tasty ground turkey, pea, and sweet potato filling. It was too much to have the Indian flavor lost in the tomato sauce. Yuck, what was I thinking...that Dan would not notice a bit of Indian meat in the tomato sauce? yup. So a new recipe idea began to form in my bitty mind. I have a feeling that Dan might at least try it...if I starve him.

I made a bechamel sauce and just as it neared thinning added 2 cups of squash puree (buttercup squash from the garden). I mixed 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese with a garlic seasoning mix and some shredded cheddar. I know this sounds a bit gross but the scent wafting from the oven is tempting. This may be one of my MacGyver fridge moves that will either bomb or pleasantly surprise.

So, a layer of the squash bechamel sauce in a greased pan, whole wheat lasagna, samosa with ricotta, sauce and so on. Listen, if people can find pleasure from eating Hamburger Helper then this really deserves a chance. I used real, unprocessed healthy food!

We shall see tomorrow!

penzeys spices

hello, thank you to the lovely person that gifted me a Penzyes gift card for Christmas. My goodies arrived today! That's all... I am just wrapping up my prepared lunch for tomorrows delivery. The croutons just came out of the oven and the un-quiche smells divine!

Indian flatbread

Found a new recipe for an Indian flatbread in a food magazine. The process and ingredients seemed very simple. I enjoy the naan bread recipe that I blogged about a year ago.

This recipe was pretty much 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup warm water knead it 5 minutes, let it sit 30 minutes, divide into 6 pieces, roll out to about 9 inches and cook 1-2 minutes each side on a flat grill pan. Easy enough, right?

The first few flats of bread were kind of crunchy, it took a few tries before I got the hang of it. I must say I prefer the other recipe that did require more time though this one was tasty. I added some fresh rosemary and thyme.

In the small print of this post, I need to make a confession. We have friends from visiting from out of town. Every year we get together a tradition has developed, Shady Maple for the breakfast buffet. Today I had a bit of .... well, that is not important. What is important is the company for friends... over an oreo cookies 'n cream filled doughnut or maybe or the comfort in knowing though I ate loads of stuff my body does not need I did not eat a sampling of everything.

phoebe's snowed in vegan raspberry scones

this is what summer looked like...

• make hot tea
• laundry
• clean tub
• fill tub in case of power outage
• SCONES!!!!

I made only 3 batches of scones. Two recipes were a twist on Ina's maple oat scone and strawberry scones(made mine black cherry & almond). The 3rd batch were vegan raspberry scones (olive oil & agave). Here is the real mystery, when the scones were mounded and cooling on the kitchen island Dan came in and tried a warm one. Of all the scones he had to choose from, he had the vegan raspberry scone. All of the scones looked beautiful but he chose the scone made with whole wheat flour and agave. I made it very clear that the other treats were made with good ol' fashioned butter, eggs, and white flour (I lied about the flour), his usual preference. The raspberries are from his glorious raspberry patch...this might explain his selection.

• 2 cups spelt or whole grain white, unbleached flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/4 c rolled oats
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 c oil (I used extra virgin olive)
• 1/3 c agave
• 1/3 c hot water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c fresh or frozen raspberries
• optional: vanilla bean, seeded and white chocolate chips

preheat oven to 375 degrees

whisk the dry ingredients and add the wet stir until just combined and stir in the raspberries

use a 1/3 c ice cream scooper for ease. bake for 15-20 minutes.

dirty risotto...comfort food oolala

I have a great, fool-proof recipe that I use for risotto from a Todd English book, The Figs Table. This is a perfect comfort food and this week's weather begged for a pot! My version is fudged from the original. My aunt-in-law went to Myrtle Beach for the month of February and dropped off some things that she could not pack and did not want to spoil...okay guys, down there in MB your loss!

I was gifted garlic, red onion, fresh herbs for soup, a sweet potato, and a butternut squash. I already used the herbs and garlic for a simple tomato garlic soup with chick peas and orzo. The red onion was next to be used. Typically a basic risotto is creamy white and to use the red onion would alter that color, I further fudged it up by using dried mushrooms and the broth they were reconstituted in. Instead of the traditional white wine, I used red to further dirty my rice and lastly I found whole grain risotto!!! No photo for this post, it was dirty rice.

If you like Italian sausage (not passing judgment...being as some people keep pigs as pets is all) it might be nice in this mix, maybe with a bit of sage and thyme.

Four-Onion Risotto
this is Todd's recipe ** my alternations are in blue

serves 6-8

2 T butter **extra virgin olive oil
2 c leeks, thinly sliced **red onion
1 spanish onion, diced
5-6 shallots, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or pressed)
1 cup dried mushrooms, reconstituted
2 cups arborio rice **brown arborio
1/2 c white wine **red wine
6 cups chicken broth **organic beef broth
2 T thyme, fresh or 1 T dry
1/2 goat cheese **grated parm

Place a large stainless steel/non-reactive pot over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onions, shallots and cook until tender and translucent, about 7-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and cook until it is absorbed.

Add the broth, one cup at a time, stirring with each addition, until it is absorbed, about 20 minutes. DON'T leave unattended! Add the herbs and cheese and serve while still creamy.

100 Pop Bud cookies

I am a bit behind in posting but have to share last weekends handy work ... 100+ cookies. No, you are not welcome to eat them, I'm not sharing, just sharing the photos. (FYI, if I have shared these cookies with you, know those are the ones that fell on the floor) With the help of Karen, our hostess and teacher, I learned how to make Pop Bud cookies. This is a modified dutch cookie recipe. Bud, Karen's father, wanted to removed the fat and cholesterol from the cookies so that he could enjoy them.

**side note: I can't advocate eating white flour and sugar, it is in fact, unhealthy as it robs vitamins from your body, is not nutritious, causes disease when eaten in excess (diabetes for one) and eventually turns to fat anyway; however, if you are vegan or eggs gross you out and cow juice (milk) turns your stomach and/or you don't really care about white flour or sugar... these cookies ROCK!!!! I fall into the first category and prefer to keep my distance from gooey eggs/chicken wannabes and cow liquid... unless they are in a divine recipe. Did I mention these cookies are wicked good??? I have enjoyed 2 with coffee while typing this post.


baking should be this much fun!!!

The recipe makes a batch of 100+ cookies and it would have been an arduous task if Karen had not laid out all the tools and ingredients. The recipe is basic (sour your own "milk", flour, sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda) but it makes such a huge batter for which you need a special spoon (must be mixed by hand), gigantic bowl, and a special frame and rolling pin to roll these bad boys out (we used a flyers cookie cutter, so these were bad boys cookies... the fighting, slashing and boarding kind).

Thank you Karen! Our next lesson opera fudge!