Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding

In the Bowl

Inspired by a Banglar Rannaghar video, (my favourite videos to watch), this bread pudding reminds me of my caramel custard or flan recipe with bread added to it. I used coconut sugar in place of granulated sugar and evaporated milk instead of cream.

Roasted Cauliflower

The stove top was being used to capacity, so this cauliflower dish was baked in the oven. It tasted great and was so easy to assemble. It goes well with rice or chapatis.

Oven-Baked Begun Bhaja

Oven-Baked Eggplant

Frying eggplant on the stove top consumes a lot of oil. The eggplant acts like a sponge and soaks up the oil almost on contact. I prefer to bake the eggplant until it turns golden brown. I learned the scoring method from a 'foodie' on Facebook which ensures thick slices of eggplant bake evenly all the way through. I've cut Indian eggplants in half which work well in this recipe.

Pumpkin Amish Friendship Bread

Pumpkin Friendship Bread

A Mother's Day gift of Amish Friendship Bread starter batter began my fascination with a century-old tradition. I was given a 1 gallon Ziploc bag containing a cup of the batter along with written instructions for multiplying it four fold so it could be shared among friends. Using that bag of batter and nursing it over 10 days produced four 1 gallon bags of starter batter. 

The first 3 or 4 times of making this yeasty batter, I was able to find enough friends and neighbours willing to try it, but later I just froze the bags and used them up one at a time to make different flavours of friendship bread. The starter batter freezes indefinitely, so it's easy to make these sweet breads at a moment's notice.

There's always a can of pumpkin puree in the pantry after Thanksgiving. Following the recipe for Banana Walnut Friendship Bread and using a can of pumpkin puree in place of mashed bananas, produces a lovely bread without using a store-bought pumpkin bread mix.

Enjoy this bread for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.

Reshmi Chicken Wings

Reshmi Chicken Wings

These melt-in-the-mouth, fall-off-the-bone chicken wings were marinated overnight in salt & pepper, oil, and Greek yogurt whipped with ginger and garlic pastes. It's a quick and easy dish to serve at lunch or as a starter to a more elaborate Indian meal.

Meijer's Fresh Chicken Wings

They started with a 2 lb. package of chicken wings which were segmented into drummettes and wings. I saved the wing tips for noodle soup later in the week. The wings came out meaty and juicy and were ready to serve in 30 minutes, after being marinated overnight.

The recipe was inspired by one on Facebook which I adapted to my liking. I've added specifics regarding ingredients and oven settings using American weights and measures. 

It's Poila Boishak or the Bengali New Year and these wings were a great starter to our celebration dinner for my husband and me.