Chumkie's Kitchen

Friday, January 24, 2014

Stir-Fried Beet Greens with Baby Beets & Potatoes

It was a pleasure to find a bundle of baby beets with the greens attached among the groceries my husband brought home the other day. The greens were very fresh, so I used all of it from the baby beets, attached stems and the greens. Knowing how the greens reduce when cooked, I added a russet potato to add bulk. This is a very simple preparation that can be used with any spinach or greens. Bengalis refer to any and all greens as shaak (spinach), including squash greens, beet greens and all other edible greens.

Carolyne's Cassava Cake

Last of the Cassava Cake

Just Baked Cassava Cake

Cassava is a starchy, tuberous root which, when dried to a pearly & powdery extract, is called tapioca. Grated cassava root is available in the frozen section of the Asian market in our neighborhood.

Carolyne is a Burmese friend who posted this recipe on Facebook. I followed her recipe exactly, except that the cake did not brown sufficiently so I turned off the oven and left the cake in for an extra half an hour until it developed this lovely golden color. Thank you, Carolyne, for your inspiration and for adding another delectable dish to my Burmese food repertoire. While this cake was baking, our home was filled with a wonderful aroma!

Macapuno strings are usually sold in Asian supermarkets. You can also buy it from online stores like Amazon. But if you can't find macapuno, you can substitute with 1-1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut plus 1/2 cup water.

Apple Amish Friendship Bread

Apple Sheet Cake

It disappears quickly!

This is a great bread to make when there are lots of delicious, crisp Fuji apples and it will feed a crowd! This recipe makes 2 loaves, but I decided to make a sheet cake instead and baked it in a 9" x 13" glass pan.

Burmese Spicy Shrimp with Cilantro

A quick and easy shrimp dish that is pumped with maximum flavor. It was inspired by Ma Makhemarus' Spicy Shrimp with Burmese Basil with a few adaptations. I had to substitute oyster sauce for fish sauce, cilantro for basil and green chili sauce for green chilies. Also added tomatoes and tomato paste.

Stir-Fried Carrots & Potatoes Flavored with Dried Fenugreek

Gajar, Alu Aur Kasuri Methi Ki Sabzi

I've made this vegetable preparation before using fresh dill which tasted wonderful! The original recipe used fresh fenugreek greens which I replaced with the dried form.

Baked Cauliflorets Tossed in Sweet Chili Sauce

A quick-cooking baked cauliflower side dish that uses five ingredients and is so easy to prepare.

Red Lentils with Onions & Tomatoes

A very simple lentil dish that cooks up in less than 20 minutes.

This Thai-inspired fish curry uses a red curry paste along with coconut milk for its sauce. I've used only one Tbsp. of the curry paste, but it should be used according to taste. Use more if you wish the sauce to be more spicy. Any variety of fish fillets that are in season and available could be used in this dish.

Cheese Toast Triangles

Cheese Toast

Cut in Triangles

It was 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon and hunger pangs were gnawing and fighting for attention. I raided the fridge and came up with these quick, satisfying & delicious bites in a matter of 10 minutes! Instead of the pita pocket halves, regular bread slices would work just as well. Cut each slice of bread in half square triangles after toasting.

Burmese Baked Fish Stew

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Most of my Burmese dishes are inspired by what Mum cooked for us when we were growing up and more recently by friends on Facebook. This dish comes together without too much fuss and is delicious due to its sour, spicy and salty overtones. When served over hot, steamed, white rice it is heart-warming and satisfying.

Burmese Sour & Spicy Shrimp & Potato Stew

Burmese Sour & Spicy Shrimp & Potato Stew

This stew is ideal for those days when there is not much time to put dinner on the table. The shrimp takes some time to peel, de-vein and stir-fry, but after that's done, it's a matter of putting all the other ingredients into a skillet at the same time and simmering until the gravy is reduced and oil resurfaces. The shrimp is added at the end and it's done! For variety, substitute shrimp with fish fillets, hard boiled eggs sliced in half or chicken thighs. Add chicken thighs along with potatoes at the start of the cooking process. Eggs and fish may be pan-fried like the shrimp and added back into the stew at the end. I've made this with baked fish, ground chicken and meatballs.

Ingredients:
1 cup mung dal, toasted
3 carrots, diced
½ pkg. frozen peas
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. radhuni (wild celery) seeds
2 tsp. ginger paste
Salt to taste
¼ tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ghee or melted butter
2–3 green chilies, left whole

Directions:
1. Wash toasted lentils until water runs clear.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add radhuni seeds
3. When seeds start to sizzle fry carrots & peas for a few minutes.
4. Add lentils and ginger paste and cook until lentils are tender.
5. Adjust salt & sugar to taste and bring back to a boil.
6. Garnish with ghee and green chilies.
7. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed rice or tortillas.

Burmese Shwe Htamin - Rice Dessert Bars

Burmese Shwe Htamin

This Burmese dessert was inspired by a Facebook member, Corinne Watson, of our Burmese food group (Burmese Food Lover's Kitchen). I made several modifications to her recipe because I wanted to make coconut a more prominent ingredient and also used roasted sesame seeds as an additional garnish.

Tuna Fish Cakes

Pan-Fried Fish Cakes

Oven-Baked Fish Cakes

These fish cakes can be made from canned tuna fish or any flaked white fish, such as tilapia. They can be formed into patties and pan-fried or baked in the oven at 350°F on a greased baking sheet. In Bengali they are called Maacher Chop and served as an appetizer at the start of the meal, accompanied by tamarind chutney, tomato ketchup or a homemade tomato sauce and a simple Indian salad of chopped onions, tomatoes, green chilies, and cucumber with a lime & salt dressing.

How to Cook Perfect Basmati Rice

Basmati Rice Cooked on the Stove Top

Basmati Rice Cooked in the Microwave Oven

Thanks to my Facebook friends on Kitchen Raagas for introducing me to the perfect way to cook Basmati rice in the microwave oven. Here are the instructions for cooking the rice on a stove top and in a microwave oven. The ingredients are the same for both methods.

It takes 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes resting time) to cook rice on the stove top and 18 minutes (plus 10 minutes resting time) in the microwave oven. The advantage to microwave cooking is that there are no pots & pans to clean. I was also surprised to find out that rice takes only 18 minutes to cook in the microwave oven as opposed to 40 minutes in a rice cooker!

Masoori Dal with Cucumber & Green Peppers

This dish of lentils came about because I needed to use up half an English cucumber and half a green pepper or capsicum. Red lentils and most other lentils taste very good with vegetable. This is a great way to boost the consumption of vegetables in our daily diets.

Basa Maach-er Doi Maach

Basa is also known as Mekong catfish and Swai. The latter has recently become available in mainstream grocery stores in our area. It is a white fish that has a more delicate flavor than catfish.

When I begin cooking a meal, I raid the fridge and lay out all the vegetables on the counter. Then items get paired with the three or four, sometimes five, dishes I plan to make. That's how half a red pepper or Kashmiri Mirch/Capsicum made its way into this fish dish. Half a container of plain Greek (or hung) yogurt was used in this dish and the other half in a Beet & Cucumber Raita.

In this way, every vegetable plays an important part in the meal and rarely, if ever, do I discard one because it's past its prime.

Tip:
Reduce and keep the heat on low before adding yogurt to the pan. Do not allow the yogurt sauce to boil as this may cause it to separate or curdle.

Green Beans & Chickpeas

My intention was to stir-fry green beans with diced potatoes, but this was made at the tail-end of preparing dinner last night. Feeling too tired to peel and dice a russet potato, I went in search of a can of diced potatoes in the pantry.

Lo and behold, this can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans/chana) was staring me in the face! I figured the texture was pretty close to cooked potatoes and size similar to diced potatoes which resulted in a delightful stir-fry that was peppery and full of texture.

The next time, I will add grated coconut for more flavor.

Beet & Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing

After cooking dinner yesterday, there were half a tub of greek yogurt and half a seedless English cucumber left, so I prepared this quick and easy salad. It is refreshing and cools the palate during an Indian meal.

Eggs in Coconut Sauce

Deem-er Malai Curry

Bengalis make Malai Curry with fish and shrimp, so why not with eggs? It's basically an Egg Curry, which most Bengalis love, with coconut milk added to it. I've gven it a South Indian flavor with the use of curry leaves.

I'm fortunate enough to have a curry leaf tree growing in a little container in the house, so it's readily available. Curry leaves may be replaced with cilantro.

Spicy, Sweet & Sour Chicken

This semi-homemade recipe was inspired by Tyson Any’tizers Mango Habanero Flavored Boneless Chicken Wyngz. It has a sweet and tangy flavor with a kick of spice which prompted me to try my hand at a spicy, sweet and sour chicken. For readers who live in places where this snacking chicken is not available, I’ve provided instructions for making fried nuggets of boneless & skinless chicken thighs coated in corn flour, but chicken breast would work just as well. The spiciness in the sauce comes from sweet chili sauce, the sweetness from pineapples, ketchup and brown sugar, and tanginess (sour) comes from pineapple juice and rice wine. Play around with the sauce ingredients to suit your taste.

Burmese Coconut Tapioca Pudding - Thagu Oh Noh

Coconut milk is a common ingredient in Burmese desserts such as this tapioca pudding. I used instant tapioca pearls, but the larger pearls would look a lot better in this dessert. I've given the recipe for cooking large tapioca pearls from scratch but, for a shortcut, a package of Jello Tapioca Pudding makes a great substitute. Just replace the two cups milk with two cups coconut milk and bring to a boil for a great dessert. Serve chilled.

Chicken & Potatoes Divine

This casserole took about an hour to prepare which includes the 40 minutes of baking time. It is a twist on Chicken Divan which uses broccoli instead of the potatoes used here. I used skinless boneless chicken thighs, but I'm sure bone-in thighs would taste even better.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2013

There were 17 guests for Thanksgiving Dinner this year, so we added a spiral cut mini ham from Honey Baked Hams to the menu. The fruit salad was light and refreshing. The Bacon Ranch Potatoes were a welcome change from the usual Mashed Potatoes and the Bacon Wrapped Asparagus was an addition to the side items. There were Hawaiian rolls as well as Meatball Rolls made with biscuit dough wrapped around pork meatballs. We celebrated two grandsons' birthdays with an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery and had Peach and Raspberry Bellinis for beverages.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Appetizers

Fruit Salad

Entrée

Honey Baked Sliced Mini Ham

Butterball Boneless Breast of Turkey

Gravy

Side Dishes

Green Beans Casserole

Bacon & Ranch Potatoes

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus