Pistachio Semifreddo

This amazingly simple yet sophisticated frozen dessert is definitely a crowd pleaser!  I can't take the credit for this, I found the recipe in one of my Gourmet magazines a few years ago.  I made it for a dinner party at my aunt's house and it went over amazingly well with the Indian crowd because it's very similar to kulfi.  For my Diwali party, I halved the recipe and filled a plastic wrap lined loaf pan for a brick-like presentation.  But it's just as pretty scooped out of a bowl with an ice cream scoop and decorated with a chocolate cookie.

Pistachio Semifreddo:

makes 2 quarts

1 1/2 cups shelled salted pistachios (6 1/2 ounces)

1 cup sugar

6 large egg whites

2 cups chilled heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Pulse 1 cup pistachios with 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Add remaining 1/2 cup pistachios and pulse until just coarsely ground.

Beat egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Beat in remaining 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, a little at a time, then increase speed to high and beat until meringue just holds stiff, glossy peaks.

Beat cream with almond extract in a wide bowl with mixer at high speed until it just holds soft peaks.
Fold meringue into cream gently but thoroughly, then fold in nut mixture in same manner. Spoon into a 2-quart dish and freeze, covered, until firm enough to scoop, about 4 hours. Let soften slightly before serving.

Palak Paneer (Indian spinach with cheese)

This is my mom's recipe and one of my frequent requests when I go home to visit.  I only made a slight modification by adding a touch of cream to make it a bit more indulgent, but you can leave it out. 

Palak Paneer:
serves 8

2 packets frozen spinach

2 cups water

2 tablespoons besan or gram/chickpea flour

1 tbs vegetable oil

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, grated or minced

1 small green chile, minced

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric

1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup paneer

Over medium high heat, boil spinach in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes.  Slowly mix in gram flour and return to a boil for 30 minutes.  Process in food processor for about 15 seconds until smooth.

In a large pot over medium heat, sautee cumin seeds in vegetable oil for a few minutes until slightly fragrant.  Add in onions and sautee until browned.  Add garlic, ginger, and chile and sautee for a few more minutes.  Add garam masala, salt, paprika, and turmeric and sautee for one minute.  Slowly add crushed tomatoes and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.  Return spinach to pot with tomato mixture, stir in heavy cream, and allow to simmer 10 minutes.  Add in paneer and simmer another 5 minutes.  Serve hot.

Paneer (homemade Indian cheese)

"More cheese please!"  Cheese makes everything tastier, and this homemade Indian cheese is easy to make and simple to add to curries or salads.  You can even add it to dishes as is, or batter and fry it.  I made a big batch, used half for palak paneer and froze the other half for a rainy day.

Paneer:
makes about 1 cup

half gallon whole milk
1/4 cup lemon juice

In a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat, bring milk to a boil stirring often to prevent sticking.  When milk is at a full boil, slowly add lemon juice while stirring.  Milk will curdle.  Cook for another minute or two. 

Line a colander with cheese cloth.  Pour in milk mixture and then gently rinse milk curds with water to remove the lemon juice flavor.  Gather cheese cloth edges and press out remaining water.  Place gathered cheesecloth on a cutting board, top with a baking sheet and weigh down with either a filled teakettle or a heavy pot for one hour.  Remove cheese from cheesecloth and cut into cubes, crumble, or wrap in plastic wrap.

Naan

Naan is great on its own or to sop up curry.  Traditionally made in a tandoor oven, I have found it also tastes great made on a grill.  This recipe isn't my own, but it's the best recipe I have found with minor adjustments.  Just remember to roll the dough as thin as possible and to only grill the naan for about a minute per side - until grill marks show but the rest of the naan is white.  I made this indoors on our grill pan and then reheated it in the oven after the curries came out of the oven.

Naan:

makes about 20 naans

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy and doubled in size. Stir in remaining water, remaining sugar sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough (just until it pulls away easily from the sides of the bowl). Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, dust with white flour, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly brush grill with butter. Place dough on grill, and cook for 1 minute or so, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another minute or so. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken)

Chicken Makhani is similar to Chicken Tikka Masala, but it's a bit more mild and slightly sweet.  This is my husband's favorite Indian dish.  It amazes me that he never had Indian food until our first date because now he is totally hooked!  I doubled the sauce for this recipe since that's everyone's favorite part.  My husband loves it with naan or basmati rice.  This dish also freezes well for a lazy day.  It all starts with delicious marinated chicken tikka that is great on its own skewered with chunks of onion and green bell pepper.

Chicken Tikka:
Serves 8

1 cup plain yogurt

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, grated or minced

2 tbs lemon juice (the juice of 1/2 lemon)

2 1/2 tsp chicken masala (or 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp cayenne)

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 - 2 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

10 skewers soaked in water for at least 1 hour

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp ginger, lemon juice, and chicken masala. Add chicken and cover with marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate in fridge for at least one hour or overnight.

Preheat broiler or grill. Scrape off marinade from chicken and thread on skewers and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Broil or grill for about 5-7 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the chicken breast.

Chicken Makhani:

serves 10

1 1/2 lbs of Chicken Tikka

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, grated or minced

1 medium onion

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sugar

28oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbs cilantro, minced

In a large dutch oven over medium heat, sautee onions and remaining garlic and ginger in a tbs of vegetable oil until onions are browned.  Add in garam masala and paprika and mix.  Reduce heat to low and add tomatoes.  Allow to simmer 15 minutes or so.  Add in cream and sugar and allow to simmer another 10 minutes.  Add in chicken and simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir in cilantro right before serving.

Chole (Indian chickpeas)

Chole is to Indians what stew is to the Irish.  It's warm, comforting, and fabulous with bread.  Especially poori, which is fried unleavened whole wheat bread.  I also love it with rice and plain yogurt.  It's healthy, easy, and your vegetarian friends will love it.

Chole:
serves 6-8

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, grated

1 small green chile, minced

3 teaspoons channa masala (can be found in Indian grocery stores or you can substitute 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp lemon juice)

3/4 cup crushed tomatoes
2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup of water
salt
1 tsp cilantro, minced

Heat pot over medium heat.  Add onion and sautee until browned.  Add garlic, ginger, and chile and sautee for another few minutes.  Add in channa masala or spices and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Sautee for 2 minutes.  Add crushed tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

Add drained chickpeas and combine with tomato mixture.  Pour in water and stir.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Add salt to taste.  Cover pot and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve with a sprinkle of minced cilantro as a garnish.

Mini Phyllo Samosas

Samosas are usually made with a pastry dough and fried.  I made these for our Diwali dinner party with phyllo dough and baked them so they were lighter and a bit healthier.  They taste great served with mint chutney or tamarind chutney.

Mini Phyllo Samosas:
makes about 30 samosas

1 potato, peeled, boiled, and mashed

1 tablespoon frozen peas, defrosted

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of Garam Masala (can be found in the spice aisle at some grocery stores or at Indian supermarkets.  Here is the recipe.)

1/2 package of phyllo dough, defrosted.

4 tbs unsalted butter, melted.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine mashed potato, peas, salt, and garam masala in a bowl.  Set aside.

On a clean workspace, brush melted butter on one layer of phyllo dough.  Top with another layer of phyllo dough.  Repeat.  Brush the top layer with mureelted butter and cut into 4 two inch strips.  Put one teaspoon of the potato mixture at the bottom of each strip.  Gently fold the phyllo strip corner so that it forms a triangle and continue to fold until you reach the end of the strip (similar instructions with photo directions can be found here.)  Place on a baking sheet and repeat with remaining strips.  Continute to layer phyllo dough and create samosa triangles until all the filling is used up.

Brush the top of each triangle with melted butter and place in oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve immediately with chutney.

French Onion Soup

Who doesn't love French onion soup?  It's warm, complex, and covered in cheese!  My recipe is one of my husband's favorite dishes when it gets chilly outside.  Elegant enough to serve at a dinner party but easy enough for a weeknight meal accompanied by a side salad.  The leftovers freeze deliciously as well.  Don't be deterred by how long it takes to caramelize the onions.  It's easy!

French Onion Soup:

serves 6

4 to 5 large sweet onions, sliced thinly

2 tbs unsalted butter

1 tbs olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

5 to 6 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed from stems

1 cup of brandy

2 tbs of flour

4 sixteen ounce cans of low sodium beef broth

1 baguette, sliced into 3/4 inch rounds and toasted

1 pound of Gruyere cheese, sliced or shredded

salt and black pepper to taste

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat and melt butter into olive oil.  Add onions and stir until softened.  Add about a teaspoon of salt and a half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.  Reduce heat to low and cook onions uncovered for about 1 hour, stirring approximately ever 5 minutes and scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.  Add garlic and thyme and sautee onions for another 30 minutes or so until the onions are brown and caramelized.

Add one cup of brandy and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Allow brandy to cook off for a few minutes.  Add flour and stir.  Cook onions and flour for a few more minutes.  Slowly stir in broth.  Bring to a boil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Reduce to a simmer and cover for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To assemble the soup:  Preheat the broiler or oven as high as it will go.  Add about 1-2 cups of soup to an oven proof bowl.  Top with a few toasted baguette slices, overlapping pieces if needed.  Top with cheese.  Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbling.  Serve immediately.

Confession

Thyme is my favorite herb to use when I cook.  Thyme is thought to be a source of courage.  Cooking takes a bit of courage but does not have to be complicated.  I don't think putting 20 ingredients into a dish makes it better than using 10.  I like to improvise.  Living on an island where ingredients are not always available, I make do with what I can find.  I experiment with dishes.  They aren't always delicious on the first go, but I try again until I get it to work.  I am a foodie.  A lazy foodie that loves to cook.