Spanakopita Rolls

                          

About

Spanakopita is traditionally phylo dough savory pastry made out of spinach, onions and feta cheese, usually in triangles. As you may have noticed, I have taken the liberty to modify the traditional recipe and formed them into Spanakopita Rolls instead. They were an absolute favorite and in a matter of seconds, they were all gone! I am glad that I managed to take pictures before my guests arrived! The filling is really the star of this dish. Not only are these delicious appetizers, they are easy to make and healthy because they are baked and not fried. The recipe calls for 24 rolls.

Ingredients

Olive Oil (EVOO)- 1 tablespoon

Small White Onion- 1 finely chopped

Scallions- 2, chopped

Fresh Spinach- 24 Oz (about 3 cups)

Fresh Feta cheese- 3 oz, crumbled

Cottage Cheese (Paneer)- ½ cup (optional)

Salt, to season

Pepper, to season

Phyllo sheets- 12m thawed

Butter- 1 stick, melted, about 8 tablespoons

EVOO- 1 tablespoon

Method

Step 1- Filling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of EVOO in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions and scallions. Cook until softened. Add spinach and cook until most of the water from the spinach is evaporated. Add feta and cottage cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Step 2- Rolls

Melt butter, add EVOO and keep aside. You will need a pastry brush (basting brush) spread the butter onto the sheets. Carefully, remove phyllo sheets. Stack 8 sheets. With the shortest end of the phyllo sheet nearest you, brush phyllo with butter and EVOO mixture. It does not have to be perfect, but remember to work through this quickly because the sheets dry up. Top with second sheet and brush again. Fold the buttered phyllo sheets in half, like a book and brush the top layer. Divide the sheets in 4 parts. You should now have 4 sets of 2 buttered sheets. Make 3 vertical divisions using a pizza cutter. Then make one horizontal incision in the center, making 6 equal squares. Once you have done cutting all 4 sets, you should have 24 squares. Place a heaping 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the bottom nearest you. Adjust the filling depending on how effectively you are able to roll this. Again, it does not have to be perfect. Just make sure that the filling is not coming out. Since the sheets are buttered, they might be fragile to work with. Carefully fold up the square once and then fold over the right side and then the left side of the phyllo. Brush with butter mixture and then continue rolling up like a burrito. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet and brush rolls with butter/oil mixture. Bake until golden and crispy for about 30 to 35 minutes. 

Happy Cooking!!

Mini Baklava Tarts

About

This is a quick version of the elaborated baklava recipe, which is not hard to make, but just consumes much more time. This desert is a tried and tested recipe, and trust me, not only I does this taste delicious, but it is very easy to make. I literally made these in 30 minutes! I served them after a couple of hours towards the end of my party (after they had chilled in the refrigerator), but you can serve them right away. Alternatively, you can warm it up in the oven for 20 seconds right before serving. Also, I did not have honey (yes! I use Blue Agave Nector instead of honey, not because I am vegan, but because I simply like the taste of Agave). A couple of observations though- Agave is more liquidy unlike honey which is thick. It doesn’t really matter really, but you can pick what you prefer, because either way they will caramelize when baked. Also, they taste slightly different. Agave is a little sharper in flavor than honey. In addition, can substitute the walnuts for pistachios or pecans, but try the variations and figure out which one you like best! The recipe will make about 24 mini baklava tarts. Enjoy and be ready to get complimented by your guests! 

Note: You can use frozen miniature phyllo tart shells, but I used regular phyllo sheets to make 1- 1 ½ inch squares and baked the walnut mixture with the phyllo squares. Feel free to follow my steps in my Mini Nutella Tarts recipe to learn how to make shells out of phyllo dough sheets. 

Ingredients

Agave Nectar or Honey- ¾ cup

Butter, melted- 1 cup

Ground cinnamon- 1 teaspoon

Lemon juice- 1 teaspoon

Ground cloves- 1 teaspoon

Ground cardamom- 1 teaspoon

Walnuts, finely chopped- 2 cups

1 -1½ inch squares of phyllo sheets (or frozen miniature phyllo tart shells)

Method

Step 1- Mix

In a large mixing bowl, mix Agave or honey, butter, ground cinnamon, cardamom, lemon juice, ground cloves and stir in walnuts. 

Step-2- Fill

Butter the mini muffin/cupcake pan. Place about 4 squares in each cup of mini muffin/cupcake pan and lightly baste with butter with a pastry brush. Spoon about 2 teaspoons mixture into each shell. 

Step 3- Bake

Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes until lightly golden and crispy. The agave (or honey) in the mixture will start to bubble and the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves will make your kitchen absolutely fragrant! 

Step 4- Serve

Once out of the oven, let the tarts stand in the muffin/cupcake pan for at least 30 minutes before attempting to take it out of the muffin/cupcake pan. Take out each shell carefully with a butter knife running the knife around the cup in a circle trying not to break the shell. Alternatively, you can carefully take it out by hand. Serve like I did in a tiered serving dish with other desserts. 

Happy Cooking!!

Mini Nutella Tarlettes

About 

I had read a similar recipe somewhere and decided to try this out. It turned out to be an absolute favorite and within minutes they were gone!  I made them out of regular phyllo sheets simply because I had no time to run to the grocery store to grab the shells. Also, I had sheets left over from my spanakopita rolls and baklava tarts. But if you can’t be bothered to cut the mini squares, you can find packaged phyllo cups in the frozen section in the local grocery store, where phyllo dough and prepared frozen pie crusts are sold. But if you want to make a quick desert and cannot be bothered to buy phyllo cups, just like I wasn't, you can follow this recipe by just using phyllo dough sheets. Simply cut the sheets into 1-1 ½ inch squares with a pizza cutter and push them into a greased mini muffin cup (For every 4 set of sheets, you will be able to make approx 8 squares). You'll want to butter and layer about 4 sheets of phyllo in each mini muffin well to get a nice, crispy phyllo cup. Once you fill each of the mini muffin cup wells, bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool completely on a baking rack before filling.

Ingredients

Nutella or any good quality chocolate/hazelnut spread- 1 ½ cups

Heavy whipped cream- 2 cups

Phyllo shells- 8 (to make 16)

Toasted almonds or walnuts- ½ cup, for garnishing

Method

Step 1- Mix

In a large mixing bowl, place cold heavy whipping cream and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add nutella and carefully fold the whipped cream into the Nutella.

Step 2- Transfer

Transfer this Nutella cream mixture into a pastry bag or simply just cut corners of a large gallon sized zip lock bag and fill with the mixture.

Step 3- Piping

Pipe the Nutella misture into the phyllo shells. Hold tip approximately ½ in. above the shell at a 90° angle to the surface. Squeeze out the mixture without releasing pressure, raise tip slightly as you drop a line of icing around the tip in a tight, complete rotation.  After completing the first rotation, move tip toward center and up and around to make a second spiral around the inside edge of the first spiral. Release pressure to end spiral at center of shell.

Step 4- Garnish

Garnish with whole almond or in this case, I garnished with chopped walnuts left over from my baklava recipe!

Step 5- Serve

Serve immediately because the nutella mixture will start to melt if left out for too long. Alternatively, you can make in advance and refrigerate it and take out right 10 minutes before serving.

Chef's Tip: As you can see my nutella mixture melted because it was a hot day even though it wasn't left outside for too long! Who cares though!? It turned out to be a big hit!!

Happy Cooking!!

Baba Ghannouj

About
This is by far my favorite dip. I love Eggplant and this dish just combines simple ingredients to create an amazing dip. I have a ceramic cook top, so I used my gas BBQ grill to grill the eggplant. The smoky flavor created by grilling the eggplant just compliments beautifully. The recipe makes approximately 2 cups of Baba Ghannouj and serves 4-6. 

Ingredients
Medium sized eggplant- 1 (about 400 g or 12 oz)
Lemon Juice-¼ cup
Tahini- ¼ cup
Garlic- 2 cloves
Sea Salt- to season
Olive Oil- 1½ tablespoon
Parsley- ¼ cup or about 4 sprigs

Method
Grill eggplant over charcoal or gas grill for 20-30 minutes, turning frequently. Peel off skin while hot (wear gloves for protection) and remove the stem and bottom of the eggplant if firm. 

Roughly chop the eggplant and in a blender, puree the eggplant. Add garlic and salt. Add more salt if required. Add lemon juice. Blend in 1 tablespoon olive oil and parsley. 

Place in a shallow dish, pour in the remaining olive oil and garnish with parsley. 

Serve with warm pita bread. 

Happy Cooking! 

Garlic Hummus (Chick Pea and Sesame Puree)

About

Hummus is an all time favorite Middle Eastern and Arabic dip made with cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Of course, modernly there are many variants of this simple dish. You can make Jalepeno, Cilantro, Artichoke Hummus and the list goes on. This is a classic favorite and when made at home, tastes so much better than store bought hummus. Approximately 3 cups of hummus can be made from the ingredients listed below. I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Ingredients

Boiled (or canned) Chick Peas- 1 cup

Water- ½ cup

Tahini (Sesame paste made out of toasted sesame seeds and olive oil)- ½ cup

Lemon Juice- ½ cup

Garlic- 3-4 depending on how garlicy you would like your hummus

Sea Salt- to season

Chopped Garlic- for serving and presentation

Good quality Olive Oil- 2 tablespoon

Method

In a blender, add chick peas and ½ cup water. Slowly blend tahini and lemon juice into the puree. Add Garlic and Sea Salt. Add Salt if required. Hummus should be thick and smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of the Olive Oil and blend together again. 

Spread in a shallow serving dish, swirling it with the back of a spoon. Pour Olive Oil in the center and garnish with chopped Garlic. You can also sprinkle some paprika. 

Serve with warm pita bread. Store for 3 days in an air tight container in the refrigerator. 

Happy Cooking! 

Mediterranean Cuisine

As promised, I am excited about my new post! My husband and I hosted a Mediterranean grill party for some of our close friends. The Mediterranean food presented here inspired from cuisines of Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Of course Mediterranean cuisine comprises of cuisines of countries in the Middle East including Green, Cyprus and Turkey that are countries really in the Eastern boundaries of Europe, but the food in general in these areas is largely known as "Mediterranean" food because the food in these areas are adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps the biggest dispute is which dish originated in which particular country? But we will not get into the details of that debate. The recipes presented are my versions of some of the famous Mediterranean classics. What I like best about this cuisine is that it is clean, fresh and healthy. So lets explore this together. 

Stay Tuned!!

Hello Readers!

I would like to apologize for not being able to post for so long! I just got a new job and I have been busy proving myself! I also found out recently that I passed the California Bar Exam! So life has been busy.

But stay tuned as I have a brand new post coming next week. This time I have decided to take a slight deviation from the "South Asian" theme and explore some of my favorite Mediterranean classics. I will present to you a BBQ Mediterranean theme party that you can use to plan and impress your friends and family with simple, yet restaurant style recipes. I will be posting some cocktails, appetizers and some classic grill recipes.

I recently adopted vegetarianism, but I will be posting both vegetarian and meat delights.

So stay tuned for some amazing recipes, pictures and tips.

Happy Cooking!

Baked Tandoori Fish

About

This is one of the most appetizing dishes that I have ever had. I was introduced to fish and seafood right from my early years. Luckily, I found a husband who is equally fond of seafood just as I am. This is my version of the baked pomfret just for my husband. The most suitable fish for this recipe is white or silver pomfret. It comes frozen and is available at Asian supermarkets weighed about 3/4 of a pound on an average. But you can use any other filet of fish if you prefer it without bones. In that case, filet of cod and swordfish are some of the other options. Of course if you are in India, you have the luxury of getting the fish cleaned by someone else. As for the fish, it be grilled directly on charcoal (insert skewers and grill for not more than 4-5 minutes each side or until browned), or baked in a Tandoor. I have baked the fish at 375 F in a conventional oven. This dish is delicious, but be careful of the tiny bones in the pomfret that could be hazardous and you could choke over the carcasses.

Ingredients

Whole Silver Pomfret- 2  

Lime juice of one lemon-2 tablespoons

Slices of lemon-2

Salt, to season

Mayonnaise- 2 tablespoons

Garlic paste- 1 teaspoon

Vinegar- ½ teaspoon

Whole Garlic, coarsely crushed- 4

Ginger paste- 1 teaspoon

Green Chilies paste- 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon

Tomato Ketchup- 1 teaspoon

Red Chili Powder- ½ teaspoon

Cumin powder- ½ teaspoon

Tandoori spice Mix- 1 teaspoon (I used MDH Tandoori Chicken Mix)

Egg- 1

Olive Oil or Butter- 1 tablespoon

Bell Peppers, cut in 1 inch squares-½ cup

Onions, cut in 1 inch squares-½ cup

Mint Leaves- ½ cup

Sliced Onions- ½ cup

Chat Masala- 1 teaspoon

Carom (Ajwain) seeds- ½ teaspoon 

Method

Cleaning the fish

Clean the fish by placing it in cold running water and scrubbing and scaling it with a knife. Cut off the fins. Make an incision vertically near the eyes. Wear surgical gloves (available in supermarkets) if you will, as this is fish has a very strong smell. Dig through the incision and clean the gills and try to clean all the viscous stuff inside the fish. Run through fresh cold water. Make sure not to cut the head completely to retain character for presentation. If the head bothers you, get rid of it and just bake the lower part. Wash with salt and turmeric. Make 3 slits vertically on each side of the fish with a sharp knife making sure not to cut through completely and retaining the tail and side fins. The idea is to maintain the fish as a whole.

Marinade

Prepare the marinade by mixing salt, lemon juice, mayonnaise, garlic paste, ginger paste, green chilies paste, coriander powder, vinegar, tomato ketchup, red chili powder, cumin power and tandoori spice mix. Beat one egg and add to this mix. This will allow to the fish to look glossy after it bakes. Rub the marinade over the fish and make sure it is stuffed inside the slits. Stuff the crushed garlic in the incisions made on the fish. Let it sit in the refrigerator for about 4 hours (if you have no time to marinate, you can bake it directly. But I recommend letting it sit for at least 30 to 45 minutes in the refrigerator).

Bake

Prepare a baking dish (I prefer using disposable baking dish because I don’t fancy cleaning the mess later :) ) and brush the bottom of the dish with a little oil. Carefully place the fish in the center of the dish. Drizzle with olive oil or butter. Now, at this stage, you can also skewer the fish through its mouth to its tail. But the choice is yours. You can place the fish directly on the rack of your oven. Be sure to place aluminum foil on the bottom to retain the juices oozing out of the fish. (I used the baking dish to bake the fish and later directly placed it on the rack). Pour any remaining marinade into the dish along with bell peppers and onions cut in squares. Garnish the fish with mint leaves and slices of lemon. Pre-heat the oven at 375 F and bake the fish for 20 minutes. Turn the setting to broiler and broil the fish directly on the rack for 2 minutes each side to darken the skin. Keep a watch on the fish because this may burn the fish very quickly. Carefully take the fish out of the oven, add lemon juice of half a lemon and garnish with mint, lemon and coriander leaves, sliced raw onions and chat masala. Serve over rice pilaf or with tandoori roti.

Chef’s Tip

Prepare the marinade in a zip lock bag as this allows all the flavors to mix in well and marinade the fish evenly without becoming messy. You can directly place the zip lock in the refrigerator without worrying about washing after. 

Happy Cooking!!

Chicken Biryani

                                  

About

Biryani is a rice based dish made with spices and herbs.  It was believed to have been invented in the kitchen of Mughal Emperors. It is very popular in the Indian subcontinent and is a key element of the South Asian cuisine.Hyderabad, Malabar, Delhi/Agra, Kashmir, Kolkata, Lucknow and Lahore, are the main centres of biryani cuisine. To find more about this delicious dish, you can go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani. This is a version of the Hyderabad Dum Biryani. It was baked in the oven to add the "dum" factor. Dum means to ‘breathe in’ and pukht to 'cook' which is basically ‘roasting’ and ‘maturing’ of a prepared dish. One of the many variations of Biryani is Chicken Biryani. In this recipe, Chicken and rice were cooked separately and then layered in a Dutch oven, sealed and baked to perfection in a preheated oven. The difference that you will notice in this version is that mint and cilantro are generously used to flavor the chicken.  You can use boneless skinless chicken breast or whole chicken cut into medium cubes with the bones. This dish brings back old memories as a child. My mum is a master of Hyderabadi Dum Biryani. This is my tribute to my mum. I hope that you enjoy this dish as much as I do. 

Ingredients

Chicken: 

Skinless boneless chicken 1 to 1½" pieces- 1 pound

Yogurt- 1 cup

Garlic paste- 1 teaspoon

Ginger paste- 1 teaspoon

Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon

Chili powder: 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon

Biryani Masala- 1 tablespoon (I used Shan Chicken Biryani Mix)

Serrano Chilies, halfed lengthwise and remove seeds and white membrane- 1 (Add more if you would like to increase the heat)

Salt: ¼ teaspoon

EVOO: 2 tablespoon

Onions, thinly sliced- 2 cups

Cinnamon sticks, 3" x¼" broken in half- 1

Black peppercorn- 5-6

Cloves- 5

Mint leaves- 1 bunch

Cilantro leaves- 1 bunch

Water- 1 Cup

Saffron Mint Rice:

Basmati Rice- 1 cup (I used Kohinoor platinum aged rice)

Saffron- ¼ teaspoon (Any good quality saffron)

Salt- ¼ teaspoon

Cinnamon sticks-1

EVOO- ½ Tablespoon

Mint leaves- ½ cup

Water- 3 cups

Juice of half a lemon

Other Ingredients: 

EVOO- 1 Tablespoon

Boiled eggs, cut in half-3

Bay leaf- 6-7

Onions thinly sliced vertically and fried: ½ Cup

Almonds skinned and sliced-2 Tablespoons

Cashews halves: 2 Tablespoons

Milk- ½ Cup

Cardamom powder- ½ teaspoon

Saffron strands, crushed- 6

Rose essence- ¼ teaspoon

Sliced Lemon- ½

Lemon Juice- of ½ lemon

Method

Chicken:

Combine yogurt, ginger, garlic, cumin powder, chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Stir in chicken. Make sure chicken pieces are full coated. Let it rest 4 hours to overnight in the refrigerator. Heat EVOO in a heavy bottomed stock pot. Add cinnamon sticks and black cardamom. Fry for a minute. Add onions, sauté till onions are ready to turn brown about 6 minutes. Add cloves and black peppercorn. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the marinated chicken. Cook on low to medium heat and fry until the chicken starts to turn brown on all sides and the marinade releases oil. Blend mint leaves and cilantro in a blender with ½ tablespoon water. Add this to the stock pot with the chicken. Sauté until chicken releases the oil and all the flavors are blended in. Add 1 cup of water. Once this starts to boil, cover and cook on medium heat till chicken is tender for about 25 minutes. If required add another cup of water until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Take the lid off and pan fry until the gravy is thick.

Rice:

Wash and rinse the rice a couple of times. Soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes. Drain. In a rice cooker (if you don’t have a rice cooker, then use a pot), add the rice, add water, saffron strands, cinnamon sticks, salt and bring it Bring it to a boil. Add lemon juice. This will prevent the rice from sticking together. Simmer and cook for 12 minutes with the lid on. The idea is to half-cook the rice. Transfer to a colander and let all the excess water drip off. Check by tasting the rice. If required, season with some more salt to adjust the taste.

Layer the Chicken and Rice:

In a pan, add about 1 tablespoon of EVOO. Once the oil is hot, add almonds and cashews. Fry till almonds and cashews turn brown. Transfer to a bowl with paper towel to drain the excess oil. To the same pan, add 1 cup of sliced onions and fry till crisp and brown. Transfer to a bowl with paper towel to drain excess oil. Next, in the bottom of a Dutch oven (or any heavy bottomed pot), drizzle some oil. Place 6-7 bay leaves. Put half of the rice on the bottom of a Dutch oven. Put Chicken gravy on top of the Rice. Put the remaining rice on top of the Chicken gravy. Carefully place the eggs facing down on the rice and Sprinkle onions, mint leaves, almonds and cashews on top of rice. Prepare a mixture of warm milk, saffron, cardamom and rose essence. Add to the layered rice and chicken slowly in a circular fashion. Cover the Ditch oven with Aluminum foil. Place the lid on the Aluminum foil to help making a tight seal so that the flavors are blended together. Place the Dutch oven in a preheated oven to 400°F. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the Dutch oven stand on the rack for an additional 20 minutes. Carefully open the seal. Add a dash of lemon juice. Garnish with sliced lemon and serve hot with mint raita.  

Happy Cooking!! 

Pan Fried Rice

About

This recipe is my interpretation of the original fried rice. This interpretation is a slight deviation from the typical indo-chinese recipes found online. I have used classic ingredients but adjusted amounts. The method is formulated to conform with typical Indian cooking. Critical to the success of this dish is the rice. I will explain how you could make rice that does not stick together. I prefer using Basmati Rice because of its texture and its overall result with flavors. 

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 3 cups (process explained in Step 1)

Assorted vegetables- 1 cup (I Used Birds Eye frozen Mixed Vegetable- sweet corn, peas, carrots, soy beans, French beans)

Spring onions, chopped fine- 1 bunch 

Green, Red and Yellow Bell Peppers, chopped- 1/2 cup

Serrano Chilies, halfed lengthwise and remove seeds and white membrane- 1

Button Mushrooms, sliced-1/2 cup (optional)

Soy sauce- 2 tablespoons

Green chili sauce- 1 teaspoon (I used Ching’s)

Hot sauce- 1 teaspoon (optional)

Freshly minced ginger + garlic - 1 tablespoon

Onions, chopped- 1

Freshly ground black pepper - 1 teaspoon

Ground white pepper- 1 teaspoon 

EVOO- 1 tablespoon (Any good quality light olive oil)

Eggs- 3

For cooked rice

Basmati rice, 1 cup

Water, 3 cups

EVOO, 1 teaspoon

Salt, 1 teaspoon

Method

Step 1 - Rice

Wash and soak the rice in enough water to cover it for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, drain the water completely, add 2 cups of fresh water (or enough to cover the rice by 2 inches) in a heavy bottomed pan on medium flame. Add salt and EVOO and bring it to a boil. Cover and let it come to a boil. Next, once the water is boiling, lower flame and let the rice cook for about 10-12 minutes. Check if the rice is soft and not mushy. Even if water has not completely evaporated, that’s ok. Once the rice is cooked, immediately transfer the rice to colander and run cold water over. As a result of this, the rice will be separated not stick to one another. 

Step 2 - Eggs

In a separate bowl, crack the eggs (it is best to crack your eggs one at a time in a bowl or a cup (this will keep spoiled ones from getting mixed in). Put them into a glass or plastic bowl. After breaking the eggs, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly to prevent salmonella poisoning. Beat the eggs until they are completely mixed (the yolks and the whites). You can either use a fork, or wire whisk to mix/beat your eggs. Add salt and black pepper and whisk together. Keep aside.

In a wok or flat pan, add half teaspoon EVOO. Put the heat on low to medium heat, and pour on the eggs, spreading them evenly with a spatula just as you were to make an omelet. Once the omelet starts to cook, run your spatula through it to scramble it. Transfer into a bowl and keep aside.

Step 3- Preparing for the concoction

In the same pan, add the remaining EVOO and wait until it starts to smoke. Carefully add the onions. Fry until light golden brown. Add minced ginger and garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add the frozen vegetables/ mushrooms and bell peppers. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until the vegetables cook through, making sure they do not turn mushy. Add soy sauce, hot sauce, and green chili sauce. Reduce flame to medium-high, stirring constantly. Continue to stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs. Add the cooked rice and mix carefully from the sides ensuring not to break the rice. Add salt, white and black pepper. Toss to mix well. Serve immediately.

Happy Cooking!