Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving has got to be one of my all time favourite holidays. It doesn't get much better than giving thanks, for food, with food!

This year I decided to keep my menu simple, and for the first time we had a sit down dinner.

Our Thanksgiving Menu:
Entrees:

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Tarragon and Oregano

Lamkey (thats what I decided to call it) - Roasted Leg of Lamb Stuffed with Spiced Ground Turkey

Sides:

Bread Rolls with Herbed Butter
Brussel Sprouts with Caraway
Cranberry Chutney

Dessert:
Pumpkin souffle

Peppers!

My dad came to visit over Halloween weekend this year, and we were lucky enough to be on the recieving end of his garden bounty.  In particular, his freshly harvested peppers.  We got peppers of all kinds: Pablano, Anaheim, Jalepino, Bell and Ceyenne.

Most of the hot peppers went into the dehydrator.  Some of the Pablano and Anaheim were stuffed with onions and ground beef and then roasted together.  We roasted some just on their own, so we can put them over pizza (hmmmm, maybe that's what we'll have for dinner tonight!)...  My kids were thrilled to see so many peppers.  Here are a couple of pictures of Arjun helping his grandfather out.

Garden Beets

I think I already spent some time talking about the pickled beets I made several month ago. I might also have mentioned that it isn't a vegetable I really grew up with, or even thought I care much for.  Then I started gardening, and it just seemed to be something one should grow in their garden so I thought, why not?  I was pleasantly surprised by how the pickled beets turned out (I still enjoy them on weekends with a little goat cheese and a crisp glass of white wine in the afternoons).  I also experimented with beet halwa for a dinner party last March.

Now, I had heard that you can make an Indian vegetable out of beets as well. (In reality, that shouldn't have been a surprise because I think you can make an Indian vegetable from just about any vegetable!) So I thought I'd give it a try.  I didn't look up a recipe, but just decided that I'd use my standard spices and see how it turned out.

Here's what I did:

Heated a pan with 2 tsp of whole cumin and 1 tsp of mustard seeds.  When they started popping, I added and fried some onions.  After the onions started to brown slightly, I threw in some garlic and ginger and really let it fry nicely, but without burning it.  Once the onions and garlic were very fragrant and turning a nice golden brown I threw in the powdered spices: 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 2 tsp of cumin powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder, and cayenne pepper to taste.  Once it had a moment to cook, I also cut up a small tomato and put it in the pan.

After the tomato was cooked down, I added the beets (I had already boiled, peeled and chopped them).  Once they were soft, I salted them and then turned off the pan.  Some choped cilantro and powdered garam masala were mixed in while still hot.  Anupam and the kids loved it.  Even my mom liked it, after saying, "normally I wouldn't eat beets, but..."

I will definitely be growing more beets!

Home Grilled Pizza

Yes, you read that right.  Grilled pizza.  It's about the best pizza I've ever had (well, maybe besides all the yummy pizzas I had while in Italy). We used to watch a show with Alton Brown called Good Eats, and he did a show on grilled Pizza once.  Anupam knew right away he had to try it. 

Thank goodness it was a weekend and we just happened to have some bread dough in the fridge (it's a staple at our house).  I promptly started rolling out the dough, while Anupam heated the grill. 

I eyeballed the other ingredients we had on hand: sliced ham, fresh mozzarella, olives, tomato sauce, basil, onions...yep, we had enough to make a really fine pizza.

The trick, according to Alton Brown, is the really heat up the grill nice and hot - 450 - 500 degrees or so.  Roll out the dough and grill it on one side for about 2-3 minutes and then do the other side.  Take it off, load it up and return it to the grill just long enough to melt the cheese.

We actually prefer to grill on side the dough, remove it from the grill and flip it over so the side that hasn't been grilled is down.  (It is usually already mostly cooked, just not browned yet).  We load up our pizza, just sticking to a few toppings to help each individual flavor really stand out and then put it back on the grill, long enough to grill the bottom and also melt the cheese.  It is truly just heaven.

It was amazingly quick (certainly faster than delivery) and I don't think we'll order delivery ever again...

Masala Vadai (Crispy Lentil Dumplings)

This has always been one of my favorite snacks. It brings back the memories of being a kid, a kid who couldn't care less about calories, or fat content...

Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Ingredients:
2 cups bengal gram/chana daal
1/2 cup chopped onions
3 finely chopped green chilis
1tbsp of chopped ginger
curry leaves
salt
oil for frying

Preparation
Soak chana daal in warm water for half an hour. 

Grind it without adding water - you want a fairly coarse grind, not a smooth paste. Add the rest of the ingredients into the daal & mix thoroughly.

Note: You can grind the curry leaves and ginger into the daal as well, however the green chili & the onion must be finely chopped and added to the mixture, it adds to the flavor of the dumpling.

Form into patties - about 3" diameter, and deep fry them in oil. Serve hot with coconut chutney, or your favorite condiment.