Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf or Muffins

Preheat oven to 350F
Butter a 9” x 5” loaf pan or a 12-cup muffin pan (preheat oven to 375F)

• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup softened butter
• 1 egg
• 3 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup yogurt or sour cream

Glaze:

• ¼ cup icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Beat in egg, lemon rind and juice until well mixed.  Add milk and beat until mixture is well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and baking soda; add to wet ingredients alternately with yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.   Do not overmix!

Pour into prepared pan, bang pan on counter to release air bubbles.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until tester inserted into centre comes out dry (if making muffins, bake for 15 to 20 minutes).

Glaze: Prick holes in top of loaf (or muffins) with a skewer or fork.  Combine icing sugar with lemon juice; pour over loaf.

Freezes well.

Cheddar Dill Muffins

These are rather like a scone or fluffy tea biscuit, but in muffin form.  Add three crisply fried and crumbled strips of bacon if you wish.

• 2 cups all purpose flour (or substitute whole wheat)
• 1 Tablespoon white sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup Old Cheddar, shredded
• 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons dried dill weed

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Grease a standard 12-compartment muffin tin.

In a largish bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, dill, and baking powder.   Stir shredded cheese until it is all coated with flour and well distributed. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and oil.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and all at once, pour the wet ingredients into the well.

Using a large spoon, quickly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stopping when all of the dry ingredients have been moistened. The batter should be quite lumpy; this is a very thick batter.

Spoon or scoop the batter evenly into the 12 muffin compartments (about 2/3 full).  Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes, until nicely browned, and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Let rest for 5 minutes before removing from pan and cooling on a rack.

Green Lentil Kulebyaka

This is a bit of a fiddle to make, but it is very delicious…leftovers disappear way too quickly!  

• 1 cup green lentils, soaked for an hour
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 onions, halved lengthwise, then sliced (keep each separate)
• 5 cups chicken stock, divided in half (use vegetable stock or vegetarian “chicken” stock cubes for vegetarian version of this dish)
• ¾ cup butter, divided, as per directions
• 1 ¼ cups basmati rice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp dried dill, or 2 Tbsp fresh, chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 10 sheets filo pastry, thawed

 

Drain the lentils, then simmer with the bay leaves, one onion, and 2 ½ cups of the chicken stock, for 25 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked and thick. Cool and set aside.

Gently fry the remaining onion in another saucepan with 2 Tbsp of the butter for 5 minutes.  Stir in the rice and toast for a minute.  Add the remaining 2 ½  cups of chicken stock.  Grind in some pepper, bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and cook gently for about 12 minutes.  Turn off heat, and remove saucepan from burner.  Leave rice  to stand, uncovered for 5 minutes, then stir in the herbs.

Fry the mushrooms in 3 Tbsp of the butter for 5 minutes until they are just soft.  Stir into the rice and herbs. When mixture is cool, thoroughly mix in the raw egg.

Melt the remaining butter.

Brush the inside of a large, shallow ovenproof dish or deep-dish pie plate with the melted butter.  Lay the sheets of filo over it, one at a time, overlapping, covering the base and making sure most of the pastry overhangs the sides; brush the sheets with butter when they overlap each other, and as they are laid on top of each other.   Ensure that there is a lot of pastry to fold over the mounded filling – you can use more than 10 sheets if necessary!

Into the pastry-lined dish spread a layer of rice mixture.  Follow with a layer of lentils, then a layer of rice, etc.  The number of layers will depend on your dish size.  Grind some pepper (and salt, if required) over each layer as you go.

Bring up the sheets of pastry over the filling into the centre, so it looks like a Hershey’s Kiss!  Give it a little squeeze, and shape it into attractive folds.  Brush all over with the rest of the butter and set aside in the fridge to chill and firm up.

Preheat the oven to 375F.  When ready, bake the kulbebyaka for about 45 minutes until golden and crisp.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Tandoori-ish Yogurt Marinade for Chicken

• 1 cup yogurt
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons crushed or minced fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger root
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste (2 tablespoons if you like)

Marinate chicken pieces in a large ziplock bag or nonreactive dish for at least 4 to and up to 8 hours in refrigerator; longer than this will begin to overtenderize it.  Cook chicken by barbequing, grilling, baking, or sautéing.

Do not serve “used” marinade with cooked food.

Lower Fat Chocolate Cake

One layer, a little heavier than most chocolate cakes.  Not even remotely like a boxed-style cake.

• 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
• 1/3 cup hot water
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease a 9” spring form pan with butter or oil.  Mix together coffee granules and hot water, and set aside.  When it’s cool, add the milk.

In a bowl, using a whisk (or use a mixer) beat together sugar, oil,  and eggs until everything is blended.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda (sifted), and salt.

Pour the dry mixture, and the coffee/milk mixture on top of the wet ingredients, and mix gently just until everything is combined.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.  Bang the pan on a flat surface a couple of times to remove large air bubbles from the cake.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Let the pan cool on a wire rack.  Remove the spring form side.

This is very good plain with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.

Urad Dal

This recipe is supposedly a family favourite of actor Anil Kapoor (his wife’s recipe):

* 1 cup split urad dal (black lentils) — Pick over very carefully, then soak in cold water overnight, and drain before using

* 2 large onions, thinly sliced (each onion is used separately)

* 3 green chilies, halved lengthwise

* Pinch of asafoetida

* Coarse salt

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

* 2 large tomatoes, chopped

* 1 (2-inch) piece fresh peeled ginger, chopped finely

* 1 tablespoon minced garlic

* 2 teaspoons ground coriander seed

* 2 teaspoons ground cumin

* 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder

* 1/2 cup heavy cream

* 2 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)

* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

* Naan, for serving

Place drained lentils and add to a large saucepan along with 3 cups water, 1 sliced onion, chiles, and asafoetida; season with salt (about a couple of tablespoons) and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until lentils are very tender, about 30 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add remaining onion and cook, stirring, until soft. Add ginger and garlic; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, coriander, ground cumin, and chili powder. Cook, stirring, until tomatoes are softened and mixture is fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Drain lentils, reserving cooking water. Add lentils to skillet along with enough of the reserved cooking water to make a thick gravy-like consistency. Let simmer about 10 minutes. Stir in heavy cream until well combined; remove from heat.

In a small saucepan, heat ghee until very hot. Carefully add cumin seeds and cook until they stop popping. Carefully pour mixture over lentils (it will sizzle) and mix to combine. Serve immediately with naan. Serves four to five people.

Oatmeal Apricot Cookies

3 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick cook)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose or whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar (white)

1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

1 cup chopped dried apricots

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted

In a small pan over medium-high heat, toast wheat germ until lightly browned and fragrant; cool.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes (you can do this by hand!). Mix in eggs one at a time, and add vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add the dry mixture; mix until just combined. Mix in apricots and almonds.

Drop balls of dough, about 1-1/2″ in diameter onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, about 2″ apart. Flatten each cookie ball slightly.

Bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on racks for 5 minutes before removing cookies from sheets (they will be very soft). Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Baked Chicken Thighs (like wings)

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tsp fresh grated gingerroot
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp hot curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together into a bowl. If desired, cut the thighs into halves (if you want to pick them up with your fingers, dip them into sauce and eat them with your fingers, this is a good step to follow). Place the chicken thighs into a large, heavy ziplock bag, and pour in the marinade; save half of the marinade if you want to baste the thighs while they’re cooking. Marinate the chicken thighs for at least two hours and up to twenty four (keep refrigerated).

Preheat oven to 375F. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil, then with parchment paper. Place chicken thighs onto the baking sheet, tucking the edges under. Bake in centre of oven for about 40 minutes, until done. An alternative cooking method is to cook partially, for about 15 minutes, and then finish the cooking over a medium barbeque for about 3 minutes per side. If desired, baste the thighs while cooking.
These taste very good with the following blue cheese dip.

Blue Cheese Dip

•    1/3 cup real mayonnaise
•    1/4 cup light sour cream
•    1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
•    1 tsp sugar
•    1/2 tsp minced garlic
•    1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
•    1/4 tsp salt
•    Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
•   1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Whisk all ingredients together, mashing up blue cheese until you have a consistency that you like. Use for vegetables, chicken wings, etc. Refrigerate.

An Ever Evolving Dahl Mahkni

This is a recipe that is being constantly tweeked:

• 1 ½ cups Urad Dahl (black  whole)
• 1 ½ cups rajma (red beans or kidney beans)
• ½ cup channa dahl
• 1 tsp turmeric

• ½ cup ghee, or ½ cup butter plus a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil
• 1 medium to large onion
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 – 4 jalapeno peppers
• 1 ½ tsp fresh ginger

• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
• 1 tsp red chili powder (from Indian market, not “chili powder”)
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander (dhaniya) powder
• large pinch of cardamom powder, or two pods, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp garam masala

• 2 tsp salt — definitely to taste — you need to taste it
• ½ cup whipping cream
• ½ cup milk
• cilantro, chopped,  to taste (a handful or less)
• half of a lemon
• water, if needed

Soak dahl and beans overnight, covered with water in a large pot; drain after soaking.   Refill the pot with water to cover the bean and dahl mixture and add the teaspoon of turmeric to the water; cook them over a medium to low flame until soft; this can take a few hours.  Drain well, and mash the mixture lightly.

Grind onion, garlic, ginger, and peppers in a food processor.  Chop tomatoes.

In a dutch oven, heat the ghee until hot.  Add the ground onion mixture and fry until browned.  Add the red chili powder, cumin, coriander powder, cardamom, tomatoes, and garam masala, and cook till toasted (don’t burn).

Add the mashed dahl and beans to the dutch oven, and allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add cream and milk, as well as salt.  Mix well, heat through;  add water to get the consistency that you like.  Add coriander and lemon juice just before serving (they are not necessary).

Serve with basmati rice, and/or naan.