Thali Dinner

By the end of Week 1 of April's Blogging Marathon, I had already completed all the recipes lined up for Week 2, so I was again free to cook whatever I wanted, regardless of theme.  I happened to have a house guest that weekend.  I woke up on Sunday morning to a day that was a little gray, so I was in no mood to go to the store, so I wanted to cook with whatever ingredients were on hand.

My friend had come over with some food too.  She had been telling me about something called Black Fish.  I said I had never heard of it.  She was surprised - she is from the Dominican Republic and my dad is from Haiti - much of the food is very similar.  They do share the same island, after all.  She wanted to come over and make it for me.  She came in with her bag of ingredients on Saturday..and then I realized what this Black Fish is...it is smoked herring. She just didn't know the proper name for it.  I HATE smoked herring - the smell, the taste..everything about it!  Whenever my parents would make this smelly fish, my sister and I would hide in our bedroom with the door closed, waiting for the smell to go away.  My parents always had to make something different for us on the days they cooked this.  Even if they tried, they would not even have been able to force feed us this!  My friend felt so bad, but I told her don't...she had no way of knowing how much I despise this dish.  She went ahead and made it for her breakfast Sunday morning, while I ate some leftover oatmeal.

I figured she had gone to all this effort the least I could do is repay the favor and cook a grand dinner for her.  I had been so inspired from all the amazing feasts featured in my fellow Blogging Marathoners who chose to do the Indian thali meals.  I had seen so many recipes I wanted to try and thought wow I have enough Indian recipes for a year.  Instead of them just staying in my bookmarks without me ever looking at them, I decided I would do my own thali, using only one recipe per blog, to highlight as many of my blogger friends' talents as possible.

She had also brought over some veggies that she knows I love, specifically beets and okra.  There was some extra leftover staples after she had made the herring - tomatoes, cilantro, etc. that I knew I had all the ingredients to make a mini-thali for dinner.  Invite some more friends over for a wonderful Sunday meal!

I came up with this menu for my mini-thali Indian dinner.  I wasn't trying to make an authentic thali from a specific region of India, so this is a hodgepodge thali from areas of the whole country.

Methi Gota

wonderful appetizer fritters made with chickpea flour (via Pradnya) - I added 6 tablespoons of water to make the batter the perfect consistency.  This is actually very similar to something we make in the Caribbean called phulourie, except we make it with ground channa dal (yellow split peas)...her chickpea flour based ones I loved as much as phulourie

Toor Dal Chutney 

chutney made from split pigeon peas..a new one for me (via Harini) -  I am accustomed to chutney's being smooth and creamy as in coriander chutney or tamarind chutney.  This one is coarse and even a little crunchy.  I added 6 tablespoons of tamarind extract when I did her recipe.

Coconut Podi

a wonderful spice powder that I accompanied with brown Basmati rice, cooked in rice cooker with frozen green peas (via Rasi) - I followed her recipe exactly, except I used dried dessicated grated coconut, as I didn't have any fresh.

Bhindi Patata

stir fry made with potatoes and okra (via Vaishalli) - I added more water to this because I like the okra cooked a little softer.  I've never cooked okra this way before, stuffing it with a spicy spice paste and it was super delicious!

Mutton Chukka

lamb simmered in a coconut-poppy seed curry (via Priya)  - I had to make my own variation of this because I didn't have any more poppy seeds, so I substituted black sesame seeds.  I used a regular pot, instead of a pressure cooker. I used leg of lamb meat and her recipe didn't specify black or green cardamom - I used black.

...I still had some leftover Mango Coconut Flan, so that was dessert

the only thing missing was roti and dahl..with the next day's leftover's Missi Roti was added (via Aarthi) - for my detailed methodology for making her roti, see here...next time, I will make a complete thali and include dahl also!

Although not all of these recipes were specifically posted as part of the Thali theme, they became part of my Thali

The whole meal, except the dessert can be done in about 2 hours, so next time you have dinner guests coming over, impress them all with this authentic Indian meal!

Chef Mireille
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Herbed Oat Rolls

Well, it's with bittersweet feelings that I say farewell to another Blogging Marathon.  I'm sad because I miss the comraderie, the discussions and the themes that push my creativity...but I need a little rest after all this bread baking.  However, it has also renewed my interest in bread baking.  Why do I buy store-bought loaves when I can make them at home better and with flavors that I enjoy?  Once I finish use up all these breads that are now stored in the freezer, I need to stop being lazy and make my own breads, which is also cheaper!!

I have been making these rolls for many years.  It's perfect as is...great with a bowl of pasta or any soup, stew or salad.

Herbed Oat Rolls

Serves 24
Ingredients:
2 cups water

5-Grain Cereal Blend

1 cup oats or multi-grain hot cereal (in the past when I have made these I always used oats, but I didn't have any oats, so I used Bob's 5-grain cereal blend that includes oats, wheat, rye, barley, triticale and flaxseed)

3 tablespoons butter
3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 pkg. dry active yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1 egg
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Stir in oats.  Remove from heat and stir in 3 tablespoons butter.  Cool to 120 to 130 F.
In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast.  Blend well.  Add oats mixture and egg.  Mix until well moistened.
With a wooden spoon, stir in an additional 1 1/2 cups of flour.
Turn onto a floured surface and knead in an additional to 1/4 to 3/4 cup flour, until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  I used only 1/4 cup of additional flour.  Shape dough into a ball and cover with a greased large bowl.  Let rest for 15 minutes.

Grease a rectangular 13x9 baking pan.  Punch down dough several times to remove air bubbles and press into greased pan.  Using a very sharp knife, cut diagonal lines 1 1/2 inches apart, cutting completely through the dough.

Repeat in the opposite directions, creating a diamond pattern, to make individual rolls.

Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.  Let rise until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 F.  Go over cuts again to make sure they are all cut through to the bottom of the pan.  Poke the knife, but don't cut through the risen dough.  Spoon 3 tablespoons of the butter over the dough and bake for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine herbs and cheese.  Mix well and set aside.
Brush remaining melted butter over bread and sprinkle with cheese-herb mix.

Bake for an additional 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Pop out of the pan and separate the rolls.
These go great with the Escarole Bean Soup I made last week!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#15


Sending to Vardhini's Bake Fest at Zesty Palette/Cooks' Joy, hosted this month by Sumee

Chef Mireille

Pumpkin Rolls

I had a different post planned for today that I wasn't 100% pleased with the way it turned out....delicious, but not the most aesthetically pleasing.  However, I was going to post it anyway - it was scheduled in my Blogger account with all the photos, the write up and everything...then at the last minute, I decided my readers deserved better than a mediocre recipe...I might suffer a bit with lack of sleep but late this afternoon, I decided to do this recipe to replace the one I had scheduled for today.  It had to be done today, as I will be working all day tomorrow.

The last 2 days of my bread baking marathon is dedicated to dinner rolls.  Today's roll was inspired from a recipe from Dori Sanders' Country Cooking.  Back when Sara Moulton had her show, Cooking Live! on the Food Network, she once had Dori Sanders as a guest.  Ms. Sanders was such an engaging, sweet lady.  She is actually a peach farmer in South Carolina so to no surprise, many of her recipes our peach based.  I've tried many of them and they are all delicious; my favorites are her Peach Cornmeal Muffins and Bourbon Laced Chicken and Peaches.  However, her farm also has a recipe exchange with a bulletin board where people come and post their own home recipes and many of the recipes in her book are from these collected recipes.  This produced some very unique recipes like Okra Parmagiana.

Ms. Sanders is also a novelist.  After "meeting" her on Cooking Live!, I went out and got her book the first chance I got. It was en engaging, entertaining novel that was eventually made into a TV movie which I only saw recently, called Clover.  This book is a study on cultural anthropology in how a young black girl in the southern United States adjusts to her white stepmother, after her father is tragically killed in a car accident the day of his wedding to her.  Ms. Sanders has led a life, with deep roots in Americana.  She is the granddaughter of a slave and has one of the oldest African American owned family farms in the United States, since 1915.  When I get a chance to go down there, I will definitely be stopping by her farm for some fresh peaches.

She had a recipe for some Sweet Potato Rolls.  I didn't have any sweet potatoes, but I did have some leftover canned pumpkin from when I made the Apricot Pumpkin Bread.  For those of you who use canned pumpkin know that once you open it, you should try to use the whole can as soon as possible, as it will start to get moldy after about a week in the refrigerator.  Usually, I use the pumpkin all in one shot, but these were super sized cans as they had been purchased at Costco.  I usually would not have purchased such large cans, but the price was amazing...only $2 and change for a 3-pack!!! My week was up and I checked...thank God, it was still good..no mold and it passed the taste test.  It was the exact quantity I needed to replace the Sweet Potato in her recipe.  I was meant to create this recipe!

With dry active yeast, there is debate in the bread world whether the traditional way of proofing yeast prior to using in bread is necessary.  Since I have baked many breads without this proofing, I generally just add the yeast directly with the flour and then add the warm liquid, to activate it.  However, since Ms. Sanders' original recipe called for proofing, I followed the recipe as is.

These Pumpkin Rolls are a variation of her Sweet Potato Rolls and are perfect with soup or as a tea time snack, with melted butter or honey.

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled plus 1 tablespoon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 - 4 cups all purpose or bread flour

In a large bowl, combine water and 2 tablespoons of the sugar.  Sprinkle yeast on top and let rest for 5 minutes, until yeast looks foamy.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/4 cup butter and milk.  Add to proofed yeast mixture with salt and pumpkin. Mix well.

Add 3 cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing well after each cup.  Keep on mixing with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.

Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead in an additional 1/2 cup to 1 cup of flour, until you have a smooth and elastic dough (I added 3/4 cup).  Knead for about 8-10 minutes.  This dough is quite soft.
Place in a greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.

Let rise for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Grease a muffin pan or spray with non-stick spray.  Punch dough to remove air bubbles.

Pinch off walnut size pieces of dough and shape into little balls.  Place 3 balls in each muffin cup.

This recipe makes 1 1/2 dozen rolls, but I only have one regular sized muffin pan, so I put one little ball in each of these mini muffin cups for the rest of the dough.

If you don't fill up each cup, put a little water in the remaining cups before you put them in the oven.  This ensures even baking.

Brush the tops with the remaining tablespoon of butter.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise another 30-45 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.

These are so delicious and moist...pumpkin flavor really does not come through..I believe the purpose of this is really to provide moisture...so can be replaced with sweet potatoes, white potato or maybe even ripe yellow plantain.  Simply boil, strain and mash any of these vegetables you may have lying around to create these moist and soft inside, but perfectly crusty on the outside.

Even if pumpkin or sweet potato flavor does not come through, the extra vitamins and the aesthetically pleasing golden color make it an option I would still prefer to regular white potato.

I don't know about you, but I had a fabulous dinner tonight with these rolls and a bowl of simple vegetable soup.  Because of the way they are assembled in the large muffin tins, they pull apart easily into three separate portions..perfect for sharing...especially with kids!

For more delicious bread recipes and more...don't forget to Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#15

...on a side note, you don't have to live on a peach farm in South Carolina to grow great produce.  For the first time, I planted seeds this year.  I brought the seeds home and every couple of days, I kept on checking them, not sure if I had planted them the right depth, etc. and then about a month later, the first green started showing.  This is my bell pepper plant.

This is my cayenne pepper plant.

This is my Thai basil...planted a few weeks after the other two...still waiting for that green...but I am sure it will come soon.

I generally consider myself to have a black thumb...I even killed an Aloe plant once...the running family joke is if you want a plant to die, give it to Mireille...it's just that I get caught up in my life and other responsibilities that I forget to water it.  I've been really good with these and I am determined to prove them wrong!

In today's world where we are all trying to be self-sufficient and the local food movement is in full force, what can be more local than growing the food yourself.  As long as you have a window with good sunlight, you can grow at least some of your own produce...even in a Brooklyn apartment in NYC!

...off to Vardhini's Bake Fest at Zesty Palette/Cooks' Joy, hosted this month by Sumee  

Chef Mireille
http://www.globaltasteinc.com
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Contact me at chefmireille@globaltasteinc.com for personal chef and cooking class services!

Anise Raisin Bread

As I continue on my bread baking journey this week, here is a flavorful wheat bread, that is perfect for cinnamon toast or served with jam or preserves!!!

I was inspired to make this bread by my Mom, who loves the flavor of anise...when I gave her the extra loaf of this bread, she immediately tasted the spice and was so happy.

Ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat bread flour or whole wheat flour
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1 tablespoon salt
2 pkg. active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
2 1/4 cups warm water (120 - 130 F)
2 1/2 to 3 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 graham crackers, crushed ( I used honey flavored ones)
1 tablespoon crushed anise seeds
1 tablespoon whole anise seeds
1/2 cup golden raisins

Mix wheat flour, honey, shortening, salt and yeast in a large bowl.  Add warm water and mix until well moistened.

Stir in bread flour, one cup at a time.  After 2 cups, knead in whole anise seed and raisins.

When this is well incorporated, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding flour as necessary.  I only needed to add an extra 1/2 cup of flour.

Place in a greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.  Let rise for 45 - 60 minutes, until light and doubled in size.

Grease 2 loaf pans.
Punch down dough to remove air bubbles and divide in half.

Roll each half into a rectangle and then roll tightly, starting with the narrow end.  Press the edges to seal and place seam side down in the loaf pan.

Cover and let rise another 30-40 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Bake for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine crushed anise seeds and graham cracker crumbs and mix well.  Brush tops of loaves with melted butter and then sprinkle the cracker mix on top of loaves and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

The bread came out the perfect texture,

I'll probably double the quantity of raisins the next time I make it.  Also, what I hoped would be a crumb topping mostly flaked off, so this was unnecessary too.  I certainly wasn't going to repeat the entire recipe, just for the purpose of the Blogging Marathon, as this bread still came out yummy and perfect, for sandwiches.  These are simply adjustments I will make, to improve the recipe.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#15


This recipe is being sent to Vardhini's Bake Fest at Zesty Palette/Cooks' Joy, hosted this month by Sumee 

Chef Mireille
http://www.globaltasteinc.com
Like me on FACEBOOK!
Follow me on TWITTER!
Contact me at chefmireille@globaltasteinc.com for personal chef and cooking class services!