Trying something new

One of the great things about doing the Kitchen Belleicious recipe challenge is that every month I really try to cook something I have never tried.  Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I decided for the rest of the challenge, each month I would try to make a cuisine from a different culture.  Since I have a serious love of all things spicy, this month I decided to try my hand at Indian food.

Some of my mommy friends took me to an Indian grocery to help me shop and then gave me some guidelines on cooking Indian cuisine.  For my first attempt, I made Masoor Dal, which is a lentil dish, along with some rice and Paratha, a stuffed bread.  It was SOO good!!  My cousin and I ate almost all of it and she asked if she could take home the leftovers. :)

The best part?  It was so easy to make!

Masoor Dal

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp garam masala (a spice blend)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 small onion, chopped

1 small tomato, chopped

Directions

1. Rinse lentils very well and place in a saucepan along with the spices.  Cover with water (about an inch over lentils) and bring to a boil.  Skim off any foam that forms on top.  Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender.  (I pretty much cooked these the same way I would rice!)

2. While lentils are cooking, saute onion and tomato in a frying pan with vegetable oil.  I added some more garam masala and cayenne pepper to my veggies to get a bit more flavor.

3. When veggies and lentils are cooked, mix together and serve!

A Valentine's Day meal for my special Valentine

I LOVE mussels, but I was never sure how to make them.  Since I have taken on Jessica's challenge of cooking something outside my comfort zone each month (Read more about it HERE), I decided now was the perfect time to learn!  And what better day to serve it up then on Valentine's Day?  

I followed this recipe from Bobby Flay, but I added fresh chopped tomatoes instead of tarragon and served it with some crusty bread, cheese, salami and veggies.  It was so delicious!  Well, from what I tasted - by the time I ate my second one, my husband had finished the rest!

A pot pie for every tastebud!

One of my husband's favorite cold weather dishes is a chicken pot pie.  For me, it's the perfect one pot meal!

Here is my version along with alternatives for my vegetarian readers and non mushroom lovers (all for you Shea! :))  

Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie

Ingredients

·         1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts chopped into chunks

·         2 cups chopped button mushrooms

·         1 cup frozen green peas

·         1 cup sliced carrots

·         1/2 cup sliced celery

·         1 chopped yellow onion

·         3 tablespoons butter

·         3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon black pepper

·         1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

·         1 3/4 cups chicken broth

·         1 cup milk

·          Olive oil for cooking

·         2 refrigerated pie crusts

 

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2.    Season chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning to taste.  Sauté in a saucepan with olive oil over medium heat until chicken is cooked through.  Remove chicken and set aside

3.    Add a little more olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent.  Add in carrots and celery and continue to sauté for about 2 minutes, then add mushrooms and stir together until soft.  If it starts to get dry, add more olive oil as needed.

4.    Add chicken back to the pan along with the peas and 2 more tablespoons of butter.  Add in flour, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and stir to coat.  Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

5.    Roll crust into a pie pan.  Place chicken mixture in crust

6.    I like to take a small cookie cutter and cut two pieces out of the center of the top crust (a cute way to vent steam!) 

7.    Take the top crust and cover the pie and crimp edges with fingers.

8.    Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Vegetarian option:  Grill some portabella mushrooms and use them in place of the chicken and add 1 bag wilted spinach to substitute for the 2 cups of button mushrooms

Vegan option: Same as above but use non dairy butter and plain soy milk along with a vegan friendly crust such as this one: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=11462.0

Mushroom substitute:  Replace 2 cups of mushrooms with one of the following: 2 cups wilted spinach, sautéed zucchini or roasted eggplant

A special thanks to Jessica at Kitchen Belleicious for featuring my recipe as part of her 2011 recipe challenge!  Click on over to see more!

A warm meal on a cold night

It seems to be snowing everywhere this week!!  Whenever it's this cold out, I always crave a hearty stew with red wine and lots of crusty bread.  One of my favorite sites for cooking inspiration is Kitchen Bellicious.  Recently she posted a recipe for a beef stew with mushrooms and artichokes which sounded perfect for a snowy night! 

Well, the recipe came out perfect.  It is loaded with flavor and lots of veggies!  My husband was excited because I rarely cook red meat. :)

Delish!!  What do you crave when the weather outside is frightful?

A Halloween Treat - for Peanut!

Have you entered my giveaway?!  The winner will be picked tonight!  Hurry and enter HERE!

So now that Peanut is eating solid food, I decided that since I am cooking vegetables anyway, I would make his baby food instead of buying it.  We started with Butternut Squash, and now that Halloween is here, I decided to make homemade Pumpkin Puree!

Ah, the perfect pumpkin - not too big!

First, I sliced it in half

then I scooped out the seeds (which I roasted with a little butter, salt and pepper)

into the oven at 400 degrees for an hour...

Yummy!  

Peel off the skin and (carefully) put into the blender

make sure to open the top to vent the steam

add water until you have a pudding like consistency..

then pour into ice cube trays and freeze for perfect baby portions!

Pop out and put into freezer bags - dinner (and breakfast) is served.

I used the extra puree to make pumpkin pie french toast and pumpkin bread - yum!