Pumpkin/Squash Saag

I had a nice butternut squash sitting about and wanted to try something different. SO I whipped out one of my favourite cookbooks (the Veganomicon) to see what I could do with it. This recipe is originally for pumpkin, but seemed something that would work with the squash so I gave it a whirl. It takes a bit of time to bake the squash, so you can do it the day before, or just go read a book while it's baking like I did :)

~ 3Lb sugar pumpkin or butternut/acorn squash

2-3 t oil

1 large white onion diced up

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ t garam masala

¼ t cinnamon

½ t salt

1/8 t cayenne

1 c water (or veg stock)

1 inch cube ginger peeled and grated/minced up fine

10 oz spinach (~2 small bunches) washed and chopped coarsely

juice of ~1/2 lime (or more to taste)

First bake the squash-cut in half and scoop out seeds. Brush with oil and place skin side out on a cookie sheet lined with foil and bake at 350 for ~45 minutes until a fork easily pierces it. Take out, peel off skin and let cool a bit. Dice into 1 inch chunks.

Preheat a soup pot over medium heat and sauté the onions in oil for ~5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes more until it starts to turn a honey brown color.stir in pumpkin and cook until warmed through again (2-3 min) and then add the spices and water to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes stirring often. The pumpkin will mush up a bit and still have some chunks. Then add the spinach in 3 or 4 batches, stirring it well after each addition and let it wilt so it all fits in the pot. Cook for about 10 more minutes and then add the lime juice at the end. Adjust salt and pepper (and curry) if desired. This is even better the next day or if it sits a few minutes…

This is simple and delicious with a bit of bread or rice. If you have the time, give it a try. Nice subtle spices that taste yummy on a cold day and fill you right up.

Have a great day!

Curried Goat Stew

At the time of this posting, this is a work in progress. I have never had goat before, but given how much my father hates it would seem to be worth trying. I asked some Kenyan and Somali people at work what they would suggest for making a goat stew and took their advice to heart. Yesterday, I browned some goat meat in a pan with curry powder, black pepper, shallot and garlic. This morning I placed that meat in my slow cooker with water, onion, cabbage, carrots, beans and barley. The seasoning in the stew included a bay leaf, more curry powder, cumin, black and green cardamom, star anise, three cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. One half hour ago, I added a variety of mushrooms, a Hungarian pepper, and some butternut squash I cut up and browned in a pan.

Smells great, though I have no idea how any of this will taste. I am hoping it will have thickened up enough before I head to bed, but I may just let this stew until tomorrow morning.

- Magnus

Addendum: After writing this I was not that happy with the flavour of the stew. The Hungarian peppers added nothing to the flavour and the stew was lacking that certain something, it needed another dimension. More black pepper was my initial idea and I fought my temptation to add habanero. I ended up adding some cooking chocolate (60% cocoa) that my Mum sent home with me at Christmas time. I would say chocolate/cocoa added the dimension I was looking, without making the stew overly sweet. Still think it could have used some heat though.

I sent some home with Geo in a butternut squash "bowl" to try.

Getting Curried Away

When I was in my teens I put curry in just about everything. I loved it and the sensory overload it provided in the way only a teenager truly can. It started actually because my Mum was concerned with my salt intake and wanted to find ways to drastically reduce it. She had made her own spice mix at first and it was good, but eventually I wanted something with more punch so out came the curry.
One of the things I loved to dump curry into was Kraft Dinner. Not that I want extol the "virtues" of a major food manufacturer, but I revisited that flavour twice recently and was not disappointed. But how to add it? When I was a kid it went in with the cheese mix, but what if I let it cook into the margarine for bit? Sounds like a good idea, makes sense in a more grown up sort of way - but it actually doesn't work as well as adding it straight in. Figuring I might try using coconut milk the next time.

Cauliflower and apples? Together in a soup? You're Mad! MAD I tell you!

I love soup. My mum made it almost every day when I was growing up and she makes the best homemade soup. To me, in the winter a big bowl of thick soup is the perfect thing to make you feel content. The January issue of Vegetarian Times had a bunch of great cream-free thick & yummy soup recipes in it. I've already made the Kabocha soup from this issue and it was insanely good, so I thought I'd try another one:

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Hey! Where are you going?
Stop sneaking off - come back here...it really is fantastic. It's also super easy to make, low fat and healthy too-even gluten free! Honest...try it out and you'll see.

Here's all you need:
2 T olive oil
1 small onion chopped (~1 cup)
1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped (~1 cup)
1T curry powder
1 or 2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 large head of cauliflower, chopped into 1 inch pieces (~ 6 cups)
4 c low sodium vegetable broth (I use McCormick's vegetable bullion cubes - they rock)
1 t honey (or agave nectar if you have it)
1 t rice wine vinegar (apple cider vinegar will do in a pinch)
Pinch of salt (if you think it needs it)

In a large pot, over medium-high heat, heat oil and saute onions 5-7 minutes until soft and turning golden. Don't burn them...the slow browning adds flavour. Stir in apple, curry, garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add vegetable broth and cauliflower and bring to a strong simmer, stirring all the yumminess off the bottom of the pot. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Cool 20 minutes.
Blend soup in food processor in batches until it is smooth. Add the honey and vinegar and a pinch of salt. Enjoy.

This soup grows in flavour as it sits, so it's even better the next day.
The first time I made it I didn't quite puree the soup enough, so it almost had the consistency of cream of wheat, but man...it still tasted delicious!
Try this out - it's a bit unconventional, but it's amazing, and a pot makes enough soup for 3 or 4 lunches - how perfect is that? I had yummy soup for lunch all week. Score!

Mattar Paneer

This weekend I made my favourite curry dish for the first time: mattar paneer.

It's a vegetarian Punjabi dish, consisting of cubes of indian cheese (paneer) and green peas in a tomato based curry sauce. Delicious.
I used my brother and his family as guinea pigs, then with confidence from my first attempt, made it for my husband for his birthday yesterday. Both times -fantastic. It's simple, and so delicious, and really not that bad for you, as far as curry dishes go. And it's vegetarian...so woot.

And so - here's my recipe for mattar paneer. There's many variations of this out there. I found a few "watch the cook make it" bits on you tube and watched them before I started to get the gist of it. Some Hindi friends from work gave me their versions of it too, so I had a good idea of what I needed to do to make it. It really is pretty simple. I did cheat a bit and used some premade curry paste and tomato paste instead of pureed tomatoes. From what I've been told by my Hindi friends you can vary the curry sauce as you like, adding a bay leaf or a green chili or some chili powder...make it as you like your curry.
You really HAVE to try this, whether when you're out for a curry next, or sitting at home wondering what to make...it's my favourite curry dish.

I bought the paneer cubes from the frozen food section of the local ethnic grocery. (I haven't gotten that good at indian cooking as to make my own paneer yet...)

Ingredients:
I package frozen paneer (thawed)-about 2 cups paneer, 1 cm cubes
1 can tomato paste
2 T medium Pataks curry paste
2 T curry powder
2T cumin
1T turmeric
1t cinnamon
1 T ginger garlic paste
1 large white onion diced small.
2 cups frozen green peas
~2 1/2 c water (give or take)
3 T low fat sour cream or plain yogurt.
a bit of oil for frying

How To:
In a frying pan, brown the paneer in some oil until it is golden on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
In a medium saucepan add the peas and ~ 2 c water and bring the peas just to a boil. Turn off heat and set aside.
In the frying pan from the paneer, add a bit more oil and saute the onions and garlic until the onions are clear and start to caramelize. Then add the curry paste and spices and simmer 1 minute. Add the other spices and stir a minute, then add the tomato paste and rest of water and simmer a minute until it is all mixed together. Remove from heat and add to the peas and water.
Return the curry and peas to heat and bring the sauce to a boil. Add a bit of water if needed to get a nice thick curry sauce. Let simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the paneer and simmer another 10 minutes. Right before serving, stir in sour cream/yogurt (optional - it's how I like my curry...it's not necessary)
Serve with white basmati rice and some naan bread.

Go on...you'll love it.