| Today, we prepared an Indian-inspired nut desert for a potluck picnic. First, we boiled milk to half its original volume, added sugar, then cashews ground in a food processor, and finally cardamom. We cut the fudge into diamond shapes and decorated each piece with a blanched almond (because we ran out of cashews). Here is the Cashew Milk Fudge recipe. |
Archive for Dessert:Cooked
Cashew Milk Fudge (Barfi Kajoo)
Shahi Sabz Korma (Royal Braised Vegetables in Cardamom Nut Sauce)
This week, we prepared two dishes that use milk.
Earlier in the week, we made paneer, an Indian cheese, with just boiled milk and lemon juice. We also prepared a cardamom spice mixture called Mughal garam masala.
Then today, we cooked potatoes, carrots, and turnips in a rich liquid mixture of sautéed onions, garlic, ginger, jalapeño peppers, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, almonds, yoghurt, the paneer, cream, and Mughal garam masala. The dish is called Shai Sabz Korma. The term “Korma” refers to “braising” in Indian cooking.
For desert, we boiled shredded carrots in milk and cardamom, pan-fried the carrots with a buttered oil and sugar, and then mixed in golden raisins and pistachio nuts. The dish is called Carrot Halva. The term “Halva” refers to a sweet confection.
Here are the recipes for Paneer, Mughal Garam Masala, Royal Braised Vegetables, and Carrot Halva.
Tamales
Today, we concluded our Mexican series with two types of tamales — a savory tamale filled with pork in a red chile sauce, and a sweet tamale filled with banana in coconut cream. Earlier in the week, Señora Carmen showed us how to make them.
Since making tamales involves assembly work, it is ideal to prepare them in the company of friends. We were fortunate to have Marina and Nazish help us.
Here are the recipes.
Thai Curries
Today, Khun Sunee treated our Co-op members and friends with a green Thai curry with eggplants and mushrooms and a red Thai curry with tofu, mushrooms and peanut sauce. She toned down the pungent spices to appeal to our audience, but the dishes still received a very warm reception. The curries were served with steamed jasmine rice.
Sweet pumpkin rice cakes complimented the curries. Thank you, Khun Sunee and Tong!
Here are the recipes.
Tom Yum Soup and Other Thai Classics
Today, we had a guest cook, Khun Sunee, who is a visiting scholar at St. Olaf College and a culinary teacher in her native Thailand. She was assisted by Tong, a St. Olaf student from Thailand.
In such capable hands, we produced three dishes that can constitute a complete meal. For starters, we served Tom Yum Tofu Soup, a sour and pungent soup with tofu and mushrooms. For the main course, we had Pad Thai, a stir-fry rice noodle dish. Finally, for dessert, we offered Kluay Buat Chee, or banana in a sweet coconut syrup.
Here are the recipes.
American Chestnuts
Our Co-op is very fortunate to offer rare food items, like American Chestnuts. Once abundant, American chestnuts almost went extinct in the early 20th century.
Besides roasting, chestnuts can also be used in soups and preserves.
Here are the recipes.
Luigi Cooks 