My friends Tim and Mary invited me to prepare dinner for Tim’s business friends. Since it was a working week night, we selected dishes that could be served in about 2 hours. Mary prepared Thai Chicken Barbeque for appetizers, Cream of Asparagus Soup for the starting course, and Creme Brulee for dessert. I prepared the main courses which consisted of: Pan-Seared Steaks with a Mustard Sauce, Pan-Seared Scallops and Prawns with a Spinach, Arugula and Orange Salad, Fingerling Potatoes With Aioli, and Carrots and Parsnips Braised in Butter.
Archive for Recipe:Cooking
Pan-Roasted Salmon
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Wild-caught salmon fillets are coated with coriander seeds, roasted in a pan for a few minutes, and served with a delicate, tangy white wine-orange sauce. Here is the Pan-Roasted Salmon recipe. |
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.
Salmon Tortellini and Cornmeal Pizza
Phil, our co-op’s new general manager, asked us to use some of the packaged goods promotional items in our demonstration. In response, we selected frozen vegetables (properly thawed) for three dishes.
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First, we used frozen sweet peas in a salmon tortellini with a lemon cream sauce. We used egg roll wrappers for the pasta covering. Here is the recipe. |
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Then, we sautéed frozen spinach with caramelized garlic and red pepper flakes and used the mixture as topping for a cornmeal-crusted pizza with feta cheese. |
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Finally, we sautéed frozen squash purée with caramelized onions and used the mixture as topping for a cornmeal-crusted pizza with feta cheese. Here are the pizza recipes. |
Virginia’s Turkish Party
We were invited to a Turkish-inspired dinner party. We brought a Turkish Carrot Soup and Stuffed Sweet Peppers. Here are the recipes for the Turkish Carrot Soup and the Stuffed Sweet Peppers.
Stir-Fry
Today, we stir-fried vegetables and chicken.
| First, we prepared bell peppers, lightly seasoned with salt and sugar, |  |
| then, spinach with garlic, |  |
| and finally, a medley of vegetables with chicken. |
Here are the recipes.
The Key Cooking Class
We are conducting cooking classes in our town with aspiring young cooks. The classes are sponsored by the Union of Youth, a youth-led organization in Northfield and held at the Emmaus Church kitchen.
Class 1: Eggs. We cooked hard-cooked (not hard-boiled) eggs and an egg omelet with sweet peppers and onions. Here are the recipes.
Class 2: Meat and Potatoes. We cooked mashed potatoes with garlic and pork chops in a brown cream sauce. Here are the recipes.
Class 3: Pasta. We made pasta from flour and eggs and served it with Alfredo sauce. Here are the recipes.
Class 4: Stir-Fry. We discussed the principles of stir-frying and analyzed the construction of a wok. Then, we cooked chicken and a variety of vegetables in a lightly thickened soy sauce. Here are the recipes.
Class 5: Cookies. To celebrate the holidays, we made three types of cookies: shortbread cookies called Viennese Crescents, spice cookies called Marcus’s Ginger Citrus Cookies, and oatmeal cookies called Ultimate Oatmeal Chocolate Chippers. Here are the recipes.
Sweet Potato
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Today, we prepared sweet potato Japanese-style in soy sauce and mirin, a sweet rice cooking wine. For color, we used two kinds of sweet potato – a yellow variety that looked like potatoes, and an orange variety that looked like carrots. |
Here is the recipe.
Tim and Mary Indian Party
We prepared an Indian dinner with Tim’s and Mary’s family to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. The centerpieces were Chicken Tikka Masala, a tomato-based curry, and Andi’s Chicken Curry, the classic yellow curry with carrots and potatoes.
We also prepared Lentils With Garlic Butter, Cauliflower Fritters, Whole Eggs In Tangy Tomato Sauce, Plain Steamed Basmati Rice, and Yoghurt Sauce.
Cranberry, Potato, and Carrot
| Today, continuing with ideas for Thanksgiving, we prepared cranberry sauce, both classical and garlic mashed potatoes, and glazed carrots. |  |
Here are the recipes.
Luigi Cooks 