Dinner Menu:
Pumpkin Risotto
Chicken and Vegtables braised in Peanut Sauce
Carrot Halwa
I will post the recipes in the order that I made them. I had all day to cook, so I decided to do it one by one and make it a relaxing day of cooking. (Note: Hmmm, I just realized that my meal started orange and ended orange. How funny!)
CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES BRAISED IN PEANUT SAUCE
I admit - this is from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/106049
So, I won't write it out, but I will say that I added more peanut butter (about 1/4 c more) as well as added grated ginger (about 1-2 tsps, added before the garlic) and was very liberal with my cayenne pepper. There was still something missing from this recipe, and like other reviewers for the recipe, couldn't quite figure it out. Grrr.
A:
B:
CARROT HALWA
I had been wanting to make this for a while and found this recipe online:
http://www.indianfoodforever.com/desserts/gajjar-ka-halwa.html
I used it as a guide, really. I halved the recipe - 2.2 pounds of carrots? That is a lot of carrots. And not to mention the pain of grating all those carrots. About grating the carrots - I actually did one third as the fine grate and the rest as the large grate. It really doesn't matter. I used 3/4 of the amount of the sugar... and the dessert turned out as sweet as I have had it in restaurants - I will definitely be cutting down on this too in the future. I also added 1/2 a stick of cinnamon while the carrots were cooking in the milk and sugar mixture. All in all, I let it sit and cook on low heat for an hour and not much reduction had occurred. So then I put the heat on medium and just was vigilant about watching the reduction/cooking. 15 min later, the milk had absorbed. I found out that Ghee is essentially like lard, so, needless to say, this did not get put in the recipe. But I did add a tablespoon of earth balance margarine to the dessert - it needed something buttery in consistency added. Then I used ground cardamom - to taste. This was yummy but too sweet!
PUMPKIN RISOTTO
So I admit, I really wanted to make this to have with my pork dish. But then I got so enamored of the idea of pumpkin risotto that even after I lost the pork from the menu, I decided to keep this in the mix.
10 oz canned pumpkin
2 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups water
0.5 cup white wine
3 shallots, finely chopped
1 chopped garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 and 1/2 cup Arborio rice
1 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt
pepper
1 T butter (earth balance)
Bring stock and water to a simmer in a small saucepan and keep at a bare simmer. Cook shallots in oil in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir. Add wine and stir/cook for 1-2 min. Add rice and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add 1 cup simmering stock and cook at a strong simmer, stirring constantly, until stock is absorbed. Continue simmering, adding stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next, until rice is tender and creamy-looking but still al dente, about 18 minutes total. (There may be broth left over.) Stir in canned pumpkin. Remove from heat and add cheese and butter, stirring until butter is melted. Season with salt and pepper. -- I came so close to adding some nutmeg to see how this tasted. I thought that while the risotto was well-cooked, the pumpkin flavor never came through. Hmm...
My dinner companions told me that they thought everything was good - I think they were being nice after getting a free meal. :) We had a Riesling with the meal, a good choice I think, although a Gewurtztraminer would have also been good or even a light red.
Please check out the survey/poll and answer! This is a competition as to which photo is the best and the winner will be the final entry into the blog as the picture that goes along with the recipe. :) Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment