Peniche on a Monday Evening

There is something about our household and eating out on Mondays. What I mean by this is that for some unbeknownst reason we plan on getting out, this too with the kids down in bed and realize that, we have picked a Monday. The problem with Mondays is that a lot of restaurants close down that day to recover from the weekend chaos.

Well, this Monday a few weeks back, the destination of choice was Peniche in White Plains a place serving Tapas, the delightful Spanish style small plates. The mood in the restaurant on this pre-holiday Monday evening was similar to what many other bloggers have described. Rather than being crowded the spacious restaurant had one large table a couple of smaller tables filled but was definitely quite, in fact, to the point the chatty waitress was entertaining herself chatting with us. She was rather funny rather than being annoying.

Now down to the food and drinks, we tried a cocktail called the portonic, which was an interesting cocktail made with port wine and tonic. Moving onto to the smaller bites, they had a selection of Pizza like flatbreads, rather unique and interest. We had a cheese and fruit platter and small mushroom and white truffle dish and absolutely delectable salt cod fritters. We also had an unusual quinoa dish, that was pleasing in its simplicity.

All in all a very pleasant experience, just the place you want to get to on a night where you want to eat, drink and be merry.

Peniche Tapas

175 Main St.

White Plains, NY

914-421-5012

The one that did not make it - Corn and Pomegranate Salsa

Today was one of those days that you enjoy, after a day well spent and savored. Yesterday was an incredibly  busy and very successful day for the most part, the food was all complete on time, the turkey well cooked and moist (thanks to the brineing) no major disasters, just the right number guests and all in just what you would want from an evening where you spent an incredible amount of time cooking.

The highlight of the evening for me really was a surprise visit from the brother all the way from Seattle. He wanted to make it in time for the holiday meal but actually missed the flight he was planning to take partly due to the X-ray machine being tripped off by the camera.
We both spent the day today around the house, noshing on the remains of the feast. I do not know if it happens to you but quite often in the middle of a frenzy I forget things that I make and plan to serve, this corn salsa that I am about to tell you about is actually one such dish. We enjoyed it today and I think it deserves a special mention.

Corn and Pomegranate Salsa

Prep/Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves 6

Ingredients

1 cup frozen organic corn kernels, defrosted (I use the fire roasted variety by trader Joe's)
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1 small red onion, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 lime
2 tablespoons of minced cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the corn and the pomegranate seeds in a bowl.
2. Mix in the onion, red chili powder and the salt and toss well.
3. Cut the lime and squeeze in the juice and mix well.
4. Stir in the cilantro and serve with chips or with your choice of meal.

So tell me, do you have items on your menu that sometimes do not make it to the table?

Pre-Thanksgiving musings - a shrimp curry

It is that time of the year when most of us feel reflective, the growing season is winding down, the year is ending the days are getting smaller and yes, it is Thankgiving. Like most people who love to cook, it is my favorite holiday of the year. I also like to reflect more on the things that I can be grateful for. From simple things like the joy I feel in the kitchen to more complicated things. Something that really helps is my children's after-school program that runs holiday coverage. They are right across the road, this helps on a day like today. I was at home but diwas running around trying to get all the shopping done, but did feel a little guilty, so my compromise was to make the kids some warm lunch and drop it off. A classic that never goes out of style is the grilled cheese. How I did theirs today was with oatmeal bread and some turkey and tomato in the center.

They came home very excited, to smells of a kitchen in action. Once they were in bed, I realized that I had to  fix dinner. This gets tricky, since the focus is on the next day. Anyhow, I looked at all that I had around me, it actually was converted into a very flavorful shrimp curry.

Shrimp Curry with Butternut Squash

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 inch piece of peeled ginger

3 pods garlic

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/4 cup oil

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds

10 curry leaves

1 -2 crushed whole red chilies

1 red onion, finely diced

1 cup butternut squash, diced

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

6-8 cranberries

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound of shrimp, shelled and de-veined

1 teaspoon honey

1-2 green chilies

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the ginger, garlic, cumin and coriander in a mortar and pound to a paste (this can be done in a grinder).

2. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and when they crackle add in the curry leaves, crushed red chili and the onion and the spice paste and cook on medium low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly until the onions begin to turn golden.

3. Add in the tomatoes and the squash and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, stirring the mixture frequently until the tomato softens and melts down into a pulp.

4. Add in the water, cranberries and the salt and bring the mixture to a simmer. The mixture should be a fairly think sauce, with pieces of fairly soft butternut squash.

5. Add in the shrimp and the honey and let the shrimp cook for about 5-6 minutes.

6. Finely chop the green chilies and stir into the curry.

10. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

11. Stir in the cilantro, turn of the heat and serve immediately with rice.

I am also thankful for this blog and for all the people who read this, it is a great source of happiness for me, for reasons I cannot explain.

A fall kind of dish

Most people who know me, know my love for fall, I love the colors, the nip in the air, the apples, the pears and the soft rustle of fall leaves under my feet. It is the only time of the year, I am not quite so excited about the rain, not that I do not like to see the vivid colors against the sombre skies on a rainy day, or like to simmer my favorite stew on a cool dark day, the rain takes the crunch of the leaves away.

The kids have been building piles of dry leaves and have been romping around in them, as you can see from the picture. On one of these days, I tried an apple dessert and found a keeper, it is simple and about as easy as a baked dish can be.

The first time round, I made it on Halloween evening and had overcrisped it a little, my cousin actually wanted the recipe, I have made it twice since and this time good the proportions down better. The pictures are from that overcrisp session, so please do not be discouraged by them.

A gallette is a good starter pie, it is essentially free form and the extra crust is folded over, I assembled it and used a pie place for a little support, but feel free to go completely un-guided with this one. I added very little honey to the apples, so other than the butter, this recipe is fairly wholesome too.

Apple Gallette

Prep Time: 5 hours (mostly to chill the crust)
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Serves 4-6 Poeple

Ingredients

For the Crust

1/3 cup almonds
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used regular atta, but you could use whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tablespoon sugar
14 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup cold water

For the pie

3 medium sized apples (2 granny smiths, 1 gala)
2 tablespoons honey
1/3 teaspoon powdered cardamoms

Method of Preparation

1. Place the almonds and the flour in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Add in the butter and continue processing for 2-3 minutes
3. Gradually add in the cold water and process  for 1-2 minutes.
4. Remove the mixture from the food processor and knead for a few minutes until smooth.
5. Place the dough in the refridgerator for 3 hours.
6. Remove from the refridgerator and leave for about 20 minutes.
7. Cut the apples into quarters and core the apples before cutting them into thin slices.
8. Roll out the pie pastry to larger than an 9-inch pie pan (leaving about 2 inches of room),
9. Place into a greased pie pan and nicely layer all the apples around it, sprinkle with the cardamoms and drizzle with the honey.
10. Fold over the crust.
11. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the crust is well browned and the apples smell cooked.

Cool slightly and serve warm with your favortie cup of tea.

Westchester Grocery

This little outlet was something that I had discovered by eating some amazing Chicken Seekh Kababs at someone's house almost three to four years back. I  was amazed at the great taste and then ventured onto Commerce Street in Thornwood to find Westchester Grocery. Now, these pictures have been taken with a very low resolution phone camera, yes, this was what I used earlier in the year, actually comming to think of it I am kind of low tech that way, I carry around a small no so fancy little camera for my travel and meandering kind of pictures, very rarely use the phone for taking pictures.

This being said, it does occasionally come in handy. So, I say this to tell you that the place is probably a little brighter than the pictures here but it is a no frills place that is a grocery store and food place

all in one. The food is inexpensive (relatively) and consists of an assortment of prepared curries both vegetables and meat dishes and several snack items such as the kebabs that I mentioned, breads and rice dishes that are available a la carte. They also cater or take larger orders on request. They have a seating area, which would actually make it a good lunch spot if you are in the area.

 The grocery section is a smal but highly servicabe Indian/Pakistani grocery, by this I mean that all the essentials are available here, spices, lentils, rice and a selection of frozen food. They do not extend to novelty items like snacks and cookware. They do have a good selection of frozen foods several of which are Halal.

All in all, for those of you who keep asking me for a good eating place and a grocery store, this one combines both as long as you are willing to forgive the ambience. I personally love these small scale eating places and am sorry that we do not have more of them in the area.

Westchester Groceries

546 Commerce Street

Thornwood, NY 10594

914 747 0445

Sooji Dhokla

Cooking and try out new things is often a world of surprises, some very pleasant and most unexpected. Well, for many a reason, I do not usually blog about the unpleasant. I was home on Tuesday, fighting the cold/fever combo.

Later in the day 14 hours of sleep later, I wanted to make something that everyone could come home to.  It did not take me very long to come across this recipe, I pretty much followed Trupti's aunt's recipe and was stunned at the soft, quick and snowy results. I actually made these in an idly mold and cut them in hallf, this accounts for the strange shapes in the picture.

Now for the recipe,

Sooji Dhokla - Steamed Semolina Cakes

Prep Time: 2 hours (mostly to let the batter rest)

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 small piece (about 1/2 inch) peeled ginger

2 green chilies

2 tablespoons water

1 cup fine semolina

3/4 cup thin yogurt

1 tablespoon chickpea flour (besan)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 lime

1 teaspoon Eno fruit salt or 1/2 teaspoon Alka ASeltzer

For the tempering

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1 tablespoon sweetened desicated coconut

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1-2 broken dried red chili

1/8 teaspoon asafetida

1 lime

1-2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the ginger and green chilies and  water in a small chopped and grind to a paste.

2. Place the semolina, yogurt, chickpea flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and stir well.

3. Mix in the ginger paste and set aside for at least one hour in a warm place.

4. Pour water in a large steaming containe.

5. Grease a shallow round tray that fits into the steaming container.

6. Fill the steaming tray with water and bring to a simmer/

7. Add the alka setzer or eno into the batter and stir lighter.

8. Pour the batter in the greased tray and place in the steaming container and steam for about 12 minutes.

9. Keep the lid closed for about 10 minutes.

10. Unmold and place on a serving plate. Cut into halves

11. Heat the oil and add in the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop.

12. Quickly add in the sesame seeds and broken dried red chilies and cook for a few more seconds.

13. Add in the coconut and mix well and turn off the heat.

14. Squeeze in the lime juice and pour the lime juice mixture over the dhoklas and sprinkle with the cilantro before serving.

This recipe was met with a lot of approval from both children and dad, I think the wish is to feature it again for weekend brunch.