Curried Peas and Mushrooms with Parathas

This post will be serving double duty!  First off I wanted to get back to doing my Random Recipes, that's where the Curried Peas and Mushrooms come in, and secondly I am excited to get cooking Madhur Jaffrey recipes with my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs, that's where the Parathas come in.

We'll start with the Parathas, they are from Madhur's cookbook Flavors of India which I have checked out from the library.  The only Madhur Jaffrey cookbook I own is World Vegetarian, and I wanted to take a peek at her other cookbooks too, so I just had to check this one out!  

Parathas -- Flaky Breads from Punjab

4 cups chapati flour or a combination of 2 cups sifted wholewheat flour and 2 cups plain (all-purpose white) flour
2 teaspoons salt
8 tablespoons ghee, melted, unsalted butter or vegetable oil for cooking the parathas -- I used homemade ghee

Sieve the flour into a large shallow bowl. Make a well in the center and slowly pour in about 1 and 1/4 cups water. Mix. When all the water is incorporated, knead to form a soft, pliable dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest in a cool place for 45 minutes. This is the basil paratha dough.

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and form into balls. Dust with flour.

Set a tava or large heavy frying-pan over high heat. I just used my electric griddle turned up to the highest setting (400 degrees).

Meanwhile, flatted one ball between the palms of your hands to make a disc. Put the disc on a lightly floured surface and, with a rolling pin, roll it out into a circle about 6 inches is diameter.

When the tava is hot, grease it lightly with a little ghee or the butter or oil and slap on the paratha. Cook for about 30 seconds. Flip the paratha over and cook the second side for about 30 seconds. Flip over again and brush about 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ghee over the top. Cook for 30 seconds, pressing down all over the surface with a spatula. Flip over again and brush the second side with 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of the ghee. Cook for another 30 seconds, again pressing down with a spatula. Flip over a few more times, leaving the paratha to cook for about 10 seconds at a time. It should now be a nice golden-brown with a couple of dark spots. Remove and keep covered. Repeat the process with the remaining balls of dough. Keep the stack of parathas covered as you make them.  Parathas are best when they are freshly made.

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The Curried Peas and Mushrooms in Yogurt is my Random Recipe #10, from the randomly plucked from the bookshelf book, Odiyan Country Cookbook -- International Vegetarian Recipes.  This book is from 1977 but I bought it sometime is the past few years, thanks to amazon. I love older books and finding hidden recipe "gems" and bought a used copy of this one, it has an ink blot on it but other than that is in decent shape for being 30+ years old. 

I actually had to make this recipe twice, the first time I followed the directions...

I even had to buy a new ingredient, black mustard seeds! I figured they would be a worthwhile purchase with I Heart Cooking Clubs new chef being Madhur Jaffrey :) 

But the first time, following the recipe was a big flop.  The yogurt curdled up and made the dish look very unappetizing, and well, just plain gross.  So I figured I'd give it another go using the spices and basic ingredients and just cooked a little differently...

Heat up 5 tablespoons ghee in pan, add mustard seeds and cook for 30 seconds until they start to pop, add in 1 and 1/2 teaspoons curry powder and 1 pound thinly sliced fresh mushrooms.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly over medium high heat.  Add in 1 and 1/2 cups frozen peas and saute for a couple of minutes until the are heated up. Turn off heat and let stand covered for 10 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup plain yogurt (I warmed it up in the microwave for about 30 seconds before adding to the peas and mushrooms) Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir well, and serve with breads.

The kids had one tiny bite and did not like it, picky husband would not try it.  I thought it was pretty good but not something I'd be clamoring to make again. The yogurt flavor was very strong (probably because I used Greek yogurt), but the sweet peas and warm curry spices balanced it out nicely.  It was fun to try something new and get back into finding a Random Recipe.  The parathas were a great pairing with the curried peas and mushrooms and I thought it was a pretty yummy lunch.

Hungarian Strawberry Shortbread

Our Tuesdays with Dorie  treat of the week is Hungarian Shortbread. I had never heard of Hungarian Shortbread before but love shortbread so was excited to give this recipe a try.  

Cookies with jam in them are my favorite kind, and I love making jam, but was unable to find the rhubarb called for. The recipes says that you can also use your favorite flavor or preserves so I went with some homemade strawberry jam.

Hungarian Shortbread uses a technique I'd heard of but never tried myself, grating / shredding frozen dough! I used my salad shooter with the shredding cone, which made this recipe super easy. I couldn't wait to see what it looked like after it baked...

Here it is just out of the oven. I had to add an extra 5 minutes on the baking time because the middle seemed undone at 40, but when it checked it 5 minutes later it looked just right!  These are absolutely delicious and I would make them again for sure! They seem like the perfect bar cookie to take along for a picnic.

And now I have a couple of photos of our last TWD recipe assignment, a lovely Lemon Loaf Cake...

I baked along with everyone two weeks ago but just didn't have the time to post on time so thought I'd save my pictures and put them up with the Hungarian Shortbread.

I love lemon loaf and this one was pretty yummy! The kids enjoyed this one as well.  And now one last photo to share, an inside shot of my Mushroom Pizza Rustica that we made a month ago. When I blogged about the recipe I didn't have any photos of a slice of it showing the filling. I took this photo of the leftovers the next day and it had been sitting in my "Cooking Photos" folder of pictures for the last month, so I thought I'd share that one this week too.  Thanks for visiting -- happy baking, everyone :)

 

Zucchini Mushroom Tacos with Homemade Tortillas

These delicious vegetarian soft tacos are my pick for I Heart Cooking Clubs 1st week cooking Chef Rick Bayless's recipes.  This is actually the first Rick Bayless recipe I've ever tried! I do not own any of his books yet (I have ordered one and it is on the way), so checked out a few from the library. I had heard of Rick Bayless before and knew he was known for Mexican cooking, but didn't know much else about him.  Thanks to IHCC I've now got a TiVo season pass for his show, "Mexico One Plate at a Time,"  (before IHCC I didn't even know he had a show!) and am looking forward to learning more about "true" Mexican cuisine throughout the next six months while IHCC cooks Rick Bayless recipes.

I love Mexican food and having lived in Texas for a little bit,  have experienced a little bit of everything from semi-authentic to Americanized Tex-Mex (which picky hubby and I love, we are always looking for a new Mexican place to try on date night).  I also love to cook Mexican (once again, more like American Tex-Mex) at home and we often have Mexican nights with the standard tacos plus enchiladas, chimichangas (these are often requested), burritos, etc. and lots of sides. I also love doing a Mexican buffet when hosting parties at our house since there is something for everyone to enjoy!

Zucchini Mushroom Tacos

Tacos de Calabacitas y Hongos 

adapted from Mexican Everyday

Serves 4

1 and 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick (I used 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)

3 ounces mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, portobello or the like), stemmed and sliced about 1/2 inch thick (you'll have a scant cup) -- okay, I used potobellos and weighed out 3 ounces and that was only one portobello...next time I would use a ton more mushrooms

One 15 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted), drained -- I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted

1 canned chipotle chile en adobo, seeded

1 and 1/2 teaspoons chipotle canning sauce

2 medium (about 12 ounces) zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Salt

1/2 to 3/4 cup (2 to 3 ounces) crumbled Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese such as feta or goat cheese -- I used feta since I had some on hand, but would love to try this with some queso fresco and goat cheese

12 warm corn tortillas, store bought or home made -- I made flour tortillas

Hot sauce for serving

Add the oil to a very large (12 inches) skillet and set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook about 2 minutes more, stirring regularly, until their liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are beginning to brown.  

 

While the mushrooms are cooking, pour the tomatoes into a food processor or blender. Add the chipotle chile and its canning sauce and process until smooth.

When the mushrooms are ready, add the tomato mixture and cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of canned tomato sauce, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the zucchini and continue to cook, stirring every once in a while, until the zucchini is cooked through but still a little crisp, 8 to 10 minutes.  Taste and season with salt, about 1/2 teaspoon.

Scoop into a bowl...

and garnish with the crumbled cheese.

Serve with the warm tortillas and hot sauce for everyone to make soft tacos.

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These were very yummy, nice fresh flavor with a little kick! I made them for dinner one night while picky husband was working late (he doesn't like mushrooms or zucchini) for the kids and myself and was pleasantly surprised when all three kids ate their tacos and liked them!  Score one for Rick Bayless! They said they were a little spicy but not too much and loved the feta cheese.  I often make veggie tacos but never like these! These were a delicious change of pace and I will make them again for sure, just adding some more mushrooms since three ounces was not enough mushroom for a mushroom fan like me :) 

Mushroom Pizza Rustica

This week for Tuesdays with Dorie we made a Pizza Rustica! I wasn't quite sure what a Pizza Rustica was, I thought it was more like a filled two crusted pizza but this to me was more like a savory ricotta pie and it was pretty yummy! 

Since I don't eat meat I swapped out the prosciutto for some mushrooms sauteed in butter and brandy.  They were delicious. I even got a double mushroom! How fun! 

Above are the mushrooms just starting to cook...and below they are being added to the ricotta and cheese mixture.

For the ricotta I used a mixture of two brands, Biazzo was wetter than the Frigo but they tasted pretty much the same (I am a ricotta fan and did a little ricotta taste test :) )

The lattice top was a little tricky. I usually forget to use my ruffled pastry cutter so it was nice to have a reason to pull it out.

Below is my Pizza Rustica before going into the oven.  It baked up nicely although I did add an extra 5 minutes or so on to the cooking time.  Picky husband does not like ricotta cheese so he passed on this one (I also made a lasagna that night since I knew this would be a tough sell) and my kids all tried it but didn't like it.  Thank goodness I had my mom over for dinner when this was served because she really enjoyed it and could appreciate something like this.  I liked it as well and am really glad I added the mushrooms since they added a nice depth of flavor. I packed up half of the pie for my mom to take home and I will probably have some as leftovers for lunch this week.

Fried Noodle Cake with Hoisin Vegetables -- Random Recipe #8

Doesn't this look yummy?  I really lucked out with this week's Random Recipe!  My randomly selected cookbook was Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks #198, Stir-Fries Cookbook from August 1997. 

I've had this book for many years and have never cooked anything from it.  My randomly selected recipe was...

Twice-Cooked Noodles with Hoisin Pork.  Since I don't eat pork I swapped out the pork and added extra veggies (the same amount of veggies by weight as was called for with the pork).  The recipe also includes "purchased stir fry sauce" and I made my own.  I grew up eating stir fries all the time and I don't remember ever buying a sauce. This one called for garlic ginger stir-fry sauce, so here is a quick and easy home made version, you can just up the ingredients if you want a bigger batch of sauce and vary the spices to taste, I usually add some Chinese Five Spice powder but kept this one simple since it was to go with the hoisin sauce...

Quick and Easy Homemade Stir Fry Sauce

double if desired, this makes enough for one small stir-fry

1/2 cup vegetable broth

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or minced garlic)

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger (or minced fresh ginger)

1 tbsp cornstarch

Whisk together all ingredients thoroughly, add to cooked vegetables in hot wok and stir for 30 sec - 1 minute until thickened and glossy. To use it in this recipe just whisk it all together and add it in when the recipe says to add stir fry sauce to the wok.

Twice-Cooked Noodles with Hoisin Vegetables

adapted from Pillsbury Stir-Fries Cookbook

8 ounces uncooked fresh Chinese noodles or angel hair pasta, broken into 2 inch pieces (I used a 10 ounce package of lo-mein noodles)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons peanut oil (I used vegetable oil)

1 and 1/4 pounds mixed fresh vegetables, cut into like sized pieces -- I used 1 red pepper, about 6 mushrooms, about a cup of broccoli florets, and 1 small zucchini

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup stir fry sauce (see recipe above)

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

Cook noodles as directed on package. Drain well. In large bowl, combine cooked noodles, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the peanut or vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet or work over medium0high heat until hot.

Add noodle mixture, pressing to form pancake, cook 8 to 12 minutes or until bottom of noodle pancake is

golden brown.

Slide pancake from skillet onto plate (this is a little tricky); invert pancake onto another plate, browned side up. Add another 1 tablespoon oil into skillet or wok. Slide the noodle pancake into skillet, browned side up; cook 4 to 6 minutes or until bottom is browned. Slide onto serving plate, cover to keep warm.

In same skillet or work, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil until hot, add veggies and stir to coat.

 Add water and cook 6 to 8 minutes until veggies are crisp tender,stirring occasionally. Stir in stir fry sauce and hoisin sauce. Cook 1 to 2 minutes until thoroughly heated and sauce has thickened and is glossy.

To serve, with sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut hot noodle pancake into wedges. Top pancake with vegetable mixture.

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This was probably my favorite Random Recipe so far! It was such a delicious lunch even though it was a bit tricky to get the noodle pancake just right. One of my very favorite things at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants is called Pan Fried Golden Noodle and it is pretty much this recipe! It is not on a lot of Chinese restaurant menus and I'd never tried to make it at home because I never thought I'd be able to find the right type of noodle but the lo mein noodles I tried were very similar to the restaurant noodles.  I will be making this one again for sure, some crunchy tofu would be perfect with this.  Although it is a bit time consuming for lunch, it was worth it :)

I'm sending this off to Sue for Cookbook Sundays and also to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast for Presto Pasta Nights #258.

Mushroom Manchego Risotto Balls

I made these delicious risotto balls shortly after I made this recipe for Mushroom Risotto and am sharing the recipe this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs January Potluck. It seems like everyone at IHCC was making some type of risotto balls and I just had to give it a go, especially since I had just made mushroom risotto and had a half batch leftover in the fridge. The recipe I used suggested mozzarella cubes inside of tomato risotto balls, which sounds wonderful, but I went with some Manchego cheese to stuff inside of these mushroom risotto balls and it was a match made in heaven!


Fried Risotto Balls
adapted from Tessa Kiros -- Apples for Jam

About 3 cups cold risotto (1/2 batch cooked risotto leftovers, I probably had closer to 4 cups)
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cups small cubed cheese
1 and 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs (I used Italian seasoned bread crumbs)
oil for frying
optional lemon wedges to serve

Mix the risotto and parmesan together in a bowl. Lightly beat one of the eggs and gradually stir into the risotto, stopping when the risotto is damp but still firm enough to be shaped.


Moisten your hands with a little water; take a heaping tablespoon of mixture, and roll it into a ball. Make a tunnel into the center with your finger and push a cheese cube into it. Squeeze the ball to close the opening and seal in the cheese. Do this with the rest of the mixture.


Lightly beat the other egg in a flat bowl. Put the bread crumbs on a plate.

Roll the balls in the egg and then the bread crumbs and put on a cookie sheet or large plate. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Pour about 1 inch of oil into a frying pan and heat until hot but not smoking. (I used my electric skillet for frying these, which is my new favorite way to deep fry, it is so easy. I had about 3 inches of oil and my oil temperature was about 355-360.) Fry the balls in batches, gently moving them around in the oil and turning them often so they brown evenly. Each batch will take about 2 minutes, then you can lift them out onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Fried risotto balls are best served warm with a squeeze of lemon of juice but are also fine eaten at room temperature.

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I love this photo with the stringy cheese, it reminds me when I first learned about fried Italian rice balls (many years ago, before they were uber popular, in one of my old cookbooks) with the name Suppli al Telefono, meaning telephone wires because the string from the cheese when you take a bite is long like telephone wires :)

These were absolutely delicious, the flavors of the cheese and mushroom risotto went so well together. In the recipe preface in the book the author mentions her children love risotto balls, so I was half expecting my kids to like these too, especially with the cute saying about telephone wires, but nope, all three of my kids gave these a try and did not like them :( I'm hoping it was because the manchego and mushroom flavors are a touch too "grown-up"? Ah well. Guess I will have to try the tomato risotto with mozzarella version for a more kid friendly risotto ball!